Saturday, September 15, 2012
This should help to clarify things.
I think this is pretty close to my daily, interior world.
If you were to read this, then listen to Arlo Guthrie's song, Alice's Restaurant, and watch:
The Breakfast Club
The Big Lebowski
True Romance
The Usual Suspects
and something else that I can't remember, my blog would make more sense.
Or, just seem really sad and derivative.
Also, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Life of Pi, and On the Road.
My motivation for the road trip was Blue Hiways, by William Least Heat Moon.
Ok, homework is over.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Walter_Mitty
Friday, September 14, 2012
Big Easy Express
Ms. X showed up with gifts!
(finally!)
(everyone should do this)
(come to my place with stuff for EPPdF!)
This was an exceptional gift:
The Big Easy Express.
It's a concert film.
Old Crow Medicine Show, Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe, etc. get on a train in Oakland, CA and ride to New Orleans playing music and generally cuttin' the fool, but man they sound good!
This is good stuff.
Go buy it, rent it, borrow it (I now have a copy .))
You want to see it.
The music is fantastic and the energy of all the bands is absolutely infectious.
You'll like it.
Go.
http://www.bigeasyexpress.com/
http://www.crowmedicine.com/
http://www.mumfordandsons.com/
http://edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros.com/
awwwwwwwww........
Ok.
Fine.
I'm a sucker.
Whatever.
Shut-up.
What?
You are!
I knowyouarebutwhatamI!?!
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/dog-stands-guard-over-deceased-owner-grave-six-190556479.html
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
This shall not stand, Sir!
Across this line, you do not cross, man.
http://gawker.com/5942212/chicagos-striking-teachers-take-protest-too-far
Monday, September 10, 2012
Vice Documentaries
I have been watching some of the Vice Documentaries on YouTube and holy-cow are they good!
Especially compelling and frightening is the doc they did on the civil war in Liberia -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRuSS0iiFyo
The Cannibal Warlords of Liberia. Absolutely fascinating and not for the faint of heart. But worth watching. It's all free.
I've watched one on a strange drug called Krokodile in Russia, one on Russian prisons and prison tattoos, and one a drug in Colombia called Devil's Breath.
Go to YouTube and look for Vice - you'll get all kinds of crazy stuff.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Now, back in L.A.
Left Atlanta this afternoon on what was probably the most uncomfortable flight I have ever been on. The seats on a 757 were clearly designed for someone no larger than your average 12 year old. Or the Orientals, I'm not sure, but the point is, the seats are too daggum little for EPPdF, and my weight is down. I have, literally, no ass. I rode it off. I think I left it somewhere around Denton, TX. But, my sleep has been so screwed up of late that I still managed to nod off during take off, so I got that working for me.
Had a nice surprise on Friday when I took a walk with Mikey (the dog) and ran into my good friend Keith and his family, who were having dinner at La Tavola http://www.latavolatrattoria.com/. (great restaurant btw)
I immediately commandeered little Logan and took him to show off to my neighborhood, with special stops to see Leigh at 310 Rosemont http://www.310rosemont.com/ and Victoria at Moxy
http://moxyatlanta.com/
We did the security film installation at 310 Rosemont last year (unfortunately it was after they were broken into) and I've become friends/friendly with Leigh, the manager. You know those people you just like, but you don't really know that well, but they have such great energy it's just nice to see them and be around them for a few minutes? That's Leigh. Go see her (and buy me a Robert Graham would'ya?)
So, anyway, I'm in Los Angeles to work for a certain be-knighted pop singer at the property that I saw on my birthday when I came thru on the bike ride. So that's pretty cool.
Will keep up as I have time.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
And now, a dog that tracks whale poop
My dog tracks Ms. X who has spoiled him with bones but this dog actually works for a living.
http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=4621615
UPDATED: 09/02/2012 12:11:12 AM MDTBy Kirk Johnson
The New York Times
Elizabeth Seely, dog trainer at Conservation Canines, holds Tucker as he sniffs for whale scat near San Juan Island, Wash., last month. Tucker is the world's only working dog able to find and track the scent of orca feces in open ocean water. (Matthew Ryan Williams, The New York Times)
OFF THE COAST OF SAN JUAN ISLAND, wash. —A dog named Tucker with a thumping tail and a mysterious past as a stray on the streets of Seattle has become an unexpected star in the realm of canine-assisted science. He is the world's only working dog, marine biologists say, able to find and track the scent of orca scat, or feces, in open ocean water — up to a mile away, in the smallest of specks.
