Happy new year 2007

This is me being damn proud of myself, reader! That's snake skin I'm holding up. Me! Holding snake skin! From a snake!

It took some baby steps to get this far, and that's my new year's resolution: taking baby steps, doing something rather than nothing, even if it's not much. That was my resolution last year too, but it fell badly by the wayside. So here we go again. Take two: baby steps.

And baby steps with a snake skin. It sounds like a joke. I took a few more photos and yeah, they're in the archives. I kept trying to focus on the thing as an object, something to investigate. And that was fine and interesting, but every so often I'd start thinking about it being a snake object - a snake, a snake!! - and that's when I'd jump up and do a bit of squealing and wringing of hands in a stupid and alarming manner, etc. But onward ever onward I went. Oh yes, it was dramatic...

:)

Baby steps from a geriatric baby. Here's how it went. First I lifted the thing off the rafter with a broom, put it on the ground, and indulged in some of the above-mentioned performance piece (squealing, hand-wringing). But then bit by bit I graduated from poking the skin with my boot, to wearing gloves and poking it with the end of one finger, to touching it skin to skin, no gloves, and finally: writing on the damn thing and brandishing it aloft!

Woo-hoo! I am my own hero!

Not that this means a miracle has occurred. I'm still scared. After finishing the photos, I threw the skin in the bin, but had to go back later and get it out and wrap it in newspaper so I couldn't see it anymore. It was too scary going near the bin. And this was just the remains of a snake, not even anywhere near the real thing.

But still. Woo-hoo.

Oh, and yeah: happy new year, reader :) May you find healthy wealthy wiseness this year, and peace and joy. Best wishes.

Out with the old

Here it is, the last day of 2006, and I guess we all should be shedding our skins in one way or another, making way for the new. But I didn't expect to see this happen literally. There's a snake skin out on the verandah, one half of it hanging overhead and swinging in the breeze. I walked out to take a photo of the sunrise this morning, about as alert as usual (ie. completely braindead) and nearly died of shock.

I'm so scared of snakes, or have been up until this year. I thought maybe I was starting to lose this fear though. On the three occasions this season that I've seen a snake, I've been more curious than afraid - for the first time ever.

But not so fast, baby. I took photos of the snake skin this morning - they're over in my archives** - but I was scared just standing near it. And I'm less than overly keen on the idea that somewhere nearby, probably overhead, probably in the roof, there's a snake who has outgrown its skin.

In many ways this is a stupid fear. Back in September one of the North Coast newspapers, The Village Journal, ran an article about snakes (warning: includes close-up photo of a snake's face) which included the following:

But what you may like to consider is that the snake that lives around or near your premises, be it in the paddock or garage, knows you, as it has lived within its territory since it was born and in some cases that can be up to 50-60 years. Most snakes have a very long life. It knows when you hang out the washing, it knows when you go to sleep and the coast is clear, it knows to stay out of your way. The one time you spot it sunning itself or hunting for food, it will be as surprised as you, but will not strike as long as you leave it alone, and give it a chance to get away from you. You have simply noticed it for the first time, whereas it may have seen you thousands of times before.

It's stupid to be afraid of them, in other words, because they want to stay out of our way just as much as we want to stay out of theirs.

Still. Who ever had a fear because it was sensible? (Apart from all those boring fears that can save your life, I mean.)

Am I reaching a conclusion with this post? No, not really. Here's the end. Out with the old, I say, but maybe it just takes a while.

** It's worth the effort of starting a secondary blog just so you can put things there and enjoy the groovy geeky pleasure of saying, "They're over in my archives, yeah!" :)

I can't think of a title (1)

The sky this morning.

Question: What's wrong with the photo?
Answer: (See the end of this post.**)

And now to other news...

After doing some mowing today I found a leaf on my shirt, so I flicked at it but it wouldn't move. And this is why:


It was a cicada. It was clinging to my shirt with sharp little feet.

(click image for a larger version)
Very quiet, very cute, and now back outside with all the other cicadas.

** The photo is upside down. Correct answer wins you 10 points and a happy 2007.

Press freedom in Sudan?

On Tuesday in Khartoum, Sudan, two Sudanese journalists were convicted on charges of slander and inaccurate editing after two years ago publishing a newspaper column which criticised "perks" approved for high-level government officials. The columnist, Zuhayr al-Sarraj, and editor, Noureddin Madani, must now pay fines or they will be gaoled for one year or six months respectively.

Al-Sarraj, the columnist, is still to face trial for a January 2006 article in which he reportedly criticised the President of Sudan for failing to address the problems of the Sudanese people. If found guilty, al-Sarraj may lose his licence to work as a journalist in Sudan.

