"Remember that a painting,..."

                                       the bugs are enjoying the recent rains and the new flowers

                                         did someone in the american political system lose this!?

                               this is the state in which we will all eventually be...ashes to ashes dust to dust

listened to the so called debate between the two candidates for the chief executive job and might i mention commander in chief of the armed forces...etc etc etc...i was reminded of watching a demolition derby where old broken down vehicles speed around a dirt track and smash into one another trying to put each other out of the race...neither entertaining nor informative...."argumentum ad verecundian"

i watched a very engaging video on you tube @ cuddle buddies entitled "baby rhinos run up to girl for kisses and belly rubs"...i almost makes me cry with joy to see these magnificent animals well treated and loved...

another good video from the maker of "Cobra Gypsies" Raphael Treza called "Borneo Death Blow" is very well done and illustrates how these people have adapted perfectly to the environment they have lived in for thousands of years...all of Trezas video are great

i finished reading a biography of Paul Gauguin this week and i must say his "escape" from Paris to find his inspirational element was pretty interesting from a psychological aspect...all in all i am not sure if  he was not just a megalomaniac...and also a painter...his relationship with crazy vincent van gogh was fraught with tension...but probably did not promote creative production in either of them...i have only seen one van Gogh painting  up close and it was impressive...i saw a Gauguin sculpture in the new orleans museum of art and was not too favorably impressed...a decorated door i believe... 

i you tubed most of the artist's mentioned in the biography and some of them i liked a lot...there was one painting i found especially interesting called "L'Origine du Monde" (1866) by Gustave Courbet

"Remember that a painting, before it is a workhorse, a naked woman, or an anecdote is essentially a plane surface covered with colors arranges in a particular order." Maurice Denis (art critic)   

 

"when my fist clinches crack it open..."

 this is a video taken with the forest in the background which is BTFU (burntthefuckup) and this is my dear Orlando mourning the occasion

i was detained by one of the local constabulary recently and i am very sorry to say that i acted the complete ass...i apologise to any and all cops who must endure the stupidity of someone like me who just froze up and denied that i had turned into the parking lot to avoid the light...the fact of the matter is that it is much more likely that you will be in an accident cutting through a parking lot rather than taking 3 minutes to wait for the light to turn...sorry sorry sorry..i must be made to sit on the "group "W" bench"

i see where it will be mandatory to post the 10 commandments in all public schools classrooms in louisiana next year ...that is opening a big box of worms...and not the good kind of worms either...the only biblical quote that i would vote to put in schools is "vanity vanity all is vanity"...

picked up a DVD movie called "White Zombie" (1932) 65min, B&W...it was better than i thought it would be...the only complaint is the damned vulture...it has to the the most awful vulture ever in a movie..sometimes it was a hawk or an immature eagle...it was always loud and obnoxious...i watched a modern movie recently called "Cara Cara"...i took care of crested cara caras and yellow headed cara cara in the zoo and i can tell you this bird was a red shouldered hawk...(they breed in captivity so there are always some for sale)

i watched a good documentary about Epaminondas who went to sparta and freed the slaves...the spartans were probably the worst for slave abuse..anyhow this guy kicked the spartans butts by using unconventional tactics...not to mention unconventional troops...the spartans trained their male citizens from the age of seven to be tough warriors...should have been better informed about ethics...

one of the best documentaries i have seen in a while was entitled "Science is reconsidering Evolution" an interview with Denis Noble...mind expanding stuff

while i spent the last week camped in the ashes in an effort to see what the effect of the "prescribed burns" was on this environment...i had spent a week at a place where they thinned out about 80% of the trees but did not burn...at the thinned site i saw pronghorn. deer, bear, chipmunks and plenty of birds...the burned site had destroyed all the old tree stumps...which is prime habitat for mice, rats and chipmunks...which are the main diet for foxes, coyotes, hawks and owls as well as other carnivores...maybe they could rake the pine needles away from the tree stumps before they burn...the forest will not be the same for  long time...

i watched a video on utube of ted nuggent talking about how he did not think ms.t. swifts lyrics were as good as the music in the 1970's...i saw mr nuggent at the "celebration of life" rock festival on the atchafalaya river at mcrae louisiana...john sebastian opened the concert...he was great...i have his "how to play the harmonica" DVD and it is the best...better than a "shit-storm in texas"

"When my fist clinches crack it open before i use it and lose my cool, and when i smile tell me some bad news before i laugh and act like a fool, and if i swallow anything evil put your fingers down my throat and if i shiver keep me warn let me wear your coat..." "Behind blue eyes"

"Dreams are the subtle Dower..."