Through dint of hard work and obsession with an orange ball on a rope, which he gets to play with as a reward after a successful search on the water, Tucker is an ace in finding something that most people, and perhaps most dogs, would just as soon avoid.
And it is not easy. Scat can sink or disperse in 30 minutes or less. But it is crucial in monitoring the health of the whales here, an endangered group that is among the most studied animal populations in the world.
Most of the 85 or so orcas, or killer whales, that frequent the San Juans, about two hours northwest of Seattle, have been genotyped and tracked for decades, down to their birth years and number of offspring.
And none of this could happen as easily as it does without Tucker — or the new tricks that he taught the scientists.
"Sometimes he'd just turn around and sit down and stare at me, waiting for me to figure it out," said Deborah Giles, who is completing a Ph.D. on how orcas here are affected by the thousands of whale watchers and scores of commercial whale-watch vessels
Advertisement
that cluster around the animals. "He's very subtle," said Giles, sitting behind the wheel of the research vessel Moja as Tucker, an 8-year-old black Lab mix, paced at the prow on a recent afternoon.
One thing to get out of the way quickly: Orca scat does not smell that bad. Perhaps because the animals eat mostly Chinook salmon — the tastiest kind, many human seafood lovers agree — the scent is more fish than foul.
But unlike, say, a narcotics-sniffing dog that can lead its human around by a leash, the research boat itself is, in effect, Tucker's legs when he has picked up the aroma. He cannot physically go where the sample is to be found but must signal where he wants the boat to go.
Tucker might lean to one side of the boat, then another, then suddenly sink back onto his green mat with his head between his paws, the scent lost.
"The slightest twitch of his ear is important," said Elizabeth Seely, a trainer who has worked with Tucker for four years at a nonprofit group called the Conservation Canines, which specializes in dog-assisted research on behalf of endangered species.
She stood at his side on a recent scat-search session, signaling to Giles behind the wheel with tiny finger motions — a bit to the right, a bit more to the left, circle back — that Tucker was suggesting by his posture and level of attention.
The research, financed by Washington Sea Grant of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is raising new questions about how to protect the orcas.
Samuel Wasser, director of the scat project, said that when he started the project four years ago, he thought boat activity would be a crucial element of whale stress, reflected through stress hormones in their scat. But, he said, food supply was more important, with fewer salmon emerging as a main stress variable. Knowing to focus on fish supply, he said, means knowing where to focus public policy efforts on the animals' behalf.
Through the scat, biologists can tell, for example, which whale pods spend the winter off the coast of Southern California because their feces can contain higher trace elements of DDT, the pesticide that was banned in 1972. The poison still echoes through the decades in the fish the whales eat. Other orca groups have concentrations of dioxins or PCBs traced to industrial activity around Seattle.
But for all his hundreds of hours on boats, Tucker will not get wet. He hates to swim, Seely said. She is not sure why. A trauma from puppyhood, she supposes. It is one thing about which he cannot communicate.
Read more: Tracking scent of scat, unique dog may help save the whales - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_21452659#ixzz25cGanTXE
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=4621615
Tracking scent of scat, unique dog may help save the whales
POSTED: 09/02/2012 12:01:00 AM MDTUPDATED: 09/02/2012 12:11:12 AM MDTBy Kirk Johnson
The New York Times
Elizabeth Seely, dog trainer at Conservation Canines, holds Tucker as he sniffs for whale scat near San Juan Island, Wash., last month. Tucker is the world's only working dog able to find and track the scent of orca feces in open ocean water. (Matthew Ryan Williams, The New York Times)
OFF THE COAST OF SAN JUAN ISLAND, wash. —A dog named Tucker with a thumping tail and a mysterious past as a stray on the streets of Seattle has become an unexpected star in the realm of canine-assisted science. He is the world's only working dog, marine biologists say, able to find and track the scent of orca scat, or feces, in open ocean water — up to a mile away, in the smallest of specks.
