Beware the bots!

Every day a new disclosure and more dismay and revulsion. Today dutch newspaper NRC.nl lets us in on the United States government's latest dirty little secret; they have infected 50,000 computer networks with infectious and malicious botnets merely awaiting their master's signal to create mayhem and destruction across the web

NSA SPECIAL DEPARTMENT EMPLOYS MORE THAN A THOUSAND HACKERSThe NSA computer attacks are performed by a special department called TAO (Tailored Access Operations). Public sources show that this department employs more than a thousand hackers. As recently as August 2013, the Washington Post published articles about these NSA-TAO cyber operations. In these articles The Washington Post reported that the NSA installed an estimated 20,000 ‘implants’ as early as 2008. These articles were based on a secret budget report of the American intelligence services. By mid-2012 this number had more than doubled to 50,000, as is shown in the presentation NRC Handelsblad laid eyes on.
‘SLEEPER CELLS’ CAN BE ACTIVATED WITH A SINGLE PUSH OF A BUTTONThe malware can be controlled remotely and be turned on and off at will. The ‘implants’ act as digital ‘sleeper cells’ that can be activated with a single push of a button. According to the Washington Post, the NSA has been carrying out this type of cyber operation since 1998.

Who will protect us from our own government? Thank you Edward Snowden. With every new disclosure, I am more appreciative of the necessity of your lifting the veil on our country's arrogance and perfidy. Come back, cut a good deal and run for office. It is obvious that the NSA is totally out of control. I hope that Feinstein, Mike Rogers and all the other surveillance enablers are soon handed their walking papers.

Boogie Woogie Blues - Hollywood Fats Band with Roy Brown

Blue Heron Blast readership favorite shots - 2013

Here are some of the blast population's favorite pictures taken this year. Please do not use these images without the photographer's permission. Let me know if you want me to inquire. I will continue to add to this post as long as I am able, so please keep sending me images!  Once again, very nice stuff.

Kip Peterson

Zion National Park - Sigma DP2- Merrill

 

Ted Fleming

Beauty and the beast

Mike Reardon

Oceanside Pier

Jonathan Hill

Ladder, Santa Fe

Bill Olson

From April to November, almost every time I rode my bicycle to Oceanside I took a 10 second video with my iPod. This is a montage of frame captures from most of those clips.

Kerry Vernon Johnson

Jeanne

Robert Sommers

Ken Seals

Jon Harwood

Ricardo Neumann

Thai parking space

Len Baron

St. Marks Place

Randy Walters

Brett Stokes

Lou Nidorf

Dominic Grossi

Lena Leichtling

Tim Hardin

Lake on the mountain

Nihau overlook, Kauai

This has been a very productive year blogwise, at least in a number's sense. Not sure if it has been very satisfying on a personal level. Haven't written any decent fiction in two or three years. The Blast has reverted to a pretty clinical and reactive beast. Just haven't felt much like sharing so I am reduced to playing current events referee and not dishing much personally. Not feeling it.

I am reminded of one of the i ching commentaries, the third line of the 31st hexagram hsieh, a passage that I have often paused to consider:

First, a man should not run precipitately after all the 
persons whom he would like to influence, but must be able to hold back 
under certain circumstances. As little should he yield immediately to every 
whim of those in whose service he stands. Finally, where the moods of his 
own heart are concerned, he should never ignore the possibility of inhibition, 
for this is the basis of human freedom.

Sorry about the paucity of communication of late. And what has been a slow drip is about to grind to a dead stop. I am flying to Canada and upon my return will soon go under the knife. Hope that I can type again before the end of the year. We will see. Probably one or two at the end of next week.

In any case, I really enjoyed your best of 2012 pictures last year and would like to encourage all of you to send me a favorite picture or two from this year. Don't have to be artistic or professional, maybe a snapshot, or even a drawing. Let's try that again.

Thanks to all of you for reading, thanks to the occasional commenters, thanks to all of you who make my life such a blessing. Let's remember the immortal words of Robert Hunter, "without love in the dream, it will never come true."

