Trash/treasure, True/false, Good/Bad

Character

This camera has given me thousands of good pictures.

My old Olympus camera won't focus anymore. It was in the trunk of the Buick during our record breaking 4 inches of rain in an hour downpour, and got damp. I wouldn't have known it was malfunctioning, except I dug it out for a photography lesson/field trip. At first the motorized lens wouldn't respond and the lights didn't light. I opened it up and the batteries felt damp, so I left it open to dry out. A couple of days later, the lens would extend and retract, but the motor/relay/circuit that adjusts the focus isn't moving.

I have been hoping that eventually it will start working again, but so far, it still wont focus. I liked some of the qualities it would give to certain kinds of pictures. Even though the lens has a couple of scratches, it had character. Now, it's time to let it go.

This letting go thing is still a complicated and emotional process. We develop attachments to our stuff, some greater than others. Saying goodbye can be as simple as tossing something in the trash, or keeping a broken item for years, thinking that one day there will be a use for it. It might be that it reminds me of some one or place and time, so it would be classified as a memento, a keepsake, an heirloom. It just seems wasteful to throw it away.

I grew up in a time when a camera would be passed on to the next generation. This was the result of 2 things.

1. The cameras were made to last.
2. We didn't have a lot of disposable products, yet.

People in America were still making things in the world when I grew up. Now we just buy stuff made elsewhere.


These Were Prized Possessions

Cameras are recycled at Sims Recycling Solutions.

Coincidentally, I ran across a story on recycling electronics, at the same time I am deciding what to do with my camera. There was a picture of a pile of cameras about to be reduced to their basic substances. It is kind of weird to see them all piled up like that.

The Story

Ham, Avocado & Cheese.

It was a good sandwich.


The Space Station

It looks good with all the solar panels attached.

Plastic Water Bottles

Dangerous? Nope.

You may have seen the email going around that warns of killer plastic water bottles. Not true. It seems that a college student based his masters thesis on an un-reviewed assumption. He thought the PET plastic used in water bottles was chemically changing in his freezer. The email incorrectly states that PET plastic uses diethylhydroxylamine, when it is actually diethylhexyl adipate that is used as a plasticizer in the productuction of water bottles.

Just use common sense when re-using water bottles, wash them before refilling.

My New Boat?

Ahoy there.

I thought I would spend the day shopping for a boat to spend my newly found millions on.

That's right, I got an email from a woman, (who cant spell), and she wants to give me 10 million dollars because she is dying and cant use it. All I have to do is contact her barrister at his "gmail" address and he will make all the arrangements. I can hardly wait.

She must have a lot of money because she wants to give millions to thousands of people with email. Speaking of email. Gmail is a powerful beta program that is free, and used by millions of people. I am one of them. What it is not used for is business. Legitimate businesses do not use Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail. (Although I do have a paid Yahoo mail address that could be used for business, if I redirect the mail that is sent to my website.)

Imagine my disappointment when it began to dawn on me that the, "$10 million USD", would not be swelling my bank account. Then I began to wonder what to do with this toxic email. If I delete it the wrong way will it infect my computer or email somehow? What if I accidentally clicked on the link when I tried to get rid of it? How did they get my address? I wonder if it will rain next week? I think I will take a shower and deal with it later.


Easter On The 12Th

The ancient Germanic festival of Ostara (in honor of the goddess also known as Eostra, from whose name the word estrogen was derived) celebrated the cyclical return of light and life with fertility rituals and symbols, some of which still survive in the modern observance of Easter (also derived from "Eostra"), which traditionally falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.

Here In Redding

Waterfall at Cyprus, Pine, and Market Streets. 4/4/09

What a nice place to wait for the light to change.

Nice little oasis in the three street intersection. 4/4/09

It is a beautiful day here. The weather report suggests rain will possibly begin on Tuesday. We shall see. In the meantime all is well.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
It's Getting Better All The Time
-Beatles

Enjoy

Like A Cosmic Surfer

Riding the Wave of the Present

We are riding a wave of the now,
in an ocean of what was.

Raccoons in a swing.
Cute video, HERE.

I put this in my,
"Get over it", category...

War, what is is good for? Absolutely nothing! The Song

I got an e-mail today with the subject line; Fw: Never Forget---Jane Fonda---Traitor!!!!
It started with the person, or organization that has been posting under the name; RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt, USAF, since 2002.
If you read my blog, you know I had to check it.
You also know that when an e-mail says forward this to 5, 10, or more people, don't; It's a scam. If you want to share an interesting or funny e-mail with your friends, remove the cookies, trackers and collected email addresses before sending it. Just copy what you like and paste it in a new e-mail. (Unless you are sending it to me so I can fact check it for you.)
Not surprisingly, most of the "information" in it was not true. The only fact that was right was Jane Fonda went to North Vietnam. The soldiers that are named in the email, have publicly stated that none of the so called "traitorous acts" by Jane Fonda ever happened to them. Never the less, e-mail like this continues to upset some people.

