Photos, travels, good food, cooking, meandering, birds, and oh yeah, a bike.
Shawn Kielty Photography. All images and content are Copyright © 1982-2015, Shawn Kielty with all rights reserved, unless noted otherwise.
Saturday, March 4, 2006
The West Side
Santa Monica Ocean Avenue. Digital Photograph. © 2006 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.
It's Saturday again, go figure. It's nice to be somewhere moist. I am back in the hotel after the morning coffee and crumpets. So I'm sitting in this room contemplating a shower and finding lunch. The motel is nice enough. It's one of those formerly sleazy sort of places that become almost retro cool after becoming a quality comfort inn. There's a perfect iron shaped mark right in the middle of the floor, an arrow pointing out.
This morning I went out to the edge of the world and shot black and white film of some folks on the beach. It feels strange to be in a place where people actually go outdoors to exercise. Maybe a thousand people jogged by me in organized groups of about 100. There were groups around the center there -- with loud speakers and it felt like a real city for a minute.
I need to look at a map, because unlike San Francisco, or Phoenix for that matter, this town actually has freeways that go different places. I walked over the Pacific Coast Highway -- the PCH -- to get down to the beach. I need to figure out where these roads go so that I can get lost more effectively.
P.S. I shot this photo two weeks ago.
Thursday, March 2, 2006
Oh That
Mileage: 14
Total for March: 33
Average: 12.3
Temperature on Arrival: 68 F.
A quick ride after work with the boys. They always push me harder. I think today is the first ride with no saddle sores. Yeah!
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
It Smells like Rain - Does That Count?
The Death Ride and the Kiss of Death Ride
Monday, February 27, 2006
Is There Life Before Coffee?
Date: February 27, 2006
Mileage: 19
Average: 12.2
Total Mileage in February: 211.7
Temperature on Arrival: 57/70 F.
I also made it home.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Tall Saguaro Near Pass Mountain
Tall Saguaro Near Pass Mountain. Digital Photograph. © 2006 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.
Today I hiked around the backside of Pass Mountain, ~3 miles. After yesterday's haul I was really hungry and am still eating -- right now it's a Haagen Daas™ bar. I think I need to get some goldfish and pepsi.
I got a new deck bag and rack today -- so maybe starting tomorrow I will take on the Brown Cloud -- i. e. commute to work. Put all the new gear on the bike and rode it around the Gravel Velodrome (my driveway) a few times. Is starting to remind me of a sailboat.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
The Pearly Gates
Date: February 25, 2006
Today's Mileage: 34.12
Temperature at Departure: 83 F.
Average Speed: 11.7
Total for February: 192.8
One thing that it wasn't today is lonely out on the road. I had conversations with several people today, including one interesting group of hikers over at the drinking fountain at the base of the Wind Cave trail. I don't know if this is just because I spent more time out, or as a result of the rather outstanding weather. The hikers were talking about a 50 mile ride tomorrow. So I asked them what the thing I just climbed was called -- "The backside of Usery Pass" was the definitive answer. It seems this is one of the more notorious climbs in the area. Another -- namely "King Kong," or just "Kong," was responsible for last weeks cramping incident. During this conversation -- I learned of a third, The Pearly Gates. "That will break your hump," says the elder hiker.
The Pearly Gates was a nice ride. I don't know how far it was, but it actually required me to use all my gears. The ride requires that you one, trespass, and two, avoid the copious amounts of coyote crap on the road, and three, work. I can just hear her saying it now, "Coyotes do not prefer to crap in the road. I know you say you've seen them, but it just isn't true." Coyotes and foxes, both share this desire (perhaps wolves too). They would really rather do thier business in the middle of the road. I have seen them more than once, me slamming on the brakes to avoid killing them, trying to take their picture, them, hobbling off so as not to soil themselves, and me again -- failing to get the picture. I want to show it to my friends, and say "See, if you spent any time outta the house you would know this. I secretly suspect they like to do this because it is warmer in the road (you know how you like it warmer in the john than anywhere else). The other possibility is that they know that this is one part of the world that is pretty much screwed, so no one (none of the other critters - except maybe the crows who eat off the road) will mind if they take a squat there.
