Even More Silliness
Well, I did say that it was more random silliness.
And as I wrote today on my Facebook page, 2010 is bound to be better than 2009, especially if we all go out into the world, in the days and weeks to come, holding that intention in our minds and in our hearts. Spread a little compassion, a little joy, a little happiness. Here’s a start. Enjoy.
Happy New Year!
UFOs Over The Kremlin?
Boy, oh boy. For some reason, the 2009 solstice season has really given us some high-profile UFO sightings. I’m beginning to wish they’d just frickin’ land already, and get it over with…
The Russians seem to be having all the fun these days. Two separate videos of triangular or pyramidal UFOs, seen over the Kremlin, supposedly on two different dates. The first video shows what appears to be a large triangular or pyramidal UFO over Moscow’s Red Square.
I need to pay closer attention to the news wires. This daylight UFO sighting apparently took place on or about December 9th, about the time that Norway was treated to a massive blue spiral in their sky, which may or may not have been a failed Russian missile test launch.
The next video is a night-time sighting, shot from a moving car. It’s not very clear, but there does seem to be a triangular shape in the sky above the Kremlin, perhaps on December 18th. Very cool… My best advice is to click “full-screen” and watch closely.
Some sources are indicating that this second video is just disinformation, but I don’t really understand the reasoning behind that assertion. Another article on the subject can be found here.
Since the video images are so dark, I decided to grab some screen shots of still frames, and “bump them up” a bit, using Gimp, the open-source alternative to Photoshop. Here are the results. Click the images to see larger versions.
Okay. If that isn’t some seriously weird $#!+, then I’m Mary Queen of Scots. I’d be interested in seeing what other people make of this footage, and if anyone has similar results with photo enhancement programs.
(If you want to know what I did in Gimp, to get these results, just e-mail me, or leave a comment below.)
Back soon with more weirdness, or perhaps just something silly. You can never really tell with me, can you?
Oh, Those UFOs!
More UFO news last week. Yeah, I know. I should have mentioned it last week, when it was still actually news. (It’s been busy here at Maison D’Lock – sorry.) But if some of you have missed it, since the mainstream media have the attention span of a stunned guppy, let’s take a quick look.
First off, parts of Norway were treated to an amazing visual spectacle in the form of a spiraling blue light show in the sky, early on the morning of December 10th.
Looks pretty amazing! Many news services now seem to think the spiral light formation was the result of a Russian missile test launch, which failed in the upper atmosphere, going out of control. Check out the video – you can actually see the spiral rotating.
The very next day, news agencies and bloggers began reporting on the discovery of an “alien graveyard” in Rwanda, of all places. Claims of more than 200 bodies, in a 500 year old mass grave, are circulating on the ‘net.
But, given that the source seems to be the World Weekly News – home of Bat Boy, this may be more coprolite than fossil remains.
More soon, kids. Christmas approaches like a freight train on a downhill, with no brakes. I need to either get running, or get out of the way.
Peace and a happy season to you all.
UFOs? What UFOs?
Greetings, programs! I read today that our dear brothers across the pond have pulled the plug on their UFO research efforts. Yes, some 40 years after the US government did the same thing (officially, anyway) after publishing the Condon Report, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has decided that “in over 50 years, no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom.”
Well, sure. Right. No potential threat at all. Not if you believe that objects flitting through the sky above your country, at speeds you can’t hope to match, and going wherever they please, are no kind of threat. What kind of fuzzy thinking is that? Hello, McFly!
Maybe they should talk to the guys over at the Space Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Their deputy director, Lachezar Filipov, seems to think that the aliens are already here, and are among us now.
Or perhaps have a chat with the folks at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, who saw something quite peculiar, just over three years ago. Workers on the ground and pilots both reported seeing a huge gray disc hover over the terminal for several minutes, in November 2006. And when it left, it just shot off, straight up, punching a hole through the clouds that took a few minutes to close back up. Probably swamp gas.
Here’s the reality – there is something going on in the skies, all over the world, and it remains unexplained after more than 60 years of research. Anyone you talk to will admit that much. But turning your back on the issue and pretending it’s not a problem, or doesn’t exist, is completely irresponsible.
And that’s what the MOD has done, and so has the American government. So have many other agencies world wide. This has led to a widespread belief that the major governments know something that they refuse to share with the public at large.
So, what shall we do about it, Dave? Petition the government to show us what’s in Area 51? Throw up our hands and shrug? Move to a cabin in the wilderness?
Maybe just keep an open mind, and remain skeptical. Don’t trust everything you read. Even this. And especially not the mainstream media. Do the research for yourself. Read a few books on the subject. Maybe even watch the skies some night, instead of the frickin’ boob tube. Grab your friends, family, maybe a few beverages, and go look at the sky. Yeah, I know. Better dress warmly if you’re going to do that tonight. It’s wicked cold here in Vancouver, WA. But the viewing is great! The stars are clear and bright.
