Eight Belles/Eight Bells

The national Irish is up following the catastrophe at the 2008 Kentucky Derby wherein second-place finisher Eight Belles crashed after crossing the finish line.

Eight Belles was euthanized after she shattered both front ankles as she pulled up around a quarter-mile beyond the finish line following her second-place finish behind Derby winner Big Brown. Eight Belles was the first filly to compete in the Derby since 1999.

The Clog Almanac admits to weeping upon learning that that filly was euthanized subsequent to crashing to her knees after crossing the finish line in this great national horse race, one of our nation's annual hallmarks, the Triple Crown. Thoroughbred champions display characteristics that resonate with many of our highest valued qualities and aspirations: a will to succeed and win; joy in competition; indomitable energy and resolve; and a totally committed heart. It is the animals themselves that endear so many to this "sport of kings". The Clog Almanac suspects that these same qualities made horse racing so beloved by such kings and their subjects alike, and to many of us as well. It was difficult to witness the end of such a great animal.

The death of a great filly, a horse loved by her trainer and owner is causing a national re-evaluation of this time-honored tradition - and the collective blame-game has begun:

Some question the wisdom in racing young horses.
Some question letting fillies race against colts.
Some question the wisdom of running a field of 20 horses.
Some question the so-called inbred champion blood-lines from which champions emerge.
Some question the individual track characteristics.
Some question the industry's adherence to tradition rather than embracing changes that would advance the humane safety of horses and their riders.

The Clog-wife, who exercised/trained thoroughbreds for nearly a decade, and who exercised horses on many tracks ranging from the deep and fluffy Saratoga Springs to the hardscape of Churchill Downs, opined that the race-day surface of the latter was firm enough to walk across wearing high-heels. Perhaps this overly-hard surface contributed to Eight Belles' faltering and ultimate demise.

Horse-racing suffered a devastating loss when Barbaro, the first horse to be interred at Churchill Downs, suffered a similar fate and eventually, euthanization last year for a similar injury during the Derby. This industry apparently has not taken heed of the many factors that have again come to the fore in this years' tragedy. The Clog Almanac believes the racing industry must adapt if it is to remain the "sport of kings". We are not sure if synthetic tracks are the only answer - breeding and training also are extremely important aspects of the solution as well.

The Kentucky Derby website has precious little to say (as of 5/5/08) about the controversies and the sadness following the demise of Eight Belles. One would think that such lucrative concerns would be more interested in the long-term sustainability (read economic and social acceptance) of such a franchise.

One wonders what the patrons at the pub Eight Belles, in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, said when they learned a great horse sharing the name of their local gathering place had been put down?

"Eight bells" in the language of seamen, has a meaning as well: Eight Bells signals the end of a watch. In addition, sixteen bells are rung at new year: Eight bells for the previous year, and eight bells for the New Year. We suggest that the watch of the horse-racing industry has just begun. Let's not see a repeat of this year's Kentucky Derby. Perhaps in this next year, we will see changes that protect the wonderful creatures of a national icon - the great thoroughbreds that compete in the great horse-races that are part of our national conscience.

Kentucky Derby, 2008 Derby, Eight Belles, Eight Bells, Barbaro, Churchill Downs, horse racing, ship watches, ships watch, horse race, Triple Crown, Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, Big Brown

Garçon! I Didn’t Order Healthcare for You and the Chef!

Restaurants in San Francisco have taken to charging patrons for the health care payments required by that fair city's Universal Coverage Ordinance. Typical required contributions are $1.17-$1.76 /hour/per employee for establishments who employ 20 or more workers.

Check your bill, and then refuse to pay that portion I say. What are tips for? Sheesh. Cost of business and all that - charge me more for the meal and let me decide if I'll pay it and the customary tip for Christo's sake.

SanFrancisco, health care, healthcare ordinance, universal healthcare ordinance, California, Sanfrancisco, Sanfransicko

Single-Tree Birdwatching

I've lots of friends and colleages who are avid birdwatchers. By avid, I mean drop-what-you-are-doing and rush-off-to (insert far-flung state or country) in pursuit of a storm-blown or accidental sighting of a single rare bird that has yet to be checked off from their life list.

I'm truly a more what's-around-in-my-daily-travels sort of birdwatcher. Not quite "backyard" watcher, since my daily travels take me, during a week or month, to just about every corner of the county I live in, and to every variety of habitat and natural system that is present in the area. I get a chance to see native and soon-to-be developed tracts that few have the opportunity to walk and observe in.

So today, upon hearing an avian commotion in a laurel oak tree near Clog House, Est. 1935, I and my huge black tomcat Buffalo (He, with the longest cat-tail I've ever seen) investigated. We observed a lively mob of chickadees, titmice, chipping sparrows, and ruby-crowned kinglets; a pair of black-and-white warblers, a few northern parula warblers, and a single cardinal - all in a huff about an unseen something-or-other. Might have been a snake. Might have been the single cardinal that outsized everyone else. We couldn't determine what caused them to become so agitated. But it was a great 5-minute break to notice the birds in the area. You should do the same in your little corner of Paradise.

Florida, birds, birdwatching, warbler, kinglet, titmouse, chickadee, chipping sparrow, parula, buffalo, clog

Camellia Time Again

I enjoyed a brief stroll with my daughter at the historic Thomas Center in Gainesville, FL this afternoon. Since it's Camellia Time, I've taken this opportunity to post photos of some of the blooms to be seen on the grounds as Spring begins.
[click on images to enlarge]

Camellias are gorgeous this time of year in Florida. Some blooms are as broad as compact discs (items the present generation will fondly remember as "CD's"). The evanescent blooms of these and other flowers are much prettier and more important.

