- Fourteen Vandalism Charges Against Fairey Dismissed
- Seed Cathedral (via alastair cotterill)
- Artists’ Rules to Live and Die By
- Recent Posts
- Optical Illusion
- A Painting Helps Solve a 150 Year Old Mystery
- New Subscription Options
- AoTW: Augmented Reality
- BioArt Festival: TRANSBIOTICS. Temporal Stability Points
- Roundup of the Latest Art News
- Happy Birthday, Gustave Courbet!
Showing posts with label musings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label musings. Show all posts
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Recent Posts at the new Blog Site
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Musings: First Turkey Hunt
Yesterday was the opening day of turkey season here in Missouri and this morning I returned from my first hunt.
The weather was beautiful, clear and cool without even a whisper of a breeze. All of my gear was ready and I had thoroughly practiced all of my calls and techniques while in my comfy armchair at home but my real-life skills being minimal meant my chances of dazzling success or horrific failure held equal weight--yes!
I took along the camera with the intent to take some pictures but my scouting went a little long so I had to choose between having numerous photos or having enough firewood to last the night. Since the forecast was for 40 degrees, I chose the latter; but I did manage to take a couple of quick shots. The first one is looking west out over a beautiful sunset that didn't really translate into a good photograph and the other is perhaps the most poorly composed photograph on the planet. Enjoy!
I blew my owl call a few times in the off chance that a tom might respond but the only response was an owl in the distance. Shortly afterwards, a flutter of wings in the treetop revealed an inquisitve barred owl. I used my call and we chatted back and forth a while before he flew off to greener pastures.
Anyway, I broke camp before the sun came up after a long cold night of stirring the fire and listening to several hundred owls argue, two loquacious whippoorwills call, a lone but very vocal deer, and two packs of screaming coyotes compete for who could wake me up the most times. Oh, and I forgot to mention that an ember from the fire burned through my coat sometime around 2 am. Good times.
I set up in the field I had scouted the previous night and blew an owl call a few times with no response. I waited a few minutes blew again and nothing. I tried my box call in conjunction with my mouth call and successfully lured in two hunters--score! After letting them go because they were too small, I waited for them to clear the field and worked the box call again. A gobble in the distance sent my adrenaline running! I tried the mouth call--nothing. Back to the box call--a gobble. I kept working the box call a little while and then quit because I read somewhere that the silence might pique a tom's curiosity and he would come to investigate why things went silent.
I waited. Ten minutes, twenty, forty and no turkey. I called again but this time where was no response. The gobbler was gone.
I gathered my things and moved down towards another field 3/4 or a mile or so away that I thought might be promising. As I got closer, sure enough, I could here gobbles--along with another hunter's box call. The curse of hunting on public land. I hung out a while since the field was between me and my car and enjoyed the beautiful morning. The redbuds are blooming as well as many of the spring flowers and the forest is a lush green. Even though my first hunt didn't result in a gobbler it is an experience I will always remember especially whenever I look at the gaping six inch hole in my coat.
Oh, and I was cruising around the news and came across this story:
Blind teen bags big bird in first turkey hunt
Rub it in why don't ya. ;)
The weather was beautiful, clear and cool without even a whisper of a breeze. All of my gear was ready and I had thoroughly practiced all of my calls and techniques while in my comfy armchair at home but my real-life skills being minimal meant my chances of dazzling success or horrific failure held equal weight--yes!
I took along the camera with the intent to take some pictures but my scouting went a little long so I had to choose between having numerous photos or having enough firewood to last the night. Since the forecast was for 40 degrees, I chose the latter; but I did manage to take a couple of quick shots. The first one is looking west out over a beautiful sunset that didn't really translate into a good photograph and the other is perhaps the most poorly composed photograph on the planet. Enjoy!
I blew my owl call a few times in the off chance that a tom might respond but the only response was an owl in the distance. Shortly afterwards, a flutter of wings in the treetop revealed an inquisitve barred owl. I used my call and we chatted back and forth a while before he flew off to greener pastures.
Anyway, I broke camp before the sun came up after a long cold night of stirring the fire and listening to several hundred owls argue, two loquacious whippoorwills call, a lone but very vocal deer, and two packs of screaming coyotes compete for who could wake me up the most times. Oh, and I forgot to mention that an ember from the fire burned through my coat sometime around 2 am. Good times.
