California Photos

     

Tucson Weather Today

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My friend Anthony has posted some pictures of California scenery. The photos, although they speak for themselves, have been enhanced by Anthony's captions.

photos

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This Is Who I Am

   

Stuff

    

Tucson Weather Today

 

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Here I am out East of Tucson again, in the scattered scrub near the mountains. Eva and I will be spending the week taking care of things while the folks are away on business.

I hope to get some new and interesting pictures while I am out here in the wild.

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P.Z. Myers has written a short essay for The Washington Post titled An atheist’s guide to the good life and it is so easy to understand that any thinking person can see clearly the simple truths contained within it.

One must necessarily be a half-wit to ignore or deny the logic.

Of course, committed Christians deny logic all the time.

LINK

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TRIVIA

The word volcano originally comes from the name of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day. August 27 in 1883, the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurred on Krakatau (also called Krakatoa), a small, uninhabited volcanic island located west of Sumatra in Indonesia,. Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people.

Excitement turned to horror as Krakatau literally blew itself apart, setting off a chain of natural disasters that would be felt around the world for years to come. An enormous blast on the afternoon of August 26 destroyed the northern two-thirds of the island; as it plunged into the Sunda Strait, between the Java Sea and Indian Ocean, the gushing mountain generated a series of pyroclastic flows (fast-moving fluid bodies of molten gas, ash and rock) and monstrous tsunamis that swept over nearby coastlines. Four more eruptions beginning at 5:30 a.m. the following day proved cataclysmic. Fine dust from the explosion drifted around the earth, causing spectacular sunsets and forming an atmospheric veil that lowered temperatures worldwide by several degrees.

Of the estimated 36,000 deaths resulting from the eruption, at least 31,000 were caused by the tsunamis created when much of the island fell into the water. The greatest of these waves measured 120 feet high, and washed over nearby islands, stripping away vegetation and carrying people out to sea. Another 4,500 people were scorched to death from the pyroclastic flows that rolled over the sea, stretching as far as 40 miles, according to some sources.

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WORD FOR TODAY

volcano
noun
A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or crust, which allows hot magma, volcanic ash and gases to escape from the magma chamber below the surface.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

 

Paul Reubens
(born August 27, 1952)

Paul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer, game show host, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. In 1982, Reubens introduced The Pee-wee Herman Show and it ran for five sold-out months.

Pee-wee became an instant cult figure and for the next decade Reubens would be completely committed to his character, doing all of his public appearances and interviews as Pee-wee. In 1985 Pee-wee's Big Adventure was a financial success and, despite receiving mixed reviews, it developed into a cult film. Big Top Pee-wee, 1988's sequel, was less successful than its predecessor. Between 1986 and 1990, Reubens starred as Pee-wee in the CBS Saturday-morning children's program Pee-wee's Playhouse.

In July 1991, Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida. The arrest set off a chain reaction of national media attention that changed the general public's view of Reubens and Pee-wee.

Sarah Chalke
(born August 27, 1976)

Sarah Chalke is a Canadian actress known for portraying Dr. Elliot Reid on the NBC/ABC comedy series Scrubs, Rebecca "Becky" Conner on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, and Stella Zinman in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. She has also had a recurring role in the third season of ABC sitcom Cougar Town.

Lyndon Baines Johnson
(Aug 27, 1908 - Jan 22, 1973)

Lyndon Baines Johnson, often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States (1963–1969)

After campaigning unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1960, Johnson was asked by John F. Kennedy to be his running mate for the 1960 presidential election.

Johnson succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, completed Kennedy's term and was elected President in his own right, winning by a large margin over Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election.

Tuesday Weld
(born August 27, 1943)

Tuesday Weld is an American actress. She began acting as a child, and progressed to mature roles in the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960. Over the following decade she established a career playing dramatic roles in films.

As a featured performer in supporting roles such as Play It As It Lays (1972), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1978), The Winter of Our Discontent (1983), and Once Upon a Time in America (1984).

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There is very little carbon in magma; human activity produces more greenhouse gases in one week than the combined volcanic eruptions of the last 50 years
--Unknown

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

    

Crime . . . And Punishment?

     

Tucson Weather Today

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While out for my daily walk, I espied a bird coming in for a landing on one of the buds of a tall Saguaro Cactus, so I pulled my little Canon camera out of my pocket and snapped a few shots. The first captured the bird, but it was too far away. So I dialed up the telephoto lens and took another one. But the bird had flown by then.

