Emblem3 - Chloe (You're The One I Want)

Saw this and immediately thought of Chloe Condon, but it works for Chloe Deamer too.

Kea - The Smartest Parrot?

These birds embarrassed me so much in New Zealand. I took Andrew's convertible to Arthur's Pass, and the keas got together and started punching holes in the soft convertible top.

Gin Wigmore - Black Sheep

In 2008, heading to Australia and New Zealand, I worried about how to pass the time on the tedious trans-Pacific flight. I was charmed by a video by Auckland's own Gin Wigmore. But I sort-of lost track of her since then. I figured she must be busy with Down Under things.

Fairly-lately she's done an East Coast American tour, and she has new videos out.

Black Sheep

Very clever!




Under My Skin

This is the quirky video that I found entertaining on the way to Australia.

Smashed Bird Patrol

Looks like another pigeon got squashed by a passing car at my feeding site. Two pigeons in two weeks. There were remains of another pigeon under my hedge. Was it the same pigeon, after being moved and tossed there? Dunno.

August is the Month of Death. Birds, people - any living thing.

Every morning, I've been watching the slow dismemberment, by traffic, of a crow on 21st Street, just south of the Sacramento Bee. What got that bird?

The New Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor

Giorgio's back! And Karina will soon be here! Apply that Latin to Roseville!

Not a real reflective sort of place. Almost manic energy. Here for Steve's birthday.

Softened up by the two hour wait. Crowded almost beyond belief. Hard on me, because I was operating on three hours of sleep the night before.

Good ice cream.

The Substitute

With Pepper and crew completely decamped across the country in Orlando, we needed an aerobics substitute, so we got Kristen from U-Jam Fitness, based at Diversity Dance and Fitness, in Elk Grove.

Fun, but very d-d-d-dub s-s-s-step.

Next week should be fun. I promised someone I would attend hip-hop class, 1.5 hours after Zumba, when I'd normally be winding down. I could break the promise, I suppose, but there's no incentive. You see, she's c-c-c-cute.

Woodland Sobriety Stop

Cop: Have you been drinking this evening?

M: I had some wine about 6:30.

Cop: Take off your glasses, look at my finger, and watch it.

M.: (He's sure moving it all over the place.)

Cop: Thank you. Proceed.

M.: (It's all that dancer training!)

Congressman Tom McClintock Has Become A Gibbering Idiot

Whatever you thought of Tom McClintock's politics, there was no question that he used to be respected on both sides of the aisle, and in the news media, for his superior command of budgetary arcana.

Wha-a-a-a happened?

This response is a disgrace. There are plenty of crimes that don't require guns. If guns are the only criteria, maybe we can get rid of all crime by outlawing guns.

There also needs to be barriers to keep financial institutions from becoming mired in corruption, which they are bound to do otherwise, and the Glass-Steagall Act was a shining example of a simple law that worked perfectly fine, saving banks from running amok, and preserving people's savings, until Republicans and Democrats united under Clinton to shred it in the 90's. We have been in dire straits since then.

Sorry, McClintock used to be respectable. No longer. He's just another idiot.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Do You Wanna Touch Me

Is The Arctic Recovering a Bit?

Walt in Aiken, SC poses a question:

Hey Marc: Why is it so cool here in SC this summer?!?!? Yesterday it was 63 at noon! In august! And, we haven't hit 95 yet all summer!

I had woken up from a fitful sleep, so I answered:

Usually it is because the position of the long wave trough shifted westward, directly over SC, compared to usual of the coast. Will check later. Strange things have been afoot all summer. Started with the unusual breakdown of the polar vortex into 2 vortices, and has continued with slow tropical storm season. And no matter what else happens, drought in NM.

Still the question gnawed at me. What was up?

Weather Channel blames air flow around high pressure system to the north.

I started playing with the animated GIFs here for the first half of August:

Offhand, it looks like pattern of Rossby waves is more vigorous this summer than in summers recently passed. Are temperature gradients increasing? The usual protection South Carolina enjoys from cold weather in the summer has broken down.

Interestingly, despite previous ice melt, the summer appears to have been unusually short this year in the Arctic.

So, those two observations would be consistent. But why the recovery in the Arctic? Climate feedbacks should operate in the other direction, and there was the bizarre vortex splitting earlier this summer that occurs only every 20 years, or so.

