Knowledge

I bought this in Taiwan. Read it carefully and think about it. Excuse the spelling mistake, but not the rest of the (dis)information. And to boot, who would ever consider a penguin to typify drag racers? Another apparent disregard for our planets northern ecosystems cultivated through nescient education systems. It may seem unimportant, but it connotes a greater falicy - the nothion that pseudo-knowledge and disinformation are rampantly and luxuriously growing in our culture.

It is cute though.

cheers.

TODAY

Today, I emerged from a blissful slumber to hear a quite daunting remark from the voices on early morning CBC:

"-32 Celsius before windchill...it is colder in Prince George today than it is up in the Yukon."

Now, I like the cold - I really honestly do. This, however, considerably abuses my admiration for winter weather.

Bah.

Winter Constellations are Here!

Ahh, winter has sensationally taken its grasp on us here in the PG (technically not for another couple of dozen days) and that means one thing; or, rather, one thing means that winter is upon us. Orion, the man with the shield and the man with the belt. There are two myths, I have found, and here is the more dramatic one. The first one is simply that he was a cocky fellow who got bettered in the end by a mere scorpion. This one is a little more fantastic:

Another version of the Orion myth states that he had no mother but was a gift to a pious peasant from Jupiter, Neptune, and Mercury. "Orion supposedly was able to walk on water and had greater strength and stature than any other mortal. A skilled blacksmith, he fabricated a subterranean palace for Vulcan. He also walled in the coasts of Sicily against the encroaching sea and built a temple to the gods there" (Magee, 48). Orion fell in love with Merope, daughter of Oenopion and princess of Chios. Her father the king, however, would not consent to give Orion his daughter's hand in marriage--even after the hunter rid their island of wild beasts. In anger,
Orion attempted to gain possession of the maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this conduct, having made Orion drunk, deprived him of his sight and cast him out on the seashore. The blinded hero followed the sound of a Cyclops' hammer till he reached Lemnos, and came to the forge of Vulcan, who, taking pity on him, gave him Kedalion, one of his men, to be his guide to the abode of the sun. Placing Kedalion on his shoulders, Orion proceeded to the east, and there meeting the sun-god, was restored to sight by his beam.
After this he dwelt as a hunter with Diana, with whom he was a favourite, and it is even said she was about to marry him. Her brother [Apollo] was highly displeased and chid her [she was, after all, a virgin huntress], but to no purpose. One day, observing Orion wading through the ocean with his head just above the water, Apollo pointed it out to his sister and maintained that she could not hit that black thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled the body of Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal error with many tears, Diana placed him among the stars (Bulfinch's Mythology, 191-192).

Regardless, the fact that a whole story can be sussed out of the configurations of stars as we see them here on Earth is pretty neat. Now, lets not confuse cosmic mythology with astrology....lets not go there! Let's go back to astronomy. Astronomy

So, Orion brings with it the feeling of winter, and is the harbinger of the winter constellations. Follow the belt 'up' and you will see Aldebaran (Taurus) and follow the belt 'down' and you will find Sirius (Canis Major) - the brightest star as seen from our ball of muck, rock and water.

Happy gazing. I tried last night but the temperatures made it a very short event. Cloudy too, but there were a few clear moments - enought to see what I wrote of above.

Go to a used book store, ask for Chocky by John Windham. It is worth your 1/2 day to read it.

Prince George

So here we are. Some comparative pictures of the PG.

Above: Prince George during the day. Can you spot the mills?

Above: A closer look at the city. Cloaked in a snowy bliss....

Above: PG at night. Its a little blurry...I couldnt hold still long enough in the -30 c so I accepted a little shaking on my behalf and thus a little blur. Speaking of cold, tonight I played a game. Two, really.

The first - "How long can I stand outside and try to find Taurus (the constellation)?"

The second - " How long can I hold my hand outside before it is shocked with pain?"

Both came with the same answer - about 24.8 seconds. Its that cold here tonight.

< Above: What PG would look like if exactly at the time I was taking a picture a massive earthquake occurred.

Above: Yes, yes, yes....there are logging trucks.

Ok, a brief look through my eyes at PG. And a logging truck sign.

take care...

Afternoon Trials

How did I end up sitting in a small tavern at a roadside stop in the middle of nowhere, nestled between two towns which are themselves nowhere?

A tale that brings us from a sunny morning with lush intentions to a frigid afternoon and an $80 towtruckbill. Now, surgically implant within that a 6 kilometre hike along a deserted logging road, a dead car by the side of said road, a frozen lunch, numbness reaching all extremities...all, and a staff at the tavern who were less than willing to help.

Short version. I decided to go into the bush some km's west of Prince George along a logging road and do some hiking. I got there, to my destination, and started to getr ready. I was listening to the radio..on battery power. NOt a big deal, normally. But today, oh today, the battery decided to die. Yes, die. Leaving me stranded some km's along a logging road that was not going to be used until monday morning. I was prepared for the cold, not all of it but some of it. I had enought gear, lunch and the will of survival to walk my way out and hitch a ride to the tavern, and then reel in some help. It was just a boost, after all.

But then it got cold. And I got colder. Even before I left I could not feel my feet or fingers, and I figured I had 2 hours of a walk ahead of me back to the main road. Damn it.

SO, i decided to take one more swig of my coffee and head out. I took a sip...and my mouth and INNER MOUTH was so cold I honestly could not feel the coffee until it hit my upper throat. I was a little concerned. Concern only grew as I kept going. I rigged up a way to keep my face warm(er) but my hands were a challenge. Then I figured that out. Then my toes. Oh sweet damn my toes. I was resigned to the fact that I was going to lose my pinky toe...I was honestly and very readily able to cope with the fact that in sucha short itme I had negated ever having a pinky toew again. Hospital, take it off, smoother it with some sort of overly-expensive cream and wait it out. But no - I discovered dancing! Yes, dancing while walking was enough to fight off the toe-cold and soon my feet were remedied by my body heat.

...

Some time later, I makeit to the tavern.

Call a tow.

He will be an hour.

Have a beer.

He comes. Real nice chap, but he has to coem from far and the bill is going to be $80 (another guy wanted $150). We go rescue my car, and I am on my way.

