And here's something a little different...

A few years ago, I came into a wealth of 35mm color slides. My dad took them. He hardly ever shot color for prints that I can remember. Prints were done in Kodak Tri-X Pan 400 that he used to liberate from the darkroom at the old Danville Commerical-News. So I'm not as familiar with a lot of these photos.

I have been meaning to scan some of them in so I can make archives of these, or simply to have them in a more usable format. Unfortunately, the PrimeFilm 1800u is as big of a piece of crap as it was on the day that I first bought it, even if it does now have a useable Mac OS X interface. (A Nikon LS-40 is high on my wish list.)

But from these scans, perhaps you can get some idea of the genuine talent that he was as far as this photographic avocation.

Robinson St., Danville, IL 1987 (autumn, natch):



Lakeside fall color, date unknown:



Finally, the man himself, in one of the rare photos that was ever taken of him. I believe this was in the Sierras circa 1976. I remember coming to meet him at the Danville airport when he came back from this trip, but mostly because I got to play a lot of pinball while the plane was arriving late. There's a scad of slides from this era, and this had to be my favorite, despite the poor color rendition of the crappy film scanner...



(Foregoing images c. Robert Harry Wilson, 1947 - 1990.)

Here's a couple shots taken from the library:

1) Bald eagle, taken at Land Between the Lakes. She's a captive bird, and has been since her wing was injured.



2) Big stag elk, taken also at LBL -- this time, roaming free on the Elk & Bison Preserve.

I'd resolved to get my house in order.

So I start by reorganizing.

And then I find a trinket from long ago which reminds me that I'd gotten it in my head that I needed to get my house in order way back when.

Like I needed a reminder of some damned broken relationship, I find an ex-girlfriend's necklace.

You know, it hadn't even occurred to me to so much as think of your triflin' ass for the past couple of years. And here I find some of your bullshit junk jewelry among my belongings.

And I find myself really, really angry all of a sudden.

Reminds me of another time I thought I'd get my house in order.

Guess I have learned to tolerate a lot more mess than I'd thought.

Some great new writing on the new High Hat, even if I say so myself.

I am really excited, honored, and grateful to be involved on this project.

In other news: New dual 2.0Ghz G5 in the house. Photoshopping has never been easier.

Via Pandagon, we find that Republicans have discovered a savvy way to up their voter registration numbers in Jacksonville, FL:

CHEAT.

Yes, you saw that right. The same city where disputed ballots were thrown away by the bushel in 2000, here we have GOP canvassers pre-registering party choice on the voter forms for newly sworn-in immigrants.

What was that Bush v. Gore decision again? Something about how President Fredo was being denied his 14th Amendment rights; equal protection under the law because of... the fact... that... counting ballots fairly would tend to... uh... favor?... his opponent, like, unequally?

And this is in Florida. Again.

Coincidence?

Hearty shoutouts to Rogue Amoeba for their Audio Hijack product. Wow. Software that works as described! I especially like the scheduling feature. Now I can catch Car Talk even when I want to sleep in.

If I had more time to run a radio station from home, I think I might consider Nicecast as *the* option.

Not quite Pearl Jam.  Not quite Swearing at Motorists.

New acquisition Wednesday (Updated Thursday):

New acquisitions, aplenty!

The Flatlanders, Live '72.  Oh my!  A gem of a discovery... from the liner notes:  "On the night of this performance, only fifteen or twenty people were in the audience (a good crowd for the '72 Flatlanders)."  Makes me wonder if some of the small-set shows I've seen may yield legends sometime in the future.  Recording quality is good, even through my pitzy PC speakers.  Jimmie Dale's high lonesome featured on most songs.

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Who Is This America?  Fans of the legendary Fela Kuti will find much to love here.  This was pointed out to me by D-Funk at Grimey's.  It's the sort of album that sells itself -- a perfunctory listen on the in-house system was about all it took to get me to grab this one.  I had to wait until they restocked, but it wasn't a long wait.  Catch Track 3, "The Indictment."  From the same people bringing you Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.  If I've not mentioned them before, let me throw out that recommendation again (and again, courtesy of D-Funk).  Antibalas can be found on Ropeadope.com or Antibalas.com.

