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  • THE PELICAN SERIES

     

    Good morning, people!!
    sunrise east of new orleans

    Military Sealift Ships
    These are Military Sealift Ships, each has enough supplies and ammo to re-inforce a division
    The only time they have ever been gone from the harbor was during the run-up to the Iraq War.
    They are such a landmark that  New Orleans Vessel Traffic uses the ships as a check-in point.

    lil red tugboat
    A pretty little tug, I forgot its name

    huey p long widening project
    The ever-ongoing widening of Huey P. Long Bridge. The steel outside the yellow scaffolding
    is all new construction.

    pelican and friend4
    I cannot believe that I actually forgot that I had taken these shots.

    pelican and friend3

     

    pelican and friend2

    pelican and friend

    pelican, and friend cropped

    Well, that's all for now, folks, have  a good day.....
    southbound Kenner Bend Anchorage

    dutiful duck
    And rest easy, a vigilant watch is being maintained...

  • A POST, FULL OF PELICANS

    Yesterday morning, we were in Theodore, building tow at the cement plant there.

    building tow in Theodore

    ....But I had the strangest feeling, a feeling that we weren't alone, I sensed that we were being watched...
    Img_6322
     
    Yes, we were being studiously ignored.....

    Img_6326
    The pelicans were trying a little too hard to be nonchalant, their efforts at normalcy a little forced.

    Img_6339
    Just fishing, or was this a recon flight, probing our defenses?

    Img_6337
     Is more than floating on his mind?

    Img_6365
    A few special ops types made feints, testing our readiness. The deckhand hurled day-old bread at them,
     a tactic that always disrupts their ranks.

    Img_6360
    Their leaders mulled over the options open to them.....

    pelican in Theodore
    The decision was his to make....

    unsavory types
     The tension mounted.....

    Img_6357
    ....and mounted

    council of elders
    .....emotions were running at a fever pitch

     

     

    ...And then I woke up. It had all been a dream...

    mv Sea Eagle
    ...and we were outbound in Mobile Bay. We had left Theodore without incident.....

    dauphin island bridge
     As we passed under Dauphin Island Bridge, I took a walk on the barges, chuckling at the silliness
    of my dream, the dread I had felt. Pelicans aren't evil, and they aren't keeping tabs on us....

    fleeing pelican
     Or ,  are they.......?

  • EIGHT PICS FROM AN EIGHT-PACK

    Harvey Canal at sunrise
    A left-over pic from our last drydock stay

     

     CG Cutter Bonita
    Coast Guard Cutter Bonita

     

    marsh east of New Orleans
    Marshland east of New Orleans

    pelican on barge
    This pelican took a breather on our tow

    pelican on barge2
    His best side.

    Sunset east of New Orleans
    Sunrise.....

    sunset over chalmette 2
    ......and a sunset, taken from almost the same spot. Different days, however.

     

     

    poland street wharf, upper end
    Poland Sreet Wharf, in lower New Orleans. It has been neglected, and is probably beyond repair

     middle bay lighthouse
    Middle Bay Lighthouse, in Mobile Bay. I hear it's for rent

     

  • Another Day at Work....

    sunrise  at my house
    My neighborhood never looks so good as when I have to leave for work...

    gift shop at marianna caverns
    The gift shop at Marianna Caverns is made of the local limestone. Ignore
    this photo, it has nothing to do with the rest...

    trunk at marianna caverns
    ....neither does this one

    birds feeding  in our wake
    We must have been stirring up some shrimp with our wake, to cause this mass feeding frenzy

    hitchhiker
    We had a hitchhiker for a short time

    pelican behind boat   
    Look! He's waving at me!

    pelican behind boat 2
    The Pelican, my spirit animal. Originally, my vision ordained the hamster as my spirit animal,
    but I won my appeal.

     

    Norwegian Spirit
    Those passengers don't know what they are missing. Only we get to see the mermaid.

     

    sunset jordan road
     New Orleans, as seen from its easternmost point. 'Night, all.  