From so simple a beginning, so complex an afternoon took place (anyone catch the quote?!?). And cold, oh the cold. I was fearing the cold the whole time. And I was fully dressed in proper gear. It was that cold.

Anywho, that was that. Im home now and going for sushi. Walking there, no less.

Carving Shostachovic, Listening to Talc

My updates on the morphological alter-ego of the Knight. It is more like a serpent than a horse, I do say. Extinguished are hopes that this will resemble the knight of my minds eye; set aflame are hopes that this will resemble a violent snake-horse - venemous and loving, chagrin and exacting.

Above: Post carving, early sanding.

Above: Same.

Above: Post carving, mid sanding. I ran out of paper, so the rest will have to wait until another moment of enthusiasm reaches me and I take this up again. Right now my kitchen table is wine stained and covered with a mound of talc powder. Soft, though...very soft table.

Last night it was to NQ arbuckle that I carved, tonight it was to Shostachovic (I know that only because it is what CBC tells me....I would otherwise be far from recognizing anything of that genre, however calming) - so perhaps carving is not only carving for itself, but carving out a new realm of listening too.

Everywhere you go, you shall be deep in snow...

Alas, although it has ben here for some time now, the snow has really started to take a hold on the land. SO, I thought I would honour it with some time here. Today I went for a nice hike through the forets of PG. We have had constant snow for the last few nights, continuing into today, and it has made a very stunning looking PG - the snow seems to hide the mills and refineries. This first one is my ode to snow:




This is me, obviously, wanderlust in the woods. Usually on fridays I am hip deep in water hiking through salmon territory, but this week my contract ended so I found myself with nothing to do on a friday. And the weather was beautiful, too. So, add it all up, I headed out to the woods. Took a camera and some lunch with me and had an afternoon of it. The scnery in this forest is so strikingly beautiful, with the snow clinging to the angle hair, or old mans beard (lichen; depends on who you ask as to what it really is called) and tuffs of vegetation pitting itself against the weight of the snow...hard to explain.



Ubiquitous snow scenery view vista outlook...you get the idea...from the forest. Guess who tried to walk along the periphery of the pond with sorels? Yup.
Guess who got a soaker and a mitt full of crunchy dry snow? Yup.


Looking up...way up...past the trees.....through the atmosphere....to everything beyond.

Look down - a scenic shot of a tree top and the trees in the background.

And to the left here is the woodpecker.

What the damn happened to these pictures?!? Things have been working so perfectly so far and then these two seem to go their own route. Hmmm.....no matter.

SOlar Heliospheric Observatory - SOHO

This keeps me going. The sun, so close, yet so hard to 'see' with any real insights. But when the expensive trinkets get to look at it...wow. This is taking away from the attention due to my carving (below), but what the heck - this is way cooler.

The observatory is orbiting at about 1,528,483 Kilometers from Earth and 150,703,456 kilometers from the Sun, and it's "orbit is around a mathematical point between the Earth and the Sun known as the Lagrange point or the L1 point. The L1 point is a point of equilibrium between the Earth's and Sun's gravitational field, that is to say that the pull is equal from both the Sun and the Earth." Quoted from the website. Basically, it is a complex math problem, but one that gives constant observation of our closest star and awsome images such as this:

Craving a Carving

Well, it has come down to the choice between continuing on with the diluted goal of carving a chess set, and that of carving whatever the hell comes of teh carvings. Sort of like evolution, only it is not based on genetic mutations but based on my mutations...wait, this sounds like a god speech....wait...am I god?

I prefer to think of it as a digression of form, from the knight to the might (become something recognizable). Here is a photo that, although lacking in importance, shows the workspace. Below is the latest status of the talc. Soapstone. Whatever your fancy. Can you see it becomming a Knight? I should have gone for the Queen....the queen would have been so simple, so symmetrical, so profoundly more EASY than the insurmountable goal of carving a Knight. But, alas, it has to be done if the set is to be done. Also to note, this will apparently be a grossly oversized set.

Am I god? Lets get back to that.....

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PS - snow tires are a bad thing to leave until they are needed. they are best to have before they are needed. Just so you know. Experience talking...and god, apparently.

Keystone of Gratuitous Callowness: Calgary Part II

Will there be a day when owning a house is mandated?

Will there be a day (moreso than now, at least) where those choosing not to be bound by laws in every step of their day are allowed to live freely, unconsumed by modernity and social requisites?

Will there be a time when open spaces are negated from the calming grasp of freedom?

Let's get one thing straight, one thing of many but one to focus on. There are reasons for this law, as I tried to elucidate in the last post, but the reasons are delusive at best. Am I making a Coronal Mass Ejection out of a mere lunar impact crater? I dont think so. It is all a piece of the pie, a step to the wrong side of natural existence. Social graces should read 'wealthy habits and lifestyle, unbothered by the lowly masses who choose not to live as we do'.
I mean, honestly, is this the prime concern of the people of cowboy junkies (not the band...not the band) and oil drenched fossil fodder. Can they not concern themselves with something more prolific and contributive to their society than if or if not I spit?

Inspiration

http://www.questoutreach.org/


They were just awarded $1 million, allowing them to triple their capacity of food recovery and distribution. Check them out.

Calgary: what has become of you

Has this hit the news east of the pacific time zone? I am going to stave off my desire to go into a huge discussion about the context and extended ramifications of this, but I will go into it a little bit. This is from CANOE News, I looked up 'Calgary bylaw spitting'and it was the first hit - I chose CANOE or this reason, not for their range of coverage. It is all over the news here, and lacking a television I had seen nothing of it apart from the local and CBC news, so I checked it out on the web. Pointless to continue about where or how I heard of it, it bears no importance to the issue.
The quote below is just a sampling, you should hear the city councillors spaek so passionately about this. It is now illegal to be uncivilized. So, buy up your toilets, flush your water, build more houses, sell more everything, buy more everything, never wear your clothes twice, and become a part of civilized society. Or else, you are ilegal. Yes, you there who is using your sleeve as a napkin (because it works equally as well and it is your sleeve, and damn it you can do what you want..for now...), you are a lawless, uncivilized creature. Public spaces are for observing...not using...apparently.

Why has politeness (of which none of these new by-laws apply to...) become a matter for the courts? Has our family structure and educational foundations failed to the point where we must mandate manners?

