Month: February 2004

Sierra Club – No more huddled masses

The Sierra Club is caught in a quagmire again. Do they take an official stance against immigration, or avoid the issue. This isn’t a new topic of debate, but some odd circumstances have created cause for alarm. Some white supremacist groups have urged their members to join the Sierra Club to vote on the issue.

Why can’t the club couldn’t just have a stance against people in general? Immigrants are no more damaging than most of the members. The real threat of population includes everyone, not just the “mass immigration of people with pre-industrial birth rates.”

The article suggests that it is likely that the issue will be resolved soon. I doubt it will. I think its very difficult to compartmentalize and separate one’s beliefs. And that seems to be what this issue is doing for most members.

Personally, I think its an unimportant issue at this time. Look what has happened in the last 4 years. Shouldn’t we concern ourselves with something else?

Mushroom Cultivation

An instructor left a message for me to call him back about a problem. I did, and left a message. His phone message said I could also leave a message for a local mushroom cultivar. I was curious, so I googled the grower and couldn’t find a site. I did find a cool abstract on cultivating and marketing mushrooms. Almost tempting to try, though I can’t imagine where I’d keep a shitake covered oak log.

Void

Last night we caught Touching the Void at Cinema 21 with Michelle’s co-worker and her her fiance. The movie was spectacular. Although a lot of the climbing seemed to be filmed in the alps, both the cinematography both of the climbing and of the mountains was stunning.

There were some incredible shots of the clouds blowing up and over the peaks, folding and separating around the various precipices, and combining again after the curl. And who could ever get tired of looking at granite? Really, its beautiful.

Oh, the movie is about a climbing trip that went horribly wrong, and the story about surviving it. Its not for weak stomachs. Each person was horribly sunburnt and injured.

Freedlance Photo, Beta 1

My sister’s christmas present is now available for beta testing. I’ve completed with the pages, styles, and even uploaded a few images to make sure things are working correctly. Its built using XHTML and CSS using absolutely no tables! Its also been tested and found to be compliant with both W3C’s XHTML and CSS. Its also using Moveable Type, so she can upload to and manage the site from anywhere.

Have a look and see if things look and act alright. Once she starts uploading images, we’ll see how it really works.

 Freedlance Photography

Back Yard Birds

The people across the street, whose yard is a wild, tangled mess, are stealing our birds. They’re throwing peanuts, sunflower seeds, and mixed bird seed all over. Why just yesterday when walking Barley, I saw 7 different species pigging out. I’m a little miffed because they were in our yard, eating our seed. They all seemed to disappear after I put a pile of Belgian Biscuit Malt on the ground. Even the squirrels won’t eat it. I’ve gotten rid of the Biscuit, and replaced it with more sunflower seeds, but they won’t come back.

In response to an article a friend sent me yesterday, I’ve decided to post two completely useless posts that do nothing but list stuff in my yard. It may have some insights, but I can’t help but sense that its a parody itself. Regardless, here’s a list of the birds that have visited so far this year.

  • Varied Thrush
  • Rufus Sided Tohee
  • Common Flicker
  • Mountain Chickadee
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • American Crow
  • American Robin
  • House Finch
  • House Sparrow
  • Junco
  • Scrub Jay
  • Stellar’s Jay
  • White Crowned Sparrow
  • Unknown Warbler
  • European Starling
  • Dodo
  • House Wren
  • Red Breasted Nuthatch
  • Other unknown

So take that.