Poem: changes 58/Progress

1
There will be progress
At the end of the line.

There will be good fortune
if you have inward harmony.

Occasions for repentance will disappear.
You will have no more regrets.

2
Sometimes you forget and trust
A person who would injure you.

3
The airs of spring begin to blow
And the vapours rise and descend again.
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33 less Americans: The Virginia Tech massacre

This has been as depressing as any day could be. I don't even feel depressed actually; I'm in the throes of an overwhelming sense of sadness over this reminder of the dark underbelly we sometimes forget about. People say that episodes—no, tragedies—like this is the cost of freedom.

[click any image to enlarge]














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Painting: The Safe House

Click the safe house to enlarge

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32 killed by shooter on Virginia Tech campus (+ editorial comment)

click to enlarge

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Alien Lore No. 101—The oldest known UFO photographs

By Jack Brummet, Alien Lore Ed.

The most interesting information about these photos is that they were all photographed many years before The Roswell Incident, or the Mt. Rainier UFO sightings of 1947—both of which helped catapult UFOs into the popular imagination.

Click photograph to enlarge

This photo was taken in 1870 at Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. The photo has been called "the oldest UFO photograph ever taken." This image was the subject of spirited bidding on E-bay in 2002 and was purchased by Samuel M. Sherman, the President of Independent-International Pictures Corp.

Click photograph to enlarge

This image was shot in 1927 at Cave Junction, Oregon. The picture was reportedly snapped by a volunteer fireman. Click on to see full size image to really appreciate the picture.

click image to enlarge

In 1929 at SlideWard, Colorado, a photographer captured this alleged UFO photograph. According the Hetty Pline, the photographer's daughter "This photo was taken by my father Edward Pline at the sawmill in Ward where we lived at the time, I think it was 1929. I was about six years old then. My father was there to photograph the sawmill for some reason or another, and as he was taking the photo, he described a "terrible thunderous bellow," and a large round thing as big as a very large boulder that moved through the air above them. You can see it in the picture. None of the sawmill workers saw the thing in the photo, but they all heard the sound and felt the ground shudder. Later in my life I tried researching the incident at the County Historical Society, but I did not find any references to it. My father passed on a few years after the incident, and I have not found any surving sawmill workers from that time. "

click image to enlarge

In this image, the alarm klaxons installed in the event of a Japanese air raid began blaring, and flying objects are seen and announced in the sky off the city. I have written about this incident before. A blackout was declared and terrified Los Angelenos turned off all the lights.

The anti-aircraft guns opened fire on the UFOs, and as you see in the photo, the projector beams began searching the sky. Many witnesses saw small objects flying at high altitude, of red or silver plated color. The saucers moved in formation at a high rate of speed, and the anti-aircraft artillery were useless. FDR got involved in this one. See the story in All This Is That...

click photo to enlarge

In May 1932, at St. Paris, Ohio, someone took this picture of George Sutton. It was probably 1932 judging by the license plate on the car. George looks pretty calm for having a UFO hovering over his head. Nobody has been able to account for the dark object seen over Sutton's left shoulder in this photograph.

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Poem: Changes 57/The Gentle

1
The wind that scatters the gathered clouds
leaves the sky clear and serene

a penetrating clarity of judgment
thwarts the dark and hidden motives

a strong leader uncovers and breaks up
the intrigues which shun the light of day

by an influence that never lapses
less striking to the eye

than those won by surprise attack
but more enduring and complete.

2
Only when the insidious influence
works always in the same direction

can the object be attained
the winds follow one upon the other

the penetration of the wind
depends upon its relentlessness

in advance
and in retreat.

3
Gentleness is taken to the point of indecision
and one does not act resolutely

a thousand doubts crop up
as you play out the what if scenarios

resolute discipline is far better
than irresolute license

at times one has to deal with hidden enemies
—intangible dark and nefarious—

that slink into dark corners
and affect people by suggestion

you must trace these things back
to the secret crevasses

to determine the nature of the threat
and then delete the influences

when these influences are exposed
they lose their power over people

deliberation brings fresh doubts and scruples
when you are unable to act

no beginning, but an end
before the change and after the change.
---o0o---

It was 95 years ago today that Titanic sank—"Woman and children first!"

95 years ago today, the RMS Titanic sank on its maiden voyage. You know the grim story (if you don't, go here). . .it was a tragedy of errors.




The Titanic's rudder and propellors



The "unsinkable" RMS Titanic would have escaped the tragedy if the crew had seen the iceberg ten seconds earlier, or ten seconds later. It was a night when everything went wrong. Of a total of 2,223 people, only 706 survived. Most of the lifeboats left the Titanic half-full. No one really believed there was an emergency until the ship began listing, an hour and a quarter after initially striking the 'berg. From there is went down fast. The ship broke in two and each half sank.





The fatal iceberg


60% of the first class passengers were saved.
44% of the second passengers were saved.
25% of the third class passengers were saved.
24% of the crew were saved.
80% of the people who died were men.
50% of the children died



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The LBJ Museum and Library in Austin

I took my second trip to the LBJ Library on the University of Texas campus yesterday. There were a lot of great exhibits as usual, and especially the one on the Electrification of Rural Texas. If you get a chance to go to Austin, don't miss this place. Hero or monster, or both, LBJ was a key president, and probably did more for African-Americans than any President since Lincoln.

The library is not afraid of showing all the contradictions in this often tortured, frequently cranky, and always ambitious man. LBJ often frequented the library in the last years of his life...

On campus, you can also see the Tower. The tower is where the first mass shooting of innocents occurred in America—a harbinger of what was to come, really. It is where the first American parallel killer went bananas. Charles Whitman went up in the tower in 1966, and killed fourteen people and injured dozens more in a little over ninety minutes. They closed the tower for over 20 years, but it reopened a few years ago. To get up there you have to pass through metal detectors, and there are armed guards on the observation deck.






