The Perfection of Hermine

When I was in elementary school we'd have movie days. It was fun because the teacher would turn out the lights, so we could cut up a little more, but when they wheeled the big projector out we pretty much got quiet. I remember several times they'd show airplanes outfitted with spray nozzles on the wings, and they were spraying silver iodide to "seed" clouds to make it rain. They'd have the typical "movie reel" announcer with the exaggerated voice describing the whole thing in great detail. Not only were they candid about it, they were quite proud of it.
 What was the term for that? That's right..."weather modification." These days it'd probably be called "geoengineering." Before airplanes they shot silver iodide into the air via cannons. It simply got better with technology. Is anyone truly so naive as to think they'd just up and quit? Ask any general that if the sky were the limit, as it were, what would be the most powerful weapon in existence, and they'll say weather. They have the money. We know that. Technology? They have that too. We know that technology is ahead of what the public knows. Otherwise they'd never be able to come up with new-and-improved stuff. The question is, how far ahead is it? Estimates range from only a few years or maybe a decade ahead, to 40-50 years, which most estimates I've read say, up to centuries or more. Even ten years ahead; considering it's exponential, would be hard for most people to fathom.
 Right now I just don't know what to say about the situation in Texas. It has me speechless and sad. All I can say is hurricanes can make landfall and return to the ocean and strengthen and hit land again, but for ANY storm to just hover in place for days is something completely new. TWC tried to explain it away by saying "Oh, well...there's no jet stream to push it along." Bullshit. ANYTHING rotating has natural forward momentum and it's NOT going to want to stay in place, unless there are extremely powerful forces acting upon it, and from all directions. Same with the "Rain Blob" that parked itself over Louisiana last year. Have you ever seen anything like that in your life? Ask your grandpa. Has he? I doubt it. I'm too choked up about Harvey right now but it did remind me of Hermine.  It started in the Gulf; crossed Florida and then went up the East Coast to Canada.
 You may recall that Hermine happened during the middle of the off-season. For such a large storm that was unusual enough, but what was more so is the way it perfectly hugged the East Coast after it crossed Florida. At no time did it ever venture more than about fifty miles inland, where it would have lost energy. It traced the coastline like a draftsman. If you had put a dot right in the middle of the eye as soon as it crossed Florida, it would have traced the outline of the coast almost perfectly. It had been predicted to make landfall at several points along the way; even in revised forecasts, but it never did. I remember at least three times the weather guys going "Oh...it's just made an unexpected turn to the right." By the third time I was ready for it. If it had gone inland at almost any point during its journey the damage would've been lessened dramatically, but as it was you couldn't possibly have asked for more damage from that storm.
 I guess it was the third day of the storm and it was about to finally leave the US. I was in a CVS or somewhere waiting on something. They had TVs behind the counter with TWC on. There was this guy standing next to me and we were both standing there quietly watching the storm. They were showing a time-lapse video of Hermine's path over the last several days, and we were watching it trace the coastline as if it had eyes. I could tell he was lost in thought. Finally he spoke up. "You know," he said, "It looks just like they're controlling it with a joystick." "They are" I said as I paid for the package and left. He looked at me ponderously; not as some crazy guy. "Have a good one, bud." He wasn't some "conspiracy theorist." He was John Q. Public. Very astute observation there, John Q.

Quote of the Day

"Mankind must end war, or war will end mankind." John F. Kennedy

Why Would You Circle It?

I just put up another crazy low-res vid on Youtube. I watched it to make sure it didn't need trimming, and this screen popped up after it played. I am sincere about these videos, and amazingly enough they've actually had a profound meaning to several different people, as evidenced in the comments. I hope no one's taking me TOO seriously though. It's something to do.
 To the right in the middle is a thumbnail for some shit, and it looks like a giant cloud beast or something. Of course now that you can add a custom thumbnail that does or doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with the video, people can sucker you in with "clickbaiting." "Ha-ha, chump...there's really no giant cloud monster. Fooled YOUR ass!"

What really gets my goat though is why in heaven's name do they feel the need to circle the SOB right off the bat? Can I not see it bigger than shit right there anyway? It takes up the whole thumbnail. It's a giant fucking cloud thing. I can see it just fine. I'm not blind.
 When I was a kid and I went to the doc or somewhere, they'd have Highlights for Children magazine, and it had "hidden pictures" where there were animals and things drawn among random lines, and you had to look a bit before you saw them. I always hated it when some schmuck kid had already circled everything. I'm still that way. No one believes me when I say that most of our thinking is being done FOR us these days, but that only proves they aren't thinking. Why think for yourself when you can just Google it? I'm not talking about things you don't know, but things that maybe you could figure out for yourself, and exercise the biggest muscle in your body; that is except for people like me and Doug. Anyway, if you're going to circle something I can see plain as day, at least make two copies; one not circled and one circled. I see the damn thing. Give me a chance to find it, please. Thank you. THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT.

