Prestoni'sPlace

Rambles of a demented soul. Leading a quiet life on the rock, with dogs and chickens. Have been on the planet almost 7 decades. Born in the depression, been through some more in better times, but have survived pretty much intact physically. Born an artist, have done music, art, drafting, cooking at various times in sequential decades. I am fascinated with geology, and consider myself a fossil...... will die an artist. Artists don't retire. Nothing to retire from!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Brush up your Shakespeare

Eringo

(A sort of slow read... tribute to the strong but kind, the gentle giants, tough souls with hearts of gold, the guardian angel types..... finishing with a bitter sweet warning...a reminder.. observation... ???.)

Sonnet #94 - 2006-10-25 02:18:39-04

XCIV.

They that have power to hurt and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow,
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others but stewards of their excellence.
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

Read more...

(I somehow signed up for a Sonnet-a-day by the Bard. It is a morning challenge. Shakespeare's Elizabethan language and sensibility makes you stop and think. I like it.)

p

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Don't Attact Iran

"Paranoia runs deep"
Will they or won't they? According to Democrats.com there may be an October Surprise.

(In case anybody dosen't keep up with politics, an October Surprise is an event, like a startling announcement by the incumbent leader's party just before the election to guarantee that that party will stay in power come November.)

As we keep reading, the mood of the electorate is swinging away from the crazies and fumblers now in charge,and may change things at the upcoming elections, as has happened in the past. One of the most hysterical suggestions is that they have Osoma Bin Laden's body in a deep freeze at Camp David which will miraculously appear sometime around Halloween! And another is that there might be another invasian of a second prong of the self-declared Axis of Evil. Paranoia runs deep.

I do not wish to think that madness like that of Osoma or Timothy McVey or Pol Pot has settled into the weird skulls of Bush and the boys currently over-reacting to world events that they (and WE, dammit) have had our share in the making. But we are such a primative species.

Here you can read some of the paranoia.

Dear Preston,

While North Korea is dominating the headlines, the threat of an "October Surprise" U.S. attack on Iran has not diminished.

Pentagon planners have moved from routine "contingency" war plans to "second-stage" war plans. And the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier U.S.S. Eisenhower and its accompanying strike force of cruiser, destroyer and attack submarine are sailing towards Iran.

How would Iran respond to an attack? Iran has three times the population of Iraq, and a modern military capable of firing missiles at our oil-producing allies and shutting down all shipping in the Straits of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil travels every day. The 140,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq would be attacked by Iran's Iraqi allies, and Hezbollah would attack Israel.

So why would Bush want war with Iran? For one obvious reason: to prevent Democrats from sweeping the November elections, as all polls now predict.Dear Preston,

While North Korea is dominating the headlines, the threat of an "October Surprise" U.S. attack on Iran has not diminished.

Pentagon planners have moved from routine "contingency" war plans to "second-stage" war plans. And the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier U.S.S. Eisenhower and its accompanying strike force of cruiser, destroyer and attack submarine are sailing towards Iran.

How would Iran respond to an attack? Iran has three times the population of Iraq, and a modern military capable of firing missiles at our oil-producing allies and shutting down all shipping in the Straits of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil travels every day. The 140,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq would be attacked by Iran's Iraqi allies, and Hezbollah would attack Israel.

So why would Bush want war with Iran? For one obvious reason: to prevent Democrats from sweeping the November elections, as all polls now predict.....


Can anything like this happen? Is the leadership really ready to do this? Is the Pope a German? wow wowie. Mass extinction has taken place several times in Geologic past, xolub impact of a comet or asteroid ended the Dynasaurs reign on our planet 65 million years ago, and Biblical past (remember Noah? if you do not agree with science:) plus, and it all stared with humongus violence, big bang, I mean, do you see where I am going? But this time it will be Man, not God or Mother Nature pulling the punches. And we all die at the same time rather than one by one, etc etc.

Looking bad for homo sapiens sapiens chance of survival!!!! But we are only the latest in evolutionary development, Or God's favorite, AMADEUS, if the Holy Bible is your science book. Either way the final curtain may be in sight!!!! FORGET THE WHIMPER, ELIOT! IT IS THE BANG WE HAVE TO FEAR!!!!!!

Friday, October 06, 2006

New Flick

The man.
The Black Dahlia. Brian de Palma. over the top, or over the hill? both but still fun. This years entry in the Venice Film Festival....
Josh and Hillary. What are they looking at?

What is a blue dahlia?

My favorite smart-ass critic, Christopher Kelly, says "it's Chinatown as replayed by your high school drama club." And, yes, it is de Palma playing with films again. Campy fodder for film critics, and they always amuse film buffs who love to parse the scenes. Almost all his movies are ready-made trivia games: he just did a Hitchcock "Rear Window" move.... Oh that was from Eisenstein!

If you enjoy this stuff, it can be great fun. (Guilty fun, because there is usually some grissly violence to look away from....) And I have to admit that I do love it. "Carrie", my first viewing of Sissy Spacik, was a sensational masterwork. "Dressed to Kill" and "Body Double" (Dressed to Drill, a smart-ass critic wrote, because of a very original murder weapon!) sealed my love of the director. And everybody agreed with me on the "Untouchables" and gave it deserved awards. There is always something to look at in his films, even if you do not like the plot or the characters, or even the actors. This can be just pop froth, but at its best, I have to admit. The return of "Scarface" is eagerly awaited. Al Pacino and his mountain of (gasp) cocaine!
Scarf one/chain 1/2

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

yum yum yummy yum


Boy, am I hungry for sweets. And this mousse sounds so good:

Chocolate Mousse

1 3/4 cups whipping cream
12 ounces quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 ounces espresso or strong coffee
1 tablespoon dark rum
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon flavorless, granulated gelatin

Chill 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in refrigerator. Chill metal mixing bowl and mixer beaters in freezer.

