Remember Your Place
Unreconstructed South
Southern Pride.
There is a huge difference between how folk are raised in some portions of the country than in other parts: Urban vs rural, north vs south, conservative vs liberal. While this video was composed in the Carolina’s (and it shows) , you’ll find the same mindset from the east coast through Texas and everywhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
We Have Traveled Far Down That Slippery Slope
A Mile In Her Shoes
Can You Imagine?
Be Careful What You Wish For
Watch both the Drumbeat and the Drummer
Let’s all be careful not to get so wrapped up in showing support for our folk in blue (or the military for that matter) that we allow our God given freedoms to erode. A steady ebbing of our rights may go unnoticed, much like the rising heat for the frog in the pot, until tyranny’s march becomes irreversible.
A Compelling Photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson
Some artists have an ‘eye’ for subjects and compositions that evoke a complex blend of emotion, curiosity, and thoughtfulness. I believe the Frenchman nailed it with this shot in 1948 in Kashmir. Adding to the complexity of the scene is Kashmir was a war zone at the time.
New Presidential Press Secretary
I suggest that the Trumpster double up the press secretary position. Not only would the press events be immensely more entertaining, heads would explode worldwide. It would be like…..
If ‘a’= ‘b’ and ‘b’ = ‘c’, then ‘a’= ……
I See their Point, But…..
I appreciate Amazon spanking Joe Joe so cleanly and crisply. I do note that the Trumpster has said much the same thing of them and all they did was hunker down.
The problem with Amazon is not the taxes they pay (or don’t) it’s that they have become so efficient in their sourcing and distribution networks that thousands of small business have been put out of business. Beyond those business that have been shuttered perhaps a few thousands more that could have incorporated have chosen not to because they couldn’t possibly compete. So instead of multiple thousands of CEO’s, CFO’s, and other ‘C’ s that could have existed and thrived and contributed to the American mosaic, Amazon has given us ware-housemen and stevedores.
What Type of Nation We’ve Become
A Friday Wind-Down Tune
A flush of memories from these visuals. I’ve been through Monument Valley and the surrounding areas many times. As a child dad would travel through there annually from Fort Ord to visit our family in Ozark Mo. Later I would travel there several times on motorbikes. The first was in ’79 on a ’74 Sportster, in 2004 and again 2005 on a ’03 Road King, and finally in 2011 on the ’10 Electra Glide.
Hope you enjoy !
AOC V2
Oh crap. Another Occasional Cortex has emerged in Denver.
The Idol at the Alter
I saw this over at WRSA and it struck a cord. The Don, as was Bucky with his adoring base, is admired by those that support him. In the grand scheme of things however, he commands a vast, vast bureaucracy. Everyone of the thousands of offices and agencies in his, or any President’s administration, exists for the sole purpose of acquiring power over and controlling the actions of ‘we the people’.
I applaud Trump for what he is doing but I know that regardless of how successful he is the ‘state’ would sacrifice anyone of us just to maintain their control over us or to prove a point.
Good For Me | Not For Thee
Thoughts on a Compilation (or Two)
The ‘Eye of the Photographer’ is showcasing some of the work produced by Michael Ackerman today. Two of works they’ve posted caught my eye. Not so much for any single item in the photo, but rather for the way they were patched together to produce a feeling or mood that any one of them could not evoke standing on their own. In the one above I particularly like the way that he both blurred the subjects (if they could be called that) and darkened around the edges. Both techniques, combined with the way they are organized, is compelling.
In the set below, he used some of the same techniques, but the added both the motion evident in each individual photo along and with a seaming random edging. I can almost see the composition below in the waiting room or board room of a professional office.
Black and white photography continues to be the most challenging and rewarding way to capture images. Michael’s work can be found here
Those Spartacus Moments
Oh Noes (Reliving 2016)
A Hard Truth
The Devils Handmaid
Ariana Grande donates a six-figure proceed from her sold-out concert in Atlanta to Planned Parenthood. Funding the slaughter of the least among us. This evil little bitch is proof that evil walks among us.