This is a quote taken from CANOE:

"Despite lingering legal questions, a new public behaviour bylaw targeting those lacking in social graces will soon be on the city’s rolls.

City council moved ahead with the bylaw today that would impose fines for those caught brawling, spitting, loitering, defecating or urinating in public after meeting with the city’s law department behind closed doors."

Ok, I am late for work so it will be short. Is this the end of freedom? Simply put, this makes it illegal to not have a home. You may no longer stand in place (something people who find themselves homeless tend to do, walking for walking sake tends to gain a diminished excitement after years), spit (although not pleasant, it is totally natural, common, and something that is biologically prominent because it is a veritable process for expelling unwanted products, tastes, chemicals, etc. No more may we sit on a park bench for a long time or put up our feet. Put up our feet?!?

I am enraged at this.

How is it in the personal ability of one set of people to tell the human species that we may not rest our feet? There are limits, I recognize. For instance, if I were sitting on a bench and had my feet in the air, resting on the rest of the bench, and an elderly lady or man happen by and need a place to rest and I choose NOT TO LET THEM SIT because I am being ignorant, then the bylaw is useful. But, lets be honest, is this the problem? Or, is it that people are sleeping on benches, and instead of looking like the Calgary councillors dont like homeless people, the forge new boundaries for the language and say "no feet on the benches". It renders the same imponderable result, but makes them look like they are cleanign up the city. If I am tired, and I see a park bench, I will sit. If my feet are sore, or I feel the irge, I will raise my feet and render them prone on the same bench. And when I have to pee, I will look for a tree before I look for 6 (or 12) litres of water to flush in a sanitized, lysol, bacteria-free bathroom that is a home of the most myriad concoction of chemicals and waste.

I cant get through a whole newscast without this entering in somehow and making me...stay polite, stay mature....making me feel the need to express my feelings towards this indecent act of human-centric power abuse. I dont like the idea of dirty streets, unsafe playgrounds for children or abuse of public places, but are these really the ideas that CAlgary thinks will solve the problem?

I call for a "spit-in" on public lawns, a "feet-in" on public benches and a "pee-in" in any forest you find yourself in. Ok, I dont see the need for defecating publically, but although it is completely natural and only secluded from our reality based on our culture, it is still unhealthy. But, the extended result of this, and nobody is saying this yet...they will...i hope.....because I am.....is that you must own a toilet or pay for one to even do natural processes such as urinating and defecating. How many signs do you see in an urban centre that say"toilets for customers only"? Now, if one cant afford a $3 coffee, a meal or a pair of $90 jeans, yet is an animal and thus needs to urinate at some point, where do they go?

I see this as an step towars erradicating homelessness, by making it illegal. Not by arranging the social system to allow for equality and equal opportunity to all members of the human society through social programs and education but through making one more thing in life illegal.

Imagine bears lassed a bylaw saying that they could not pee in public, or sleep near big trees. They had to buy their own. And do everythin in private. Im just sayin'.

Im done. My mind is not, but my fingers are. I hope these thougths are lucid enough to show that Calgary is taking an ignorant and very faith-based step towards creating a hierarchy between humans.

Bird of Play

Here are some more pictures, the first and last jay pics are the same, just different perspectives.

Im now going to Calgary to sit, feet up, on a bench and await my fate. Perhaps i'll need a good lawyer.

Gray jay, close. See last picture. Same, just different.

Evening view, Horsefly, BC.


Jay from a distance - one of the Gray's that befriended us in hopes of our peanuts.


There you have it.

More from the woods

Alright, just because we saw a feverishly hungry bird and a rabbit all in one day (well, and a fox, coyote and a cougar...none of which made it to digital immortality) I am going to post some more pictures. They are from our field site, actually the beginning of our field site, where we park and set off into the woods and the stream systems. And, my amazing facial reconstruction as a prime motivation, I have added a pic of the two of us.


Now, I am not an astute ornithologist, so I may get a detail or six wrong here but I am claiming this to be the aforementioned 'feverishly hungry bird' aka a Gray Jay. We were aking a break after work, pre driving the almost two hours home through strenuous roads and logging trucks, to snack on some peanuts and bask in the cold, sunless sky. Then, a bird heard the cracking of the peanut shell, and ZAM! there were four of them, crankily arguing over territory and a chance at our peanuts. Cute little ones, they are.


Well, this is us...check out my "do". I thought it was fashionable but it got less than favourable reviews from the dictatorial rest of the research group. So, it is gone. I think that is for the best.
Handlebar stache, rest in your unforgotten peace.


This is the rabbit that was not very shy at all, and allowed us to pause (in the truck) along the road and stare. It stared back. Then it scampered away. Here is it scampering. Exciting commentary, no?



Us, preparing for work in the snow. Goodbye warm truck, hello frigid forest and icy water.


THumper, again. Note the intermediary 'clothing', not quite summer garb, not quite winter garb. Kind of like a zinfandel, if you will.


So, that is it. Oops, more pictures. Hold on.

Work in the Woods: Horsefly, BC

Crystals research concerns Coho Salmon and habitat selection criteria, linked with groundwater flow, surface and groundwater chemistry and stream hydraulics. There is an entire discussion possible on the idea of Coho and their place on the endangered species list, but I shall leave that alone as I am only a periphery witness to it, while Crystal and those at UNBC can comment with more authentic knowledge. The point, then, is that I am working on this project and spending the better part of my week (for now) in the woods and streams of a small hamlet called Horsefly, BC. I even bought the hat. Look for it next time you see me.

Cheers, enjoy.


This is me pondering the bald eagle (de-mystified) or a cloud, or something, while I stand in the stream. This is when it was warmer, hence the lack of shirt on me. I think I butchered the grammatical flow of that last sentence.


This is the Quesnel River, to which the Horsefly river is a tributary, to which Mackenzie Creek is a tributary to. So, this is part ofthe system, but not the study site.


This is me standing beside a brush fire that the logging companies burn now and then to clear up land that has been logged and ready it for reforetation.


This is crystal taking a water sample.