This Ronald D. Sampson guy is a phony persona that has been used to post false information about our military, our leaders, and our citizens. I recommend that you just delete anything with that name on it, and eventually that hate mail will dry up and go away.

Why cling to a resentment for years, even when it's based on faulty information? I have an answer.

This fit's in with a lot of stuff that has been floating around in Phil's Lake of Incomplete Hypotheses.
So, let's go for a swim and see what's in there.

War: The ultimate expression of ignorance.
Ignorance: It's easier to do stupid things if you don't know too much.
Anger: Aggressive ignorance.
Aggression: Action resulting from fear.

Fear: Incomplete information.
Information: Main ingredient of knowledge.
Knowledge: Key ingredient for my serenity.
Serenity: Peace
Peace: Topic of the Sermon on the Mount.
Hunger: Time to get out of the lake and eat a sandwich.

Wow! That was fun.
You never know what you will find when you swim in Phil's Lake of Incomplete Hypotheses.

Godspeed

I just couldn't help but illustrate this word.

Wikipedia; (from Middle English God speed you, meaning "May God help you prosper").

My Sister Sent Me This

Two peanuts walked up a dark alley. One was a salted.

Sue sent me the cartoon.
The peanut joke was one that our Dad told over, and over, and over.
"I told you a million times not to exaggerate."

Scientists Discover The Obvious

Poseidon the giant lobster (Image courtesy Dailymail).

Crabs Feel Pain, Too...

Ripping the legs off live crabs and crowding lobsters into seafood market tanks are just two of the many practices that may warrant reassessment, given two new studies that indicate crustaceans feel pain and stress.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that virtually all animals, including fish, shellfish and insects, can suffer.

Thoughts can not be seen,
but they can be expressed.

Stars being born in the Orion Nebula.

Understanding how stars form and why they are so hard to make does much more than just foretell our far-off cosmic future. Star birth also explains where the atoms in our bodies come from and why the universe looks the way it does today. As astronomer John Bally of the University of Colorado puts it, “Star formation is the single most important process for determining the fate and evolution of normal matter in the universe.”

For the complete story and a star making game, CLICK HERE.

Timing


New feature in Google Documents

I recently downloaded around 8 different drawing programs for a project I was working on. I am still learning how to work them. Some are not what I want, they go in the trash. Some of them I paid for, I will keep them. But today, as I was writing this, I looked up and saw there were some new features. Is it a coincidence that there is a drawing program now in Google Documents?

I love the way my life is working. Every day I am shown some wonderful expressions of a Higher Power.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
I Believe -Joe Satriani

Observe and Be Amazed

It Is All Part Of This

Good Day

Saving the Planet With Nanotubes!

Nanotubes and sunlight convert CO2 into methane.

This is exciting
From Discovery News

March 23, 2009 -- Powered by sunlight, titanium oxide nanotubes can turn carbon dioxide into methane, which can be harnessed as an energy source, say scientists at Pennsylvania State University.

The nanotubes could dramatically reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and reduce our need for fossil fuels.

"Right now there is lots of talk about burying carbon dioxide, which is ridiculous," said Craig Grimes of Penn State, who, along with Oomman Varghese, Maggie Paulose and Thomas LaTempa, co-authored a paper on the nanotubes in the journal Nano Letters. "Instead we can collect the waste out of the smoke stack, put it though a converter, and presto, use sunlight to change [CO2] back into fuel."

Methane will work with what we have.

Our cars, trains, trucks, buses, power plants, kitchen stoves, and heaters, can all run on methane. It's like natural gas and propane.

"One big advantage of methane over other hydrocarbons like hydrogen gas is that an infrastructure already exists for methane."

Africans Sailed With Columbus

Dem bones, Dem bones, Dem dry bones...

Teeth from exhumed skeletons of crew members Christopher Columbus left on the island of Hispaniola more than 500 years ago reveal the presence of at least one African in the New World as a contemporary of the explorer.

Ha, Ha, Ha

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up to heaven he said, 'Lord take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey!'

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Paddy looked up again and said, 'Never mind, I found one.'

