Happy New Year

Happy Holidays

MAGA

How about a read on our lack of comprehension about the poorer qualities of living in America and our mythology of our own national exceptionalism?

That sounds fun doesn't it.

Really though, it is worth a read.
Here is a snip.-

There is a myth of exceptionalism in America that prevents it from looking outward, and learning from the world. It is made up of littler myths about greed being good, the weak deserving nothing, society being an arena, not a lever, for the survival of the fittest — and America is busy recounting those myths, not learning from the world, in slightly weaker (Democrats) or stronger (Republicans) forms. Still, the myths stay the same — and the debate is only really about whether a lightning bolt or a thunderstorm is the just punishment from the gods for the fallen, and a palace or a kingdom is the just reward for the cunning.
Hence, I have never once sees in America a leader saying, “hey! See that British healthcare system? That German union and pension system? Why don’t we propose that? They work!!” Instead, the whole American debate is self-referential — pundits debating Andrew Jackson (LOL) instead of, say, what the rest of the world does today in 2017.

Perhaps this is a context thing.

I remember reading that many Americans thought international travel was too dangerous.
An opinion developed by watching Liam Neison movies...
Really.
Those kidnapping ones.

Anyway...


Link again.

Slick

Comparing tire compounds, no doubt.

Candles

Of course, candles the universal binder of humanity!

We just need more candles!

Dance

I like this.
Always been a fan of art challenging it's audience.
This is such a fun bit of interaction.
The object directing the motion of those hoping to experience it.

So, yeah...

Rubes

Yesterday, I was reading through some comments on a friends social media post.

It was a post about net neutrality.


And there it was, a comment plainly stating this was all about an Obama era enacted rule, impeding freedom.


That was posted by somebody I only know through the internet.
But a person that seemed cool, intelligent, maybe even worldly and with a slight conservative bend.

Others replied with shock, "Dude, have you looked at this issue at all?"


I am still a bit stunned by it.

What sort of blinders does one have to wear to come to that conclusion?
That this FCC move is about Obama stifling internet freedom?
Conservative media tunnel vision, is that it?

Fuck me, man...

Low information voters don't care much about access to information, I guess.

Pants

I am so vain I probably think this song is about me.



Or not...

Really, it's that time of year when I rotate between various Carhartt work pants until the thermostat again reaches above 70 degrees.
My routine.
The seasonal self-swaddling with wind resistant cotton duck and thermal fleece.
Which is probably so sexy that most people are too intimidated to talk to me.

That is probably it...

Endless Summer Bummer

I guess Bruce Brown passed?

Can't even count the number of times I have watched his movies...

Misfire

I was reading in Bloomberg earlier about the pricing slump in gun sales.

It impacting profits and stock prices among all of the manufacturers...


Seems without the constant drum beat of "they are coming for your guns" that has stoked sales for the past few years, the supply/demand ratio is all outta whack in the market.
It is driving a price war at the retail level, thought to be unsustainable.

Manufacturing levels are too high, margins are dropping, stock prices falling, all around band news for the gun business...


Who knew that the NRA's dream of a pro-gun administration would be bad for the companies it lobbies for...


Article here, if you want a look.

Frost

Not a post about Robert Frost...
Perhaps a reminder to go reread something by that Frost however.


No, this is a post about normal morning frost.

Being the first winter I have spent here, it is interesting to see how the weather is different from past places I have called home.

This morning was different.


The cold has settled in here for a few weeks.
Lows in the twenties at night, recently dipping into the teens...
It has been clear, largely, so the front slipping through town last night was a bit sneaky.
I could feel it arrive, those teen temps warmed up to mid-twenties in about an hours time.

This morning, as the sun came up, things looked a bit different.
At first I thought it had snowed, the world had a crystaline veneer.
Not snow though, but heavy frost covering roof tops, the street, the trees...

Sun filtered through a fog.
Not thick fog, but very present and seemingly frozen.
A sheer curtain of mist.

As that fog has burned off, slowly the frost recedes.
Sun rising has gotten the roof tops steaming, but only on one side.
The shade keeping this skim frozen coating in place...
Even still, at mid day.