This is me taking a water sample. We had to scour the watershed for streams to sample, taking us through harsh forests and hours into the fray of nature...leaving me somewhat scarred (hands) from the plant I wish to call "Why the hell has this thing been allowed to survive in nature, why hasnt some entrepreneurial cricket, chipmunk or bear taken it upon themselves to erradicate this from BC?!?!? F***ing spike bush....". I think it has a specific name, somewhat more historic and scientific in nature, but my name explains the brush better.
It has been fun, without doubt, and the bush-of-death is but a minor blip on the radar screen.

Mackenzie, B.C.

Alas, we took a trip to a town north of us on a beautiful and crisp clear day. It was all beautiful until we were just about there, and then the road conditions turned murkey, shimmering with clear ice. Murky andice dont usually go together, I know. Now they do.

BC's bird - The Stellar Jay


"On a cold road..."


The view of Mackenzie, not comparable at all to Prince George. Not at all.


Not something you see in Ontario regularly. It was alright for us in our regular tires though, but in a few weeks I am sure that it wil not be a pleasant trip without the help of the chains.



Bijou Falls. A tourist stop, no less, but still revealing in its simplistic being.

Fort St. James (Historical Site)

Earlier we took a drive westward, then a little north, to
Fort St. James. I will comment more later I am sure, but for now here are some pics of the site and of moi. This is of course before the snow which now accompanies us, around late september. It is an interesting manage of culture and history, although the truth behind the years of northern occupation by the trading companies and their upheaval of culture are (were) eerily reminiscent of missionary indoctrination. However, that aside, there are some lessons to be learned here.
That is me with a pelt. It was one of the largest ones at the fort at this time, much larger than any beaver extant today,. The reason, well any evolutionary biologist, or ecologically literate person can favourably elucidate the fact that killing off the best and the biggest renders a species smaller. It is natural selection, almost, backwards. But that is what humans do, the prone desire of humanity to kill the best, as a reflection of their claimed ownership of Earth, and to prove their strength. However, there is a third dimension here, that the larger furs returned greater sums and thus made better clothing (hats, actually). So, although the contemporary vision of hunting maintains this emphasis on larger individuals of a species, healthy individuals, most magnificient of said species, there results the emaciation of that species in general as the genetic 'pool' is distilled down to simpler and more humbled individuals. It is simply human culture, and human history that I have digressed from here. So, I return. This is me with a pelt that you will no longer see a true living beaver wear because it is now "oversized" - the fur, that is. But beavers survive, and survive well. So all is not lost.
Inside of the trading section of the Fort; this is where all of the men would come and gather, trading pelts for ammunitions and supplies. Most of the materials were authentic, from the pemican to the bullets, the cast iron pans to the used bear traps. Quite a refreshing insight to see and witness true speimens of history, when so often history is rendered down to non-authentic replications of items. It was a step back, to quote a famous thought.
The Fort, or at least the better portion of it. In the background was the food cache, where they would smoke and store slmon for the winter months. In the foreground was the building where they would keep inventory of tea and supplies, and store furs, etc, to be traded. In the extreme foreground is an early dugout canoe. Impecable in its craftmanship, it impresses upon you the actual need for 'craft' and utility rather than futility of today.
Tea. From Taiwan, to San Fran, to Northern B.C.

Me outside of the Fort area. Again, in the background (counterclockwise) the tea and supply storage, the food cache (there was still myriad salmon fillets smoked and hanging in the upper room), gentlemans quarters for sleeping and resting, and the last one I am not sure. I think it is actually the corner of the trade store, where I am holding the pelt (see above).

Bits and Pieces: A bit of a piece and a piece of a bit

Sign outside the research station where crystal is doing her reseach (well, the place we stay from which we drive about 1.5 hours into the logging-truck infested backwoods to the study site proper) and I am currently working. Its just a sign. Not that exciting.


This is the research station house where we sleep duing our time in the field. It s a step up from a tent, for sure! This is the first offical snowfall that we saw there...beautiful. And then I lost my work keys in the snow and spent the next two nights raking snow trying to find them (I did, eventually). Exercise...whew...raking show is an excellent (fruitless, some may say) way to spend a couple of evenings and burn off energy your dont have after working all day. I suggest it. Right now...go ahead.throw your keys out the window (close your eyes first) and then wait a night, then tomorrow try to find them with a rake and a flashlight (there should be snow to do this). It's fun for the whole family.


My mug a la beard and long-ish hair (crystal cut some last night).



Happy Halloween everyone...belated happiness.


Today is the day: Mercury transits the sun at around 11:10am local time. So, check out some websites if you are unable to properly check it out in person - properly, which means dont look at the sun directly. www.badastronomy.com is a good place to start your e-astronomy viewing. Take care, im done for a while here.

Smithers, BC - Part II

Ok, this is part II of the smithers post. Pictures, pictures, pictures.
I think I am shaving my beard today, and cutting my hair. Unrelated, yes, but if you took a gander at my mug it would be a momentous occasion of note, and worthy of recognition and posterity.

Bumbling. This is a word I wish to use more. Look for it.

Back to the story: Smithers was our last "trip" after our "trip" out here. Crystal started cracking down on books and research, and I started cracking down on finding a job, and then working at said found job. Most our weekends now are filled with work (I am employed working for UNBC as field research asst., with crystals project, so weekends we are out in the field hiking around streams and studying salmon habitat and redds) and little time to actually relax and have fun. That said, the work itself is fun, exercise, cognitivly active, and overall a learning experience - so I enjoy it greatly. The point is that since being in Prince George we have been busy working and studying, working on the weekend, and have had little time to explore outside of the research area (near Williams Lake...) and the locality of PG itself. So, Smithers was the last offical 'exploration' around northern BC. Not the last, but the last for now.
Enjoy.


Another view of our lunch spot, minus me. The white portion to the mid right of the photo is the Kimberly Glacier, and the three peaks inthe back are somewhere around +3500 masl. That is a guess, perhaps they are more.

This is the view from the toe of the glacier. The waterway in the picture is the meltwater form the glacier (subglacial melting, not supraglacial). We wanted to try to cross this so we could set our bodies to rest in a lone shard of sunlight protruding from the peaks in the background, but alas there was no way. It was too cold to ford, too wide to jump, too everything to do anything. Beautiful, though.

