A Good Ol' Movie Blockbuster

We saw The War Of The Worlds last night and it was most excellent. I loved it. Spielberg has finally returned to science fiction without his Mickey Mouse hat on.
It was a realistic and frightening movie.
The aliens started exterminating humans right off the bat and didn't stop until the end. There was no moralizing, no explaining, no tie-up-every-loose-end to make things pretty, no hero-saves-the-day... It was just one seat-of-your-pants ride through Hell for a guy and his two kids. The guy, played brilliantly by Tom Cruise, is an average Joe who's quite a bit of an asshole and a worthless father but who is quickly forced to grow above his selfish life in order to save his kids, however his transformation isn't full or complete; it's just as much as he can given the situation. The kids in the film play it extremely real also--no annoying movie-kid stuff, thank God.
Nothing seemed over-the-top. Things went just as you would think they would if some aliens came to wipe out mankind (assuming you've thought about that once or twice). Actually, the scariest part of the film was a scene where the family was trapped in a car in the middle of a chaotic, desperate mob intent on taking it away. Just gripping!

Thanks Steven, for showing how a master director can make people go WOW!








Now here it is, your url for the day:
John Stewart's Commencement Speech

Same-Sex Conjunction Junction

Canada has approved same-sex marriages.

This is one issue I truly haven't paid much attention to. The main reason is I've found my mate and have been happily married for 15 years now, so screw everyone else.

The same-sex issue is something that doesn't concern me much, however we do have a couple friends who are gay and who have been together for about 8 years now. They've never expressed a burning desire to get legally married or to enjoy all the legal benefits of such, but what if they did? Why would that be wrong? And shouldn't I be more concerned?

Like I said, I've never really bothered with the arguments against gay marriage. So, what exactly is the beef?

A quick search finds these arguments:
Marriage can only be between man and woman because children deserve a mom and dad (plus gay people are just full of "adult desire").

Same-sex marriage activism and homosexuals are evil, God said marriage is between man and woman, and children need a mom and dad.

Marriage is a fundamental human institution, if it is based just on 'love' then one could marry their mother, man/woman marriage promotes healthy procreation and homosexuals (this is funny) "are incapable of even engaging in the type of sexual act that results in natural reproduction", again one might marry their mother, allowing gays to marry might be worse than the sky-high heterosexual divorce rate and out-of-wed lock births going on now (what a strange logic game that argument is!), (here's another one) gays sometimes have been in heterosexual marriages before their homosexual ones ( ? ), gay sex leads to wild and crazy sex and diseases, (and from here the argument just goes gonzo with the evilness of gay life).

It's all just activist judges.

Marriage is all about the children, gay marriage is all about selfishness, and somehow gay marriage would be a slap in the face to failed heterosexual marriages (wtf?).

(Sound bites of all the above.)

(And I can't tell if this is for or against gay marriage!)


So the main arguments against gay marriage in summary: Bad for children, Selfish intent, Against God, Gays evil, Total activist issue, Fear of marriage to moms or cats.

Well, the religious arguments are moot because they have no place in law. The "bad for children" argument has no statistical evidence to support it (nor will it for a long time) and is further weakened by the high rate of heterosexual divorce. The "gay lifestyle is evil" argument is just evil bias in itself. And the activist argument pales in the light of right-wing activism.

The two interesting arguments seem to be the selfish intent one and the marrying anything one. The former has some merit but then you have to ask why many heterosexual people get married if not for selfish reasons (and often certainly not "to form a healthy union in which to raise children").
The latter argument seems like just a silly scare tactic. How would a person attempting to marry their mother, dog, brother, or ferret really stand up in a legal ceremony, and wouldn't that kind of thing be ridiculously easy to block?

To be honest, I will try and follow this debate more closely from now on, but nothing has convinced me yet that it's nothing more than religious clap-trap.

Is that bad?






Now here it is, your url of the day:
http://www.5ives.com/

No Easy Answers Please

I like to make fun of vigilante soccer moms and helicopter parents because, well... they deserve it.
But then something tragic happens like the deaths of two young teens who drowned here in Colorado last week while playing near a creek over on the front range. It was reported they were playing there right after a big downpour and got caught by the flooding creek. One body was found tangled in some trees by the mother, the other was found swept several miles downstream.