Anyway, the road to the Pearly Gates is closed (go figure, eh?), which means all those instances of Coyote squat, aren't getting run over, so there are many there to prove my theory, which finally may become a law. It is interesting to note that coyotes seem to urinate and deficate in the same place, leaving two kinds of evidence to both prove my theory, and prove that they are not dogs. The ride, as a result of the road being closed (not the coyotesquatsi) was very nice. With the exception of the automatic machine gun fire from the neighboring shooting range, the ride was oh so quiet and worry free.
Out on the road I was reflecting on this article I read last night, and thinking yet again that I have too much stuff (she -- the woman from above -- said that too), and wondering if I could change my life just by cutting down on the stuff I have (not that I want to suffer a fire), when I remembered the end of that article, which reminds me of what inevitably happens as we force ourselves to dig deeper:
Meanwhile, Pearl the Cat is out the window trying to catch a cottontail. It's hysterical. It's all in the journey, kitty. Look for that quiet ecstasy. Discard your burdens.I've learned to recognize a particular moment on a backcountry trip. It's the moment when I can't remember what I'm doing there. It usually comes after some grueling slog, after the pack mysteriously gains weight against all rules of fairness and physics. Everything rubs against me-the shoulder harness, the salt of my sweat, the relentless weather, the earth against my feet.
It's like pushing through a membrane, that instant when misery transforms into surrender. Nothing becomes lighter, faster, easier. Now I can keep on, just for the power, the quiet ecstasy, of keeping on, discarding burdens as I go, growing lighter and lighter with every step, because this-this freedom, this moment, this willingness to trust myself in an untrustworthy world-this is the one thing I cannot do without.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
The Hotel California
The Brown Cloud
Bicycling in the Brown Cloud. Digital Photograph. © 2006 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.
Today there's yet another hazardous day in the Phoenix metro, with unhealthy levels of PM-10, which you will all recognize as particulate matter with a size of 10 microns or smaller. I like to think of that as smog, but it could really just be dust. Frankly, it's ugly. They recommend alternate transportation to work, but not bicycling. Exercise outdoors is possibly not a good idea. Sensitive groups should reduce heavy breathing.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Evening Commute
Temperature on Arrival: 67 F.
Mileage: 7.6
Mileage for February: 154.3
Average: 15.6
Cool Guy
The Morning Commute
Temperature on Arrival: 45 F.
Mileage: 8.1
Mileage for February: 146.7
Average: 11.9
Sunday, February 19, 2006
So Here I am ...
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Off to a Veritable Paradise
I'm Not Talking ....
Today's Mileage: 10.0
Average: 11.9
Mileage for February: 138.6
Monday, February 13, 2006
Mondays ... I Like
Today's Mileage: 10.70
Average: 11.7
Total for February: 128.5
Temperature on Arrival: 70 F.
Today's ride went up the hill to the entry of the Usury Mountain Park. I actually passed another rider. Now I am going after some carbs at the Thai place.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Pearl the Cat
The static electric cat. I am watching Jill (the "are people crazy in Alaska" Jill) because I want to cheer her on. She showed a picture of her cat -- so I thought I might show off Pearly.
Arizona Fire Season Starts Early
This is a haboob (pronounced haboo -- no giggling). It's a phenomena that occurs in the Sahara Desert and in the Southwest of the US. It is a duststorm proceeding a squall line in a thunderstorm as a result of the downdraft. It can be blinding and scary. I shot this photo on August 7th 2005. It rained hard on me that day -- I had to run with camera for about a mile to sanctuary in the truck, out of fear of a lightning strike. It's been hard to remember it raining here and I miss it.
I think the fire season has actually officially started here in Arizona. Over the last few days it has been fairly windy, with strong winds at night and in the morning coming from the norht and east. These winds have made riding a tad miserable. Today when I was sitting here playfully at my desk gazing out at the view to the east of the Superstition Wilderness, when I saw a plume of smoke. Panic was my immediate reaction.
You might wonder why would that guy panic, it's the middle of the winter. When you spend a lot of your life in the west -- and a lot of your time out doors -- an innate sense develops that tells you when it is dangerous, a mistake, to light a fire. The forest and the desert smell different (more like firewood, and less like a salad). They look different. The sonoran desert can be extremely lush and green. Right now the plants have sucked in all their moisture and sealed themselves against a serious dry spell. The desert is grey and dull and flat. It is so dry that when I pet Pearl the cat, it is a continuous electrostatic discharge. This doesn't phase her at all, in fact I think she likes it. I have never experienced this, and have discovered that other cats do this as well, so it can't be attributed to my formerly feral cat.
