My Facts, My Opinions

I made Andrew Sullivan's " The View from Your Window " again: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/11/the-view-fro-25.html He captioned it incorrectly. I twas actually taken at 00:05 -- i.e., 5 minutes past midnight. The orangish color is from the tungsten filament light bulbs -- while they appear light to your eye, they are really orangish. Your brain is pretty smart and adjusts for this (and for fluorescent, or mercury vapor, or even sunny versus cloudy sunlight.) So, that's the Santa Monica office and the LA apartment....next stop, Lompoc! See also: Fame Awaits

So here's a brief trip log of the recent trip Silicic and I took to Patagonia. We left LAX on a midday flight, which was far better than our original plan to leave on an early flight and suffer through an 8 hour layover in DFW. Admirals' Clubs are nice but not nice enough for that. Silicic had a bunch of electronic upgrades available and we were set to fly Business Class on the leg to Dallas. But it turned out that for a small fee -- the equivalent of just 1 arm and just 1/2 a leg -- we could upgrade the entire downbound trip. With a 9.5 hour, overnight leg to Santiago (SCL) that would have been tempting enough. But we knew this plane would be equipped with lie flat seats. Sleep would be much easier. Sleep was much easier. And it was made really easy by taking Ambien for the first time. Take a pill, put the set back, wait 15 minutes and wake up just in time for breakfast and landing in Chile! That's how to fly. We managed to catch an earlier flight to Punta Arenas (PUQ). Th...

My grandfather wore an Omega. My dad wears an Omega. My younger brother got an Omega as a graduation gift. I had to have an Omega. So for Christmas in 1993 I got one gift -- an Omega (a quartz De Ville). And I loved it. I bought myself another one, a Seamaster Automatic, when I was in a position to reward myself in 1999. The De Ville's battery died and I haven't worn it for 8 years. I've worn the Seamaster almost daily. It's been diving, sailing, camping, and counted the seconds through way too many boring meetings. They both needed some TLC. And I knew that I'd be taking a trip* in October when I might not want to wear a nice watch everyday. Since it takes 6-8 weeks to get these things serviced (work backlog and parts issues; sometimes longer, sometimes shorter) I figured now was the time to get them tended to. Moving from an analog watch to a digital is a real pain. I want my watches back... ... will blog for a Constellation ... will blog and clean windows for a S...

I haven't been posting lately -- I've been spending my time reading. Nothing special, just stuff to relax and entertain myself. A quick observation: there are some really skilled writers out there telling great stories, and some absolutely shitty ones too. Among the best series I've read in a long time are the John rain books written by Barry Eisler. The basic notion of reading about a professional assasin holds some but limited appeal to me -- but after one book, I was hooked. I've now read the whole series. These books are extremely well researched and written with an incredible eye for detail. Eisler is a fanatic about getting it right. He also has a wonderful gift -- he's among the few writers I can think of that can successfully write switching from 1st person to 3rd person. Seemlessly. And it adds to the narrative. On the other hand Dana Stabenow is awful. I just finished Blindfold Game. The plot had great potential but in her hands it falls way short. Her res...

Dan was tagged by Mike and tagged me in turn 4 Places I've lived : On sailboats (The Caribean, the Atlantic, South Africa, the Med); In my car/tent (travelling up and down the east coast); In dormatories (Cleveland, OH); Red States (KY, TX); (bonus 5th place) Blue States (IL, NY, CA); (extra super bonus 5.5th place) -- Purple State (OH) 4 Favorite Foods: Thai Vietnamese BBQ European food in Europe -- French in France, Spanish in Spain, Italian it Italy , and German in Germany. Terroir matters... 4 Jobs Held: Peanut Vendor at the ballpark Deck Hand Commodities Broker Call Center Supervisor 4 Places I'd Rather Be: On a sailboat New Zealand South Africa SCUBA diving with sharks (Cocos Island? Palau? The Bahamas? Las Islas Socorros?) I tag: THEJESSE

Doing my civic duty...details when they can be shared. Judge Roy Beene humor is prohibited until that time.... Jim