Evening view from our site; Kimberly Glacier is to the left of the main peak in this view. How can you complain while this view accompanies your evening.

Back up the mountain....this is me hiking past the downstream portion of the glacial stream. The previous picture of the stream is right below the glacier, this is about1/4 km below.

One of the most famous fossil beds in BC. Not a single one ws found by me or Crystal, but I think that is alright. This is where most of the geological history of BC and western Canada was pieced together many years ago. Maybe god put the fossils there....oh wait, they are 'just piles of dirt' so maybe thie whole region and paleological study is a farce, a pseudoscientific farce with the likes of radiometric dating, MRI's, paleomagnetism, ice cores, isostacy and evolution. Or, perhaps, just perhaps, these beds survived myriad species by encasing them in a mineral case, layed upon myriad planes of sediment, aged for aoens, and recovered by erosion geologically recently. Yes, perhaps that is the truth. Erosion gave us fossils (in a round about way), and erosion thus shows them to us. Time, folks, time. Whew...tyrade over.

Smithers, BC - Part I

Here are some pictures from a trip we took to Smithers. About 4 hours away from Prince George, on a beautiful sunny fall day, this town is a small yet large encampment in the Bulkley Valley, placed in the middle of two serene mountain ranges. It is a very small-town atmosphere, a touch of tourism the likes of which I am sure many other places outside of the popular destination area also bode. It is a wonderous place, not spectacularl as an individual place per se, but spectacular as a region and in context of the surrounding places.

So, here are some pictures and some hastily penned words to go along with them. Skip the words, if you like.I wont be offended. Just envision driving from a pulp mill, plateau town, to a valley of pristine mountains and (aside form the beetle infested forests, turning green into red, brown...) a smal town friendily taking you into its arms on a bright, but chilly fall weekend. Imagine.



The Last Spike...after the other last spike. This is found along the road linking Prince George and Smithes. It is about a 4 hour drive, and at the time we went (about two months ago now...)there was no snow in Prince George but once we got to the Bulkley Valley and Smithers proper there were craggy peaks encrusted with a settled blanket of snow. But I digress; this sign was a focal point along the way and a neat step into history.

Hiking up to the Kimberly Glacier; lunch break. The hike up was simply amazing...that is aglacier behind me and it took us only perhaps four hours (roundtrip) to reach it from the snow free valley below. It started out as a nice warm day at the lower altitudes, but once we got to this elevation it became quite cold (after doing the math it was assumed...understood....but not really prepared for!). Behind me is the Kimberly Glacier, retreating feverishly.Cant tell you the actual elevation, I believe it is around +/- 2000 m.a.s.l. though.


Crystal taking a break before the most difficult portion of the hike. A field of boulder sized talus that was unsettled - so every step we took was a half slide down, half step forward. It was a section that took much longer than it would be assumed based on the distance, and once finished and safe on the opposite side of the unfriendly slope we were relieved to be past it. We had to do it again to go home, yes, but for that moment it was relief...dont get me wrong though, it was fantastically fun but in the back of your mind the thought is always there that you have to be careful. This is real. This is fun, but this is real....don't make a mistake.


View from the plateau before the glacier. Need I put words to this masterpiece?



Me, after the boulder talus slope. Taking a break before making it up to the glacier and the stream from said glacier. Take a gander at the peaks in the background. When we made it to the top they were, as they are no, glistening in the morning sun and unapologetically protrudng into view - as we started to descend they were cloaked in clouds and snow was falling. We made it up just in time to catch a limitless view (well, limited to about 1.6 km...anyone?...anyone?...) and get down before the weather turned foe.

Labour Day 2006: Jasper, AB (Part II)

Here is PArt II of our Jasper trip. Again, I focus on the beauty and mastery of the land. However, I omit the commitment to capitalism and tourism that the townsite encroaches on. It is a pleasant place, humble like the land and relaxing, but overcrowded with overpriced and overdeveloped kitch and trinketry marred further with a living standard that is affordable by few of Canada. Imagine, a place of such beauty, placed aside for the preservation of the land, the region, the life, and everything is so out of reach for so many because everything is so overpriced and structured. Angering, to the point where the enjoyment is abated by uncanny reflection and realization that the Parks system is but a capital gaining entity, to which some economic gains are necessary, an intellegent argument can be made there, but which overrides the function of the park - for everyone to witness, understand and appreciate. No, only the rich and the willing to spend may see unobstructed nature.

Regardless, if you look in the right places and ask the right people, a deal can be found and a trip can be affordable somewhat.

And it is beautiful...


Whew...it was with the hike to Jasper! This is the pair of us sitting placidly on the top of one of the more muted mountains in Jasper. We just parked on the road and took off into the mountains, so I am not exactly sure which top it actually is but regardless is offered a majestic view. We had a cougar scare on the way up, but after consternating investigation it was found to be a rosk. A cougar coloured rock, at least. Ask Crystal for details!


Another shot of the two of us in the warmth of the late summer sun. Dammit, could I not just spend more time here.....


Me, climbing a treacherous section - this was the safer part where we were able to take out the camera. Prior, it was the point where you forget everything and focus on your next footstep, and hope the rotten (thats geologically rotten, not colloquial rotten...) rocks dopnt give way.

SCALE?!? Who needs scale.....

This pic certainly does, as justice is not done to the magnitude of the view and of the rocks. This looks like a measly rivulet scarring nothing more than a sandy dune on a beach - how can I express the audacity of geology and the grandeur of knowing how old, how spectacular, and how massive these rocks are as pervasivley as I feel it?Amazingly beautiful...humbling....diminishes the importance of one's life some. Did I properly apostrify the previous "one's"?

Can I somehow FORCE you to like geology, and view the world through my lithologically preset retinas?

Yeah, this is the place where it would have been a fairly poor decision to fall...
Crystal on the previously described rotten and perilous side of the mountain. Looks pitifully serene from the pic, certainly wasnt. It was actually the thrid or fourth time this trip that we reached a point in our pedal travels where we were too threatened to go down, but didnt want to go up.

Up, oh, up went we;

throught perils and fear;

To the top and in the sky to see;

to recognize our lives as importantly mere.

That was my ode to evolution - yes, it is an ode to evolution. I do that sometimes.