  • HOW I SPENT MY WEEK OFF

     

    Walkway, Meaher State Park, Alabama 2
     walkway at Meaher State Park, Mobile Alabama

    pelicans fishing

    NASA facility at Michoud
    The NASA facility at Michoud, in eastern New Orleans

    from my roof
                       I took this picture while standing on my roof Friday morning.

     

         On Saturday, Ron and I literally rambled around North Florida.
                We first ended up at the Marianna Caverns St Park
    pond at Marianna Caverns

    A pond at Marianna Caverns State Park. And no, we did not go in the caves. Maybe next time.

    ccc statue in Marianna Caverns State Park
     I wonder if they had a DADT policy in the Civilian Conservation Corps? 

     

    RobertFBurgess
    After driving to the Caverns, we took a side trip to meet a good friend of Ron's, non-fiction adventure-writer, Robert Burgess. this is a picture from his Wikipedia entry. Yes, I know someone with a wikipedia entry. Bob looks more like  Ernest Hemingway, whom he knew, now than he did in this picture. He was kind enough to let us call on him with no advance warning, and showed us a few of his artifacts, such as a stone fishook, found in a river in Ohio. These days, his typewriter might also count as an artifact.

  • THE LAST REVIEW OF THE LAST HALF OF LAST YEAR

    My fan base (Ron) asked me when my year-end review was coming out. I had not planned on doing it this year, being busy with personal growth issues, assessing my financial state and my place in society, and burning ants with a magnifying glass. (I'm not being childish, did you know that ants bite us because they hate our freedom?)

    for a look at the 1st half of the year, go here

     

    July

    The combined efforts of government and private industry have thus far failed to stem the flow of black, vile, poison emitting from a hole leading to the foulest depths. But enough about rep. Michelle Bachmann's latest utterings for now; let's see how the professionals and experts are managing the spill from BP's hole in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Having tried the 'top kill'(Failed), the 'bottom kill'(Failed), and the 'junk shot'(you guessed it), the expertly professional oil-leak stopper guys have decided that the next effort will called the 'cheap shot'. When asked how it works, professional expert Silas 'Sy' Entist explained. " There was a heated discussion and 'buzz kill' and 'double shot' were both suggested as possible terms, and perhaps we will utilize those in the future should "cheap shot' not work." A reporter repeated the question as to the mechanics of 'cheap shot', and Entist admitted, "So far, all we have is the name. But it's a cool name, and we will devise a plan worthy of it."

    In other oil spill news, the First Family visited the Gulf Coast in an effort to boost tourism in the area, which has suffered from the reports of oil on the beaches. President Obama arranged a photo op of himself and daugter Sasha swimming in pristine water. Footage of Sasha making 'oil pies' on the beach was never aired.

    Things are starting to heat up in advance of the November elections and Sarah Palin made several comments that had pundits shaking their heads for days.

    President Obama, responding to complaints from the right that he wasn't pandering enough to their whiny demands, asks, "What do they expect me to do, keep Gauntanamo prison open and try the prisoners in courts where they cannot mount a competent defense? Two days later, Obama signs the "Keep the American Gulag Open And Hold Show Trials, Just Like a Friggin' Third World Dictatorship ' Act.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi hails the bill as an act of 'superb diplomatic caving', while minority leader John Boehner says it 'doesn't go far enough'.

     

    August

    Wikileaks, a group of idealistic tattle-tales, released yet another mega-batch of files. Their last release, a zillion memos, interoffice notifications, meeting minutes, and missiles drawn on cocktail napkins, indicated what few did not already know, that things are not going well in Afghanistan. The Justice Department has declared that they will put an end to the 'mentioning of the obvious'. Citing possible unrest, Attorney General Holder said, "What if somebody starts spreading the notion that corn-based ethanol won't help America, indeed, it will cause more problems than it fixes? Who wants that?" Holder said. "Or what if, theoretically speaking, wiki next releases texts of leading financiers admitting that the global financial system has less structural integrity than a sand castle in the Bay of Fundy? Or that an asteroid the size of Tokyo is on a collision course with the earth...China is running things now..." at this point, AG Holder was hustled off the stage, due to vague security threats, according to sources that will remain anonymous if I know what is good for me.