Maybe the parents were helicopter parents and maybe they weren't. The teens were doing what most teens do--what I used to do when I was a teen, what my kids will do when they are teens--and they had a tragic accident. If the parents had been helicopter parents, perhaps the accident wouldn't have happened. But then again, who knows? I don't think there's any easy answer.

I would guess that a helicopter parent who goes as far as to make their kid carry a walkie-talkie when they are playing in fast-food play area hamster tubes would be all that more devastated if that kid ever got injured or killed, especially if it happened right in front of their eyes. They would perhaps spend the rest of their lives tortured by "if only I'd have..." However, wouldn't any parent, helicopter or not, be tortured by that?
Again, no easy answer.

So, will these sobering thoughts slow me down from making fun of soccer-helicopter parents?

Forgive me for bringing up a cartoon, but even if you take away the animation then the story is as timeless as it is pertinent in the movie Finding Nemo. You certainly don't want any shit to happen to your kids, and you do your best to teach them how to stay safe. You can't help but keep one of your eyeballs trained on them as much as possible. But how far do you take it? Where do you draw the line where they are either allowed out in the world or bubble-wrapped on a shelf?

The answer may be a bit easier: you let them go over the line to the "out in the world" side... but not too far!






Now here it is, your url of the day:
The Oops List

What Follows The Age Of Information?

Things seem to go along in waves. There are periods where they become more outspoken, prominent, and limit-pushing, then there follows a period where they become shunned, oppressed, and dark.

Sexuality, for example, has mostly waxed in american culture over the past few decades (busting out during the 60's revolution), and now it seems to be waning (in great part due to this ultra-conservative soccer-mom government we have now, or perhaps because Britney Spears got pregnant and partytime is over).

Political agendas usually use fear to sway the mob and the routes of fear mongering can be extensive. Baseless aspersions can be cast making anything out to be quite evil the cause of all kinds of current societal ills. And this age of information allows the cultural atmosphere to be all the more palpable.

Ok, this is all quite obvious. My question is: are the waves a normal, necessary thing? Do there need to be periods of suppression to counter periods of expression? If there are not these tampering periods, will chaos bloom?
Or perhaps the question is: do the waves of cultural morality need to be so steep? Would a more open, less fear-mongering approach to public discourse allow these waves to flatten out a bit? Does the Age of Information make it easier or harder to manipulate the cultural atmosphere?

I've never taken a Political Science course. Perhaps all these questions are covered in the first week of study.





Now here it is, your url of the day:
http://www.factcheck.org/

Scientists And Computer Geeks I Salute You

I got an iPod this week and have been devoting my computer time to
trying to fill it up with music.
I dumped 250 CD's into it and barely filled up 30% of the crazy thing!

It's the most amazing thing in the world (this week, at least); I wouldn't
trade living in this time for anything!

What a wonder it is to be able to take a drive, think of some obscure song
you haven't heard in awhile, and be able to instantly play it.

It's just wow.

Thank you, geek people!





Now here it is, your url of the day:
http://www.trailertrashdoll.com/

Penn & Teller For President(s)

My new rediscovered heroes are Penn & Teller. I finally got a DVD set of their show Bullshit. It absolutely rocks!

Funny, smart, concise dubunking of modern flim flam!

I don't know why people who debunk con artists don't get more press, respect, or air-time. It seems like people who make kooky claims are allowed to build up billion-dollar industries, but the people who expose them barely get a flash bulb. It looks like P&T are changing all that.

Why people don't spend the time to investigate things before pouring their money into them is baffling.
Is it really true what P.T. Barnum taught, that people really want to be fooled?

That always begs the question: why are the same people careful with their money and scrutiny when it comes to buying a car?
Big money=ask questions; Nickles and dimes=fool me?






Now here it is, your url of the day:
See Like A Bee

Who Is Really The Brain Dead?

So the Terri Schiavo autopsy not only showed that she was brain dead but blind as a bat tambien!

Do you think that made any of her family and knee-jerk supporters feel bad about trying to keep that poor woman alive?
I'll bet it not only didn't prove anything to them, but they probably Bushitized* it into something better.

It's just odd that people sometimes refuse to trust reputable physicians or experts. It's also just plain, twistedly selfish to want to keep someone like Terri alive. The debate will continue with one side saying, "We told you so!" and the other saying, "This proves nothing!"
Thank goodness the American legal system listened to neither.



*Bush-i-tize--to take a negative or poor result and peddle it as the best result ever.