I just can’t stay out for long. My eyeballs start to freeze.
P.S. If you want to have a look at the UFO report data collected by the UK’s Ministry of Defence, since 1997, you can find it all here. There’s not a lot of detail, but what there is may convince a few folks that our sky is a busy place.
More Random Silliness
Yes, another stupid bit of wordplay. Well, I thought it was funny…
I promise, I’ll post something much more serious, very soon.
Surfin’ With Sweet Little 16
Greetings, fellow web surfers! And my apologies – it’s been over two weeks since I last posted. Life’s been getting in the way. (And that’s getting annoying…)
But let’s get on with the fun, and revisit the “Stolen Songs” theme that I was doing a couple months ago. For some reason, this one came wandering through my head the other day like some sort of melodic vagrant, mooching for spare change. First, the original moldy oldie – from 1958, Chuck Berry’s Sweet Little Sixteen:
Chuck Berry is, without doubt, one of the biggest influences ever on rock & roll. Everybody learned to play his songs, covered them in bars and clubs, and his records were in every jukebox. That probably explains why The Beach Boys song, Surfin’ USA, sounds so much like it.
I’m kind of surprised that I never really noticed before. Chuck Berry sure did -in 1963, he apparently accused Brian Wilson of stealing the melody, and Murry Wilson – Brian’s father – seems to have agreed. He signed the rights to Surfin’ USA over to Chuck Berry… including the royalties for the lyrics!
And before I get slammed for ripping off someone else’s blog, I will insist right now that my connection between these two songs was not prompted by the October 15th entry on SoundsJustLike.com. But here’s the link, nevertheless.
Back soon with more goodies, everyone!
China Is World’s #2 In Billionaires
Word is out this week that China now has the second biggest concentration of dollar billionaires, with the United States having the most. The story (from Reuters) reports that:
“China’s rich are getting richer, with the average wealth on the list $571 million, up almost one-third from last year…”
And how has that happened? Could it be because America has exported millions of our manufacturing jobs to China? Huh. Do ya think?
Not to mention every other “developed” country in the western world. What’s wrong with this picture?
Well, one thing that’s wrong is that once upon a time America used to have assembly and manufacturing jobs that were good entry-level jobs, with an opportunity for advancement.
That’s how I got my start in high-tech electronics back in the mid-1970s. I started as an assembler, and eventually – through perseverance and learning on-the-job – I worked my way into engineering support and design positions.
Now, the only entry-level assembly jobs left in America are at McDonald’s, assembling burgers. Where’s the promotion path from there? Manager? Ugh. Sign me up – not.
What’s happening in China right now seems to be a recapitulation of what America experienced in the 20th century – urbanization, dramatic growth, massive amounts of construction, a growing middle class, a rise in consumerism as a lifestyle, and all the pollution that goes with it. China also seems to be going through all the stages of development more quickly than America did.
And what have been the benefits? Loads of cheap Chinese crap for us to by at WalMart, and this:
China’s new wealthy need to spend all that money on something, don’t they? Might as well be lucky pears in the shape of babies. Lord knows, we Americans also have a taste for the tasteless. Check out this USB accessory for your computer:
It can be embarrassing being a geek. Sometimes.
But the real issue here – in my mind – is the cost. There is a real cost that hasn’t been reckoned, or factored into the headlong rush to “development”. Right now, America is seeing the downside of growth – when growth is not sustainable, the result is a cycle of booms and busts. Growing and shrinking. This is a normal process in organic systems. We’re seeing that as autumn begins here in the northern hemisphere, and plants go dormant.
However, when it happens to economies and cities, you get decay and blight, and city managers suggesting that US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive.
Tough times. Scary times. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but we need to be asking questions, and trying to find some answers.
Or, like Arthur Dent of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, start lying in front of the bulldozers.
Oh, I almost forgot. The most disturbing quote from the Reuters article:
“With the greatest wealth destruction in the west of the last 70 years, we’ve seen China buck the trend and the wealth seems to be still growing,” [Rupert] Hoogewerf told Reuters…
No, it’s not our imagination.
2 Cars, 1 Town
Okay, kiddies. Back to talkin’ about cars and stuff like that.
My home town of Vancouver Washington is not a place where you would normally expect to see exotic automobiles. Nevertheless, one occasionally sees something unusual, expensive, and / or lightning fast. Vancouver’s mean streets have played host to the new Challenger and Camaro, and I once even caught a ride in a vintage Rolls Royce when my plebian Mazda 626 broke down.
But this post is all about 2 black cars from opposite ends of the spectrum, both sighted in the last month or so, right here in “The ‘Couve“.