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/british-army-ends-operation-in-northern-ireland/ Mostly symbolic or not, this is a hugely vital step. No matter which side you support, a study of The Troubles should be something every modern American undertakes. Doing so would yield insights into: The categorization of prisoners as criminals, political prisoners, or say "enemy combatants" -- exactly why this can matter. The extent to which imprisioned men will go to maintain/acquire the respect/dignity they believe they are due. The damage done to justice by less than standard evidentiary requirements and the suspension of the right to trial by jury -- the Diplock Courts in Northern Ireland are an abomination of justice. When hearsay is evidence bad stuff follows. Exactly how much the concept of martyrdom can incite/motivate/maintain a community that feels repressed or threatened. How truly damn important human intel is and how it, not ubiquitous survellience cameras, is what lea...

I'll be travelling for the next few days. That means even fewer than the already infrequent posts of normal. But, if you're good -- I'm mean really good -- while I'm gone, I'll hopefully have some cool picks to share when I get back. Then again, if you're not good and I have to pull this blog over to the side of the road just one more time then I'm cancelling Christmas!!! (I know, you don't get it. Probably because you weren't there when our fine father quieted 2 very unruly kids with that threat. It was July and legend has it we actually behaved all the way through the middle of November.) Jim

So few people that I don't have contact with daily read this blog that this post is not likely to reach anybody not already willing to do so, but I'd love to start getting comments/critiques on the countless photos I'm putting over at Flicker. Click on the little Flickr montage/coloage thing on the right side of the blog, mid way down the page. Of, go straight to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vagabondjim/ Go ahead and be honest, even brutal. I'd like to know what's good and what's not.... Jim

Good lord, the NBC coverage of this thing is simply dreadfull. That's not to say the intent of the day was bad -- just that the presentation of the music and the ideas both truly sucked.

I laughed aloud at this it's the perfect iDea. And it merits the 1st link recommendation for the blog. (Click this post's title.)

Well, I tried to be surrepetitous...it didn't work Originally uploaded by VagabondJim There are some people who will smile whenever you point a camera at them. Even if you try to do it without their knowledge. Sometimes that makes for a nice pic.

'Take our picture" Originally uploaded by VagabondJim There are folks who think that ANYONE with a decent camera MUST be from the newspaper. I'm not.

"Take our picture,please" Originally uploaded by VagabondJim There are apparenty folks who want strangers to take thier pictures. I'm not one of them.

California has the best and worst of the bumper communicators... Stupid Plates Seen on Priuses: OILBGON H8OPEC C'mon people, let's not be so damn trite... Better Bumpersticker Seen: More Cowbell Now, I bet you can't get Christopher Walken out your head.... For the, sadly, uninitiated:

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/feeling_safer_yet_/2007/06/the_910_president_whatever_happened_to_homeland_security.php It looks like there is a pretty good case to be made that we're not safer....

Roadside memorial -- Bailey Ave. Originally uploaded by VagabondJim Sad and stupid. Very, very stupid. Last night Silicic and I were out at the beach/train station taking the nighttime photos posted over at Flickr. On the way back we saw a large aggregation of flashing lights - cops, fire trucks, ambulances - on one of the roads through the fields, pretty close to town. And there was a small car with the front end bashed up on a utility pole . We returned today and saw a memorial there. Evidently, a 16 year old was killed in the accident. His 14 year old passenger survived with apparently minor injuories ("treated and released"). What angers me is the fact that one always has to assume the involvment of alcohol in the accident. But look at the "gifts" left behind -- a can of beer! Somebody just doesn't get it... Like I said: sad and stupid. 6/11/2007 Update News reports are indicating I jumped the gun on the alcohol assumption. So let's rephrase: Sad -- f...

Hey, if you're actually foolish enough to click on the links I get paid. Just keep that in mind. Ok, some of the stuff is realllllllly annoying -- let me know what has to go. JK

Chris Mathews lays it on the line, correctly; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t92f7X-M55E For the record, I generally find Matthews to be irratating and never watch him. Olbermann, when he's not being a shrill shill, I can deal with. O'Reilly - well, just don't go there... A hat tip to TalkingPointsMemo.com for the pointer. Jim