Now here it is, your url of the day:
http://www.badastronomy.com/

Health History Hypertext Hell

What future wonders will medicine bring?
Some things are so efficient and simple that they really haven't been improved upon much, such as the treatment of wounds with maggots or even with honey.

Other things have centuries of anecdotal evidence but have yet to fully shine in the light of objective science, like herbal medicine. It has made great strides in the past 20 years, but still has a long way to go. Select aspects of it, like antidotes to poisons, are fairly solid though.

It's hard to imagine that microbiology treatment is only a half-century old and that the simple practice of washing your hands was frowned upon a little over a century ago! It's also amazing that hospitals are such dirty places. We'll all be done in by the little guys someday.

And how about surgery? Are the days of tying knots almost over as holes become smaller and things less invasive? Will today's practices be looked upon from the future as absolutely barbaric?

Cancer treatment continues to advance steadily, but far too slowly for most people.

No matter what though, quakery will still thrive for a long time, leeches aside.


Say, do they still swear "by Apollo" when doctors take the Hippocratic Oath?

I SWEAR by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this Oath and this stipulation- to reckon him who taught me this Art equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance with him, and relieve his necessities if required; to look upon his offspring in the same footing as my own brothers, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or stipulation; and that by precept, lecture, and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the Art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to disciples bound by a stipulation and oath according to the law of medicine, but to none others. I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and in like manner I will not give to a woman a pessary to produce abortion. With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my Art. I will not cut persons laboring under the stone, but will leave this to be done by men who are practitioners of this work. Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick, and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption; and, further from the seduction of females or males, of freemen and slaves. Whatever, in connection with my professional practice or not, in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret. While I continue to keep this Oath unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art, respected by all men, in all times! But should I trespass and violate this Oath, may the reverse be my lot!

Of course not.





Now here it is, your url of the day:
http://www.gruntdoc.com/

Things Finally Look Grimm

After you have survived walking down that dark road of this summer's movie fare and have endured the insane screaming monkeys snatching at your eyeballs or the deadly creeping vines smothering your imagination, you will be rewarded my friend, rewarded by The Brothers Grimm.

Oh yes! Terry Gilliam is finally back after a long seven years!

Not only The Brothers Grimm, but later on this year he'll also release Tideland! That gives you plenty of time to read it first.

Inbetween those, there will be served the tasty Corpse Bride by Tim Burton.
And if Charlie And The Chocolate Factory doesn't blow, then you'll want to see it even more.


Yes my friend, it is a celebration for quirky fairy tales and unusual authors.

It is salvation from this SoccerMom world!






Now here it is, your url of the day:
The Lion King Theft

Terminal Specialness

It's always interesting to see rich and powerful people suckered in by the strangest things. I guess it shows how human they are.

Cultist movements are a good example. Take Tom Cruise and his love of Scientology. Now here's a young guy who is good looking, rich, a darn good actor, smart, etc. I have heard him wisely say that there are different factions of Scientology just like there are of Christianity. But given that, even if he believes in the most non-extreme form of Scientology it's still one prime, cult-tailored, wackjob set of symbolism! The sad part of Scientology is that its name suggests it is based on science.

One argument is: Hey, if extraterrestrial fiction works for him, why knock it?
Well, for one thing outrageous metaphors breed outrageous claims, and in extreme forms this is dangerous because it harms truth. It's also a small jump from cults to mainstream religion. Look at people trying to impose creationism upon the land. It's a friggin' metaphor--a lovely little creation myth! It belongs in bible school where you're supposed to learn the great spiritual meaning to be gotten from beautiful metaphors. Once you throw it out there as some sort of fact, the metaphorical function of it dies (along with your spirituality), and you spend the rest of your life annoying (or even killing) people over this dead metaphor.
How about I go around screaming that "The Lord is my shepherd" is not a metaphor, that it really means we should all put on sheepskin, get down on all fours, get into grass-eating groups?

But, I digress too much...

Another example is Madonna and her immersion into Kabbalah (I'm talking about the pop cultist form, mind you). Pop Kabbalah is tailor-made for people who want to feel special. Just like with Scientology, Kabbalah has secrets and levels that you can obtain only after so much money... uh, I mean time and practice is payed.
Kabbalah is interesting because it is actually full of simple spiritual principles that are useful and found in all religions. The gimmick is that you are told you won't understand them fully until some guru feels you are ready to. For example, if you read the sentence, "Life is the journey, not the destination" and 'think' that you know what that means, the guru will tell you that you really don't, but someday he'll let you in on the secret (if you give enough cash-ola). It's the dominatrix religion of the stars.






