Thoreau Back Again

It seems, for some reason, as though we keep finding old Henry useful in some way. Imagine that. It has been reported that Thoreau's notes are now being used to compare the flora during the mid 19th century, conveniently situated just as the industrial revolution was gearing up, to modern flora patterns. Researchers found that flowers are blooming on average seven days earlier, and that 27% of the species around Concord during Thoreau's life have vanished. "It’s targeting certain branches in the tree of life. They happen to be our most charismatic species — orchids, mints, gentians, lilies, iris." Great. Out of the 21 species of orchid that Thoreau identified in the Concord area, only seven can now be found. This does not sound good for my recent searches, along with my friend Phil, for triphora trianthaphora. The last time that it was spotted, at least that I could find, in east central Kansas was in the early seventies by Lawrence Magrath. Oh well, at least the orchid hunting is good--the finding, not so much.

Pack'd Like Sardines

I have been reading yet another story on illegal border crossings between Mexico and the United States. The story details the meetings of families and acquaintances across a chain link fence near San Diego and the U.S. government's plan to further fortify that barricade. I can't help but think of fences put up in order to protect highways and interstates from "illegal" animal crossings in front of vehicles. If you, for some reason, should want to follow my reason, so it goes: a group of people moves into a portion of land, pushes others out of that portion of land, then draws imaginary lines on a map and calls them borders of that portion of land; they then build barricades along that line because that line has become part of history after being an imaginary line for hundreds of years; after this hundreds of years, this group of people believes that they may prevent the migration of another group of people. So all of this may sound over-simplified, but most things must start at the base before building. We must be careful lest what we think is freedom turns out to be greed.

Weston Irish Festival

Last weekend was beautiful for a bit o' the Irish music. Weston, Missouri held it's 9th annual Irish music festival centered around O'Malley's pub. If you have never been to O'Malley's, it's worth the trip. I was first in line and first to get into the pub in order to get my favorite seat to watch my favorite band there, Flannigan's Right Hook. I then secured a liter mug of Guinness and watched people file into the dark limestone vaulted music hall. I have not seen a better place for setting the Irish music mood--of course, I have not been to Ireland yet.


So, in case you missed it, here are a couple videos of Flannigan's Right Hook:



The Devil Went Down to Georgia:



After Flannigan's Right Hook I climbed back to the light to catch a couple bands on the outdoor stage, finishing the evening with the Elders.

Ralph

I attended last night a Ralph Nader rally at Abe and Jake's Landing. After first making sure that White Owl was in attendance (I don't know what gang sign he is flashing), I proceeded to the business of the evening. I am not saying that I am voting for Nader this year, but I do live in Kansas. That means that our electoral votes are going to go Republican, and a vote for Nader is not going to be a vote for McCain in this state (when the major news stations spin it that way, unfortunately they are ignoring Kansas' unique situation--business as usual). If I lived in Missouri, I might advise against voting for Nader. But since I am in Kansas, attending a Nader rally is a worthwhile expedition.

I found Nader to be different from the two main candidates because there was no double talk. If he said something at the beginning of the speech, he still had the same idea about it at the end. Another difference: Nader many times gave the crowd more than the usual Dem/Repub gloss over job. He usually gave a list of facts and steps towards solutions for any suggested change. So without further ado, here is a picture and a couple videos I took during the rally.


A clip on industry:

And one on taxation:

From the hills

It turns out that Republican McCain supporters and Democratic Hillary supporters can mix, but the offspring may be scary. Warning: this clip contains material not suitable for youngsters, hillbillies, and those not comfortable with naughty words. So if you don't fit into those categories, you can find an entertaining video here.

My favorite part is when the guy driving throws his beer can on the ground and says, "I'll peeck that up latur fur ya."

A New Goddess

Given the frequency of news and blog posts on the current presidential campaigns, I wanted to find something other than politics for my first post. There is now a new goddess, in human form, who has been chosen in Nepal. The girl is now three years old and she will hold the post and live in a temple in Katmandu until the time that she reaches puberty, at which time she must relinquish her post. I have to wonder what the mental repercussions of such status would be--these would be some of her most formative years. After she reaches puberty someone is going to have to deal with a girl who has lived some years being treated like a goddess. It sounds like a bad high school (or Nepal's equivalent coming of age) experience waiting to happen. Now that that is out of the way, politics are fair game.