Paul Kimball Gets Too Wild During Birthday Bash; Special Law Enforcement Agent Called In [ PHOTO: www.adarasteele.com ]
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Two Questions Recently the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal has announced it is changing its name to the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. So CSICOP is becoming CSI. When referring to the organization by its original name, some would pronounce the abbreviation CSICOP as sie-kop (Psi-Cop). Ergo, one could pronounce CSI as sis-see. So if someone representing CSI acts petty and irritable, could that person be called a pissy Sissy? Also, if a CSI representative keeps tirelessly repeating the same dogma over and over, creating a minor commotion that doesn't change your mind, could you call him Sissyfuss? [Note: Ray X will be appearing at the Purple Elephant Comedy Club this weekend.] Comments via email: rayxr@yahoo.com
Air Ship From 3000 C.E. Mac Tonnies has stirred up some controversy with his CTH - crypto-terrestrial hypothesis - over at his blog, Posthuman Blues. Other UFO theories have been mentioned by commenters, including the idea that UFOs come from our future , i.e., mankind advances to the point that it discovers how to travel through time. Of course, the argument has been made that time travel could never be possible because of the paradoxes involved. For example, you couldn't go back in time and kill your grandfather before your father was born because you would never exist in the first place. I just left a comment at Mac's blog and I'm also posting it here so that it's less apt to be lost in the insurmountable sea of information that is the Web. = = = Here's my speculation on time travelers and UFOs: In the future time travel is possible as long as you don't try to change history. As soon as a time traveler attempts to affect a past event, they are negated,...
Counting Electrodes Instead Of Sheep How many? One on my chin. I think two or three in my hair. The rest come in pairs, one for the right, one for the left: legs, behind my ears, right next to my eyes. No wonder I have all sorts of color-coded wires running from my body into the wall. There are also wired belts wrapped around my chest and stomach. A strap encircles my head to keep my mouth closed. Additional straps keep the nose mask in place. Increased pressure is being pumped into me to keep my airways open. A technician is the next room is monitoring me, not just through the electrodes glued all over my body, but also with an infra-red camera looking down at me. The system is a hi-tech Argus. I did sleep, maybe for three hours, despite being plugged in and spied on. But now I can’t sleep. I hear a disembodied voice – not God – from the ceiling say: “You’ve been awake for an hour and a half. Do you want to end the study now?” I force the chin strap open. Air rushes out. “A...
UFOs And The Belt Of Orion A few people were at the lakeside park, waiting for the slo-mo celestial event. My camera atop tripod was ready. I had a small flashlight to check the camera’s settings and also some reference notes for changing the exposure as the event progressed. It was a warm night. At least I wasn’t standing outside, alone, in the snow as I had done on another similar occasion, trying to keep warm while recording the darkening moon. As the event progressed, a young man, a college student, asked me if I knew much about the night sky. I told him I was somewhat familiar with it, having taken amateur astronomical photos before. When the moon was in total eclipse, the stars appeared brighter, thanks to the drastically reduced lunar “light pollution.” I pointed out to the college student the prominent stars in the Orion constellation that form his belt, a trio of radiant diamonds, seemingly perfectly aligned. The student was caught off guard. Apparently he had never paid...
Holidayism Over at the Posthuman Blues blog [ link ] Mac Tonnies mentioned that he wasn't a big fan of Xmas. A few comments from his readers also reflected this POV. One of the commenters, Paul Kimball, who was probably making an observation in jest, caused me to write a knee-jerk reaction comment. Anyway, for those who don't frequent Mac's blog, here's my observation today on this so-called Holiest of Holidays. = = = Racism. Sexism. Well, I love Christmas you grinches and Scrooges. And let me coin a new term: holidayism. If someone enjoys the holidays, that's fine by me. But don't criticize anyone who doesn't share your enthusiasm. Individuals are entitled to like, not like, hate, or love anything they want -- assuming that they're not infringing upon someone else's rights. This Grinch-Scrooge label, even in jest, smacks of one thing I hate the most: conformism. It's not funny or annoying: just tiresome. Ray = = = Comments via email...