News reports have talked about the fact that it hasn't rained in forever, longer in fact, than in the entire recorded history. Normally things are more like this Wikipedia entry for Phoenix:
Now 8.29 inches isn't really very much rain at all, especially considering that one day last year it rained between 3 and 5 inches in just a few hours here in Mesa. That means it really doesn't rain very often. According to this statement from the National Weather Service:The normal annual rainfall at Sky Harbor International Airport is 8.29 inches (211 mm). March is the wettest month of the year (1.07 inches or 27 mm). Rain is particularly scarce from April through June. Although thunderstorms occur on occasion during every month of the year, they are most common during the monsoon season from July to mid-September as humid air surges in from the Gulf of California. These can bring strong winds, large hail, or tornadoes. Winter storms moving inland from the Pacific Ocean occasionally produce significant rains but occur infrequently. Fog is observed from time to time during the winter months.
THE LAST TIME ANY RAINFALL WAS RECORDED AT PHOENIX SKY HARBOR AIRPORT WAS OCTOBER 18 OF 2005. THROUGH SUNDAY FEBRUARY 12TH...THAT IS 117 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITHOUT MEASURABLE RAIN...0.01 INCHES OR MORE...OR EVEN A TRACE. THE PREVIOUS RECORD FOR SKY HARBOR WAS 101 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WHICH OCCURRED SEPTEMBER 23 1999 THROUGH JANUARY 1 2000.
I believe that we might have had a few drops fall the other night here in Mesa, with my only clue being the interesting pattern of circular shapes in the dirt on my windshield, proving clearly that not very much of it got wet. The absence of rain for so long clearly explains why children ask their Mothers questions like "Why is there water falling from the sky?," or run around trying to catch a raindrop on their tongue.
According to this in the Arizona Daily Star, a fire has gotten started near Payson, as of few days ago. The northern sky tonight had that wonderful red glow that frequently accompanies a fire up on the Rim. If the wind stops then Phoenix's infamous "Brown Cloud" will return. The contributions that a fire burning might make to the brown cloud could be severe. The easterly wind is currently blowing the cloud toward Los Angeles. If I were there -- I might consider blaming Phoenix for the pollution.
The fire out to the east went away as fast as it started. I am sure it was someone using the day (no burn ban, because of the wind) to burn off some trash. SO there was no reason to panic after all.
It's Sunday Again
Today's Mileage: 14.60
Average: 10.6
Total for February: 117.7
Temperature on Arrival: 78 F.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Oh the wind
Date: Feb. 11
Mileage: 16.4
February mileage:102.9
Today's average: 11.3
Temperature on arrival: 62
The MD has instructed me to massage my prostrate, leaving me thinking, how am I supposed to do that?? The new saddle is good -- my sit bones are sore in a much more appropriate place and the gentler massage on my prostrate (as opposed to the previous hammering) could probably meet with the docs approval. The adaptive process has started.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Moonlight Ride
Ohhh-la-la. My new Brooks™ saddle came in the post (how British can I make this sound?). It's very firm and I am sure it's really going to hurt to break in. A masochist, I must be. I took it for a spin around the gravel circle (my driveway), and it already feels better than the stock Bianchi™ saddle.
I bought some additional lights. So now I have a redundant system. I rode over to the friendly guy's bike place for them and rode home in the moonlight.
The light I got was a Cat Eye rechargeble halogen. It seems very bright. Hopefully I can see better than tonight when I was coming up my driveway with the Cat Eye LED headlamp and my streamlight LED headlamp strapped to my helmet (I haven't decided if this is a good idea yet -- but it works ok). I added an additional tailight so I can have one flashing and one solid.
Date: Feb.10
Mileage: 20.5
February mileage:86.5
Today's average: 12.2
Temperature on arrival: 62
I only had one small indication I was going to cramp up the way I did yesterday -- and it passed after a few minutes. Today's average speed was higher than yesterday's. I find this surprising, because the return trip in the dark was for the most part less than 10 miles an hour.