I have been pleased every morning I see a sunrise light up these mountains faces.
Those bluebird, clear days, when the peaks seem to be illuminated from within.
The clarity seems to be heightened as the temperatures have dropped.
The views, somehow, improved.

But seeing this frost was beyond average window scraping fodder.
Something I had not seen before, I guess...
Sure, frost is frost is frost.
The combination of the cold and fog, how heavily it covered the ground was it's own combination.
Quite lovely to see.

Decisions

At some point a person, or group of people, decided that a Colonel Sanders couch was definitely a think that needed to exist.


Visionary...

Dune Buggy

OK, technically not a dune buggy.

An off road Alfa?
That sounds like a bad idea, right...


But just look at it.

It looks like a really good idea.
(While still being an awful idea, for sure.)




More here.

Holiday Spirit

Got the tree up...
To boost that holiday spirit and cheer.

Festive and bright, I think is what they say.










*Tree pictured may not be representative of the actual tree here.

Guackenstien

Here is Boris Karloff's guacamole recipe...


Because that seems like a thing that should be shared.

The recipe and guacamole, I mean.

Full Circle

So, it starts off with jumping out of planes, as a hobby/sport.

And then that get's too dull for some people, so they start jumping off of things.

And after a while, jumping off of things loses it's thrill, so they start using wing suits.

And then, jumping off a thing, in a wing suit, into an airplane.


The next obvious progression, I think, is to fly your own plane up to altitude, nose it over towards earth, jump out wearing a wing suit, circle around your plane on the way down then get back in and land it...
Maybe land it using one of those whole airplane parachute rescue devices, or maybe that is the next evolution.


Or helicopters, fly your wing suit into a flying death blade machine, that would be good too.


C'mon Red Bull people, get on that...

CB

Not the breaker-one-nine kind...



Let's take a minute to admire this CB900F.

Parked on what looks to be a very steep hill.

Dude

That new shit.

Black Friday Sales

Did you go out and find some amazing black Friday deals?

Yeah, neither did I...


I did note some posts on social media, from some ex-pats living in Europe seeing black Friday sales all over.
Well, nothing was actually discounted, I guess.
Retailers were just hopping on the band wagon, or something.

How funny it that?

There is not the Thanksgiving deal we have here, there...
So the date is just arbitrary to nearly everyone.

But still, black Friday blow outs.
At extremely normal prices.

Asteroid

That interstellar asteroid, huh...


Asteroid my ass.


Asteroids aren't shaped like long rock encrusted rockets.
Asteroids are round, everybody knows that.

That is clearly an interstellar, mole man space ship thing.
Probably a scouting party, looking for suitable planets for colonization.


You people and all your zombie apocalypse hype...
The real war will be with interstellar mole men.

Are you ready for that?

Snapshots

I was looking at this picture, admiring how it captures a moment in time.

Maybe not a historic moment, but still specific.


And it got me to thinking about our collective conversion to digital.
Two generations from now, there won't be an old box of photos to flip through...

It seems unlikely that any of the pictures shared on line will be easily accessed, if they can be at all.
So, what of all those images crammed into phones, unshared, not backed up?
What are they really for, beyond filling SD cards, to quickly be forgotten...

Does the act of capturing a moment add to the perceived importance of it?
Does that value change with the accessibility of cameras today?


It doesn't seem like we have really come to terms with archiving all of the digital snippets we so casually capture, yet...


That image is of a rail called the Vermonster and there is more story on that over here.

Wheelbarrow

I think this is officially the first wheelbarrow post here.

Isn't that exciting?

Look at this sweet, custom wheelbarrow...


Now, honestly, that rear wheel does seem superfluous...
Though maybe one can move a full load around without have to lift things up.
Which does bring changes of direction into question.


But, whatever...
Let's just enjoy this wheelbarrow.

Pretty sweet wheelbarrow...
Man.


Maybe we do a series of wheelbarrow posts?
Like Wheelbarrow Wednesdays...

Just let me know how hyped you would be if we did Wheelbarrow Wednesday, OK.

PSA

I try to avoid them all together...


Better safe than sorry.

Huh

Scagliola or Stucco Marmo, Melissa Vogley Woods gives us a look at her unique contemporary process. from Melissa Vogley Woods on Vimeo.