A white Camellia photographed in deep shade. I can't look at red and white Camellias blooming together without thinking of Alice in Wonderland. The rest of the world may associate that story's Red Queen with roses (or beheading) - the War of the Roses, and all that - but really, Camellias trump roses in terms of form and grace. This from a botanist who grew up around roses who now lives in the South where fine roses are scarce and mostly outside of their climatic range, and where Camellias in large part do just fine, provided they are nurtured with proper soil amendments on occasion.


Let us not forget that Azaleas are just now coming into season. OK you gardeners. Let's put you on notice. You want your Camellias and Azaleas to bloom? You'd better consult your local garden club, nursery, or private afficionado: These two species set their next year's buds at specific times of the year. Find out when your favorite shrubs set their buds lest you trim the shrubs and unknowingly (ignorantly) remove the buds in a flurry of Fall or Spring trimming and clean-up. You can find out. Look. Ask. Inquire. Your landscape will look better for it.




A couple enjoying the sunshine and fair weather on the Thomas Center grounds. The pair lends a sense of scale to the evergreen southern live oak tree in the right-hand side of the image.


Camellia, Azalea, Gainesville Florida, gardens

Camellia Time

It's Camellia Time in north central Florida. Nowhere near Clog House Est. 1935 can a prettier display of these stately shrubs be found than our local cemetery. The bushes are old and tall, and just now thickly adorned with blooms big as a man's fist.

Clog-Wife and I take a weekly stroll through the lovely cemetery with our Corgis every Sunday afternoon. It's a routine outing that we anticipate all weekend. We noted today that azaleas are beginning to bloom, and with redbuds and dogwood trees will soon storm the stage as the Camellias make their exit. Soon the cemetery will be arrayed in a bedazzling tide of pinks and whites and reds.

Peaceful strolls midst the South's loveliest flowers await. For now, its Camellia Time, and we are awed by this most regal of garden species.


Camellia, Florida, cemetery, flowers, gardening

Currently Reading

At Clog House Est. 1935 we're currently re-reading Mark Helprin's lovely collection of stories entitled The Pacific. Helprin is one of our favorite American authors, so the rereading is quite pleasing, and as always, uplifting. Don't miss the reviews here, here and here.

We don't quite subscribe to Mr. Helprin's politics, but his novels and stories are filled with luminous archetypal characters and luminous themes that are cast in surprising and wonderful ways. His subjects are extremely varied and the resulting inventions both clever and awe-inspiring. As always, the imagery is precise, enlightening, and nearly overwhelming. In this backdrop, the themes expressed border on the sublime. War; Light; Water; Honor; Love; Family; Home; Aging. One wonders how another could conceive of such wondrously woven tales, and is left pondering and measuring one's existence after reading them.

Helprin, Mark Helprin, Pacific, short stories, archetypes, American literature

Winter Ramble in a Florida Woodland

I enjoyed a fine stroll through wild Florida today. Detailed account and photographs are found at my other blog, In Praise of Walking. Though the day was overcast, it was not cold. In fact, my fleece vest proved to be too much for the weather and I ended up carrying it most of the afternoon.

Florida, walking, nature, wild Florida

Wesley Snipes Not Racist - Most Everyone Else Is

Wesley Snipes is on trial for two felony charges: conspiracy to defraud the government, and filing a false tax claim. The trial will be held in Ocala, Florida, down the road a piece from Clog House Est. 1935.

See a copy of the original indictment at The Smoking Gun.

Playing the Race Card: Snipes has made two motions to have the trial moved to New York, declaring that the town of Ocala is racist and that he can't get a fair trial there. That would be the whole town. A federal appeals court recently denied those two petitions.

Playing Another Race Card: Snipes also made a motion to have the charges dropped on the basis of selective prosecution. Snipes' two named co-defendants are persons not-of-color, and are not being charged for failure to file tax returns. Snipes maintains he is being selectively charged and tried on the basis of his race.

Local TV news ran a short report last night. Jury selection has been long and tedious, and apparently one of the primary questions being asked potential jurors is whether they are capable of making a fair decision given the race of the defendant. Really that is asking if they are capable of being fair or unbiased given the fact that they are people-not-of-color. That tastes slightly racist.

Snipes attended a prayer service before court yesterday.


Wesley Snipes, race card, tax fraud, taxes, racism

FL Wild Hogs and Their Schedules

Since my initial November 14th sighting of wild hog piglets along a busy stretch of US441 northwest of Gainesville, Fl, I've observed the fat black things rooting along the side of the right-of-way every couple of days. I'm on my way home at the usual time and spot them in the exact same place, unfailingly and nearly precisely at 5:30 p.m.

Apparently, wild pigs have schedules and routines, just like I do, and mine has converged with that of a porcine lot.

What separates we humans from the baser animals? Cross "an awareness of time and place" and "schedules" off of your list. Next we'll find out that the wild pigs watch Green Acres reruns for a chance to see Arnold Ziffel, the pig.

wild hogs, wild pigs, Florida, humans, time, schedule

Tony Blair, Banker

Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, has taken a job on Wall St., joining global financial services giant JPMorgan Chase, in the capacity of Senior Advisor. Mr. Blair will also be a member of the company's International Council. Salary: estimated at $1 Million. Nice gig!


