Jasper, AB - Feb 2007

Taking an early dip from the the promiscuous cup of reason, we headed out in the blandness of a Prince George evening for the lust filled aura of freedom that is Jasper. We headed east, south. East, through the barriers of atmospheric sludge that typify the PG airshed. South, through the valley of rounded peaks and incessant wisps of show drenched updrafts. Either way, it was out. Out of Prince George and the economic engines of the Eco-raping industry of chlorine fed pulp mills and regardless tree mining of the forestry drivers.

Throughout the four plus hour journey from PG to Jasper, it came to us that our decision was not at all to be met with retrospective acclaim. Wind, snow, dark, windy roads, steep roads, hairpin turns, icy roads....we found ourselves in myriad moments of wonder. Wondering, that is, if this was a good idea to drive through the Jasper pass, through the valley of driving snow and on to the higher land of the inner Rocky ridge of Jasper. Through moments of absolute blindness and showers of passing logging trucks and pickups...we plodded on.


We did, though. We made it.


We arrived in Jasper just a touch after 11pm, AB time, and found ourselves with enough gusto left to lay down our bags in the hotel room and venture off into the wilds of the city. After the obligatory disposal of a christian prayer booklet into the trash container, we left (infuriated that my room had been preyed upon by the monolithic, self indulgent and demonstrably ignorant Gideons...or at least I was). To go next door. But they had beer, and I needed a beer. We needed a beer. Winding down from a hectic drive longer than anticipated and a gleeful relapse into the moments of our journey west earlier the previous year, we made a calming settlement in the back corner of the bustling pub and drank in the relaxation.

Ending our moments of calm in the pub with the last shout for drinks, we ambled onto the street and sauntered casually towards the nearest eatery. What I though was the lively and awakened night life of Jasper, I came to realize that there was none. No food, brother. No food. We managed (upon my strong request) to find a place, closing its doors moments after our arrival, and sat amused at luck, awaiting our pizza.

I ate too much pizza, but it was good.

So, then, here are some moments from the weekend spent hiking (bare rocky crests of mountain climbs, gravel bedded scrambles...) above the snow, trailing the paw prints of recent cougar trails and in the briskly honest and unlimited sky of Jasper.

A vivid example of that which PG has not, and what Jasper has much of. Beauty, cleanliness and rugged appeal.

Bighorn sheep....nestled in a perch among the flatness of the mountain side. How on earth it managed to get there, well I cant say I know. But it did, I know that.

A close up of same sheep - if you can, it would serve your interest well to try to zoom in on its feet and see just exactly what it is not standing on.

Things that young-earth creationists tread lightly upon - fold in rock, truth, evidence, and so on. Here is a beautifully prone view of a mountain that has undergone tectonic play. The snow dusting of the winter afternoon illuminated the geology quite nicely, more so than compared to the summer sun alone.

Warning sign.

Jasper in the morning.

Post-hiking rest by our car on the side of the Icefields Parkway (well, the north eastern section of what will be the icefields pkwy).

Me, hiking along the barren and dry ridge we sought after. Dressed for the wind and the blistering coldness of the peak, while appreciating the warmth and serenity of the sun.

Me, taking a rest on the way back down.

Me, by the river, by the road.

Crystal by the same river, by the same road. It is really tough to wake up and see this view. Really, really tough.

Crystal taking a pensive moment along the hike. This is where we saw the bulk of the cougar prints.

Us, in our winter hiking prime.

The drive home, PG bound.

The Eyes....never the eyes!!!

Protanopia.

I am cursed. Why has god (random genetic construction) done this to me. Why god (evolution and chance), why?

I knew it all along - years of never seeing the forest for the mutant-orange flagging tape...
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/teares/gktvc/vc/lt/colourblindness/plate1.htm

TAIWAN: XVII

Peace.

Alone.

Nobody.

