Remembering Michael Hedges

It was eleven years ago this month that this world lost the enormous talent of Michael Hedges. One of the most amazing guitarists I have ever had the pleasure of seeing perform, I was shocked and saddened by the news of his sudden death in 1997. He was a consummate performer. Here's to you Michael wherever your spirit lives on!

Was it all a dream?

Oh My God! Don't let this happen to you! It happened to me..well not really. I've already voted and I am now crossing fingers hoping that the American people have the sensibility to do the right thing and elect Barack Obama. In the meantime, I've got to go hide somewhere.

A NEW EMBLEM

Qantas' New Nancy-Bird

Today I flew home from Australia after more than three weeks there. While I boarded the aging 747-400, parked next door was the sparkling new A380, now registered as VH-OQA, and christened the Nancy-Bird Walton in honor of the famous Australian aviator. QANTAS is pretty excited about its new mega-carrier, and there has been a whole lot of promotion going on of late. It turns out that it only arrived in Australia on September 21, 2008, just a couple of days before I saw it flying in the skies above Sydney. It is scheduled to make its first passenger flight on October 20, flying from Melbourne to Los Angeles. These latest shots are of it parked in Sydney on October 16.

The A380 Flies!

After many years of development, the new Airbus A380's are finally flying commercial routes. I was hoping that I might have a chance of seeing some of these new planes on my visit to Sydney, Australia this year. Sure enough, I have managed to see planes from Singapore Airlines and Qantas. The new Qantas plane has been seen in flight on two different days so far.

Come On America. Get It Together!

One thing that bothers me perhaps more than anything else about our national elections is that voters generally lack enough sophistication to sort out truths and stay focused on the issues that are really relevant for us as Americans. I don't think of myself as a particularly smart guy, but I am amazed by how stupid and taken in some folks can be by campaign rhetoric and the media. I want great things for our country, the world, and my two children. Sometimes I fear we as a nation just don't have what it takes to pull ourselves out of the cesspool we have found ourselves in. That really saddens me. I appreciate the efforts of individuals and groups such as FactCheck.org that really try and set the record straight when candidates from both sides are so quick to stretch and distort the truth. Sometimes we need a hard slap in the face. Come on America, get your sh*t together!

Bigfoot Returns to the mist

Well, I can't say that I'm surprised. It didn't take long for it to be revealed that the Georgia bigfoot was a hoax. As it turns out it was searchingforbigfoot.com that was given access to the specimen. Check out their website to see the Fox News story that sums up the uncovering of the hoax. Turns out it was a costume suit. I guess the question is whether the costume is sasquatch or gorilla. But we knew it was a hoax all of the time, right? Anybody who knows anything about Bigfoot knows that the North American range of Bigfoot is limited to the Pacific Northwest. Whether the Old World Yeti of the Himalayas is conspecific is beyond the scope of this blog. 

Oh, as a postscript, my favorite headline covering the recent controversy:

Bigfoot found! Eating an ivory-billed woodpecker...

What more needs to be said?

Bigfoot is Back!

Alright, I'll admit it right here. When I was a kid, I believed in bigfoot. I also believed in extraterrestrial visitation and the Loch Ness Monster. But now that I'm old and skeptical, I just have a hard time believing in those cryptozoological organisms. That goes for claims of the continued existence of once living organisms like Thylacines and Ivory-billed Woodpeckers too. What all of these claims have in common is an inability to provide the simplest of physical documentation or irrefutable photographic evidence. The only thing remarkable about them is that this sort of rubbish still gets news coverage. This week the remains of bigfoot was discovered in northern Georgia. A press conference was held in Palo Alto, California, but get this, none of the physical evidence they had photographed was brought along for examination, and the alleged DNA work was inconclusive. Sounds like HORSE SH*T to me! Do you know that the word gullible isn't in the dictionary? 

The first image is the Georgia bigfoot currently residing in an icebox at some undisclosed location. The second image is of a bigfoot I saw earlier today rooting around in some bushes near my Tucson apartment. There is definitely a resemblance.  Does anyone know the number for FOX news?

Go Tell Somebody

One of my favorite bands, King's X, has a new album out. Their latest release is called XV, though the working title was Go Tell Somebody. With fourteen tracks, the album's 54 minutes are a nice collection of moods and grooves. Few of the tunes are instant grabbers, but with just a few listens, their magic really shines through.  I've been  finding myself humming the various melodies a lot in recent weeks. This band really rocks and can make some catchy tunes. XV is full of angst, joy, sorrow, frustration, along with some great socially conscious lyrics. But most importantly, it is packed with tuneful, powerful energy. This band has a small but incredibly loyal following. They will never make it big, but as long as they are happy putting out good music and performing to their faithful, everyone is better off for it. Check them out here and on their Myspace page, and if you like what you hear, go tell somebody.

Who is more badass?

So who is it?

When I finally got around to seeing No Country for Old Men, I was struck by the relentless and unstoppable nature of the main villain, Anton Chigurh. He is pretty badass. He's sort of like a Terminator-esque cyborg. It's pretty creepy. Then that got me thinking of other movie badasses, and how they might deal with the unstoppable Chigurh. Immediately, I thought of the enigmatic figure of Keyser Söze, from The Usual Suspects. Now he was badass. He was able to get to anyone of his choosing and managed to convince the world he did not exist. And Keyser orchestrates his plan right under the noses of his pawns, masquerading as the meek Verbal Kint.

While their styles are radically different, each is successful and unstoppable to the point of being almost supernatural. And that makes for great film viewing!

What's this? Another Blog?!

So why does someone need another blog when they've already got one? Well, I really needed a place to dump the "everything else" that doesn't fit into my other one. Simple as that.

I envision this one being a place for me to vent about the frustrating things in life, to ponder gee whizzes, and to speculate about meaningless things. We'll see.