Tony Blair, Prime Minister, Great Britain, England, Wall Street, JPMorgan Chase, global banking, financial services, banks, banking

Sir Edmund Hillary Dead at 88

Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealand beekeeper who was the first to scale the world's tallest peak, is dead at 88.


Edmund Hillary, Mount Everest, New Zealand, Everest, mountaineering, Hillary

Have A Merry Surreal Christmas

This week-before-Christmas your friends at The Clog Almanac found ourselves in some incongruous juxtapositions that just might fit the very definition of surreal:

While walking our two crippled rescue Corgis in an open field and counting a flock of about 400 American robins that had been previously feeding noisily in turns on drupes of the large camphor tree in the yard of Clog House Est. 1935, our eyes were drawn earthward from the skyborn tomato-soup-colored breasts of these south-wintering thrush-cousins by the more dulcet tones of a familiar melody blaring from the speakers of an ice-cream van slowly making its way through our north Florida neighborhood.

The van slowed, stopped, and the the driver's window rolled down. It was just then, as the music abruptly ceased, that we recognized the tune as the dreydl song. The red-cheeked gray-haired lady driving the van assumed a beneficent smile fit for the Pope, mustered a restrained Queen Elizabeth hand-wave at us, and shouted in a slow drawl as completely Florida-southern as smoked mullet, grits and fried okra, "It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!"

We stood motionless, trying to process the scene while the van with its good-willed occupant lumbered away and the Hanukkah music resumed.


robin, corgi, clog almanac, surreal, surrealism, Christmas, Chanukkah, Hanukkah, dreidl, dreidel, dreydl, Yiddish, Florida

An Early Morning Rain

Clog-wife and I walked our two corgis before sunrise on this last Saturday of Autumn.

A soft rain came this morning just before first light, pattering on the unraked red oak leaves and gently drumming on the tin roof of Clog-house Est. 1935. The wife went back to bed, the dogs settled into drowsy silence and I had the calm and quiet world to myself. Rather than retire and nap until breakfast, I chose to take advantage of the peacefulness and spend time on the screened porch listening to the first stirrings of the birds and other creatures, and quietly intoning some of my tunes on the fiddle.

Gordon Lightfoot must have spent some days contemplating an early morning rain.


fiddle tunes, morning rain, first light, Gordon Lightfoot, corgi

Michael Vick Nike Endorsement

Michael Vick shoes will make you faster. He said so on this Nike Endorsement video. Not quite the other Mike, yeah? Gotta love Vick's pitbull terrier cameo, no? Obi-Wan Kenobi says "there is no disconnect here. Let Michael Vick be known for who he is."

Michael Vick, Nike endorsement, pitbull, Vick, Vick shoe, dog fighting, Michael Jordan

Afghan Suicide Bombing Chronology

An article that lays out a chronlongy of suicide bombings in Afghanistan is here. Would you agree that the pace of violence has increased in that country?

The "Surge" of U.S. troops seems to be working in Iraq, if standard sources are to be believed. The Clog Almanac warns that thinking that the war on terrorism is being won in that place may be a hasty judgement at best. Faced with sure defeat and destruction in Iraq, insurgent groups and individuals may in fact be doing what they have always done in those societies: melt away and regroup to fight another day, elsewhere. Iran must be walking a fine line since it's purported terrorist-support and nuclear development activities are under the international microscope. Perhaps the decline in violence in Iraq is related to Iran's decreased support of terrorism in that theater.

In the case of Iraq, insurgents who would otherwise be fighting and mounting suicide attacks may be looking for quieter venues in which to ply their deadly trade. They leave the battlefield, bombing and other incident stats go down, and the U.S. reports that the Surge is working. Maybe "it's working" because the enemy is quietly withdrawing. It doesn't take a genius to come up with a list of places where the U.S. and its allies are not concentrating their war, where terrorism and the advancement of enemy ideals might be less expected:

Some insurgent groups may be heading for Afghanistan, to join with the Taliban's push to gain influence. Others may be regrouping farther afield in places like Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, or certain African countries. Pakistan? Why not pile into that currently unstable country where tribalism and lawless border areas are the norm and where there are nuclear weapons within reach?

Calls for the beginning of the end of terrorism and international turmoil and violence are immature, in the Clog Almanac's opinion.

Wild Hog Sighting

The spate of absolutely gorgeous Fall days continues in north-central Florida. Yesterday I nabbed a shovelfull of native Fall-blooming sunflowers from a larger population on an out-of-the-way county right-of-way and transplanted them into my butterfly garden. This species, Helianthus angustifolius, the narrow-leaf swamp sunflower.

Today's drive home found me admiring the sunset when of a sudden I noticed 5 wild piglets snuffling around at the edge of a tree line bordering US 441 and wildlands on the NW side of Gainesville Florida near the City of Gainesville's Deerhaven power plant, operated by Gainesville Regional Utilities. The adult(s) were no doubt ensconced in the vegetation.

One morning last year I toured the 1400+ acres of wildlands associated with the coal-powered generation station that are part of a state-recognized "stewardship forest". That day I saw wild hogs, turkeys, white-tailed deer and a bobcat, and many local bird species. Kudos to the company foresters/land managers who are creating and maintaining a diverse mosaic of natural forest communities so wildlife can thrive so close to a growing urban area.

GRU, wild hogs, bobcat, coal-fired, power plant, Helianthus angustifolius, sunflower, Florida, wildlife

Alligator Munches Florida Car Thief

You've probably already heard the current "Only-in-Florida" story about the car thief who, despite warnings from alarmed witnesses, dived into a pond to elude capture by police, only to be captured by an alligator. Divers found his remains 50 feet below the surface. There is no punch line to this story, unless some clever reader supplies it via comments to this post.

