Month: February 2009

  • The Big Day Is Here!

    There's my pretty red and white valentine for you.

    Yukon Quest starts today.  Veteran Musher Gerry Willomitzer (left), who is providing insider commentary on this year's race, said that, "Newton Marshall [below] will be the most photographed musher of the 2009 Yukon Quest."  The various members of Newton's Jamaica Dog Sled Team have lots of international experience racing dogs both on snow and in wheeled carts on more tropical trails, but this will be their first thousand mile sled dog race.  I will be watching and reporting on Newton Marshall's progress as the race proceeds. 

    He lists Quest veteran Hans Gatt and his partner Susie Rogan as his dog handlers, but if that's not a joke it had to be the result of some kind of misunderstanding, because Gatt is racing the Quest and Rogan is running in the shorter concurrent YQ300.  They won't have time to help Newton Marshall handle his dogs at checkpoints.  Gatt and Rogan's kennel has provided at least some of the dogs running in the Jamaican team, and have helped Marshall train for the Quest.

    Last night I heard some talk on the radio from three of the Alaskan mushers in this year's Quest.  Quest rookie and four-time Iditarod Champion, Martin Buser, holder of the current Iditarod speed record, set in 2002, of 8 days, 22 hours and 46 minutes, was asked about his reasons for branching out to the Quest.  He said he is "mushing for tuition."  His two sons, Nicolai and Rohn, are in college.  If he takes the Quest seriously enough, I think he has a good chance to finish in the money.

    Jon Little, who has finished the Quest once before, and who had four dogs killed by a car during a training accident last fall, got a surprise phone call from Jeff King, who was passing through Whitehorse on his way home from that other international sled dog race, the Wyoming Stage Stop.  Jeff had some dogs to drop off with Jon.  I'm not clear whether the dogs are Jeff King's or if they belonged to Jon Little in the first place, because I know that Jon had leased some of his dogs to Jeff.  Anyway, presumably, that phone call and meetup improved Jon Little's chances in the Quest this year.

    Gerry Willomitzer has said that he thinks Lance Mackey's youngest brother, "prefers to be known simply as Jason Mackey," but yesterday someone apparently asked Jason to draw comparisons between himself and his brother, who has won six of the last eight thousand-mile sled dog races:  four Yukon Quests in a row and the last two Iditarods.

    In his rookie attempt at the Quest, Jason Mackey said, "I do have high expectations.  Duplicating what he's done?  Humanly impossible!  Do I think I can win the Quest this year?  Absolutely!"  Confidence runs in that family, and so far they have shown they have the competence to back it up.

    I know the valentine up top is sorta shoddy and possibly in poor taste.  Here's one for you that's a bit more high-toned.

  • Tomorrow is Saint Valentine's Day

    According newadvent.org:

    At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February...

    The popular customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day undoubtedly had their origin in a conventional belief generally received in England and France during the Middle Ages, that on 14 February, i.e. half way through the second month of the year, the birds began to pair. Thus in Chaucer's Parliament of Foules we read:

        For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day
        Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.

    For this reason the day was looked upon as specially consecrated to lovers and as a proper occasion for writing love letters and sending lovers' tokens.

    more HERE

    The Old Fart, my lover, spouse, soulmate, professional colleague and partner in crime, who is also an English major and ArmsMerchant, wrote a very personal and intimate Shakespearean sonnet for me a day or two ago when he realized the day was immanent.  Today, he published it.  In case you missed it, and missed my recommendation of it, here's another chance to read it and his author's notes on it as well as my commentary.

    Two years ago, I dealt at length with the history and significance of paraskevidekatriaphobia.  Click the image below if you're interested/curious.

  • Weekly Photo Challenge - My Favourite Toy

    This week's subject was suggested by Usalapinhazzer:
     
    My Favourite Toy

    This involves my three favorite toys, two of which, the PS2 and Final Fantasy games, would each be nothing without the other.  The third, of course, is my camera(s).

    I have a long history of video game addiction.  You could even say it started before video games were invented, when I played pinball and other arcade games every chance I got.  I had a Fairchild game system in the 'seventies, misspent an inordinate amount of time on it, frustrated my then-current husband's TV addiction by playing Pong, Nim, and Cat & Mouse on "his" TV, and got a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome before swearing off the demon console.