See previous post

Above: Lunar Aureole (not my picture...from internet!)



Above: Sundog (not my picture...from internet)

Atmospheric Optics: Link

Last evening, far outside of the light polluted region of Prince George, I readied myself for an evening of excellent seeing as the snow-giving clouds that plagued the daylight hours ventured northward and left clear skies behind for an amazing sunset (what could be seen through the dense forest). I, camera in hand and teeth jostling for composure in the frigid air, waited for the perfect sunset picture to meld into the perfect starry picture. This was borne of immense greed because - and of course I should have known this - the moon, full, began to rise as the sun began to set. Luminesence was not to leave my eyes this evening so it seemed. There was thus no significant moment of clarity that enabled me to pause and wonder, yet again, at the cosmos and attempt to capture a fleetingly slight image of a cluster of stars so far eluding me. However, all was not lost - in mere moments I had a wonderous view of our Moon, duely named 'Moon', and readied myself for my secondary plan to capture said moon on film.
Foiled - all was lost as vapid clouds trailed the main mass that earlier departed and became a significant impairment, worse than the light of the moon. But then, third plan being made on the fly, I saw a sight that I had witnessed many times, we must have all seen many times, and decided that tonight was not going to be only an exhibition of how much nature wanted me to be cold. As I danced my muscles warm in the crunching snow underfoot and tried not to breathe, I aimed moon-ward, tensed my muscles steady against the stinging cold and pressed the shutter button (although the first time I did breathe and out came a dramatically eerie picture of a ghost...not a real ghost, of course.....gleaming on the image. My condensing breath captured on the image. Kind of neat, but unwanted).
Victorious - An extraordinary lunar aureole! I thought it would make a dreary picture, but it turned out wonderful. Then it made me intereted in more atmospheric imagery I had digitally flipped through before. And then I wanted to remember the site. So here it is, for me and you:

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/


Note - on the drive to our research station (which is where, four days a week, we elude the stench of pulp mills and see stars on a regular basis and work among the salmon and critters in the river system) we saw an even more spectacular sundog in the crisp wintery morning...then, as per above, I saw a lunar aureole on the last night we were there. What a way to bookmark this weeks trip - atmospheric optics saying goodmorning, good luck, and atmospheric optics saying goodnight, glad it went well.
At least thats what I imagined. Sort of.

So, check out the link above and skim around the pictures and writing. It is worth a moments time.

"Learning should be beautiful, not just fun..."
-Me

PS - This wendnesday Mercury transits the Sun - e-surf around NASA for some pic's, and certainly check in with www.badastronomy.com because I am sure he will have a few images and thoughts on it. Peace. Don't stare at the Sun.

Labour Day 2006: Jasper, AB (Part I)

If god were to invest some time in creating a landscape, Jasper would have been a good result. However, since nature took that deed to task and the 'creation' had more (comletely more) to do with unruly tectonism and unfathomable time...I find it much more appealing - landscape evolution at the behest of nothing but physics. Beauty, mathematical, geological, physical, chemical beauty.....



Well, lets start with a picture that is not actually from Jasper, but from home sweet (ly smelling of paper milled excrement) home - a Woodpecker. It hung around our fromt yard long enough for me to snap a few. It didn't seem bothered at all, actually.


]Why, what is this? Is this a commercial for a book? Is this evidential proof that I can read, or at least pose with literature and allege that I can infact read? No, no, no....none of these wo-de pengyou. Simply me reading a book of books, a worthy read (for those interested in Earth's history - the real history - and not ashamed to reveal that there is so much to be learned from a single specimin of rock or mineral...). And perhaps it can be said to be a reflection of the time takes to relax during the holiday or relaxation....a nice book, a tent and a crispy dinner on the campfire. And a beer.




This is Crystal hiking along a ridgeline - well, to the side of it really - on one of our various destinations. This one was a shorter, yet insanly uphill, off the path venture that left us wishing we brought more water, more energy and a little less pizza for lunch. Beautiful, and a scary downhill section to get back to the trailhead, well, no trailhead really, just the path we christened (christ, I hate that word) as our trailhead. ANywho, the scnery and the weather is the point. Beautiful, hot, sunny, breezy...



And then we saw a Lynx. It was a mother and a cub, but we only saw the cub a couple of times as it was hidden in the brush to the side, apparently afraid of the noise of the road. The mother was trying to coax the cub across the road, and would go back to it, play for a moment, and then slowly walk across the road continually looking back to see if it was being ardently followed by her cub. No luck, and she sould go back, repeat the routine, and try crossing again. We didn't want to stay once we realized what was happening so after a photo or two we went our way and the Lynx went her way...with cub. Beautiful and alluring animal, to say the least.



This is me, Trevor, hiking along the same ridge as Crystal is above. It was a gorgeous day, but wish I had more water.

Link to Knowledge - and be entertained along the way

http://www.randi.org/
The Amazing James Randi - Chock full of wisdom and an elegantly prosed, thoughtfully intelectual foundation of topics and understanding. If you read a abide by the givings of the astrological zodiac, or revel in believing that people can heal by touch, check this out first. You may choose to skip the horoscope page next time you pick up a paper.


http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/homeo.html

Medical thoughts on homeopathic *ahem* medicine. This is one of many.


So...as I have come across 'things' that are of interest to me and, thus, may be of interest to others of our species, I desire to leave a diuturnal repository of links and conversation on topics and ideas. Not for humour, not for fun - ephemeral humour and fun may be provided by reading some of the positions of a few - but mostly and in direct intent it will be more academic natured.

So...these are the first two.
These are more for me, so it is not as though I am saying 'please go read these', but there is nothing to lose so why the hell not.

"Dont waste time believing, spend time thinking"
:) -Me

Cognitive Detour: Have we been here before?

These are two unrelated passages, that are more realated than they seem to realize. The first is from CBC and the second is from www.badastronomy.com - it gets really juicy when the CBC guest who claims to be the godifier of science tells his students that fossils are but piles of dirt, and has them reherse questions such as "how do you know its true?" to ask the museum scientists (you know, the ones who spent their youth studying feverishly and forging new roads towards understanding Earths history, and since spent their adult life devoted to understanding through research what we know today...those people). Is he missing the point? Is that possible for a thoughtless, blindly believing entity such as himself?
Should we recite the same question to him and see how many peer reviewed, quantifiable, reproduced and investigative scientific reports he references? Or personal research he brings into the discussion? My guess would be none.