Florida, Florida Gators, gator, alligator, stupid criminals, Miccosukee, Indian reservation, casino, resort crime

Alberto Gonzales - $40,000 Speaking Fee

Accent, a University of Florida student organization, is finalizing a contract to pay $40,000 to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to speak at an event on November 19, 2007. The free event is for both students and public alike. Gonzales, the grandson of (at least 3 of 4 grandparents) illegal immigrants, has no accent, by the way. Gonzales speaks English as well, and probably better, than you do, so don't spout that "he doesn't talk like us" crap). Oh, you don't like that, do you? My my. Speakers' fees are paid for by semester charges to students (or whomever pays the tuition and bills [MOM and/or DAD, no doubt]).

Totally aside, Sean Hannity, the captious pedant right-wing talk-show host was paid $75,000 for a similar appearance in Gainesville, FL. Again, the entertainers are paid more than the politicians. At the event Hannity took a jab at Hillary Clinton, saying that "It takes a village to satisfy my husband". If you've listened to Hannity before, you'd know you wouldn't put that sort of cheap shot above him. He doesn't spout this sort of thing on his radio and TV broadcasts because he knows that it is cheap blather unworthy of him and the advertising-sponsored networks on which he's franchised. He should know better.

Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General, Sean Hannity, Hillary Clinton, UF speaking fees speech, repuclicans, democrats, right wing, politics

Are You the "5th Guy"?

One in five don't practice good hygiene. Are you the 5th guy? You know, the one that doesn't wash his/her hands after using the restroom or changing the baby in the airport facilities? The one who sneezes and coughs on everyone in the staff meeting? The one who lets their diapered kids reach down their pants and then touch the restaurant table, shopping cart and drinking fountain handles or toys at the day care?

Meet your buddy The 5th Guy at his MySpace page.

The whole thing is a clever creation of the Florida Department of Health. Do us a favor and don't be the 5th Guy. And by the way, keep your hands out of your pants.

5th Guy, fifth guy, Florida, Florida Health Department, personal hygiene, superbugs, super germs, MRSA, hand washing

United States' Presidential Primary Dates

Confused about when U.S. states hold their presidential primaries? Go here to get a list of BOTH the republican and democratic parties' primary election schedules.

United States, presidential primary, primary dates, Iowa primary, New Hampshire, state primaries, Florida primary, Michigan primary, Nevada primary, primary election, presidential candidates, democrats, republicans, Hillary Clinton, U.S. election

Guy Fawkes Day - Nov. 5

The Clog Almanac wishes everyone a happy Guy Fawkes Day. Remember, remember, the 5th of November.

However, the world has had enough of folks blowing up stuff , themselves, and eachother, lately. Enough is enough.

Guy Fawkes, bomb plot, England, suicide attack, suicide bomber, terrorism, terrorist, Islamic militant

Got Mints? Must Watch Office Series Clip

Our clever friends at The Office gave us a prank that we're itching to try.



Using Pavlov's teaching theory, Jim teaches Dwight to want mints.

NBC, The Office, comedy, video clips, Altoids, mints, office pranks, Office series

Micro Wind Power

Check out this short video clip to see how easy and inexpensive it could be to produce electricity from wind on a small scale. This windbelt invention is lauded at ScribeMedia:

wind power, generator, electricity, wind, green electricity

A Very Clever Prank

Need to practice your German? Why not watch this very clever practical joke while you're at it?



Who said the Germans didn't have a sense of humor?
practical joke, learn German, pranks, jokes, Deutsch, comedy, twins

Little White Pill, Final Update

The little white pill that occupied an unswept landing in the stairwell of my office building for several weeks is no more.

The building's cleaning staff changed, and suddenly the pill was gone.
Gone, but not lost. The day after I noticed it missing and broke the news to colleagues, a group of us walking to lunch downtown found the pill where it had come to rest in a groove between two bricks of the new brick sidewalk that passes next to our building. I told them the whole boring story, which confirmed certain of their impressions of me - how many people do you know that monitor the life-spans and life-histories of items lost or discarded that persist in out-of-the-way nooks at their place of employment?

Our theory is this, and it is ours, and what it is is this: The new cleaning staff, being good new employees who hadn't yet found ways to shirk their after-hours time away like their recent predecessors, swept the little white pill down the stairwell and out the employees' entrance door at the base of the stairwell. They continued sweeping the small brick plaza just outside the door, until the sweepings met the nearby sidewalk. With a flick of the broom they propelled the sweepings, including the little white pill, westward down the sidewalk, out of their scope of work and responsibility, where the little white pill bounced and skidded for a few yards before coming to rest in the place at which it was eventually noticed by us.
That is our theory, and it is ours.

For two days the little white pill persisted in the chink of the brick walk, only to succumb to afternoon rains, during which time it was replaced in the stairwell by a green peanut m&m, whose stay lasted all of those 2 days. For all we know, the janitorial staff ate it. We have no theory about that.

Michael Vick Parodies

Michael Vick parody clips here, courtesy of the Campaign to Sack Michael Vick. You really should explore the site. There's much there to digest; to think about; to curse American professional sports about; to pray about; to wonder about the future of human history about; to speculate on the future of the United States about, and of course, to shake your head and laugh about.

Really, through it all (all those nasty charges), Michael Vick suddenly found religion? Please. Have a brain and turn your bald-faced lie meters up to "detect asshole" on this one. Trust me.

