Thursday, December 21, 2006

Trees on the Rooftop--Oh My Gosh!

Well as many of you know, the upper left coast of North America, had quite a tree storm on Thursday last. Our own little contribution is two trees on the roof, but just on the end of the peak. So none in the house. We were okay, although a bit rattled. Had power by 9:30 PM that night, which meant heat, light, and cooking!! Plus the hot bath.

Will post pics as soon as I can.

Hope all you other upper left coasters are doing well and have unbroken shelters.

Y

Monday, December 11, 2006

Happy Return of the Light

Well folks we haven't posted in awhile--quite a bit going on. Me sweetie and I decided to celebrate the season by switching to compact fluorescents all over the house. So a few light bulb jokes later, only one old bulb that decided to get stuck in the fixture, requiring some repair with the fixture hanging down from the ceiling. And viola--let the be much more light--although it's a bit of a yellow hue and has changed some colors. But it feels better to be using them.

The deal was $35 something as our local electric coop had bulbs at three for one.

Good news on my friend Derek, he's found a good job (better pay than I get and benefits too--how I wish).

My daughter Harvest has moved into a pretty nice apartment (has one of those gas log fireplaces, so it looks quite swanky). But she could use some help with her washer--it won't spin.

And the rest is basically the same ol' same ol'.

Y

Sunday, August 06, 2006

An attempt on Hiroshima Eve

Dear Friends,

A few thoughts, but alas not mine, emails here that I am blogging sent to me by me sweetie. The first, I have changed as much of the grammar and spelling as I can but am leaving some of the syntax intact. The person is not a native speaker of English. And then on to the seismographic (the Earth moves in mysterious ways) content, plus a very sweet picture.


Yours,

The SweetHeart of the Valley,


Y

Subject: one Greek's view of religion

STOP THE WAR NOW

Dear friends,

All we lived and tried the bitter shock from the abominable massacre against Qana, by the Israeli's forces. In this 65 non-combatant people-most of them children-lost their lives.

The martyr lands of Palestine and Lebanon have suffered great genocides and massacres by many invaders, in the name of their own god. The butchers belong to the three cosmopolitan, dogmatic religions that have been conflicted for 2,000 years for the "sacred city" of Jerusalem.

It is time to make our self-criticism in depth and find out the real cause of the disputes and wars; one of them is the three Abrahamic religions. Of course many thinking Hellenes have already abandoned the Judeo-Christianity for the idealist and naturalist Ancient Hellenic religion of 12 Gods (6 women and 6 men under the chairmanship of Zeus) At least it is a democratic and progressive and cultural religion that did not make religious wars and respects the tolerance.

It is time for the humanity to make a religious and philosophical shift toward the spiritual religions (e.g.: the Olympian, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hindu, etc). I would call it metaphysical philosophical adaptation to the new scientific and technological findings. The philosopher that invented the scientific logic and terms, the Socrates, said "One know that nothing know" I wonder how and when the different prophets and patriarchs met the god?

Nobody and never has seen the God. The religions are human intellectual structures (myths) and every people live their own myth and worship their own god or gods, according to their spiritual and psychological maturity and mentality.

The Jewish origin religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) come from a shephardic people of the Middle East. Today these religions have been surpassed. They are dangerous fossils of the past and are used by the international authority to deceive, divide and rule the people and rob their wealth.

I would say that only with the scientific research of Mother Nature we are able to enter into the secrets of the Universe and the Nature and go closer to the God (for the believers in God). Of course nobody is or will be able to unveil completely the whole mystery of the Universe and know the absolute truth. Today is up merged a common religion for all the humanity. It is the SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, when it serves and benefit the human being and the environment .

Therefore, we have to change our present way of thinking and acting, since it is unreasonable and very harmful for the psycho-spiritual and materialistic existence of the human beings. Also it is bad for the humanity as a whole, as well as destructive for the environment (see the ecological catastrophe on the beaches of East Mediterranean due to the Israeli bombing of oil tanks and refineries of Lebanon. We don't have even the logic and instinct of the tarnish crab that made great efforts to survive from the catastrophe)

The new way of thinking and doing must be based on the Logic, Humanity, Solidarity, Kindness, Nobility, Ecology, Cooperation, Peace, Direct Democracy (with dialogue and social justice), "Metron"(moderate path), Tolerance, Truth (in Science-Technology, Mass Media) etc.

The first presupposition to proceed toward the new era is to:

A/ STOP ALL THE WARS

B/ The Destruction of all Nuclear Weapons.

These nightmarish hours for Lebanon we must demand and cry: STOP THE WAR NOW

Friendly Yours,

Major Gen. Kostas Konstantinidis (Ret) Author- Columnist

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



Subject: San Andreas

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,,1804331,00.html


Quaking with excitement
Dan Glaister measures the temperature of expectancy rising over the San AnDr.eas fault

The Guardian Friday June 23, 2006

There was a palpable air of excitement among the geeks and gurus of the geological community this week. Their moment, they seemed to suggest, was finally coming. Precisely when it would arrive was the source of some speculation.