Thank you Jo Anna, that joke was the first e-mail I looked at today. I enjoy starting each day with a smile, and today I can include starting with a laugh.

I got a bunch of e-mail from Jo Anna today, and among them was the, "Door lock entry code thieves", warning. I have seen this e-mail before, in one form or another, but I was curious about a line at the bottom that said; "Snopes approved, please share this with everyone."

Since Snopes advises against, "Forward this to everyone", type email, I thought it pertinent that I find out from snopes.com, to be sure.

First; Snopes approved- No, it is not.

Second; Forward this to everyone- I will reprint what I send to my friends who have sent a forward this to lot's of people, email.

Advice from Snopes.com;

1) Any time you see an E-Mail that says forward this on to '10' of your friends, or sign this petition, or you'll get bad luck, good luck, or whatever, it almost always has an E-Mail tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and E-Mails of those folks you forward to

The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of 'active' E-Mails to use in SPAM E-Mails, or sell to other spammers.

I then go on to explain that when I see something funny, or important that I wish to pass on, I copy and paste it in a new email so as not to include all the addresses that came with the joke, or picture, or information. (I found out this evening, that after you click forward, you can highlight and delete all those addresses that e-mail has been accumulating before you send it on.)

Worth Watching TV Today

Obama, patiently explains policy to the press. 3/24/09

I got an e-mail today from Marian. It included an excerpt from Lee Iacocca's book, "Where have all the leaders gone?". The subject line actually reads, "Where has all the leaders gone?", but the content was interesting. The book was written, "B.O.", before Obama. In the book Iacocca points out the things that our country's leaders were not taking care of...

"Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?"

I am glad that we now have responsible, educated, intelligent leadership that is dealing with those very issues that Lee Iacocca cites in his book. Thank you Marian for that timely e-mail. It was the perfect thing to read before Obama's press conference.

Dayo, Day-ay-ay-oh

Huntsman spider, AKA; "Banana spider".

Each year, there are several news reports of wandering and huntsman spiders, the main "banana spiders," showing up in grocery store bananas as well as poisonous black widows, which find their way into bunches of grapes on store shelves. Both fruits are generally sprayed with pesticides to prevent insect infestation and usually washed before shipment. Still, even with these precautions and visual inspections, some insects manage to survive.

Here In Redding

Photographing Dorothy's Garden. 3/24/09

An early iris in the afternoon sun. 3/24/09

So many wonderful experiences to expand our knowledge and appreciation of this world in which we live.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Banana Boat Song -Harry Belafonte

All God's Creatures...

All That Fits

Size Matters

I was using my other computer tonight to print some greeting cards, and while I was selecting photos that I had sent to my picasa web site, I thought I would visit my blog. Very interesting...I didn't realize that the pages had become too big for my old iMac to handle.

This means that some of you have been having problems getting all the pictures on the page.

I am sorry. I will try to keep each post to a reasonable size.

I really like sharing my thoughts, photos, and other media with you.

Your host, Happy Phil

Star Storm

Carina Nebula
This was picture taken from the telescope in Chile.
ScienceDaily (Feb. 17, 2009) — The latest ESO image reveals amazing detail in the intricate structures of one of the largest and brightest nebulae in the sky, the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), where strong winds and powerful radiation from an armada of massive stars are creating havoc in the large cloud of dust and gas from which the stars were born.

Heart of My Heart

There are 7 hearts in this painting

These are a couple of pictures I left out of my valentines post that I liked, but didn't have room for.

Who knew?

Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite

Bed bugs on the move

Brooklyn Bedbug Busters
This was creepy. There is a major infestation of bed bugs in New York City. Even the fancy hotels and penthouses are not immune. The last time I was in New York, was the late 60's. It was uncomfortable for me to be packed into such a small space with millions of people. I guess it's heaven for a bed bug.
You can read the article HERE

Making A Song List

Every now and then, we might get a stunning moment of illuminated truth. A clarity of vision that stands tall and high above the normal murmuring crowd of average conclusions. Tonight I did. I had one of those rare insights into my own convoluted mental mechanization's.
I saw clearly into my music as never before. (As far as I can remember.)
I don't write songs for me to perform! I write songs for the song itself.
There has always been a disconnect between the music I write, and the music I perform. I thought it was a dichotomy of character; Artist vs. Performer. I have come to the conclusion that it's not that at all. I write songs that I want to hear, I sing songs that I like to sing.
Sometimes I perform a song I have written.
Simple.
I am glad that's settled.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song
Don't Worry, Be Happy
Bobby McFerrin

Relax

Hopeful and Happy

Long Presidents Day Weekend

I Love These Baby Pictures

Aww, ain't it cute? DNA test will determine sex.

