...more recent posts
OK, I know everybody's starving for bird news, so here's a little insight on the vagaries of bird watching.
The article by John R. Quinn on the origins of golf course geese (AKA "Couch potato geese" AKA "Lawn carp"), which I was discussing with Alex, has disappeared from the Web. Fortunately I printed it out, so here's a relevant excerpt:
"In his [Audubon magazine] article 'The Geese That Came in from the Wild,' Jack H. Hope says that [golf course geese] (1.2 million birds in the East alone) now outnumber true wild geese by some 50%. The local honkers have their origins not in an accident of nature, Hope says, but--are you ready for this?--through the actions of government agencies. He notes that multitudes of the 'giant' race of Canada goose were held captive in the early 20th Century by former market hunters as live hunting decoys and in the 1930s, when the practice was outlawed, were either eaten, released into the wild, or sold. 'The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with most state wildlife agencies... bought thousands [of captive Canada geese], primarily from private flocks, and began captive breeding programs[...],' he writes, adding that over successive generations of captivity, the semi-tame geese, when released, had lost the instinct to migrate and seldom moved more than 50 miles from their birthplace. These 'farm-raised' birds were released to augment the populations of wild geese, which were in fact in decline due to hunting and habitat loss."
--from John R. Quinn, "The Canada Goose: Too Much of a Good Thing?" Nature Notes, HMDC - The Meadowlands of New Jersey (web publication)
according to drudge, 'It' is called 'Segway' and is a self-balancing people mover...
us NJers have to dial : 1-201- (or 973 etc.) starting today to make local calls. That means those w/ dial up modems must add the prefix to connect.
this from DD on Gibby from NYPress..........
now available in mocha
bye george.
2 Copyright Cases Decided in Favor of Entertainment Industry
am i blue?
The Village Voice's Michael Musto is probably my favorite gossip columnist. He's got more drag-queen news than I've got use for, and he may not get the Imelda Marcos scoops that Cindy Adams does, but he manages to straddle the divide between mainstream and demimonde in a rare manner. And there's a real person somewhere under there; today he has a right-on rumination on 9/11 and after.
PBS does Sun Records tonight.
News of Corporate America, Where The Few Enjoy Lavish Lifestyles in Exchange for Low Pay for Employees and Bad Products and Services for the Public, Installment 38999:
Excite@home has petitioned the Bankruptcy Court to void its Internet service contracts, effective Nov. 30, with Comcast, AT&T, and other providers of cable internet service to a total of 4 million customers (including yours truly). I just got a very lame email from Comcast giving me their backup plan "in the unlikely event" my email, webspace, and Internet service are suddenly rendered inaccessible: (1) Back up my website to CD or hard drive. (2) Set up a "temporary" ISP account with NetZero via phone modem.
That's rich! Five months ago Excite@home's supercilious technicians were trying to get me to disconnect my NetZero phone connection so I could "get better service with my cable."
Some of you may remember Hellen, Edgar Oliver's sister and my girl friend back in the 80's in the EV. Hellen Carson Oliver's middle namesake was a 2nd cousin C. McCullers. The magazine version has a photoportrait of CM. HCO's physical resemblance is strong.
I'm starting to get my very own Disturbing Search Requests! Samples from my log: "thumbnails of people living in slum environments"; "musical play about a Morrocan (sic) guerrilla group." Google indexed every post from 2001 on the same page (my URL/date/2001), so there's a huge pool for random word combos.
Liberty State Park News
Liberty State Park is a vast amount of open land, reclaimed from old industrial and railroad land, facing the Statue of Liberty in New Jersey. Walking through the (barely-used) facility most days is quite eerie (and beautiful): the lower Manhattan skyline appears to be sitting all by itself in an empty field.
Unfortunately, developers have been salivating to carve up the land since the park's inception. They apply constant pressure to put in water parks, golf courses, amphitheatres, and other money-making ventures--so far with no results, thanks to vigilant friends of the park.
Recently, though, I've noticed three separate encroachments on the park's open space. After the 9/11 tragedy, a triage area was set up in the old railroad station, but the anticipated flood of emergency cases never materialized--it's now something called the "WTC Family Assistance Center." This occupies a small amount of space, but for some reason a huge adjacent section of the park (including a pedestrian bridge along the Hudson) was made inaccessible through barricades and permanently stationed cops. Park benches, walkways, and waterfront have all been cordoned off. Not to be unpatriotic, but I can't see any purpose for the land-grab, other than "because we can."
Another big chunk of grassy land was torn up next to the Marina for a permanent parking lot; during working hours it's used as a bus transfer and pickup point, but the rest of the time it just sits there. This huge expanse of asphalt was "prettified" with little stunted pine trees held up with stakes, and hundreds of feet of plastic white picket fence.
Finally, within the last week, "Mount Liberty" suddenly appeared in the landscaped area across from the bus lot. This twenty-foot-high, hundred-foot-long mound of dirt--fill material for some as yet unspecified project--was just plopped on top of the grass (the same spot where I saw the pheasants a few months back). It's covered with straw and some kind of turquoise powder, and fenced in with crappy-looking sheets of plastic. In order for dumptrucks to access it from the cobblestone road, white gravel was poured willy-nilly on the grass.
I hate to say it, but giving the public a park and then taking it away whenever it's convenient is just low-class; New Jersey ought to be capable of better.
pink cadillac
Pravda he said she said
the tide is high
Weasels at the Helm
From "Today's Papers" on Slate:
Rumsfeld said that the U.S. plans to "incentivize a large number of people to begin crawling through those tunnels and caves." The plan is being broadcast over Afghanistan and dropped in leaflets:
"Attention people of Afghanistan! Up to $25 million reward is being offered for information leading to the location or capture of Osama bin Laden or Aiman al-Zawahiri."
Catty Kitt
Quote of the day (from Page Six) has second-string Catwoman Eartha Kitt, who almost ruined her career in the 60s by publicly opposing the Vietnam War, opining:"This war against the terrorists in Afghanistan is nothing like Vietnam. I support this war unequivocally. We were attacked on our soil. We have to bomb these people until we teach them not to hate us."
On the road to NOLA
I'm packing up the computer and Yoyo the geriatric cat to drive to New Orleans. I'd like to fry up a turkey while I'm there.
more ...
just (randomly) heard our friend phoebe doing the voiceover in a visa ad for the winter olympics. its about snowboarding in the wasatch valley with a remake of Surfin USA as the soundtrack. nice work if you can get it.