Chamblee54

This content was published October 6, 2008. … I made it back from the Fall Gathering, and knew, as Dorothy had before me, that there is no place like home. The Gathering was a delight…fabulous food, visual delights, mountain air … but returning to indoor plumbing was equally festive. The yellow jackets swarming on the porch, at lunch, will not be missed. How anyone could admire such a vile animal is tough to understand. … I did learn a thing or two this week. Setting your camera to a lower resolution will get you more pictures, but they will not be nearly as good. While this will provide plenty of editing fodder, sometimes you catch a good image, and wish for quality.
There is a formula for writing. It is ass plus chair. A lady told me that, about having the patience to move beyond blog posts into longer work. I got to talk to her because I asked permission before taking her picture. … When you walk in on a acting workshop, you are in danger of being cussed out. The fact that you did not know the playback theater was in progress does not matter. You will go the rest of the week wondering what it was you walked in on. When you are a veteran of Faerie Gatherings, you learn to take these things in stride.
When you leave a tent open with food inside, a goat might go inside and look for a snack. If you have your camera ready, it can be a photo opportunity. The goats did appreciate the weeds that I fed them. There was a stone staircase that had fallen into disrepair, and I spent Friday pulling weeds off the stones. This is a place where men are men, and the goats are happy. … Friday night, there was an Indian dinner prepared by Frenchmen. Somebody took the kitchen and turned it into a Belle Epoque nightclub, and took a long time talking it up at the dinner circle.
Finally you get inside, walk past the can can dancers, and get your meal. I thought it all a bit much, so I went to the fire outside, and talked to a young man. After a while, I went back to the kitchen, and joined the chorus dancing to “Save all your love for me”. Life is good. Late Saturday afternoon, I was bored before dinner, until I saw a drum without a fresh handprint. Drumming is tough to do wrong, and takes almost no practice. The energy was soon there, through another fabulous meal, more drumming, and a techno dance. At one point a burst of synthetic basstones formed a lightening bolt that ignited the lumbar region. At that moment, I was no longer in control.
This content was published October 8, 2008. … During the debates, JSM has repeatedly touted Nuclear Power as a solution to our energy needs. Perhaps this talk needs a second look. There is a lot of money involved in Nuclear Energy. The plants are very expensive to build. There is a lot of potential for profit, and opportunities for moneylenders to earn interest. With this much at stake, it is not unreasonable to think that someone is paying JSM to promote Nukes. The capital intensive nature of Nukes brings up another problem. Nuclear Power=Big Government With billions of dollars invested, the banks are going to make sure they get a return on their investment.
With this much money involved, Big Government is going to get involved. The safety issue is also a factor. Yes, Nuclear Power is safe. However, there is a need for constant oversight. The potential for disaster is immense. The process needs to be heavily regulated. With the companies trying to show a profit, the temptation to cut corners, and bribe the regulators, is going to be there. With global … and potentially domestic … terrorism a fact of life, the nuclear fuel needs to be constantly watched. Again, this is a job for Big Government.
While Nukes are nominally safe if handled properly, the potential for disaster is huge. There are stories of materials so toxic, that a mass the size of a softball could give the world cancer. While the systems can work well, the potential for corruption, corner cutting, and old fashioned human error cannot be forgotten. … Did someone say that Nuclear Power is expensive? Money is not the only scarce commodity required in bulk by Nukes. Water is also required in vast quantities for a Nuclear Power Plant to operate. The energy from a nuclear reaction is converted into electricity by boiling water to power steam turbines.
This is the same steam technology that has been used since the start of the industrial revolution. The nuclear reaction produces vast amounts of heat, which water is used to cool. With water an increasingly scarce commodity, the allocation of vast amounts for a Nuclear Power plant must be questioned. … It should be noted at this point that I am not a scientist. I am just a slacker with internet access. It is also true that coal fired power plants have horrendous environmental issues, and pump millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. I honestly don’t know what the answer is.
I recently spent a week at a community with solar power. There were constant reminders to use the juice sparingly. I tried to recharge my cell phone, and the system was not strong enough to do so. While solar can reduce the dependence on “the grid”, it is not going to completely replace it. But then, maybe we could do well to use less energy. We have gotten spoiled, like the man who wants an emerald green lawn in October. We can live simply, so that others can simply live.
This content was published September 25, 2009. … Sometimes, the “legitimate” newspapers make the tabloids look tame. Blogs can cover both “real” news and tabloid trash with equal lack of profits. … The mayor of East Cleveland (presumably in Ohio) is a man named Gary Brewer. He is in an election, and somehow pictures of him in drag have been inflicted on the population. The man is too ugly to be seen in public, no matter what gender his clothing was intended for.
Mackenzie Phillips was promoting a book on the Oprah Winfrey show. Miss Phillips opened her mouth, and her lips moved. A sordid tale of incest and drug abuse came forth. … One night, Papa John said to honor Mama Cass by making a ham sandwich. … Mackenzie’s step mother, Michelle Phillips, said that Mackenzie was probably lying. Michelle Phillips had previously sent a letter to People magazine, where she expressed the hope that Papa John’s attempt at rehab number nine would work better than the previous eight. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the social media picture in October 1939. “Main building at trailer park containing cafe and grocery. North Beach section, Corpus Christi, Texas” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah