Because otherwise I would be screaming at the radio
here is a small photo offering, while I work on finishing this AM's post, because you all have already heard me call Bush and Blair bleeding liars lots of times already and there weren't really any new lies in this evening's joint press conference, just old lies dusted off and recombined in slightly different ways by Minitrue. Also, Bush's wierd choppy speech pattern is apparently contagious, because now Bliar's got it, although somebody changed the frequency to the control module, because the Carcer-esque snigger was completely gone and the Somber/Grave/Intense vibes were dialed up to the max.
Better to say thanks to everyone who has donated to the blog fundraiser so far, even as I continue to beg--
So here is a snap taken this past weekend which while not Geographic quality, might make a nice icon, and if one were given to omens the whole situation which led to taking the picture might be seen as a favorable or unfavorable one, depending:
Red-tailed hawk, one of a clan which hang out on the trees and weathervanes along the river living on the pigeons which live mostly under the many bridges here.
This majestic predator, however, is in abject flight from a determined pair of grackles, as may be seen in this uncropped picture...
The grackles (which are very similar to British blackbirds but without the melodious calls, slightly smaller than magpies) kept after the raptor for at least twenty minutes, eventually driving the hawk entirely away from this popular hunting ground for the morning. They couldn't kill the hawk, but the hawk couldn't do a damn thing about them dogging him and nipping at his tailfeathers as long as he tried to hover over the area. The grackles weren't particularly in danger from the hawk, whose primary prey is pigeons - but, like the sparrows who sometimes engage in the same pursuits, they take deep personal offense at having something that could eat them cruising around like he owned the place...
(While this was the best closeup I was able to take, it wasn't the closest they got: at one point I was able to see the eye-markings on the hawk as they zoomed past about four yards over the bridge where I was walking. It was very exciting and I had to be extra careful of traffic trying to walk and take pictures of the aerial battle, more like WWII fighters after a bomber than a "knights of the air" WWI duel.)
This picture is of a flowering crabapple in the front yard of the old Episcopal church, which I was trying to get a shot of bumble bees but without any luck. However, the flower pictures themselves turned out rather nicely; here's one which has been converted to a Duotone in Photoshop 4 and only slightly adjusted with filters. The small version links to a larger one, which is big enough to be a wallpaper; if you want to download a really big jpg suitable for printing (300 dpi at 5x7", 1.6MB), click here.
This is a giant dead tree washed down from somewhere upriver, possibly as far north as the mountains, bigger than most telephone poles and wedged in good and hard under the bridge cofferdam structure. At this point (last weekend) the water had gone down 4 or 5 feet (over 1m) and was still opaque brown and rushing like a millrace, although most of the sightseeing appeal had worn off.
This is a cool photo of the old City hall building reflected in the turn-of-the-century grating of a building across the street:
I really like the layers of illusion going on with the multiple reflections and light sources here, and the focus worked right, too.Your continued support helps ensure that the rent, power, and network get paid on a more-or-less regular basis, plus things like camera cards and blank CDs and shoes without holes in them, for which I am extremely grateful and which I hope provides at least some ROI.
Better to say thanks to everyone who has donated to the blog fundraiser so far, even as I continue to beg--
So here is a snap taken this past weekend which while not Geographic quality, might make a nice icon, and if one were given to omens the whole situation which led to taking the picture might be seen as a favorable or unfavorable one, depending:
Red-tailed hawk, one of a clan which hang out on the trees and weathervanes along the river living on the pigeons which live mostly under the many bridges here.
This majestic predator, however, is in abject flight from a determined pair of grackles, as may be seen in this uncropped picture...
The grackles (which are very similar to British blackbirds but without the melodious calls, slightly smaller than magpies) kept after the raptor for at least twenty minutes, eventually driving the hawk entirely away from this popular hunting ground for the morning. They couldn't kill the hawk, but the hawk couldn't do a damn thing about them dogging him and nipping at his tailfeathers as long as he tried to hover over the area. The grackles weren't particularly in danger from the hawk, whose primary prey is pigeons - but, like the sparrows who sometimes engage in the same pursuits, they take deep personal offense at having something that could eat them cruising around like he owned the place...
(While this was the best closeup I was able to take, it wasn't the closest they got: at one point I was able to see the eye-markings on the hawk as they zoomed past about four yards over the bridge where I was walking. It was very exciting and I had to be extra careful of traffic trying to walk and take pictures of the aerial battle, more like WWII fighters after a bomber than a "knights of the air" WWI duel.)
This picture is of a flowering crabapple in the front yard of the old Episcopal church, which I was trying to get a shot of bumble bees but without any luck. However, the flower pictures themselves turned out rather nicely; here's one which has been converted to a Duotone in Photoshop 4 and only slightly adjusted with filters. The small version links to a larger one, which is big enough to be a wallpaper; if you want to download a really big jpg suitable for printing (300 dpi at 5x7", 1.6MB), click here.
This is a giant dead tree washed down from somewhere upriver, possibly as far north as the mountains, bigger than most telephone poles and wedged in good and hard under the bridge cofferdam structure. At this point (last weekend) the water had gone down 4 or 5 feet (over 1m) and was still opaque brown and rushing like a millrace, although most of the sightseeing appeal had worn off.
This is a cool photo of the old City hall building reflected in the turn-of-the-century grating of a building across the street:
I really like the layers of illusion going on with the multiple reflections and light sources here, and the focus worked right, too.Your continued support helps ensure that the rent, power, and network get paid on a more-or-less regular basis, plus things like camera cards and blank CDs and shoes without holes in them, for which I am extremely grateful and which I hope provides at least some ROI.