Stay Tuned

I'm experiencing technical difficulties at the moment, and bizarre ones at that, plus I've been going to the Cahaba River as much as time and the gnarly hiking conditions allow. I've been busy as a cat covering up shit too. I'll be back. I'm not going anywhere any time soon; if nuthin' don't happen. I got things to see and people to do. Stay tuned. Peace

Quote of the Day

"We'd rather lose the war to Germany than work with a nigger." - The official press statement from the 20,000 Euro-American (white) workers who quit their jobs in the Detroit auto industry, the day the first black man reported for work.

Hatebook

Something happened on Facebook last week that made me sick, and it's the reason I mostly go on it for my personal stuff. It's not that I'm not interested in what my friends are up to, but I see so many of them spewing hate and anger and prejudice and every other negative emotion there is, and now that you can add shocking-pink emphasis to your seemingly-important words by adding a glaring background, there's no escaping. It goes from seeing a hilarious post from my friend Dave about buying an all-natural energy drink and saying he might get to sleep by next Thursday, to "FUCK TRUMP AND YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE IF YOU DISAGREE." It's pathetic. Once more...I wish I could bottle all that energy.
 I have a friend who's more of an acquaintance than a bud. He just reached his limit of 5,000 friends. I'm about ready to hop off his page and give up my spot to one lucky hater. Maybe I could auction it off. Anyway he came on with this terribly sad thing about having to put down his dog. I'm an animal guy to an incredible degree and instantly I felt his pain. He and his wife put their names together; however that thing works, and they post (or rather, hate) together usually. How romantic. "The couple that hates together..." I can't even come up with a rhyme for that. I'm stumped. Not surprising I guess. The whole issue stumps me.
So he's talking about how torn up he is and everything, and a million heartfelt comments started pouring in. I had to turn off my notifications for a bit. I put what I thought was a sincere and hopeful comment myself. I know what it's like. I figured he'd be in for a pretty rough day, but nuuuuupe...he bounced right back, and hate did the trick. As I live and breathe, it wasn't half an hour before he was back at it, with glaring pink borders with FUCK TRUMP and stuff. I literally couldn't believe it. Then of course all their friends, who'd moments ago put up tender comments that could have launched a new line of Hallmark cards, switched gears and got right back on the hate train. Jesus. Seriously.
 I still laugh at another asshole I used to consider a good friend. Not long ago he was all pumped-up and self-righteous and about to pee his pants in excitement about a "Stop the Hate" rally he was about to attend here in town. The very next comment was "FUCK TRUMP" or something to that effect. So, let me get this straight...you want to stop the OTHER GUY'S hate, but YOUR hate is okay. "Stop the hate" my ass. He should get his head out of his ass because his brain is turning blue from lack of oxygen. I see that pink-bannered bullshit all day long. That is except on my humble page.
 Instead of hate, there you'll find love, beauty and knowledge, and a virtual library of incredible information that I'd put up against anything on the Web. Not once has the T-word come up. Daddy's proud. My peeps are truly extraordinary individuals. BTW, they also still know how to do a little critical thinking for themselves, as much as it's suppressed these days, which is just fine by most people. I try to check out my friends, but the big pink banners are like landmines. Oh, and if anyone should think that I don't care about politics or my country, they don't even know me at all. There are deeper issues, and politics is to a large extent a football game, and it all evens out at some point. If you doubt this, then take the last 10-15 presidents; note their campaign promises and how many they fulfilled after getting into office; add it all up and divide by the number of presidents. Allowing for changes in society and technology and whatnot, it will all even out to basically the same shit. Same shit different prez. Again, there are MUCH bigger issues.
 Every time he puts up a FUCK TRUMP post, which is about every twenty minutes, and I don't see much of anything else on his page, anywhere from 500 to 800 people "like" or comment. It's fucking sick. I get that I can turn off his feed but I've never done that to a soul. I keep hoping they might say something positive one day, and as depressing as it is to see that shit I can always scroll past it. Just before I started this he put up a post something to the effect of "LIKE if you'll always be against Trump for life." So he's committed to being an eternal hater. That's as sad as it gets. Hate will eat you up from the inside-out, in case you didn't know. Not to mention if he should happen to die tomorrow himself; God forbid, and has to face St. Pete at the pearlies and he says "Son (name withheld), how did you spend your last days...loving or hating?" and his direction of travel; up or down, depended on his answer, he's fucked. It's all I can do not to add a comment about "So happy to see 675 haters here" but I resist. I hate that bullshit. Anyone remember the term 'Divide and conquer?' It's very real. We're living it right now.
 Since I have nothing much else to do I've dedicated my sorry life to counteract some of this hateful, negative bullshit by whatever means I can, even if it means coming off like a lunatic or a druggie or even a child. I don't care. Hate is nothing more that a frequency in the bigger picture, and it generates negative "waves" that extend well beyond the hater. That shit actually affects EVERYTHING around it in measurable ways. It's been proven many times and it shouldn't really be surprising. Waves cancel each other out, and if I can throw a few positive ones out there maybe just a little bit of hate can be neutralized. I may be in the minority but I'm not alone. I'm nothing special but I'm a lover not a fighter. Maybe hate is the new love but I hope not.
 To be devil's advocate I've spewed hate here myself, but it isn't directed toward my friend or anyone else. For him and his 5,000 friends I only feel sadness and pity. It's not him, or Trump I hate. It's hate. Have a nice day.