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Got this message and photo from Ted this afternoon:

Took this picture looking the opposite direction of where you took a picture of Leslie and me with Niihau in the background on the 550 near the call box pull off.

Bombs away

"The majority in the Senate is prepared to restore the Senate's traditions and precedence to ensure that regardless of party, any president's judicial nominees, after full and fair debate, receive a simple up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. It's time to move away from ... advise and obstruct and get back to advise and consent." Mitch McConnell 2005

The pissing match over the filibuster was a laughable study of hypocrisy on both sides. Flip back to 2005 and the roles are completely reversed. However I have to go with the dems on this one. It is a President's prerogative to fill executive offices, including justices.

The reality is that the 2nd district Court of Appeals is the second most important court in our land. There is a reason that the Republicans made such a strident stand in blocking the three nominees. Their insistence on not filling the vacancies because of weak caseload is laughable. They understandably do not want to alter the court's ideological balance which now stands four to four. They do not want a court that decides so many constitutional issues to tilt left. But that is what a President gets to do when he wins an election.

Republicans promise hell to pay when the roles get reversed, which history tells us is eventually bound to happen in our divided country. But defenders of the nuclear option say that things couldn't get any worse than they are at present.

A pessimist will tell you to be careful when you say something like that, things can always get worse. But it is hard to imagine a scenario where things could be as bad as they are now, with the minority power having such a power to stop any movement or progress in its tracks.

Advise and consent is one thing, the Republicans have overplayed their hand and if Obama is smart he will pack as many vacancies as possible before the next election. We are engaged in a major game of tit for tat as the distance between red and blue grows ever wider.

Sunny Side Of Heaven

Dial a swami

I shan't bore you too much with the details, time being assuredly short for all of us at present, but I recently traveled to see the proverbial yogi at the top of the mountain. It is hard to find a bona fide card carrying guru these days, let me tell you, and just do yourself a favor, save yourself the hassle and take my word for it.

I trolled the Khumba Mela, thumbing through the various gurus, fakirs and charlatans that reside in the icy waters of the Ganges, nagualed with Castaneda, double domed with Owsley, played ping pong with Ouspensky and his funny sidekick Gurdjieff. That rascal Yenur in New York bored through my skull with his little third eye gazing trick. Wasson thought I might enjoy a little fungal chat with Maria Sabina but honestly the woman scared the heck out of me and I hooked the first cab out of Huatla. Being a seeker can be exhausting.

All nice people but nothing really seemed to click. In matters of marriage and enlightenment one can't be too careful. So I did what any smart soul seeking siddhis and satori would do in the present day and age, I hit the internet. Swami, swami, swami, there it was. Bingo. I found the magic website. I am sworn to secrecy about some of the minutia but I believe that the chap was located somewhere near Cleveland, in a strange and wondrous land called Shaker Heights.

The enlightened one sorted through all of my lives, past, present and future. I am now officially certified through seven bardos and a thousand incarnations, whichever comes first. Read my palm, cleansed my aura, even gave me a manicure. And just when I was feeling like I was riding pretty high on my psychic high horse, I even got a few words of wisdom, something that I have been thinking about quite a bit of late.

It's not really about what you may have attained and achieved in this life time. Stop and also consider the gifts you have squandered.

Cephas & Wiggins

Wickigram

After we returned from Kauai I wrote about the pitched battle over GMO seed crops and pesticides that had divided the island. Wicki sent this along the other day:

For this island, an unbelievable struggle.  I know you understand that , culturally, stepping into conflict is not encouraged......other more subtle problem solving processes exist to preserve the peace in this tiny place.  Well, the people stood up to big biotech's and biochemical's push to divide and conquer did not prevail.....there is a long road ahead, but I am so proud of our people.  Love, Wicki