Other recent postings on LBJ:

LBJ responds to White House correspondent Dan Rather (and links to other LBJ photos) (has links to dozens of great photos).
Three more photographs of LBJ
Jerry Seinfeld Called Them The Close Talkers, Or, The Study Of Proxemics
LBJ responds to White House correspondent Dan Rather (and links to other LBJ photos)
LBJ meets FDR
Photograph: LBJ howls like a dog
Another good LBJ photograph - circa 1960
Photograph: LBJ in Vietnam
Photograph: LBJ agonizing over the Vietnam War
Photograph: LBJ and MLK meet up
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The Old 97's show at Stubb's BBQ was a rainout . . .but the Small Stars were great!

click to enlarge The Small Stars

I went to Stubb's BBQ in Austin for the Old 97's/Small Stars show. Maybe twenty minutes after the last Small Stars tune, the skies opened with some fantastic Texas thunder & lightning and win and rain. The ticket-taker earlier told me no, it won't start raining until midnight. Now, I have some Seattle rain cred. and am, in fact, a rain fan. There was water in the air. It was about 80, with humidity in the high-90s. . .in other words a couple percentage points from being an actual mist. I was not shocked to see the rain.

I did not get to see the Old 97s, but I did get to see the Small Stars as the opening act. And they were great!

Small Stars are a quirky melange of influences. In a good way! Miles Zuniga, is in another band, Fastball. Small Stars have a great buzz in Austin. Read more about them and hear a song here. My favorite song title of the show: "That's What God Made Whiskey For." The Small Stars play funny, seriously rocking songs, with great chops and a lot of theater and vamping. With these guys, it's a nice schtick. . .a nice balance between hard rock and alt+country with maybe a whiff of Zappa and The Kinks and Big Star and The Beatles and even maybe a touch of Bongwater, the Dukes of Stratosphere, Wheezer, and finally a good-blast of Tex-Mex and the Austin sound. I liked them a lot. And they came across as really nice, guys. . .weird as they were. Christopher Gray wrote in the Austin Chronicle: "A rare example of a half-baked concept fermenting into a full-fledged band, Austin’s Small Stars smooth-talked noted L.A. engineer Bob Clearmountain (AC/DC, INXS) into brightening the edges of their self-released sophomore effort, Tijuana Dreams, out of pocket no less. Which would be all for pristine-sounding naught if their lounge-lizard tales of showbiz delusions and debauchery didn’t cut frighteningly close to home." Buy their record!
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The Old 97s in Austin

I am going to see the Old 97s tonight at Stubbs' in Austin. It should be a great show in the dirt courtyard there.

These guys are an alt-country band (think Whiskeytown, etc). But better: great guitars, harmony, fantastic lyrics, melody, and a power pop sheen. I am including a video below from You Tube.


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Hello Austin! Goodbye Fear of Flying!

I have been flying around the country (and out of country) since last summer for work. I go to a lot of great places: Eugene, OR; Vancouver, British Columbia; Newport Beach, California; Berkeley California, and best of all, Austin, Texas.



If you know me, or read this blog, you probably know I am a touch trepidatious about flying. Here are some links to pieces I've written about air travel:

A confession: How I slipped through the NSA metal detectors. . .with some heavy metal!
Fear Of Flying, Fear of Dying
Poem: Falling
Poem: Notes On Flying
One More Reason Why I Am Scared Sh**less To Fly: Video Of Fixing A Jet's Wing With Duct Tape
Airline passenger restrictions, hip replacements, and why the Executive Branch goes unmolested, while I am scanned, probed, poked and patted down

I haven't written about my gradual improvement. Until very recently, I needed to be half-baked (and before that, fully baked) to even look at a plane. Lately, I've been eschewing Xanax, red wine, Vallium, etc. I can even get to sleep the night before I fly. Eventually. I no longer get off the plane completely devastated (and toasted). I am still no fan, but somehow the serenity in other parts of my life is oozing into my airborne life. That is goodness.





In a few hours, I fly to one of my favorite cities in the world: Austin, Texas. I am looking forward to all of it, and will grab the chance to go out for music and barbecue, as well as sneak in another trip to the LBJ Library. I will also get a chance to swim outdoors at my hotel, since the temperature this week is in the 80s.

Forgive me. I don't usually treat this as my diary, or neuroses forum, but writing about helps me realize that perhaps I am making headway with the demons of flight. More tomorrow! Selah. ---o0o---

चंगेस - थे वान्देरेर

1
थे मौन्तैं स्तान्ड्स स्टील
अबोवे इत फायर रिसेस उप —

स्त्रंगे लंड्स एंड सेपरेशन
अरे थे वान्देरेर'एस लोट

व्हें होम इस थे रोड़
कुशन एंड रिज़र्व प्रोतेच्त यू फ्रॉम एविल —

2
थे फायर ओं थे मौन्तैं
रसस ओं तो न्यू फुएल

लिके थे वान्देरेर
व्हो कोमेस तो अन इन्

थे इन् बर्न्स डाउन
एंड थे स्त्रन्गेर इन अ स्त्रंगे लैंड

हस नो वनडे लेफ्ट — कोड रेड —
सिर्चुम्स्तान्सस काउसे उस तो सीक

ओर प्लेस इन फॉरेन पार्ट्स
लिके व्हें अ बर्ड'एस नेस्ट बर्न्स उप —

एंड फ़ॉर थे रेस्ट
औफ़ हेर दय्स

शे सेक्स अ होम
शे नेवर फिन्ड्स.
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