Michael Vick, Falcons, football, Atlanta, Atlanta Falcons, parody, pitbull, clown, sports, professional athlete, thug, thug life, thug army

China's Virtual Internet Police

Beijing police begin patrolling the internet today with virtual police men and women. View the image and newswire story here. Just a little scary, no?

China, Beijing, internet police, internet privacy

Alberto Gonzales - Resignation Letter

Here is an image of Alberto Gonzales' resignation letter. Who of us didn't see it coming?
What you really should be checking out is Former Attorney General John Ashcroft's recording history.

It's tough being the Atty General. You just might consider turning down the job - if you're ever offered it.

Alberto Gonzales, John Ashcroft, attorney general, recording, resignation letter, resign, music, singing senators, US, politics

Michael Vick Good as Unemployed

Michael Vick's atty's hinted he'd plead guilty to some charges surrounding the dog-fighting, cruelty, and conspiracy allegations that his good friends and cohorts have already turned state's evidence on with their plea deals. You might want to visit the Campaign to Sack Michael Vick, just to once again test the winds on the issues, whatever your sentiments.

The Clog Almanac advocates letting Vick plea to lesser charges by the federal authorities, thinking he'll be able, as one of the posts put it, to "Strut Training Camp Next Summer". Round 2 would be to allow South Carolina to pull the rug out from under him by later pressing state charges and try him for a longer list of crimes. Round 3 would be for the NFL to quietly ban him from their ranks. My employer would sack me and other little people (to paraphrase Leona Helmsley) and deny any vested pension benefits if convicted of the same list of state and federal crimes.

If anything, this whole affair puts other thug-athletes on notice that their anti-social behaviors and crimes will not go uninvestigated and unpunished. Go ahead, read the Code of Thug Life again.

Michael Vick, dog-fighting, pit bull, PETA, NFL, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta, falcons, Leona Helmsley, little people, thug life, thug army, thug

The Other Side of the World

From the clever interactive Antipodes Map:

Tunnel down through Hawa'ii: You come out in Botswana, Brah...
Jacksonville, FL - sorry, you come out in the ocean way off Western Australia.
Anchorage? Somewhere in the Southern Ocean north of Antarctica - Sorry to break this news.
Hong Kong? You're gonna end up in Bolivia. I wouldn't have guessed, either.

antipodes, map, Jacksonville, Hawaii, Bolivia, southern ocean, Botswana, Antarctica

US-Israeli Military Aid Deal

The US stock market, beset by the widening fall-out of overextended American greed within the whole of the residential real estate investing/brokerage/financing market, has seen volatility this past two weeks that resembles a graph drawn by a cricket trying to stand on a hot backyard grill. At this point, the only thing keeping the market from plunging once-and-for-all into the depths of the Earth are near-daily infusions of capital by major banks and governmental agencies in several key countries.

Meanwhile, US-Israeli negotiations have warmed to the extent that the US Undersecretary of State (Nicholas Burns) has just signed a deal that pledges US$30 billion in military aid to Israel over the next 10 years. Consider this as a couple of 5-year plans from the near-finished Bush administration. What are they pledging to beef up Israel for? War with Iran? With Syria? With ________ (insert country here)? Are they hoping to provide Israel with deterrent arms that could be pressed into service if/when the US mounts a liberation/terrorist war against another Middle Eastern country?

Time will tell.

US-Israel, US, Israel, military aid, arms deal, liberation war, terror war, Middle East

Gator Hunt Opens Today

Dean became the first hurricane of the 2007 season early this a.m.

The first full day of the alligator hunting season opened today too. All 4500 permits were sold. Each permit holder is allowed to take 2 alligators.

How do you kill an alligator? Get your 2007 training manual here.

alligator, alligator hunt, harvest, training manual

Dean First Hurricane of 2007

Tropical Storm Dean has strengthened and so becomes the first hurricane of the 2007 season. Hurricane Dean is walking its way across the Atlantic at 18-20 mph and appears to be headed for the Yucatan. A National Weather Service posting indicates that an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft will be dispatched this afternoon, and the NOAA will send its Gulfstream-IV on a surveillance mission.

You might want to bookmark this Google Earth site to track the storm's progress.

Hurricane Dean, hurricane, Dean, Atlantic

Distributed Proofreaders

Pages proofread for Distrubuted Proofreaders: 356
Rank: Proofreading Apprentice - 1393 out of 59,383 volunteers.

The Clog Almanac recommends this all-volunteer team that assists Project Gutenberg in the painstaking task of converting public-domain books into a broadly-accessible online format for all the world.

Distributed Proofreaders, Project Gutenberg, proofreader, ebook, public domain

Pakistani Clerics Stop Polio Vaccine Campaign

Islamic fundamentalists destroyed polio vaccines and took health workers hostage in the Bajur agency in Pakistan. Hard-line clerics in the remote region are convinced that the vaccination program is a US conspiracy to render Islamic children incapable of having children, and thus, anti-Islamic.

Pakistan is one of only a handfull of countries in the world where polio still exists in the wild and where documented cases have been reported in the past few years.

How backward of those people, one might sigh, looking down from his/her western vantagepoint. One needn't be reminded that significant controversy still surrounds vaccinations in the US and other western countries. A search of "vaccine controversy" in your browser will return over 1.6 million links to investigate. Many of the loudest voices in the West seem to be centered in religious groups, and those who administer or practice alternative medicine.