    Games and consoles had progressed a lot before one of Doug's friends moved in with us here about ten years ago and brought with him a PlayStation and Super Nintendo.  The boys talked me into... no, really, they did, I swear it!  I resisted and they persisted and I caved in and started playing Chrono Trigger on the Nintendo.

    It was fun, I had to admit, but I wasn't really hooked until the long-awaited Final Fantasy VII arrived.  Even then, at first, I found the play stressful until the boys assured me that the train wouldn't leave until I got on board.  Even now, with innumerable hours of game time to my credit (or debit), it amazes and delights me the way the designers make them just challenging enough but not too difficult.

    In FF Seven a happy discovery, that the chocobo breeding followed rational genetic rules, allowed me to (by keeping a stud book at which the boys laughed at first) race and defeat even the fastest of my adversaries' feathered steeds.

    By the time FFXII was released, the graphics design had improved radically and chocobos were (except in the Nintendo DS) no longer the cute cartoonish critters I had grown to love in Seven.  I still love them, of course, but now I love moogles even more.

    I find screenshots to be among the most difficult photographic challenges for me.  These screenshots were taken with my old point-and-shoot Kodak DC3200.  My fair-weather Fuji has too many megapixels, and the high-res images show all the black lines across the screen of the old CRT TV we use as a game system monitor.

    [more FFXII screenshots HERE]

    The photo challenge is not a contest. It's not about who comes up with the best photo or who has the most expensive equipment. It is meant to be about people from all over the world who love taking pictures.  You can't win anything, except maybe some new xanga friends.

    Everyone is welcome to join in. All you have to do is post one or more photos regarding this subject on your site and COMMENT HERE with a link to your post, so we can all come by and have a look.


  • Lincoln and Darwin

     

    On this day 200 years ago, Abraham Lincoln was born at Sinking Springs Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky, and Charles Darwin was born at Shrewsbury, England.  Astrologers point to the similarities between their lives to illustrate the validity of astrology, while those who would prefer to debunk astrology point to the differences between them.  Isn't it interesting how that works out for everybody concerned?

    Lincoln's birth time was unknown until 1965, 100 years after his death, when personal papers were opened, revealing a notation in his aunt's diary that the child was born as the sun rose. This places Lincoln's Saturn-Neptune conjunction in his ninth house just past his midheaven (see p. 6), his Aquarian Sun in the twelfth house, and his Mercury-Pluto conjunction in Pisces, rising just beneath the ascendant. Before the information in his aunt's diary was discovered, many astrologers attempted to rectify Lincoln's chart. In 1949, the late astrologer Grant Lewi had already speculated that Lincoln had early Pisces rising, which probably was correct due to Lincoln's serious depressions and sorrowful countenance. Most astrologers though prefer to think he had the last degrees of Aquarius rising. [emphasis added]
    I find that bit I italicized interesting, too.  Astrologers are not immune to the American tendency (or is it a universal foible?) to want to view our heroes through rose-colored glasses.  It's somehow more pleasant to think of the Great Emancipator as a forward-thinking idealist than as the sensitive, emotional and somewhat morose person he apparently was.

    Few Americans really want to think of Lincoln as a racist, either, but the evidence in his own statements is fairly compelling:

    "I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races-that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the 2 races living together on terms of social or political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion that I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position that the Negro should be denied everything."
    Of course, that might have been merely campaign rhetoric.  He was a politician, and he knew his constituents.  The radical black abolitionist and former slave, Frederick Douglass, said of him, "In all my interviews with Mr. Lincoln I was impressed with his entire freedom from popular prejudice against the colored race. He was the 1st great man that I talked with in the U.S. freely, who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color, and I thought that all the more remarkable because he came from a State where there were black laws."

    According to his biography, Darwin was born around 3:00 AM, giving him Saturn and Neptune rising in Sagittarius (Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist, London: Penguin Books, 1991). He grew up in an academic and affluent environment. His father was a wealthy physician, and he himself graduated from Cambridge University, intending to become a minister.

    Lincoln, on the other hand, was self-educated and stated himself that he had only one year of formal education. Physically the two men were both lanky and over six feet tall. Both were profoundly serious, and photos show melancholy in their eyes.

    Frances C. McEvoy

    Both men were raised as Christians, though Darwin died an atheist and Lincoln was reportedly an outspoken non-believer. Neither was very impressive when it came to academics, but both taught themselves to reached the peak of their professions. Both were not only able to embrace change but create it; Darwin and Lincoln both detested slavery. And, the two men each experienced vital, history changing turning points in their 20s: Lincoln entered politics, and Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands, which inspired his theory of evolution.