Light Show

I just got back from a midnight visit to the Cahaba River. It's peaceful there all the time, but at night it takes on a whole different thing. There was a Moon out but it was completely cloudy. Some meteor shower peaked last night I think, but it really makes no difference, since we've been going through a massive debris field most of this year, and every single night since at least March has been a meteor shower, and a big one. I hoped I might see one, but through the clouds it'd have to have been a fireball, and no such luck. What I saw though was just as magical, and much more rare.
 The shortest way to the river is down a steep hill and fairly rough terrain, and even in the daytime you have to pay attention to every step for most of the way there. I had a bright headlamp and a backup penlight. There was a diffuse glow from the Moon but not enough to navigate, and when I turned off the light it seemed to get darker for a minute but my eyes quickly adjusted. I made a place on the bank and settled in, with my feet maybe a foot from the water. A peaceful feeling came over me almost immediately. I should back up and say that since I had to look straight down at my feet in the dark I couldn't look around, so every couple minutes I'd stop and do a 360 and make sure nothing really quiet but dangerous might be walking around. Trust me...the creatures of the wild rule, and people who don't get that get eaten sometimes. No matter how small they might be, the sight of two glowing yellow eyes staring right back into yours is unnerving no matter how many times you've seen it. When I go at night my hair always stands up until I get to the last ten feet from the water. That primal fear is the real deal, and I relax so much when I get to the water that it's like being injected with Valium or something. It's the shit.
 Before my eyes got completely used to the dark, I looked over and thought I saw a tiny glow on the ground, but I thought it must be a random little pinpoint flash you get from a stray neuron firing. After I looked for a few more seconds I realized that it was a lightning bug larva. I've only seen them once in my entire life. It's an amazing sight and if it's really dark it looks like a galaxy on the ground. They like to breed in wet dirt so naturally they'd be along the river, but then again I'm not down there too often after dark. I saw another one and next thing I knew I was surrounded by them. They were between my feet and all around me. I had to smile it was so cool. They flash much more slowly than their parents, and the color tends to be more greenish, but the first time I ever saw them they were more bluish, and they can sometimes glow orange, and I saw a few of those. The slow twinkling makes it look for all the world like you're looking into some other universe.
 After a minute I started to wonder why they were flashing at all. I knew lightning bugs mate as adults because I've seen them fucking and that's pretty cool, but it seemed counterproductive to flash and give away their position. It's an interesting quandary for most creatures having to choose between mating and survival, and guess what...mating always wins. Everything needs to get laid so badly that survival actually comes in second to fucking. Kinda that way with us too I guess. I was puzzling on that and when I got back I snagged an image from a blog, and I wondered if it might answer my question by chance, and it did...sort of. It turns out they don't really know why they flash as juvies, but they think it's because they contain noxious/toxic substances that makes them unpalatable, and the flashing is to warn other creatures so they won't try to mess with them. Varied and wondrous are the ways of Nature.
 As I was looking around and realizing I'd most definitely done the right thing deciding to go, I saw a flash in the trees and saw the adults flying around. In the relative darkness they looked as big as golf balls. They were way up in the trees and flying along the river. I could see the reflections in the still water and it was breathtaking. It hit me that it was almost a representation of what I've been into lately, which is keeping track of all these crazy meteors. The larvae were the stars and the adults were the meteors. I had to smile again. To me it was as cool as a Rock concert, and I was the only one on the planet who saw it. I feel sorry for people who never get to experience even a minute of that sort of thing. It made me feel so happy and peaceful and at one with the world. I've been to the river a million times and I've never once seen lightning bugs in the air and on the ground too. The river is always the same and never the same and that's why I go. It was a treat.
 I stayed over three hours and I'd originally planned to watch the sunrise, but I wanted to see if I still had my super heavy-duty X-ray night vision, so I walked home without turning the light on once. I wanted to a few times but I didn't. I only stumbled once and I didn't go down. The way I usually go back is much flatter but over twice as far. Again you really have to pay attention in the daytime, and night is beyond that. There's only animal trails with no man's land in between, and I'd get into the thick of things and have to go sideways to get back to the "trail," but I made it. If it hadn't been cloudy I could've gone faster, but I took it pretty slow. It was fun, except for the Stinging Death Nettles from Hell, which by a miracle I managed to mostly avoid. I sort of felt for a minute that I was even badder than Nature had intended.
 That's an experience I'll take with me forever. If I want to go to my "happy place" in my mind it's usually the river anyway, and now I can crank it up a notch. I realize most people have no desire in this world to ever do anything like that in their lives. Don't know what they're missing. I feel for them. Peace.