Thursday, February 9, 2006
Something Wrong Here.
UPDATE
I just read a bunch of the comments on the link referenced above. That article has been viewed 365954 times in the last 2 weeks, so there are a lot. The story goes something like this, according to the photographer. Driver throws some trash out the window of his vehicle. Courier picks it up and throws it back in the open window. Driver throws a cup of coffee onto courier. Courier assaults vehicle with key or something else. Driver gets out and grabs courier. From here the pictures are somewhat explanatory. After that the photographer follows driver back to car to photograph the license plate. Driver pulls a base ball bat out of vehicle and chases photographer -- who -- wisely -- flees.
So where's the line? The line gets crossed when you actually intend to physically harm another person. In a civilized society that's a crime. Her throwing his trash into his car might be defined as a political statement -- in the crafty mind this could be protected by the first amendment, perhaps not. Damaging his property (keying his car) may be both insulting and vandalism (also a crime). But it doesn't compare to trying to hurt some one.
Attempting to cause physical damage to another person is bad. Pouring coffee on someone -- maybe. It is absolutely assualt, if it is scalding hot. Throwing someone to the ground against a car -- is definitely assault. It's clearly a life threatening attack. In Arizona ... you could easily (and quickly) die for much less. Were a man like that to attack me, I would want to disable him very quickly, in a way that he would remember. Stepping on his running gear comes to mind.
Where I grew up -- Men didn't beat up on women. It is just wrong. It's bad -- I hope that guy never gets on a bike. There's a lot of instant karma that might show up there.
Road Rage Kindness
Date: Feb. 9
Mileage: 11.0
February mileage: 65.8
Temperature on departure: ~68
For some reason today (so that I would bring the bike in to work) my riding/hiking buddy decided, at about 6 in the morning, to call and change today's hike plan to a ride plan. I am better that it was a ride.
Today's ride wasn't exactly uneventful. I rode up past Red Mountain and into the Salt River canyon for a round trip total of 11 miles. I think this is the spot where the water mongers hijack the entire Salt River and put it into a canal. On the way up to Red Mountain I seriously cramped up, but I tried to just ignore it and push on. The cruise down into the Salt River went okay, but the trip back up out of there was tougher. On the way up the cramps in my calves were so bad I had to stop and walk for fear of just falling over.What the heck causes this to happen? I didn't think Tums™ were a required part of my diet. Maybe I could combine Tums™ and dried papaya to make an interesting gorp for riding. This is the first time I have been stopped from riding by this. On a more positive note the average speed for the ride was 11 miles an hour, up slightly from the other day.
Despite a somewhat painless day, I did order a Brooks™ saddle, which I hope will arrive soon. The promised pain from breaking it in will make me feel like I am riding a bike again, which seems good. There should be some measure of paradise immediately following.
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Grumble - More from the Archive
Mohave Desert. Digital Photograph. © 2005 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.
Mileage today: 0. I've been asked to go for a three mile uphill there and back hike tomorrow. I am a little nervous; I haven't been up a hill since the hike of the serious downhill pounding aka the hike of the injury. I was just starting to feel comfortable that hauling my (sore) tail around on a bike wasn't going to damage my knee. I'd prefer it if it was downhill first ... but there ain't much of that around here.
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Lights.
Mileage: 4.0
February mileage: 55.2
Temperature on departure: 65
All my lights work! It's just now dark so I really didn't need them to see. I think I'll be buying that Brook's Saddle.
Monday, February 6, 2006
A Century to Ride
TNF
Mileage: 2.3
February mileage: 51.2
Temperature on departure: 68
Total, not far, Tonto National Forest, or tushy ... Today's ride went ok -- I had to struggle a bit to bring myself to Saddle up. A short ride helps to get my sitter in better shape.
Sunday, February 5, 2006
Push Myself
Mileage: 25.6
February mileage: 47.9
Temperature on departure: 62
So today's ride was supposed to include pictures of an overcast day here (maybe tomorrow I can figure that out). I thought I could do something like this woman with the pictures. I could be like her if I was tough enough to ride 60 some odd miles through the snow. That's almost unbelievable after my little ride today. I am impressed.