Solitude among the whistling grass, the lumbering driftwood reminders of past ecological triumph and the clambering grains of sand. Evolution, eons, millions of years...to make this river. To detract from the forged mass of bedrock particulates that now endeavour to speckle our faces with pocks of pain. Wind. We are not alone. We are with the sand. We are with the wind. The sun...we are with the sun. It is with us. I keep some of it with me for days to come as I shed, through wistful petulance of ultraviolet anger, skin that no longer needs my established home. The sun distances my skin and my pigment from biology. My biology, at least.

We walk, alone, only each other. But there is always the sun. There is always the sand. There is always the wind. It is always there and for it I am in debt of memory and painful angst to return when the moment strikes me.

But we are still in the river. We are still in the midst of a heat with such immensity that words cannot encapsulate the pain of only moments of it. But moments we had, in the heat - to hot to walk - roaming through the dried floodplain of the Mugua (Papaya) River. Just a day to lumber around and witness, and be...

And be reminded of the relinquished attachment to water that evades us. For now. Soothing remedy came. As you will see.

Only in time of need do you realize that which you need.

And we needed water.

The evening sun, bidding us goodbye from Taitung.

A non-fearing atheist is fine in such situations!

Crystal takes a break among the boulders and erratic memories of geology past.

After a barefoot crossing of the river I stop to regain protection of my feet from cobble and heat. Unbearable, our companion of heat this day.

The thirst quencher. Out of the river, on to the road, towards a betel nut stand, two drinks and a moment by the rice. Bidding farewell the thirst but not the sun.

The Bus Station. A bus station. Despite the look of it, it was an easy place to manage with our chinese abilities and a bit of luck from random helpful people.

A reflective pause in the midst of a parched floodplain. Incalculable cliffs rise in the distance etched away as the river flows through time and through soil in its presence. Geology is so goddamn interesting - a story in every rock, a history in every crevice, a perplexing tale in every mountaintop and river bottom. Evolution is the tale, biology and geology the storytellers.

Running was more bearable while jumping. The landing incited rueful heat and momentary shock. I am not sure why I had not my shoes.

Resting where Crystal once did (above).

Back in the city of Taitung. A side road, typifying Taiwan

Crystal bargaining for some fruit as I lounge in the crowd and ponder why a wax apple satiates one so perfectly.

This was, then, a brief look at a trip we took to Taitung and went the opposite way of the crowd to an oft forgotten part of the area. The heat, immeasurable. The joy, the memories, and the man with the beer...a concoction of memories unshakable steadfast in my, our, minds. Taitung rarely let us down.

TAIWAN: XVI

In recognition of rural life and our livlihood in small village Taiwan, I though I would allow some pictures of the city life and market life to take their turn. There are more, many more, but I havent the time nor the patience to dedicate to finding them out among all the disks of pictures specifically. they will have their turn in this sharing-turn-theraputic stance I take with posting from memories past.



Immersing ourselves in rural life as a daily prescription to survival, we lived out our days mostly in the markets and sociality of a small place. Here are some honest sights:

Turn your head. A typical intersection where sometimes scooters outnumbered motorists, sometimes motorists outnumbered scooters, and sometimes there was ust no need to try and count. Other times, there was no way to count. You were alone. In Taiwan. At night. On a road, nowhere. Humbling.

A market where walking and driving are moral codes of conduct. From fruits to clothing, tapestries to dinner - anything could be found here.

Same market alley; person on scooter.

What would a post about Taiwan be without, somewhere, a picture of rice. It turned out to be one of my favourite items of photography. Sunset rice gleaned a different honesty that saylight rice, as did post rainfall rice over dry sun rice. The rice told a story, like the temperance monitor of the island.

A view of a roadway lined with scooters. This, without a moments hesitation, was the normal sight for any urbanized/rural-urban areas. Parking, however, was never a problem with a bike.

TAIWAN: XV

"There's a reason that I love this town..." - J. Plaskett

...and there is a reason why I loved Taiwan.