The Purple Elephant In The Room Just in time for the Xmas holiday: there has been some debate on a couple of other blogs in regards to religion and faith. Well, such issues need a unique perspective and so I telepathically interviewed that Ultra-Deity Pachyderm, The Supreme Supreme-O, Purple Elephant. He appeared in my living room for a short chat about the Meaning Of It All. Ray X [RX]: What is existence? Purple Elephant [PE]: Existence is vaudeville. Death is a cream pie in your face. RX: What is the purpose of existence? PE: Leave it to you humans not to appreciate a good thing. Most of you are doing OK, but you have to look for a hidden meaning in the universe. Everything has to be a little bit better; it can’t be taken at face value. You act as if you’re consumers trying to hunt down the best deal. Only humans would look for “value added” with reality. RX: But people can’t accept that senseless things happen at times. PE: So don’t make “sense” out of it. Shit happens on...
SW Factoid: Suicidal Chickens & Your Health Welcome to the Wild West of Ideas: U.S. domestic shortwave broadcasters and the freethinking radio programs they promulgate. Case in point: today I was listening to a program on WWCR (Worldwide Christian Radio) called Stairway to Health . When I tuned in (12.160 MHz, 2:30 PM Eastern Standard Time), the woman host was ranting about bad meat, particularly the meat produced by chickens raised in cages on large farms. She advocated eating free range chickens, saying that you paid more but it was better for your health. You see, caged chickens are adrenally stressed to the point of being suicidal. In a classic case of you are what you eat, kids were committing suicide and adults were suffering from depression due to the consumption of these tainted birds. Comments via email: rayxr@yahoo.com
Schlock Corridor Spawned in 1963, Shock Corridor is described on the back cover of the video box as both “camp” and “a brave new art form.” Sorry, there ain’t much art in this stupid movie. Imagine if Ed Wood had a bigger budget and some actors who could act. Basically, Samuel Fuller, the writer/producer/director behind Shock Corridor , has created a more sophisticated edwoodian disaster. Good actors can only do so much with an overblown, over-the-top script. There’s nothing wrong with the basic plot: a reporter, Johnny Barratt, goes undercover as a mental patient to solve a murder at an insane asylum. But that germ of an idea is mutated into an insane virus of a screenplay. While undercover, the reporter has to ferret out from three different witnesses, all patients, the identity of the murderer. The patients are introduced one at a time. This set-up makes it obvious that Fuller was trying to make Important Social Observations relevant to the early 1960s by using each patient a...
Vaporized by Blogger Beta? Looks like The Orange Orb blog lost its older posts when it switched over to Blogger Beta. You can find The Orb here at its new Beta home. According to The Orb, others have also suffered problems when switching from Blogger Original to Blogger Beta. Apparently Blogger subscribes to this principle: If it doesn't need fixing, let's break it. Me, I'm going to stay here until with BO they kick me off. I don't know if I'll ever switch to BB. Blogger is convenient -- when it works the way it should. My website isn't as easy for posting and archiving, but it has been more dependable. I might start using it more often with its blog-like section called "X-Rays." So make a note: www.xrayer.com . If this blog should suddenly vaporize, you will find me there. As I mentioned in a previous post, it seems some comments to this blog have been lost or blocked. Probably part of the Beta nonsense. If you can't comment via Blogge...
Fun With Sleep Apnea: Sleep Or Teeth To get a good night’s sleep, I might have to give up my teeth. No, that doesn’t mean that I need to have my teeth surgically removed so that I can breath properly while sleeping. Let me backtrack. Thanks to some bad advice given to me by a dentist years ago, I have receding gum lines due to improper brushing. Dry mouth can aggravate the problem. When I first tried the C-PAP machine, I would wake up with a parched mouth. A water unit to add humidity was included in the system and that did keep my mouth moist while sleeping. But one night I woke up and found my head filled with moldy miasma, even though I had carefully changed the water and cleaned the C-PAP hoses and other accessories. I have a severe allergy to molds; that ended my C-PAP use. Yesterday I was talking with a friend who has sleep apnea but successfully uses C-PAP. He said he also had a mold problem when he used the water unit. He doesn’t use the unit anymore, putting up with dry...