Today was our first real overcast
I stopped for a sandwich and made a stop at the cafe of the beautiful people. The regular aged road bike crowd at the cafe looked at me so overly thoughtfully when I said "Hi", perhaps because of my ugly old bike and ever so bleu jean grundgy appearance. Not exactly road racer chic. I just think they were suprised to see me on a bike. I didn't much mind; I had just ridden 18 awesome miles. My friend was there and his gf bought me a coffee. We laughed at my old ugly bike -- and enjoyed the coffee.
Everything worked really well, except my seat, which needs a bit more of a break in period, or I need one of those donut shaped butt pillows to sit on. Rumours that a hard day in the saddle might make me impotent are probably a bit far fetched, but nevertherless a possible good excuse for some. I'll be ok in a couple of days, I reckon; I shouldn't need to sit down 'til then anyway. I'll be dreamily admiring those BrooksTM saddles over at the friendly guy's bike place, and hope that the ongoing pain of breaking one in won't damage my virility.
Saddle recommendations are more than welcome.
Saturday, February 4, 2006
Google Saturday Morning Coffee
Date: Feb. 4
Mileage: 19
February mileage: 22.2
Temperature on departure: 60
That's right -- I am contemplating riding 8.5 miles in to get the morning cup at the cafe of the beautiful people. I need a rack I suppose so I can carry the newspaper home, and cart my camera around.
Where I went to school, at the College of Arts and Letters, we put two spaces after a period, unlike Google's blogger, which for some reason thinks that it's wiser to strip them down to one. They are very smart over there, so they must know better than I. Another possibilty is that they think they are doing me a favor. I'm very happy that they haven't decided to edit any of the other characters in my text.
Does a <pre> tag help. Look, it does. And in a most
attractive way, too.
Friday, February 3, 2006
Short ride tonight
Date: Feb. 3
Mileage: 2.3
February mileage: 3.3
Temperature on departure: 73
I squeezed in a short ride tonight, just before dark, out in the saguaros. If a groundhog came up here - he would say, whoa -- I think I overslept, summer has already started. It may seem a bit crazy to talk about the temperature on a ride when it is a splendid 73, but it will start wearing like a badge of honor when the milege is 20 and the temperature is 120. Like I could do that ...
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Bike Friendly Beautiful Mesa ... Mesa, AZ
In making my plan to commute to work I found that there are 9.0 miles of bike lanes in my trip, with the only stretch without being the one from my driveway to the pavement. Some areas the bike path is very narrow, but it's still there. In the morning ther are commuters in cars traveling at high speed, in a rush trying to get to work. and they aren't very polite to other motorists. There are a lot of roadside memorials, too. I'll need to be careful because I am thinking they won't be expecting a bicycle.
One particular
Frankly, this is Arizona, the state with the stupid driver law; it might be smarter to try to stay out of the way. "Bicyclist Wilbert Ulmer, 85, of Mesa died Tuesday (Jan. 10, 2006) when a pickup truck struck him as he crossed the street in the 9200 block of East Southern Avenue in Mesa. He was not in a crosswalk." East Valley Tribune Article. That's an 85 year old cyclist. Shame really, there aren't too many of those.
If you don't think this is serious -- try this google search and see just how many news stories there are about cyclists being run down by cars or killed. I89 since Boxing Day. That's a lot.
Bikes belong on the road here in Mesa, so you don't have to be a Dick. We should be trying to enjoy it, because there are a lot more hostile places than this.
Friday, January 27, 2006
I Blog ...
I am an old beat up 4WD truck.
I'm a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. I am all about surviving and getting the job done in a memorable way. While I have a practical everyday side, I get wild when anyone pushes my pedals, or yanks my chain. I hate to lose traction (or just track). I have a
If you are jealous, take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz for yourself and see if you can get the answer I got.
Good luck there.
I unabashedly stole the image of the Dodge Power Wagon from here.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
The Rubber Hits the Road -- Literally
I took the bike to the shop to have it fixed. When it comes back -- I think I will just go out and ride 25. After that maybe I will try to ride here from Flagstaff after a snowstorm (I am not really serious folks). That is if it ever snows.