___________________________________________________


Yet another dip into the lunch basket of Taiwan bliss. This adventurous moment from times past is of a trip to Lishan (Hualien - HeHuan - Lishan - Yilan - Hualien) the long way around. On a wondrously warm and sunny morning I shouldered by pack, peered over my front gate to the neighbouring lanes, saw it was clear and puttered off into the abyss that is the backroads of Taiwan. Fumbling through traffic, watching it dwindle out until there was none left but me and my sun parched face, I entered the gorge - the official beginning of any trip to the mountains from Hualien. Leaving the ocean coast and salty spray of sand filled gusts, I became a spot on the road of sheer cliffs and rugged geology. Decidedly not making any waste of time, illuminated by hopes of new vistas and raw experience, I dashed through Taroko, through the village, past the steep climb that ends the gorge and begins the trek to HeHuan, and sheltered fears that I would not make it to my destination by days end. I had to make it.
Past HeHuan, through the tunnel, and on to new sights. New things. New. Not done before.

These are a scrambled array of pics from this journey, three days that took me many kilometers and fostered many memories. Alone on the road unknown - sharing lunch with yet-unknown road workers, sharing moments of steadfast immobility watching a gaggle of machinery clear an old rock slide, sharing time with myself.

The inescapable heat, the joyous draw of fresh water and respite from the sun. Delicately tasting water draping over million year old rock, each drop finding its place in time. Some finding its place on me, cooling my body.

Now in HeHuan (the most beautiful view to collaborate with a most calming meal). This is common HeHuan fodder - noodles, egg, peanuts and bamboo. HeHuan is the only place in Taiwan that sells dark beer, and glorious beer it is.

Before HeHuan, taking a break from the omnipresent curve and inclines in the road that wreak havoc on your muscles. The cracks in the road attest to past geological strain that curses (and created) Taiwan. The heat was immense, the sun was intense.

Another break, another view and attempt to capture the duality of landscape; behind me bare rock and cliff, infront clear valley and open sky.

Spider; to scale it is about the size of my opened hand. Perhaps a bit smaller, but about that size.

Past HeHuan, on to Lishan. The heat, the sun, the time all ganged up and took vengeance on me. Despite the heat, I was left without option as to block the sun. All I could use was a scarf (that was needed in the morning, ridiculous in the afternoon most days) to cover my exposed skin. It still did no good, for at this point the damage was done.

Roadside beauty - a ephemeral waterfall that cascades down the side of the cliff, over the road, and further down the continuing cliff. A kilometer below (to the rear of this picture) it reaches the main flow of a rive and becomes unrecognizable from the rest of the gorge flow.

A typical road through the mountains. Not too easy on a scooter sometimes.

A truck managing a similar road situation. They were actively clearing this landslide from weeks past.

A dorm room in TienHsiang; early on in the trip.

A bridge pause - deciding which way to go. Only one right way, only one wrong way. I chose the right way.

Bundles of cabbages being taken from the heart and hearth of the mountains to the outlier regions.

After climbing over a fence, through a crack in a wall and into an old temple, I cam upon this sign. On every door. Every window. Everything. Now I could make out a few characters, and could get the general idea, but not the whole idea. It recommends one to not be here and tells that the temple is condemned. Dangerously condemned. I spent a good hour plucking around the temple (on the third floor, no less) and was a little surprised to find out the true translation much later.

A beautiful view of a valley and farm.

Lishan at night. Every night, in the mountain villages like this one, the power goes out. A blackout to conserve and to basically survive some energy for the morning. I had the most peaceful moment at an elderly lady's store/home in the completeness of darkness and quietness, eating dinner and sipping (free) local peach liquor. Thoughts and meal lit only by candle light. The power is a tool here, not a necessity, not a requirement. Life lives without electricity.

From the condemned temple.

Mountains of Lishan. Nothing out there but the biology and geology of evolution and cosmic chance.