Comments? I’ve noticed lately that I haven’t received any comments to my posts. One answer could be that I’m annoying or boring everyone Out There. Or everyone is busy with “the holidaze.” Another answer is that leaving a comment via Blogger is stopping a few opinions from getting through. I know that Blogger can act quirky at times. When I want leave a comment, sometimes I have to post it twice. And with the big push to Blogger Beta, I wonder if things are really quirky to the point that comments are lost along the way. Also, to leave a remark at this blog, you have a join Blogger, an option that some people would rather skip. I do value feedback. If you don’t feel like commenting, OK, that’s the way it goes. But if you’re not making a comment because Blogger is too bothersome, let me offer an option: email. Yes, I know email has its own problems, such as spam, over-filtering, whatever. But it seems to work easier and better than using the comment option here. So from now on ...
A New Saucer Smear Editor? In the latest edition of his zine (11/20/06), Supreme Commander Jim Moseley mentions that while he is “doubtlessly immoral,” he isn’t immortal. Now 75, he has been considering who should carry one with the world’s best ufooligical newsletter. He states he has been in contact with “an intellectual/academic type fellow who seems really enthusiastic about taking over the ‘Smear’ desk when the time seems right.” Gee, I didn’t know that Henry Kissinger was a saucer fiend. I wonder if Henry the K’s humor can be as penetrating and as irreverent as Jim’s. (As for the issue of immorality…) Anyway, if you’ve never read a hardcopy issue of Saucer Smear – and seeing it on a computer screen isn’t the same – then it’s time to send a SASE business envelope and a couple of dollars to Mr. Moseley at P.O. Box 1709, Key West, FL 33041. Eschewing all things digital, Jim still creates his newsletter with a typewriter, scissors, and glue. It’s that handmade fanzine quality...
LAWDNKI – A Notational Review Title: Life As We Do Not Know It . Subtitle: The NASA Search for (and Synthesis of) Alien Life . A non-fiction book by Peter Ward. First published in 2005 by Viking Penguin. About the author: “Peter Douglas Ward is professor of biology, professor of earth and space sciences, and adjunct professor of astronomy at the University of Washington in Seattle.” (Cover jacket, inside back flap.) -- Glacial metabolism? We might be slow to notice it as life. In discussing the concept of Silicon/carbon clay life (pages 77 – 80), Ward mentions that such a life-form might exist here on our planet, but its changes are stretched over long periods of time and so we wouldn’t think of it as being alive. I like how our limited human perspectives – in this case, our perception of time – can keep us blind to the reality around us. -- If it don’t work in da lab, then it don’t work at all. On page 80, Ward talks about plasma life, a life form existing as the fourth state...
SWillings: Dubious Statements Heard On Shortwave Radio Abhor the Pope? I don’t, but if you do, you can find like-minded bigots on shortwave radio. Major governments used to dominate shortwave radio: the Voice of America, Radio Moscow, BBC, etc. But in the USA there has been the rise of domestic broadcasters, stations funded by private enterprise. Some of these stations offer superpatriotic / superreligious views way outside the mainstream. I caught one such broadcast last night – or I should say early yesterday morning, after 5 AM. I came in late to the broadcast. The reception sucked, fading and noise, but I was able to hear most of it. The host was going on about one Pope who molested kids back in his home country when he was a younger man. Apparently this pre-Pope molester used to volunteer to watch the kids of fellow workers at a factory. But the word soon got out and the other workers threw oily rags at him. The anti-papist host went on to imply that the Vatican was the Fou...
Sagan’s Folly We all make mistakes. Even the late, great Carl Sagan. I’m reading the non-fiction book, Life as We Do Not Know It , when author Peter Ward talks about Cosmic Carl’s disappointment when the equivalent of Martian polar bears didn’t stroll into view of the first Viking lander back in 1975. The Viking’s camera, designed to detect large critters, didn’t even find footprints. (Chapter 10, Mars.) Carl had a “recurring fantasy,” as he called it, that footprints would be found after the sun rose on Mars, evidence of nocturnal animals visiting during the night. (Maybe he thought such animals would be marking their territory on the Viking lander.) The total weight of the space probe set limits on what could be included. Choices had to be made. Carl wanted lights to detect beasties making their nightly rounds and so other equipment, small but sophisticated, was left off. But the night lights had nothing to illuminate in the way of Martian polar bears. Barsoom was bust for ...