XTC, Transistor Blast.  4CD set of their BBC recordings.  My favorite bit may be the John Peel intro on disc one:

"Hello, my name is John Peel, and on tonight's programme, we're playing cuts from The Slutes, The Slots, The Groan, Exploding Truss, The Blues Bastards, one from The Geckos, uh... Hubert and his Pie-Tones, The Ear, The Nose, The Throat, uh... the Cassowaries from Hell are here; uh, and Inevitable Groin.  Uh, a couple of tracks by up-&-coming beatnik groups tonight... Frank and the Sandalmen, uh, and the Goatees.  The Goatees, incidentally, will have you trading in your parkas and Arab t-shirts for Beduins and Sloppy Joe, limit twelve them, I'm going to assure you.  So, on to tonight's first guests, and they're XTC, uh, and they're here to answer all allegations that they're 1979's answer to The Baron Knights. Well, see what you think."

I am but a mere piker.  John Peel, the hipster's hipster.

Anyhoo -- recording quality, excellent.  Track selections -- excellent (despite some cross-pollination with Fuzzy Warbles).  I think this one's OOP, but I was able to find this for $35 used.

(Coat of Many Cupboards is in the mail!)

Beastie Boys, To the 5 Boroughs.  Y'know, they might want to drop the self-aggrandizing hip hop cliches.  Their political stuff actually works.  I've thought that since Ill Communication, but then again, I'm not one to think that music shouldn't reflect one's politics.  Songs about children and puppies are another matter.  Those are almost never acceptable.  Regarding the album:  I like the more stripped down production here.  In a way, it seems like a tribute to Jam Master Jay's bare-bones style of mix.  Whether this is intentional, I cannot glean from the liner notes.

Nick Lowe, The Convincer.  Yep.  I'm convinced.  Actually, I'd become convinced once I'd found a copy of Party of One.  How I missed Lowe for so long will have to remain one of those personal mysteries.  I doubt that this album has scanned many more more than 20K copies, but as I can be oft-quoted as saying, that's fucking criminal.  Lowe deserves to be recognized as something more than a sidemouse.  Slated to visit Nashville's Belcourt Theatre on 9/21. I have my tickets. 

Sonic Youth (DVD), Corporate Ghost.  Videos from the DGC years, beginning with Goo.  I had no idea most of Goo was out there in video format.  I was especially tripping on the video for "My Friend Goo." Sounds great played really really loud.

Well, hell.  I know that there's more.  I just can't recall what.

GBV final touring schedule is out.  Five legs, 25 stops.  Pick one.  Go.

(If Naz is reading this, I'm considering Carrboro. And if Alan is reading this, I'm also considering Athens.)

A bit of sad news from today:



Jeff Smith, PBS' "The Frugal Gourmet," dead at age 65.

Hadn't heard much out of the Frug since his private woes went public back in 1997. I can't say that I know what drove the guy personally -- but I will say that he pretty much inspired me to get off my ass and to start cooking decent food for myself. I was never all that much for many recipes before I started watching his program, although I did make a dynamite tomato sauce for pasta then. But my repertoire was seriously limited, for sure.

He had a way of making cooking look easy. And he had a goofy manner that normally would have bugged the heck out of me as a viewer, but somehow, it never put me off. Quick with a joke or a smile, he offered practical advice like, "Hot wok, cold oil; food won't stick." I'd even watched some Justin Wilson at that point, although it was the Frug that had me picking up his book, "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American," and had inspired me put together my first etoufeé. Simple, elegant, and tasty. He was in so many ways what Julia Child and her ilk never were for me: interesting, thoughtful, and motivational.

Even when the recipes weren't 100% on, he'd inspired enough confidence in my practice of cooking to improvise, and to choose my own manner of preparation.

For whatever troubles you had in life, Jeff, you were an important part of my young adult life.

And I bid you peace.

And one more... a laughing gull doing its best imitation of the dove of peace (although it's carrying seagrass rather than an olive branch):

Pair of snowy egrets (Egretta thula) parading in the shallows:

The green heron (Butorides virescens) playing hide & seek on a bridge piling.

A common dunlin (Calidris alpina) scouring an oyster shell bed during the aforementioned 'Teague trip.

A first attempt at bird blogging...

Here's a pair of laughing gulls (Larus atricilla) in the back channel off Chincoteague, VA (7/4/2004):

"Gary Shandling... Gary Shandling... Gary Shandling... Gary Shandling... Gary Shandling..."

Yeah, that's what started through my head when I heard about this nascent revolution. Leave it to me to get a piss-poor Butthole Surfers earworm in my cynical haze.

I know people are pretty pissed about this whole George W. Bush debacle. I sure am. And I've gotten some good righteous anger up about it, and what have I done?

I've read a few books. I've had talks at parties. I've made snarky comments on blogs. I pulled the lever for "the nominee" during the primary. I've gone to a screening of Fahrenheit 9/11. And I've given up a goodly amount of free time with my wife so she can go work on the Kerry campaign.