After that I picked up some take out Basil Beef from the Thai Corner in Mesa and devoured it in minutes, so maybe I did manage to burn a few calories. I hear that ordering the food "Thai hot" helps maintain one's intestinal health. It was good -- and the rice helps too after a bit of effort. The satisfaction index for this meal was very high. Shortly after that I also ate a dagwood, which is a bit like dessert only bigger.
You know what they say about riding a bike? It's all true.
Protection for the Roadless Areas.
Picture stolen from here.
This, I don't much care for. I am astonished that it is possible for a single person in an un-elected position to have the power to make this sort of decision. How is it possible that a Forest Service Supervisor can single handedly destroy a roadless area, by deciding that it is in the best interest of a balanced forest management plan. Because he never asked me I guess. Once they build the roads -- I guess they can take that area out of the inventoried roadless areas. That should make it a lot easier to run the bulldozers.Ketchikan, Alaska - Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole recently signed the Emerald Bay Record of Decision, approving the harvest of approximately 16 million board feet of timber from 600 acres on the Cleveland Peninsula to provide nearly 90 jobs in Southeast Alaska. The proposed project area is located approximately 40 air miles north of Ketchikan within the Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District.
The Emerald Bay project includes the construction of approximately 6 miles of new low-impact road within the Cleveland Inventoried Roadless Area.
The inventoried roadless areas, for those that don't know, represent the areas determined to be wilderness -- meaning free of evidence of human improvements. These are areas that have been set aside during the Clinton presidency with the intent of conservation, and the policies of the Bush administration and the Forest Service intend to undermine that intent of protection (http://www.lcv.org/president-and-congress/issues/page.jsp?itemID=28176181) despite the desire of the American public to the contrary. This q&a page claims that there are over 50 projects pending in roadless areas in the Tongass NF alone.
This appears to be a
This is what looks to be hope for the Cleveland Roadless area.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Whoa ... not.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
To Philly, From Alaska, w/love
To Philly, From Alaska, w/love
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Monday, January 2, 2006
Monday, December 26, 2005
Shoreline Park
Friday, December 16, 2005
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Pick of the Week, too.
Mono Lake Winter, Photograph, Silver Gelatin Print, Copyright ©2005 Per Volquartz
It's the Christmas season after all.
Per Volquartz' image of Mono Lake is really nice. Splendid, in fact.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Pick of the Week
Lisa with Scorpion, Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe. Silver Gelatin Print with graphite. 1981-1983.
Over this past week I have looked at hundreds of Mapplethorpe images. This is a superb, stunning image, unique and interesting, and among my favorites. Lisa Lyon was the first women's body builder champion and one of Mapplethorpe's favorite models.
This is available through: Vered Gallery (631) 324-3303 Janet Lehr Inc., NY.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Elephant Arch
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Hide Your Nuts
The witnesses said the squirrels fiercely eviscerated the dog (One could have seen a top model "eviscerate" a dog, too). When the people rushed to rescue the dog it was too late. The fight between the dog and the squirrels lasted for not longer than a minute. When the triumphant squirrels saw the humans approaching, they scattered carrying pieces of the prey in their mouths.
The incident made locals incredibly cautious and people now prefer to pass the park by and do not let children play there (Be really careful should you decide to put them to sleep instead). People fear that savage squirrels may attack someone again. One of the locals says that if another accident occured there it would make sense to fix traps in the forest to catch squirrels.
Mikhail Tiunov from the Far East Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences says he has never heard about squirrel attacking other animals before. "This sounds nonsensical that squirrels attacked a stray dog and tore it to pieces. If this actually happened, the life of squirrels in the forest seems to be really hard this year. It is typical of squirrels to feed on nuts, seeds and mushrooms. And it is unlikely that squirrels have become so aggressive as a result of some mutation," Newsru quoted the expert as saying (From Pravda.ru).
I have to say at this point -- that the picture I get of carniverous squirrrels feeding on nuts is more than a bit disheartening, but then when I looked at the deadly peanutbutter kiss story linked to that -- it became clear that either someone is a bit nutty, or there is no correlation whatsoever between the words "feed on nuts" and the story linked to it.