    Darwin's greatest work, "On the Origin of Species," was published in 1859 - just one year before Lincoln was elected US president. Two events that challeged the status quo, changed the world and created enemies among the conservatives of the time. Eventually, Charles Darwin was denounced and Abraham Lincoln was assasinated.

    Facts are open to interpretation.  In just the English-speaking portion of the world, many other men and women were born that day, some of them nearer to the times and places where each of those men was born, none of whom noticeably changed the world or created notable enemies.  Still, the "coincidence," or synchronicity, is interesting.
     

  • In case you haven't seen the koala survivors...

    I want to share this.  The pictures are everywhere, as iconic of the Australian wildfires as any such images can be.

    Der Spiegel published this shot taken from a video of David Tree, on Sunday, rescuing the female, who has been named Sam.

     

    When she got to the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter, she was placed in an enclosure with Bob, who had been rescued on Friday.
     

    MSNBC has their story.  They will be in the shelter for months, recovering from burns.  Then, when a suitable habitat is found for them, they will be released into the wild.  "The hardest part is going to be trying to find enough habitat to support these guys," said Colleen Wood, who captured this image of the two koalas.

  • We missed the bus.

     

    About five hours ago, the fan bus pulled out of Fairbanks on the way to Whitehorse, YT, to watch the start, on Saturday, Feb. 14, of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.  I know I'm not on it, and I'm pretty sure that if you were on it you wouldn't be reading this now.  If you're in Fairbanks on Friday the thirteenth, you can attend the Gumbo Fundraiser, and post-race there will be a musher meet and greet on the 27th, and the Musher Awards Banquet on the 28th.  For more info, email yukonquest@mosquitonet.

    (Maybe only an Alaskan can fully appreciate the self-deprecating humor in the "mosquitonet" email addresses.  The mosquitonet was an ISP up in the Interior.  It has since been absorbed by the Alaskan telecom giant ACS, but the addys are still out there.)

    At the other end of the trail, in Whitehorse, Questfest starts today in the Old Fire Hall on First Avenue ("Free events and activities happening all week including film screenings, gear demos, displays, merchandise sales, concession and so much more. ") and lasts through Valentine's Day.  A banquet and a musher meeting dinner, and public events coinciding with mushers' drawings for starting positions, are scheduled this week.  Information on these and any Quest events on the Whitehorse end can be had from questadmin@polarcom.

    The Yukon Quest is known for excellence in canine care and fostering the traditions of northern travel by dog team. This epic winter sports event occurs every February at the “top of the world” and covers 1,000 miles between Fairbanks, Alaska and Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon Territory.

    The Yukon Quest Trail follows historic Gold Rush and mail delivery dogsledding routes from the turn of the 20th century. Yukon Quest dog teams compete over two weeks with mushers guiding their 14 canine athletes across frozen rivers and lakes and over mountain summits in the heart of the Arctic winter through some of the most pristine wilderness remaining in North America.

    YukonQuest.com is my personal pick for best mushing-related website.  The photos and dog profiles are worth a look even if you couldn't care less about the drivers.  One notable fact about the 2009 Quest is the high ratio of rookie mushers (14) to veterans (15).  Another is the absence from the roster of some familiar names, including past Champion and perennial competitor Aliy Zirkle.  Current and four-time Quest Champion, two-time (and current) Iditarod Champion, and only musher ever to win both thousand-mile races in a single season, Lance Mackey, dropped out of the Quest this year to lease some of his dogs and spend time training a young musher for the Alaska National Guard.

    This year, four-time Iditarod Champion Martin Buser of Big Lake (the town down the Valley where Greyfox gets most of his computer time at the public library) is a Yukon Quest rookie.   Willow, the little town just down the road from here, is home to one rookie, Becca Moore, and one Quest veteran, Russ Bybee.  Other rookies this year include a school teacher from Niigata, Japan, Yuka Honda, who scratched from the 2007 Quest after one of her dogs died, and Jason Mackey, youngest son of Iditarod old-timer Dick Mackey, and brother of Rick and Lance.  Jason's team includes dogs with bloodlines from Lance's Comeback Kennel.

    Up to now, the 2009 sled dog racing season has consisted of little local or regional sprint races (a whole different sport) and the mid-distance races that most mushers consider as "qualifyers" for the Quest and Iditarod.  The next six weeks or so are the real race season.