    Talkings heads were busy the very next Sunday, responding to Sarah Palin's outrageous comments about wikileaks. But others were pondering the significance of a petite young lady in Maryland, one who was never a witch. Was ex-gov. Palin's lock on outrageous statements in jeopardy? Tune in next month, the month some called....

     

    September

    The leak is plugged! Not the wiki thing, the BP thing. Yes the well is capped, the oil has disappeared, and fish taste better than ever. We don't have reporters anymore, we have repeaters, hacks who read back press releases written by the scoundrels that  reporters of olden days would have pilloried in their columns.

    But the 'end' of the oil crisis gives us room for the discussion of the upcoming elections. A poll taken early in the month shows that Republicans might not only take control of one or both houses of Congress, they will have a plurality of state legislatures and governorships as well. As expected, Sarah Palin was quoted as saying something completely startling and controversial, then noticed that no one was listening to her. Christine O'Donnell was promising to 'end masturbating as we know it'. Sharron Angle, Harry (there IS a God!) Reid's opponent for re-election, was hinting that guns were the answer when elections weren't. 

    "Death panels!", Sarah sputters. "Taxes can kill! Russia is spying on my house!"

    But it was no use, the new faces brought their 'A' games -

    "People ask me, 'What are you going to do to develop jobs in your state?' Well, that's not my job as a U.S. senator."* –Sharron Angle

    "We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar."* Christine O'Donnell

    "We needed to have the press be our friend ... We wanted them to ask the questions we want to answer so that they report the news the way we want it to be reported."*--Sharron Angle

    "American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains."* --Christine O'Donnell

    Sarah was stymied. never in her wildest imaginings did she envision other Republican women being even more controversial and outrageous than her. She calls her old friend Michelle Bachman for advice.

     "I don't know where they're going to get all this money because we're running out of rich people in this country."--Michelle Bachmann

    Defeated, Sarah slipped into a perky funk. Besides political punditry and queenmaking, she had nothing left now but her reality show(200k/week), speaking engagements(100k/speech), book deals(1.25 million bucks in advance for latest), TV appearances on Oprah, Larry King, etc. and the adulation of most of the masses, at least, the masses that want their President to be no smarter than their Pilates instructor.

    ex._Gov. Palin's spirits are buoyed by a poll in late September that indicates Obama is falling out of favor faster than her. Not only that, but sales of the Sarah Palin Talking Points Doll® were double that of the Barack Obama ch-ch-Chia Pet™.

     

    October

    Dismayed by his poll numbers, and rebuffed when he offered to campaign for fellow Democrats, Obama did what he usually does, and reached across the aisle to the Republicans with one hand, while slapping his liberal supporters with the other. It was useless, nothing he did seemed to make the Republicans like him. "I don't get it.." said the President to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. "I gave up the public option in the health bill for them, I did away with drug-price bargaining. Hell Rahm, I saved the health-insurance industry. You know, I am beginning to think that it isn't my policies that the Republicans are upset about. I think, and this may sound crazy, but I think that they just want power, and would steamroll Mother Teresa, were she to get in their way."

    "@#$^ that old bat", Said Rahm

    "And my base? What up with them? I got a finance reform bill passed. 'no teeth, little power to regulate', they tell me. I get a credit-card reform bill passed. 'No teeth, doesn't go far enough', yadda, yadda. Close Guantanamo, put Bush on trial, end the wars, live up to my early promise, their demands never cease."

    "@#%& 'em in the #$&!" Rahm counseled. "They are a bunch of sniveling &*%$s anyway.

    "Well, at least I still have my friends and advisors, loyal to a fault, sticking by me in these tough days. Rahm, are you packing?"

    "%$#@& &^%$# right I am. I don't hang with  @#$#-&^%$%-ed loser types. I'm going back to $%#%ing Chicago, where politics is played the way I talk. Send me an e-mail when your &^%^ finally drop." Rahm said jovially.

