Friday, March 21, 2008
Blog Slacker
I'm such a slacker when it comes to this blog. What's it been -- a month and a half? Oh well, anyway, here's a few from a recent shoot I did with my oldest daughter:
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Flickr's Down...
...so I find myself back here on Blogger for the first time in months.
So what's new? A couple of firsts in my artistic life -- I have framed prints hanging at Glass Growers (some of which have now sold -- woo hoo!) and I'm in the middle of setting up a one-off deal to sell unframed prints as well.
So what's new? A couple of firsts in my artistic life -- I have framed prints hanging at Glass Growers (some of which have now sold -- woo hoo!) and I'm in the middle of setting up a one-off deal to sell unframed prints as well.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
500 Jack O'Lanterns on Victory Drive
In case you missed it on Channel 12 last night, there's a house on Victory Dr. in Harborcreek that has 500 jack o'lanterns lit. My family and I got the chance to help with making them this past weekend -- it was a two-day project with a cast of dozens. If you get the chance, go check them out tonight!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Slacker Me
I started posting to this blog with good intentions of keeping up on it, damnit! Then my sister talked me into starting a MySpace page and it all went to hell. I guess MySpace is alright, if you can get past the terrible html abuses, frenetic banner advertisements and the overabundance of teen angst. :-/
Anyway, that's kinda what I've been up to. Reconnected with about a dozen old friends who I thought had pretty much fallen off the face of the earth. Woot woot!
Been doing a lot of photography, of course, which should be evident from the Flickr widget in the sidebar. The grapes are ripe now, and a drive out into the county is wonderfully thick with the smell of them.
I was out at one of the Sul Farms locations in Harborcreek this evening, shooting. I had a momentary bit of dismay when I arrived, because I saw one of the rows of white grapes first, and they'd already been harvested. Fortunately, the Concords are still on the vines, beautifully ripe and very photogenic.
Anyway, that's kinda what I've been up to. Reconnected with about a dozen old friends who I thought had pretty much fallen off the face of the earth. Woot woot!
Been doing a lot of photography, of course, which should be evident from the Flickr widget in the sidebar. The grapes are ripe now, and a drive out into the county is wonderfully thick with the smell of them.
I was out at one of the Sul Farms locations in Harborcreek this evening, shooting. I had a momentary bit of dismay when I arrived, because I saw one of the rows of white grapes first, and they'd already been harvested. Fortunately, the Concords are still on the vines, beautifully ripe and very photogenic.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Zombie-Proofing Your House -- Options for Every Budget
I keep getting these search engine hits on 'zombie-proof house' and the like -- ALL the time. (My favorite to date is 'zombie-proof pictures'.)
I've had some time to think it over, and apparently there's some kind of need for this advice, so I guess I'll oblige.
First solution -- the fantastically unrealistic
Whatever the cause of zombies might happen to be, the best possible zombie protection is going to be a remote island. Worst case, if everyone who dies always becomes a zombie, a small island with a limited population could minimize the risk of an outbreak more-or-less indefinitely by following a few simple measures. (I think I read something like this in a Stephen King story.)
Residents would know what to do if someone died during the day -- immobilize the corpse immediately. Machetes, aluminum bats and shotguns would have a place alongside fire extinguishers. Houses with only very narrow (or grille-covered) ground level windows would be a must, as would strong, locking interior doors, panic buttons, panic rooms, and strong exterior locks. That way, even if someone were to die unexpectedly in the middle of the night, come back and infect the rest of the household, the problem could still be contained to a single residence.
Second solution -- the highly unrealistic
Assuming though, that you're not among the handful of people who could afford to buy an entire island and set up a self-contained community there for you and your closest hundred or so friends, (somewhat) less extreme measures could still drastically improve your quality of life in the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
If you're in the highly eccentric, multi-millionaire club, I recommend a compound with a drawbridge, machine gun turrets and 12' walls with razor wire, surrounded by a 16' deep dry moat and an exterior concrete barrier strong enough to stop a semi without budging. That way, even if someone (living) were to try to crash your haven uninvited and in doing so compromise your defenses, they'd have a pretty tough time getting in. Under normal circumstances, little or no sound or light should be observable from outside the compound walls.
