Del Brummet's new trailer for Taracotra. . .

click image to enlarge

Del Brummet has put out another trailer for his movie in production, Taracotra. Links to this trailer, and the two previous ones follow:

Taracotra trailer 3
Taracotra trailer 2
Taracotra railer 1
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The Fugu Stew

A rakugo (a humorous short story) tells of three men that cooked up a fugu stew. Not being pros, they were not sure how safe it was[1].

To test the stew, they gave some to a beggar. When they checked on the beggar later, he was still healthy, so they ate the stew.

Afterwards they saw the beggar again. He said he was happy they looked healthy. Now, he knew the stew was safe and he could eat it. The three men had been bamboozled by the wise beggar.

[1] (by law a fugu chef undergoes years of training, learning to remove the poison from the blowfish).

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Alien Lore No. 64 - The Alien Interview

You may have heard of the famous alien interview. I've never actually purchased it. . .but I have a clip. The grainy color footage lasts two minutes and fifty-five seconds.

The video, of course, was smuggled out of--where else?--Area 51 by a man known as "Victor". The video shows a Grey being interrogated.

The video was made public on the notorious Art Bell radio show on 13th March, 1997 by the ufologist Sean David Morton. He said the interrogation occurred in 1996.

After stealing the video, Victor resolved to have the footage broadcast on network television. He babbled on about it being proof in case he was assassinated. Fox TV turned him down after their problems authenticating the Roswell autopsy footage they had previously aired. Fox did not want to be taken in a second time.

Rocket Home Pictures Productions agreed to produce a documentary based around the interview. Morton was brought in by Rocket's president, Tom Coleman, to give his views.



Morton described the video:

"The film was shot through a large plane of glass. There was no sound accompanying the images. The interview took place in a darkened room, lit with an eerie greenish glow, I could make out the silhouettes of two men, one dressed in military uniform with what appeared to be the stars on the epaulet of his jacket, and another more casually dressed man with his hand occassionally rubbing his forehead. They sat with their backs to the camera at one end of a long table, which was littered with wires, chords and microphones. There were what appeared to be medical devices. One in particular was blinking erratically, as if it was monitoring a very sick heart. And there sitting at the end of the table was a small, beige-skinned, black-eyed, bulbous headed creature, the like of which haunt the nightmares of thousands of unwilling abductees."

Morton talked about the Grey's appearance and condition. The alien made very jerky movements and kept bobbing up and down.

"Its skin was a pinkish beige, but the rest of the head looked purple and bruised, as if it had suffered severe contusions across the skull."

Near the end of the tape, the creature goes into violent spasms, and its mouth opens and foam begins to come out. The monitor starts jumping wildly, and, as doctors treat the stricken alien, the footage ends.

The footage has the characters DNI/27 burnt into the bottom line of the frame, along with what appears to be the time code numbers. George Knapp, the TV journalist who encouraged Bob Lazar to go public with his knowledge has shown that Lazar's pay cheques from the time he claimed to be working at Area 51 had DNI stamped on them.

The producer of the documentary, Jeff Broadstreet, knows how Victor took the footage from the base. Victor told him he managed to obtain a copy of the video in an unsupervised moment. "He was assisting in the process of downloading a large amount of video analogue tape to storage on DVD or digital video disc."

He claims Victor deliberately removed the audio track to protect the identity of the men in the video and his own anonymity. Victor also told the producer that he thought the man on the left, who is seen with his hand to his head during much of the segment, is a military telepath who communicated with the creature.

According to Victor, the contents of the removed audio track involved an attempt at trying to obtain some form of technological information from the alien about the coordinates of a ship or object.

No one says if they Grey helped them track down the ship or not.
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Seventy-three years ago today, FDR became President

On March 4, 1933, in the pit of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States. In his famous address, delivered outside the east wing of the U.S. Capitol, Roosevelt outlined the "New Deal's" expansion of the federal government as an instrument of change and social security. He told desperate Americans that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Two years into his first term as President, the Nation began a slow recovery. But the fat cats turned against Roosevelt's New Deal. They feared his social experiments, and his removing the nation from the gold standard. And they feared the deficits he was running up (which Republicans now pile up at the greatest rate ever).

Roosevelt's response to the fat cats: a new program of reform: Social Security, heavier taxes on the wealthy, new controls over banks and public utilities, and an enormous work relief program for the unemployed.

In 1936 (and in 1940 and in 1944) he was re-elected by huge margins. And he blew it for a bit. Sure that his mandate in '36 gave him carte blanche, he sought to pack the Supreme Court (which had invalidated numerous New Deal programs) by increasing the number of justices (all of whom would be his nominees). He lost that battle, but now the government itself could and did regulate the economy.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt led us into a global war and worked closely with England and Russia and their leaders Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin to take out the Axis.

President Roosevelt felt the future of the world depended on relations between the Americans and Russians, and he devoted much thought to the planning of a United Nations organization.

