We are standing by for Industrial Lock. There are 8 boats ahead of us, so we caught a couple of shore lines. I took all of the following pictures from this one spot as I stood watch this afternoon.

Looking at the pictures, we are traveling from the East, thence around the compass....

A couple of these houses, behind the levee wall that failed to protect the 9th ward,
 are the ones Brad Pitt funded and helped design.

Looking south, towards the Industrial Lock, which connects the Mississippi River with the Intracoastal Waterway

 
An earnest angler, he of the Western Shore

Egretting the March of Progress, a thoughtful avian gazes norhward, and thinks...

Must go....fishing

 They are not pulling a kite, that is a poorly inserted inset enlarging the spotter tower, from where
these guys are steering this fine vessel

We stood by overnight at Midstream fuel Dock in Mobile, waiting on parts for our starboard engine.

The next afternoon, repairs finished, we took on some oil and potable water,

We headed north through the Cochrane Bridge to Cooper Fleet.

We picked up an empty barge and headed southbound again

We work around the Mary E a lot. She's small, but good for fleet work.

A bulk storage facility. I love the geometry of this place.

Yellow is not a common color on ships. It looks good when freshly painted

I think I like this building so much because it reminds me of a skyscraper erector set I had as a child

The tugboat is refueling the ship as its cargo is being unloaded

 Late afternoon now, the sun is so low behind us that we cast a shadow on this ship.

Alan, ace deck tech, directs the laying of some rigging

I get paid to see sunsets like this!

My Dad never let me play on the computers where he worked, something I certainly would not object to letting the young'uns do on my job. Of course the computers where I work aren't hooked up to the NORAD(North American Aerospace Defense Command ) network.
   

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

A recipe is a guide, not a stone tablet handed down from on high. But I do have some commandments sprinkled in the following lists of suggestions. Obey them, or you Will  be sorry....

Award-Winning, Stand-Up-And-Cheer-The-Cook Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ingredients:(If more than 4 are having this, double everything, and cook on the stove, unless you have a really huge crock pot)

a) The Meatballs

Any combination of ground sirloin, Jimmy Dean sausage(the brand is not the most important aspect, but some sausage must be in there), and ground pork and/or turkey that adds up to 2lbs. Set aside 1/2 pound for the sauce.

bread crumbs (crushed crackers may be substituted, as can crushed croutons, oatmeal, or couscous, hell, try corn flakes! The point is to be creative and resourceful.)

an egg or two, (egg-beaters for you finicky heart patients)

lots of garlic powder

lots of onion powder, but less than the amount of garlic powder

oregano and basil, and/or italian seasoning, enough for a handful

pepper, white black, red, or all three

Mix everything together in a bowl. Here is where it gets tricky. Do not mash the stuff between your fingers, as that destroys the texture. Instead, pull apart the meat, stir it with your fingers, getting the egg all mixed into the meat and crumbs. Then pat the mixture into round balls of meat, throwing the ball from one hand into the palm of the other repeatedly. Do not leave this step out: It tamps the ingredients together, and makes a really neat slapping sound if you're doing it right.

Place the meatballs in a greased pan and cook at 350- 400° while you make the sauce.

b) The Sauce

the same ingredient as in the meatballs, sans the meat and eggs, and whatever crumb/crumb substitute you employed, but add:

three cans diced tomatoes

the meat I Told you to set aside, You can also add any shredded roast beast you have in the fridge.

one can tomato paste

a ton of sliced garlic(I mean it!; {note: can be prepared in advance})*

one onion, or use that half an onion that is in the fridge

celery, if you got it, and it isn't too limp

colored bell pepper, 1 or 2

2 bay leaves

basil and oregano and thyme

more pepper, don't overdo it

olive oil

Pour the olive oil in the saucepan, turn the burner on medium. Add a toe's worth of the sliced garlic to the hot oil, and cook it until it is a golden brown, then remove and discard the garlic, retaining the now sublimely-flavored oil(Do not leave this step out, or my Mother's ghost will haunt you, forever).  Add the tomato paste to the still-hot oil, and cook it until it starts turning darker, add the veggies, they should be sliced by now, then cook it some more before adding the diced tomatoes and a can of water. Now here is where I transfer the concoction to a crock pot, adding water to make it runnier than it will be when finished. Add the meatballs, and cook on high for hours, I recommend at least ten, stirring very occasionally. Overnight is best, but in that case you put the heat on low before retiring. Add water as necessary. An hour or two before serving, add some more of the herbs, a spoonful or so, and put heat on high, if it isn't already. Serve over your favorite pasta as you repeat my name reverently.