After I had followed the links for a while I found myself reading this story about what I would call a disaster:
A top environmental protection official urged residents of Russia's Far East city of Khabarovsk on Tuesday not to panic over a toxic soup headed their way on the Amur River, drinking a glass of water as television cameras rolled to demonstrate uthorities had the situation under control. But a spokesman for the World Wide Fund for Nature said the river faced "ecological catastrophe" as an 80-kilometer (50-mile) long slick of chemicals floated toward the Russian border from China, where a Nov. 13 explosion at a chemical plant spewed it into the Songhua River.
Again -- it is astonishing -- what the links hook to -- And I really thought that this blogperson might want to know that the Pravda story has linked to his article. Let's keep in mind that I don't really agree with any of this -- but just want to point out the sanity of the links in the Pravda Article.
I think I am going to start making links like this -- which I will hereinafter call "Pravda Style" linking. This could be very interesting -- when defined as having anything even vaguely related to the story. It could be much more entertaining than the other options.
Have a great Saturday -- enjoy your coffee and steer clear of the nuts.
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Sunday, December 4, 2005
The Wood Shop is Open
Saturday, December 3, 2005
Finished Kestral Box
Kestrel Nest Box
It appears that the state of Iowa has an American Kestral Trail along one of it's highway coridors, with a nestbox every mile:
In 1983 Ron Andrews of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources originated the interstate nest box program for American Kestrels. Working in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Transportation, nest boxes were attached to the backs of information signs along the interstate rights-of-way. Twenty nest boxes were placed on signs along I-35 in Northern Iowa that first year as an Eagle Scout project, and eight were used by kestrels. Nest boxes now occur nearly every mile of I-35 from Missouri to Minnesota. This corridor represents the nation's first statewide kestrel trail along an interstate system. These efforts have been coordinated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Nongame Wildlife Program and implemented at the local level by state nongame personnel, county conservation personnel, and a host of volunteers. Hundreds of nest boxes have been attached to highway signs elsewhere in Iowa. Many other states, including Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Idaho, have adopted the kestrel box program.
Information about programs like this can be found here. It says to hang the box from 10-30 feet in height. I prefer personally to stay below 20 ft, and given that the only two things in this desert that are 30 feet tall, saguaros and power poles, I think I'll just put it about ten feet up on a pole near the house.
I found this great plan here.
Friday, December 2, 2005
Zebra Problem -- No one has the Zebra
Statements
1 5 different colored houses on a street, with five men of different nationalities living in them. Each man has a different profession. Each man likes a different drink. Each man has a different pet animal.
2 The Englishman lives in the red house.
3 The Spaniard has a dog.
4 The Japanese is a painter.
5 The Italian drinks tea.
6 The Norwegian lives in the first house on the left.
7 The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
8 The green house is on the right of the white house.
9 The sculptor breeds snails.
10 The diplomat lives in the yellow house.
11 They drink milk in the middle house.
12 The Norwegian lives next door to the blue house.
13 The violinist drinks fruit juice.
14 The fox is in the house next to the doctor's.
15 The horse is in the house next to the diplomat's.
The question? Who has the zebra and who drinks water ?
I believe the solution will be the same as the Einstein Riddle (see this).
Since zebra and the water are in the question only and not in the rules -- it is possible that the 5th animal is cranes -- and the fifth beverage is soda - and therefore no one has any fish, nor drinks any water. This doesn't constitute the answer, but determines that the answer is a set of possible solutions that includes no water drinker and no zebra owner, and no water drinker or no zebra owner.
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Oh Gosh -- Pop -- Have a look.
Einstein's Riddle.
1. On a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.
2. In each house lives a person of a different nationality.
3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke a
different brand of cigar and have a different pet.
The question? Who owns the fish?
The Clues
1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.
Please don't tell me the answer -- OK? Yeah right. The real beauty of this is the simple truth of it. If I tell you that I know who is the owner of the fish and who it is, it doesn't really spoil it for you -- because you won't believe me. First -- it requires verification against a complex set of rules, and second -- knowing that won't even come close to helping find the solution. Finding the solution allows for some assumptions, so there are several different matrices that arrive at the conclusion which -- once discovered will just mean you write in the word fish.
What is a more interesting question to me is how to solve it. Any sort of brute force algorithm seems out of the question. Trail and error combined with intuition and and logic was very fruitful. I expected this to be harder to solve. Stochastic hillclimbing could be an interesting way to solve this. I wonder if I can figure out what that means exactly.