Until next year

Whew! It's over. The Juniper Creek conference was wonderful, but it was a lot of intensity crammed into one tiny little weekend. It's Tuesday and I still feel like I'm slogging back across mud flats after being swept out by a huge wave.



It was great seeing people I met last year. Nice meeting new people. I learned a few things. I got some good feedback, good direction.
Gayle Brandeis was especially helpful. Thanks again, Gayle. Plus we sold enough copies of Ash Canyon Review to pay for the next two issues! Also, I picked up several new poetry books and journals: Hard Night by Christian Wiman, The Dumbbell Nebula by Steve Kowit, a couple of issues of The Sierra Nevada College Review, three issues of Caveat Lector, and a copy of Quercus Review. I've scattered them around the various places I sit for quiet and a cup of coffee. I've got some good summer reading ahead of me.

The best part of the conference for me however, was that my daughter attended it. I don't mind saying that, besides being a completely cool person, she is a wonderful writer. Contrary to popular opinion, moms are not disqualified from objectively knowing things like that! It was so incredible being there together as writers, friends and mom and daughter. It really doesn't get any better than that!

Juniper Creek Writer's Conference 05

We're mid-way through the writer's conference. Last night Christian Wiman, editor of Poetry Magazine, gave a nice keynote address. He addressed the pitiful irrelevance poetry has fallen to over the last several years. I couldn't agree more. The journal is the oldest in America and, since receiving a 200 million dollar endowment from a dear departed reader a couple of years ago, the richest. Maybe they'll be able to up the stakes a bit. I hope they manage to stay independent doing it. He mentioned he recently wrote an article critical of a government writing program offered soldiers returning from Iraq. He said for about a month after that his life was very uncomfortable, a bit like having Tony Soprano mad at you.

One of my poems was a finalist in the poetry contest and Christian is critiquing it in his workshop today, which is cool. I"m looking forward to hearing what he has to say about it.

Bush and the good ol boy network

What lies will Karl Rove cobble together now to save his ass? I'm sure it will be very creative. He is, after all, the master strategist that has guided Bush & Co. through so many scandals it's hard to keep track. Too bad he works for the dark side. He's a talent, that one.

Naturally, Bush flipped flopped on his promise to dismiss anyone involved in the Plame scandal. No surprise there. Bush needs Rove like the feet need the brain. Bush couldn't find his way to the bathroom without a instructions from Karl. And who better tends to Bush's chronic disorder, foot in mouth disease?

I'm so glad I don't have a television. I don't have to not watch what's not being covered by the right wing propaganda machine Fox and the other media whores parading as legitimate journalists ....... the truth about Karl Rove and Co. and his revenge on people telling it. Karl says black is white, evil is good, shit is ice cream....the media reports it and Amerrrkans believe it.

In WW2 traitors were executed. How times have changed. Now Republicans crucify Clinton for a blow job while Rove blows off the CIA and national security and gets the president's personal protection.

Bush & Rove - liars and traitors

George W(ar) Bush is a liar, a flip flopper, a promise breaker and a traitor. Karl Rove's treason has been exposed, still Bush refuses to cut him loose or turn him over to authorities. Why? Because, as he said today...

"Any individual who works here at the White House has my confidence. Everybody who is working here is helping us to advance an agenda, and that includes Karl in a big way."

Decoded, Karl Rove is the mastermind behind Bush's media success and it does require a genius to keep this idiot afloat. Too bad. America is getting reamed by loose lips and flaming assholes.

Karl Rove - mission aborted?

Excuse me while I go over the facts. Karl Rove leaked the secret CIA identity of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV's wife, Valerie Plame. He did this to send an intimidating message to any other government officials preparing to publicly tell the truth. What truth was that? That President Bush lied to the American public about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program. That President lied to get support for his invasion of Iraq. Bush was then, and is now, a liar. No surprise to me. I think the guy's psychotic anyway. Now Karl is taking the rap. What a stand up guy. I don't think so. Karl Rove is a rat bastard. He's merely being shoved in front of the oncoming train by the other, bigger rat bastards. Bush is the commander-in-chief. He's responsible for this mess. If ol' Commander Codpiece hadn't been so busy trying to cover his ass with lies none of this would have happened. Impeach the bastard! In fact, send em all to Guantanamo. After all, they are all traitors.