XMA$: The Meme of Materialism Back in September a few stores had Xma$ crap on display. Then more stores joined in a week before Halloween. Pushing that Holiday $pirit. Tomorrow is Black Friday, so-called because most stores make so much money that it puts them in the black for the year. Actually it’s a black day because human lemmings, all suffering from commercially induced mental illness, throng to the malls like greedy rats. The doors open early; shoppers race in, trampling the less quick underfoot. They fight over that Perfect Toy that Johnny or Jane needs or the kid will feel completely unloved. Mind-controlled consumers who put into practice the themes of the season: Peace On Earth; Good Will Towards Others. And as shoppers spend beyond their means, they become poorer while the rich just rake in more loot. It’s OK not to like Xma$. In fact, it’s a sign of sanity to hate it. Don’t be a lemming. Or a rat.
From The MailboX: No NUFOC This Year I received another “confidential” postcard from that ufological gadfly Jim Moseley, perpetrator of the zine Saucer Smear . He only reads my thoughts via my snail mail zine, The Ray X X-Rayer , eschewing the "Dreaded" Internet. Since Jim can say it best in few words, this is what he had to share. (NUFOC refers to the National UFO Conference.) = = = 11/1/06 BLOG THIS OR WHATEVER! Dear RX: I really enjoyed your [Ray X X-Rayer] #50 more than usual, especially as it was mostly about UFO-related things, with a little sci/fi thrown in. Too bad Kimball lost $'s with his con; As U will see in the next "Smear," The San Diego NUFOC has been mercifully cancelled. I called the hotel awhile back + was told that 100 rooms had been set aside. I asked how many had been taken so far, + and the reply was none ! (That was a clue !) I wish I could hold a con with U as the featured speaker. You could appear with a bag over your head i...
Sleep Too much. Or too little. Fighting off the logy fog hanging over me. I can sleep eight hours straight but not feel completely rested. I can sleep most of the day and still need recharging. I have a few hours of activity, followed by the strong pull to take a long nap. Sometimes I have insomnia. It’s as if I have to make up for all the lost time I’ve spent being half-awake or dead asleep. Actually, I don’t mind the insomnia that much because I can get a few things done. I know what the problem is. Actually, I should say problems. It’s that time of year with short daylight periods and even then those periods are usually dismally overcast with innervating cold saturating the air. I need light and warmth. It’s easier to get out of bed in the morning when the bright sun is beckoning through your window. But the main problem is sleep apnea, a condition that keeps me from getting a good, deep sleep. I had one doctor who prescribed a C-PAP machine, a unit that increases pressure...
Hillbilly Heaven Recently I joined facebox.com, invited by Paul Kimball . So far I haven't done that much with my site over there. Paul advised that I should put up a photo of myself or a least a picture of my "lovely hometown." Well, here's a snapshot of an inspiring spot in my town. I thought I should share it with all my "fans" here at blogspot. All that is missing is the broken washing machine and the rusted-out car sitting on cinderblocks. Actually, the rest of the neighborhood is OK, but for some reason the city and the neighbors just let this frontyard faux pas slide. The owners do pick it up for a while, only to place new old stuff in a different arrangement. Maybe it's really some sort of art project. (And maybe the Pope is an atheist.)
eXclusive Links I hate HTML. That's why it's taken me some time to update this blog and add some hyperlinks to other voices out there in the blogverse. Somehow my brain was working just right so that I could finally handle the template section and create a new section of links. If you take a look at the right-hand side of the screen under eXclusive Links, you'll notice the name Greg Bishop of The Excluded Middle. He just started blogging, despite the fact he could have done it much sooner, indicating an aversion to this newfangled medium. Well, at least he isn't as bad as my favorite Luddite, Supreme Commander Jim Moseley, he eschews all things computer and still creates his zine, Saucer Smear , with a typewriter. Man, I'm surprised when a UFO buff avoids or outright rejects new technology. How would such a person react if he was picked up by a flying saucer, whisked off to another planet, and then had the opportunity to explore a technologically advanced civil...