Would you look at that...

Shoppe

Everything ya need, really...

Hey

Wait a minute...














Is that the Millenium Falcon, parked at the end of the street?


Maybe.

NYC Guide

Insider's Guide to New York City from Ryan Mazer on Vimeo.




Seems legit...

Blogs

I am really not sure motivates you to show up here.
Certainly, it can't be content.


Not any epic story being told here.
Maybe the occasional random link to such story, is about as good it gets here.


This is one of those occasions.

That guy in the photo is trekking across Antarctica, on foot, unsupported.
A thousand odd miles...
And he is taking enough electronics to actually do blog posts while he does that.

You can read them here.

This dude, Ben Saunders, is only on day two of the walk, so there is promise of a number of posts all more interesting that what you might find here...

The Olds

Well, I may have just crossed over to the old.
Reading through news headlines, there was mention of some famous singer...
A singer I have never heard of, totally off my radar.


A quick search reveals that, yup, pretty famous person.
Pop music person...
That I was completely oblivious to.
For years.


Which, I am totally OK with...



Maybe it's not an age thing.
Perhaps I am closing in on perfect self-isolation.

Which of those options is less depressing...

Not Televised

So, was the revolution not televised?
Some vast liberal media agenda keeping that out of the news?


I suppose that dude shooting up the church is just some left wing false flag job.
Must have been something like that.
A distraction from some other conspiracy.


Just at a loss...

Is this what we are now?

Gary

Some tunes, man...

Dia de las Muertos

How about some competitive grave digging for the day of the dead?

Yeah

Happy Halloween.

Speaker

I am going to suggest you read this interview with John Boehner.

There is some insight to the machinations inside our capitol, first hand accounts, that are beyond the typical curated speaking point that swirl around it.
There is also context from his friends and some foes.
Some thought of his place in history, as well...

...The triumph of John Boehner is that he achieved reform and ascended to the speakership and often rose above the uncompromising dogma of both parties; the tragedy is that he came to Congress an insurgent only to be swallowed by the insurgency...

I know, John Boehner...

You don't have to read it.
What else have you got going on though?


That link, again.

M H

I have always had a thing for these Hailwood bikes.

This one certainly pushes some buttons...




There is a whole write up, with more pictures, over here.

The Doors

Don't even hesitate...

Bjark

I am pretty sure this is a dog dressed up as Bjork, that time Bjork wore the swan dress.


I just thought you should see this...

Impala

How about some of this action?

Slippery Slopes

An article covering a gathering of political scientists and theorists sounds fun, right?

I meant to link to this Vox bit before, but instead just went on living my life without thinking of posting something for you...

Basically, this poli-sci convention was kind of a downer.
Lots of scholarly types thinking total bummer stuff about the state of democracy in America...

Stuff like this-

Nancy Bermeo, a politics professor at Princeton and Harvard, began her talk with a jarring reminder: Democracies don’t merely collapse, as that “implies a process devoid of will.” Democracies die because of deliberate decisions made by human beings. 

Usually, it’s because the people in power take democratic institutions for granted. They become disconnected from the citizenry. They develop interests separate and apart from the voters. They push policies that benefit themselves and harm the broader population. Do that long enough, Bermeo says, and you’ll cultivate an angry, divided society that pulls apart at the seams.

I do think the story is worth a few minutes, if you have a few to spare.

There is a particularly interesting bit about the function of time in the language of campaigning/politics...
If you go for that sort of thing.


Link, again.

Africa Twin

There is some dissonance when reading Africa Twin and looking at this motorcycle, huh?


I know.

This was put together by Ron Wood, to run on the big tracks, I guess.
Using that Honda mill, instead of the more standard options.

Huh...

False Flag

Probably just a false flag produced by the failing liberal media...


But somebody snapped a pick of some patriotic football fan sitting on the flag.

Like a picnic blanket.
While wearing a shirt saying they stand for the anthem.
And drinking beer with a straw.


Sure, it's all about showing respect, supporting troops...
All of that stuff.

Sure it is.




There is almost an article on this, over here.

Heavy

So heavy, man...

Diversion

I mean, things are kinda fuckered these days...
We all know that.