Some have posited a link between vaccinations and autism. Here is the Center for Disease Control's statement.

polio, polio eradication, Pakistan, Islamic fundamentalist, vaccination, conspiracy, autism

Mauritania Enacts Slavery Law

Slave owners in Mauritania can now face up to 10 years in prison if caught. There's progress - the practice was banned in 1981 but until now there was no penalty.

slavery, Mauritania, Afica, prison

Quebec Considers Plastic Bag Tax

Montreal environmental activist Jaques Lalonde is advocating a 20-cent tax on every plastic shopping bag, and Quebec's environmental minister is listening. The tax is not proposed as a source of state revenue, but rather, as an incentive to change the way people shop and reduce the amount of non-biodegradable plastic going into landfills. A similar tax in Ireland has reduced plastic bag use by 90% since 2002.

plastic bags, bag tax, landfill, pollution, Quebec, Ireland

Must-Read Book

I finished reading Richard Preston's Wild Trees last night. This engaging account of the discovering, climbing, then exploring scientifically the canopies of the worlds tallest trees - the redwoods of northern California and Oregon - is utterly amazing. There are passages that will make your palms sweat, your stomach turn, and give you vertigo.

Visit the Humboldt State faculty webpage of the visionary Professor Stephen Sillet, the man behind the vision, the story and the science, then buy the book and read it.

redwood forest, canopy science, Stephen Sillet, giant trees, Humboldt State, Sequoia

Little White Pill Update:

That pill languishing in the stairwell of my office building since sometime last month is still there.

United In Death - August 10

Today's Clog Almanac Friday Mashup juxtaposes two pioneers of flight. Both slipped their surly bonds on an August 10.

1896 Otto Lilienthal - German aircraft pioneer
1945 Robert H. Goddard - American rocket scientist

Lilienthal was known as the "Glider King". Photographs of his repeated successes at glider flight caught the imagination of the press and public. Lilienthal's studies of bird wing aerodynamics helped him to improve the design of his glider wings. Lilienthal worked with his brother Gustav, and eventually completed over 2000 glider flights before his death from a glider accident. The Wright Brothers were inspired by Lilienthal's successes.

Robert Goddard is the father of jet propulsion. He had designed and successfully tested a liquid-fuel rocket by 1926. His vision and work ushered in the age of manned space flight and nuclear warheads.

glider, Otto Lilienthal, Robert Goddard, flight, rocket propulsion, space flight

Michael Vick Honored by Christian Conference?

The current Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta explored ways in which to recognize Michael Vick in order to save his embattled soul. Trouble was, he was bound to stay in Virginia because of the serious felony charges surrounding the dog-fighting scandal, so they decided to wait until the case was decided in the courts.

Oh well. Perhaps southern Christians should look elsewhere for a person to honor. Maybe one of their own who are fighting to save families and to end poverty and racism, for instance.

Michael Vick, pit bull, dog fighting, loser, arrogant athlete, athlete felon, Christianity, ignorance, sports psychology

Product Review: Fudge du Locke

I've had the great pleasure of sampling once again the maple-walnut fudge from the Fudge du Locke candy kitchens of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, located near the Soo Locks. Every summer a gracious coworker sends a couple of one-pound sampler boxes of the delicious fudge south during her annual vacation to the family estate on the shore of Lake Michigan.

I've never been to the Soo Locks, which by the way, are the busiest locks on the planet (12,000+ ships/year). If the Clog-wife and I ever visit, we'll be sure to be there on the last Friday of June, when "Engineers Day Open House" occurs. On that day, visitors may gather at the edge of the locks within touching distance of the giant freight ships and other large craft that are lowered along the 21-foot drop between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes.

Made-from-scratch fudge is a tradition in my family. I can still remember by heart the basic fudge recipe memorized as a high school student when for a time I took over as the sometime fudge-maker in my family:

• Combine 2C sugar, 1C milk, 2T Karo light corn syrup, 3T cocoa powder, dash salt. Stir until mixed.
• Cook over low heat DON'T STIR! to soft ball stage (236 degrees F - we used the cold water test, or candy thermometer, whichever was most convenient).
• Remove from heat. Toss in a T or two of butter.
• Let butter melt and let fudge cool for a half hour or so.
• Beat cooling fudge with a stainless steel serving spoon to introduce air and to hasten cooling.
• Pour fudge onto a buttered platter when it has lost its gloss and has thickened to the point that hand-beating is quite difficult.
• Cool uncovered at room temperature until fudge is solid.
• Covered unrefridgerated candy will keep for days. Refrigerated fudge will crystalize and dry out - BAD!

fudge, Michigan, Soo Locks, Ste. Marie, shipping, shipping locks, candy, fudge recipe

Currently Reading

Two books that I'm currently enjoying:

The Dead Father - Donald Barthelme
The Wild Trees - Richard Preston

The Dead Father, one of Barthelme's classic novels, is a postmodern, metafictional pastiche that seems to defy the inertia of the giant half-dead, half-alive Dead Father being dragged by a cable across a collage of scenes and landscapes by a band of nineteen people. It's a remarkable story told in a remarkable style.