Killer Meatloaf

Use the recipe for meatballs in the above recipe

Now cook a real big meatball.

Next week: Hamburgers and chili-mac. Seeya then!

* or to taste, but use a lot, its good for you.

We dropped off four empty barges at a dock in Theodore, Alabama, yesterday morning. By tonight, they should be loaded and ready for us to pick them up and take them back west to New Orleans. We have four loads to deliver to Mobile, the final leg of this eastbound run.

This is a series of pictures I took from the time we left Theodore until we were in the Mobile River, six hours later.

 Looking west into Theodore harbor just after sunrise

 
We met boats of all types, both recreational....

 ...and working vessels

 A Coast guard patrol boat passed us by

We picked up some hitch-hikers on the way. We have 4 scrap loads in tow. The metal will be melted down and used to make steel plate, which we will take back to New Orleans. Now you'd think...
nah, that would put me out of a job.

 McDuffie Coal terminal is the first facility one encounters upon
 entering Mobile harbor

 
McDuffie's dock is long enough to work two ships this size at once, plus several barges on the back side.

   Don't know what to make of the Lazy Dolphin here. Cute, though

    R2D2's parents scan the horizon for any sign of their offspring 

 The Mobile Convention Center. Here is where I was relieved by Jerry,
who brought the tow the rest of the way up to Cooper Fleet.

author's note:
Yeah, I time-stamped, I re-wrote some of this, as I was dumb enough to place a harbor in Verona, a land-locked town.

Cast of Characters

Popeye de Verona- A Sailor-man

Olive D'oyl-A Captain's daughter, seriously on the make.

Bluto-A ruffian of Venice, controls the wharves, and has his eye on the fair maid Olive.

Wimpy-Ship's cook

Archios the victuals seller

chorus of whores

Act I, scene one- Popeye and Wimpy are on shore leave in Venice after a rough Atlantic crossing.

Popeye: (chortles) Decorum, that inhibitor of unpremeditated action, is all that keeps me from kissing the very earth beneath our feet, Wimpy.

Wimpy: And a lack of ketchup with which to render this soil palatable, is all that saves it from ingestation.

(Popeye spies a comely, if awfully thin, wench across the piazza. His pipe whirls madly, lighting itself with the heat of the Popeye's ardor, as he has been deprived of female companionship for many a month.)

Popeye: Ah, Procrustes. Thou mayst have stretched this comely maiden, but to a perfection which ancient lore has deemed you incapable of wreaking.          

Wimpy: (to audience)Oh dear, I see the sails of a vessel of travail appearing on the horizon, and making good way in our direction.
              (to Popeye) Forgetteh thee, old friend, that the Captain has charged us with seeking out and subsequently bargaining for the replenishing of our depleted ship's stores at the most advantageous price? Veer not, he did say unto us, from our task.

Popeye: Consider, Wimpy, that mayhap yonder comely lass is indeed herself a ship's chandler, or a daughter thereof? If such circumstance proved true, then we would be in violation of the charge to which the Captain has entrusted us, should we refrain from engaging her in a dialogue. (Popeye makes his way across the square, swiping on the way a vase full of flowers from an open window.)

Olive: A handsome sailor doth approach, and no stallion could make plainer his intentions. Yet, he strides with purpose, his clothes are clean, and whiter than the sun-bleached shinbone of St. Ignacio, at whose reliquary I only this morning prayed that I might meet my husband-to-be before my eighteenth birthday has passed, and my value wanes. I so long to honor Father, but his choice for my hand leaves me troubled. Still, I will marry his choice, for cementing business relations with the Panera family by wedding his son is Father's most ardent wish. Unless, my prayers are answered, and I find a beau whose attributes are more conducive to both Father's and mineself's long-term best interest. For I long for adventure and learning, goals far more attractive than marrying well and having baby after baby after baby....

Popeye: Madame, mightsk I interrupt your soliloquy?

Olive: Forgive me , sailor man, for airing my troubles aloud. My, what an unusual pipe you have. Of what material is its construction?

Popeye: It is carved from the cob of the fruit of the maize, a plant indigenous to the New World, from whensk my ship has just returned from a successful voyage.

Olive: The New World! How exciting! You must have many tales of bravery and adventure, for I hear monstrous animals and grasses the size of trees exist in those exotic climes.