Lemur baby with stuffed mom in incubator.

There is a contest to name this one. How about Regis?


Venus Is Hot Stuff

Infrared image of Venus...(photo credit-NASA)

Car of the Future, Today.

Aptera 2E

The 2e is scheduled to begin rolling off the Vista, California, assembly line this October for an as-yet-to-be-determined price between $25,000 and $40,000. Charge it overnight from your 110-volt home outlet, and it's claimed to have a range of 100 miles...in the carpool lane, if you wish. It has an estimated top speed of 90MPH, and can go from 0-60 in less than 10 seconds.

I would certainly take one of these.

According to this article; http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/857/exclusive-aptera-2e 4,ooo of these have already been ordered by customers, (one of whom is Robin Williams), who are awaiting delivery by the end of the year.

Hop in


Wow! That's A Burger!

From;

Denny’s Double Cheeseburger
1,540 calories
116 g fat (52 g saturated, 7 g trans)
3,880 mg sodium

Add this to our ever-expanding list of the Trans-Fattiest Foods in America. (This burger has more than three days' worth of the stuff.) In fact, with as much saturated fat as 52 strips of bacon and more sodium than 21 small bags of Lay’s potato chips, this burger also belongs on the salt-packed list of 20 Foods Your Cardiologist Wouldn’t Eat.

If I ever want a burger, which I rarely do, I guess it would not be at Denny's. The senior specials are pretty good sometimes, depending on who is cooking, and which Denny's. But, then again, I haven't been to Denny's lately.

Miracles and Coincidences

Chris and I used to laugh at ourselves when "magic" didn't happen. We were so accustomed to magic and miracles in our daily life, that a "normal" moment would leave us wondering what the heck went wrong? We were thankful, and aware that we were experiencing life at a level that one might only find in a legend or fairy tale, it was our norm.

People would treat us as though our presence was a special event.
Our time together was blessed with once in a lifetime events on a regular basis.
"I love you's", were punctuated with meteors, rainbows, singing birds, and all manor of magic.
Owners of restaurants would often treat us like royalty and prepare something special, "On the house."
We could be in the middle of nowhere, and musicians would pop out of the bushes to join me in serenading my sweetheart. One time on a deserted beach, a guy showed up with his trombone!

We saw miracles everywhere we looked. That's the secret. Everywhere we looked, we saw magic.

"You read about heaven in your book.
It's all around you if you take a look."
-Phil Seymour, 1970

If we weren't seeing magic and miracles, it was because we weren't looking.

I have come to believe that the magic is nonstop, God is everywhere, in all things, all the time, if I look. I love my life. The "coincidences" continue to fill me with joy and wonder, every moment of every day. One lifesaving miracle for me is knowing that even though I am on my own, the "magic" is still here.

I have 3 houseplants.
Sandi brought them into my apartment last year.

They are still alive!

I try to water them when they get dry.

I even made a watering jar to remind me.

The watering jar has become a part of the stuff on top of the refrigerator and no longer screams, "Water the plants!". The plants are forced to tell me themselves. They do. They adopt parched postures, in real life theater, to communicate a need for water.
They are very good at this.
They aren't dead yet.

No Life Without Plants

How Plants Power the Planet

I am reading a book about the importance of plant life to all life on Earth. It's an eye-opener that I have been reading before I go to sleep. It is sort of a history of how the different disciplines of the sciences merged with the discovery of carbon 14. (I hope I didn't give away the plot and spoil it for you.)

Coincidentally, I found an article from Popular Science that addressed how specific frequencies of light affect houseplants.
It had this visual aid.

The wavelengths of visible light that plants use to live

What Does It All Mean?
I had a dream last night, actually around 10 AM, just before the alarm woke me.

It took place in Hollywood, as it was in 1967 when I lived there. I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard with a guy who had recently gotten out of jail after his tour of Vietnam, (Tour? Who came up with that euphemism?), and we came upon another man ranting to a small crowd on the corner. He was dealing with the same problem as my friend, so after the crowd dispersed, I invited him to come over and talk with us. I had a feeling that we would find an answer to their troubles in that spot, at that moment. I looked up at the first guy, (They were both very tall), and said...(That's when the alarm went off!)

Here's an Idea
I just thought of a handy program for my computer, if it doesn't already exist. A place called quarantine. I could send dubious or questionable downloads there to;
A. See it I really need it.
B. See if it is doing anything strange.
C. Allow time for me to check the Internet to see if it's some bad thing that's going around before I let it out.