In other words, not much (aside from the time with my wife, which I miss quite a bit).

First, by way of an overview, my take on the furor over F9/11:

It occurs to me that while conservatives don't want this movie to be seen, most people I've talked with much about this flick on this side of the fence have deep reservations about this movie because of reservations they have about Michael Moore, and have said (in very broad terms) that if this movie is going to be made, it needs to be made differently. At least that's my take on it.

And while some criticism is surely warranted from both sides of the coin, it bugs me that some people hold higher standards for their entertainers in this country than they hold for their elected officials.

As a lifelong INFP, my perceptive side does battle with my ideals a good bit of the time. It's difficult for me to pass judgment on people's considered opinions when I know their hearts are in the right place. But I think maybe, just maybe -- Moore's really onto something and it bears considerable discussion regardless of the warts of his most recent movie. He's talking about the extent to which privilege has become so fully enmeshed with power in our day and age. He's outlining the modern-day conundrum of class here in bravery's home (which isn't supposed to exist, after all). He's talking not so much about the resurgence of imperialism so much as he is talking about how it's coming more out in the open. Conspiracy theories aside, there are points made that the punditocracy greeted with mordant chuckles of "grasping at straws" and "wild conjecture." But still, you gaze upon the [edited for effect] vacant stare [of [the president]] and it does take you to a place where you're staring at the hole in the NYC skyline and you gotta ask, "What in the blue fuck went wrong to let this happen?" I'll be the first to go on record as saying when a Bush -- or anyone, for that matter -- is asking not to hold inquiries into the failures that led up to 9/11/01 that they don't really have "national" security in mind. It's as simple a game as CYA, the same petty micropolitical bullshit that keeps so many of my co-workers in positions of gainful employment. "Ulterior motives?" Uh huh. What a damnable understatement.

Anyway, I heard John Kerry today talking about the scramble of people to reach the middle class, and how much he felt for those people. (I leave assessment of his veracity to the fertile imagination of whosoever decides to read this wriggling bit of mental effluvium.) But it struck me that this statement belies a huge truth: upward mobility is The Struggle which defines so much in American life for the underprivileged 98%. And hell, there's no mention of the middle class either trying to work its way forward, nor is there any mention of how many in the so-called middle class is scrabbling and scrapping in order to keep even the bare modicum of what that status accords today. Much of that is borne as high-interest unsecured loans, revolving at the hands of MegaCorpBank (conveniently located at the corner of Usury and Shylock in a town near you).

So I look to this November with significant trepidation. I really don't believe Bush has my best interests at heart, so I will dutifully pull the lever for Kerry (add /Edwards after this morning). But do I believe that things will change significantly? I struggle with that. When confronted with that question... say I'm discussing the effects of jobs moving overseas, and major employers running their HQ from bank boxes in Grand Cayman... do I believe that John Forbes Kerry will lift the first finger to put an end to that practice? My Majick Mental 8-Ball says "No."

And when confronted with the idea that Bush might win, with some apparent hijinks afoot -- will there be an ensuing revolution? Again, the 8-Ball says little to reassure me. But I'm supposed to ask again later.

But then again, the 8-Ball is about as reliable as a NY Post VP cover story. So I suppose that's about as good as it gets.

And that's gotta be good enough for now.

OK, so -- without much more ado...

August 24 is going to be one heck of a day for music.

Mike Watt & the Secondmen will release The Secondman's Middle Stand. 'Bout time, y'all.

Guided by Voices will release Half Smiles of the Decomposed, the final album of their storied career. (I tend to believe that Bob's had it with the GbV vehicle, but god knows what else will come of Circus Devils, Lifeguards, Acid Ranch, Airport 5, Go Back Snowball, The Soft Rock Renegades, Howling Wolf Orchestra, Hazzard Hotrods, Nightwalker, Lexo & The Leapers, or bands yet to be named. Tour shortly to follow, reportedly. Bet your ass I'll be there, wherever they get somewhat close. Watch out for me in Carrboro, Athens, Louisville, Birmingham, Memphis...)

And Steve Earle releases The Revolution Starts... Now. (Sheeya. If only.) But with song titles like, "F the CC," I can imagine that this one's going to be a barnburner. Hopefully this CD will take up where Jerusalem fell short.

And speaking of the revolution...

Consistency was never one of my strongest suits.

That said, I have few excuses for not updating this blog on a regular basis. I will, however, outline what the few of them are.

