A post to the livable Albuquerque list (thanks to Pika for pointing out the list) mentions a marvelous idea from Otis White for making our cities better, more livable places: buy everyone a dog.
Continue reading ‘Dogs, Skateboarders and Urban Design’ »
Comments Gone For Now
I shut down comments completely after awaking this morning to several hundred particularly vile porn comment spams. I’m going to leave them off temporarlily, but I love the comments I get, so if you have something to say, email me – jfleck at the domain above.
Giant Scissors
If you’re still struggling with what to get me for my birthday, there’s this:
“Everything about them is just like the traditional scissors found in desk drawers everywhere – just much bigger!”
Tuesday Night Crits
OK, the thing is, it rained. There was a bike race and stuff, but after 72 consecutive days without measurable precipitation in Albuquerque, the gentle sprinkle the whole time I was racing tonight was a desert blessing.
Rainbows are tough to shoot, but you get the idea. Look close. It’s a double rainbow.
Continue reading ‘Tuesday Night Crits’ »
An Inordinate Fondness for Beatles
I heard this story – I don’t know if it’s true – where a reporter asked John Lennon what his years in the music business had taught him about The Creator. Replied Lennon, “That He has an inordinate fondness for The Beatles.”
Moving to Montana Soon
I picked up a couple of live Frank Zappa CD’s with the birthday gift certificate daughter, N, so kindly gave me and ran into a happy accident.
Continue reading ‘Moving to Montana Soon’ »
Climate Change
From the comments, jfs says:
I think the global warming nonsense the commenter is refering to is not that fact that temperatures are increasing, which is what you cite in your links, but that the increase is not part of some natural climatic cycle….
The commenter raises a great question. Given the relatively short time we’ve had thermometers and recorded data, how can we make such bold assertions about the effect industrial greenhouse gas emissions might be having on climate?
Continue reading ‘Climate Change’ »
Wild West
For the newfound Albuquerque crowd too lazy to go out and pick up the morning paper and too impecunious to subscribe (you know who you are): I commend your attention to Leanne Potts’ story in this morning’s paper (secret decoder ring link) about the Wild West show opening at Magnifico downtown next Friday.
I’ve always had a vague understanding of the power of Wild West iconography in German culture, on account of the German tourists one always meets traipsing about the desert of the Four Corners (a friend jokes that you can always tell the German tourists – they’re the ones wearing sandals and dark socks). Leanne’s discussion with Stefka Ammon, the German artist who organized the show, added a great deal to my vague understanding:
So why does the mystique of the American West hang on long after we all should know better?
“I think it is- oh, my Native American friends, forgive me this – because people still perceive (the West) as open and empty, a screen for all our imaginations, like a promised land,” Ammon says. “Like, ‘If I only were there I could be doing what I really wanted, I could really be myself.’ ”
That speaks volumes, I think, to our own understanding of The West.
Comment of the Day
Today’s comment of the day, a helpful observation from Joe:
Still trying to push that global warming nonsense…huh? Just too bad the facts don’t support it.
Thanks, Joe! This’ll save me a lot of time and trouble. Now, if you could just help me clear up some loose ends….