The teaser is below, go to CBC.com and link to THE CURRENT to hear the whole shebang.

Did I mention he called a fossil a pile of dirt?!?

Soil, at least, would have been more provocative and slightly nearing proper terminology. But lets not go ahead and spread credit where it is easily obvious that it is not deserved.

Fossil....dirt....?
___________________________________________________________________________
The Current: Part 3 October 31, 2006


Biblically Correct Doc

If you go through a natural history museum these days, you might see signs that reflect our more "politically correct" reality. For instance, the word "humankind" often replaces "mankind" on the placards. But in the United States, there's a Christian movement to take museums beyond politically correct to something called "biblically correct".

This morning we wanted to take you on one of those tours, called, in fact, "Biblically Correct Tours", which offers a literal, Biblical interpretation of everything from what fossils tell us about evolution to the disappearance of the dinosaurs. And we followed one of the guides, named Bill Jack, who teaches children that evolution is "bad science" and that questions concerning how we got here can be found in the book of Genesis.

We aired Frank Faulk's documentary called "Be Reasonable".____________________________________________________________________________
"As long as these attacks on science continue, we must be diligent. And they will go on, no doubt, forever. Eternal vigilance, fellow humans. Stay on your toes, and don’t let those antiscientists turn the clock back to the Middle Ages."

P. Plait

Nepal Re-Print (from 2005)

Alright - this is the email I sent out after arrivng home from Nepal last year, and in fear of losing the details I decided to post it. I have yet to check for things like spelling, grammar, and the like, and wish to make it known, with great clarity, that the political opinions expressed and historical notes herein are that of the Nepalese and Tibetan people we spoke with in Kathmandu, lived with, and met along our journey. I am not suggesting that the details are genuinely accurate to the last syllable, just as everyone in Canada would have a different explanation of our surrent, and past, governing bodies, but that they are lucid representations of a strong understanding of Nepal, by the people of Nepal. This is how it was told to us.

__________________________

And so, the story of Nepal:

After the most hectic and communist-militants-are-searching-for-and-killing-people adventure in Nepal...we are home safe and sound. There is quite the story to tell, ill give you the brief outline. Kidding, this letter is far from brief....get a coffee and a bagel if you are going to commit to reading it through :)


Nepal is run by a dictator-king, who is only in power because he killed his father to gain the reign of King three years ago. He is a Communist leader of all of the worst sort - gaining power and wealth at the cost and safety of his people, using the army and police forces as his personal hitmen and enforcers of dictatorial powers. The people hate him, but any one who speaks out is, well, killed. Now, he and his delegates decided to hold an election so that the rest of the world would see him as a forward thinking, democratically inclined king. What a great king who opens himself up to public scrutiny and evaluation by the people, right? Only the truth speaks louder than his cloaking frail attempt to win United Nations and powerful nations support - he chose to imprison ALL other candidates for the rule of the nation, kill another candidate, outlaw ALL campaigning actions by anyone, and use leathal force at any juncture where the people opposed his "iron fist" rule, as the papers dubbed it. So, it was a 'democratic' election with nobody else running for his position, and anyone who spoke out was evidently killed or imprisoned. He wanted to make the election SEEM real, but wanted to make sure that there was no opposition to his rule.

So, the election was to be held on FEB 8th. A militant branch of the people of Nepal (Maoists) decided that the only way to make the rest of the world witness and understand this atrocity and to take notice of the veiled attmept to democratically orient Nepal, was to stage an all out (mini) civil war and shut down the country. If they made enough of a mess of the country in a short time, maybe someone would take notice. They staged a week long violent strike, set up road blocks, drizzled the roads with land mines and started to violently take over the county region by region, fighting the Army and the police forces whenever and where ever. Civilians were not safe from their vigor either, as they soley wanted to have it their way. They wanted to shut down the country, and they bluntly stated that anyone found travelling, driving, moving, working, anything-ing during this time period of strike surrounding the election period would be (take your pick) killed, exploded, burned, ..., relentless and copmpassionless slaughter of anyone found defying the force of the Maoists in their defiance of the Nepalese kingdom. The Maoists meant business, and they were willing to fight the army, kill the people, do anything to reach the goal of making the election recognized as fake. They, and the people supported this action, were willing to sacrafice their lives and their fellow Nepalese to take down the authoritative rule of their King. The fake election was the last straw, the Maoists needed to be drastic to make the world listen.

What this meant for Johnny-canadian trekking in the majesty of the Himalaya's, was that for a week nothing in the city was working, running, operating...nothing. In the mountains, there are little 'teahouses' and re-settled villages of dispersed Tibetans (another story...watch 7 years in tibet for the sexy-brad pitt version) all over the place. The Tibetans came over the himalayan range to Northern Nepal to live in peace away from the Chinese communism many years ago, and now many of the main hiking trails pass through these little villages. They are truley a peacefuil and pleasantly loving people.....what a charm to visit them and be a part of their culture for a while...but back to the story... these villages are untouched from the Nepalese rule, basically. To strengthen this point - they are not allowed to vote, by decree of Nepalese law. They are national Nepalese, no charge to that...certified residence and cultural association with Nepal - they are Nepalese - but not allowed to vote. Nobody outside of major cities are, really. It is a decision based on control and developmental availabilities - the Nation is so vast and so grossly unnavigable at many points that to reach every locality for voting would be arduous at best. However, in the Tibetan refugee areas, voting is nascent regardless if they can be reached - they are simply, as yet, to be eligible to vote. So, while we were in the mountains things were relatively untouched by the Maosits, King, Army, anything. We just hiked and drank in the splendor of the greatest mountains on Earth among the (arguably) strongest and peaceful people on Earth. And Yak cheese...glorious, glorious Yak cheese.
Then, as we ended or 9 day sojourn into the mountains, we walked back out into a town sized habitation (now away from the Tibetan culture and seemingly independant lifestyle, and into the strongly Indian-based Nepalese culture and politics - aka Maosits and army and kingdom enforcement....). It was here that we were supposed to meet a jeep and take our 9 hour drive back to Kathmandu. However, remember now that the Maoists had shut down the country (bus driver had already had his hands cut off for attempting to drive during the strike, and rumors of an ambulance with sick passenger inside being stopped and burnt down to the frame were circulating the city) there was no jeep, no transportation, nothing. We were a nine hour drive away from safety of Kathmandu (it was safe in Kathmandu) and had only four days until our flight back to Taiwan. Option number one - wait it out, stay safe in a small town and see what happens. This meant missing our flight, missing work, spending cash upon cash in the small town and trying to stay fed and housed while it was basically illegal to have anything open. Option number two - walk. 100 kilometers from Kathmandu, we chose opption 2.
We started fresh the next morning, deciding to hike our way (three days, it was said, was not enough. It will take four, there is no way to get there in three days was the going sentiment around the city once people figured out that we were deciding such action). Regardless, we were intent upon making it out and taking the walking home version, so we ignored the peoples sentiments and planned our way. We started to walk, part on the road, part (most) through backcountry nepal along trails unmapped, crossing rivers unknown, in the general direction of Kathmandu. This was the hardest hiking of myu life, not so much because of teh terrain, which was hard enough, but because of teh uncerrtainty, the huge goal, and the stress and worry of everything. It all amassed into one long, hard, tiring, day. That first day we put over 45 kilometers of Nepalese land behind us....a grueling and completely trying struggle but well worth it at the end of the day. We ended up in a military strong hold, a grumpy dirty town where we were seen as a public amusement more than a passing person. The food was horrible, the people grumpy and worried, and the Military everywhere.