Website Updates Besides this blog I also maintain www.xrayer.com , a place where I archive my many eXpressions as short articles and in zine form. Under the section designated "X-Rays" I've added an article that appeared the latest edition of my print zine, The Ray X X-Rayer , outlining its evolution. For inclusion in "X-Rays" I changed the title a bit to "50 Issues: A Brief History." If you look under "The Zine Zone" you will see links for X-Rayer #50 , a choice of MS Word format or plain text. I no longer create a webzine version in HTML because it just duplicates what is already on my blog. Also, I'm assuming that most readers have MS Word or a compatible wordprocessing program to access (and to print out, if needed) the print zine version. Unless I hear otherwise from my readers, I will only archive my zine as a Word file. And if suitable, I will also save it as plain text. Issue #49 was too much of a mix with text and images to...
Misc. UFO Con Updates No, I'm not referring to ET scam artists. The "con" refers to conference, such as the 2006 New Frontiers Symposium that was held on October 14th, up there in Halifax, Nova Scotia (in Canada, eh?). Over at his blog, The Other Side Of Truth , Paul Kimball explains that while his conference didn't draw great numbers (and ended up losing money), he will press on with another New Frontiers Symposium, probably in late spring of next year. LINK The next symposium might feature a modern way of reaching the masses. To quote Paul: "I view the 2006 Symposium as a trial-run for things to come. Will Wise and I were bouncing some very interesting ideas around after the Symposium about how we can move forward by using the Internet, and concepts such as live streaming of symposium video, which would allow people from all around the world to 'attend', and, hopefully, even interact with the speakers. More on all of this in the days and weeks to com...
Flash Gordon B.S. (Bad Science) OK, I ain’t a scientist. But I can smell bad science a light year away. Case in point: an episode of the live action Flash Gordon TV series from the 1950s entitled “The Lure of Light.” (At first I thought the episode was called “The Lurid Light,” but that would have been more appropriate for another character, Flesh Gordon.) In this episode earth scientists have discovered a way to make a spaceship travel faster than the speed of light. A bit of background info for Those Not In The Know: this Flash Gordon TV series takes place in the future where travel between planets can be accomplished in a matter of hours, except for long hauls that may take a few days. Our hero Flash works for GBI – the Galactic Bureau of Investigation – that operates like an interplanetary FBI, enforcing the law throughout the galaxy. Operating out of GBI headquarters on earth, Flash takes off in an old-style sci fi fuel-powered rocket, complete with a fiery exhaust, to fight ...
Whatever Happened To Morton M. Zeitlin? I’m poking around the used books shop when I stumble across an interesting little publication. Decades old, its pages are just beginning to yellow, taking on a brittleness that will eventually give way to complete disintegration. It was a stapled literary magazine published by the pupils of Watertown High School, Watertown, NY, back in April of 1930. I open up this edition of The Owl , flip through its pages, and I spot an interesting title to one short story: “The Retreat from Mercury.” Science fiction? Yup, but it’s more like early SF, i.e., scientifiction. The story opens in the year 3509 at the Astronomer’s and Spaceflyer’s Club in the city of Dragonum, a thriving futuristic metropolis that sits on the site of an ancient city called Chicago. The narrator tells his friend, Ralph X2AFXW53, that he believes it’s possible to take a trip to Venus. “We have made calculations,” the narrator tells his friend, “and believe that there is sufficient...
Lack Of Air To Dvorsky’s Brain Affects His Thinking; Doctors Rush To Place Oxygen Line Up His Backside George P. Dvorsky is a bigot. Recently at his blog, http://sentientdevelopments.blogspot.com, he took some cheap shots at Mac Tonnies and everyone who has a serious interest in UFOs. LINK To quote him: "Trouble is, however, a significant and burgeoning segment of society doesn’t believe this to be true – the so-called UFOlogists. You know, the folks who talk about flying saucers, little green men (or is that grey men?), crop circles – the whole X-Files bit. Today, an entire sub-culture exists devoted to these topics as if they were matter of fact." It's so easy to stereotype a whole group with one sweeping statement. I don't consider myself an ufologist, but I am interested in the topic. Apparently, in Dvorksy's eyes, I believe in "flying saucers," "little green men," and all sorts of kooky stuff. Never mind that he's invoking the sa...