I set up in the field I had scouted the previous night and blew an owl call a few times with no response. I waited a few minutes blew again and nothing. I tried my box call in conjunction with my mouth call and successfully lured in two hunters--score! After letting them go because they were too small, I waited for them to clear the field and worked the box call again. A gobble in the distance sent my adrenaline running! I tried the mouth call--nothing. Back to the box call--a gobble. I kept working the box call a little while and then quit because I read somewhere that the silence might pique a tom's curiosity and he would come to investigate why things went silent.
I waited. Ten minutes, twenty, forty and no turkey. I called again but this time where was no response. The gobbler was gone.
I gathered my things and moved down towards another field 3/4 or a mile or so away that I thought might be promising. As I got closer, sure enough, I could here gobbles--along with another hunter's box call. The curse of hunting on public land. I hung out a while since the field was between me and my car and enjoyed the beautiful morning. The redbuds are blooming as well as many of the spring flowers and the forest is a lush green. Even though my first hunt didn't result in a gobbler it is an experience I will always remember especially whenever I look at the gaping six inch hole in my coat.
Oh, and I was cruising around the news and came across this story:
Blind teen bags big bird in first turkey hunt
Rub it in why don't ya. ;)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Musings: The Guild : Do You Wanna Date My Avatar
This song has been stuck in my head for weeks now--I now pass this curse onto you.
Really though, this is a great show about a group of WoW nerds who can only interact via the interface of the world wide webz. What else brings socially awkward and mildy dysfunctional people together with such great success? I don't know. Hey, it works for me.
The Guild website has all of the episodes. They are only about 8 or 9 minutes long. http://www.watchtheguild.com/
Really though, this is a great show about a group of WoW nerds who can only interact via the interface of the world wide webz. What else brings socially awkward and mildy dysfunctional people together with such great success? I don't know. Hey, it works for me.
The Guild website has all of the episodes. They are only about 8 or 9 minutes long. http://www.watchtheguild.com/
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Musings: Indulging My Pseudohistorical Obsessions
Search Amazon.com for rennes le chateau
What the discovery was, no one knows or if someone does, he or she is not speaking about it or he/she is speaking about it but it's currently lost in the dustbin of clutter that is Rennes-le-Château "research." A good synopsis of the theories can be found here, but the gist of it is is that the Abbé found a document(s) that provided him some leverage against the Catholic Church (or somebody with some money and something to lose) which created a fantastic income stream with which the priest built many peculiar additions to the delapidated church of which he found himself in charge.
Some ideas of what was found are as follows:
Below are some relevant images:
Long before the hype of The Da Vinci Code prompted millions of readers to explore questions of theology and what not, I read an intriguing book by Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh entitled Holy Blood, Holy Grail. Anyone who has read the former is cursorily familiar with the precepts contained in the latter--namely, that a priest by the name of Abbé François Bérenger Saunière (1852-1917) discovered something that led to an ascension in his station not commensurate with what one would expect him to obtain considering his assignment in a rural and largely poor village in southern France by the name of Rennes-le-Château.
Abbé François Bérenger Saunière (1852-1917)
What the discovery was, no one knows or if someone does, he or she is not speaking about it or he/she is speaking about it but it's currently lost in the dustbin of clutter that is Rennes-le-Château "research." A good synopsis of the theories can be found here, but the gist of it is is that the Abbé found a document(s) that provided him some leverage against the Catholic Church (or somebody with some money and something to lose) which created a fantastic income stream with which the priest built many peculiar additions to the delapidated church of which he found himself in charge.
Some ideas of what was found are as follows:
- A parchment that confirms the existence of the Merovingian bloodline that, in turn, validates someone who has a legitimate claim to the French throne--a relevant topic during Saunière's day
- A parchement that confirms that Jesus did not die on the cross and that he/he plus Mary Magdalene/he plus Mary Magdalene and thier child wound up in France to continue the bloodline
- A portion, large or small, of old Visigothic treasure (or treasure of some other origin)--possibly a legitimate claim as the area has been the sight of numerous settlements for thousands of years
- The tomb of Jesus/Mary Magdalene/somebody else with the body of Jesus/Mary Magdalene/somebody else in it
- A host of other oddball ideas such as: _______insert any wild idea involving UFOs, sasquatch, Atlantis, or the plot of any movie that stars Nicholas Cage, etc.
Below are some relevant images:
The baptismal font which is a major player in the mystery--supposedly a clue which helps lead one to the treasure.
Three views of the Tour Magdala. This tower was built by Saunière and some say that it plays a role in the map embedded within the church architecture and decor. The interior window lines up with a view of Grotte du Fournet - dite de la Magdeleine--which translates as "the burial site of the Mary Magdalene. Legend states that Mary Magdalene ended up in France and lived out her days in seclusion in a cave--near Marseilles which is over 3 hours away by car but I guess she could have ended up here.