animal hair nest found on the ground near last years ravens nest

cocoon like structure found at the very top of a pine tree which had fallen

very nice looking flower in the arid soil on the edge of the meadow

i picked up a book from the library sale shelf called "film and politics" published about 1960...very good information...the review of "Triumph of the Will" directed by a young woman named Leni Riefenstahl is a Nazi party propaganda film...it shows a lot of large gatherings of people doing the group psychosis thing...which is always a good way to forget yourself...it mentioned that "Unsere Fahne" is the battle song of the Nazi Youth ...good to know...i wonder what the battle song of the current Nazi Youth is..."Will" was Adolph Hitler's most frequently used word...according to this book...it was pointed out that Hitler did not seize power...he was granted power and the folks in charge were described as a "gerontocracy"...whoa buddy...it's deja vu all over again...

well after a smokey week i finally got away from the perma fires in the national forest...there was a spot with half a dozen small fires smoldering a hundred yards from where i was camped...i panicked when i first discovered them and poured a gallon of my drinking water on several of them ...this was a mistake... i finally fetched my shovel and shoveled dirt onto the smoking areas...next day there were only five smoldering fires in the pine needles...i spotted a couple of trucks with the government signs and they turned around and i approached them and said there were several small fires nearby...i asked if they wanted me to show them...the head guy said no (this guy had the physiognomy of a mountain gorilla...the widest back of any human  have ever seen) off they went down the road...gone for 45 minutes...i figured they had put a whoopin' on the fire...after they left i went to see what they had done...not a god- damned thing...no evidence of them ever having found the fires...desertion in the face of battle is what it was...i poured my piss jug on the fires for the next two days until there was no more smoke...

i read a good article which quoted a professor Stephen J. Pyne who has written 30 books about fires in nature...he says fire has altered the course of evolution...in part because cooked meat gives more nutrition than raw meat so humans had more free time to...do whatever humans do with their free time...my personal observations make me believe that fire is not always the best way to deal with making a habitat more suitable...Pyne says ..."native americans routinely burned the landscapes-to foster the growth of useful plants, to clear up space for farming, and to improve the conditions for hunting... "well that great for the humans but most of the animals got burned in this deal...when i walked through the recently burned "landscape" i saw a lot of unusable land because all the organic matter was charcoal...i wonder how many species have been extincted by this method of making the landscape better for humans...too many...there are plants called "pyrophytes" which have a symbiotic relationship with fire...like morel mushrooms.

i hear where Apple has this new AI embedded in it's devices  which it calls "Intelligence"...scary as hell as far as i am concerned...crawls up your butt and explodes...very scary...

as of january 2023...russia has 5889 nuclear warheads...the USA has 5244 nuclear warheads...china has 410 nuclear warheads...france has 290 nuclear warheads...the UK has 225 nuclear warheads...according to Arms control association...well they ain't controlled a damn thing from what i can see! 

and if the usual pollution wasn't enough Ukraine is bombing the oil refineries in russia...yep we is going to get to the point of no return real soon...

 i found a film a while back called "Belle du Jour"...a french film about a woman who has an "unfulfilling"  sexual relationship with her successful husband... after some consideration she decides to work in a small neighborhood bordello...this film has english subtitles and the commentary should be listened to as the commentator has some things to say about the book from which the film was made...                               

"Dreams are the subtle Dower/ That make us rich an hour/ Then fling us poor/ Out of the purple door."   Emily Dickinson

 

"The question is..."

the title of this image is "SURVIVAL"...me and the truck in the desert...surviving

a fellow came into the library and told the librarian that they needed to watch me as i might attempt to engage? the children..and they said they knew me and i was a writer and photographer...he was angered by that and said "NO  HE IS A HOMELESS PERSON"....about 25 years ago i took my savings from working on an offshore supply vessel for a year and bought a holiday rambler motor-home...and never looked back...i was quite enamored with having wheels under my home...i went from california to florida...and loved it...then i went back to work in the oilfield and continued to live out of a vehicle...a 199 toyota truck was next...315000 miles before i was hit from behind by a semi truck and then i bought a 1991 toyota van...300,000 plus miles before i sold it and bought the truck in the picture...i was under investigation since i paid cash for the truck...i was put in the same catagory as pablo escobar and osama bin laden...a rogue and a desperado...i have been stalked and harassed for 30 years now and i see no end in sight...however my life-style may not be very stylish but i do not live a life of crime...by not paying rent i can save enough money to have what i need...within reason...last week i bought a solar water heater for 8 bucks that actually brings water to a boil...doesn't sound like a big deal but in the survival game it is a big deal...when i hear about all the worlds population that have to scramble for fuel and clean water every day of their life i realize how fortunate i am to have a lifestyle that is somewhat self-sufficient...i do visit the grocery stores on a regular basis and have the expanding waistline to prove it ...if i was to recommend an investment i would say invest in groceries...