The Startling, Psychedelic (But Non-Hallucinogenic) Origin of Ray’s Purple Elephant It started with a comment by noted skeptic Martin Gardner. Gardner is considered one of the founding fathers of modern skepticism. His most famous book, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, takes a few good jabs at people who hold irrational beliefs. He criticizes others for believing in what can’t be proven by the scientific method. But then I read that he believed in God. He admitted that there was no reason to believe in a Supreme Being, that was no logical or scientific proof, but he found it reassuring. He invoked the term “fideism.” My dictionary defines fideism as “exclusive reliance in religious matters upon faith, with consequent rejection of appeals to science or philosophy.” (Random House Webster’s College Dictionary.) During an interview published in The Skeptical Inquirer, Gardner said: “Shortly before he died, Carl Sagan wrote to say he had reread my Whys of a Philosophical Scri...
Meanwhile, Back At The Dot Com… For the last few days I have been having problems with Blogger. Apparently some of it is beyond their control, such as spammers messing up the system. I’m not a very energetic person with a surfeit of mental power. That’s why I blog; I can handle one or two short items at a time. So when I’m ready to publish, I can’t afford to waste time, trying to get my computer/ISP/hosting service to work properly. On a couple of occasions I could publish faster on my dot com than trying to get a post up here. I do like Blogger. It’s free and so I shouldn’t be complaining. But I’ve been spoiled by the quality of their service. But when I want something done, I get impatient, wasting energy that could be spent elsewhere. Anyway, I needed an eXcuse to revamp my dot com, www.xrayer.com . So now it includes a half-ass blog section called “X-Rays.” I’ve only written an intro to the new section. If I publish anything notable there, I’ll mention it here. And if s...
A UFO Conference Without Tinfoil Hats? Call it a New Frontiers Symposium, with the subtitle of “Extraterrestrial Life, Space Exploration, & The Future” and maybe “they” will stay away. As you work your way along the spectrum of human activities, straying away from the norm, you’re more apt to encounter “personalities” and “characters” than you would at more mainstream events. So I’m less surprised to find an eccentric at a comic book convention than I would at a writer’s conference. Comic book fans are more apt to dress up in outlandish costumes than aspiring writers – but even that isn’t a hard rule. In his book, Shockingly Close To The Truth , Jim Moseley describes some of the notables who used to show up at the Giant Rock flying saucer conventions held in the Mojave Desert from 1954 through 1974. For example, there were Princess Negonna and Prince Neosom from the planet Tythan. And let’s not forget Connie Menger who claimed to have lived on Venus in a previous life. To borr...
Bad TV Blast From The Past Now here’s a memory trigger. William Wise, over at his blog Rational Geek , mentioned that episodes of Project UFO are available for downloading from the Web. I hadn’t thought about that TV show for years –- and for good reason. Project UFO followed the Sisyphean adventures of two bland investigators for Project Blue Book, the US Air Force department that handled flying saucer reports. Never mind that Blue Book was no longer in operation when the series was broadcast in 1978. The movie, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind , was a hit at that time and so producer Jack Webb, Mr. Dragnet himself, could sell this turkey to NBC-TV. And talk about special effects. One of the investigators recalled how he was aboard a bomber one time and the crew spotted an UFO. The plane chased after it. A crew member described the object during the pursuit, observing that the UFO was saucer-shaped with a metallic silver surface, no openings such as jet exhausts or windows....
Devil In The Details? Some conspiracy mongers believe that the presence of the Illuminati can be proven by the symbols it employs. When he was alive, radio personality Bill Cooper used to rant about how such symbols were hidden in plain sight, from the All-Seeing Eye on the dollar bill to a pyramid-shaped rooftop glimpsed during the opening credits of David Letterman’s late night talk show. While visiting the state fair in Syracuse, NY, I noticed the detailed archway to the main entrance at the John Deere Horticulture Building. I wonder how Bill Cooper would have interpreted the sweeping, repetitive bands of flowers and bluebirds, what evil esoteric meanings lurked within their apparently innocent designs. Let’s see, bluebirds. UN soldiers wear blue helmets. And the UN is a “wing” of the Illuminati that will be used to enslave the world under a New World Order. And as for the flowers, well, poppies, opium, drugs to keep the sheeple asleep. It all fits, don’t it?
