Mono Lake © Robert Sommers 2026
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
To my valentine
I first met my lovely wife Leslie twenty years ago. I was married to another woman at the time. The wrong woman. Leslie was managing a shop called the Good Karma Trading Company back then in San Diego. She had moved out years prior to Coronado from Detroit where she had worked as a Disc Jockey and Program Manager. She was a part of the famous Idiot Show with M. Dung. Good Karma was a cool shop that sold eastern objects and concert tickets.
I walked into her store and my heart sunk in her presence. I had never met a more radiant, angelic beauty. Her dark long hair, her perfect fair skin, the most heavenly eyes in creation. I was smitten. Like I have never been smitten in my life. And I am still smitten.
We developed a platonic friendship, she having no interest in a married man, and me at least partly successfully burying my longing and not throwing off any signs of being in a long failed marriage.
Leslie had been wooed by many suitors, including some rich doctor types but had never assented.
Life, as it is prone to do, managed to turn itself upside down and put me out on my street. The ex called it quits while I was on a trip to the middle east. God bless her. I cried and licked my wounds for a few days and then called Leslie up and arranged a date.
Things didn't go so well at first and she thought I was a jerk but my strategy was to show her the bad side first, thinking things could only improve from there. Her mom told her to give me another shot and thankfully she did.
She suggested that I go someplace and get clear and clean and I went to Kauai, hiking into the Kalalau for a week and bathing under waterfalls. She met me in San Francisco upon my return and the rest as they say, is history.
We have now been together for twenty great years. Some of them have been tough, we suffered through a bankruptcy and financial distress, but they have all been great years. We respect and admire each other and she chooses to mostly overlook my many deficiencies. We are soul mates and mirrors and sympatico down to our distaste for onions and our common love for purple.
Leslie is the rare woman who combines exceptional beauty with common sense and a great mind. She is fiercely loyal and has a nurturing heart and helps many in need.
We have raised some fantastic cats and dogs and developed a wonderful community of friends around ourselves. Things haven't always been easy but we have enough love and respect for each other to make it through the tough times. Back to back, she is the perfect person to face life's struggles with and to enjoy its pleasures.
So I am sad to be apart from her on this Valentine's Day, and now proclaim my never ending love, fealty and admiration. I know how lucky I am to have found a partner for life.
I walked into her store and my heart sunk in her presence. I had never met a more radiant, angelic beauty. Her dark long hair, her perfect fair skin, the most heavenly eyes in creation. I was smitten. Like I have never been smitten in my life. And I am still smitten.
We developed a platonic friendship, she having no interest in a married man, and me at least partly successfully burying my longing and not throwing off any signs of being in a long failed marriage.
Leslie had been wooed by many suitors, including some rich doctor types but had never assented.
Life, as it is prone to do, managed to turn itself upside down and put me out on my street. The ex called it quits while I was on a trip to the middle east. God bless her. I cried and licked my wounds for a few days and then called Leslie up and arranged a date.
Things didn't go so well at first and she thought I was a jerk but my strategy was to show her the bad side first, thinking things could only improve from there. Her mom told her to give me another shot and thankfully she did.
She suggested that I go someplace and get clear and clean and I went to Kauai, hiking into the Kalalau for a week and bathing under waterfalls. She met me in San Francisco upon my return and the rest as they say, is history.
We have now been together for twenty great years. Some of them have been tough, we suffered through a bankruptcy and financial distress, but they have all been great years. We respect and admire each other and she chooses to mostly overlook my many deficiencies. We are soul mates and mirrors and sympatico down to our distaste for onions and our common love for purple.
Leslie is the rare woman who combines exceptional beauty with common sense and a great mind. She is fiercely loyal and has a nurturing heart and helps many in need.
We have raised some fantastic cats and dogs and developed a wonderful community of friends around ourselves. Things haven't always been easy but we have enough love and respect for each other to make it through the tough times. Back to back, she is the perfect person to face life's struggles with and to enjoy its pleasures.
So I am sad to be apart from her on this Valentine's Day, and now proclaim my never ending love, fealty and admiration. I know how lucky I am to have found a partner for life.
Friday, February 12, 2010
The sun also rises...hopefully
Faithful blast readers know that I love a good quote. Twain and Will Rogers are titanic quotesmiths. But my new champeen is Hemingway.
I was searching for a quote and Ernie's little truisms just came spilling forth from the display screen like freshly poured cream.
I include a few for your amusement and reading pleasure.
A man's got to take a lot of punishment to write a really funny book.
An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Never confuse movement with action.
Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.
The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Develop a built-in bullshit detector.
The first draft of anything is shit.
I was searching for a quote and Ernie's little truisms just came spilling forth from the display screen like freshly poured cream.
I include a few for your amusement and reading pleasure.
A man's got to take a lot of punishment to write a really funny book.
An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Never confuse movement with action.
Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.
The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Develop a built-in bullshit detector.
The first draft of anything is shit.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Mr. Magoo
I left Fallbrook this morning after a hearty breakfast at the Fallbrook Cafe. The sweet owner, Helena, gave me cookies for the ride and wanted to make me a hot sandwich for lunch. Gratis. What a great town.
My back is locked up again, only the sacral pain has now transferred to the left side. Have a variety of lumbar pillows but seven hours in the car driving north was bound to not help things much. Stopped at the Whole Foods on Michillinda in Pasadena for a pee and bought some Cal Mag citrate, which helped last time. Popped a couple ibuprofen and torched a medicinal bowl in the Sears parking lot.
I drove through Santa Clarita and thought about how interesting the land formations are there, with all the evidence of seismic upthrust. Would be such a great area if we could get rid of all evidence of people. All was uneventful until it started to pour buckets over the Grapevine. Passed the gorgeous Vista del Lago at Pyramid Lake. All the hills were green and there was a nice sprinkling of snow near Gorman. My gas gauge was near empty and with minutes to spare pulled off at a Valero Gas Station instead of my normal Flying J at Frazer Park. Paid exorbitant prices when I realized that I ponied up an extra 25 cents a gallon for gas while I attended to my bladder.
I got back on the freeway and braved the rain which was now coming down even harder when I realized that I was now passing a beautiful lake on my right. Well that's curious. I've been driving this road for years and I don't remember another lake? I suddenly had the realization that I had been traveling the wrong way and had actually taken the south onramp. So I got to travel the Grapevine not once but three times for a total of an extra 46 miles. In the blinding rain.
Drove up Highway 5 until the Lost Hills exit, where James Dean met his eventual maker. Gorgeous clouds and rainbows all day, only stopped once for a picture and missed some stunning shots because I couldn't pull over. I made it to my inebriated friend Cam's shop in Salinas and will camp out here for the night.
My back is locked up again, only the sacral pain has now transferred to the left side. Have a variety of lumbar pillows but seven hours in the car driving north was bound to not help things much. Stopped at the Whole Foods on Michillinda in Pasadena for a pee and bought some Cal Mag citrate, which helped last time. Popped a couple ibuprofen and torched a medicinal bowl in the Sears parking lot.
I drove through Santa Clarita and thought about how interesting the land formations are there, with all the evidence of seismic upthrust. Would be such a great area if we could get rid of all evidence of people. All was uneventful until it started to pour buckets over the Grapevine. Passed the gorgeous Vista del Lago at Pyramid Lake. All the hills were green and there was a nice sprinkling of snow near Gorman. My gas gauge was near empty and with minutes to spare pulled off at a Valero Gas Station instead of my normal Flying J at Frazer Park. Paid exorbitant prices when I realized that I ponied up an extra 25 cents a gallon for gas while I attended to my bladder.
I got back on the freeway and braved the rain which was now coming down even harder when I realized that I was now passing a beautiful lake on my right. Well that's curious. I've been driving this road for years and I don't remember another lake? I suddenly had the realization that I had been traveling the wrong way and had actually taken the south onramp. So I got to travel the Grapevine not once but three times for a total of an extra 46 miles. In the blinding rain.
Drove up Highway 5 until the Lost Hills exit, where James Dean met his eventual maker. Gorgeous clouds and rainbows all day, only stopped once for a picture and missed some stunning shots because I couldn't pull over. I made it to my inebriated friend Cam's shop in Salinas and will camp out here for the night.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Carry Me
Beach Boys, Beatles, CSNY, the list of premiere rock harmonizers is a short one. Maybe the Band? Who am I forgetting?
Whiney Bob blues
I take off in the morning for the Bay Area. Get to set up on a concrete floor in a large cold barn in the rain and seduce bored eleanor rigbys into buying my wares but really they are there for the walk and it's most probably cheaper than a theater ticket. Nothing feels fresh so I will have to repackage but the threads are starting to show and people seem to want to be entertained with new tricks in some novel way. Hope I can get through the Grapevine and it doesn't start freaking snowing or I go the slow way up the 101 and stop at the greasy spoon in Gilroy because it's my greasy spoon and there is something to be said for familiar ritual, I drive into the expensive gas station because I have done it before and it is imprinted in my neural network and I wasn't carjacked last time after all, my back is sore already and I haven't even sat in the van yet. The electronic doors are broken and it will cost real dough to reboot so I leave it. Still haven't fixed the roof either, if this show sucks and there is always that weird evil feeling that maybe I sell nothing and just stand there and seethe and hate humanity but if nothing sells, I start selling guitars pronto, of course all markets are dead and now europe is going into the shitter as well. And I can always tapdance. Minstrel Bobby's medicine show. Sarah Palin knows how to fix this country like it's written on the back of her hand, I can't wait. Jane M.M. told me last year that I was mixing up it's and its, the former it is the latter possessive and never apostrophied and for that I am eternally grateful. So I throw myself on the mercy of the good lord (lordette) and wait to see if I will be rewarded like a good little boy or get the lump of coal, of course its always my attitude, you are all just bit characters in my solipsistic screenplay. and I need a new agent. Central casting? Will stay in touch unless I get homicidal. Life's jackboot slowly crushes my larynx whilst the cicadas sing their timely ode to reveille. Weeds are growing tall with the rains. Off to the crusades and the sky is always falling.
