short notes: will brady's ruminations

A blog adjunct to rondak.org [click on the globe] | Perspectives on: human rights; environmental concerns; life as a visual artist; 21st century feudalism; progressive politics; aboriginal culture; new urbanism; permaculture; sustainable technology; non-traditional families; achievable utopias

2005-06-10

PHOTOGRAPHY
Three Sites |
     M MONK at Flickr |
     Ian Grey |
     Satan's Laundromat |

Posted by: Will Brady / 01:16 (0) comments

2005-06-09

LAND USE PLANNING

Connecticut River Museum, in Essex, CT will be host to the last of a series of talks on land use in Connecticut on Thursday, June 23rd, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. | Entitled "Growing, Growing, Gone? - Shaping Our Communities' Future" the talk is actually put together at part of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters Educational efforts |

ABOUT THE PRESENTATION: for more info you can contact Christine Homa ctlcv ed fund 860-236-5442 or e-mail ctedfund@earthlink.net || ABOUT THE MUSEUM: Located at the 1879 Steamboat Dock, the foot of Main Street in historic Essex Village, it served as a port of call for steamboat service from New York City to Hartford, Conn. This National Register site replaced earlier commercial wharves dating back to 1650, when colonial ships started trade with the West Indies. Today Steamboat Dock is home to the Connecticut River Museum where the Connecticut River Valley story is told through year round changing exhibitions, activities and programs | | Connecticut River Museum; 67 Main St., Essex, CT 06426 | TEL: (860) 767-8269 | FAX (860) 767-7028 | HOW TO GET TO THE MUSEUM |

Posted by: Will Brady / 22:32 (0) comments

2005-06-07

BUSHISMS
From Kikuchiyo News |
Can our esteemed leader make sense of this, from one of Bush's staged "town meetings" on Social Security:

THE PRESIDENT: Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised.
Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.

I mean, really, what the hell?

Posted by: Will Brady / 00:10 (0) comments

2005-06-06

REMOTE PLACES

Antarctica couldn't be farther away but what occurs there shall certainly affect us | So it is with interest that I ponder the progress of the giant iceberg known only as B15a | That's it in the upper center of the picture, shaped rather like a giant aircraft carrier ony much, much larger |      Measuring around 115 kilometres in length with an area exceeding 2500 square kilometres, the B-15A iceberg is the world’s largest free-floating object | It is the largest remaining section of the even larger B-15 iceberg that calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000 before breaking up into smaller sections |
     The European Space Agency has been monitoring B-15A as well | ESA is, in fact, the source for the photo on the left | Their site has more photos to look upon |
     What is it, you ask, that make's B-15A special? According to the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC) "...the most likely scenario is that B15 will gradually move away from the ice shelf and drift north-west across the Ross Sea, passing Cape Adare, then drifting with the "East Wind Drift" to the west round Antarctica close to the coast....
     ACE_CRC further reports that: "The passage of B15 around Antarctica may take many years. Eventually it will join an ocean current moving northwards away from Antarctica and into the southern part of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current which will carry it eastwards."
     The site further notes that B-15A "...once it moves into warmer waters the iceberg may take many months or even a year or two to break up and melt. This estimate of the timing is quite speculative because it depends on many factors, including ocean temperature, etc. It is unlikely that there will be considerable melt while the iceberg(s) remains in the cold waters close to the coast. But... the immense length of B15 makes it quite unlike other icebergs, and difficult to predict its behaviour."
     I'll be updating this, so come back if this piques your interest |

OTHER SITES ABOUT ANTARCTICA: Univ of Texas/Austin's Advance Technology for Radar Sounding Ice | The Taylor Glacier Project |"Cold Science" The B-15A iceberg | | |

Posted by: Will Brady / 01:43 (0) comments

PUBLIC ART

Post a Secret | A weblog that encourages readers to tell one truth that no one knows about them Post A Secret | Get in on the action | Send a postcard to:
     Post Secret
     13345 Copper Ridge Road
     Germantown, Maryland
     20874-3454
What would your confession be???

P.S. Make sure to scroldown to the bottom of the postcards and read what people think of the site |

THANKS TO: Mickey Z for bringing this to my attention |

Posted by: Will Brady / 00:08 (0) comments

2005-06-05

DISTRACTIONS

Other People's Lives |
     Rich White Boy | a self-indulgent blog meandering from someone who says he's inhereted millions but is confused on what to do next | who knows if he's telling the truth |
     Ann Althouse | a blog about "Politics and the aversion to politics, law and law school, high and low culture, and the way things look from Madison, Wisconsin."
     Asunam: Reiki Master |"His work focuses on the removal of energy imbalances which can affect people emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually." |
     Denny Dent | "A two fisted artist" | Paints rapidly at rock concerts and other venues producing surprisingly decent portraits |
     Factory Tours USA | "celebrates American imagination and industry. What better way to appreciate those qualities than to visit and tour America at work." |

Posted by: Will Brady / 16:43 (0) comments

LANGUAGE

ZOUNDS! Cap'n Haddock's Curses | From Mike Power's pages, a paen to colorful ways to curse without drawing up the eyebrows of that self-righteous prig sitting next to you in the shopping mall | Colorful words such as "Miserable earthworms! Nest of rattlesnakes! Slubberdegullions! Patagonians! Egotists!" and "Tramps!"
For the uninitiated, Cap'n Haddock is, or was, the creation of Belgian cartoonist Hergé [1907 - 1983] - a pseudonym of Georges Remi's initials (G.R.) in reverse (R.G.) - is the creator of the highly popular comic character, Tintin | This famous artist is often considered to be the most influential European comic artist ever | His "clear line" style was copied by many artists | At a young age, Georges Remi, like so many other Catholic boys, joined the boy scouts - an experience which greatly influenced his personality. In fact, the character Tintin was often compared with the stereotype of a boy scout |
I really ought to be paying thanks to David Brooks who went through all the work to compile Captain Haddock's salty talk for us |

Posted by: Will Brady / 15:37 (0) comments

LOCAL SCENE

Fox Hopyard Golf Course has a decent Sunday Brunch, and it's open to the public even though it seems very few outside of members take advantage of the feast laid out for all attending |

We took Bruce's mother, brother and nephew there this morning and gorged out on cajun catfish, fresh roasted turkey with a cranberry marmalade sauce, made to order omelettes, pineapple upside-down cake and a host of other goodies

[I'm only telling some of what I ate] and we walked away sated |
     Membership can be pricey, though non-members can take advanatge of the dining facilities at prices not out of line for area eateries | Since I'm not a golfer, the member fees tend to be unimportant to me anyway |
     I was also interested in seeing the shape of the complex, given that it comprises hundreds of acres of land within the 8 mile river watershed | How land in the watershed is used, developed or preserved will play a critical part in the town's future | Can't say as I've come to any conclusions on just a handful of visits, but the fact that the land is being used for open recreational activities rather than poorly planned subdivisions is a start |
     Fox Hopyard Golf Course is just off Route 82 in between Salem 4 corners and Hadlyme hamlet in the township of East Haddam |

Posted by: Will Brady / 14:45 (0) comments

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