Bill 2491 Passes into Law Bill Marks a "Turning Point" in Dealing with   the Impacts of the Chemical Industry on Kauai On November 16, Kauai County Council voted to override a Mayoral veto of Bill 2491.  The bill, which is now law, mandates pesticide disclosure by the agrochemical companies on Kauai, and establishes moderate buffer-zones between their operations and schools, hospitals and residential areas. It also requires a health and environmental impact study. The rulemaking process will begin immediately, with strong commitment from the Council and community to work collaboratively with the administration in order to ensure that enforcement and implementation are effective. The Mayor is also being encouraged to continue his efforts with the State towards voluntary disclosure in the immediate term, until more comprehensive and mandatory disclosure takes effect. The final passage of Bill 2491 into law is being called a victory for people, health and the environment in the face of incredible pressure from the world's largest chemical corporations.  The chemical companies have fought strongly against Bill 2491, threatening to sue Kauai, and using divisive and misleading tactics.  As bill supporter Fern Rosenstiel commented: "It's remarkable how hard we've had to fight simply for our right to know what pesticides are being sprayed in massive amounts right next to homes and schools. We've met every possible obstacle, but we've been persistent and stayed grounded in our values of protecting our people and land." Dustin Barca, pro-surfer and pro-fighter who has been working to raise awareness about the chemical industry in Hawaii, stated: "Through conscious actions and dedication from the people of Kauai, Bill 2491 has moved us towards a healthier future. We have asserted our right to self-determination, especially when it comes to health and life."      Randi-Li Dickinson, whose family is being impacted by the chemical companies' pesticide use, expressed encouragement and gratitude for the progress made: "Now we will be able to get the information we need to move forward. This is the first step to understanding the impacts of these dangerous pesticides on the health and safety of our keiki and the land." Despite differences in opinion, all Council Members and the Mayor reiterated their commitment to taking action to address concerns around the chemical industry. While the bill itself has been controversial on Kauai, the island's people have continued to express a marked amount of unity in the values of prioritizing protection of health and environment. There has also been a strong desire and steady call to maintain the aloha spirit, and to insure that differences in opinion do not create divisiveness. As Council Chair Jay Furfaro commented prior to the override vote, about a yellow police barricade tape that had been placed across the council lawn to divide bill supporters from opponents: "... I went down ... with the police and I removed the tape and the divider that was downstairs. [applause] That is something that Kauai is known for." West side resident Kaulana Poe testified at the final vote, "Aloha and respect are why I am for this bill... People have gotten sick, and we would like to make sure that it's not because of them [the companies]. And that is just real simple. [It's about] showing aloha and respect for us."  #    #    #

Sittin' on a fence

11.20.13

Black kid gets caught with crack, he is going to Rikers Island. If you are a Republican congressman like Florida's Trey Radel, you get a year's probation. What makes it doubly sweet is that this is one of the guys that wants to drug test welfare recipients. Typical GOP hypocrite.

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Obama may be a decent orator but he definitely stinks as a manager. Horrible with relationships, even with his own party, he apparently never asked the most important question regarding the ACA rollout, "Will this thing work?" I thought that his statement last week was so weak, "I wanted to fix health site myself but I don't write code." Talk about passing the buck. Word is that there were only 10 programmers trying to write the entire system which is simply ludicrous considering the size and scope.

It is a shame because the goal of insuring the many uninsured people in this country is a good one. But now it gets lost in the miasma of technical difficulties. Gives the people who hated the concept something else to harp about and there is definitely plenty here to criticize.

My own plan is going to cost me an additional 26% next year. I meet my health advisor tomorrow. My coverage will be much less broad on the exchange, with a higher deductible. Obama's pronouncements that people would be able to keep their existing health plans will be remembered for a long time, further damaging his already suspect credibility.

Of course Republicans, champions of repeal and replace, really have nothing to replace it with. The cost of funding high risk pools would be as expensive and unachievable as their prospects for coming up with a realistic immigration plan. Don't hold your breath waiting for either to happen.

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The Canton, Ohio Walmart's food drive to help poverty stricken employees is certainly interesting. Kind of reminds me of the McDonalds directive a few weeks past instructing their employees how to get food stamps. Or maybe sell their christmas presents. Perhaps if they paid their employees a sufficient livable wage...