Let's just take a moment to ignore all of that stuff...
And watch some tiny goats with cowboy hats run around, doing goat stuff.

Doesn't that help?

Farkles

Got all the cool things for your bike?

The do-dads.

Audio, accessory mounts, exhaust, power outlets, extra lights?
You only think you have it all...


You probably didn't even think about pontoons, did you?

Motherfucking pontoon-bike, yo.

Ooh Horsey

Fall

It's gone all fall here...

A few warm days still seem to be mixing in, but things get down to freezing at night.
The chill kinda caught me last night.  Letting me know it was moving in for a while.

Did the random pumpkin farm adventure.  Very family friendly style adventure, I guess...
With a clear few of Smith Rock, to remind me of where I am.
Seasonal gourds have been applied to the front porch here...

Folks here still run the lawn sprinklers, in spite of the cold nights.
The whole desert thing, you know...
Which can lead to some slippery bits of sidewalk on the morning dog walk.

A bit of training for the next change of seasons here, I guess...

Merc

Car post...

Look, a picture of a car.

Errors

It is October baseball time...

The big games.
Honestly, I haven't really paid much attention this year to the sport.
Too many other priorities.

There is even a little summer college league team that plays here.
Didn't catch a single game.

Anyway, enough about me and my baseball watching habits...

The New Yorker ran this interesting article on errors in baseball.

Baseball has another vision. It is a spectacle of fairness as well as of accomplishment. What are we watching when we watch a game of baseball? We are witnessing the progression of a struggle toward an outcome through which the skill and power of the players and the team can be expressed, like in any sport, but we are also watching the lines of a moral universe being demarcated in a game played, uniquely, without time. The error declares that might is not always right, that win and loss is an insufficient measure of the experience of human contest. The error belongs to the moral dimension of American life—a highly systematic, entirely futile effort to imagine the terms of a perfect world inside even so minor a forum as the official rulebook of a boys’ game.

You could probably skip it if you are not a fan, but I found it worth a read...

Samples

How about sampling 1500 different styles of music?

Is that something you would like to do?

Well, head over here, to EveryNoiseAtOnce.


They describe things like this:

This is an ongoing attempt at an algorithmically-generated, readability-adjusted scatter-plot of the musical genre-space, based on data tracked and analyzed for 1536 genres by Spotify. The calibration is fuzzy, but in general down is more organic, up is more mechanical and electric; left is denser and more atmospheric, right is spikier and bouncier.

Jump right in that time hole...

Costume

Halloween costume...

The skeleboner.
With inflating phallus.


I mean, c'mon people...

Gesundheit

Here is a video of an owl sneezing...


It never occurred to me that birds might sneeze.
Now I am wondering what other shit birds do that I haven't thought of.

History

Like chicken and waffles?

I know, it's a lot to take down...
The savory played against the sweet.
Maybe not the healthy choice.

I can get caught up in the moment and order it, if I see it on a menu.

How about a deep dive into the history of chicken and waffles?
How those two separate bits combine into a known dish?

Well, here is that article and below is a snippet.

Having said all that, my best guess is that fried chicken and waffles achieves thinghood in parts of the South just before the civil war, and then takes off in the North in the mid 1870s, achieving nationwide apotheosis by the turn of the 20th century.

Now this is not a short read...
Hell, the link is to part two.
Some pretty good food history and general history there for your reading pleasure.



That link, again.

Shaper

I don't know anything about surfing...
Or aspirations to, if I am honest.


But I do find the intersect between board makers and users a bit fascinating.

PR

People know that Puerto Rico is part of the US, right?


It seems like we are not talking about the situation in PR all that much...
But there are like a million and half more people there than in Houston.

That is a lot of people.

People without power, most without running water, many displaced.
Three and a half million people.


I mean, I know that isn't the only story that could be covered...
But a Katrina comparison seems reasonable, given the response.

Congress intends to move on funding some relief for the island, in two or three weeks.


Seriously, do people realize that Puerto Rico is part of the US?

Snake Punch

I have seen this snake punch in five different places on the interwebs this week.

When I notice that sort of spontaneous synchronicity of something, I always puzzle...
How did disparate, unconnected people all find something so random relevant in the same time frame?


