February 18, 2007
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SUNDAY GOOD NEWS
It’s
another grey damp day in Portland, Oregon and don’t get me wrong I’m
not complaining about the weather (having been in frequent touch with a
friend in Rochester, New York who hasn’t seen anything but snow in
weeks). But between the grey and the news of Britney’s newly bald head,
and the failure to pass the resolution in the Senate against the war
that wasn’t even binding, and the effect of watching Spike Lee’s
beautiful film on Katrina the past few days on DVD, and just the
general crapitude of the season of late winter, I went looking for
something far out, unique, and magical while humming hare krishna hare
krishna krishna krishna hare hare. And I found the Lord God Bird (the
holy grail of rare birds). Also known as the ivory-billed woodpecker,
the last time it was spotted for sure was in 1944, but 60 years later
in 2004 a “possible” sighting in Arkansas captured on video with the
drumming sounds the bird makes got birdwatchers all in a dither again.
So this month they came up with the world’s first robotic twitcher.
This is a pair of smart video cameras that point at the sky in the
region where the sighting occurred. These have software that activates
when a bird flies over and filters out false positives like falling
leaves. They’re even programmed to how fast the bird flies (20-40 mph).
This will save humans having to sit in the bayous during mosquito and
snake season or freeze their butts (if not die from boredom) during the
cold Arkansas winter. And don’t ask me why it’s called a “twitcher” -
I’m no robot expert. If they nail it down on camera, the news will
probably be beat out by Anna Nicole Smith, but I’m going to keep my ear
to the ground. I sure do need a shot of magic.
Deep Thought:
“If you’re being chased by an angry bull, and then you notice you’re
also being chased by a swarm of bees, it doesn’t really change things.
Just keep on running.”
Today I am grateful for: Slowing down.
Guess the Movie:
“Yes, proper! In another year I’ll have enough money saved. Then I’m
going to go back to my home town in Oregon, and I’m going to build a
house for my mother and myself, and join the country club and take up
golf. Then I’ll meet the proper man with the proper position, to make a
proper wife, and can run a proper home and raise proper children. And
I’ll be HAPPY because when you’re PROPER you’re SAFE!” Answer: From Here to Eternity, 1953. Winner: twoberry.
Edwards Steps out Front on Health Care
by Dean Baker
For
the people who will vote in the Democratic primaries next year, the
Iraq War will rightly be the central issue. On this topic, it is worth
noting that we already have a president who can’t admit that he made a
mistake. But, after Iraq, health care will almost certainly stand out
as the most important issue.
John Edwards
moved the health-care debate forward last week when he outlined a plan
that could provide universal coverage at an affordable price. (Rest of
article here.)
Comments (29)
I’ll be sitting here looking out at my snow-covered lawn, making a wish for you to find your shot of magic. How’s that?
Here’s to bird magic and twitchers everywhere! *wink*
yes, yes, “far out, unique, and magical” – very nice.
birds on the prairie change when the weather warms up. i’m looking forward to true(er) spring when the ones i’ve been missing return again. your entry reminded me of when i lived in Ottawa and how loud the Canadian Geese were where i lived when they left and when they returned again, thousands landing and spending weeks on the Ottawa river near my house and how at first when i moved there i hated their cacophony and when i left how desperately i missed them.
Spike Lee’s series on Katrina was very moving. It stayed in my mind for days after I watched it.
Last year I read a book by one of the guys who got that video. Considering the habitat, I think it’s very possible for pairs of this bird to still exist. I devoutly hope so. Of course, that painting by Audubon is one of the reasons it’s endangered. Do you know he would often kill 100 birds for just one painting? There’s no need for that.
Here is wishing you your shot of magic!!! Good luck.
I love the email read by Howard Kurtz on CNN yesterday: “All this TV coverage on Anna Nicole Smith gives new meaning to the term ‘boob tube’.”
I’ll guess “Sometimes a Great Notion” even though I think the Lee Remick character was from Colorado, not Oregon, but at least the movie takes place in Oregon and it’s the only movie I can think of that’s set in Oregon.
magic is welcome here…that’s for sure.