There is a police helicopter circling my block. It has been orbiting for about 20 minutes. Apparently there is a robbery suspect on the loose. Great Fun! We have had a rash of robberies this past couple weeks, including the Wells Fargo with its particularly nasty teller. Suspect 5'5" tall mexican, mid twenties - somebody said great that only hits about 55% of the town demographic.
I put a positively perverse early piano cut on the blog today from Jelly Roll Morton. Truly raunchy, mysoginist and not for the faint of heart. I pulled it after I heard the whole thing through but not wanting to be a censoring prude, furnish the link and let you make your own consensual choice in the matter. That's how we roll in the vanguard of the new democratic party.
There is a police helicopter circling my block. It has been orbiting for about 20 minutes. Apparently there is a robbery suspect on the loose. Great Fun! We have had a rash of robberies this past couple weeks, including the Wells Fargo with its particularly nasty teller. Suspect 5'5" tall mexican, mid twenties - somebody said great that only hits about 55% of the town demographic.
I put a positively perverse early piano cut on the blog today from Jelly Roll Morton. Truly raunchy, mysoginist and not for the faint of heart. I pulled it after I heard the whole thing through but not wanting to be a censoring prude, furnish the link and let you make your own consensual choice in the matter. That's how we roll in the vanguard of the new democratic party.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Animalzoo
Somebody sent me a link to the cool website urbanhawks. Chronicles the narnian type struggle of the wild animals (non biped type) to reclaim New York City.
Where I live the coyotes are like pigeons but I guess it's all about context. I sent the link to Stan and he sent me another similar link from his friend Cal, birds of central park.
I am a regular visitor to naturalist Monika Wieland's excellent Orca Watcher blog.
I will have to take pictures of the empty hawk's nest in the sycamore tree. All the leaves are gone and it looks lonely and forlorn. I wonder if any one of the three offspring will come back and use the nest this year. Watching the hawks grow up was the highlight of 2009, not that there were so many. I have seen the juveniles in the valley once or twice in the last couple of months.
It has been steady rain. We invited a few friends over to open a special bottle of wine at the gallery last night but most couldn't make it. Had a fairly ribald and profane time with those that did. Bit rocky today.
Tracy just sent me another great avian link, Palemale.
This guy of course, is one of mine. Don't believe he was a redtail, he was smaller and showed up about a month after the other four left the valley. Maybe a red shouldered, will have to check.
Saw an osprey several months ago. Outrageous white head with a black bandit's mask strapped across his eyes. Incredibly beautiful bird.
Renee said that these corks aren't really engaged in rough sex because she is still wearing her olives.
Where I live the coyotes are like pigeons but I guess it's all about context. I sent the link to Stan and he sent me another similar link from his friend Cal, birds of central park.
I am a regular visitor to naturalist Monika Wieland's excellent Orca Watcher blog.
I will have to take pictures of the empty hawk's nest in the sycamore tree. All the leaves are gone and it looks lonely and forlorn. I wonder if any one of the three offspring will come back and use the nest this year. Watching the hawks grow up was the highlight of 2009, not that there were so many. I have seen the juveniles in the valley once or twice in the last couple of months.
It has been steady rain. We invited a few friends over to open a special bottle of wine at the gallery last night but most couldn't make it. Had a fairly ribald and profane time with those that did. Bit rocky today.
Tracy just sent me another great avian link, Palemale.
This guy of course, is one of mine. Don't believe he was a redtail, he was smaller and showed up about a month after the other four left the valley. Maybe a red shouldered, will have to check.
Saw an osprey several months ago. Outrageous white head with a black bandit's mask strapped across his eyes. Incredibly beautiful bird.
Renee said that these corks aren't really engaged in rough sex because she is still wearing her olives.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Burning Bacon
"Money is the mother's milk of politics." Jesse Unruh
Murtha did it. Lott made it a fine art. Congressional pork feeds are nothing new and an entirely non partisan sport. Alaska led the nation last year with $221 million in earmarks, or $322 per capita. Hawaii, at $302 million in earmarks, ranks No. 2.
But there is something truly audacious and vomitous about Senator Richard Shelby's (R. Alabama) plan to stop government in its tracks over the Obama Administration's decision to cancel a few wasteful defense bills that benefited his state.
Shelby, a Democratic turncoat turned Republican, clearly shows his treasonous roots in placing a blanket hold on 70 of the President's nominations, an exercise that aims to grind the government to a halt.
