I am looking at this my site on hotel internet set at 800 x 600. Does anyone else leave their setting there nowadays? [I have been amongst the Amish so am using words like “nowadays” nowadays.] At this setting, the photos look worse than Obidiah’s boy Jerimiah did after he fell into the manure pile.
Author: Alan
Zooming South
It being an exceptionally clear evening, I went up to the roof and did the binocular trick looking south and this is some of what I caught. Above, over Simcoe Island, a laker and a lighthouse. The light may well be the East Charity Shoals Light I saw from Cape Vincent facing fairly straight west from there. Correction: This is a lighthouse on Pigeon Island about 4 miles south west of the nearest tip of Wolfe Island and 4 miles northwest of the East Charity Light. The Laker route is quite far south as well, staying beyond the US boundary. I’d estimate the Pigeon Island Light would be about 20 km from here and that Laker about 25 km. Here is the entire photo taken through the binoculars.
Above, over Simcoe Island, the plume at Nine Mile Pt, NY, near Oswego. The nuclear plant would be about 75 km straight south of here. See this article on the search for the plume. Here is the entire photo taken through the binoculars. You’ll notice that the actual 543 cooling tower is under the horizon.
Above: this view again over the west tip of Simcoe shows islands on the horizon which may well be Main Duck Island and its neighbour to the left whose name I do not know yet. The gap between the islands is about 35 km south south west of here. Here is the entire photo taken through the binoculars.
Above: One more. I think the white thing is the East Charity Shoals Light which would be about 22 km south south east of here. Below is a blow-up of that portion of the photo.
And below is a US Coast Guard image. I need to get out the compass one clear day to check all these guesses.
Orange Alert Holiday
Off to hit I-81 tomorrow morning down through central New York heading to the Pennsylvania Dutch region when O’Sammy burps and up go the security levels. We can expect an extra minute delay at Cape Vincent.
We shall not be deterred. We shall convert currency and shall seek out the hots and BBQ. If that makes me and mine a target of whack-jobs, so be it.
Silverware for the ‘Ton
What better way to celebrate the 1,000th post than a picture from after last weekend’s 2-1 victory by SFA Div. 2’s Greenock Morton over the hated neighbouring SFA Div. 1’s St. Mirren of Paisley (Ed.: acht, ptweie, spit). I have enjoyed watching a match at each of their home grounds but if your Dad’s from Greenock you ought to be a Morton fan. More photos here. Discuss the obsession here.
Expect lighter posting for the next while with holidays and the death of the Dell’s high speed access at home. We all need a wee kip and a nip for the 1,000th – have one for me.
Best Writing
My friend and my former insurer (don’t knock it – it wroked for Charles Ives) has written a wonderful short essay about a last moment with his father and the brevity of life. At a mere 41, watching the growth of my kids hit second gear, I already know this is coming and could try to frame it myself but Craig wrote it so well.
Sam Adams Cream Stout. One fine beer available at Watertown, NY.
One Ring Zero
I heard the band One Ring Zero earlier this month on NPR’s Fresh Air. Regular readers will recall my affection for the full range of plinky-plink music from the products one can receive in plain wrapped packaging from Electron in Toronto to the works of They Might Be Giants. What fits attacted me to the band during the interview was the attention to instrumentation – indeed members of the band met at the Hohner harmonica warehouse and instrument repair facility in Richmond Virginia and formed the band after the utter market failure of the claviola, an instrument which was reproduced only 17 times. Adding theramin, toy piano and other freaks at the back of the music closet, they sought to both preserve and explore.
Getting the CD As Smart As We Are in itself was a smal task as it is not a CD according to Amazon but a book as it is hard bound. I don’t know why in 20 years of CDs whether anyone has placed one and the lyrics in a small hardbound book before but it is neat. Then there is the short intro, a recording of a 1980s shortwave identification signal [300 KB .wma file] – a sound loop shortwave stations played over and over before their half hour broadcasts so that you could find them on the dial easily. I think this is Deutsche Welle from West Germany. I knew I was among friends. The CD is described as “Lit Rock” in the liner notes being a collection of the setting to music of 17 poems. It is good. Here is the treatment of one haiku entitled “Honku” by Aaron Naparstek [441 KB .wma file]. Its only 27 seconds long but it will give you an idea.
As always with my reviews of the art of others where I pinch off a bit of their copyrighted interest and share it among you, I implore you to buy this CD, run it up the charts and make the late summer of 2004’s Billboard charts look weird forever.
Cross-posted to the-growing-but-needing-more-authors-Canadian-music-blog Switching to Glide.