"It is fully charged for the next big event", "Yuri Fialko, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, told National Geographic.

Tom Rockwell, a geologist at San Diego State University, told the San Diego Union Tribune: "The San AnDr.eas is 10 months pregnant".

Mary Lou Zoback of the US Geological Survey agrees enthusiastically with that description. The fault's condition was, "past all reasonable estimates of when it should go", she told National Geographic.

The source of the excitement was a report in the journal Nature detailing the findings of Dr. Fialko, who has gathered eight years' worth of radar data from the European Space Agency and 20 years of information from global positioning measurements on the ground. His paper makes for uncomfortable reading, particularly if you live in southern California. Dr. Fialko calculates that since the last major earthquake on the southern San AnDr.eas Fault in 1690, which had an estimated magnitude of 7.7, the pressure has been building.

The 1287km (800 mile) San AnDr.eas fault-the most famous of California's faults, although many contend that the Hayward fault could wreak more destruction-is formed by two plates of the earth's crust grinding away at each other: the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate.

Dr. Fialko has measured the surface movement of these two plates at about 2.5cm per year. He argues that over 300 years this translates to almost 9m buried 16km down in the earth's core. With no outlet for the accumulated tension in the last three centuries, Dr. Fialko says it is likely that the pressure will be released in one blast-with the surface moving to catch up with the movement of the plates in the earth's core.

Dr. Fialko anticipates the fault, which runs from inland San Diego up to an area 50 miles (80km) east of Los Angeles, moving an equivalent 9m.

Beyond the scientific speculation, there are other clues that the fault could be limbering up for an appearance: southern California has seen an increase in the frequency of minor tremors in recent decades, a trait that appeared in the 70 years leading up to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

And just what might this release of pressure feel like? In his book A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate, the late journalist Marc Reisner recalled the grumblings and grindings of the earth's tectonic plates during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, a 7.1 biggie in the San Francisco Bay area.

"It began with a sonorous, bottom-octave moan, steadily blending with the sounds of things straining, fracturing, cracking, settling, popping, and shattering; but what I remember most vividly is the grinding, the unearthly noise of great surfaces and structures grating together."

Like many of California's earthquakes, Loma Prieta brought some good luck along with the destruction, taking place during the World Series baseball finals when the San Francisco Giants played neighbouring Oakland's Athletics.

As Reisner and others point out, had that game not been on, there might have been many more cars on the collapsing Bay Bridge that October day.

Just when and how big the future quake might be is unknown. Dr. Fialko speculates that it will match the 7.7 estimated for the 1690 quake, and as for the timing, he suggests that southern Californians are living on borrowed time.

"When the event will occur, we cannot tell," he said. "It could be tomorrow or 20 years from now, but it appears unlikely the fault can take another few hunDr.ed years of slow strain accumulation."

Back to Loma Prieta. In 1988 a panel of geologists and seismologists put the chance of a major quake on the San AnDr.eas Fault around San Francisco in the next 30 years at 28%. It came the following year.

So should we all scarper (not sure what this was originally)? Dr. Fialko, who works just north of San Diego, thinks he is safe where he is. "I think we'll stay put," he told the Union Tribune. "Compared to LA, I think we're in good shape."


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


And more about how the Earth moves in mysterious ways:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5191384.stm


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


And last but so not least, a great pic I happened to come across:

Can you tell me who these lads are? (And I hope this shows up--my computers at home are to say the least Jurassic, I hate them, but am stuck with them for now until employment).

Friday, July 14, 2006

Moths

Well some flames are best left unlit. And after a rather unkind electronic missive we have recovered, and do thank you for your concern.

Friday, June 30, 2006

July is here already!


Well so much time has passed. Not a lot of time to post. But here's an officially released Pi in the Sky Ranch photo of yours truly.


And a pic of me young son Max with the Flessas at this year's Gay Pride Parade in Portland.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

A Few Signs of Hope

Just a few items that have come across my vision in the past weeks that have me thinking, maybe the tide is turning.

The first on an article from the London Times "Bliss! Hippy days are here again Sixties survivor Donovan is back but this time, he tells John Naish, he really is going to change the world with transcendental meditation." Now I don't think I can repost the entire article even in a fair use mode, so will leave it to you to follow the link. But here a few snippets:

"After the summer festivals, he plans a meditation-promoting tour of universities in America and possibly Britain, alongside fellow high-profile proponents of TM, the film director David Lynch and the quantum physicist John Hagelin.