Latest sighting first… I was out being run around on Fourth Plain (my dear sweet Merkur XR4ti is temporarily benched), and up ahead I espied the cute little butt of a petite black roadster. As we drew near, I saw it was sporting a removable hard top and BMW “M” badges.
Aha! A BMW Z4 M convertible. Talk about quick and sexy! Oh, honey. Front and rear wheel arches widely flared, lots of fat tire under each corner of the beastie, and as we watched it launch from the next traffic light (with a throaty 4 cylinder roar), it made impressive use of all that power and all that rubber. Nice.
Next upon the stand – something completely different. Also black, also European, but from an entirely different “neighborhood”.
Several weeks ago, cruising along Mill Plain (east of I-205), my highly trained eye was caught by a black hatchback up ahead. I tilted my head this way and that, trying to fit what I was seeing into my brain. Is is a Nissan? Is it a Fiat? Did someone jack up the back end of a 1989 Toyota Tercel?
No, dear friends! My wondering eyes were beholding a marvel of Russian engineering in the form of – a Lada Samara (I think it was a Samara – I’m sure it was a Lada).
The young feller behind the wheel looked and sounded American born, and was very excited that I recognized the car, as we shouted back and forth and I favored him with a “thumbs up” for taking on the awesome responsibility of driving such a rare vehicle. (Parts are easier to find these days, thanks to The Interwebz, but the FedEx charges will kill you.)
Not a lot of Americans pay attention that closely, as I’m sure many of you have discovered. Too bad, really. There’s a lot going on out there in traffic – and in the world – and a lot can be learned if we merely pay a little attention.
Whenever I’m out and about, sitting at a light, I look around me, and most of the time, I see my fellow primates staring fixedly at the light, waiting for it to turn to green. Hey you – WAKE UP! Life is going on while you’re marking time, thinking about where you believe you “need” to be next. You’re gonna miss all the fun.
And all the cool cars, too, you dork.
(… not to mention, that hot chick over there in the crosswalk.)
9/11 Recalled
Wow. Eight years since the towers fell. And it’s been a rough eight years all around. (It’s been very tough on our men & women in uniform, and I’m sure it’s been even rougher on Afghanis and Iraqis, and not to diminish the suffering of the innocent in those lands, but that’s a subject for another time.)
I’ve decided to tell my 9/11 stories.
Let’s go back to 2001. The morning of September 10th – the day before. When I walked out the door to go to work that day, I literally (not just a figure of speech here) stopped in my tracks, right on my front walk and said – out loud – “Something is really wrong!”
I stood there for a moment or two, mind in a whirl, looking around and listening, but saw and heard nothing untoward. I shook it off, and went to work, with a feeling of foreboding nevertheless. Next morning, a friend called and woke me up with the awful news.
Next, let’s go back to 1983, when I was visiting New York City. My co-worker and I visited the observation deck of the World Trade Center. As I was looking down at the construction site across from the base of the tower, I saw the beginnings of the secondary buildings that would later be damaged in the 9/11 attack. A wee small voice inside my head said, “Too bad it won’t last.” I thought, “What??” The reply – “That’s right, this won’t last.“ I chalked it up to my usual cheery fatalism and my acute awareness of mortality and entropy.
When we got back to ground level, I stood for a few moments on the sidewalk and looked back up at the facade – that bright, modernistic metal cladding that we all saw jutting out of the smoldering ruins on 9/11, and once again that tiny voice popped up, saying “You’ll never see it like this again”. And I thought it meant I would never return to New York City.
The psychic energy of the 9/11 event was so powerful, I apparently felt it not only the day before, but 18 years before, as well. Yipes.
Ever since then, I’ve listened to that little voice. It tried to warn me about my marriage (failed) but I didn’t heed it. Other times, it’s helped keep me out of trouble. Those little voices have a lot to say.
Blue Eyed Soul
Apropos of nothing, as they say… this band just sort of popped back up in my memory the other day, and it occurred to me to share their music as a classic example of blue-eyed-soul from the 1970s…
Ladies and gentlemen – the Average White Band!
Not at all bad for a bunch of lads from Scotland! I recall they caused quite the stir at the time, as a few purists considered them to be too Caucasian to properly bring the funk. I disagree. Here, have a slice of cake, and decide for yourself:
Now that I think about it, I probably got to thinking about AWB because my co-worker, Spence, is a member of a Portland funk band called Excellent Gentlemen.
But because I am old, and socially lame, and my car’s broken (again) I have yet to go and see them perform. Yes, I know. I should be horribly shamed. But whatcha gonna do, eh?
Spence, I promise I’ll get out and see the Excellent Gentlemen play. It looks like it will be an amazingly good time. As long as there’s some Guinness for me to drink.