  • Kitten Pictures

    They haven't matured into the cute phase yet, still have their eyes closed.

    This pile was constantly in motion, mostly because the orange one kept trying to stay on top and the black one kept burrowing underneath.

    I got decent portrait shots of the four less active kittens.

  • Animal Observations and Random Other Stuff

    The endearing affection of a seventy-pound husky for a nest full of two-ounce kittens is sweeter in the contemplation of it that it is in actuality.

    The other day, while Koji was wagging and sniffing at the new litter of kittens, I thought it was cute when he did a little doggie "play bow," the dip of the forelegs that signals, "play with me," among canines.  Today, I'm rethinking my reaction.

    Yesterday, responding to kitten cries, we looked up and saw P.K. with a kitten in her mouth, in the area between the front door and the feeding station where Koji has his food dish and they all have a communal waterer.  A corner of the cloth bedding was trailing from the cat nest box.  We thought she might have been starting to move the litter to a new nest, but she settled back into the original box as soon as we rearranged the bedding.

    I suspected that Koji might have dragged the kitten and cloth out yesterday, and today I caught him more or less in the act.  He was nosing and licking a kitten over in the doorway area, and the cat box bedding was trailing out as before.  It was a different kitten this time, but otherwise the scenario was the same as yesterday.

    Thinking how fortuitous it was that we learned from Patricia McConnell how to teach Koji bite inhibition when he was a puppy, I let him know that I disapproved of his attempts to play with the kitten.  Neither kitten shows any sign of injury, and I know from experience with Koji that his mouth is as soft as can be.  No matter what goodies I hand him, my fingers feel nothing but his lips.

    As soon as I'd dumped them all back in the box after disturbing the whole litter and their mom to rearrange their bedding again, everyone was all comfy cozy, and P.K. was busily cleaning the dust and dog slobber off her wayward kitten.  Until I can be sure that Koji won't be stealing babies from the nest, I'm going to be restraining him on his tether whenever nobody's in the room to supervise him.

    Dogs like cat food, but cats don't like dog food.

    Competitive dog mushers need to trick their dogs into drinking lots of water to stay hydrated in long-distance races.  Most carry cat food in the sleds and add a handful of it to a pan of warm water to encourage the dogs to lap it up.  It is a trick that works.

    During the recent three-week ultra cold snap, when I couldn't have gotten my car started even if I wanted to go out in it, our dog Koji ran out of food.  He happily ate cat food for a few days, until the weather warmed up and I zipped up to Jack's store and bought him a big bag of cheap kibble, the only dog food then available at this end of the Valley.

    Usually, Koji gets special large breed kibble of one of the three brands recommended by our vet.  The kibbles are big.  The kibbles of the cheap all-purpose food from Jack's were no bigger than some kinds of cat kibble.  When the cats ran low on food, instead of going for what might be available locally, I mixed some of Koji's cheap kibble with their food.

    The plan was to use up the cheap dog food faster, while making the cat food last until I could get into Wasilla for a new supply of our preferred kind.  The plan was not a rousing success.  The cats did eat some of the dog food, but they picked the cat kibble out of it first.  Koji is stuck with finishing off a sixty-pound bag of kibble, and I have to remember to give him his vitamin chews to make up for the missing nutrients.

    I haven't done this for months, so, to make up for lost time, I'll overdo it.

    You Are Blueberry Pancakes
    You prefer flavorful, fresh foods that are well seasoned.
    You shy away from anything plain or overcooked.

    It's not likely someone would find a lot of cheap convenience foods in your kitchen.
    Instead, someone might find a wide array of spices, herbs, and flavorings.
    Your Word is "Why"
    You see life as complicated and intriguing. The only thing you know for sure is that you haven't figured it all out yet.
    You question everything and believe very little. And whatever you believe is likely to change.

    You are interested in theories, philosophies, and religions... even if you don't buy into any of them.
    You are also fascinated by how things work. You'd like to understand as much in the world as possible.
    You Were an Achieving Kid
    When you were a kid, people often remarked on how mature you seemed. You acted quite adult.
    You excelled at school, and you actually enjoyed it to a large extent. No one had to ask you to do your homework.