The second day was supposed to be shorter and easier but it was not. It was harder. harder walking, longer day, less food, more heat, less water... . Nothing was open along the roads we took and there was nowhere to stop for food or sleep at the end of the day, especially not anywhere off the road along any of the trails. The end of the day, it seemed, kept being pushed back and back, into darkness where we couldnt really see what was comming up ahead of us, as we searched for a safe place to rest our bones. So, after the 9 hours of straight walking on the first day, we did another 9+ hours on the second, arriving after dark (amid sounds of bombs exploding ahead on the road we were walking at the time) to a place to eat and sleep.
But, get this - in the mountains there is nothing but Tsampa, rice curry, soup and the basics that can be carried countless kilometers on back. But all of a sudden at the end of this day we came across a place that had fresh fish (trout, no less) and the Eagles blaring on their simple yet effective stereo. We had walked about 90 kilometers in two days, through the ruggedness and uncertainty of unknown-Nepal, our feet sore, our backs aching, our minds racing, our ears trying to ignore the gunfire and bombs, and here we found a fresh fish joint with the Eagles playing. what a comfort...we asked (begged) to stay there (it was not a hotel, and they were afraid enough to be open during the maoist strike, let alone let foreigners and a guide stay there. But, the begging worked and we were given a meal and a bed for the night). Two beautiful but agonizingly difficult (mentally and physically....) days and many upon many hours and kilometers wearing away at our feet and building up our fears and worries, we were safe for a night. We had eaten basically nothign that day, asiode from breakfast of lemon (stale) cake - the kind you can buy in a convinience store, but never do because you know it is dry and horrible - so the fish and rice was gone almost instantly. As was teh secodn helping. And the bread. And the tea...all gone fast.

Then, and I swear I could have kissed all the fish right on the lips when I heard this in the morning, a truck drove by. A TRUCK?!? That meant...."get up, get up.... I think I hear a vehilcle..." We rushed up, scampered down the geravel path, and saw infront of us on the road a (maybe the first) truck full of rice bags, moving north into the distant villages. Vehicles were moving. WE asked the people who let us stay for the night and they were unsore of what was going on.... . We thought we would still have to walk, so ready as we were, we startd to plod our way again, only to be stopped by a group of soldiers (army, not maoists) asking where we were going. "Walking to Kathmandu, from Dhunche..." . and what was the reply? Nah, just wait a minute and a bus will come by to take you the rest of the way. We were beside ourselves....I questioned repeatedly about safety of driving on the roads, and about the Moaists, but the soldier said that the strike was over, the election was finished and the Moaists felt that their effors had payed off. They were happy, so the roads were once again open.

5 minutes later we were sitting on a byumpy bus, driving the finaly 10 or so kilometers back to Kathmandu.

30 minutes later, we were sitting drinking tea on a quaint patio in Kathmandu, eating a fresh omelette and trying to fathom the last three days.

In the end, we walked about 90 kilometers in two days, through (to us) unknown territoy, up and down, along river valleys, through peoples houses, through anything, to get to safety, and all of a sudden everything came together and we were sitting, safely, and assured that everything was going to be fine. It was a weird time, what an experience, what a trip, but certainly for a few days it was a scary and uncertain experience. Getting back, reading the paper, it seems that most in the world took notice and deemed the election a fraud, and condemned the Nepali King, so I guess it worked out the best for the people of Nepal. It was confusing, all the people felt threatened by the Maosists but wholeheatedly supported them in their cause. they were willing to suffer for the global awareness that was to come, and for hopefully the ousting of their unwanted and distrusted king. I dont know the actual number, but many were killed, mostly army and maoist soldiers, but a few civilians and a bunch of vehicles were lost in the forray. Even on the day we were leaving there was a subsequent gun battle, where 500 maoist soldiers stormed an army convoy to regain control of a certain area. It wont end until the King is gone, but I dont see it actually happening too soon. Quite a difficult place to live. Many discussions with the Nepalese gave me many mixed ideas of their plight, but overall they are hopefull.


So, this was very long but if you took the time to read it I hope it conveys a bit of our experience. It was very eye opening and surreal to be caught unwillingly in the middle fo a civil uprising such as this, and althogh the 90 kilometers were grueling and trying, it was quite the experience and we got to witness a side of Nepal I would never hae seen before. And, for the best, Nepal took a step (a weird step, but a step nonetheless) towards more efficient and more democratic country. Ill try to send some pics when I get a chance.

Then, on our 2.4 day stopover in Thailand I got to feed an elephant, on the street, half past midnight. Then it tried to eat my wallet. Weird.

whew. Thats all.

Take care, hope your days are safe!

Trevor