11/08/2016
11/05/2016
Desert Sunset
No, not Alaska. This photo was taken in Nevada, at the Lake Mead National Rec. Area outside of Las Vegas.
10/28/2016
Five Till Three
Hat Tip to American Digest
I don't agree with much of anything Michael Moore has to say, but this hits the nail on the head...
And then there's this. I've always liked Pat Condell. He too again nails it.
10/21/2016
10/14/2016
Morning Light
Though this is a three shot HDR composite, the post production was minimal. I did not punch up the colors, especially reds/yellows to get the photo to look like that. That is how things actually appeared that morning. Some days nature does all the work for you.
10/12/2016
10/08/2016
10/06/2016
10/05/2016
10/04/2016
10/03/2016
10/02/2016
10/01/2016
9/30/2016
9/23/2016
9/16/2016
9/11/2016
From "Letters of Note"
In October of 1949, a few months after publication of George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty‐Four, he received a letter from fellow author Aldous Huxley, a man who, 17 years previous, had seen his own nightmarish vision of society published in the form of Brave New World, a book also now considered a classic. Having recently finished reading Orwell’s novel, Huxley had a few words to say. What begins as a letter of praise soon becomes a brief comparison of the two novels, and an explanation as to why Huxley believes his own, earlier work to be a more realistic prediction.
Trivia: In 1917, long before he wrote this letter, Aldous Huxley briefly taught Orwell French at Eton.
Wrightwood. Cal. 21 October, 1949
Dear Mr. Orwell,
It was very kind of you to tell your publishers to send me a copy of your book. It arrived as I was in the midst of a piece of work that required much reading and consulting of references; and since poor sight makes it necessary for me to ration my reading, I had to wait a long time before being able to embark on Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Agreeing with all that the critics have written of it, I need not tell you, yet once more, how fine and how profoundly important the book is. May I speak instead of the thing with which the book deals --- the ultimate revolution? The first hints of a philosophy of the ultimate revolution --- the revolution which lies beyond politics and economics, and which aims at total subversion of the individual's psychology and physiology --- are to be found in the Marquis de Sade, who regarded himself as the continuator, the consummator, of Robespierre and Babeuf. The philosophy of the ruling minority in Nineteen Eighty-Four is a sadism which has been carried to its logical conclusion by going beyond sex and denying it.
Whether in actual fact the policy of the boot-on-the-face can go on indefinitely seems doubtful. My own belief is that the ruling oligarchy will find less arduous and wasteful ways of governing and of satisfying its lust for power, and these ways will resemble those which I described in Brave New World. I have had occasion recently to look into the history of animal magnetism and hypnotism, and have been greatly struck by the way in which, for a hundred and fifty years, the world has refused to take serious cognizance of the discoveries of Mesmer, Braid, Esdaile, and the rest.
Partly because of the prevailing materialism and partly because of prevailing respectability, nineteenth century philosophers and men of science were not willing to investigate the odder facts of psychology for practical men, such as politicians, soldiers and policemen, to apply in the field of government.
Thanks to the voluntary ignorance of our fathers, the advent of the ultimate revolution was delayed for five or six generations. Another lucky accident was Freud's inability to hypnotize successfully and his consequent disparagement of hypnotism. This delayed the general application of hypnotism to psychiatry for at least forty years. But now psycho-analysis is being combined with hypnosis; and hypnosis has been made easy and indefinitely extensible through the use of barbiturates, which induce a hypnoid and suggestible state in even the most recalcitrant subjects.
Within the next generation I believe that the world's rulers will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging and kicking them into obedience. In other words, I feel that the nightmare of Nineteen Eighty-Four is destined to modulate into the nightmare of a world having more resemblance to that which I imagined in Brave New World. The change will be brought about as a result of a felt need for increased efficiency. Meanwhile, of course, there may be a large-scale biological and atomic war --- in which case we shall have nightmares of other and scarcely imaginable kinds.
Thank you once again for the book.
Yours sincerely,
Aldous Huxley
8/22/2016
8/05/2016
7/22/2016
Rabbit Lake
Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain-passes.
They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free,
and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action.
-- John Muir
7/15/2016
7/08/2016
7/01/2016
6/28/2016
6/12/2016
6/05/2016
4/17/2016
4/09/2016
4/02/2016
Blossom
I was riding a 200K route on my bike on Whidbey Island, toiling up a hill on a somewhat overcast morning when I ran into this.
3/20/2016
The first day of spring
Taken
this morning, the solstice and first day of spring. This year, though
not the warmest winter, was one with one of the least amounts of snow on
record. Though I don't mind snow, or winter, I am ready for spring
this year.
This photo
was taken at the end of February. While not the warmest day to be out on
a bike, the roads were dry enough that taking a road bike out was
feasible. The bike is my Trek Cross-Rip Elite. 2013 model.
2/26/2016
2/20/2016
2/18/2016
1/23/2016
1/02/2016
12/25/2015
Best Shot of 2015
Death Valley from Zabriskie Point.
I went to Death Valley to do a 200K ride (that's approximately 122.5 mi.) . The actual ride was `27.9 miles, as sown below.
The ride began and ended at the Furnace Creek Ranch. From there I rode north to Ubehebe Crater, then turned around and went back to Furnace Creek with a detour to Stove Pipe Wells. A 12.5 hour effort. Though it was 37F when I departed at 6am, the temperature got up to 60F during the afternoon. Cooling off quickly after sunset.
This photo above was taken at Zabriskie Point the day before when driving into Death Valley. I can't overstate the stark beauty of the place. Though I recommend going in the winter, when it isn't baking.
12/05/2015
11/25/2015
10/25/2015
10/16/2015
10/10/2015
9/27/2015
9/10/2015
Maintenance Isn't Quite What It Used To Be...
7/11/2015
6/28/2015
6/11/2015
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