The interior of the compound would be stocked with Lots o' Firepower, several years worth of MREs and enough potable water for several months, and have the necessary space and a stockpile of seeds sufficient to plant a garden or maintain a greenhouse inside the walls. The garden/greenhouse should be large enough to sustain its residents indefinitely. Likewise, the compound would (ideally) have both gas and water wells on site, along with rainwater collectors, solar cells, diesel-powered generators and water purification gear. Throughout, blunt weapons and shotguns should be standard emergency equipment.
The interior of the compound would be broken up into smaller units, each of which would have a portion of the short-term survival supplies and could be sealed off individually in the event of a breach. Units would be separated by sets of airlock-type bulkheads.
Now it's not that I'd want to leave, or recommend that anyone do so, but if zombie movies have taught me anything, it's that it's just as important to have a way out of a sealed enclosure as it is to have one in the first place. To that end, there would be two exits -- the drawbridge would be the 'front door'. A well-lit underground tunnel sealed with multiple bulkheads and leading to a smaller concrete garage several hundred yards away from the main compound would be the 'back door'. Ready at both exits would be armed and armored Hum-Vees. Ideally, both exits would have locking mechanisms that required some kind of intelligent interaction to open, and they'd be designed in such a way that it'd be very difficult to leave one open and unsecured.
Outside the compound walls, you might also install light & sound generating stations. These could be activated on demand for the purpose of attracting zombies away from the walls and/or exits -- if an escape were needed -- or so that approaching zombies could be diverted and picked off via the machine gun turrets. (You wouldn't want them eventually piling up in the moat to the point where the wall could be scaled.)
Third solution -- possible
Stepping down another level from highly unrealistic to somewhat plausible, a brick house in which several floors could be secured independently would provide reasonable protection, especially if all of the doors were of the steel security type, and the windows were of block glass or otherwise able to withstand repeated blunt force impact. As before, non-perishable foodstuffs and weapons are a must, and some kind of discreet exit point is highly desirable. I can see the billboard now: Affordable, modern living for the zombie-conscious consumer.
Fourth solution -- reasonable
Let's face it -- chances are, you're actually going to be making do and improvising very close to wherever you happen to be at the moment when the living dead start snacking on us. In this case, a brick or stone structure is going to be ideal, with a sturdy wood-frame house being your next best choice. Seal all windows and doors as best you can and try to have a fall-back point that can be secured quickly. Collect tap water before the supply gets interrupted, and try to gather up a can opener and some non-perishable food from whatever is available.
If you can't get a hold of firearms, find something sturdy like a table leg to use as a weapon. Try not to get stuck with anyone visibly injured, unstable or terribly annoying. In zombie movies, people like this have a nasty tendency to somehow let the zombies inside or become zombies themselves. This is generally considered to be a bad thing.
Some closing thoughts
Wherever you end up when the dead rise in search of fresh brains, lay low and keep your head. If it comes down to it, try to take as many of them with you as you can. See you in Hell!!!
I've had some time to think it over, and apparently there's some kind of need for this advice, so I guess I'll oblige.
First solution -- the fantastically unrealistic
Whatever the cause of zombies might happen to be, the best possible zombie protection is going to be a remote island. Worst case, if everyone who dies always becomes a zombie, a small island with a limited population could minimize the risk of an outbreak more-or-less indefinitely by following a few simple measures. (I think I read something like this in a Stephen King story.)
Residents would know what to do if someone died during the day -- immobilize the corpse immediately. Machetes, aluminum bats and shotguns would have a place alongside fire extinguishers. Houses with only very narrow (or grille-covered) ground level windows would be a must, as would strong, locking interior doors, panic buttons, panic rooms, and strong exterior locks. That way, even if someone were to die unexpectedly in the middle of the night, come back and infect the rest of the household, the problem could still be contained to a single residence.
Second solution -- the highly unrealistic
Assuming though, that you're not among the handful of people who could afford to buy an entire island and set up a self-contained community there for you and your closest hundred or so friends, (somewhat) less extreme measures could still drastically improve your quality of life in the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
If you're in the highly eccentric, multi-millionaire club, I recommend a compound with a drawbridge, machine gun turrets and 12' walls with razor wire, surrounded by a 16' deep dry moat and an exterior concrete barrier strong enough to stop a semi without budging. That way, even if someone (living) were to try to crash your haven uninvited and in doing so compromise your defenses, they'd have a pretty tough time getting in. Under normal circumstances, little or no sound or light should be observable from outside the compound walls.