Popeye: If exoticism equals beauty, then thou art the strangest sight I have had the fortune to lay eyes upon.

Olive: An odd, but touching compliment thou hast chosen to bestow upon me, sailor. Tell me your name, and of what high-born family you may be a member.

Popeye: I yam what I yam, and a sailor has no family more matterful than his fellow shipmates.

Olive: Oh, a noble sentiment indeed...

Popeye: But I do have these, although they doth dim in the glow of your loveliness, which doth shine on this market like a second sun might seek to upstage its established rival.

Olive: (titters) How sweet! And you refer to that which you hide in the hand behind your back?

Popeye: A mere token of my appreciation. (just as Popeye brings his hand into view, the flowers are snatched away by a large bearded man, who proceeds to swat the smaller sailor into the muddy street.)

Bluto: Thanks for holding my flowers for me whilst I attended to the important business of the wharf. Now begone and be grateful for the chance to do a favor for the merchant class, seaman.

Olive: Oh Bluto! What lovely flowers!

Bluto: You are the fairest of all flora, these merely accent your superior attributes.

Popeye: Verily, blowest me down! How fair is it that I steal the flowers in order to impress a lady, and they are stolen from my hand by a lout of her acquaintance? How is it that she does not see that said bouquet was mine, and meant to endear her to me? Has high-blooded inbreeding rendered her infirm of sight? What would a gentleman from Verona do in this circumstance? As if I should even consider such notions, when a sailor knows what must be done ere his name be dragged through the muddy streets like Hector after his defeat at the hands of  Achilles...

Chorus of whores: So for what is it that you wait? Is thine talk a shield, employed to avoid action? Nay, forget the skinny one, and take for your pleasure a stout woman, to whom no act is without precedent.

Popeye: I will fight, for my honor, and that of my ship! And, just once, I want a woman who has shared not her gifts with men for money, just once! (And he starts hitting Bluto from behind. Bluto ignores him and continues sweet-talking his intended. Finally, Popeye's punches gain his notice, and without taking his lecherous eyes from Olive, he grabs Popeye, whirls him above his head like a baton, and sends him flying across the marketplace.

Act I, Scene two   across the marketplace

Archios: In this pot is spinach, and sir, as with the crumbled and pressed beef that lies between two slices of bread, Should ye acquire the wherewithal to pursue purchase, you may then have a taste of the fare. But eat today on a promise of recompense on the morrow? It shall not be.

(Suddenly there is a splash, and Archios the seller of victuals, and Wimpy are both covered with green strands of wet vegetable matter)

Wimpy: (sampling the strange new foodstuff, gauging the crew's reaction to its being served with grog) Surely, you will not insist that I place this flotsam back in the pot? Better that it not go to waste....Popeye!(seeing his friend surface from where Bluto's toss had landed him). Surely thou art blisterd from immersion in such a hot medium.

Popeye: Me pipe is extinguished! (he sucks harder on the corn-cob, hoping for an ember to catch. Instead, he sucks a stream of spinach down his throat. Trumpets blare, the anchors tattoed on his arms jump off, grow to ten feet in height, and pull him from the boiling pot of greens. He reaches into the cauldron and grabs a handful of spinach, stuffing in his mouth, swallowing it without chewing, which is the secret to getting real strong from the ingestion of a mundane vegetable.)

Archios: His forearms doth swell, as in the manner of a street dog's carcass left in the hot sun, abandoned in death as in life. And there is murder in his eyes.

Wimpy: Aye, I fear for he who is the subject of his anger.

(curtain falls as Popeye approaches Olive and Bluto)

=======================

Act II, scene one , an hour later

Archios: Had the Gods made this their battleground, still would we have not seen a better fracas than the one just witnessed.

Chorus of whores: You witnessed, Archios, we had business to attend to.

Archios: This man Popeye did wield a mighty fist. His first punch sent Sra. Panera's boy Bluto into the air, as like a rocket which the fablist Marco Polo described in his questionable journals. Then, whence Bluto's plummet did bring him once again into proximity with the fists of the transformed sailor man, he was subjected to a trouncing of comic proportions. The dust did settle, and a sight was revealed to us that defies understanding. Bluto was reduced to a stack of sliced Genoa Salami, with a sticker on the top listing the price at 50¢/lb. Now, what is this ¢, I asked, but some symbol of the dark arts? The constable agreed, and Popeye, the sailor man, is at this very minute being burned at the stake for his sorcery. Now, ladies, if you will accept my pardon, I must find a funny-looking fellow who has taken my Genoan salami as his own, and have him join the warlock on the pyre.

