March 9, 2021 · 22:13

The Great Cicada Fiasco

The cicadas are coming again this year (And Dr. Okorafor is a most wonderful writer, in case you’ve somehow missed her work):

I have memories of seeing cicadas when I was a kid, probably when we visited relatives on the East Coast when I was a pre-teen. I was freaked out a bit by their appearance, but mesmerized and enraptured by their singing.

Eight years ago we were in Virginia Beach during one of the cicada brood’s hatching and I wrote about going cicada hunting, unsuccessfully. And while that afternoon was pleasant (family, food, wine, chocolate) the somewhat hilarious memory that always comes back to me is how the Long Suffering Niece In Training #2, sitting in the back seat, kept asking every half hour or so, “Where are we going?” She hadn’t been in on the planning but had been invited along and figured we had some sane, rational, entertaining destination in mind.

I kept replying, “We’re going hunting for cicadas,” which while 100% truthful, when combined with my (well earned) reputation as “Funcle Paul,” someone who you usually took seriously at your own risk, combined to make the question on repeated iterations, “No, REALLY, where are we going?” The fact that everyone else in the car kept giving her the same answer probably had her ready to jump out and hitchhike home.

I guess it’s sort of a bizarre, humorous take on the Cassandra story combined with the little boy who cried wolf.

So, when we eventually bailed on my quest, found a place for a nice lunch at a winery, found a specialty chocolate store, and had a wonderful time, but all without ever seeing or hearing a single cicada, The Long Suffering Niece In Training #2 still to this day probably believes that my “cicada story” was all 100% bullshit from the beginning. Even though I would, in fact, still like to see and hear the cicadas.

Probably not this year either. I guess it will just have to be more chocolate and wine (socially distanced, of course).

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Filed under Critters, Travel

March 8, 2021 · 23:42

Art – March 08th

I’ve come up with nothing to share tonight, at least at first. No great thoughts, not deep insights, no rants against the stupidity and horrors we see around us. At least, none that I feel comfortable sharing right at the moment. So just when I was about to drop back ten and punt, I remembered that at this point the proper course is to create. To make art. (Which almost certainly will be crap, but art exists for its own sake, so let’s see what happens. Sometimes we need crap.)

So take some random photo – use Photoshop or another program as a blender, a high explosive, or a paintbrush – MAKE ART.

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March 7, 2021 · 23:19

No Context For You – March 07th

Here more in the last two weeks or so than I have been in the last two years – never good, worse in these “interesting” times. All’s good (so far) but as Bette Davis said, “Getting old is not for sissies.”

Onward, to Monday!

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Filed under Deep Thoughts, Health, Photography

March 6, 2021 · 23:41

Seeing Spots

I made a tactical error today when I went to the bank. The bank on Saturday has a ***HUGE*** line. There were 12-15 folks on the pre-assigned socially distanced spots on the sidewalk outside, and once I got inside there were probably 25-30 more before we finally got to one of the two tellers (leaving four of the six teller locations vacant and unoccupied, but that’s a different rant) to do my business.

Thank god they had this vital piece of information in that long line…

That wisdom was worth the hour and a half.

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Filed under Farce, Photography

March 5, 2021 · 22:56

Barren Tree, Blue Sky

A month ago I was struck by the contrast between the white bark and barren branches of a tree in the neighbor’s yard and the deep shade of cloudless blue sky behind it.

Rather than ingest a recreational pharmaceutical (legal here now, not that I use it – honestly, I don’t, I’m a pretty boring dude about such things) and sit and contemplate the nature of the universe, I did what I usually do – I grabbed the camera.

Light & shadow, bright white bark & deep blue sky – as Ferris said…

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March 4, 2021 · 22:18

A Simple Experiment

I was doing a lap around the backyard in the dark (my watch had bitched at me about sitting too long, and it was correct) and I was looking up at Orion and Sirius and Aldebaran. It was clear, the moon isn’t up yet, they were gorgeous – as always. I thought about going in and getting my tripod and good camera and setting things up, but I’ve got deadlines to meet and I needed to get back inside…

Could I use my iPhone, handheld, no tripod, no other apps? Of course not! It’s just an iPhone 8, and while I hear that the iPhone 12 can do really well with low-light astrophotography (and the Pixel 5 is supposed to be amazing?) and the iPhone 13 is going to be even better, a phone that’s coming up on four years old couldn’t ever… Could it?