'“It’s the start of a world tour to reconnect and establish ties with TM groups in Australia and South Africa,” he says. “Last year saw the release of my autobiography and this year the accent will be on the jewel of the bohemian Sixties ideas — meditation. Its time is now.”'

What is good about this, is it has a public component, meditation with a purpose to bring awareness. I hope to be able to attend one. I might just be ready by then. OHM!

Next what comes is hearing about the project to reclaim the marshes in southern Iraq. This is the Eden Again project, for more information on that here's the site: Eden Again. This is their intro:

"The marshlands of southern Iraq and Iran were once the largest in western Eurasia, encompassing an area larger than the Florida Everglades. During the 1990s, a combination of upstream damming and local drainage projects resulted in their almost complete disappearance. These Mesopotamian Marshlands and their human inhabitants represent unique aspects of our cultural heritage and are vital elements of our global environmental mosaic.

The Eden Again Project was begun in 2001 by a group of Iraqi expatriates alarmed at the loss of their beloved marshlands. This website has been developed to provide more information about our project, and to educate others about the marshlands and their significance to the world. We also hope that this website will also bring together all of the organizations who are interested in restoring the marshlands and assisting the marsh dwellers to return to their native ecosystem."

As a Scot who may very well be descended from the very garden--more on that later. This project makes me tear up just thinking about it. How can we bomb the very country that is The Garden of us all?

And now through my tears for the last bit of sunshine in the rain (as it always does in Oregon--"It's raining in the sun" you know the tune). The Greek goverment has allowed that the Pantheon may be worshipped again. For more information on that visit: Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, et al.

After 5000 years, perhaps it is time to rethink the monotheistic one way thinking.

Give me that old time religion.

Yours fondly,

Y

Monday, May 22, 2006

Farout Candles


An old flame, the candlemaker, at the Street Faire. From an article in the Daily Emerald (University of Oregon student publication).


Media Credit: Zane Ritt Photo editor

John Exline shows one of his candles to a potential customer. "It's finally not raining so we're having a good time," said Exline, who has been a fixture at the fair for the past six years.


And here's the article.

All the World's a Fair By: Christopher Funk

Thursday, May 18, 2006

A Family Tradition

So as his mom sat vigil (that'd be me) at the National Guard Armory in Corvallis, young son Max rode by on the Ride of Silence to mark the passing of a friend killed on a bicycle. Does go to show that the personal is political.

Friday, April 21, 2006

A Thought on Innocence

So many good conversations with friends this week. New friends, old friends, some that you have to say why have we met now? But needed conversations for things that have been running through my head and heart for so long.

As you may know "gentle reader" September 11 is my birthday and I have been living just too stoically since then. As a hedonist that has been very difficult and not me. So many repressed feelings, no tears--until now.

It may seem strange to thank someone for bringing tears back in your life, but I must, it is the first step in healing.

In one of those conversations, I ask so what is an innocent civilian? Versus a guilty soldier? We are all innocent of the current horrors being rained down upon us--here and everywhere. When will they stop, how can we get them to stop? Are we all struggling with this?

What do you think?

Monday, April 17, 2006

Treasures from a Messy Room

So isn't this cool, glad the blogspot can handle it. Will send this link to the Donovan Portal soon. Found so much good stuff, and the Star Trek toys are back on their shelves, clean and happy. Although some missing a few parts that the vacumn must have gotten.


Hugs to all,


Yaney

Friday, April 14, 2006

A Good Friday Post

So much has happened since the last bit of musing. A trip to Vancouver BC area for the Solid Waste Associations of North America's trade show and symposium to a bit of jaunt over to Whidbey Island last week, what a pleasant visit. But before that lads and lassies shall I tell you of the housecleaning debacle?

Let's just say that the Pi has had some serious neglect in the straightening up dept. for the past few years and things are not less busy this year. So it all starts with Xmas. I decided to divy up the Xmas decorations amongst the kids, keeping a few for myself. Got one of those Norfolk Pines (so it's alive, just so you won't worry later). Anyway decorated the little tree, put away the boxes and didn't really think much about it until March, when I finally had time to undecorate and the last present had been handed out. Well when I went in to the decoration closet--yikes--mice had been everywhere, especially the Easter. Hence to clean the closet--ugh, get plastic storage boxes for all the decorations, etc. But that meant we had to clean the kitchen downstairs--another ugh, which led to having to clean the shelves over the washer and dryer because (I decided) you might as well have all the cleaning products in one place, instead of five! Imagine that!

However the shelves over the washer/dryer had not been cleaned for--yes two decades--very ugh. So that's my month of March all gone to cleaning--and I haven't even got to do my office (the guest room) but do have a start as all the Star Trek toys are off the shelves (except the top one), washed and dried and are just waiting to be put back on the cleaned shelves.