Chorus of whores: We saw him! (Pointing left)He went that way!

(Archios turns and strides away. From underneath the dresses of the chorus of whores, Wimpy peers out. Satisfied that Archios has taken the misdirection, he picks up the remains of Bluto and prepares to head back to his ship.)

Wimpy: My thanks, ladies, for the protection, as well as the quality of your service.

Chorus of whores: All well and good, sirrah. But we take our thanks in coin of the realm.

Wimpy: Which coin I will pay tomorrow for what I ate today. Good day, ladies, I have business to conduct with the baker down the way. 

{Exit, stage left, curtain falls}

...And Other Offensive Book Titles

Amazon caught Hell this week, when it was discovered that a book extolling the virtues of pedophilia, The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct was for sale on the site. They quickly removed it, and a consulting firm was hired to draft an apology that will be tested on audiences in Ames, Iowa, Tempe, Arizona, and Rome, Georgia, before its release to the general public.

Now, that's all well and good, but it is merely reactive. Proactive measures are called for. Amazon needs to streamline their and fine-tune their review process. However, they need to do more than just reject offensive published material, they need to get ahead of this problem, and be on the lookout for offensive titles to books yet to be written, titles such as:

Great Moments In Animal Cruelty

Wife-Beating Made Simple

Waterboarding The Autistic, It Works!

A Child's Guide to Glue-Sniffing

Profiles In Ethnic Cleansing

The Joys of Cannibalism

Elementary, My Dear, Sexting For the Younger Set

So You Want To Make A Car Bomb

Cyber-Bullying  For Dummies

Knife Tag, Playing With Matches, and other fun things to do on rainy days

The Xangan Connection

I was between assignments, enjoying a rare moment of java-induced conviviality, but I knew deep-down that it could not last....

Missing author? A bar in Old New Orleans? Never mind
the mixed metaphor, this has the stink of Xanga written all over it!

I had to act fast. First, I drew on my contacts in the area....

...who, in turn consulted their sources

Word of my arrival spread quickly

A lead involving this fashionably decaying house proved to be a dead end...

 
What does 'The Tall Rider" have to do with anything?
I filed the encounter away for later ponderation, ruminizing, what's that damn word? 
thinking about.

Hard to concentrate with all these annoying street musicians around, their high
lonesome harmonies paired with impeccable picking, but I have a job to do.

     A call from Mme Memonah;
 her rooster's entrails led to this seedy establishment

And there it was, Doah's car!

That disarming smile hides a wickedly nefarious imagination. The same can be said about Jeff.

We spent a wonderful two hours with Jeff and his lovely wife Carol, sampling the local cuisine and spirits. Then we had to leave, but not before I received my fee; a signature and personal dedication on the first page of Jeff's latest mystery opus, It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Murder.Thanks for the encouragement, friend, and I will be sure to sign your copy of my first published work.

Why did you grow a beard? She asked me
Only a child is ever so forward
and a child will ask the questions we never expect
Like, why did I grow a beard?

I think it looks good, is my answer today
She ponders this with a frown
Beard queries mean as much as questions about God
And you can touch a beard

I don't like it, you look better without it
she says with youthful surety
Well, that is that, she switches subjects like channels
Before I am quite ready

Why do I wear a beard? I have a weak chin
Is my frequent answer to this
I'm too lazy to shave, I respond on Tuesdays
Sundays, razors damage the dermis

The seventies were the easiest time in the world
To spare one's cheeks from the blade
My heroes were hairy, girl-laden, and wealthy
And most times, after shaving, I bled

Twenty-plus bearding equals thirty and dashing
General Custer without the Indians
moody horsebacked envy of colonels and majors
By forty the bare spots had filled in

The silver in my beard of fifty opens doors for me
Ageist chivalry in all its glory
Instead of tickets, I get a chuckle and a warning
The whiskers, it's gotta be

I must be hiding something, my beard is a mask
or so the pundits declaim
who in daily rite razor part of their manhood away
What are they hiding from?

The mirror sees well each wart and wrinkle
through my barrier of hair
I cannot answer a question asked wrong
My beard grows with me.

---------------------------------------------------

                  A PREMATURE RANT

 The Harris-Gallup poll dance leads to but one conclusion, that the republicans are going to be in charge of both houses of Congress next year. So, I am going to  get out ahead of the pack, and release my post-election commentary early, as in now:

To the Winner(if you are a democrat): Congratulations! You had an opponent who either said one too many incredibly stupid things (i.e., a Tea-Party dunderhead) or one who helped you by splitting the Republican vote (i.e., a Tea-Party dunderhead).