He is mightily steamed over the administration's decision to stop a $35 billion contract to allow Northrop Grumman and EADS North America, not Boeing, build an Air Force refueling tanker, as well as the squelching of an FBI explosives testing center that has not been built despite Shelby earmarking $45 million for it in 2008. Of course, Northrop Grumman is a longtime Shelby campaign contributor and the project would provide about 1000 new jobs in Alabama. EADS is a subsidiary of a large foreign defense company that would assemble the parts in Alabama. They have spread money all around the thicket of late, channeling some contributions through the Federalist Group.
Boeing Co. successfully challenged the Air Force's decision in 2008 to award the $40-billion deal to the Northrop-EADS team partly because of allegations that changes made to the evaluation criteria during the bidding process benefited the winners.
He says that "The Department of Defense must recognize that the draft Request for Proposal (on the tanker proposal) needs to be significantly and substantively changed." He is trying to frame it as a national security issue. So it's just a little hometown, parochial, selfish, old fashioned pork roast. Play it my way or I throw a monkey wrench into the gears and no one can play. The podunk Senator from a lard encrusted southern plantation either gets it his way or he takes his baseball bat and goes home. No matter what the experts in the Pentagon say we really need. No matter what sacrifices we all must make to somehow reclaim fiscal solvency and sanity.
Murtha did it. Lott made it a fine art. Congressional pork feeds are nothing new and an entirely non partisan sport. Alaska led the nation last year with $221 million in earmarks, or $322 per capita. Hawaii, at $302 million in earmarks, ranks No. 2.
But there is something truly audacious and vomitous about Senator Richard Shelby's (R. Alabama) plan to stop government in its tracks over the Obama Administration's decision to cancel a few wasteful defense bills that benefited his state.
Shelby, a Democratic turncoat turned Republican, clearly shows his treasonous roots in placing a blanket hold on 70 of the President's nominations, an exercise that aims to grind the government to a halt.
He is mightily steamed over the administration's decision to stop a $35 billion contract to allow Northrop Grumman and EADS North America, not Boeing, build an Air Force refueling tanker, as well as the squelching of an FBI explosives testing center that has not been built despite Shelby earmarking $45 million for it in 2008. Of course, Northrop Grumman is a longtime Shelby campaign contributor and the project would provide about 1000 new jobs in Alabama. EADS is a subsidiary of a large foreign defense company that would assemble the parts in Alabama. They have spread money all around the thicket of late, channeling some contributions through the Federalist Group.
Boeing Co. successfully challenged the Air Force's decision in 2008 to award the $40-billion deal to the Northrop-EADS team partly because of allegations that changes made to the evaluation criteria during the bidding process benefited the winners.
He says that "The Department of Defense must recognize that the draft Request for Proposal (on the tanker proposal) needs to be significantly and substantively changed." He is trying to frame it as a national security issue. So it's just a little hometown, parochial, selfish, old fashioned pork roast. Play it my way or I throw a monkey wrench into the gears and no one can play. The podunk Senator from a lard encrusted southern plantation either gets it his way or he takes his baseball bat and goes home. No matter what the experts in the Pentagon say we really need. No matter what sacrifices we all must make to somehow reclaim fiscal solvency and sanity.
Hendrix does Walmart
The Jimi Hendrix estate has allowed the first release of his music in 40 years,Valleys of Neptune. Atlantis meets acid. Ho hum.They plan on releasing the music through Walmart.
The "Valleys of Neptune" collection includes 12 tracks recorded during his last recording sessions while he was working on his posthumously completed "First Rays of the Rising Sun." It features studio versions of Hendrix’s covers of "Bleeding Heart" and Cream’s "Sunshine of Your Love," as well as rerecorded versions of classics "Fire," "Red House" and "Stone Free."
I listened to the title cut and his version of "Bleeding Heart". Not bad. I guess his sister Janie is in control of the whole gig. Hits the stores on March 9th. Will be fun to hear the other stuff.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Feral Beagles Terrorize New York
Tip of the hat to Roy Cohen for this one.
A band of wild beagles is scaring residents on part of Long Island, WABC-TV reports — even though it’s nothing new.
Dot Faszczewski, of Orient Point, was walking her dog, Trapper, when she encountered two or three of them.
“I could hear them coming towards me, it was a ferocious kind of barking,” she said. “I quickly grabbed my dog and came running into the house, just as we got in the dogs jumped at the door. I thought it was just some wolves coming at me.”
The report noted the beagles have been a problem for many years — the result of dogs being abandoned by hunters for failing to meet “rabbit-catching quotas.”
Area shelters have been trying to round up the beagles, socialize and rehabilitate them and find them adoptive homes. Reports of the beagles being aggressive don’t surprise shelter officials.
“Certainly if they’re out in a pack and their starving and their freezing they’re going to become aggressive,” said Pam Green of the Kent Animal Shelter in Calverton. She said her shelter takes in about 40 beagles a year.
County Coroner Richard "Rick" Kluszewski cautioned,"These hounds would put the fear of god in any sane man. Once they get the taste of human flesh, there's no more lethal enemy than a beagle. Give me a good AKC trained bitch and I'd put her up again' a mountain lion."