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I had a conversation with the guys at coffee a few weeks ago that stuck. Sometime back the government was giving away surplus cheese to the poor and indigent. A guy pulled up in his cadillac and said that he paid ample taxes and had earned that cheese four times over, driving away with the jack. The crux of their argument was that he deserved it more than some poor schmuck. And I guess that is the dividing line, would you give the cheese to somebody that was actually hungry or some guy that said that he had earned it?

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Debbie Davies

11.18.13

It has only been a week since I have written but somehow I feel like I am so far removed that I have forgotten how to speak. My four show grind has come to an end and I am mentally exhausted. Toast. The shows were fruitful and I am both satisfied and proud of my ability to manufacture business at a time when many are having a tough go. Nevertheless I am seriously frayed.

One of the dealers, after a miserable three show run with zero sales, was found unconscious in his hotel room, the victim of possibly a heart attack or stroke. Stuff definitely wears on you when things aren't going the right way. Luckily this guy's sister had the authorities bust down the door and he is going to make it. Our best wishes to him.

Not going to go into a lot of the minutia of my week. Big Hillsborough client bounced a check. The Collector antique magazine ran a story on me and my upcoming surgery that probably divulged more about my personal history than was necessary. A red tailed hawk spent the better part of one afternoon inside the exhibit hall, which has an official new moniker, the Sleep Train O'Brien Building. Least it wasn't brought to you by Tidy bowl.

Had a lot of people come up and introduce themselves as regular readers of the blast and I want to thank all of you for tuning in. You probably have something better to do.

I am officially resigning from at least the administrative duties of my photo group, Fallbrook Shutters. At times it was like herding cats and I don't need it right now. Need to focus on my own stuff at the moment.

My brother is about to go through a pretty serious medical procedure so soon I will be off to Toronto. Then I come back and get my own surgery and an indeterminate decommission. Toronto, what a mayor. Makes Bob Filner look like a choir boy.

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The microphone on my new phone went dead and I need to now go and exchange it. I will try to write something more salient and personal the next go round. Bye for now.

Stan Getz and Chet Baker

Tin to Tiffany

Lot of cops around of late. Something's been going down. Got a call on my way home that cops chased a car up on Vista Del Rio and two guys jumped out and ran for it into the barranca. One got caught but I don't know about the other guy, who was supposedly somewhere in the brush headed in my direction.

A prudent person would probably go get the handgun. I'm too lazy but I think I did lock the door.

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Along with cataracts and shoulder aches, I think I may be starting to lose my hair a bit, an ever petulant prostate. This is the point in the story where I usually start beating my breast and bewailing the onslaught of age and my imminent decline. But the truth is that many of my pals have fifteen or twenty years on me and seem to be doing just fine and don't bitch so much. So I will stfu.

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They delivered the Los Angeles Times instead of the Union Tribune on sunday for some reason. What a pleasure it was to read a decent newspaper again. Our newspaper, owned by one Doug Manchester appears to be swallowing up a bunch of local weeklies for some ungodly reason. Control all the media outlets and you can shape the information stream. Word is that they tried to buy the Reader and Holman said no, bless him.

I have a lot of friends that won't even look at the Union, they loathe Papa Doug so badly. I hear that he has even purged all the anti takeover comments on the Sign on San Diego website.  The U-T is pretty much close to unreadable, serving the most self serving corporate and parochial agenda.

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The cost of the extended Y DNA test has dropped below $500 and I am going to do it, the first L792-a1member on the planet to have his DNA analyzed at this level, with over 10,000,000 chromosomal base pairs charted. My research will hopefully uncover new downstream single nucleotide polymorphisms (snp's) and provide new information about my branch of the E3b clan, the Sea People.

I, of course, share this haplogroup with my more famous genetic cousins Napoleon Bonaparte, Hitler, Louis XVI and Stalin, I was obviously born to a despot be.