Ain’t weather grand? Whatever it is, I’m sure the cosmic reason for all the changes is to screw New Mexico out of rain. That’s the ultimate reason for everything. Nature decided to go all medieval and will do whatever is necessary to break the place.

August 15, 2013, 12Z (7 am EST). High over Ohio is about 1023 mb. Vigorous flow from the NE. Cold air funneling from New England.

August 12, 2011, 12Z (7 am EST): High over Ohio is about 1017 mb. Similar to 2013 situation, but weaker.

The Madness Of Squirrels

I decided to water the embankment in front of my house at 1:10 a.m. (The sprinklers don't reach there and it's so nice and peaceful out.)

A fluttering caught the corner of my eye. It was a squirrel on the sidewalk. It was carefully, methodically, and relentlessly chasing its tail. Sometimes it would stop, wave its head side to side like it was disoriented, and then continue chasing its tail.

I was seriously-spooked by the possibility of illness or injury.

Last I saw the squirrel, it had tumbled down the embankment and was chasing its tail in the gutter. In the morning, I went out to find the squirrel - I figured it would be easy since it wasn't going anywhere - but it had vanished.

Gabe says it's a metaphor for my life: going around in circles. He also suggested: "It's like that marvelous Boris Karloff film, 'The Juggler of Our Lady' (1958). Remember that?:

Medieval times. A juggler has little success making a living; he puts on a hair shirt and becomes an ascetic, but attracts only other ascetics. Finally, in desperation, he becomes a monk. He visits the other monks, who all glorify the Lady with their skills: cooking, painting, sculpture, etc. He tries helping them, but botches it. A festival is held for the Lady, and each of the monks offers his gift, but the juggler has nothing. Frustrated, he juggles for her, all night, alone.

So, this is the gift of the squirrel?

I like the idea of a metaphor from the heavens the best:  going around in circles.

More, More More - Andrea True Connection

Last night, they featured this song by former porn star Andrea True on a documentary called "Inside Deep Throat". The refrain was surprisingly effective at establishing the entire atmosphere of the mid-1970's. The zeitgeist of 1976 hinged on this song. And they interviewed Andrea True too, the particular angel who controlled the entire zeitgeist of that entire wonderful decade, and she shrugged her shoulders and said something like:

"More. More. More. How do you like it? How do you like your love?" That's all there was.

Sometimes I wish I was back in the mid-1970's. Best. Era. Ever.

Time For The Semi-Annual Clogged Sewer Line

I knew things were working too well this summer.

Fighting Toolbars And Extensions And Malware

Oh my!

Unusual Leaf Fall

A new golden patch on the back lawn.  It's from a small cotton wood tree in my back yard.  Suddenly it's dropping most of its leaves. 

I wonder if it's related to the small shock of losing water last week.  What happened is that the transformer for the sprinkler system burned out last week, and before I realized there was a problem, the sprinklers failed to function for several days, causing a shock to the landscaping.  Then, I over-compensated, accidentally double-watering every day for the next four days.  I wouldn't think an established tree would even notice the perturbations, but whatever the cause, the leaves are falling fast.

The eucalyptus tree next door decided to offload a bunch of leaves too. That tree has grown so tall in just a few years. It worries me for the future. What goes up must come down - but where? On my bedroom?

Delbert McClinton - Shaky Ground

Says what Hank can't!

Vote For Corina!

Vote for Corina Bianca for Sacramento Kings Dancer, because she's a great dancer, and because she's Corina, and because she's nice. (Voting at the link.)

Corina is part of the Hip-Hop/Fierce Funk/Fitness crowd at Pepper Von's.

The "Breaking Bad" Beggar Rides Again

Happy for the return of "Breaking Bad"! On behalf of the BrBa fan community I'll continue with the effort to identify and catalog filming locations, together with "OldeSaultie" (Sven Joli) on maps, and the able assistance of Marq-Ed Smith-Candelaria and Miguel S. Jaramillo, and their respective fan communities. (This year's filming was great, because there were finally enough fans on the ground to crowd-swarm locations, so we know far more than usual at this point in the season.) I'll also tell meandering old-man stories about these locations, whether I remember them, or not (or, better yet, forget and tell the same stories twice).

Yes, I am the original Breaking Bad Beggar:

Imagine Dragons - Radioactive

This is one of those songs I don't like much, but which has a fantastic video - specifically a kind of puppet cock-fight.

The Black Eyed Peas - Imma Be

I didn't realize Black-Eyed Peas had a video to this song. I just like the junkyard, and Fergie's walk.