The way home: Back to the ocean and the trailing road serpenting its way from tip to tip of Taiwan. Describing a precarious route home, I followed it honestly and warmly.

The new temple, taking over from the condemned one of earlier pictures.

Saturday Musings with coffee and sound

Sitting in my kitchen for hours now, plunking away at various presentations and lessons, listening to decidedly new music only (had to tear myself away from the glory of http://www.rheostaticslive.ca/), I have come across three new digs for my ears. They are not new in the "i discovered them" sense, but they are new to me and (thanks to a tip) I searched them out today.

The bands, groups, collectives, cooperative musical dignitaries are:
Elliot Brood
Tokyo Police Club
Ladyhawk

...as usual, I am enamoured by the melodic rasp of intoned vocals and the pleadingly calm and yet eager distortions of sound. I think it makes for good companionship to ones day, night, thoughts and moments away from reality. They can all be found at CBC3 ... http://www.justconcerts.ca/

Happy Chinese New Year - Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Go pig, go...

Celebrate today

Celebrate freedom from religion. Celebrate freedom of thought.

http://www.darwinday.org/

Celebrate reason and reality, not myth and hatred.

100 Posts Ceremonial Blabber

This, then, is post number 101.

And I give you nothing less than cranial fodder or cogent ramblings and of course an arena for slighted thoughts and dirty dishes.

I wonder if I can floss my nose.

Let us get to that tomorrow.

Does it come with a manual?

Happy reading. In lieu of making any post here that is coherently focused on some aspect of my disdain for political and commercial redirect, unfathomable disregard for christianity or likenesses of religion, disrespect for CNN or FOX news, or any further and non-trivial comments on the aspect of our anhedonic lifestyles...I will share a quote.

"It will last at least two years"
Spoken to me as I bought a new computer. New. 2007. Destined to last two years...if...IF...I take care of it. Otherwise, it will last only a portion of said two years. Goddamn Jesus Christ Mohammed Yahweh bible burner- Why do we perpetuate waste and perpetuate the need for it. In the name of capitalism and in the name of money - Vista up your evolved anus, Gates.

The Violence of Fanaticism

Taken from CBC Feb 2, 2007:

Police officer dies in Italian soccer riot
Homemade explosive device thrown inside policeman's vehicle

Bloody idiots.

Religious Freedom v.s. Reality

A situation that I am sure is escaping no headlines of late, the corrupting forces of the Jehovah Witness community have been overridden by the province of BC. They forced their faith on the health of their children and now only three of the sextuplets survive. When the province took control and gave emergency medical treatment (in opposed to prayer or faith based remedies that they were, the parents and the JW community, proposing to be more effective - because god takes care of all) they parents and the community were horribly struck with angst. Here is a quote from a personality who, although he does not have a stable and reputable name in the realm of politics, speaks volumes with one quip:

"We live in a country where we respect religious freedoms, where we respect
religious beliefs," said Campbell. "But we have an obligation to protect
children in British Columbia and to protect their lives. We act, I think, with
the children's best interests in mind. We will continue to do that.

What this can be interpreted as saying is that 'although we respect your belief to control your life, we do not allow your delusions to destroy lives of those around you. Further, we respect the cogent ability of medicine (and the battery of science that establishes the proponent base of old-earth and evolutionary-geological timescale interactions)'. So, the province has made a precedent setting stance that they respect you for your belief, but they realize that you believe in a myth and not reality. And you may not force it on your children. Well, at least not in this specific case.

Religion is not in the best interest of the children.

A moment with George Carlin

Take a moment to read and laugh. Or think. Or wash dishes and spill soapy water on your new loafers and curse the need of wearing loafers while washing dishes that are not really dirty but have just sat around so long that their cleanliness came to be questioned.

All are sourced to G.Carlin; who is going to argue with that.

Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, andanyone going faster than you is a moron.

I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.

I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.

The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.