Much as I'd like to comment on this story, I really don't dare. A wheelchair? A rifle?

So, are you a music-oriented kind of person? Hate your radio? Wonder why? Watch this. Sadly, if you, like me, are a Canucklehead, you'll have to fall back on youTube. This latter version is a tad pixillated, and the sound's a bit out of synch at times, but the documentary is well worth watching.

As a side note, if you teach, wait for Branford Marsalis's remarks on his students.

Meanwhile, just for fun...

Fenced out. Which is about how things were in town today. The "excitement and glamour" of the Juno Awards pretty much tied up downtown, my favourite place to go take photographs. What are the Juno Awards, you ask? Me, too.

Somehow reminds me of the current economic crisis. But, then again, almost everything reminds me of that these days.

Not this, though. She takes nice photos.

If you haven't seen Mary Dennis's photos, you really oughta. She's good.

Something you may not have been aware of...crows really don't like owls. There must have been a couple of dozen crows screaming at one poor owl up in these trees. Something else you might not have been aware of...owls don't really care. The owl these guys were trying to intimidate was pretty much napping through a very loud, very persistent haranguing by the crows.

I don't know about you, but, lovely and charming as this scene is, I'm really hoping it represents winter's last gasp for the year.

Adjustments have been made, the screen is big, and life is good.

Watched part of a Charlie Rose interview with Henri Cartier-Bresson today. Interesting, in a somewhat strange way. Cartier-Bresson spent most of it swatting down Rose's attempts to bring "art-think" into the interview. "Why do you take pictures?" "Because I like to." O.K., no, those aren't direct quotes. But the spirit is accurate.

Zowee. My spiffy new computer arrived today. It has a 24" monitor. Hokey-smokey. But...

It's gonna take a bit of time to get it set up properly. For example, everything on the screen seems to be stretched horizontally (or, O.K., compressed vertically) and I can't figure out how to adjust that. There's no control on the monitor for it, so I suppose it's some cryptic command in Windows someplace. Oh, boy.

And, of course, I've got to reinstall my various plug-ins for Photoshop, so that'll be fun.

I really hate technology sometimes. Like now. Sigh.

Late Breaking News: I figured a bunch of stuff out. Happiness grows in leaps and bounds. Which, for example, is how quickly Photoshop now edits my D90 files. Yep, I've gone from having to wait minutes for each little change to no wait whatsoever. I'll buy that.

Two blasts from the past - "Big Night" and "Shall We Dance?". If you haven't seen either of these in a while (or ever), you really ought to go rent 'em and watch them again. And, just in case you're completely nuts, no, I don't mean the Hollywood-Richard-Gere version of the latter. Lordy! Get the original Japanese version or just keep watching "American Idol", 'cause you're obviously a pasta-with-risotto kind of person.

These are both brilliant movies that, as far as I can tell, just didn't get the respect they deserve.

Ever feel like you're one of those "separated at birth" folks?

Now, that's pruning! But, is it Art?

O.K., it's a stretch, but...leaving the protected environment? Heading on to bigger things? Ring a bell anyone? O.K., it's just down the block, but...

In case you haven't been enjoying yourself to the best of your ability every day... It really is just a hair's breadth away, you know.

Oh, it can be so depressing when your country is being run by dolts. Here's our "science" minister in action. Even when back-pedalling he shows what a dolt he is. Who in hell picked a chiropractor (if it walks like a duck, it probably speaks like one, too) to be science minister?!? Oh, wait. Riiiiiight. The Smirk - the Dolt-in-Chief.

Sadly, if you carry on down through the article, you run across the remarks of the "science" critic from the party that's second in command, and he's no better. Which is really frightening considering the guy's a former astronaut. What did he imagine got him into space? Maybe Peter Pan's "think happy thoughts, Marc"?

Here's a bulletin for these idiots - evolutionary theory is science, not religion (a.k.a. "big juju"). It involves no faith. Well, unless you want to suggest that Newtonian mechanics is somehow "faith-based" (which Space Cadet Garneau seems likely to be willing to go along with).

Aaaaaand, this just in...The former, um, guy-who-would-be-...um...something down there in the U.S. - you remember - um, yeah...um...well, anyway, he was up in Calgary to give a speech. A speech that showed he's actually got two sides (as opposed to two faces). First, there's the dumby we all know and loath: "I'm going to put people in my place, so when the history of this administration is written at least there's an authoritarian voice saying exactly what happened,'' Bush said." Now, don't you think maybe, just maybe, he meant "authoritative"? I mean, yeah, he did give every indication of wanting to establish an authoritarian regime in America when he was in office, but...

Secondly - and this comes as a surprise to me - he showed more class than his former Retardlican colleagues in refusing to criticize Obama. He even went so far as to say that Obama deserves the support of Americans: ''I think it is essential that he be helped in office.''. Who'd'a thunk?

I got nuthin'.

But, just for controversy's sake (and to spread a little Hobsonian mayhem), what kind of photographer would write something like this: "Whatever your origins, once you begin to study the compositions of the masters, you will see opportunities in the real world, where blurred antelopes become brushstrokes, a foggy ridge becomes a Sumi painting, or leaves blowing in a snowstorm are a Seurat come to life." I don't know, but, if I wanted to paint, I'd paint, not photograph. And you'll notice that he doesn't cite any masters of photography, his chosen medium. Interesting.

Of course, this is also the guy who sees nothing wrong with using cloning in Photoshop to turn a herd of 10 animals into a herd of 100, sooooo........

The label for this file is "caged", for fairly obvious reasons. Don't you wish Dork could be, too? His respect for the law, after all, is unquestionable.

As for his boss, the Late-Great-Idiot-in-Chump, he evidently wants to set up a "think tank". O.K., guess which part of that small phrase he doesn't actually understand. I'll give you a hint - it's not the noun.