The Wild Trees seems more like science fiction than a narrative about an extraordinary scientific endeavor. It is an account of a group of adventurers who dared to climb to the tops of redwood trees and explore in the minutest detail the amazingly complex structure of a previously undiscovered unrecorded ecosystem 300 feet off the ground. Here you'll read about tree-dwelling voles, salamanders, earthworms and copepods; imagine clouds of honeybees buzzing around airborne huckleberry gardens, fern grottos, and many other wonders you may have previously assumed were bound to the ground beneath your feet. You'll read about a tree named Iluvatar by its discoverers whose complex crown of 220 trunks arranged in 6 hierarchies was one of many trees mapped in three dimensions. This tree is the most structurally complex living organism every discovered.

trees, Donald Barthelme, redwood, coast redwood, mapping, climbing

Tancredo - We'll Bomb Your Holy Sites

Senator Tom Tancredo really did suggest that the U.S. warn Islamic fundamentalists that an attack on U.S. soil would precipitate retaliatory bombing of Muslim holy sites. Mecca and Medina are two of the places Tancredo has in mind.

Why Mecca? It is the holiest of holy sites. Non-Muslims are forbidden to set foot there on pain of death. Why Medina? The prophet Mohammed's tomb is located within the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina.

Would Tancredo go further and suggest that the bombing occur during Hajj time, when the holy sites and nearby cities are full of devout pilgrims? If so, he's likely already considered the following dates marking the beginning of the annual pilgrimage:

Hajj Calendar
2007 - December 18-21
2008 - December 6-9
2009 - November 25-29
2010 - November 14-17
2011 - November 4-7

The Clog Almanac judges Tandredo's saber-rattling to be dangerous folly - if for no other reason that the religious sites in question, Mecca and Medina, are in Saudi Arabia. Of course, there are many other reasons why threatening to destroy religious and cultural sites is a bad idea.

Tancredo, retaliatory bombing, Mecca, Medina, Hajj, presidential debate

Sack Michael Vick Saga

If you're trolling for info and sentiment surrounding the Michael Vick dogfighting saga, perhaps your first stop should be the Sack Michael Vick Blog Carnival. That site is organizing and tracking the development of the issues.

Vick's legal counsel, of course, would probably call it dogpiling.

Michael Vick, digfighting, animal cruelty, gambling, NFL, blog carnival

History's Yardstick - An Irish-American Success Story

The previous post mentioned the purchase of an antique yardstick at a community yard sale. The advertising on both sides reads:

W. J. DIXON LUMBER CO. BUILDING - MATERIALS & COAL

The seller guessed the ruler "came from somewhere in the Midwest, maybe Iowa". Several other items for sale bore advertising from that state. What I found was interesting:

William John Dixon was born 12 Jan 1857 in Lisburn, County Antrim, Ireland. Dixon traveled to America as an 18 year-old in 1875. He worked in a lumber yard, learned the business, and founded a lumber business of his own. The W.J. Dixon Lumber Co. had yards in Sac City, Lytton, Denison, Audubon, Auburn, and the Dixon Lumber and Coal Company in Ida Grove and Rockwell City, Iowa. Dixon served in the Iowa legislature, the Board of Trustees of Iowa State College (now University) and the state board of control. He always went by the nickname "W.J."

W.J. Dixon's son, Paul William Dixon, took a degree in Architecture from Columbia University. For a time he managed his father's business, the W.J. Dixon Lumber Co. He eventually became the Chairman of the board of Trustees of Buena Vista College (now University) in Storm Lake, Iowa. Paul William Dixon self-published a book titled Our Heritage, which details the Dixon, Gould and Eastman family connections.

That, after just a few minutes searching the Internet. My yard-sale yardstick is the measure of an immigrant success story. An Irish boy comes to the United States, runs a successful business, and eventually becomes a trustee of the first land-grant college in the country - a school that will go on to achieve membership in the prestigious American Association of Universities. His son attends an Ivy League institution, manages the family business, and becomes a trustee of yet another college that will also go on to be noted as a University with a first: the first "wireless" university campus in the U.S.

Iowa State, BVU, immigration, university, wireless, education, Irish American

Small Town Americana

Early this a.m. the Clog-wife and I bicycled the few blocks to the historic center of our little north central Florida town. Her destination, the city-sponsored yard sale. Mine, the old-fashioned barbershop, for a trim.

As usual the man-talk in the shop was varied and comical. Southerners love a good story and love to tell them. Since today's talkative gentleman was a law enforcement officer from one of the neighboring counties, stories centered around humorous incidents and arrests of local characters back in the days when a feller got sent home to his wife without being charged, drug busts on the I-75 corridor, and other sundry accounts that contrast today with the way it used to be. About as close to Mayberry R.F.D. as you can get these days.

At one point an old local farmer walked through the door and one barber held his hands up and exclaimed "Hold it everybody, so-and-so has just walked in, so you better put your boots on!" - meaning that the B.S. would be piling up soon.

The downtown was awash with people from far and wide looking for good deals at the yard sale. I had 3 inquiries about my old bicycle, a 1960's Western Flyer. I wasn't going to sell it. It's too fun to ride. From the yard sale I brought home 3 items that I could hold in one hand while riding the bike home: a paperback version of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, an old yardstick advertising the W.J. Dixon Lumber Co., and a small antique vise designed to grip the edge of your workbench.

Florida, barber shop, gossip, bicycle, Western Flyer, Salman Rushdie, americana, Technorati Profile

End of an American Icon?

The other day an American icon met its demise in my neighborhood.

Remember when the neighborhood Quickie Mart parking area got its first coating of asphalt? I do. Remember how in years following the asphalt became studded with bottle-caps that had been crushed into it? I do. Of course, you had to have been born before the eclipse of glass-bottle pop by the popularity of can soda and its successor PET-plastic bottled soda. Those were the days when the cashier kept a cap-lifter behind the counter and offered to open the glass bottle for you. [There are places in Florida that to this day still do that for you if you want to drink on their premises - bottled beer even. But then, it's Florida.]