Bird On Cactus Flower

Cropped From Above Photo

Flowers Atop A Saguaro

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Either the crime rate in both Tucson and in the U.S. is getting higher, or the TV news shows are concentrating more heavily lately on crooks and criminality. Every day, it seems, reports of a murder or theft or the police apprehension of drugs and drug smugglers abound on the television screen.

Evidently, crime in all its varied nuances does pay; it pays the Media; it is supremely entertaining, you see.

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TRIVIA

A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, June 23 in 1992 Mafia boss John Gotti, who was nicknamed the "Teflon Don" after escaping unscathed from several trials during the 1980s, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on 14 accounts of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering. Moments after his sentence was read in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, hundreds of Gotti's supporters stormed the building and overturned and smashed cars before being forced back by police reinforcements.

Gotti was sentenced to multiple life terms without the possibility of parole.

While still imprisoned, Gotti died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002.

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WORD FOR TODAY

mafia
noun
-  A secret criminal organization operating mainly in the United States and Italy and engaged in illegal activities such as gambling, drug-dealing, protection, and prostitution.
-  Any of various similar criminal organizations, especially when dominated by members of the same nationality.

According to the classic definition, the Mafia is a criminal organization originating in Sicily. However, the term "mafia" has become a generic term for any organized criminal network with similar structure, methods, and interests.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Melissa Ivy Rauch
(born June 23, 1980)

Melissa Rauch is an American actress and comedienne. She is best known for her role as Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Clarence Thomas
(born June 23, 1948)

Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court. Since joining the Court, Thomas has taken a textualist approach, seeking to uphold what he sees as the original meaning of the United States Constitution and statutes. He is generally viewed as the most conservative member of the Court.

Valerie June Carter Cash
(June 23, 1929 - May 15, 2003)

June Carter Cash was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedian and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash.

She played the guitar, banjo, harmonica and auto harp, and acted in several films and television shows. Carter Cash was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2009. She was ranked No. 31 in CMT's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music in 2002.

Randall Darius "Randy" Jackson
(born June 23, 1956)

Randy Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, entrepreneur and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. Jackson has won a Grammy Award as a producer.

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The cure for crime is not the electric chair, but the high chair.
--J. Edgar Hoover

NASA TV
 

Mice, Men, Grapes, Wrath, And A Tree

     

Tucson Weather Today


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WARNING: Today is April 15

Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam

 

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While walking westward on the sidewalk that runs alongside Speedway Boulevard, I noticed one result of the recent high winds here in Tucson. One of the trees near the MaGee School pedestrian crossover had been completely uprooted.

This is my first shot

 

A closer closeup

 

An even closer closeup

 

Nature has its own methods of showing contempt for the planned plantings and other temporary works of puny Man. Or perhaps it is not contempt after all, but is instead, merely a monumental indifference.

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At The Writer's Almanac I read about The Grapes of Wrath. Paraphrased, it says that The Grapes of Wrath is a novel that tells the story of three generations of the Joad family, who lose their farm in Oklahoma and set off across the country for California, only to encounter extreme poverty and corrupt corporations trying to make a profit off them. The author, John Steinbeck, wrote the novel at an incredible rate, about two thousand words a day. He finished it in about five months. When he was done, he wasn't very satisfied with it, writing in his journal, "It's just a run-of-the-mill book, and the awful thing is that it is absolutely the best I can do."

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TWO MAJOR EVENTS IN HISTORY

On April 15, 1865 at 7:22 a.m., Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, died from a bullet wound inflicted the night before by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer. The president's death came only six days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox, effectively ending the American Civil War.


Also on this day, April 15, in 1912, the RMS Titanic, billed as unsinkable, sank into the icy waters of the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage, killing 1,517 people.

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WORD FOR TODAY

Gang aft agley
translation
oft go astray

From: To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery

(April 15, 1933 – May 18, 1995)

 

Elizabeth Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. The daughter of Robert Montgomery, she began her career in the 1950s with a role on her father's television series Robert Montgomery Presents. In the 1960s, she rose to fame as Samantha Stephens on the ABC sitcom Bewitched. After Bewitched ended its run in 1972, Montgomery continued her career with roles in numerous television films. In 1974, she portrayed Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and Lizzie Borden in the 1975 television film The Legend of Lizzie Borden. Both roles earned her additional Emmy Award nominations.

Roy Linwood Clark
(born April 15, 1933)

 

Roy Clark is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Roy Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre.