So am still pursuing the music, this weekend two of my faves, Eleven Eyes is opening for Sweeter than the Day tonight at the Shedd in Eugene and then tomorrow The Day will be at Squirell's in Corvallis. So it's a follow the Day weekend for me.

Next weekend, Bo Diddley at the Aladdin in Portland on Friday and the weekend after that Timothy Hull opening for Jim Page at Cosmic Pizza on the 28th. So it will be music, music, and more music. Just what your SweetHeart of the Valley needs.

Hope to see you at some of the above.

Ostara is the reason for the season.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

A Weekend of Walking for Peace--Get Your Excercise

Yes dears,

Since the wonderful folks at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., DC have not returned us from Afghanistan or Iraq, it is time to get back out in the streets to show our physical opposition to the continued occupations. Please join me this weekend all across the US but particularily in Corvallis, OR at noon on Saturday, March 18, 2006 at the Benton Co. Courthouse; and in Portland on Sunday, March 19, 2006 at 1:30--Waterfront Park (North of the Morrison St. Bridge at Oak St.). I hope to see you all there.

Now another event to consider for all of you up in the Seattle area, my friend Geoffrey Castle will be playing on Friday the 17th, at the Kirkland Performance Center. Sounds like a rousing good St. Paddy's Day event. Here's his blurb on the event:

"Geoffrey Castle's 1st Annual St. Patrick's Day Spectacular!

Geoffrey Castle - 8:00 PM

This beautiful, newly constructed 400 seat theater is in the heart of my hometown, Kirkland, and it's going to ROCK! I'll be bringing a light show by Nth Degree Creative, special guests Finn MacGinty (Suffering Gael's, Setanta) and my good friend Dan Connolly both playing guitar and singing, and there will even be an appearance by members of the internationally award-winning Comerford School of Irish Dance! It will be an evening full of fun, humour, grace, and magic, and I have insisted that they have pints of Guiness available at the concession stand.

Call the box office at:
(425) 893-9900
or check the website:
www.kpcenter.org.com"

I'd point you to his website but it's under construction at the moment. He's a great jazzy violinist and a heck of a sweet guy. So raise a pint in his honor at the Kirkland Performing Arts Center.

Y

Friday, March 10, 2006

Heavens to Murgatroid--Snow in March?!

So we woke up yesterday morning to the white stuff, and it replenished itself again this morning. I took a long time today to get off to work. It was just too pretty a picture to hurry through. Now off to a weekend of little cleaning, no following the music or cartoonists and staying up too late, but lots of time to practice the tenor, trying to get the octaves down. Play some music yourselves.

Y

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

International Women's Day Special Edition

The storm is upon us, cold rain, wind. I should say we strongly desire more warmth, less wind, etc. We are hoping that the Doug Firs do not crash down on the lowly Pi in the Sky Ranch abode. And that Doppio (the cold '79 VW van) will be able to make it home from work without being blown off the road. I think we'll take the scenic route home.

To those of you who've been bissfully out of U$ during the past few weeks, particularily in Edinburgh (we envy you) the news is that the South Dakota legislature has passed an anti-abortion bill which their governor has agreed to sign. Hence abortion will be illegal in SD. Mississippi is not far on the horizon for the same thing. That's why the coat hanger mailings may need to start again. And to all the Dems who allowed Alito--can you ever again tell me that it's all about the Supreme Court again? Hardly with a straight face!

Seems like you can never quite take a sabbatical from this stuff.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

The Day Before the Storm

Well me little oysters,

The day is alternately sunny, and hailing, and raining. We are looking forward to more warmth. Please go visit my friends's sites, especially Timothy's and Derek's--buy their CDs. Music is the greatest!

Now a bit about me--I've crossed the half century mark. I play both Tenor and Alto Sax, love Coltrane, Donovan, The Stones, and of course Mr. Bowie. Plus I've got some very special bands/folks I love in the Seattle area; Children of the Revolution for one (more on my Seattle dream band later). I've been an activist since I was 15 or since I was born in the wee town of Bishop, California. It wasn't what was in the water, it was the water.

And do listen to my radio station KBOO (link at right).

If you do go to the Donovan site--you might want to join in a couple of discussion groups/email lists that are really into him--my recommendation is this one http://groups.yahoo.com/group/donovancelticdreamweaver.

Tomorrow is International Woman's Day--to all me lasses--it's damn time to get sassy. Refugees from South Dakota anyone? Get ready for a mass coat hanger mailing. Maybe vasectomies for all male members of the South Dakota legislature and the gov., plus some pre-emptive ones for the same group of folks in Mississippi. What da ya think?

Sweetly yours,

Y




Thursday, March 02, 2006

Post the First

Well Kitties,

Here we are with a blog. Going to Ani's blog http://evolutionrevolution.blogspot.com/ made me create my own so I could post a comment to hers.

Now that I have this look forward to other posts, but it's back to work.

Y