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Miley Cyrus may not be the most talented performer but she sure has a keen flare for packaging, self promotion and media manipulation. We haven't seen this sort of thing since, well Lady Gaga, a woman that actually has some talent as well.

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credit:Momsdemandaction

Worst story of the day. Worse even than smelloscopes and throwing puppies in the river.

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Del Mar this weekend.

Robert Palmer

11.11

If there is one thing that I hate these days its politics. Almost as much as I hate religion. More on that later. They had a couple elections last week. The guy that wanted to outlaw blow jobs, Ken Cuccinelli, lost in Virginia. Go figure.

Down in Tony Soprano country, Republican moderate Chris Christie won. Big. 22 points including a lot of bipartisan democratic support. This guy is one stuffed pork chop away from cardiac arrest, don't know if he'll even make it to the starting gate but he is an interesting figure. And everybody loves a fat guy, call it the John Belushi, Candy, Farley syndrome.

Christie made headlines and raised the ire of fellow repubs when seen playing footsie with President Obama during Hurricane Sandy. He is a very calculating sort, can play the bipartisan angle when it suits him and so many of his party don't trust him. Inhofe came out swinging against him today, Perry yesterday. Not conservative enough supposedly for the base, although he tacks pretty hard right on most social issues including the gay thing and abortion.

I think that he would be a formidable candidate in a general election but don't think that a Republican party dedicated to such an extreme social agenda would ever allow this guy to make it through the primaries. Good thing. He is also a believer in immigration reform, apostasy to your Steve Kings and Louie Goobers.

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I heard various conservative talking heads say that Cooch failed in not going on the offensive on the social issues, he allowed himself to be defined by the opposition. From Politico:

“Being pro-life is a majority position in this country or at least close to it,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brad Dayspring. “Candidates have to explain their positions without getting stuck getting nitpicked to death. … We fully expect the ‘war on women’ politics to be used and exploited by Democrats, [and] we fully expect our candidates to be fully prepared for it.”Democrats took to the Virginia airwaves and the campaign trail this fall to note Cuccinelli’s opposition to abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, and to say he backed legislation that would have effectively banned certain kinds of birth control, drawing on his record in the statehouse and as attorney general.“Really, given that God does judge nations, it’s amazing that abortion has run as far and foully as it has,” Cuccinelli once said, one of his many comments seized on for campaign ad fodder.

For some reason I found this line interesting, "a majority position or at least close to it." Hey, it's either a majority position or its not, barring a statistical tie of course. And like the old saying says, if you are not the lead dog, the scenery never changes. Enjoy the view. Americans are a curious bunch, they say that they are pro life but they consistently vote to allow women the right to choose. But by all means double down on the conservative social stuff, people just never get tired of it. LIsten to Gary Bauer. Time to tack right.

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I went out for dim sum with some friends yesterday that were approaching giddy about Hillary's chances. I feel pretty lukewarm on everybody, so sick of a failed system that only promises more acrimony and stalemate. Something is clearly not working.

I got a call from the Democratic National committee looking for money and I laughed at them and hung up, but not before letting them know that I was leaving the party and registering as an independent. I am sick of voting for the lesser of two evils, incredibly disappointed in this president on so many levels, but principally his treachery in regards to civil liberties. Could never pull the lever for Senator Feinstein again either. Who seems to be much more concerned about the evils of international spying then what might is obviously happening to Americans.

Elizabeth Warren's name came up and native american issues notwithstanding, she seems a more interesting candidate than another Clinton.
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I went down to the Veteran day rally at the Village Square and just like the swallows at Capistrano, I wasn't there two minutes before I heard the Veteran speaker start talking about his coming to Jesus. I hear it every year at the memorial. I am all for veterans but if I need testimony I am sure that I can find it at a church. We got a mess of them around here.

Dexter Gordon Quartet

Boytalk

Rogers - Pittsburgh Post Gazette

One of the most riveting stories of late is the drama going down in Miami with the Dolphins, the Incognito/Martin saga. For any of you that don't keep up with such things, Jonathan Martin was a biracial offensive lineman on the Fins and  has alleged that team mates have both bullied and extorted money from him. Things got too strange for him and he either had enough and left or thought the time was ripe to cash in, depending who and what you believe. But he apparently couldn't take it anymore.

The Dolphins portray Martin, who left the team and sought counseling and a high priced attorney, as a somewhat soft human being, who was both strange and aloof and never quite fit in with the boys and the frat house atmosphere that apparently is the NFL locker room. A beta male in a world of alpha gladiators.

Management is alleged to have asked one piece of human excrement named Richie Incognito to toughen Martin, a Stanford grad born of Harvard grad parents, up. Incognito has long been known as an asshole, a dirty player and now even worse, with hushed up sexual molestation allegations coming to the fore.

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I don't know what the dealio is down in Miami. The NFL's upcoming review should be illuminating. Jonathan Martin had the foresight to tape some quite damning messages he received, including racial epithets and one suggesting that his mother get slapped and that a bunch of teammates were going to have unprotected sex with his sister. Now boys will be boys, especially when they are the coddled neanderthals that make up the National Football League. People in combat like to play rough. Martin couldn't handle it. The average NFL player, or at least the majority that I have seen interviewed, dismiss the banter as normal sophomoric hijinx.

Be that as it may, Martin, a cerebral type who may have been a loner, couldn't hang with it. And subsequently  blew the doors off the locker room, landing another blow on a league that has already had another player arrested for murder this year.

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In a way I think that Martin resembles Edward Snowden, they both joined an old boys club but never really fit in and both ultimately lifted the inviolate institutional veil of secrecy in a very calculating way and now no one can ever put poor humpty dumpty together again.

Real hard to keep anything secret these days. Watch out for those intellectual dudes that can't seem to get along. They might be taking notes. You can bet we will have more Snowdens and Martins coming down the pike real soon. Some people just have no respect for tradition.

Out Of The Blue

Day at the Drags

I went with some friends to the NHRA Winter Finals drag races in Pomona yesterday. I struggled with my gear all day, evidently have a contact/mount issue with the 500mm Sigma. Not super happy with my shots but will play around with them when I have some time.

In any event I had a nice time, ate a few Pinks kraut dogs, dug the crowd.

It was hot so I bought a cap and also a Moon Speed Equipment t-shirt. My wife said that I instantly lowered my i.q. 40 points.

Change The Locks

Shalom, shalom, Vay en shalom?

Earlier this week, Israel announced its intentions on building 3500 new homes for settlers on disputed land in the occupied West Bank. This continues a pattern of behavior that has been going on for some time. The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry said something yesterday that took courage and which I happen to agree with.

"Let me emphasize that the position of the United States is that we consider now, and have always considered, the settlements to be illegitimate."

Good for Kerry. Count me in as one who feels that the Netanyahu government has long played a duplicitous game, paying lip service to a two state solution, while working like hell to ensure that whatever is left for the Palestinians is neither contiguous, workable or acceptable.

Abbas is the best chance the Israelis will ever have at achieving a real and lasting peace with their neighbors and it looks like the Israelis are going to squander the opportunity with their gamesmanship and deceitful antics.

The West Bank is not Gaza and the Palestinians that live there are human beings and not animals. While the interests of Israel and the United States often do overlap, there are times that they do not. I for one, resent the Israeli Prime Minister trying to manipulate our government and political process while engaging in dishonest behavior in regards to the settlements that is subverting any real hopes for an eventual lasting peace.

Blind Willie Johnson

Stargazing with Ted

My friend Ted in Kauai is an ardent student of the night sky. He sent me these posts this week.

This is the view of Venus as seen from Salt Pond, Kauai at it's greatest elongation...

A Venus Watching Guide from EarthSky.org website:

Bottom line: Venus – the third brightest celestial object after the sun and moon – is now reaching a milestone as the evening "star," adorning the western twilight and evening sky after sunset. Watch the dazzling planet Venus on the evening of November 1, 2013, as it reaches its greatest elongation from the sun. In other words, it is at it's farthest distance from the Sun, now.