I Don’t Care….
When It All Goes South
A couple of years ago I discovered an excellent series of TEOTWAWKI survival articles, written by ‘Foodgrower’, and hosted by Kenny over at ‘Knuckledraggin’.
The articles are no-nonsense, in-your-face, read-it-and-weep information on what it really takes to be self-sufficient. It’s a real eye-opener that I strongly suggest be read by anyone that is ‘prepping’ or knows someone that is.
I’ve snatched an important concept from one of Foodgrowers articles that gives good insight on why you may want to heed what he says, It goes: I don’t want to just survive, I want to enjoy life. Come a Sunday morning I don’t want instant oatmeal from a foil package for breakfast. I want a two egg omelet with bacon and diced tomatoes, diced peppers, chopped mushrooms, a spoon or two of cottage cheese, maybe a sprinkling of sausage, fresh grated cheddar cheese, a healthy dose of sour cream and several shots of tobasco sauce. Which would you rather have? How about a strawberry waffle smothered in fresh butter and whipped topping? Maybe bacon, two eggs over easy and hashbrowns with a short stack beside ’em. These menu options sure beats those survival rations.
Link is here, then click the A-Z Foodgrower on the black ribbon. Say hello to Kenny while you’re there.
Here We Go Again
Now I’m really worried (cause they nailed it so well last go-round)
A PSA for the Alphabet People
Feeling Manipulated?
Ahhhh, The Lamentations
Coincidence?
A Tune To Calm the Savage Breast
Simple Joe
Honest Work
Missing the Meaning
It’s odd how we can look at something many times and think that we know the nature of the thing; that we have learned all that we can about an object, phrase, or concept only to find later we may have been blind to its true nature. Perhaps we become so familiar with those things that surround us that we no long really think of them in any meaningful way. They become furnishings or structures in our lives that no longer command our interest, things no longer worthy of our thoughts.
The 4th saying in the Gospel of Thomas has me thinking along those lines; that we become too familiar with the ‘furnishings’ in our lives. You know, the essence of a thing can slip right past us while leaving us with the false belief that we have mastered its meaning or understand its nature.
The 4th saying: “The person old in days won’t hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live. For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one.”
Beyond the esoteric message within this saying, what had completely slipped past me was the term ‘place of life’ ( in Doressee’s translation ‘Place of Life’). I had always thought that the author was alluding to ‘meaning’ or ‘purpose’ or ‘reason’ for life. As we look at every translation of the saying (translations, reader thoughts, and scholarly quotes here) it reads ‘place’. It may very well be that he was speaking of an actual place. The saying could then mean that the child knows of the place that the aged has somehow lost awareness of.
That Look You Get
If They Knew Then What We Know Now
Around the Farm
It will be another week or so before I can begin harvesting the wild blackberries that are hiding around the property. I went out and looked in the nooks and crannies where they are known to flourish and I guess there will be plenty for the jams and jellies I’ll be attempting this year. I’m most interested in two of the jams. The first is a mix of strawberry, raspberry and blackberry. The second is strawberry and raspberry and chipotle to use as a glaze on fish and chicken. Of course I plan on putting a dozen jars or so of just blackberry jam together.
I’m getting about two cups a day of strawberries out of the garden right now so if that continues for another couple of weeks I’ll have plenty for canning. The blueberries are producing well, but I don’t think the six bushes I have will be enough long term.
Here are a couple of photos I took while wandering around looking for the blackberries.
Tell Me Why
An Important PSA
The Way It Is
Music To Work By
The Awakening
A Long Hot Summer
Reason for the Season
A Red Meat Kinda Guy, But. . . .