Especially when under stress, I’ve found myself Our Fathering, Hail Marying, and chanting Hare Krsna.
Amazing sighting! it was estimated that by 1938, only 20 individuals remained in the wild, located in the old-growth forest called the Singer Tract in Louisiana, where logging rights were held by the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company (CMLC). The company then brushed aside pleas from four Southern governors and the National Audubon Society that the tract be publicly purchased and set aside as a reserve,….and clearcut the forest. By 1944 the last known Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a female, was gone from the cut-over tract. In Michigan in the middle to late 1800′s we had 23,000,000 acres of virgin pine (red and white)…by the 1920′s there was 70 acres left! (A preserve donated to the state by a gentleman named Hartwick) Hartwick Pines has dwindled to less than 40 acres naturally as of today. It seems as if the entire history of mankind has been one of shortsightedness! Isn’t it ironic?… That the capitalists can’t just be happy with making their millions of $$….but; must rape and pillage (all) the land…insisting on not leaving the general public ‘any legacy’ for our children?
Hoping you find your shot of magic. My icy magic has now melted….although I am glad it is warmer, I miss my shimmering trees.
*sparkle
Here’s hoping that bird does exist, and thrives and multiplies. I would go for that for sure.
The movie quote, I think you stumped everyone…
Clue on movie – think Donna Reed.
“From Here to Eternity.”
Sounds like Donna’s character, except I thought she was from Iowa, not Oregon.
I hope you find your magic. Being without a job lately I look out my window a lot. I have seen so many birds. Not that one though. Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Yay – you got it! I’ve got to watch that movie again. From Here to Eternity.
I am very lucky… they tell me I don’t have an addictive personality. I am happy for that, but I don’t understand the addictive personality so I probably should keep my mouth shut at times. : {
But I thought the fun of it was supposed to be “sitting in the bayous during mosquito and snake season or freezing their butts off!”
seems this is drawing..very beautiful bird..
I was reading something the other day that said that Oregon was the second-fastest growing state – just behind Nevada. Eeek.
Thanks for dropping by… I have seen several woodpeckers, as well as finches and the occasional red bird… I am sure that is not what they are called, red birds, but it is what my mother always called them.
Hugs, Tricia
Have a great weekend!
RYC: Even though I gripe about the cold weather at times I really do love the changing of the seasons. Spring and fall have to be my favorites. I love all of the freshly blooming flowers in the spring and take delight in the gorgeous fall show of colors as the leaves turn.
*sparkle
read your rules of thimb..find it very inspiring..but can we really choose to be happy? isn’t it like most other emotions a react to an event or thought but not a state of being ? and how much is it under our control? sometimes in my bad mood i think anti-depressant and their marketing is encouraging a society of “happy” people.
I happened across your blog on swawg’s. You have some sweet animal pictures on here.
Hey there. Just swingin’ by – you doing okay in the snow??? Giggle.
The TheFlowerDoctor said it well. Now we wait for the extinction of the Polar Bear.
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My Dear InXanga,
A decade ago I conveyed explicitly that you might not be a pastime of mine.
However, in the 3rd year of abjuration announcement having been made, I have started to embrace you in my bosom.
There is a dichotomy between my being eloquent and being reticent. Whenever I have the former the latter conquers it, and vice versa.
Whenever I have the former I simply improvise.
Occasionally I have the latter on the grounds of feeling impoverished.
I hate to love and love to hate to reveal those spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings to those throngs of retarded learners in most schools in our pestiferous education system which lacerates multitudes of educators such as myself.
They are given publicly masturbating learners.
They are offered diabolically lascivious learners.
They are provided with bloodthirstily pugnacious learners.
They are granted ecstatically adrift learners.
It is a slur to the word “learners” although educators cajole these wretches persistently.
My dear dear xanga,
My fatigue is claiming my psyche
My intrigue craves its autonomy