Five weeks after Venus’ greatest evening elongation, this planet will stage its greatest brilliancy as the evening "star."  Dec. 08, 2013.

At this juncture, Venus’ disk will be about 25% illuminated in sunshine and 75% covered over in planet’s own shadow. Then five weeks after displaying its greatest brilliancy (or ten weeks after reaching its greatest evening elongation), Venus will swing between the Earth and sun.

Now you will have something to reflect on after watching a beautiful sunset, then seeing a beautiful planet change it luminosity and peak in 5 weeks. 

Happy Observing!

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Late afternoon sun was low enough to frame with the top of an Ironwood tree to add to the sunspot on the left side of the orange orb.

Post sunset, Venus appears with the new Moon and ready to set into the horizon. Still lots of colors in the sky mixed with the distant clouds for a great contrast and mood.

Moving down the coast, as Venus and Moon lowered into the horizon, they both cast their own glowing reflection on the ocean before the Moon is obscured by the clouds and is barely visible. All those beautiful stars and the Milky Way rotate with them for an ever changing view of our solar system.

Have a great midweek!

Aloha,
TED

I'm coming home - Jackshit

I saw this guitar player Val McCallum with Lucinda Williams and he was simply incredible. Some say that this is the best band playing in Los Angeles, on any night, whomever happens to be at the Forum. Pete and Davey have played with Elvis Costello for ages. Val plays with a bunch of performers, including Jackson Browne.



You don't miss your water.

and counting...

Driving North

I have been in the habit of getting off the highway on my frequent trips to the Bay Area and driving up the coastline from Monterey to San Mateo. It is just as fast to take the coast route from my pitstop in Del Rey Oaks (with great friends Vlad and Natasha) and a heck of a lot prettier. I took off a day earlier than usual this time and somewhere north of Pigeon's Point noticed a rock covered with birds and seals a hundred yards or so off the shoreline.

As I walked out to the islands I thought about how stupid and possibly dead I would feel if I was to encounter a rogue wave, all they found left from that Sommers kid was a soggy Nikon, you know how the headlines would read...

While I usually drive up to the 92 and cut over to San Mateo, this time I took the road though the San Gregorio Valley and up past La Honda, a road that cuts through the redwoods and terminates at Skyline Drive and the now closed Bella Vista. A very pretty day, indeed.

Unbroken Chain - Christian Poppelreiter

Terrapin

Taking care of business

I feel pretty good, three quarters of the way through my four show gauntlet. Happy about a lot of things. The cortisone shot immediately helped my shoulder pain.

Not going to Yellowstone proved a blessing, I have made very productive use of my time, finding two important estates and knuckling down and creating opportunities for myself. One might eventually prove quite lucrative. Sent a few things off to auction.

Had an italian modern lamp go off at Rago's far above estimate on tuesday, making me feel like I would probably be okay throughout whatever the world dishes out through my recuperation. Makes up for the painting I overpaid for at Moran.

I didn't have any great big sales in San Francisco but kept grinding and managed to make a little money spotting value, buying and quick selling. Last thing bought, first thing sold, a truism in my business. I'm just trying to stay busy and productive and it is paying off at a time when some of my peers and pals are unfortunately having a tough time. My egos not so very big that I don't realize that it could easily be me eating it at the moment.

Not getting rich but getting most of my bills paid.

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Dodged a catastrophic bullet after hearing reports that I might have a serious water leak under my building. Turned out to be a neighbor's running toilet, thankfully.

I stopped off in Fresno to see my father at the Alzheimer's Home yesterday. It was fantastic. He actually recognized me and spoke my name, the first time in over two years that has happened. Recognized both a letter a and an aleph I had drawn. I speak to him in english, hebrew and even throw in a little yiddish, trying to trigger some long lost memory and brain function. This cognition has been missing for a while and it is a joy to experience it, no matter how temporary it may prove to be.