One of the great things about being retired is you really don’t have to focus on any one thing (unless that one thing involves power equipment or sharp, pointy objects), but rather you can sorta follow rabbits until you find something that grabs your attention and prompts you to action. Here is the ‘rabbit’ I followed a little earlier today:
As I looked at the pictures I posted of my garden I began wondering about how, and how often, I needed to harvest the basil. Via the magic of the intertubes and the many postings of kind folk knowledgeable in such things, I got the answers I was looking for. Several of the sites mentioned basil ‘pesto’. Pesto this, pesto that, best pesto recipe, etc. Intrigued, I followed that rabbit as well.
I’m 65 years old and feeling pretty blue about now cause there is this supposedly delightful condiment called pesto and I’ve never heard of the stuff. Is it a one off high-brow delicacy? Apparently not because of all of the down to earth folk and websites tout it’s ease of preparation and great taste. Here is one site that I found that not only talks about how to make it (which generated another rabbit to chase) but also how to use it. Well, the rabbit that was generated was the ingredient list for the pesto, the garlic in particular.
I’ve got a butt-load of garlic planted and really never gave much thought to how/when it was to be harvested. I figured that when I needed some I’d just go dig it up. I figured wrong according to folk purportedly knowledgeable is such things and need to remove about 80 or 90 head/plants of garlic. The balance, 30 plants or so, need another couple of weeks before they are ready. So up to the garden I go, dig out the garlic that’s ready, and then off to the barn to hang it in the framework I made for last years bush beans.
Now I’m a red meat kinda guy, but some of these pesto recipes sound pretty good to me. Given that you can make the stuff up and freeze it for up to a year (leaving the grated cheese out until it’s going to be used), I’m in. I’m done chasing rabbits for the day !
Roll Tide !
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
That Look You Get (TLYG)
Like Her, It Didn’t Age Well
‘Bracketing’ The Garden
Folk that have spent time in the Army or Marines, particularly those in combat arms, know that the term ‘bracketing’ has to do with adjusting indirect fire onto a target or registration point. Essentially this means that as you make corrections to where you want the next round to land, you don’t adjust the second round in a very precise way, you move it enough so that it hits on the other side of the target. That is where I’m at on my second year of the garden. Last year I put it in too early and had frost damage. This year it’s not so much late as it is behind where it could have been. I’m pleased with the way it’s progressing but not all things will time out the way they need to.
Here are a couple of picks to show how its going.
A Simple Lesson
I took wifey’s car in for an oil change and thought it would be good to balance and rotate the tires as well.
Some few days later we were traveling to Huntsville AL (about 50 miles away) and went using Interstate 65. Sure as shit, once I got over 60 miles an hour there was a hint of a shutter. At 70 it was more pronounced, not really bad but enough to know that the knuckleheads didn’t balance the tires right.
The next morning I’m looking over the tires and notice that there are 3 large (about 3 inch long each) weights on the left front and two of the same size on the right front. Some of the weights were put on when I purchased the tires, some were place there on the most recent balancing.
Off I go to a different service center and explain the issue to the mechanic there. Here is how I relearned a simple lesson. The mechanic removed the tires and then removed all of the weights from every tire. He then ran each tire on his machine and added weights as needed to bring each tire into balance. He would add a weight, check for balance, and then add another as needed. Essentially, he discarded all of the errors that had accumulated over time and started from scratch; checking each change he made as he worked.
It strikes me as odd how such a simple lesson can have an esoteric character to it. Over many years I’ve been trying to reconcile all that I have been taught (or have otherwise learned) about Christ and God with other things, taught or learned, about Them. The incongruences were/are pronounced and enduring.
So I’ve begun to remove all of the weights and am starting again. Here is what I know absent any weights (influences): There is a God and Christ walked/taught among us. Both continue to exist. The nature of their existence and the relationship of my existence to Theirs is my great unknown. For me it’s uncharted territory. I’m very excited about the journey and know. with the weights removed, I’ll find the true balance I’ve searched for.