A convenience store, most recently a Chevron outlet down the road from Clog House Est. 1935, just re-paved the parking area. Buried under a couple inches of new asphaltum are a few hundred bottle caps forever sandwiched between sheets of black pavement. I wish I had taken a photo before they were entombed.

American icon, icon, bottle cap, pavement, Quickie Mart, Simpsons

Mississippi Kite

An afternoon bobbing and weaving between heavy rain showers found me at a vacant lot in an upscale subdivision in NW Gainesville, FL. A pair of Mississippi Kites winged overhead, calling loudly, and clearly taking insects out of the air above my head. I am not usually so close to these birds. It was very pleasing to watch these birds doing their work with such a will.

I was at that location to look at trees on the lot of a soon-t0-be-built home. Honest opinion: The lot was the one of the last to be built upon in the whole development. The pad was cleared and graded and I actually mistook it for a retention pond under construction. All topographic contours in the vicinity led down to this depression. I see why this lot was among the last to be sold. I hope the owner has approval to bring in the kabillion or so yards of fill that will be required to elevate the finished floor of the future home up out of the de facto moat.

I noticed that the home on the lot next door was built atop 2 nested ramparts delineated by a retaining wall, each 4 feet or so in height, like an ancient British hill-fort. The ledges provided great landscaping opportunities, but left little room for gardens and recreation areas. That configuration just made matters worse for the lot I was observing. That lot is the receiving area for all of the neighborhood stormwater runoff. Extra warning: since the subdivision road is a private road, the County does not maintain or take responsibility for the road or the runoff that properties within the development generate/receive. That should have red flags going up everywhere, especially to prospective owner-builders. Would you want your neighbor's home, who built up and atop the higher ground next to yours, towering high above your rooftop and surveying your Ninth Ward McMansion (c) from the vantage of his/her overlooking ramparts? Would you want the rainwater pouring off the roof and sheet-flowing from the yard to end up in your sunken living room?

Mississippi kite, birds, raptor, insectivore, Florida, runoff, flood, ninth ward, McMansion, house construction, kite

Weather Report

I would have liked to started the day with a post but a storm cut that short. Somewhere down the road a branch or tree fell and power was cut at Clog House Est. 1935. All things back to normal upon returning home.

The rain today was typical Florida rain: You drive through a downpour, turn a corner and there is no rain or evidence of rain. I must have found my way through a half-dozen localized gullywashers in my travels today.

Florida, weather, gullywasher

Suspense Builds Over Cazoodle...

A Cazoodle bot/crawler has been sniffing my feed. Perhaps another Nutch-inspired browser alternative is in the works?

Cazoodle, bots, crawlers, feed, feeds, Nutch, search engines, rhymes+noodle

GE's "My Earth Rewards" Debt

General Electric wants to help you move toward carbon-neutrality every time you rack up personal debt on your credit card.

People!, PEOPLE! This company wants you to feel good and oh so very green every time you put yourself deeper into debt! You may want to spread the word about this marketing ploy (I didn't say scam, mind) to entice you to feel good about paying them interest for A LONG TIME.

GE, General Electric, myearthrewards.com, debt

Tourist Traps and Their Animals

I'm from Idaho, and this is even too much for me - a two-story beagle/motel room that rents for $88/night. I think I'd rather sleep in an igloo hotel behind a curtain of reindeer skins.

I note in the smoking policy of the beagle motel that one may only light up a cigarette outside the ground floor to prevent infiltration. I don't smoke, so this in no hardship. The owners decorate the place with chainsaw sculptures too, even some depicting Lewis and Clark. The website proclaims the proprietors have even sold their chainsaw dog figures on the QVC Channel!

There is, alas no pet policy (at the link, at least). I presume one may, of course, bring one's own pet beagle to the beagle motel. What's to stop anyone from patronizing this place with their other favorite pets, like the pot-bellied pig, pet llama, pet sugar-glider, pet short-tailed possum, pet hedgehog; pet prairie dog, chinchilla, Gambian pouched rat, or any of the many pet pythons and boa constrictors? What about pet scorpions or tarantulas?

I wonder about cats though. My cat will not stand to be transported to any place he has not identified as home. You might as well try to smuggle some kryptonite via Superman's red briefs.

Idaho, tourism, motel, beagle, Superman, Superman costume, cats, dogs, exotic pets, chainsaw art, chainsaw sculpture

Meme For A Day: "Myspacification"

Wisdump posted a prediction that Facebook will suffer "an exodus of students and geeks and an invasion of Joe and Jane average. " The result will be the transformation of FB into another Myspace. Or to again quote the source, "a butt-ugly flashing and blinking banner farm." A process Wisdump goes on to describe as the myspacification of FB.

Strong words perhaps wasted on someone like me who is associated with none of the social networking sites, with the exception of del.icio.us, which is really simply a platform for me to store links and favorites on someone else's server so I can access them from whatever wherever computer I happen to be mashing buttons on.

Still, it must be depressing to perceive yourself to be droll and edgy and avante-garde only to witness the unwashed masses invading your bastion of coolness. The old "there goes the neighborhood" meme. What next, cyber-perverts?

See who has been blogging about myspacification here.

[Noted: Wisdump mentions the term twice in the post, and spells it differently each time. In both instances an incorrect "c" is inserted into the string. In this post I have spelled the term "myspacification" hoping to follow standard practice for adding suffixes. Perhaps "Myspace-ification" would make others happier.]

Facebook, Myspace, social networking, myspacification