Just another shot from the "Spring That Would Be Winter" series.

Speaking of which, go see "The Necessities of Life". Excellent movie.

O.K., I'm probably not the only person who saw Jon Stewart's major slapdown of Jim (I'm a Crooked Idiot Pandering to Scum-Sucking Thieves) Cramer, right? Was that fun or what?!? If you didn't, head on over to the Comedy Central website (or The Comedy Network, if you, like me, are a Canucklehead) and watch.

For a walk on the "up" side of humanity, buy this book. Or, sign up for the pledge here.

So many ways to look at the world, so little time.

I have no idea what I mean by that, but...

I was thinking of titling this, "Profile with Chopsticks", but...

Meanwhile, are you, like me, shocked - shocked! I say - at this bit of news? Frankly, I'm struck dumb. That's "dumb" as in "mute" as opposed to "dumb" as in having an I.Q. somewhat lower than that of the average Coenorhabditis elegans. Can't wait to see how the little Tripper's doin' in 2012. Poor little guy - neither nature nor nurture is going to do him much good. Kindergarten may just be the peak of his intellectual career.

Another shot from my stroll through the forest yesterday. No snow today, but...wowee! was it ever cold! Given that this is March in Vancouver, I'm not impressed.

Whine, snivel...

March. Snow. Gees. This is not (as I think I've mentioned before) supposed to happen here. Purdy, though, huh?

Out in "Naycher" today. Figures. I am, after all, a biologist (more or less) who teaches biology and works with - surprise! - other biologists, also teaching biology. I am not, however, a botanist. If I were, I'd know whether or not this bull-rush is seeing off its seeds too late.

Well, in case anyone actually needed it, one more reason to run, and run fast, away from the Republican party. I especially liked this quote: “I’m very spontaneous,” he said, comparing working with him to riding a roller coaster without knowing when the next dip or curve might come. “Be prepared; you have no idea,” he said. “Just buckle up and get ready to go.”

Yeah, that's what you want in a party aiming to guide a large organisation (i.e. the U.S.) through troubled (or even good) times - a leader who's going to change course on a whim. Yep. Makes me feel all warm and secure. How 'bout you?

Just so everyone's clear on this, "graphic novel" = "comic book". O.K., now, if you absolutely must, go forth and watch yet another CGI-fest built on, you got it, a comic book.

Ah, another unintentional connection. As in, I'll betcha the Republicans (a.k.a. the "Got the morals of a swamp rat? The spine and I.Q. of a small, slime-dwelling invertebrate? You're our kind of people!" party) would like to put them to Rush "Call Me Pimpmeister!" Limbaugh. Or am I giving them too much credit? Hmmmm...you're right - I am.

Of course, this is the party that thinks that Barack Obama got elected solely on the basis of his skin colour. His intelligence? What? His evident concern for his country? What's that got to do with getting elected? His equally evident concern for average people (You know - the ones the Reps would like to think Joe the Not-Actually-a-Plumber represents?)? Why...th...they...they're just little people! What do they matter?

And there are actually people who support this party, right? I mean, really? It's not just a sick rumour? I stand (well, at the moment, to be totally truthful, I sit) amazed.

I also love that they picked a guy named Steele as their party chair. "Please, Mr. Limbaugh, I know I'm the leader of the Republican party and you're just (well, "just" - that's so harsh a word) a...an...an idio...er, I mean, entertainer, and I know I called you bad names and said you might not be a very nice person (and implied that you weren't necessarily too bright), but, please, I'm sorry! Really I am! Really, really, really very, very, very sorry." Maybe Uri Geller is Mr. Steele's chiropractor (I'm assuming that, being Republican, he'd be dumb enough to have a chiropractor).

Ah, I could go on and on, but...hello, I must be going.

It's not my fault, O.K.?

Meanwhile, here in my little town, all hell seems to have broken loose. Ghostbusters! Where are the Ghostbusters (or Elliot Ness) when you really need them?

Gotta love the Mounties. They hire none but the finest minds. "I thought the man who was three or four inches shorter than me, 30 pounds lighter, not wearing a Kevlar vest, nor armed with anything other than a stapler (well, O.K., "armed" might be a bit of an exaggeration, but...), and all on his own, while I was carrying a riot baton and a high-powered handgun, along with, of course, a Taser, was a threat to not only my safety, but that of the other 3 officers with me, all of whom, of course, were similarly armed and larger than the, um, guy we ki...er, the guy who unfortunately wound up deceased. So, I did what anyone would do in a similar situation. I hit him 5 times with my Taser." Yep - brave, rational, up-standing officer of the law.

Wow! As if further proof of the Republican party's intellectual bankruptcy was necessary, there's this. Frankly, this is mind-boggling. Which means that I have no way of describing just how low these people have sunk. And, for the people who suck up this swill? Nope. Can't be done. "Stupid" doesn't come close. "Hypocritical"? N'uh-uh. There simply are not words. I really wish there were. At least then I could think that I'm talking about human beings, but...these folks are from a completely different species. Richard Nixon was a fine, up-standing citizen by comparison.

Just found this little sequence of quotes from Michael Steele:

"Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. His whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it's incendiary. Yes, it's ugly."
-- RNC Chairman Michael Steele

"I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh. I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."
-- Michael Steele, two days later

"I realized words that I said weren't what I was thinking. It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently."
-- Michael Steele, in a further clarification"

Aaaaand, provided I manage to do this right, Letterman's take on Rush.

Yep, all photographs on this blog are guaranteed MSG-free! Aren't you glad?

I'm ignoring, of course, for the sake of a cheap visual joke, the fact that MSG does nothing to people.