If the Dems let this one slip through their hands, send them too.

Polar Astronomy

Tony Travouillon is a scientist who works in some very exotic places. He also posts wonderful photos from his travels. His field? Polar astronomy. My god! I get instantly dizzy thinking about what the stars must look like from the South Pole. At least check out Dome C. There are some amazing pictures of walls of translucent blue ice, and fun ones of baby penguins and snoozing seals.

How many bombs is enough?

Saddam didn't have any WMDs but ever wonder just how many nuclear weapons the United States actually has? Hands down, we have the world's biggest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Any is too many but Bush & Co. certainly don't agree. Why should they? They make huge, private profits building, selling and buying them "for" us, to us. How many bombs do Americans currently "own"? Ben of Ben & Jerry's demonstrates the extent of America's nuclear arsenal in this very well done video. Bush doesn't want you to think about it so it must be important.

Merrily we sail along

I found this photo on a site about a hawk, Pale Male, who lives with his family on a ledge of a building along New York's Central Park. It's urban wildlife photography at it's best. Lincoln documents other critters as well, including this duck family. I think this photo is hilarious. It's not posed. They live in Central Park, not a zoo or an animal trainer's compound. I wonder who's in the boat behind them. Maybe it's a race and there is a crack team of sparrows manning the challenger craft. Or again perhaps it's a pigeon couple on a date. Notice the New Yorkers in the background. Nothing fazes them.


Ps. This month's Vanity Fair magazine includes an article on Pale Male and his mate Lola in case you want to read their story.

War

Nothing, not even victory
will erase the terrible hole of blood:
nothing, neither the sea, nor the passing
of sand and time, nor the geranium burning
over the grave.

~ Pablo Neruda

Karl Rove, American traitor

Given Bush's tendency to trip on his dick, keeping his presidential image on track requires a wizard. Up until now, Karl Rove has been just that man. He is a master of perception management, seducing public opinion with newspeak and doublespeak. I suspect he is the anonymous "senior advisor to Bush" who bragged "we are an empire now." Karl is the administration's number one expert empire builder. He is ruthless and it's worked. As the anonymous senior advisor bragged, "you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"


Unfortunately for Karl and the boys, some people have been keeping up with the lessons. Seems Karl Rove may be the one who revealed the cover of the undercover CIA agent to the media or at least approved the deal. That would make him a traitor. What's that old saying from World War 2? Loose lips sink ships? Which side are these guys on? Bush commits our military to Iraq, a country that wasn't a threat until he invaded it, and "someone" in the White House outs a US undercover operative who just happens to be investigating who is buying and selling weapons of mass destruction.

Heil Bush - Independence Day speech

A restricted gathering of about 2,000 carefully picked people listened to Bush's Fourth of July speech today aimed at promoting his bullshit war.

President Bush waves at Independence Day
celebrations at West Virginia University
in Morgantown, W.Va. - AP photo

Area 51 and other roadside wonders

There's a winchy model rocket on sticks at the north entrance to Nevada's Area 51. Before 911 it was decrepit and plastered with lots of interesting stickers. After 911 the government scraped off the stickers, gave the it a new coat of paint and threw a fence around it. It's all about respect, don't ya know. Naturally it was much cooler before. By comparison, I found the cactus flowers, free ranging lama, Great White Pyrenees Shepard dogs and lonely graves we met along the way far more interesting.



The once in a hundred year bloom of desert flowers extravaganza is over but there were still plenty of plants in full bloom. It always amazes me how they prevail in such a harsh environment.



I've got to hurry this little show up. I'm leaving for Portland in the morning so I've got to get to bed. Tomorrow will be a busy day. I'll have to let the pictures do most of the talking.