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson
(born 15 April 1990)

 

Emma Watson is an English actress and model. She rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series; she was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays. She starred in all eight Harry Potter films, alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint.

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev
(April 15, 1894 - September 11, 1971)

 

Nikita Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964.

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"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley."
--Robert Buns
    

Just The Facts Ma'am . . .

Tucson Weather Today

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A Delancey Place review of the book, 1616: The World in Motion by Thomas Christensen contains the statement taken from the book: "...Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) had compiled decades of data from his celestial observations..."

This made me wonder if the phrase, "had compiled decades of data" is correct or not. Is decades, being a measure of time, a proper container for compiled data? Or maybe it should be something like: "had compiled decades worth of data?"

I should look up the answer to that question.

Probably won't though.

Too lazy.

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While playing around with Photoshop Elements 2.0. I scanned into my computer an old black and white 5-by-7 picture containing images of four people. One of those people asked if I could crop out and feature only two of them. Below is the result.


There is no need to label the identities of the little boy and girl in the circa 1960s photo. They both know who they are.

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At The Writer's Almanac there is a fascinating short piece about Typhoid Mary. I had, of course, heard of Typhoid Mary but had never known the factual details behind the story. Give it a read and you'll see what I mean.

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There has been much written about the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman that took place on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida. Not all, but a great many facts about this incident have been revealed. And these publicized facts have sparked a great deal of controversy.




I would caution those who have had their ire aroused to wait a while before forming a definite conclusion about who is actually at fault for the situation. Frank Lloyd Wright (and others) have said, "The truth is more important than the facts."

To prejudge is to jump to conclusions, to make a hasty assessment, to presume, to presuppose -- and those who prejudge are, by definition, prejudiced.

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Word For Today

prejudice
noun
1.
an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
2.
any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
3.
unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.

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Davis-Monthan AFB wins installation excellence award. It is all over the local TV news -- Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, won this year's award and will receive $1 million for quality-of-life improvements.

WOW!

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On TV station KOLD news 13 Tucson, a headline banner displayed: Extra equipments from Iraq. I thought about it and wondered if the 's' at the end of the word equipment was a typo by the banner writer, a product of the banner writer's ignorance, or perhaps that the use of equipments has now become grammatically acceptable.

Not that it matters, I suppose. Who else but me would even notice? Or care?

There is more to life than picking nits.

Isn't there?

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Reba McEntire

Born March 28, 1955

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"Doubts often beget the facts they fear."
--Thomas Jefferson

An Extra Long Walk

Tucson Weather Today

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The weather was so marvelous this morning that I extended my daily walk for an extra half-hour and snapped a few photos along the way.

Here is the first one...

Looking North on Camino Seco at Speedway Boulevard

Tucson, Arizona

(Click each photo for larger view)

Santa Catalina Mountain Scene

Another Santa Catalina Mountain Scene

There are several more but that's enough for now.

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PZ Myers has asked his readers to write an essay titled Why I Am An Atheist which he will include in his blog. Well, since I am not an atheist, I cannot truthfully write such an essay because I am neither an atheist nor a theist... I am merely an evolved primate who does not know whether God, a god, or even a godlike creature exists... or not.

But I should be able to write an essay titled Why I Am Not An Atheist.

Perhaps I will do so.

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Reading, Writing, and Other Stuff . . .

The reading and reading of stories and stories again and again over the multiple years has affected me and still affects me in a two-fold way, attracting me to the positive pole of inspired emulation to bask in sheer admiration and utter awe of such artful word conjunctions, while simultaneously repelling me from the negative pole of fearful failure where the unlettered lout is rightly left to quake alone in quotidian darkness at night enclosed in a shroud of lightless fright.

Considering, for example:

Here is a short excerpt taken from Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien:

So Paul Berlin winged it. Flat out through the Anatolian flatlands and down the townless, lightless country toward the sea, hell-bent for water, knowing now the full meaning of desperado.

Clear, direct, incomparable artistry.

And that's all I have to say about that.

. . .

Yesterday was Sunday, a day of rest, so I sent myself out for a relaxing walk along a sand-packed rocky desert path with my camera to seek out some substance in nature's abundance of such.

Below are samples of what I saw along the way:

(Click each picture to see a larger view)

There are more, but . . .

Photos

I've added some new photos to my Arizona Pictures web page, and have twelve of them posted now. There are four pics to a page with a MORE link at the bottom of each page.

The original link is Arizona Pics for those who might be interested.

And that's about all I have for now.

Oh well, I've always heard that "less is more" or something like that.