My dad, an expert mathematician, took me to Vegas when I became of age and taught me the game of blackjack. I am not sure that he understood but yesterday I regaled him with tales of my recent blackjack winnings and conquest. Afterwards I received a warm and loving kiss.

Doesn't get better than that.

My stepmother is once again, an angel. Best wishes to her daughter Sarah, who recently got married. Need to see Buzz soon in Toronto, who is experiencing his own tsuris.

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Food in San Francisco largely sucked. A friend who shall go nameless, raved about the Shanghai Dumpling Shop in Milbrae. The Yelp reviews said that the staff was curt and surly and they were right. It would have been alright if the food was good but unfortunately it wasn't.

The xiao long bao were acrid and astringent. So much better on Convoy. Cold duck plate was okay, everything else was marginal.

Strange but on the whole I prefer the asian food down here, especially the sushi. Big city sushi portions are minuscule or maybe  mix in weird stuff like fruit. Had a rotten italian dinner at La Luneta in San Mateo, roast pork wrapped with bacon and then accompanied by a vile western barbecue sauce. Completely inappropriate. Decent food at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, Phil Lesh's restaurant and a fantastic meal with Loughlin at Creola. Best filet anywhere.

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The Fallbrook Shutters fourth annual photography show opened Friday at the Pinnell Gallery. I haven't seen it yet, although I vetted it, being the founder of the group, but am told that it might be our best exhibition yet. Very proud of my photographers, the abbreviated group this year includes Mike Reardon, Ken Seals, Lou Nidorf, Kip Peterson, Dixon Fish, Bill Olson, Jon Harwood, myself and Fred Young. The show runs through the month, please stop by and check it out if you can.

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Best wishes to Jim Swan, a dear friend who recently underwent successful back surgery.

Robbie Kreiger

The Doors' Robbie Kreiger is playing some dates with Government Mule. My friends Melissa and Gary were lucky enough to catch the show in the Bay area the other night and said they were great. A very underrated musician, Kreiger.

 

Gov't Mule w/Robby Krieger...Love Me Two Times

http://www.youtube.com/v/o2Eqx8wkE4s?autohide=1&version=3&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=Qtd1ADgQRb0Nwfz6H1n54w&autohide=1&autoplay=1&feature=share

The Doors' Robbie Kreiger is playing some dates with Government Mule. Melissa caught them in the Bay Area the other night and said that they were great.

TUESDAY WEIRDNESS

Don't clench your butt cheeks in Deming, New Mexico.

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Far right's favorite historian blames global warming on god's abortion curse.

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GOP candidate thinks that gay people need to go back where they came from, places like California or Vermont.

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Lots of weird stuff out there, Toronto mayor does smoke crack, Philly cops break into a woman's house and steal stuff, Psycho on Miami Dolphins involved in sick extortion harassment caper against teammate.

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Don't ever call the cops if a loved one is acting mentally unstable. They will probably just shoot them.

John Muir Trophy

The show is going pretty well up in San Francisco. Beautiful weather, some good sales, a nice meal or two. Another day left and I am fairly content right now.

I can't wax too prosaically since I am supposed to be shmoozing the public at the moment but wanted to share a fantastic find with you.

I bought this extraordinary large silver plate trophy during set up at the show, a samovar made in 1887 that was awarded by the Parkhead Ornithological Association to one John Muir on three separate dates, in October of 1899, 1900 and 1901. It originally came out of a Hillsborough estate filled with wonderful things.

As a birder and also a person with a love for both nature and history I feel quite privileged to own this piece, for however brief a time it may be in my possession. I thought I better snap a picture with my phone before it flies away.

I am actually thinking of contacting the Crocker or a similar museum and seeing if they are interested in purchasing it if it doesn't sell here.

Very cool thing.

Postscript 11/3/13

The urn sold to a fellow dealer, Bryn Bannatyne Snyder and her mother. Their respective father and husband was a full blooded Scot who often walked the John Muir Trail. His ashes will lie in this vessel for perpetuity. A perfect ending for the piece.