Through dint of hard work and obsession with an orange ball on a rope, which he gets to play with as a reward after a successful search on the water, Tucker is an ace in finding something that most people, and perhaps most dogs, would just as soon avoid.
And it is not easy. Scat can sink or disperse in 30 minutes or less. But it is crucial in monitoring the health of the whales here, an endangered group that is among the most studied animal populations in the world.
Most of the 85 or so orcas, or killer whales, that frequent the San Juans, about two hours northwest of Seattle, have been genotyped and tracked for decades, down to their birth years and number of offspring.
And none of this could happen as easily as it does without Tucker — or the new tricks that he taught the scientists.
"Sometimes he'd just turn around and sit down and stare at me, waiting for me to figure it out," said Deborah Giles, who is completing a Ph.D. on how orcas here are affected by the thousands of whale watchers and scores of commercial whale-watch vessels
Advertisement
that cluster around the animals. "He's very subtle," said Giles, sitting behind the wheel of the research vessel Moja as Tucker, an 8-year-old black Lab mix, paced at the prow on a recent afternoon.
One thing to get out of the way quickly: Orca scat does not smell that bad. Perhaps because the animals eat mostly Chinook salmon — the tastiest kind, many human seafood lovers agree — the scent is more fish than foul.
But unlike, say, a narcotics-sniffing dog that can lead its human around by a leash, the research boat itself is, in effect, Tucker's legs when he has picked up the aroma. He cannot physically go where the sample is to be found but must signal where he wants the boat to go.
Tucker might lean to one side of the boat, then another, then suddenly sink back onto his green mat with his head between his paws, the scent lost.
"The slightest twitch of his ear is important," said Elizabeth Seely, a trainer who has worked with Tucker for four years at a nonprofit group called the Conservation Canines, which specializes in dog-assisted research on behalf of endangered species.
She stood at his side on a recent scat-search session, signaling to Giles behind the wheel with tiny finger motions — a bit to the right, a bit more to the left, circle back — that Tucker was suggesting by his posture and level of attention.
The research, financed by Washington Sea Grant of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is raising new questions about how to protect the orcas.
Samuel Wasser, director of the scat project, said that when he started the project four years ago, he thought boat activity would be a crucial element of whale stress, reflected through stress hormones in their scat. But, he said, food supply was more important, with fewer salmon emerging as a main stress variable. Knowing to focus on fish supply, he said, means knowing where to focus public policy efforts on the animals' behalf.
Through the scat, biologists can tell, for example, which whale pods spend the winter off the coast of Southern California because their feces can contain higher trace elements of DDT, the pesticide that was banned in 1972. The poison still echoes through the decades in the fish the whales eat. Other orca groups have concentrations of dioxins or PCBs traced to industrial activity around Seattle.
But for all his hundreds of hours on boats, Tucker will not get wet. He hates to swim, Seely said. She is not sure why. A trauma from puppyhood, she supposes. It is one thing about which he cannot communicate.
Read more: Tracking scent of scat, unique dog may help save the whales - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_21452659#ixzz25cGanTXE
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
A nice note from one of my Judys
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a couple of better than average Judys in my life; one of them wrote this today.
On Sep 4, 2012, at 2:01 PM, Judy C>
wrote:
Joey,
You have, in my opinion,
learned to live life the way it is supposed to be lived. I commend you
for that as life is quite short in the scheme of things so live it for all it
is worth. My daughter, who is incredibly gifted (art wise)......... (edited by me)........., decided just to quit what she was doing and let the cards fall where
they may in her endeavor to find fulfillment. I know she would love to do
something with the performing arts, even in the background, but it is not what
you know it is who you know. Do I worry....sure...but I am also a
little enviousl that that ship has sailed for me. She may go back to
school and get her masters, but then again maybe not. She took a leap of
faith which is the only way to get what you want.