According to Reporters Without Borders, official harassment of journalists in Sudan has escalated in recent months, despite the government's announcement last year that censorship had been lifted.

What is the government of Sudan trying to hide, and how long will it get away with it?

I don't understand the ability of such obvious tyrant regimes to stay in power and rule on. "Who benefits?" as my old sociology lecturer used to say. Ask the question and follow the answers and you'll end up at the source of the problem, or so the theory goes. So who benefits from what's happening in Darfur? Apart from those individuals in power and their hangers-on, who benefits? Who is helping these people stay where they are, and why?

I'm forming a hazy view that quite a lot of this is about grandiose notions of independence and sovereignty and other airy-fairy ideas which have not a lot to do with getting people fed and housed and functioning, which (in my opinion) should be much earlier priorities.

At an international level, there's an obvious lining-up of Arab loyalties at work (as there no doubt is with non-Arab loyalties elsewhere). Did you know that even as his people are dying of preventable causes in western Darfur, President al-Bashir committed $10 million in aid money to the Palestinian Prime Minister (money which in the end was not allowed to accompany Ismail Haniyeh back to the Gaza Strip)? Was al-Bashir being generous towards fellow humans in need (and if so, why not look closer to home?) or was he buying membership in the Arab club, and signalling his continuing opposition to those nations lined up on the other side of that never-ending Middle East fault line?

I don't know. Obviously. I'm just wondering. The world stands back and lets the Sudanese government do as it will, and I'm wondering why. Protocols? Alliances? International laws? Apathy? Greed? What's going on? In one sense it doesn't matter: if I was one of those people suffering in Darfur, I wouldn't give a shit what the reasons are, I'd just be praying for rescue.

Getting back to the point: journalists in Sudan are trying to get at the truth, presumably, so let's hope they can continue to do so. Press freedom matters. From the Committee to Protect Journalists:

Without a free press, few other human rights are attainable. A strong press freedom environment encourages the growth of a robust civil society, which leads to stable, sustainable democracies and healthy social, political, and economic development.

Season's greetings and eatings

From The Simpsons:

Homer and Marge are in an all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant. They've been there so long that Marge has fallen asleep, but Homer is still eating enthusiastically. The staff are ready to close up for the night and restaurant proprietor, Captain McAlister, tries to convince Homer it's time to leave.

HOMER (eating): Can't talk... Eating...

Captain McAlister throws him out. Homer goes home, but is furious. He wants to make an issue out of the incident.

HOMER: This is my quest! I'm like that guy, that Spanish guy. You know... He fought the windmill...
MARGE: Don Quixote?
HOMER: No, that's not it. What's-his-name... The Man of La Mancha.
MARGE: Don Quixote.
HOMER: No!
MARGE: I really think that was the character's name. Don Quixote.
HOMER: Fine! I'll look it up! (looks it up)
MARGE (annoyed): Well? Who was it?
HOMER: Never mind.

Homer seeks legal advice from Lionel Hutz's "I Can't Believe It's a Law Firm" law firm.

HOMER: All you can eat! Ha!
HUTZ: Mr Simpson, this is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film, "The Never-Ending Story"!
...
HOMER: So, do you think I have a case?
HUTZ: I don't use the word "hero" very often, but you are the greatest hero in American history!
HOMER: Woo-hoo!

Homer and Hutz take Captain McAlister to Night Court. McAlister's defence team brings in bags and bags of shrimp to show how much Homer ate.

McALISTER'S ATTORNEY (cross-examining Marge): Isn't it true that your husband consumed a ten-pound bag of flour when no other food was available?

A pizza is delivered to Homer in the court room :)

Hutz questions Marge and finds that after being thrown out of the restaurant, Homer drove around until 3 am looking for another all-you-can-eat restaurant, and unable to find one, went fishing. Marge collapses in tears. Hutz addresses the jury of Homer's peers, all overweight citizens. Captain McAlister (sensing defeat?) approaches Homer and offers a settlement.

Homer returns to the restaurant and happily indulges in all-you-can-eat again, this time at the window table.

CAPTAIN McALISTER (to the huge crowd of onlookers, ushering them inside): Come for the freak! Stay for the food!

- from The New Kid on the Block, written by Conan O'Brien (and I've altered the transcript).

I hope you and your stomach are having a freakishly good Christmas/New Year period, reader. Best wishes :)

Poem by Tony Hoagland

Jet

Sometimes I wish I were still out
on the back porch, drinking jet fuel
with the boys, getting louder and louder
as the empty cans drop out of our paws
like booster rockets falling back to Earth

and we soar up into the summer stars.
Summer. The big sky river rushes overhead,
bearing asteroids and mist, blind fish
and old space suits with skeletons inside.
On Earth, men celebrate their hairiness,

and it is good, a way of letting life
out of the box, uncapping the bottle
to let the effervescence gush
through the narrow, usually constricted neck.