That’s an assumption.

How hard would it be to test?

It turns out that answer is, “Yes – and no, but mostly no.” The biggest problem is getting it the camera to focus, it doesn’t have anything solid to grab ahold of. But if you can lock the focus, you can get something that at least shows Sirius (middle right), the four “feet and shoulder” stars of Orion as well as the “belt” stars, Aldebaran on the right, and Procyon near the top. That’s something like six of the dozen brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere (one of the reasons the winter sky is so easy to find your way around, and so spectacular looking) so it’s cool that they DO register, but like the dancing bear, it’s not that they do it well, but that they do it at all that’s impressive.

Once the focus is locked you can try to manually fiddle with the exposure and brightness, but that seems to mainly cause a lot of noise as the image sensor gets overloaded.

At least that picture brings out the orange color of Betelgeuse (top left star in Orion, still hasn’t gone supernova…) where the first picture didn’t show any of the colors.

So, that answers that. Perhaps before they fade into the spring sky I can get a night where I’m not getting my ass kicked by deadlines and I’ll bring out the good gear to play with.

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Filed under Astronomy, Photography

March 3, 2021 · 23:24

A Moment Of Zen – March 03rd

February is normally the rainiest month of the year in Southern California – this year, for only the eighth time since they started recording weather records in 1877, zero measurable rain was recorded in Los Angeles.

We had the slightest of showers today, more like drizzle with attitude at best.

Mainly it was just gray and gloomy all day. But I went out late this afternoon, just before sunset, and found a few blue spots poking through.

Still cool, still damp, but a happy little bit of color and sky. I also got to chat (okay, we yelled across the street at each other) with my neighbor, checking in to make sure we’re all healthy and staying sane.

That was nice too.

Looking forward to the days when again I can cross the street to chat face to face, you know, like normal folks used to do.

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Filed under Photography, Weather

March 2, 2021 · 21:39

Simply Detritus

A couple of weeks ago I posted some pictures of “Detritus Art” that I found in the parking lot at our hospital, where folks were leaving behind stickers that identify them as having passed through the COVID screening at the hospital entrance.

Today I was back at the hospital and found that all of those stickers had been removed. I found a few stuck to the ground here and there, but for the most part it they were all gone.

Except…

Something about this just bugs the shit out of me. It’s wrong. It’s going to harm this poor plant which is just trying to mind its own business and photosynthesize in peace.

Not cool, man…

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March 1, 2021 · 23:03

The Doctor Welcomes March

Because March is warm and sunny (so far, small sample size) and Doctor Lizardo loves it when it’s warm and sunny!

Doc L is adjusting well to having a different car parked in his favorite spot. He was very used to the Volvo being there, it was lower to the ground and afforded him some protection from the “Death From Above!” hawks and crows.

Now he’s a bit more exposed, but also getting a bit more sun, so it’s a tradeoff he’s willing to make.

As before, he seems willing to let me get closer than any of the other lizards in the yard will allow.

Granted, I’m using a big telephoto lens, so I’m still 7-8 feet away, but most of them scurry as soon as I come out the front door. Not the Good Doctor!

On the other hand, let’s get real! There are limits. Take that extra half step around in front and kneel down to get a closeup? That would be a big nope, he’s ready to duck under the catalytic converter for protection. My move…

I like Doctor Lizardo, he’s my favorite, so I backed up slowly and gave him his space in the sun. Who am I to be going and harshing his mellow?

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February 28, 2021 · 23:54

I Don’t Have A Cat – Or A Dog

This is the classic “I haven’t posted anything today and I’m still busier than God at 23:54 so, quick! Post a picture of my cat!” time.

But I don’t have a cat. Or a dog. And I don’t have any new pictures of the birds or lizards out in the yard.

But at least February is only five minutes away from being over.

That’s a good thing.

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Filed under Cats, Dogs