The interior of the compound would be stocked with Lots o' Firepower, several years worth of MREs and enough potable water for several months, and have the necessary space and a stockpile of seeds sufficient to plant a garden or maintain a greenhouse inside the walls. The garden/greenhouse should be large enough to sustain its residents indefinitely. Likewise, the compound would (ideally) have both gas and water wells on site, along with rainwater collectors, solar cells, diesel-powered generators and water purification gear. Throughout, blunt weapons and shotguns should be standard emergency equipment.
The interior of the compound would be broken up into smaller units, each of which would have a portion of the short-term survival supplies and could be sealed off individually in the event of a breach. Units would be separated by sets of airlock-type bulkheads.
Now it's not that I'd want to leave, or recommend that anyone do so, but if zombie movies have taught me anything, it's that it's just as important to have a way out of a sealed enclosure as it is to have one in the first place. To that end, there would be two exits -- the drawbridge would be the 'front door'. A well-lit underground tunnel sealed with multiple bulkheads and leading to a smaller concrete garage several hundred yards away from the main compound would be the 'back door'. Ready at both exits would be armed and armored Hum-Vees. Ideally, both exits would have locking mechanisms that required some kind of intelligent interaction to open, and they'd be designed in such a way that it'd be very difficult to leave one open and unsecured.
Outside the compound walls, you might also install light & sound generating stations. These could be activated on demand for the purpose of attracting zombies away from the walls and/or exits -- if an escape were needed -- or so that approaching zombies could be diverted and picked off via the machine gun turrets. (You wouldn't want them eventually piling up in the moat to the point where the wall could be scaled.)
Third solution -- possible
Stepping down another level from highly unrealistic to somewhat plausible, a brick house in which several floors could be secured independently would provide reasonable protection, especially if all of the doors were of the steel security type, and the windows were of block glass or otherwise able to withstand repeated blunt force impact. As before, non-perishable foodstuffs and weapons are a must, and some kind of discreet exit point is highly desirable. I can see the billboard now: Affordable, modern living for the zombie-conscious consumer.
Fourth solution -- reasonable
Let's face it -- chances are, you're actually going to be making do and improvising very close to wherever you happen to be at the moment when the living dead start snacking on us. In this case, a brick or stone structure is going to be ideal, with a sturdy wood-frame house being your next best choice. Seal all windows and doors as best you can and try to have a fall-back point that can be secured quickly. Collect tap water before the supply gets interrupted, and try to gather up a can opener and some non-perishable food from whatever is available.
If you can't get a hold of firearms, find something sturdy like a table leg to use as a weapon. Try not to get stuck with anyone visibly injured, unstable or terribly annoying. In zombie movies, people like this have a nasty tendency to somehow let the zombies inside or become zombies themselves. This is generally considered to be a bad thing.
Some closing thoughts
Wherever you end up when the dead rise in search of fresh brains, lay low and keep your head. If it comes down to it, try to take as many of them with you as you can. See you in Hell!!!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Ping! My BS detector goes off on Hani A. Alkanani's "$900k Worth of Pot" Bust
So here's the news story from Cleveland's Journal Register, which Dennis mentioned in the ErieBlog's headlines page for 7/26:
Ok, kids, get out your calculators for a lesson in the politics of Prohibition.
We start with 20 pounds of weed which is, admittedly, an awful lot of ganja.
But $900,000 dollars worth??? Total bullshit.
According to precedent in federal court (I think I read this on Erowid or NORML but don't quote me), the container weight of an illegal substance can be (read IS) factored into its overall weight for purposes of prosecution. That means if all the weed were in a plastic tote or a couple of canvas duffel bags, the weight of the container(s) would be considered part of the weight of the grass. Just for the sake of argument, though, let's say that the container weight doesn't subtract somewhere between 1-5 pounds and there really are 20 pounds of pot there.
20 lbs = 320 ounces
$900,000 / 320 oz = $2812.50/oz
That would price 1/8 oz baggies of this gold-plated sensi at a whopping $350 apiece. News flash for ya -- unless you're selling $50 joints to an undercover cop one at a time, IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. Really, really expensive weed might cost you half to a third of that, if you were getting royally screwed in the pooper. Don't believe me? Check out the prices quoted on the White House's drug policy site. The data's a little stale -- 2001 -- but it's still a reality check.