As the war drew to a close, Roosevelt's health declined, and on April 12, 1945, while at Warm Springs, Georgia, he died of a brain hemorrhage, reportedly with his girlfriend at his side.

Largely in response to FDR's unprecedented four terms, the 22nd amendment was enacted and ratified by the necessary number of states. I wish we would repeal this law. You never know when the next FDR will come on the scene. You may argue that recent history shows that two terms are more than enough. But you just never know. . .
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Poem: I don't believe

I don't believe in transubstantiation
I don't believe in Papal Infallibility
I don't believe in no-knock warrants
I don't believe in the divine right of kings
I don't believe in smooth jazz
I don't believe in rock instrumentals
I don't believe in jazz vocals
I don't believe in the Second Amendment
I don't believe in Republicans
I don't believe in The National Front
I don't believe in the vegan taliban
I don't believe in repressed memory
I don't believe in John Lennon not believing in Beatles
I don't believe in Richard Gere and the gerbil
I don't believe in Ku Klux Klan
I don't believe in libertarians
I don't believe in Hitler
I don't believe in Caligula
I don't believe in Draco
I don't believe in reactionary figurative painters
I don't believe in dinosaurs being 4,000 years old
I don't believe in astral projection
I don't believe in angry Buddhists
I don't believe in angry Baptists
I don't believe in Halie Selassie as a deity
I don't believe in Upanishads
I don't believe in Bible
I don't believe in the sutras
I don't believe in Jack Chick
I don't believe in the Book of Mormon
I don't believe in Bhagavad Gita
I don't believe in nazis
I don't believe in fascists
I don't believe in the 22nd amendment
I don't believe in Osama
I don't believe in free trade
I don't believe in Christian Science
I don't believe in Busby Berkeley
I don't believe in partitioned countries
I just believe in me. . .and ye.
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The latest Secretary Rumsfeld poetry: five new poems

Every couple of months, I sift through a few of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's press "opportunities," press conferences, and speeches. A few poems usually emerge. In our continuing series, here are some poems spoken by the Secretary in February, 2006, at two venues: an interview with Charlie Rose, and remarks he made to National Guard Youth Challenge Participants on February 28.


24 hours a day


The new media environment
Where there are cell phones and blackberries
And e-mails and 24-hour talk radio

24-hour news programs
And the internet and bloggers
And all of these things that move information

Instantaneously all across the globe
24 hours a day,
7 days a week.
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The 20th century

The United States government
Is simply not organized

And arranged and structured
To cope with that.

We're still in the 20th century.
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A very difficult one

If you're engaged in a major battle
With major armies and navies competing
And air forces competing, that's one thing.

The center of gravity of that war
Is where those battles occur.
Today, we're not competing

With our major armies, navies or air forces.
It's an unconventional conflict.
It is irregular warfare.

It is asymmetric and the battleground
Is not so much out there,
It is here.

The center of gravity is in the capitals of cities
All across nations all across the world
Because it's a totally new environment

And a very difficult one.
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Too old to cry

When I was roughly your ages --
That was a long time ago --
There was a Governor from Illinois named Adlai Stevenson.

He ran for President a couple of times
And lost to General Eisenhower
Both times.

He spoke at my graduating class in college.
It was between his two defeats.
Someone asked how he felt about losing.

He said well,
He was too old to cry
And it hurt too much to laugh.
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Rewards, and pebbles in the pond

I've often thought of throwing a pebble in a pond
And watching the ripples go out.
And how interesting that is that each person

Touches a series of circles
Of people
That you come in contact with.

If each of you represent the ripples that go out
To the others you touch in your daily life,
You'll find yourself rewarded many many times over.

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President Bush intends to beat Tricky Dick

The President appears to be "shooting the moon" with his current approval rating of 34 percent. The operational theory amongst the White House staff is "if you can't come out on top, lose big."

Only two Presidents stand in the way of President Bush's title quest. Jimmy Carter's approval ratings plunged to 26 percent in July 1979. The current title holder, President Richard M. Nixon, sank to a 24 percent approval rating in July 1974 and resigned the next month. President Bush is intent on besting Tricky Dick's record.

The President may be closer to his goal than anyone knows. According to Seattle political analyst John Newton, "It's insane. I can't even reliably crunch the data anymore. There is no precedent for this kind of bumbling. The numbers are decelerating logarithmically! If I had to make a guess, George Bush's approval rating will be hovering in the high 'teens sometime in early May."
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President Bush achieves an all-time low in approval ratings

CBS News released a poll yesterday that shows President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an All-time low of 34 percent. Skepticism of the Iraq War has soared to an all time high. He's also being shelled over the U.A.E. port ownership scam.

Not even considering the merits of what The President is or is not doing, you have to wonder what has happened to the White House? These guys used to be able to at least put up a front of playing hardball. Now, they seem to be constitutionally unable to get in front of a story. They actually seem more worried about Sen. Hillary Clinton possible Presidential run than they do about the infected wound gnawing away at their giblets. Has The Administration finally and irrevocably "jumped the shark?"