    When allegations of infidelity on the part of her eldest child, husband, Ashton Kutcher surfaced, it was noted that wife Demi Moore seemed not to care; if anything, she defended him and leaned on him even more in public. Could the rumors be false? No way, man, they were printed in the Enquirer, (sadly) our most reliable and accurate source of news in America today. Well, it turns out that not even the scandal rags got the whole story. It seems that, yes, Ashton was sleeping around, with women picked out for him by Demi, who would often join in the fun. Because of this, The Society of Men Everywhere presented Demi Moore with their annual Wife of The Year Award. Demi left the awards banquet early, but not before slipping hotel room keys to one of the hostesses and two Filipino salad girls.

     

    If you don't mind, I'd like to skip

    November

    Thanks. Gee what a month that was! Americans once again voted into office the people who vote against the American people every chance they get. Good men and women were thrown out of office by a wave of incredible fury and stupidity. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity(the Furies), Glenn Beck and Mike Savage(the stupids) were all admitted to hospitals for dislocated shoulders, caused by attempts to pat themselves on the back.

    And the 1st order of business? These new lawmakers, elected serve America's interests and promote America, to legislate and pass bills that help its people, have decided that, in the words of the incoming Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell,  "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president*." It has to be a power grab; Obama has done more for the republican agenda than any actual Republican president up to and including Reagan.

    Here is Obama's modus operandi; Whatever issue is on the table, Obama first says "The Republicans are wrong on this issue because....". Then he says "It would be a bad thing for the country if the Republians get their way on this." Finally, he will cave on every Republican demand, and say someting like this at the signing; "This bill is not perfect, but is a baby step in the right direction....". Obama, crawling on your hands and knees before John Boehner does not constitute 'baby steps', OK?

    So anyway, I'm glad I don't have to bring up November. Would it be too much to ask if we could skip.....

     

    December

    ...as well? Yeah, man up, I get it.

    December wasn't so bad, once you get used to the idea that over half of your neighbors and friends vote like a chicken at the fair plays the piano. 

    Obama had to re-invent how he worked with Congress; he listens to the Republicans, he jettisons measures from bills if they object, which Republicans tend to do with any provision that prevents the rich from hoarding their money, or having to give it up as taxes. He invites Republicanss to lunch at the White House, and is ignoring the people who got him elected.....I'm sorry, that was a typo. Obama did Not have to change anything.

    But he did try one more stretch of the olive branch; on the 31st. President Obama changed parties! He is now a Republican, and has promised to "support the republican agenda, as soon as they formulate one." In a statement released to what passes for a press corps, the Republican leadership excoriated Obama for 1) Not switching parties sooner, and 2) Not actively seeking his own impeachment. "When will this President curb his socialist tendencies and help us finish the job of privatizing Congress. When will the National Parks go on sale? When will the President (for now) get behind our Steady Climate bill, calling for, among other things, solar panels to be condemned as 'public eyesores' and banned. "

    Well, friends, that is it for the year, sorry it wasn't funnier. Or filled with happier news. Or written better. I am lowballing my expectations for 2011, and therefore wishing for you all a

    HAPPIER NEW YEAR!

     

     

    *an actual quote

  • The Wheel's A'Needin' Annealin'

    Everything is beautiful...
    pine branch

     

    In it's Own Way...
    pine trunk in Toreya

    george of the woods
    Having Gandalf along on a hike is never a bad thing

    Appalachicola River at Toreya St Park, by George
    No one, not even Gandalf, should ever hand-feed the Alligator Gars

    speeding pelican
    That just looks like fun.....

    sunset over France Road Wharf
     Sunsets, like puppies, rarely disappoint a photographer

    New Orleans, from the east

    front moving in
     The winds increased in the wake of this front 

    mv Chelsea westbound in the Sounds
     Our sister boat, a pushin' little mofo

    Img_5302 
    Becalmed

    Img_5763 
    This shot I took this morning at dawn

     

    Southern Shellfish building
     This one about an hour later.....