Residents are advised to stay in their homes and not to try to tackle the lop eared assassins on their own. Apparently masked beneath their cute pint sized exterior is an advanced and very lethal killing machine.
Sheriff Mulloy said,"All my officers receive a minimum of 40 hours in Beagle defense training. This ain't kid's stuff." Residents who encounter the canine executioners are urged to call the authorities at their earliest opportunity.
Speaking your mind
There was a fantastic study published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine that I was alerted to by the Huffington Post. It is titled Willful Modulation of Brain Activity in Disorders of Consciousness and authored by Martin M. Monti, Ph.D., Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse, M.Sc., Martin R. Coleman, Ph.D., Melanie Boly, M.D., John D. Pickard, F.R.C.S., F.Med.Sci., Luaba Tshibanda, M.D., Adrian M. Owen, Ph.D., and Steven Laureys, M.D., Ph.D.
The study took 23 patients in vegetative states of consciousness and 31 that were minimally conscious and gave them a baseline MRI. They then trained them to visualize two specific mental images to answer their questions.
Of the 54 patients in the study, five were able to willfully modulate their brain activity to answer questions.
Here is the abstract of the paper:
ABSTRACT
Background The differential diagnosis of disorders of consciousness is challenging. The rate of misdiagnosis is approximately 40%, and new methods are required to complement bedside testing, particularly if the patient's capacity to show behavioral signs of awareness is diminished.
Methods At two major referral centers in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Liege, Belgium, we performed a study involving 54 patients with disorders of consciousness. We used functional magneticresonance imaging (MRI) to assess each patient's ability to generate willful, neuroanatomically specific, blood-oxygenation-level–dependent responses during two established mental-imagery tasks. A technique was then developed to determine whether such tasks could be used to communicate yes-or-no answers to simple questions.
Results Of the 54 patients enrolled in the study, 5 were able to willfully modulate their brain activity. In three of these patients, additional bedside testing revealed some sign of awareness, but in the other two patients, no voluntary behavior could be detected by means of clinical assessment. One patient was able to use our technique to answer yes or no to questions during functional MRI; however, it remained impossible to establish any form of communication at the bedside.
Conclusions These results show that a small proportion of patients in a vegetative or minimally conscious state have brain activation reflecting some awareness and cognition. Careful clinical examination will result in reclassification of the state of consciousness in some of these patients. This technique may be useful in establishing basic communication with patients who appear to be unresponsive.
This type of study shows just how far this cutting edge research has come and gives hope for families with living comatose or vegetative relatives. Also an even stronger appreciation for the breadth of the human spirit and the reach of the human mind. You have to wonder how many lights may have been mistakenly turned off that still were burning and perceiving their world?
The study took 23 patients in vegetative states of consciousness and 31 that were minimally conscious and gave them a baseline MRI. They then trained them to visualize two specific mental images to answer their questions.
Of the 54 patients in the study, five were able to willfully modulate their brain activity to answer questions.
Here is the abstract of the paper:
ABSTRACT
Background The differential diagnosis of disorders of consciousness is challenging. The rate of misdiagnosis is approximately 40%, and new methods are required to complement bedside testing, particularly if the patient's capacity to show behavioral signs of awareness is diminished.
Methods At two major referral centers in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Liege, Belgium, we performed a study involving 54 patients with disorders of consciousness. We used functional magneticresonance imaging (MRI) to assess each patient's ability to generate willful, neuroanatomically specific, blood-oxygenation-level–dependent responses during two established mental-imagery tasks. A technique was then developed to determine whether such tasks could be used to communicate yes-or-no answers to simple questions.
Results Of the 54 patients enrolled in the study, 5 were able to willfully modulate their brain activity. In three of these patients, additional bedside testing revealed some sign of awareness, but in the other two patients, no voluntary behavior could be detected by means of clinical assessment. One patient was able to use our technique to answer yes or no to questions during functional MRI; however, it remained impossible to establish any form of communication at the bedside.
Conclusions These results show that a small proportion of patients in a vegetative or minimally conscious state have brain activation reflecting some awareness and cognition. Careful clinical examination will result in reclassification of the state of consciousness in some of these patients. This technique may be useful in establishing basic communication with patients who appear to be unresponsive.
This type of study shows just how far this cutting edge research has come and gives hope for families with living comatose or vegetative relatives. Also an even stronger appreciation for the breadth of the human spirit and the reach of the human mind. You have to wonder how many lights may have been mistakenly turned off that still were burning and perceiving their world?