Who’s This VIP? So I’m hanging around the state fair in Syracuse one day, up on the second floor of a building where some artwork and photography was being displayed. I noticed a few people were looking out a window, excited that someone was going to make an appearance. I waited for a while, finding a window that also looked out on the same spot. Then this middle-aged white-haired guy came out and was escorted through the crowd with a contingent of New York State Troopers and a special security force. Hmmm, this visitor looks familiar but I just can’t place him. Must be because the window was kinda dirty and I didn’t get a clear shot with my compact digital camera. Can’t be anyone really important because no one hassled me about taking photos. Does this guy look familiar to you? Maybe he was a judge for the Miss New York State Fair contest.
A Smiley Simulacrum I’m away for a while from Plattsburgh, NY, escaping its provincial environs for a week or two. During my trip I had to transfer to a second bus in Albany that would take me to central New York State. I got on the bus early and while I was looking around, I noticed a pattern on one of the towers in the distance. No, I didn’t create this in Photoshop; what you see is what I saw. OK, it has a crooked grin, but it still looks like a smiley face to me, albeit one a bit pixelated. It appears to have been created by weathering on the wall. Once again Nature likes to play with our pattern-seeking heads.
Better For Whose World? I just read a great book, but I’m not ready to write a full-blown review. At the same time, I do think the book is worth reading, even though I can’t get all my thoughts together. So here are some bits of knowledge I gleaned from “Better for All The World” by Harry Bruinius (2006). These random items should intrigue you to pick up the book. If not, well, I didn’t waste my time writing a regular review. The sub-title, “The Secret History of Forced Sterilization and America’s Quest for Racial Purity,” should clue you in on the subject matter and the fact this is non-fiction (even though parts of it read like fiction). ---“Eugenics” was the reason to sterilize the genetically “unfit” during the early decades of the twentieth century. By 1927, 8,500 indigent and poorly educated citizens were forced to undergo sterilization, the number rising to 65,000 as time went on. Yes, there was a human cost but within three generations all genetically based problems – from...
Another UFO Over Plattsburgh, NY Hey, I must be getting lucky like Billy Meier. Here’s another UFO I captured, a classic saucer-shape, just before it dematerialized into another dimension. Compare this to my other UFO photo in the previous post. Once again, I only used Photoshop to create enhance the complete image.
UFO Winks Over Plattsburgh, NY I snapped this photo yesterday, just before the strange object winked out of sight. This actual digital photo has been reproduced with relatively minor adjustments using Photoshop. The adjustments were made only to enhance details. Now some might criticize the veracity of this image. For example, the perspective of the old courthouse building doesn’t match the object in the sky. The building seems to be taken with a wide-angle lens: its lines evince some keystone distortion, bending away from the camera towards the middle. But the strange object doesn’t show any signs of such distortion, as if it was taken from a second image made with a telephoto lens. The UFO looks flat compared to the building. And the angle of the sunlight striking the object doesn’t match the illumination falling on the courthouse. Well, as you may see, the UFO is surrounded by an unearthly aura, indicating transdimensional flight. The reason why its lighting and perspective don...
Here We Go Again (Maybe) Fortunately a terrorist threat has been stopped in time, saving many lives. I’ve never doubted that there is a problem with terrorism. But another problem is overreaction. OK, maybe all liquids should be banned from airplanes for the time being. I have no quibble with that. Yet, as it has been demonstrated before, some authorities might start down that slippery slope towards a state of strict control that violates the rights of the people while not stopping acts of terrorism. And in a while we become more like the undemocratic states that support terrorists. There has to be a balance. I’m concerned that fear might tip the response too far to one side, at least on local levels, if not nationally. The Noughties become a repeat of the Sixties, polarization and violence. Photography, writing, blogging –- all forms of personal expression might be threatened if you don’t “get behind The Program,” i.e., agree with everything dictated from The Authorities, don’t ...
Photography As A Criminal Activity I enjoy photography as a hobby. But my hobby might one day get me arrested. For example: --White Plains, NY. March 17, 2006. Freelance photographer Ben Hider notices the flags outside the county courthouse waving in the wind. When he takes a few shots of the flags, he ends up being hauled in by court police officers. The zealous officers frisk and interrogate him. Hider, a British citizen with a green card, is threatened with deportation. www.popphoto.com --July 2006. Philadelphia. A man is arrested for taking a photograph from his backyard with a cell phone. The subject of his imaging: police cars in the street during the arrest of a drug dealer in the neighborhood. The cell phone photog, Neftaly Cruz, a college senior, was grabbed, cuffed, and taken to jail. A neighbor says she heard the officer tell Cruz that he should have went into his house and minded his own business instead of taking pictures. www.nbc10.com/news --August 7, 2006. ...