    As we waited for the shipyard to lift the boat out the water to repair the wheel...
    wheel damage 1

    clobbered by some unknown but large underwater structure that I ran over

    wheel damage and Chad
    The Chadster is used here for perspective, and to model this winter's ensemble noveau

      

  • The Jolly Old Fellow Traveler

    Brother let me warn you, stay out of that store
    After hours in line, you will finally find
    They sold the last one an hour before

    But the real reason, and friend, I kid you not
    St. Nick was a friend of Ho-ho-ho-Chi Minh
    And Christmas is a communist plot

    Santa Claus is a socialist,
    all dressed in Commie red
    He redistributes the people's wealth
    from his union-made commie sled
    The reindeer are from Sweden,
    and as liberal as can be
    Elves seldom retire, instead expire
    When the death panel so decrees 

    Santa hid listening devices inside every home
    How else would he know who's sleeping,
    And what you do when you're alone?

    So join the war on Santa, don't buy all that crap
    don't let your kids tell him family secrets
    when they're on the bearded creep's lap....because, ..

    Santa Claus is a socialist,
    all dressed in Commie red
    He redistributes the people's wealth
    from his union-made commie sled
    China bought the xmas franchise,
    it's the top story of the week
    Next year's Santas will be yellow-cheeked,
    and have slightly slanted eyes

    Come join the war on Santa...(fade out)


    Merry Christmas, Everyone Merry Cristmas, Every One!!

  • Curmudgeon's Christmas

    For the benefit of my newer friends, I am dragging this one, kicking and screaming, from the 2009 Yuletide  season...

    I Can't Wait Until Spring

    Gray skies are drizzling, the children are sniffling
    I'm tired from shopping, and in block-long lines living
    Noels and chorales I'm damn sick of hearing
    'They've been in rotation since sometime last spring.

    White lights nailed on rooftops fail to look very icicley
    Lit candy-cane trails are in more ways than one treacly
    There's an inflatable Santa, and a reindeer, I think
    It all makes me long for a holiday-free spring.

    No groups come a-caroling, to answered doorbell ring
    no fights with crusty snowball
    We spend all our savings on unneeded things
    for kids who complain, that's all?

    We gave up our big bed for loved aunt and uncle
    who thrill us with detail about each mole and carbuncle
    We get ten bathroom minutes at three each morning
    hope our company leaves ere the coming of spring.

    We brave malls so crowded to buy stuff loudly touted
    and leave with a rain check, for it's been sold-outed
    we're too late in buying our turkey and trimmings
    shoulda put in an order sometime last spring.

    No annual vacation, I can't afford one,
    I'm in hock to my 'nads
    I'm just too old now, can't take the cold now
    Was it more fun for Dad?

    The big day's at last here, I get dressed and ready
    I'm greeted with smiles and by shiny new TV
    Made in Asia, it's a Doozi, with a 60-inch screen
    My family has shown me just what Christmas means.
     


     

     

  • BEGGIN' THE READERS PARDON..

    Henry McCarty, aka William Bonney, aka Billy The Kid is back in the news. It seems his descendents are beseeching Governor Richardson of New Mexico to pardon the little murdering punk. Their basis for this request is that he testified in a trial in return for immunity, never mind that he shot and killed a sheriff and his deputy after that selfless act. Which is fine, he is dead and gone, call off the hounds. It isn't like the situation we have with Bush and Cheney, two criminals who will never need pardons because the Dems are too chicken-foot to prosecute them. The thought of those two swaggerimg asswipes living out their lives as free men sickens me. Billy, despite his rep, killed only four men by himself. The Bush-Cheney gang is responsible for a thousand times that many deaths in just one of their entreprenurial wars.

    Anyway, Gov., go ahead and pardon the thieving little cattle-rustler, make his great-grand bastards happy(Oh pardon me!). Jim Morrison got his from Governor Crist of Florida, although to be fair, there are doubts as to whether Jimbo ever even unholstered his pistol. In 2006, the Alabama legislature passed a bill that facilitated the pardoning of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks for violating segregation laws back in the good ol' days.