    As a kid, you were probably a bit picky. You liked structure, schedules, and organization.
    You had trouble being friends with regular kids. You probably were only friends with other serious children.
    Your Worry Factor is 3%
    You hardly ever worry. In fact, you often feel like you don't have a care in the world.
    It's not that your life is magically easy. You just don't dwell on worse case scenarios.
    You figure that you'll be able to handle whatever life throws at you.
    No use worrying about what could go wrong, especially when so much is going right!
    You Belong in the Baby Boomer Generation
    You fit in best with people born between 1943 and 1960.
    You are optimistic, rebellious, and even a little self centered.
    You still believe that you will change the world.
    You detest authority and rules. Deep down, you're a non conformist.
    You Are Assertive
    You assert yourself whenever it's necessary, but you're always polite and appropriate about it.
    You're not a bully, a manipulator, or a nag. You just state what you need quickly and honestly.

    You've been assertive for so long that it just comes naturally to you. You're definitely not shy.
    People wonder why you get what you want in life. Well, it's because you ask for it!
    You Have Many Alpha Tendencies
    You're not a total alpha female, but you certainly know how to - and like to - get your way.
    You're forceful without being intimidating. You're confident without being vain. A perfect mix.
    You Have Your Sarcastic Moments
    While you're not sarcastic at all times, you definitely have a cynical edge.
    In your opinion, not all people are annoying. Some are dead!
    And although you do have your genuine moments, you can't help getting your zingers in.
    Some people might be a little hurt by your sarcasm, but it's more likely they think you're hilarious.
    You Are the Mother
    You have an abundance of love for humanity. You care about all the people of the world.
    You love helping others more than anything else. You love to be needed.

    At your best, you unconditionally love people. You are very nurturing.
    You are a wise and gentle teacher. You are happy to guide anyone who needs your advice or explanations.

    At your worst, you are controlling and overbearing.
    You smother people with affection and gifts. And with this attention you give, you are expecting something in return.

  • Tear Down This Myth

    It is Ronnie Raygun's birthday, and if a pack of liars and historical revisionists get their way, this occasion will become a national holiday someday soon.  They have already gotten the national airport named after him (just like a similarly misguided bunch of nincompoops had Anchorage International named for Ted Stevens).

    I was going to do a ton of research and tell you all about it, but I got disgusted before I got very far on the search.  I was here during his presidency, and I was in California when he was governor, and I was disgusted then, too.  If you want to know more, here are some links:

    Attytood, the blog of journalist Will Bunch whose new book (below in my "currently" slot) exposes the conspiracy.

    20.6MB MP3 file download of Will Bunch's interview yesterday with Terry Gross on NPR

    Podcast (streaming audio) of that same Fresh Air interview with Will Bunch

    Yesterday was beat poet William S. Burroughs's birthday.  Now there's an interesting man.

    Biographical notes

    His Thanksgiving Prayer on YouTube

    A wav file of his take on truth  (from here)

    His book, Naked Lunch, on Google Books

    William S. Burroughs quotes

    "Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing."

    "Every man has inside himself a parasitic being who is acting not at all to his advantage."

    "A functioning police state needs no police."

    "Nothing exists until or unless it is observed. An artist is making something exist by observing it. And his hope for other people is that they will also make it exist by observing it. I call it 'creative observation'."

    "Sometimes paranoia's just having all the facts."

    "Black magic operates most effectively in preconscious, marginal areas. Casual curses are the most effective."

    "Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer."

    "In the U.S. you have to be a deviant or exist in extreme boredom... Make no mistake, all intellectuals are deviants in the U.S."

  • Redoubt Volcano Update

    Rumbling increased again this morning.  After hearing the latest alert on the radio, I went to AVO, where I read this:

    Unrest at Redoubt Volcano continues. Seismic activity remains elevated well above background levels. Starting at 11:18 AKST (20:18 UTC), a burst of more intense seismic tremor occurred. This episode lasted for about 4 minutes and was the most most energetic since January 30. Radar and pilot observations confirm our analysis that no eruption occurred. Web camera and satellite images from this morning have been obscured by clouds.

    Here's one of the latest views of the active area:

    Oblique aerial photograph taken during an overflight on February 2, 2009. View is looking down the north flank at the 1990 dome fumarole. Notice ice falls surrounding this area. The plateau above the 1990 dome appears to be collapsing and moving down slope.
    Photo credit:  Kristi Wallace/AVO/USGS

    Anyone who wonders where I am in relation to the volcano, or why this information has significance for me, must have missed my Volcanopalooza entry on Tuesday.

    I am out of here for the rest of the day, now.  Doug has an online D&D session this afternoon.  Seeya later.