Now here it is, your url of the day:
Industorious Clock

Same League Or No Contest?

Church/State issues you don't see for some strange reason:

A legal battle to erect a stone monument dedicated to the scientific method in the lobby of a Baptist church.

A concerted movement to make all Bible schools teach evolution to children.

A Science-Based Initiative granting funds to help mentor youth into education and scientific careers.


I've sometimes asked my elderly patients what they think about the current boil of church/state separation and they initially seem to remember things being a lot worse in their day. A few put it like this: Back in the 40's and 50's they remember the 'feel' of the country being more Christian and right-wing oriented. The oppressiveness of the government was sometimes alarming, but oddly at the same time political issues are remembered being more isolated and less pervasive across the political landscape (is this because of a strong sense of camaraderie coming off of WWII or just time's effect on memories?).
Often, they would then bring up the pertinent example of McCarthyism and how frightening that was at the time. Could I imagine the absolute power of fear-mongering that Joseph McCarthy spun into a frenzy, one asked?

I asked what they thought of Bush and today's right-wing advancement. They seemed to be divided: a few thought today's atmosphere is tiddlywinks compared to back then, and a few thought it's far more secretive and unnerving.
At that point, many of them would slip solidly into their political berths.


I tend to see today's political atmosphere and church/state separation issues as more serious than they ever have been. I think I can imagine the disgusting whipped-up fear storm that McCarthy used for political gain.
But was the country as apathetic then as it is now?
Was it really more serious back then compared to now?

I'll keep asking, but probably only time will show the answer.
However, one important factor in it all is the Information Age. Has it made it easier or harder for cultist movements to invade the main society?





Now here it is, your url of the day:
Things That Don't Exist

Crimson Permanent Assurance, Part II

Who will win this growing, interesting war of prescription drug overpricing? The Bush-brash-piss-on-your-leg-and-tell-you-it's-raining pharmaceutical execs? Or the increasingly huge and influential population of elderly?

The issue seems to boil down to the fact that Americans spend more than twice the money on pills than do other countries.
Drug companies respond that this is needed because of the high costs of Research & Development and that they would have to stop developing new drugs if American pricing drops.

If the R&D dilemma is for real, then is it fair?

Or is the dilemma kinda fishy? How much exactly does the Pharm Industry spend on marketing compared to R&D? The numbers will never be truly known until some insider sneaks out a few private documents.

That day will be soon, I hope.




Now here it is, your url for the day:
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/

The Blackness Of Death Enhances The Colors Of Life...Unless You're The One Dying

When you hear words like "It is a good day to die", they are often inspirational. Although those particular words were supposedly Chief Crazy Horse's war cry, you can still apply them to daily life because of their striking bluntness.
Every day is a good day to die. When you think about it, what day isn't?
It is truly a warrior stance--an active, life-participatory, take-the-bull-by-the-horns stance.

The strange thing about inspirational quotes is that they come across a bit strange when you're dealing with a dying person. They're not really inspired to put it all into perspective or to be doing anything at all; they are dying.
Obviously it's different when comforting a healthy person at death's doorstep (like someone who just sustained a mortal wound), but when you are beside an ill person in the hospital and the end is near then inspiration gives way for comforting and acceptance. In fact, it is more likely to hear inspiration from the dying person themself than from anything you may offer.

Usually there isn't much to say at all. Death comes in various ways and everyone is different, but just the comforting presence of friends or family usually does much more than any words can.
Often, prayers are more for comforting those family and friends than for the dying person.

Perhaps I am just stating the obvious?
Anyway, we're all in it together, kid.





Now here it is, your url of the day:
Black Elk's Vision

Farting Cows: Innocent Bovines or Biomass Rebels?

In a recent Skeptical Inquirer there's a short little article about the Gaia Theory by Massimo Pigliucci (how cool is the name Massimo!?).

The Gaia Theory suggests that Earth's biomass (all the cellular life, decaying organic matter, etc.)--all of it is in a self-regulatory symbiosis with atmospheric gases. Which means if a volcano goes off somewhere and spews a lot of junk into the atmosphere, then Earth's biomass will change its gaseous input/output (very slowly, of course) to counteract the junk and return the atmosphere back to normal (a balance of delicious and nutritious gases, temperature, and sunlight).