    President Obama recently issued his first pardons, including one for a guy who cut pennies down to dime-size for use in vending machines. This dastardly schemer was busted in 1962, when dimes were worth, well, a dime, but so were sodas, condoms, and candy bars. The guy was sentenced to a year's probation; I have to wonder if he wanted this off his record because he was tired of being laughed at. He also pardoned several coke dealers, which ticks me off. Barack, don't you know the pusher is a monster, he's not a natural man? How about pardoning EVERY single person busted solely for possesion of weed?

     Here is a list of some others you may want to consider:

    Arlo Guthrie                Littering

    Bobby Fuller               Fighting the Law (Law 1, Fuller 0)

    Bob Marley                 Shot a Sheriff [extenuating circumstance-did not kill the deputy]

    Robert Mitchum          Marijuana conviction(1948, served 2 months)

     

    But Mr. President, you should never have pardoned that turkey. That bird had it coming!

  • FROM THE VAULTS

     

    I left the camera's battery charger at home, so naturally the sunsets have been phenomenal, the porpoises are doing a water ballet, and the pelicans have been forming the letters of my name with their wings.

    So I leafed through my old files, looking for some pics that I have not posted before. The result is a mash-up of old and new shots...

    drydock at Kody Marine 
    The Harvey Canal provides a gateway from the Mississippi River westard to Texas along the Intracoastal Waterway. This was taken from Kody Shipyard, our favorite place to get repairs done.

     

    Img_5500
    A container ship this size can carry close to, if not more than a 1000 containers, and every one needs a truck to move it. 

    Sunset over Florida St Wharf

    sunset behind towboat

    Img_4007

    pelican landing
    Touching Down

    Img_3964
    Morrison Springs is on my 'scatter-my-ashes-here' list
     

    Img_3962

    blue dragonfly
     

    oyster boat
    If this oyster boat has a good night, that front deck will be loaded with sacks
    and those tires will be 2/3 submerged, due to the extra weight.

     

    dec5 2010 Pass Marianne 02  

    sunrise jordan road
    Sleep tight!

     

  • My G.O.P. Hero

    I voted for a man who does nothing for me

    A draft-dodging patriot who gets doctored for free

    My lily-white guy draped in shades of Old Glory

    I live a life of ease 'cause he sent my job overseas

     

    My GOP hero, I tell you, he's a heckuva guy

    He's all for the Bible and the man in the sky

    He'll defend a corporation in the wink of an eye

    When a little 'oopsie' causes  Daddy to die

     

    If he thinks a big bad democrat is after your guns

    He'll drop his nine-iron, and legislate on the run

    Our guns keep us safe, besides which, they're fun

    The Second Commandment will never be undone

     

    With a Gop hero on watch at all times

    who thinks any taxes are a capital crime

    I hope he succeeds in ending Social Security

    Because he says it's real bad for the economy

     

    He loves his neighbor dearly, as his Savior said

    He has a Bible on the table beside his mistress' bed  

    But when he sees a hungry man begging for bread

    He turns the other cheek, and says kiss this instead.

     

    That's my GOP hero, he takes principled stands

    thinks its a sin for government to lend a helping hand

    to any of his many luck-deficient fellow Americans.

    Unless a fellow's principal might fill his campaign cans

     

  • Assorted Pics

    These pictures were too good not to post, so posted they got.

    dec5 2010 Pass Marianne 02

     

     

     

    meaher park tree
     Katrina blew the top out of this pine, usually a death sentence. But 5 years on, it is doing fine.

    cecilia b slatten

    sunrise jordan road

  • Porpoises In The Bow Wave

    It never occurred to me to record these guys at night on video, but catching them with a digital camera's slow reaction speed was frustrating. I added a Second video, people!


    Only one appearance here, about halfway through


    The porpoise to riding a bow wave? To have dol-phun!