Friday, November 20, 2009

Colorado fire ants



This lovely billboard, insinuating that President Obama is somehow tied to Jihadists and the Fort Hood shootings, can be found on the outskirts of Denver. The picaninny graphic representing Obama is a particularly Neanderthal touch. The hysteria just never ceases to amaze me. I keep hearing the claim that racism has no part in this, but I don't recall the same folks trying to associate Bush 43 with terrorists when he was photographed holding hands and kissing a Saudi prince.Then again consistency was never a strong point for these idiots.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

And so it begins ....


( Jasen D. "Shit for brains" Bruce, Marine reservist charged with aggravated battery for striking a Greek Orthodox priest on the head with a tire iron. SFB struck the priest because he thought he was a Muslim. The priest, who was visiting the US, was lost and asking for directions.)

This nimrod, who doesn't know the difference between a Greek Orthodox priest and a Muslim, disgraced himself and the Marines by his racist behavior.

Read the tragic story here.

The plague of social media


Who says it runs your life.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Dog day dreams


I was involved in the autumn ritual of raking leaves this weekend. The trees live in our neighbor's yard, but the foliage falls in our yard. Kelly had a different idea of what the piles of leaves should be used for. At first I thought she was digging after some sort of vermin scurrying through the leaves. But once she dug the depression, she did that spinning in a circle maneuver all dogs do right before forming a nest. She sat quite comfortably for some time watching what I was doing.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Tonight's Sunset


The sunset here on the front range tonight was quite spectacular. Typically being so close to the front range, our sunsets aren't like this one.

Does Dog = SUV?

Does a dog's carbon foot print equal that of a large SUV? Well this is the thesis of the recent book Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living. They provide a back of the envelope calculation showing that the resources for Fido's food result in a carbon foot print equal to that of driving a large SUV. When I first read this, I was highly skeptical of their numbers, but didn't know where to start. Well Clark Williams-Derry, over at at Sightline Daily provides a simple back of the envelope debunking of this thesis. Simply put, Time to eat the dog argues that it takes .84 hectares to meet a pooch's food needs for a year. This translates into needing a third of all US cropland to feed our nation's dogs. Yet pet food sales only accounts for 1% of the total food economy. So the numbers just don't add up!

Autumn Sun

Its that time of year when a dog's thoughts turn to maximizing their solar absorption.


(cartoon taken from Overboard)

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Stanley Hotel

Spent the last couple of days at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park CO attending a conference. The Stanley provided the inspiration for the Stephen King novel the shining. While the Stanley hotel is not the location used in the Stanley Kubrick film of the same name, that is a combination of set interiors and exteriors at the Mt. Hood resort in Oregon, it was used in the King's miniseries of the shining. The story goes that when King spent some time there early in his career, his ghostly encounters there lead to the book. It was also a time in his life when he was suffering from a serious alcohol problem. So one has to wonder if the spirits he saw came from the bottom of a bottle.



Once the family had died, the Stanley hotel had passed from owner to owner and had fallen into serious disrepair. Ironically the interest in filming the shining miniseries lead to its restoration. Today it's one of many historic hotels. The year 2009 marks its 100 anniversary.



Despite the family's fame for Steam powered automobiles, the Stanley fortune actually came from photography. My Vintage Camera has a post about the Stanley brothers. The brothers were responsible for developing the dry plate photographic process that lead to modern photography. They sold their patent to Eastman Kodak company in 1905, becoming quite wealthy, and turned their interest towards steam powered automobiles.



The family came to Colorado for reasons of health, but found the air of Denver too dirty to provide any relief. At the suggestion of a Doctor, they traveled from Denver to stay in a cabin located in Estes Park. And the rest is history.