The reason I am writing about this, is a recent download of Real Player. I have used Real Player in the past. I even sent away for the actual disk, back in the 90's, so I know it's a legitimate company. But, one can never be too sure these days.

I am seeing it's icon in my "Dock", wanting me to download more stuff, and I am not sure I want to do that. Therefore...Quarantine!

I guess for now, I will just make a folder called quarantine and put downloads there for a week or two while I make sure they are not toxic.

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Ukulele Lady -Muppets

Life Is A Miracle

...And The Grammy Goes To...

Cars and Bugs

Car-shaped molecules can zip around on a glass slide at about nine nanomiles per hour, and their wheels actually turn.

Understanding how these nanocars move could make it easier for researchers to build more sophisticated molecular machines.

"These are, of course, the world's smallest cars," says Jim Tour, a chemist at Rice University who has been making the cars for years. "We have considered (getting) nanoinsurance. I asked my friends at Motorola if they would make 6 x 10²³ car phones for our nanocars."

What do you want to bet that they are made with Fullerenes?

Ancient Scorpion

Named Schinderhannes bartelsi, it was found in fossilized form in a German quarry, and dates to 390 million years ago.

That's about 100 million years after the extinction of the last known animal to sport what's technically known as a "great appendage" — a giant claw growing out of its head.

But there it is, right between S. bartelsi's eyes: a great appendage.

If great appendage-bearing creatures survived 100 million years longer than we realized, then maybe they didn't die out.

Maybe they evolved — and come to think of it, scorpion claws look an awful lot like great appendages.

But if scorpions are a sign of ancient times, then S. bartelsi's discovery, announced Thursday in Science, contains an unfortunate sign of our own times: with business slumping, the quarry in which it was found has closed.

Topic Today

Retro humor from ALLPosters.com

Resentment is like drinking poison,
then waiting for the other person to die.

Like many people, I used to blame others for my misfortunes and disappointments. I would mope and grump, and rail against those people and things that held me back from realizing my aspirations.

At a meeting today, the topic was, "resentments". I listened to people speak about the terrible time they were having as a result of one thing or another. The basic theme among those with resentments, was something like this; "I wasn't the only car running that red light, but that cop picked on me and I got fired because I was late for work for the third time this week. That stupid cop made me wait while he ran my license and wrote me a ticket. What an asshole!"

I could hear echos of my past in their childish outpourings of denial and self pity. Been there-Done that.

My path of enlightenment has led through times of blaming someone else for my irresponsibility's. I can assure you that those resentments were a waste of time that could have been more enjoyably spent, had I not so stubbornly clung to my unhappiness.

Sometimes a blocked path allows us to stop and see the beauty of just who and where we are.


The Grammy's

Tonight's award show is the Grammy's. Originally awarded for recordings of music or comedy, there are now more categories than records I have owned. I will watch it anyway, because after all, I still am a musician, and it's good to know what's going on out there.

Just as a warm up, this is a collection of more than 30 hit songs that use the same 4 chords.
The Axis Of Awesome-4 Chords

While I sit warm and toasty in my apartment, the chain requirement signs are being lit on the mountain passes. For the latest road conditions I can always check the following;

Weather information

View the latest road conditions

Traffic cameras

Public safety scanners

Additional weather information

Traffic and fire advisories

Chains control map

Emergency preparedness & response for winter weather

I really enjoy all the information available on the internet.

The Grammy's are different this year. Not so glamorous. Al Green and Justin Timberlake were entertaining with "Boys to Men" singing backup harmonies. Cold Play ended their song with nice vocal harmonies.

Sir Paul

Paul McCartney Performs at the Grammy's

Record Of The Year

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss get Grammy

Because of the time differences between the east coast and here, the Grammy awards were broadcast "live", hours ago. What we get to watch here in California, (Where the grammys are held), is a tape delay of the show. However, one can skip into the future with the internet, and I have done so.

Dinner Break

Delicious and good for me, steamed veggies in 4 minutes.

I have said it before and I will say it again, "Microwaved steamed veggies in a bag is great!" The timing couldn't be better for some of the advances in food, medicine and technology. Especially in my life. I have loved to cook fresh vegetables for as long as I have been cooking. The rewards to ones health and well-being are priceless. Due to my structural problems, I can no longer enjoy standing at the counter, chopping veggies and preparing healthy, fresh food. Not to worry, steam in the bag, chopped veggies are now available in the produce section of the store.

Happy, healthy, Phil........................................2/8/09

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
Somebody's Watching You
-Sly and The Family Stone

My Light Shines