1) This was hardly meant to be a profession. I have a profession, and unfortunately, my unfettered internet access went fettered a while back. The web nanny even caught on to my blog once I tried doing my own FTPs and not relying on Blogspot to host ORO.

2) Inspiration is difficult to come by when (a) you grapple with long-term self-doubt issues like someone like me does, (b) you grapple with emotional troughs that embolden those old self-invalidating voices, and (c) when you just don't wanna. Somewhere along those lines lies the truth of the matter.

3) I figure that if I'm blogging more than The High Hat comes out with new material, I'm doing fairly well.

Yet I have figured out a few things to say, and then I'll figure out where I wanna go from here.

Technobabble Turns the Table

Is this Andy?

Yep. What's going on?

Yeah, this here's Terrell from World Motors. Wanted to talk to you about your car.

Is there something wrong? I just brought it in for an oil change and filter.

Well, yeah, but while we had 'er up on the lift, we noticed a problem. Looks like you goin' a need a Johnson bar retrofit.

Johnson bar?

Yeah. Helluva thing.

I've never heard of that. I hadn't noticed that there was a problem.

Well, naw. You wouldn't. These Johnson bars are part of the vertical torsion expanders on these newer vehicles. And you don't quite notice a problem in the VTE until it's too late. It'll look right 'n all, but when it comes down to it, and you throw that dang Johnson bar, car'll never run right again.

How does that happen?

Well, usually you start getting slippage in the centrifugal limiter bearing. That's the piece in the VTE where the Johnson bar connects to the pinometric unit.

Uh... huh. So what's the problem?

Johnson bar's bent.

Can't you just straighten it?

Well, you could, but s'posin' I did, I just wouldn't feel right about it. And you shouldn't be all that comfortable either. These just ain't any good once you've bent 'em once. You'll start just wearin' the tires out on your right side.

I see. I thought we went through this the last time -- something in the electrical system?

No, that was the Jackson harness. (keyboard tapping) Yep. And there's no indication you need to do anything thataways this time.

Can I get these used? After-market?

Uh, y'see, well, y'could. Technically. But you don't want none-a them Korean Johnson bars. Lotsa those come pre-vexed, and once you go 'n try 'n bias 'em, thing just don't wanna go in. Same goes for the used ones.

Is this something I can do myself? I can get a Chilton manual and...

Oh, man. Be sure you know what you're doin'. And just be careful when you do, cause when you back off that Johnson nut, the CLB is loaded up in a spring-mount. That'll just come a-flyin' outta there like a wild Slinky, and then you'd have a real goddamn mess on your hands, 'scuse my language. That's somethin' they don't tell ya in that manual. You'll also need a #5 sprocket wrangle, and it's gonna have to be reverse-threaded, cuz you got one of these imports, now...

OK, OK, OK. Sounds like too much work. Guess I'll go with the retrofit.

Yeah. Good call. I'm thinkin'... (typing keyboard) three hours labor, Johnson bar, vexed, biased... comes to about an even grand. I think you'll also want to go with the chromalated limiter bearing too, but I'll throw that in for you. Have it to you in... lessee... three days.

Uh... OK.

Thank you for your business! We sure appreciate ya.

Moved to a new location... bookmark this path...

Sue Gets a Hold of Hatch's Snake!

That was the adult content for Week 13? One weensie little pixellated teabagging?



So long, Hatch. Look forward to seeing what you have in store for final TC.

"Food! Food, food, food..." I love it. Even in defeat, I salute you.

Sinus infection redux. Does someone have a home remedy to recommend? Flonase only offers temporary relief, and most any OTC medication containing decongestants knocks me out. (This is the second go-round of the bug I've had since mid-January. Blugh.)

Much drama from the office today. Maybe someday I can fully disclose what's going on, but as it stands, I don't have many options. I'll just leave it at that, and say, whew. Stressful day.

Perhaps I can consider this recent tenure as résumé-gussy-up material. It is incredibly frustrating, especially being surrounded by people with decades of tenure. My recent go-round at WCOM was the longest stint I've had anywhere. I'm beginning to believe that the wave of the future (other than outsourcing, anyway) is working a series of jobs for relatively short (~5 year) periods. It's basically long-term temp work. Hey, low-wage earners can't escape it, so exempt employees may as well be next.

Next task: Figure out how to distill Concord Network E-Health reports in other ways, using only Microsoft Excel, because there's no way someone's going to drop $10K in my lap to get a decent statistical analysis package. (You'd think someone would learn how to use the custom options inherent in Concord, but nooooooooooooo.)

OK, whine mode disengaged.

On to Bosco's for a few semi-cold ones. I hope they have the Altbier in the cask.