A closer view of the grotto
The "Visogothic" pillar in which it is said something was found--generally believed to be coded scrolls
The baluster in which a glass vial with something in it was found during the remodeling of the church
Aerial view of Rennes-le-Château
Inside the church
There are a ton of barely legitimate resources for you to explore if you are interested in learning more. Simply put on your tinfoil hat and type in Rennes le Chateau into the search engine of your choice. Bon chance!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Musings: Most Recent Missouri Outing
We are blessed to be in a part of Missouri (and the world) in which we have access to numerous conservation areas all within a 30 minute drive from our home. The photos below were all taken near the river at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area. The habitat supports a tremendous variety of waterfowl and just across the river, bald eagles can be seen nesting, hunting, and doing other bald eagle type things.
In the off chance that you happen to live around this area and haven't visited this great area, do so immediately--unless it's early morning during waterfowl hunting season, then you should wait.
In the off chance that you happen to live around this area and haven't visited this great area, do so immediately--unless it's early morning during waterfowl hunting season, then you should wait.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Philosophy: Nod to Nietzsche
That which we are and that which we are to become too often represents disparate persectives. Driven by what we deem valuable, we strive to mold our perception of life into something which is neat and tidy altogether failing to understand that order in life is seldom achieved. Life is a frayed edge, a knot unravelled, yet we spend countless days trying to maintain and promote what is that we wish our lives to be.
Our will, often impotent against the tides that brought us where we are, struggles--always trying to make right what we perceive as wrong. Only the "I" is there--but what does this mean? A satisfying of some injustice? But what is justice but expediency and easy thoughts.
Our will, often impotent against the tides that brought us where we are, struggles--always trying to make right what we perceive as wrong. Only the "I" is there--but what does this mean? A satisfying of some injustice? But what is justice but expediency and easy thoughts.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Musings: The naming of things
So often with a feeling we want to name what it is that we are feeling while failing to understand that what is best about a feeling must remain unnamed. To corner a feeling with words sets it on edge and it shall lash out or cower.
A feeling "well named" means a feeling rendered impotent, speared by our overzealous tendency to render a name to everything even when that "thing" shall suffer terribly from a label.
A feeling "well named" means a feeling rendered impotent, speared by our overzealous tendency to render a name to everything even when that "thing" shall suffer terribly from a label.
Musings: The BIG questions
The constant that we are faced with is that we always seek understanding and the means by which to understand. A lingering doubt remains--namely, are we even capable of phrasing the questions correctly?
The human curse--to want to understand fully but not posess the means to do so.
The human curse--to want to understand fully but not posess the means to do so.
Word vomit
Symbols and mystery. Two things that stir the soul. Subtle and elusive yet alluring for the patient and quiet heart. We drown out symbol and mystery all too readily in favor of a din that all but annihilates what is most beautiful in humanity.
Truth be told, we are little more than what we can dream, meaning that what is best in us--our drive, our potential--is guided by the most intangible of qualites. What a strange thought. A reality founded upon the most nebulous of entities. From theses phantasms proceeds all that we are and all that we are to become.
The marriage of dream and action. Who knows this sturm und drang better than the artist? For, after all, she is accustomed to congealing her thoughts into a tangible form that is more or less satisfactorily in accordance with her will. Those who sleep through life never pausing to consider how they can, for a moment at least, know what it feels like to exercise a passion that is akin to the divine. The artifice--that which is created. That which navigates the hollows of the darkest labyrinths of the soul only to emerge into the shining sun. Do not be content to sleep in the shadows. Instead, enkindle within you all that longs to be enflamed. Even if your light but flickers--still, for a moment, there is that much less darkness within this world.
Truth be told, we are little more than what we can dream, meaning that what is best in us--our drive, our potential--is guided by the most intangible of qualites. What a strange thought. A reality founded upon the most nebulous of entities. From theses phantasms proceeds all that we are and all that we are to become.
The marriage of dream and action. Who knows this sturm und drang better than the artist? For, after all, she is accustomed to congealing her thoughts into a tangible form that is more or less satisfactorily in accordance with her will. Those who sleep through life never pausing to consider how they can, for a moment at least, know what it feels like to exercise a passion that is akin to the divine. The artifice--that which is created. That which navigates the hollows of the darkest labyrinths of the soul only to emerge into the shining sun. Do not be content to sleep in the shadows. Instead, enkindle within you all that longs to be enflamed. Even if your light but flickers--still, for a moment, there is that much less darkness within this world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