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Devo
There are watershed concerts in every young rocker's life. One of the pinnacles for me was seeing Devo at the California Theater in San Diego in 1980. Full pandemonium complete with concertgoers mobbing the stage and doing swanees into the crowd. Most of the Devo videos on Youtube have crappy sound and this one is no exception. I saw them many times and you almost had to be there. Somehow this fits into my recent genetic narrative. Enjoy.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Hairless Apes
Like a celt striking off a shard of flint, my dreams of pleistocene parentage have been somewhat dashed. No neanderthal free loaders will be showing up uninvited to crash the thanksgiving meal this year. I posted the following question to the E M-35 phylogeny haplogroup project on the double helix website and received the attendant response:
azurebird
Nucleotide
Re: INFO: E1b1b1-Unclustered Group
I am new to the whole genetic pursuit and have some general questions. I am a jewish man, kit #167732, an E1b1b1*. I have the 25 marker test and am awaiting my 37 marker results. I only have one exact 12 marker match, possibly two. When I compare genetic matches in Y search, I find that the match 2v3rk, is shown as an unknown haplogroup as is the other unknown, 7bf8h, who happens to be a Cromagnon found in England 256/9. My wife thinks this accounts for my primitive table manners but I am serious. Ancestral State DNA is one thing, but this is beyond old school. Can you tell me anything about my cluster? Do I need deep sub-clade testing or will the 37 marker test be sufficiently indicative of the V business? There is another 8 marker test but the alleles are pretty downstream, y3jqw. Should I infer that I am of an unknown upper paleolithic sub clade? Ug.
UXGVH Sommers Plock, Poland 14 25 13 9 16 19 11 12 12 13 11 30 16 9 9 11 11 20 14 20 30 14 14 15 17
7BF8H cromagnon 256/9, England 12 9 9 11 14 20 14 14 11 (the cromagnon's available values got shifted upon pasting but they do match up identically with my alleles.)
Re: INFO: E1b1b1-Unclustered Group
« Reply #18 on: Today at 10:52:04 PM »
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Your 8 out of 25 marker match with the haplotype labeled cromagnon in Ysearch is interesting but I don't think we can rush to make any conclusions until we know if these values come from a real sample and what does the cromagnon label mean?
Ysearch is now known to have a lot of made-up haplotypes and any matches you find there have to be taken with a grain of salt. On the other hand, if you look for matches in our project's database you can be pretty sure that your near matches are indicative of a possible common ancestor. Please go to the following page and in the genetic distance box (step 3) select 5 and then click the Show button (step 5)
http://www.haplozone.net (page deleted for privacy)
Among your near matches are several gentlemen who have been tested as M34 positive at 2 and 3 steps, which allows us to predict with a high level of certainty that your haplotype belongs to the same clade (E1b1b1c1*-D1) as them. The D1 suffix attached is an in-house cluster designation developed by Elise, that help us to further classify or group similar haplotypes by their allele numbers.
So, to answer your question, I think your 37 marker upgrade will only confirm what we've seen so far and no deep clade test is necessary at this point. Your wife can rest assured that indeed you're a modern 21st. century man. Welcome again!
Victor
postscript: found another cromagnon sample with a lot of similarities tonight 2/3/10 Just a coincidence I am sure:
Comparative y-DNA Results
| User ID | Last Name | Origin | 3 9 3 | 3 9 0 | 1 9 | 3 9 1 | 3 8 5 a | 3 8 5 b | 4 2 6 | 3 8 8 | 4 3 9 | 3 8 9 | 1 | 3 9 2 | 3 8 9 | 2 | 4 5 8 | 4 5 9 a | 4 5 9 b | 4 5 5 | 4 5 4 | 4 4 7 | 4 3 7 | 4 4 8 | 4 4 9 | 4 6 4 a | 4 6 4 b | 4 6 4 c | 4 6 4 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UXGVH | Sommers | Plock, Poland | 14 | 25 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 30 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 14 | 20 | 30 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| CJWJ5 | Cro- Early Europeans | 900/9 Q and T across Western Europe and Americas, Italy | 13 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 |
Comparative y-DNA Results
Postscript II 2/04/10 - got my 37 marker alleles back today. Dinosaurs and cavemen have sort of vaporized off my match chart like gorillas in the mist. Have one exact match, a fella up in Seattle, all the way through all 37 markers.
In comparing 37 markers, the probability that ------- and Robert Sommers shared a common ancestor within the last...
COMPARISON CHART
| Generations | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 4 | 83.49% |
| 8 | 97.28% |
| 12 | 99.55% |
| 16 | 99.93% |
| 20 | 99.99% |
| 24 | 100.00% |
Monday, February 1, 2010
Sunday Stroll at the Farmer's Market
The little princess, un chien francoise.
Tired little staffordshire.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Family Business
Having to hear about another person's genealogy and family history must be a bit like rooting through a stranger's underwear drawer. Extremely personal at times, mostly boring, and not stimulating in the least. Long time readers will hopefully agree that I have tried to keep my personal and commercial business to a minimum on the blog, notwithstanding my usual groans about how sucky the economy is.