Massimo focuses on Gaia's suggestion that Earth's biomass has some sort of consciousness to it. He rightly points out that there are many homeostatic systems, but there does not have to be any 'conscious' or purposeful intention to them.

When the Gaia Theory first hit the scene it certainly ran in New-Age glee with the thought that Life and Everything is all wrapped up in one tasty conscious burrito that seeks to keep its 7-11 heat lamp at a perfect temperature for self-preservation.
But now, perhaps that wowser part of the theory is being recognized for what it is, as Massimo points out, a cool metaphor to perhaps help formulate healthy attitudes but not too useful in practical planetary science.






Now here it is, your url of the day:
Adrian The Ageing Hippy

The Secret Of Kids' Attention

When I was young in the early Seventies my father got a wild hair and moved us to Phoenix, Arizona where he went into business at the Pop Shop, a sodapop company which made all flavors of pop. One of my best memories of Phoenix was the Wallace and Ladmo Show. I had collected a ton of cicada skins (the shells of nymph skin that the locusts leave stuck on trees and things as they molt) in a box to take in to the show-and-tell part of the program so I could get a Ladmo bag. But alas, I never made it.

I think I've already mentioned how my kids get bored with Sesame Street after a few minutes because it's... well, boring! The appeal of Pixar's movies, beside the great stories and animation, is the occasional line or joke that is often termed 'for adults', meaning a reference that only adults will supposedly understand thus making the movie enjoyable for them. However, more kids understand these things than you think.
In the same respect, the old Sesame Street wasn't butchered by a team of politically-correct child psychologists and thus was absolutely fascinating with its eclectic mix of creativity, but the new one is so focused, sanitized, and safe that it numbs the brain.

I remember Wallace and Ladmo knowing that the key to kids' interest is simply creativity and silliness mixed with a little bit of adult-world allure.
Mad Magazine always knew this secret too, though it went up a level and got a little racier.

Kids don't want their Bugs Bunnys to regress into baby-talk. It's the wrong direction.






Now here it is, your url 0f the day:
Is Bert Evil?

Please Don't Stick Your Face In Hot Lava

I think one of the most frustrating aspects of nursing are the noncompliant patients. These are the people who, when told not to jam chopsticks in their ears, are found ten minutes later screaming in agony and holding a bloody chopstick.

You can carefully and kindly educate patients about their disease or illness, but whether they choose to heed your words or not is up to them, obviously.

To add insult to injury, you sometimes get a patient like the one I took care of yesterday. This patient felt dizzy and demanded that we do something about it.
Well, when your oxygen saturation drops below 80% because you have taken off your oxygen to go downstairs to have a smoke, then the obvious "thing to do about it" would be to not smoke, stay in bed, and keep your oxygen on.

Oh what incompetent advice that appeared to be!

This patient immediately phoned their spouse to come in to give all the staff a good verbal berating and insist the doctor be called about it. The doc merely sighed and suggested we advise the patient to not smoke, stay in bed, and keep their oxygen on.

Of course, by that time the patient and spouse were now going off about the roommate's lack of enthusiasm regarding the patient's loud television listening skills.
In fact, they were so upset about this that they went downstairs to smoke.


Here's an old Onion article on the matter:

Nation's Experts Give Up: "From now on, you're on your own," say experts

June 16, Washington, DC -- Citing years of frustration over their advice being misunderstood, misrepresented or simply ignored, America's foremost experts in every field collectively tendered their resignation Monday.
"Despite all our efforts to advise this nation, America still throws out its recyclables, keeps its guns in unlocked cabinets where children have easy access, eats three times as much red meat as is recommended, watches seven hours of TV per day, swims less than 10 minutes after eating, and leaves halogen lights on while unattended," said Dr. Simon Peavy, vice-president of the National Association of Experts. "Since you don't seem to care about things you don't understand, screw you. We quit."
"My final piece of expert advice," Peavy added, "is that all of you people should just go f--k yourselves."
Michael Leland, until recently a Department of Energy advisor specializing in planetary energy-use infrastructures and a leading expert in petrochemical and fossil-fuel depletion, maintained that the experts' mass resignation is justified.
"Last year, I testified before Congress that at the current rate of consumption, the planet's supply of coal, natural gas and oil would be gone within 40 years, and they looked at me as if I was some sort of crackpot," Leland said. "What's the point?"
"We'll say it one last time before we pack up and go: In 20 years, you'll be up to your asses in old folks," a written statement from the National Advisory Council On Aging read in part. "Since America has not yet begun making preparations for the explosion in its senior population, we recommend that you begin research on federally funded, hydroelectricity powered 'eldercution camps,' where the teeming hordes of the aged can be disposed of quickly and painlessly."
According to Peavy, despite the vast amounts of scientifically proven and historically sound advice provided by the nation's experts, the National Association of Experts could cite no instances of advice being followed in the manner they had intended.
"Public reaction was favorable to the news that a glass of wine a day can help prevent heart attacks," Peavy said. "Of course, most people figured that eight glasses of wine a day must be better than one. And many Americans reacted well to the news that eggs probably wouldn't kill them outright. Aside from that, they've pretty much ignored every word we've ever said concerning just about everything."
Because the experts' advice was barely followed, the mass resignation is expected to have little impact on the lives of most Americans.
"Go ahead, America," Peavy said. "You don't need us. Watch all the topsoil go down the Mississippi. Transport your children in baskets on top of your SUV deathmobiles. Keep playing with your cute and cuddly pal, the atom. Press your nose against the TV screen for even more educational "3rd Rock From The Sun" enjoyment. Use plentiful gasoline to burn book-readers at the stake. Don't eat anything but sugared pork lard. Do whatever you want."
Despite its negligible impact on the population at large, the sudden dearth of experts is expected to be devastating for the American media, particularly TV newsmagazines, which have come to heavily rely on experts for their incisive, time-filling punditry.
"How in the world are we supposed to do a story on how the Internet is changing the face of Christianity without Internet and Christianity experts?" said Dateline NBC executive producer Russell Ross. "How can we report on the stress-relieving impact of whale songs without top psychotherapists and marine biologists to offer their perspective? Without the insight of professors and best-selling authors, a TV special report has no credibility. It may well mean the end of American telejournalism as we know it."
According to FDA spokesperson Jonathan Landau, the exiting advisors will be missed, but the nation must move forward.
We, of course, are deeply saddened to lose America's most knowledgeable individuals in every field," Landau said. "But at the same time, it's important to recognize that their advice, however well-informed or well-intentioned, was almost always impractical."
Landau said he plans to fill his own vacant advisory positions with "positive-minded, people-friendly sexperts, advice columnists and astrologers" as soon as funding can be arranged.
-- Copyright 1999 Onion, Inc.

Did You Understand The Music Yoko?

One of my favorite albums to take on a long car trip is Roger Waters' The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. It's a concept album that he had the idea for back in the seventies while with Pink Floyd, but they decided to go with The Wall instead. You can hear glimmers of Hitchhiking peeking in and out of The Final Cut, though.

Hitchhiking just has a certain feel to it. The wandering plot of the thing takes place only within a few minutes of some mad bugger's dream about his girlfriend and a few travels in Europe and America.
For me it envokes the early morning atmosphere of some long Canadian/US highway running through a thick wet forest where bikers, truckers, and muddy hitchhikers are the lonely denizens inbetween rest stops.

The guitar work on the album by Eric Clapton and David Sanborn's soaring sax just punctuate Waters' scream-singing perfectly. Then you've got all the curious things to it like voices provided by Jack Palance and Cherry Vanilla.


Of course, any car trip can't do without a good Pink Floyd album.







Now here it is, your url of the day:
http://www.geraldscarfe.com/

In And Out Of Eternity

We went on a beautiful road trip this week around the Land of the Gods from Durango through the Four Corners down onto the high desert to peek over the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We came back around Shiprock and then through Chama and the La Manga pass up into forever.

Two of the most beautiful drives in America are through the woods going to the Grand Canyon's North Rim and from Chama through the San Juan Mountains which peaks out at 10,200 feet at La Manga pass. Absolutely breathtaking.

It is always very comforting to be around the Navajo country with its rock formations. At every turn you see something new from sublime eon-polished domes to frozen cthulhu-like chaos to dried rivers of behemoth blood to angelic sun-kissed spires to tortuous aneurysms that dive in and out of the landscape.
You feel at one with time. Eternal.

We rafted from a dam down the magnificent Glen Canyon with its thousand-foot sheer walls. We saw eagle-nests, but no eagles this time. A few weeks earlier my father watched an eagle dive-bomb a condor.
There is a petroglyph site half-way through the trip that's a bit suspicious, but otherwise it was just amazing.

Truly a visual feast.





Now here it is, your url of the day:
http://www.jotto.com/