while listening to country western radio stations i could not help but notice the subject of many songs...too much alcohol and  romance gone wrong ...the song that says "love is like Reno" seemed too negative...the premise being that in reno and with love "you can't win"...i lived in reno a few years and the secret is to not bet, and if you do bet dont make sucker bets...just like love...a woman has better instincts than the best croupier...and she can see a sucker a mile off...there is a song that is kind of funny called "i,m just talkin' about tonight"...you can guess what this fellow is singing about...there are a couple of songs about "dirt"..."get dirt" is about investing in property and "dirt cheap" is about the emotional ties people get to their property... but eventually any dirt is left behind and there is little guarantee that it won't go to the highest bidder...i have been from here to there and back and i think that the "dirt" should be honored but not hoarded...humans have pretty much soiled the soil and it will need a lot of cleaning up to sustain human life...i don't know that it will be like on "WaterWorld" but more people require more groceries which requires more dirt...i saw a good documentary about these folks in asia who had their rice fields over-run with salt water and they began raising fish and crabs,,,and did pretty well with it...evolve or die...

i wonder about the strips of paper that can be soaked in urine and tell whether the person who's supplies the urine is pregnant...then i wonder about the two pills that can be ingested and a pregnant person will abort the fetus...so why if this level of technology if available to most of the world...are there so many children born for whom the prospect of being well fed and clothed and sheltered and educated seems dismal...

heard where the feather of an extinct bird sold for many thousands of dollars recently...that is a very slippery slope when you begin commerce in animal parts

i heard where a woman in arabia posted an image of herself online wearing a baseball cap and the morality police were going to arrest her...she fled the country but the authorities arrested her mother and her sister and both of her sisters legs were broken while she was in custody...i hope none of my tax dollars are going to support anything in arabia...what a crock of crap those people have to live with

i hear where teenage males have taken an interest in high priced colognes...someone was criticizing $400 for 4 ounces of cologne but i used to buy high priced colognes from a shop on Royal street in new orleans and i can assure you that a 4 ounce bottle can last 4 years...the better quality the less you need...i would like to recommend that people experiment with quality oils and make their own fragrances...patchouli oil and clove oil when expertly combined make a great scent...

so it has cooled down some and i will head back into the forest...

"The question is, which is to be master-that's all" Humpty Dumpty

 

 
 

"Impotence takes on many forms..."

                                                                     bluebirds eat bugs

                                            horned lizards eat ants...this one has some ashes on it

                                   this is one of the many caterpillars that are out in the woods now

                                one of my favorite bugs...the long neck seems to be on several species

                                                         this is a  bug on bug encounter

 this is a tree which has apparently been struck by lightning...and not the largest tree around either

well the heat is on...temps in the 90's today and probably going to get hotter as the season progresses...i went and looked at the prescribed burns in the national forest which was done a couple of weeks ago...not a pretty sight...all the pine needles are ashes and some of the pine trees are scorched to death also...the habitat for anything that lives near the ground is gone...the insectivores are out of luck and out of lunch...

so i heard that the u.n. committee on climate change says earthlings have 18 months to stop the carbon in the atmosphere...or what?...all the ice is going to melt...even the ice in your freezer at home...and then rains, and tornados and hurricanes and very high temperatures and generally nasty times...still have not heard anyone say anything about TOO MANY PEOPLE!...  

I thought i had found a great place to live...the Marianas trench realty company  was looking for residence and the only qualification was "no bone"...that's me!...but as it turns out i misunderstood, the  qualification is "no bones"... well i guess can unpack my waterproof bag and keep looking...

a little reality check is in order for the Gaza/Israel conflict...i read a good article on the large business holdings of Hamas and how they finance their rather dumb aggressions against Israel...one woman said that Hamas is willing to fight "to the last woman and child"...she said their leaders are not suffering as they have luxury accommodations all around the world...well it is certain that Netanyahu's description of the action that Israel has taken is "historic" is correct...in a year, ten years, a hundred years there will be people who will be seeking revenge for what Israel is doing to thousands of non-combatants...

a new woman president in mexico...she got her PhD in environmental science at the university of california at berkley ...it is time to install ms K. Harris as the democratic presidential candidate...

picked up a DVD of a television series which was on for only one season called "Quarry"... i watched it a year or so ago and was stunned by the emotional impact...there are no hero's in this show...it is about a vietnam vet who returns home to tennessee  only to find himself without employment opportunities and he is recruited to do what he was doing in vietnam...kill people...the male lead is a fellow named logan marshall-green...he as a sweaty greasy psycho...is lovely wife is put to the test...the director of photography is Pepe Avila Del Pino...and the photography is great...

"Impotence takes on many forms-one of them being the reckless physical expenditure of physical potency."      Joyce Carrol Oats