At this point, you may be scratching your head a little. So again for the sake of argument, let's assume that since 2001 the price of BC Bud quoted on the ODCP site for Denver has doubled since 2001 from $500/oz to $1000/oz. That gives our 20 lb of grass a street value of, um, $320,000. Not exactly the "almost a million dollars worth of marijuana" we were talking about a minute ago, is it?
Let's face it, nobody's going to even question these numbers in public, except maybe Mr. Alkanani's publically-appointed defense attorney. They'll be used to lock up a guy driving a 1979 Buick Century (sounds like a real kingpin, huh?) for most of the rest of his life, spawn some job promotions and re-elections, and justify dumping even more money into the money pit known as the Drug War. And tomorrow your kid will still be able to pick up a dime bag on the lower East side just like he could yesterday -- supply unaffected, demand unaffected. Business as usual.
Turnpike bust nets nearly $1 million in high-end pot
ALEX M. PARKER, Morning Journal Writer
07/26/2007
AMHERST -- The Ohio State Highway Patrol arrested a Pennsylvania man Tuesday on the Ohio Turnpike in Amherst for having nearly $1 million worth of marijuana in his car.
Hani A. Alkanani, 36, of Erie, Pa., was arrested after a trooper found 20 pounds of ''BC Bud marijuana,'' worth $900,000, in his Buick Century, according to the Highway Patrol.
The trooper searched his car using a drug-sniffing dog after he pulled Alkanani over near Amherst for speeding, according to the Highway Patrol.
After finding nearly 20 pounds of the marijuana, a potent form grown in Canada, Alkanani was arrested for possession of marijuana, a third-degree felony, the Highway Patrol said.
He is currently being held at the Lorain County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
He was arraigned yesterday in Oberlin Municipal Court and was assigned an attorney.
Ok, kids, get out your calculators for a lesson in the politics of Prohibition.
We start with 20 pounds of weed which is, admittedly, an awful lot of ganja.
But $900,000 dollars worth??? Total bullshit.
According to precedent in federal court (I think I read this on Erowid or NORML but don't quote me), the container weight of an illegal substance can be (read IS) factored into its overall weight for purposes of prosecution. That means if all the weed were in a plastic tote or a couple of canvas duffel bags, the weight of the container(s) would be considered part of the weight of the grass. Just for the sake of argument, though, let's say that the container weight doesn't subtract somewhere between 1-5 pounds and there really are 20 pounds of pot there.
20 lbs = 320 ounces
$900,000 / 320 oz = $2812.50/oz
That would price 1/8 oz baggies of this gold-plated sensi at a whopping $350 apiece. News flash for ya -- unless you're selling $50 joints to an undercover cop one at a time, IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. Really, really expensive weed might cost you half to a third of that, if you were getting royally screwed in the pooper. Don't believe me? Check out the prices quoted on the White House's drug policy site. The data's a little stale -- 2001 -- but it's still a reality check.
At this point, you may be scratching your head a little. So again for the sake of argument, let's assume that since 2001 the price of BC Bud quoted on the ODCP site for Denver has doubled since 2001 from $500/oz to $1000/oz. That gives our 20 lb of grass a street value of, um, $320,000. Not exactly the "almost a million dollars worth of marijuana" we were talking about a minute ago, is it?
Let's face it, nobody's going to even question these numbers in public, except maybe Mr. Alkanani's publically-appointed defense attorney. They'll be used to lock up a guy driving a 1979 Buick Century (sounds like a real kingpin, huh?) for most of the rest of his life, spawn some job promotions and re-elections, and justify dumping even more money into the money pit known as the Drug War. And tomorrow your kid will still be able to pick up a dime bag on the lower East side just like he could yesterday -- supply unaffected, demand unaffected. Business as usual.
Compromising Pics of my 19 Year Old Ex-Girlfriend
Just kidding -- but now that I've got your blood pumping, please stop by the Erie Community Blood Bank and donate this week. Tell em I sent ya, or not, but please DO go donate. Check out ErieBlogs.com for more details.
And for the record, if I ever get around to scanning the negatives, I'll consider it...
;)
And for the record, if I ever get around to scanning the negatives, I'll consider it...
;)
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