On the other hand, the internet allows us to use wondrous communication tools that were undreamed of even a few years ago. It is a treasure trove of information. There is so much information waiting mere keystrokes away. Yesterday, I found two accounts for my late paternal grandfather Israel sitting in the unclaimed catacombs of the Michigan Department of Treasury. Today I found my Maternal Grandfather Mordko Weinrober's (Martin Roberts) entry information from Ellis Island on July 11, 1920. Martin and his brother went on to join the family business, the Roberts Paper Box company in Providence, Rhode Island. He came from a town in Moldova called Yedintsy or Yedinitz. He and his wife Sobel Steinberg were the parents of my mother, Adelle Rhoda Roberts and her older brother Norman. I never met either maternal grandparent, both leaving their earthly vessels shortly before I was born.
So I put this information out in hopes of snaring a bit of information that I do not have as of yet. I beg for your understanding. Connected with an unfamiliar branch of my mother's family the last several days and Uncle Norm has agreed to get tested so that I can chart the Y - DNA on my mother's side. They don't quite know what to make of this genetic thing.
It was so beautiful today. Had brunch with Renee and Leslie at Le Bistro and then the three of us walked the Farmers Market. Took some hopefully great photographs and bought a few pretty succulents. I got the most interesting calancho. I was talking to Michael and Carmen Maas about Benoit Mandelbrot and his fractal theorems when up pops this calancho with each leaf form fractalizing and then the entire plant mass sweeping around in the same fractal set. Too bizarre. The rains have caused all the weeds to go off and I see heavy yard work in the near future. Spent the afternoon watching films for the next film festival. Hope that you all have a great week.
On the other hand, the internet allows us to use wondrous communication tools that were undreamed of even a few years ago. It is a treasure trove of information. There is so much information waiting mere keystrokes away. Yesterday, I found two accounts for my late paternal grandfather Israel sitting in the unclaimed catacombs of the Michigan Department of Treasury. Today I found my Maternal Grandfather Mordko Weinrober's (Martin Roberts) entry information from Ellis Island on July 11, 1920. Martin and his brother went on to join the family business, the Roberts Paper Box company in Providence, Rhode Island. He came from a town in Moldova called Yedintsy or Yedinitz. He and his wife Sobel Steinberg were the parents of my mother, Adelle Rhoda Roberts and her older brother Norman. I never met either maternal grandparent, both leaving their earthly vessels shortly before I was born.
So I put this information out in hopes of snaring a bit of information that I do not have as of yet. I beg for your understanding. Connected with an unfamiliar branch of my mother's family the last several days and Uncle Norm has agreed to get tested so that I can chart the Y - DNA on my mother's side. They don't quite know what to make of this genetic thing.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Moharebeh
Iranians being hung for the crime of being gay.
Two of those being brought up are charged with Moharebeh, or defying god, a charge that could carry the death penalty, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported. The other individuals include an alleged communist, a student leader and a Ba'hai.
The hard line government has been quashing opposition rallies and has tried more than 100 political activists in a mass trial that started in August, sentencing 11 people to death and more than 80 people to prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years. The authorities are apparently trying to stifle a planned February protest.
Say what you want about America, for all of its warts, we aren't quite up to trying people for defying god yet. Another great illustration of why a country should always separate the church side from the state side. I am sure that many here would like to but we are not quite there for defying god yet, and a good thing for me, I think.
As for the people of Iran, I don't know what to say. I have met many wonderful Persians and they deserve better. No matter what their religion. Revolutions and overthrows don't work unless they go all the way and the way it sits now, the opposition are sitting ducks waiting to be picked off by the security apparatus one by one. The ayatollahs are not going to step down because of poor public opinion polls. They are going to crush any resistance.
It is really frustrating on a human level. As is the situation in much of the world, Africa, the middle east, Myanmar, North Korea, People's China, the list goes on and on...
Bahai house of Bab, most sacred site of the Bahai faith, destroyed by Iranian authorities.
Its a small world, after all.
Life is amazing some times. When you least expect it, it can throw you a gift from the heavens. This one is wonderful and poetic in its possibilities and import.
Since I got my initial genetic marker testing back a few days ago, I sent out some emails to those individuals that I suspected had a strong genetic linkage. This is an extraordinary letter chain that I have been involved in the last few days.
Thanks for the note, but none of the information matches up with me. My father came from Gomel in what is now Belarus. I have reason to believe that one of his direct ancestors was adopted since I am not a genetic match with any of the large B----- family primarily in Israel. Of course it is possible one of their ancestors was adopted and my true family name is B----. Gomel is a good distance from Warsaw, making the genetic match difficult.
I am somewhat interested in your Kaitz family in Israel. Were any of them living in LA in the 1940s? I had, at that time, a teenage friend from, at that time, Palestine, named Amos Kaitz. I have no idea what happened to him.
I too live in California, in Claremont.
Adar
Amos is my father. He changed his name to Sommers at UCLA. He is getting older now and lives in Fresno. I will forward this email to his wife.
thanks,
Robert
Of course - Kaitz is summer!!
Now a story: In the late 1940s, I was very active in Habonim which is where I met your father. At one point many of us wanted to adopt Hebrew names. I did not want to be called by my given Hebrew name, Yitzchak, but wanted a modern "new Hebrew" name. It was Amos, who, after a long search, came up with Adar, which is what I have been universally called since. The world gets smaller all the time.