But the reason most certainly has little to do with your grasp of economics. It also does not reflect your concern for your constituents, or there would be a public option in the health bill. Nor does your concern for justice set the electorate on fire, or we would not be sentencing Omar Khadr to prison for 8 more years for crimes he supposedly committed when he was 14. Crimes which he only confessed to after being tortured, during a trial wherein he was not allowed to mount anything remotely resembling a defense. You say that you were against the tribunals? That you wanted a public option? Well, you didn't fight hard enough for the latter, nor were you vocal about your opposition to the former. Now, grow a backbone and conscience, and shed your corporate sponsors like a snake sheds its skin, and start doing what's right for American citizens, instead of multi-national corporations.

To the winner (if you are a Republican): congratulations, you earned it. Or rather, Dick Armey, the Koch Brothers, and corporate America earned it for you. You are bought and paid for, you are no less of a tool than Bush 43 was; the same corrupt bastards will be pulling your strings. hey, your zipper's down....Hah! made your handler look! We know what you are going to, eight years of Bush are still fresh in our minds, as they are in yours, the only difference being you think this time, it'll work. It won't, it has never worked anywhere, dimbulb.

To the voters (if you are republican) Fox News is a hole in the sand, get your head out of it, and see what you have wrought. Lobbyists will be writing the bills for the morons you elected. At least they are more likely to make dope legal, I need something to take my mind off the terroist-inspiring, screw-the-poor, torture-state this land has become. May your kid be the first to land in Iran after you elect sarah palin to the office of President in 2012.

To the voters(if you are democrat): Didn't have much choice, did you? Tell me about it, most Dems were running on empty; empty of ideas, empty of spine, and full of corporate cash. Seriously, for all the diffence it's going to make, you should have vote for the Green Party guy/gal, for all the difference between the dems and reps these days. Yeah, there is a difference, Republicans do mean and nasty things, and Democrats whine and wring their hands, then meekly go along with Republicans, and all because they want to win over the...

Independent voter--You unmitigated asshole, the only thing that you are independent of is independent thinking.! Every election, you switch sides, depending on what the polls say you are voting for this year. And you say stupid crap like "Fox News and MsNBC are just alike". No you jerk-off, they are not. Unlike Fox's constant drumbeat for the Tea-Baggers, MSNBC does not side with a particular party. Like Fox, they do criticize the President, but for Not being Left-Wing Enough. I disagree here, Obama has a left-wing, he just keeps it tucked under his right-wing, safe from harm.

ON THE JERRY SPRINGER SHOW

I got home from the night shift, and grabbed myself a beer,
turned on the cable-ready TV, and quickly there appeared
The Ringmaster and his crew, with the daily dose of weird
Between my socks I watched as his audience began to cheer

Jerry, Jerry, who's on today? We would really like to know
Albino gays that are easy lays, or pimps who like fat ho's?
Nazis dressed in diapers, swastikas tattoed on their toes?
Worse than that, my beer I spat, my daughter's on his show!

She's with a midget wrestler, who dresses just like Presley,
He gets spanked by tranny skanks, her best friend is a lezzie
They have food fights between the sheets, that gets awful messy
She calls him L'il Daddy, a fact she could have spared me

Omigawd! This just can't be, my heart begins to sink
We raised her to be better, what will the neighbors think?
Her gal-pal flashed the crowd, is that fuzz a merkin mink?
A beer ain't near to what I need, I'm going to fix a drink

When I return, Jerry sternly asks her why she's cheating
True love is here to stay, he says, passion is so fleeting
The midget swears he doesn't care about her flagrant meetings
Some pics he takes of them are sent as Christmas greetings

Some smart-ass in the crowd has the nerve to call her plump
Security has to hold her back before off the stage she jumps
Is this the same sweet little girl we nursed through the mumps,
Who just told the tiny toad for a dwarf he has been dumped?

I mix a double bloody mary to the final thoughts of Springer
So blue was I, it took some time to hear the telephone's ringer
It was daughter dear, calling about a big diamond on her finger
She and the dwarf had a plane to catch, so she could not linger

She's on her own, I told myself, and far too old to scold
I listened and my spirits soared; the closing credits scrolled
Her beau had made big money, when shortcomings.com he sold
Now we're rich because a midget's bitch went on the Springer show