Just gonna continue the distribution of this video, with the thought that it is something needed in the universe right now...

Of Course

Practical

Since moving to a wild west mountain town, I have been pondering a new rig.

You know, something practical and useful here.

Maybe a truck or SUV type thing.

Priorities include some cargo capacity, tractability in snow, the ability to easily navigate fire and or forest service roads.
All practical stuff...

The secret agenda is to get something that could be used as the occasional camper.
A rig big enough to hold camping gear for impromptu adventure weekends out in some wilderness.
Even that is sort of a practical goal.

This thinking has me looking at lots of options.


And sometimes you find the magic treasure...

Healthcare

This is from some years back, but worth a watch...

Aero

How about this thingy, huh?


It's a Salmson Val3, with some sort of aircraft engine...

I assume also Salmson.


Other than a couple pics, I have't found any details on what is going on here...

Floating

Spent a full day floating ten miles of the lower Deschutes river yesterday.

Technically, it was a fishing trip...
But no trout graced hooks presented by anybody other than the guide.
Floating seems like a more accurate description.

I did catch a snail, but it came off the hook.
I don't think people fish for snails.


Good day.
River canyon views, wild horses, cold water...


It was my father's idea, and a good one.


After crawling in and out of a boat all day, standing in fifty degree water and not catching a single fish...
I think I now understand the appeal of fishing.

You Up

BECK - Up All Night from CANADA on Vimeo.

Color

Well, this just hits on my linguistic and color theory buttons.

Coke

Dude just really likes Coke, I guess?

Yes

This is why we need the internet...

9-11

So, it's September 11th again.

Not sure what to think about that.
Haven't forgotten, don't like remembering...

Not much more I have to say about that.

Tudor

Tough little A tudor right there...











It's for sale, too.
More pics if you follow the link.

Hey

Sure, cat video...

Fire

I mentioned before that it's fire season here...



Some jackhole kid chucked a smoke bomb in to one of the loveliest spots I have ever been to.

And now that move has turned in to a thirty thousand acre fire.


Fucking people, man...


A lot of fire posts here, lately, I know.
Mainly because there are a lot of fires.
Lots of smoke.
One can't avoid thinking of it, at this point.

Reasonable

Only $189.00 for that?


What a tremendous value...

Labor Day

Hope you have a good weekend...

Malaise

Man, Aku is such a great villain character...

Fires

I mentioned fire season when things got burning, a few months back.
It's still here...


The Milli fire, over by Sisters is at something like 18,000 acres, as I understand it.

More still, are burning across the state.


The haze is near constant, with the smell of a campfire marking days when air quality is bad.
Only on rare days, when winds shift, is there a chance to see blue sky.

Nuts

Dr Evil

Oh, man, this is some Dr Evil level of engineering...

At least as good as some sharks with laser beams attached to their heads.

Hmm

What manner of madness leads to this?

Dusted

This guy again...
Not only does he hate tires, he seems to take a lot of anger out on dirt.



Sure, it's a commercial, but it's one with some WRC car mayhem...

Vision

"Let me tell you, I have the best eye sight, the greatest eye sight, believe me..."



(Turns around, walks into wall.)

So

That happened...

Status Update

Strangely, it seems pretty quiet here.

Like, less busy that a typical weekend...

Maybe we have just figured out what to avoid on tourist days.





Of course, there was that plane crash...
And some wild fires are forcing evacuations around Sisters.

Here

A picture of a goat standing on another goat.


There is no hidden message here, I am just exhausted by the world and thought a picture of goats might improve things.

Very slightly...

Few

I kinda like that...

Eclipsing

Yeah, the eclipse...


So, up the road from here, between here and Portland, is Madras.
One of the spots NASA told everybody was a good spot to see the eclipse...

It has a high average of clear days and is right in the totality path.
It is also a tiny, tiny town.

So, there are lots of people headed this way.
To rural, remote, central Oregon.

Predictions are vague and folks are planning on being inundated, overrun, overwhelmed.


Lots of people, two lane highways, peak fire season...


What could go wrong?


Well, they cover that in this article., if you are curious...


Cartoon credit.