Please send a drishat shalom to Amos from me.
Adar
I take it that is him on the right. Attached is a recent picture of me. I have somewhat less hair now but otherwise the picture is reasonable.
Adar
This whole dialogue is a gift to me. Not only the possibility of finding a new relative but the amazing fact that these two friends, my father having such an instrumental impact on his life, turn out to be close genetic relatives with an extremely high likelihood of sharing a common ancestor in a very few generations. And they never knew it.
And I have just started my quest! What else will turn up?
Since I got my initial genetic marker testing back a few days ago, I sent out some emails to those individuals that I suspected had a strong genetic linkage. This is an extraordinary letter chain that I have been involved in the last few days.
Dear Gentlemen,
I am new to this process but was informed today that we are a genetic
match to 25 markers, with a genetic distance of 2. I thought that I
would give you a little history and hopefully compare notes. We have a
29% chance of a common ancestor in 8 generations and a near 90% chance
in 24. My name is Robert Sommers, son of Amos, grandson of Israel.
Israel was originally from Plock, near Warsaw. He may have moved to
Wyzkow, where my grandmother Pesa Shkarlat was from. His father was a
veterinarian. The family name was originally Sommer. He had a
relation, Sam Sommer, who was a very wealthy man in San Francisco and
helped bankroll Twentieth Century Fox. Sam had a son named Julius. My great grandfather
returned to Poland after the earthquake and then emigrated to
Palestine. Changed his last name to Kaitz. Some family still extant in
Israel named Kalusky. If any of this information sounds familiar,
please contact me. I live in California with my wife Leslie.
Sincerely,
Robert Sommers
Thanks for the note, but none of the information matches up with me. My father came from Gomel in what is now Belarus. I have reason to believe that one of his direct ancestors was adopted since I am not a genetic match with any of the large B----- family primarily in Israel. Of course it is possible one of their ancestors was adopted and my true family name is B----. Gomel is a good distance from Warsaw, making the genetic match difficult.
I am somewhat interested in your Kaitz family in Israel. Were any of them living in LA in the 1940s? I had, at that time, a teenage friend from, at that time, Palestine, named Amos Kaitz. I have no idea what happened to him.
I too live in California, in Claremont.
Adar
Amos is my father. He changed his name to Sommers at UCLA. He is getting older now and lives in Fresno. I will forward this email to his wife.
thanks,
Robert
Of course - Kaitz is summer!!
Now a story: In the late 1940s, I was very active in Habonim which is where I met your father. At one point many of us wanted to adopt Hebrew names. I did not want to be called by my given Hebrew name, Yitzchak, but wanted a modern "new Hebrew" name. It was Amos, who, after a long search, came up with Adar, which is what I have been universally called since. The world gets smaller all the time.
Please send a drishat shalom to Amos from me.
Adar
Dear Adar,
I am not an expert, but we were a wandering people. Our genetic
relationship suggests strongly that not only were you friends with my
dad, but also close relatives.
Robert
I take it that is him on the right. Attached is a recent picture of me. I have somewhat less hair now but otherwise the picture is reasonable.
Adar
This whole dialogue is a gift to me. Not only the possibility of finding a new relative but the amazing fact that these two friends, my father having such an instrumental impact on his life, turn out to be close genetic relatives with an extremely high likelihood of sharing a common ancestor in a very few generations. And they never knew it.
And I have just started my quest! What else will turn up?
Friday, January 29, 2010
Missing Link
I am hip deep in my new genetic research, trying madly to digest it all. Today I got my mitochondrial DNA results which chart my maternal chromosomes. It came back as a K haplogroup. My 497T mutation gets me into the major K1a subclade which is about 60% of K. My 16234T mutation probably indicates membership in the largest Ashkenazi subclade K1a1b1a. It will definitely take a while for me to learn enough to put it in perspective.
I did discover something quite strange during my research on the Y- DNA. I mentioned that I had very few genetic matches. I uploaded to Ysearch and there were five subjects that I at least shared partial Y results with. One of them is apparently an ancient Cro Magnon Man found in England! We are identical according to the available DNA.
Cro Magnon's were very similar to modern humans but had a larger cranial capacity. (interestingly enough, I have an extraordinarily large 7&7/8" size noggin.) I have to wonder if I am a strange offshoot of a little inter special hanky panky with our hirsute ancestral kin? Next time my wife asks me if I got my manners in a cave, I can reply with a sense of assurance.
Cro Magnon's were very similar to modern humans but had a larger cranial capacity. (interestingly enough, I have an extraordinarily large 7&7/8" size noggin.) I have to wonder if I am a strange offshoot of a little inter special hanky panky with our hirsute ancestral kin? Next time my wife asks me if I got my manners in a cave, I can reply with a sense of assurance.
Most distant known paternal ancestor on the direct male line
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