The flower season may be past it's peak, but the Mormon crickets are just now on the rise, at least in Austin where we stopped for gas. Even though I have a couple of giant hissing Madagascan cockroaches for pets, I have to admit that the Mormon crickets creep me out. Guess I haven't attained Buddhahood yet.




I just uploaded the same photograph 3 times. Time to stop for the night. I'll have to save the Belmont graves and the hero Great White Pyrenees Shepard dogs for the morning.

So much for property rights. What's next?

As always, the rich are getting richer, richer and richer, all at the expense of anyone and everyone else. And why shouldn't they? Corporate Amerika and the US government are one and the same. Pfizer Inc., the largest drug company in the world, was just handed a huge plum by the Supreme Court in its latest ruling. Government may now seize and destroy private homes and small business properties when it benefits a corporation. Naturally this privilege extends to all the big companies. It's them against us and most of us (including those hard working guys with flags on their trucks) don't even know it. Enough is never enough for these rapacious, Nazi bastards. I bet that verdict was followed by a hardy round of cigar lighting and back slapping.

The Great Basin the spring

Here's a few more photos of the camp trip. I'll post more later. Our camp was at its base the couloir on left. The peak is almost 12,000 ft. In previous years, we've hiked to the ridge line.


That's where we were fortunate to spot the Great Basin Snowman one hot July day. Here's a photo of him from my Nevada Journal. He's looking down the same couloir and out over the valley below.



Flowers weren't the only things blooming. Mosquitoes and no-see-ums were out too but Swami didn't seem to mind as he chilled by the creek.

Wet spring in Nevada

We came back early from the camp trip. We could have driven to Montana in the time it took to pick our way around the the very elusive mountains near Area 51. Finding a way in was our goal this time but the ground is still too wet. Some places in the state got seven to eight hundred times the normal snow pack last winter and roads are washed out. Crossing and re-crossing flooded areas just tears everything up so we'll go back after things dry out a bit more. We had great weather though, balmy as Hawaii in spite of the night rain. We saw some cool stuff and I took about a thousand photos but the most notable ones were of swami's first ever bath.



On our way out we have to drive through Mina so we always check to see how Lobster Boy is doing. After the state shut down his "desert lobster ranch" about a year ago he dragged an old boat to town and is working on turning it into a classy restaurant. Since last fall he has cut 3 holes in the side and started a deck.




The Wild Kat Ranch brothel just down the road from Lobster Boy seems to be doing much better. They've painted Playmate on the back building and generally spiffed the place up.




Okay, that's it for now. This little photo log will have to be continued later. It's late and we're going to the gym in the morning then I'm meeting with some people from Ash Canyon for a free write. And... the Ash Canyon Review is back from the printer. It looks great. I think we should have gone with white stock for the cover but what the hell. The sandy gold is definitely Nevada.

Downing Street Memo, Impeach Bush

DOWNING STREET MEMO
"SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY"

This memo is the smoking gun revealing how the Bush Administration connived and lied to congress to get support for his invasion of Iraq. It has the potential of doing to Bush what the Watergate tapes did to Nixon, bring him down. The White House, naturally, denies it's importance. Don't let them get away with it. Impeach the bastard.

"WE ARE AN EMPIRE NOW"
The radicals impeached Clinton for lying about a blow job. What a pathetic waste of time and money. Bush lies and American soldiers needlessly lose their lives. Bush lies and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens are maimed, and traumatized, tortured, killed. This bastard better be impeached!

IMPEACH THEM ALL!!

Off to the mountains

Well, we're off to the mountains tomorrow to camp for a few days in the Great Basin. Swami is so excited about going that he even took a bath. He hasn't taken one since Mexico. Actually, this was his first bath ever, but don't tell him I told you that. Anyway, we did some hard miles in Mexico. He can't wait to go tomorrow. He loves the road. I'm bringing lots to work on as I may not be hiking much. My foot is still sore from last week when I whacked it. So it's late and we're leaving early in the morning but here I sit, pounding out a blog entry. Geez...g'night. Be back Saturday.


The swami in Mexico