Enjoy more adventures
Joey!
Judy
That is one of the nicest notes that I've received in a minute or two.
I woke this morning, having finally broken down and used the CPAP machine, feeling rested, and quite honestly, with a much better attitude than of late. Actually I woke full of "it". (I'll leave "it" to you, dear reader, to decide for yourselves.)
It's been difficult to get back into the swing of work after 2 months of complete freedom but today I felt good, and actually, I had two thoughts (any good day I might have at least one thought)
A. while I'm not a homeowner, and certainly not rich, I do manage, by and large, to do what I want, and by my standard at least, that makes me successful. How many people can say that they drove cross country when and how they wanted too?
B. I think the 17 year old version of EPPdF would really like the 42 year old version off EPPdF. That counts for more than you'd think.
Life seems to move us away from the things that we once found important, and for most of us, that's a good thing, but it also often manages to squash our dreams and visions of how our lives should be run and I think that's not good at all. I've been dreaming of going cross country for 23 years and if I live to be 90 I'm sure I'll still remember it.
Most things you dream of when you're 17 aren't nearly as good as they sound on paper but this trip was better and most days I can't really believe that I did it.
I heard a great thing about following your passions on The Carolla Podcast the other day:
A. Most people who are really successful are successful b/c they worked their butts off to be there.
B. People who did great things, ie following their dreams did so b/c it didn't feel like work - they were enjoying what they were doing and just kept doing it and after a very long time of essentially doing it for free, the hard work paid off
C. There's a version of your dream that maybe you can afford to do now or soon with a little planning.
Maybe you can't make do NASCAR but maybe you can afford to race a used Miata at the local track and it might be more fun than you think and certainly more fun than doing nothing at all.
So what's to lose?
I said before I left, "If I'm not enjoying myself, if it's too hot, or too hard, or too whatever, I'll ship the bike home and fly to San Francisco." And, it was hard, and it was hot, and there were moments that sucked (122 degrees leaving Vegas, breaking down near Ft. Stockton (twice)) but it was worth it too and I'm glad I did it and can't wait to do it again.
I'll get hard bags for the bike next time though. Saddlebags suck on a long ride.
So about this song.....
Ummmm.....
I heard Carolla talking about this song on his podcast this morning
http://www.adamcarolla.com/
So I went out to read the lyrics.
Yeah, ummmm...
Soooooo, if I'm reading this right, a guy picks up a young girl in his van, he climbs on top of her while she's sleeping in the back, then he drops her off, with no shoes, in a town with no paved roads and quite possibly - no telephones.
Wow. Seriously. What was wrong with people !?!
This is a song that was on the Billboard Charts and still gets regular airplay!
Sounds awful GD rape-y if you ask me.
Chevy Van by Sammy Johns
I gave a girl a ride in the wagon
She crawled in and took control
She was tired as her mind was a-draggin
I said get some sleep - and dream of rock and roll
'Cause like a picture she was laying there
Moonlight dancing off her hair
She woke up and took me by the hand
She's gonna love me in my Chevy van
And that's alright with me
Her young face was like that of an angel
Her long legs were tanned and brown
Better keep your eyes on the road son
Better slow this vehicle down
'Cause like a picture she was laying there
Moonlight dancing off her hair
She woke up and took me by the hand
She's gonna love me in my Chevy van
And that's alright with me
I put her out in a town that was so small
You could throw a rock from end to end
A dirt road main street, she walked off in barefeet
It's a shame I won't be passin' through again
'Cause like a picture she was laying there
Moonlight dancing off her hair
She woke up and took me by the hand
We made love in my Chevy van
And that's alright with me
'Cause like a picture she was laying there
Moonlight dancing off her hair
She woke up and took me by the hand
We made love in my Chevy van
And that's alright with me
Cause like a picture she was laying there
Moonlight dancing off her hair
She woke up and took me by the hand
We made love in my Chevy van
And that's alright with me
Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/sammy-johns-lyrics-chevy-van-3l54w22#ixzz25VqqctRE
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