In top of a double boiler, combine chocolate chips, coffee, rum and butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from heat while a couple of chunks are still visible. Cool, stirring occasionally to just above body temperature.

Pour remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow gelatin to "bloom" for 10 minutes. Then carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or gelatin will be damaged. Stir mixture into the cooled chocolate and set aside.

In the chilled mixing bowl, beat cream to medium peaks. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining whipped cream in two doses. There may be streaks of whipped cream in the chocolate and that is fine. Do not over work the mousse.

Spoon into bowls or martini glasses and chill for at least 1 hour. Garnish with fruit and serve.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Assembling Mark Foley

Shocking history of the earth


....reading this early morning from John McFee's "Assembling California", the beautiful and fascinating story about the forces of nature and the geology of the west coast. Bits and pieces of this amazing story have been coming together over the last two hundred plus years like the pieces of ocean floor and island arcs that docked, from the plate, diving under the continenent, scraping the Islands, along with some of the ocean bottom, well off spreading centers, moving eastward out of lava centers in the Pacific, whose west coast was once Utah, an ocean front Arizona and the like.

McFee and his geologist buddies have traveled along I-80 from Western Nevada, past Tahoo, across the Sierras, spending a lot of time in gold rich canyons and taking side trips all the way from Arizona to Cyprus and more, through exotic terrains locally. Finally the far west coast, with the exciting events going on along the St Andreas Fault, re-defining the coastal domains of the continent. He tells all about the strike slip fault which will bring Los Angeles up next to San Francisco some day.

The action goes along in slips and starts, as the Pacific Plate, riding on the slippery mantle, fueled by unknown engines, pushes northward, grinding against the North American Plate. It is a continuous surge, but is only felt in the quakes that shake the land every so many years. The elasticity of resistance and release are at work. The longer the time between releases, the greater is the force and destruction of the catch-up shifts. LA is on the Pacific Plate, San Francisco on the North American Plate. Right on the dividing, at that. The fault goes through western San Francisco, and out to sea around Golden Gate. If things go on as they are now, the two cities will be side by side, and eventually, LA will be in Alaska, and SF will be in the tropics!!!!

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Jumping in crazy attention-deficit confusion, Public Radio comes on and talks about the case of Representative Mark Foley, and his indiscretion by way of expressing his attraction to a former page boy. Via e-mail, no less!!! The hidden fault in the biological make up, like the hidden St Andreas under California, causes an earth quake like rumble, which may bring down the House. Literally! This happens all the time. Monica Luinsky is neither the first or last object of these inconvenient, or annoying lusts and desires the human heart seems to manufacture in many of us, with no respect for ability, talent, personality, color, creed, wealth. Out of step with prevailing mores, they are suppressed as much as possible. Part of growing up is learning how to deal with them. The mechanism of confession, one of the sometimes good institutions associated with the Catholic Church, is a great help if used correctly, in dealing with these "defects of character", as those in 12 step programs know it. But many times there is an eruption, an earthquake, whose magnitude is increased. Reputations go down the drain. The plug pulled, for better or for worse. Protecting the innocence of our young is harder and harder to do, and in truth, they have to grow up fast, and learn to deal with these facts, so shocking when the ideal world manufactured by Disney and company, Sesame Street, etc, Mr Rogers and his neighborhood, is in our collective conscience. Put there from birth, almost. Fighting off unwanted attention must be learned sooner and younger. Most of have had to deal with it, even way back then. Sin did not begin when we were in grade school!!!

Has all of this been going on forever? Has a lot of dirt been swept under the carpet all along? It seems that now there is an increasing avalanche of sexual revelations coming to light. Straight and broke-back. (It has been said that if every person who has ever had a same-sex desire or encounter in their life, would turn bright red, it would be well over 50 percent glowing rouge!!!!) The record shows that in the Foley affair, the man was known as a helpful friend to the pages in congress, lending an ear, giving them encouragement. The Times records statements of appreciated kindness from some ex-pages, both sexes included. There is a lot to learn yet about the human heart, the contradictions of being a human in this crazy world...... But an earthquake occured in Washington and Foley was swallowed up!!! With the usual tut-tuting and moral posturing of those around.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

more thoughts on the Vanitas bello and the venitas outcome


Bush's Vanity War

Prophet priest or king?

The war we went into was necessary. That was 5 years ago. Afghanistan. The training grounds for the bombers who destroyed the World Trade Center. A not so bad choice. Those people needed a break. Osama needed to be brought to justice. Iraq. A mistake.beatific visione So much so, it was/is an absolute disaster. We will never get out unscathed. The End-of-the-World War has begun. Also, on Myspace, the end-of-the-world-party seems to have begun, although some say the date was back in the sixties. Some say the twenties. Some say the "gay nineties"..... The decline and fall of the Roman Empire???? transcendent devil!!!maybe We should just say WHEE and enjoy it? Down the u-tube we go.... and then, then, then??? not with a bang, but another big bang???? the big whimper????transcendent devil?

Prophet priest or king?