What can possibly happen next? Tomorrow may tell. These guys have blown it so badly with missteps at every critical juncture. . .the odds seem to say they've got to win one sometime! It might be time to bag Osama bin-Laden.

Vice-President Cheney will resign from office "due to health reasons" within sixty days. He will be replaced by someone safe like ex-governor Mark Racicot, or if they get really bold, someone like Governor Romney, or one of the other Presidential contenders. Senator McCain or, say, Citizen Rudolph Giuliani would be brilliant choices. But brilliant choices are a thing of the past, if, indeed, they actually ever made one. Things were sketchy before, but the last wheel seemed to come off the entire administration during the ill-fated Harriet Miers court nomination. They may never get the wheels back on.

34%. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
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Bizarre scheme: Republicans threaten to release White House sex tapes

In a last ditch effort to gain leverage and clean up the White House, a small group of Republican congressmen are threatening political blackmail with explosive video footage taken in the White House residence. A southern Congressman familiar with the scheme said "Everyone wanted this buried. Until they'd been burned about four times this month alone. They're fighting for their political lives."

One moderate Senator's aide told All This Is That "It's as if the White House is on Howard Dean's payroll! Look at just the recent scandals. The Plame story, Cheney's shadow government, Katrina and Brownie, DeLay, Abramoff, and now, in a week, the Cheney hunting thing, an Arab takeover of ports, and Iraq coming apart at the seams. " The aide continued ". . .this is as dirty as it gets. It makes the Lewinsky story look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm."

A subcommittee chair in the House spoke of "bumbling the domestic wiretap revelations, mishandling foreign affairs with our friends and enemies, and now boxing themselves in on this insane Dubai port takeover--the list goes on and on and on. Yeah, threatening them with the tapes is extreme. . .but you are dealing with extreme people. All we're trying to do is get them to listen to reason. It's realpolitik. . .a desperate move based on practical considerations. We hope it doesn't come to that."

Informed sources describe scenes of the President, First Lady, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Jeff Gannon, aide Harriet Miers, Scott McLellan, Sen. Bill Frist and other officials. The footage is also said to include "professional sex workers."

A prominent G.O.P. fundraiser told us "Yes, I've heard about these tapes. The President's people are asleep at the wheel. There are enough rumors out about these tapes that it's already drastically affected our fundraising ability in the midterm elections."
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The Everglades & back to business

One of the several alligators we saw up close. This one was about eight feet long. We also saw an old bull close to shore, but hidden in a mud cave, with his head sticking out. He was big compared to the other 8-10 footers we saw. A good chunk of his face had been torn off years ago. He opened his mouth wide. I counted about five teeth.

Our last day in FLA, we went on a self-guided walking through (part of) the Everglades. It's our Galapagos. It's incredible how much wildlife and vegetation there is per square inch! We saw alligators, sawgrass marshes, bladderwart, and, of course, mangroves, and cypresses, wood storks, ibises; herons and egrets. Thousands of fish. Snakes. And hundreds of critters deeper in the swamps

rustling
chirping
swimming
chomping
swatting
flapping
splashing
crawling
bellowing
buzzing
and rubbing their legs together.

We even attended a brief talk on the endangered Wood Stork. The picture above is one of the docile alligators (really, probably well-fed) we encountered. Wow.


My daughter Claire breaks the fifteen foot rule. . .

[click images to enlarge]
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A new painting

Click to enlarge...

I bought this strange painting this week in Jensen Beach. . .it is called "Ode to Darwin." The snapshot does not do it, nor the spectacular frame justice. I wonder if I'll be able to ship it back in one piece? It's too big to carry on the 'plane... /jack
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Kayaking with the dolphins

Del and I were sea kayaking today, off Jensen Beach. We went out for a couple of hours, and got pretty far out. We didn't see much except a couple of lonesome seabirds, a hawk, and a bird Del swore was a duck, but which was the most amphibious duck I'd ever seen in my life.

We gave up on seeing any whales or manatees, or anything exotic, and were headed back in. About three hundred yards from shore, we ended up in the middle of a--school? pod? pride? herd? team? of dolphins. They seemed to be playing and frisking around in the water. In fact Del seemed pretty convinced they were actually just showing off for us...

We watched off to the side for fifteen minutes. Suddenly, they ran into a school of those "flying fish" and things got pretty interesting. The fish definitely decided to beat their fins, with the dolphins in hot pursuit. The chase was on, and we paddled home. Wow. Every day so far has been something cool, some new revelation.

Carl Hiaasen, one of the great living American novelists, long ago, and with every succeeding novel, really fired up my imagination, and Florida has turned out to be every bit as wonderful and depressing as he led me to believe. Fortunately, we've mostly avoided the depressing parts (all of which have to do with the development of Florida). I love this place.
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