Junkbox Gems: Those Women! As regular readers are aware, I try to rescue books one step away from the landfill, checking out the FREE BOOKS box outside the used bookstore downtown. Unfortunately, some books have received rough treatment and end up in the freebie box because even the landfill won’t take ‘em. Case in point: A copy of the classic paperback novel, The Sucker , by Orrie Hitt. The copy I found is unreadable for the most part, binding dried out, missing pages, and the pages that are left are browned and crumbling away. But I picked up the remains because of the front and back covers. After all, Art must be preserved, even if it’s only saved digitally with a flatbed scanner. According to the cover blurb, the protagonist has figured women from every angle – except one. Considering how he’s figuring the gal on the cover, I can’t imagine what angle he hasn’t tried. And check out the back cover copy. What’s a pseudo-Lesbian? (If you find the copy hard to read, click on the ...
The MailBoX: Message From A Floridian Luddite Just received a bit of snail mail from Jim Moseley, perpetrator of the zine, Saucer Smear (PO Box 1709, Key West, FL 33041). Jim is not one to get caught in The Web (to use the appropriate pun). I’ve always contended that one of the signs of the Apocalypse is the reception of email from Supreme Commander Moseley. Anyway, here’s an excerpt from his handwritten missive dated 7/24/06: “I now see more clearly than ever how good it is that I never allowed myself to be sucked into the Internet. Identity theft, scams of every conceivable kind, viruses, etc. – I just don’t have the fortitude to be up with it. All I get now is telemarketers, and I just hang up! Keep ‘em frying! Jim” Well, Jim, the Internet is like dating: you have to be wary of some women or you’ll get your identity stolen, and also end up being scammed out of your money. And let’s not talk about viruses! (My perfect woman would be one with a “Restart” option.) As I’ve mention...
Do You See What I See? Take 2 OK, let me try another one. This image has been Photoshopped, but only to remove the distracting background and to smooth the edges of the subject. For some reason this looks darker than it did in Photoshop. If it's too dark, let me know and I'll zap the brightness and contrast some more. So, does anyone see what I noticed in this tree trunk?
Do You See What I See? Sometimes I like to shoot abstract images. Admittedly this is a photo of a freshly painted wall reflecting a large window and colored lights. But to me it seems to form a pattern. I’m wondering if anyone else sees the same image within the image. No, this isn’t a put-on. I will share my take on this shot later to find out if anyone agrees with me.
A Different POV I respect Mac Tonnies and his views over at his blog . But occasionally he becomes a little too pessimistic about global warming. He picks articles and images that imply the world is going to concurrently burn up and flood over. Yes, we’re facing a problem with climate change. But I’ve lived a little too long to accept the worst forecasts without question. During the Cold War the end-of-mankind doomsayers predicted the superowers would inevitably wage World War III, radioactive craters dotting the earth’s surface. In the 1970s the environmentally-alarmed doomsayers proclaimed that the planet would be blanketed by a sea of air pollution before the 21st Century, that by now we would be choking on our own wastes. The problems of nuke warfare and pollution remain with us. But the worst forecasts have proved so far to be wrong. There’s a difference between worry and concern. Worry is the onus of the pessimist. He has decided the game is up and the clock is ticking d...
When UFO Ain’t UFO Search engine. Keyword: UFO – as in Unidentified Flying Object. Now here’s a story on the Web saying that 60% of Brits saw an UFO last year. OK, take a look and find out that UFO in this case means unforeseen financial occurrence. It’s a business news item, talking about people who become strapped for cash when something bad happens like a boiler breaking down. Not an article related to strange objects in the sky. Try again. Here’s a hit about former NBC-TV News Anchor Tom Brokaw talking about an UFO. Strange title: “The UFO Hovering Over 2008.” Access the hit, peruse a piece about the next presidential race, people speculating on who will run and win. But Brokaw says it’s too early to say how the race is shaping up because one key event can change the whole political landscape. UFO, explains Brokaw, is short for the unforeseen will occur. Politics is an alien subject to me. Try again. What’s this? A woman has a pile of UFOs in her house? Yup – except th...