And now the crickets plug in their appliances
in unison, and then the fireflies flash
dots and dashes in the grass, like punctuation
for the labyrinthine, untrue tales of sex
someone is telling in the dark, though

no one really hears. We gaze into the night
as if remembering the bright unbroken planet
we once came from,
to which we will never
be permitted to return.
We are amazed how hurt we are.
We would give anything for what we have.

- Tony Hoagland

Copyright © 1998 by Tony Hoagland.

If you're in the mood for mooching today - in Australia, a public holiday called Boxing Day - I recommend a wander through the Poetry Tool. I also recommend checking the Urban Dictionary before using terms like "mooching". I use it to mean pottering about and not doing much, but funsters in the US use it to mean taking advantage of another person. Idiots.

;)

Think like an astronaut...

One world, one people.

Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other - that man, that woman, that child is my brother or my sister. If everyone could see the image of God in his neighbor, do you think we would still need tanks and generals?
- Mother Teresa (but see note below)

Photo by Harrison Schmitt, 07 December 1972, from Wikipedia via a re-uprighting at the old Plodding.

And "Think like an astronaut..." is idea no.64 in David Krieger's 101 ideas for creating a more peaceful world: Creating world peace takes many forms, but surely it begins with individuals.

I can't find the original source for the Mother Teresa quote, and can't be sure she said it. There's a whiff of the "make something up and attribute it to someone famous"s about it, because elsewhere (Suffering.net, quoting from a book) the same passage is written differently:

Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we are all God's children. That man, that woman, that child is my brother, my sister. If everyone could see the image of God in his neighbor, do you think we would still have such destruction and suffering?

Still, the meaning is the same, I hope: we belong to each other, we're in this world together; if we could see and appreciate each other more clearly, we wouldn't get into so much trouble so often. One world, one people. Use it or lose it.

Merry Christmas, reader, however you choose to say it. Peace to you and yours and all of us.

HaloScan and Blogger

Comments are back on, but only because post pages are off (Settings > Archiving > Enable Post Pages? = No).

I couldn't find a way to get rid of Blogger comments on individual post pages and use HaloScan instead, but hopefully it's just a temporary glitch. HaloScan will have a solution in a few days.

If you're having similar problems, these two links might help:

Getting Haloscan to work in Beta Blogger (from Logical Philosopher)
I used Steps 1, 2 and 3 to get HaloScan onto the main page here, but Update 2 wasn't any use.

Getting Haloscan to work in Blogger Beta (from Potentate Matthew I)
Recommended by HaloScan.

John Butler's long lost twin

An unnamed soldier in Somalia on the left and an Australian musician, John Butler (ABC TV's Enough Rope interview), on the right.

Photos from musicbase.de and Bleak New Year beckons for Somalia:

Ethiopia has deployed troops in Somalia to back up the official government. If the Islamists attack, they will find themselves fighting Ethiopia and a cross-border war would then develop. If so, Ethiopia’s bitter enemy Eritrea would be sorely tempted to join in.

If Ethiopia is tied down in Somalia, Eritrea may open a new front in the north. Then the Horn of Africa will be engulfed in a regional war with repercussions for the entire continent. The prognosis for 2007 for the inhabitants of that vast region is bleak indeed.

- David Blair, Telegraph.co.uk

See how I sucked you into reading about serious matters by luring you with trivialities? (If you were lured; are you feeling lured?) It's underhanded and manipulative and media outlets do it all the time, which shows just what they think of us: that we're stupid, uncaring, and easily led. Let's hope they're not right.

Poem by Robert Creeley

I Know a Man

As I sd to my
friend, because I am
always talking, - John, I

sd, which was not his
name, the darkness sur-
rounds us, what

can we do against
it, or else, shall we &
why not, buy a goddamn big car,

drive, he sd, for
christ's sake, look
out where yr going.

- Robert Creeley (1926 - 2005)

Copyright © 1991 by the Regents of the University of California. Snatched from the Poetry Foundation's Poetry Tool.

Stars

I was looking up at the stars the other night and saw a satellite (looks like a star but moves in a steady line across the sky) and for the first time realised this: around the world there must be people living in traditional ways who have never heard of satellites and have no idea they're up there. How are such people explaining all these moving stars, then?

Welcome to the new Plodding!

The old Plodding along to glory will stay where it is, alongside The full text, and good luck to them there. It's a nice neighbourhood. I think they'll be happy.

And now: plodding on. Here we go. Again.

:)