Clash of the Song Titans

Last night as the sun was going down, but well before it was actually dark, our friendly neighborhood mockingbird made it abundantly clear that he had returned to said neighborhood. In fact, he was belting out the tunes and putting on quite a show at the edge of the garden. I happened to be within 40 feet of him, as I was taking pictures of the sunset, and got an earful. I love mockingbirds. I understand that some people don't care for them and all I can say about that is that there's no accounting for taste. Mockingbirds are the radio stations of the bird world. If you don't care for a certain song just wait a minute and a different song will start up. They are excellent indicators of which birds are in a particular area and they're just plain funny and entertaining. I was so glad to hear him singing.

While I was enjoying the sunset and mockingbird show suddenly a lone coyote started belting out the usual high, piercing, woman-screaming-with-a-knife-in-her-back call. What was unusual was the timing. Our local coyotes have never, to my knowledge, made such calls during the daytime. Granted, I did see an apparently pregnant female cross the highway just a couple hours after dawn the other day so maybe that's related. But it was still weird to hear a coyote call at that time of day. Usually I don't hear them until well after dark, sometimes not until well after midnight.

At any rate, the mockingbird and the coyote seemed to be aware of each other and gradually became even louder and more insistent. I'm not sure if the coyote could actually hear the mockingbird as it was likely too far away. But it was obvious the mockingbird could hear the coyote. And, wow, was the mockingbird miffed that his song was being interrupted. His singing got louder and even more energetic and I basked in the joy of the moment.

I've had other joyful bird sightings and hearings lately. Yesterday I saw a pair of scarlet tanagers which are a beautiful, brilliant red. They were flitting around the back yard and around the garden and, while the sighting was brief, I got a kick out of it. Our local bat has been sighted, but not yet by me, so I'm still looking forward to it. Some sparrows are building a nest in one of our birdhouse hanging from the garage and gradually all of our bird friends are returning. And, joy of joys, I heard a whip-poor-will yesterday just before dawn.

At our old house we had one who spent all night moving around our house. It was heavenly hearing him sing all night, every night all through the spring and summer months. We've only very occasionally heard a whip-poor-will around here and I've missed it terribly. I've been known to express pity for those who have never heard the song of the whip-poor-will and I had a thought about it while cruising YouTube. So, here ya go!

Here's hoping our local whip-poor-will sticks around! And here's hoping we all have a happy spring! (Or a happy autumn for those down under!)

Finally Spring!

I saw my first hummingbird of the year the day before yesterday. I saw my first indigo bunting of the year today! It's finally warm enough that I've actually felt genuinely hot while busy working. The colors of spring are bursting forth all around us: pink and white dogwoods, the whites of cherry trees, the soft purple of lilac and the muted yet brilliant purple-pink of the little redbud trees along the driveway. According to Riverwolf all the bright colors of spring prove that April is the gayest month and I think he might be right. When else do we see such brilliant hues from the Earth Mothers palette?

The spring air is simply luscious! The scent of fresh cut grass and the spring flowering plants fill the air. Here on Windy Hill we always get a heavy dose of the perfume of spring and I'm really appreciating it. Our winter was so long I think I'd forgotten the wonders of the fresh green smell! There's nothing finer for me than walking the dogs in the yard and soaking up all the green. I let my hair fall down and the wind does its best to carry it away and I just love it! For an interesting and insightful wind-related blogging check out Aquila ka Hecate's Trees Genuflect Before the Wind.

While we've got a lot more gardening yet to do this spring I am happy to report that our radishes (above) and lettuce (below) are sprouting up nicely.


Our main garden still needs tilling as our 5 year old tiller has quit on us. We're hoping to borrow or rent a tiller without breaking the already stretched thin bank. My witch hazels along the back fence are gaining height which pleases me immensely. As per our custom we'll wait another 2 weeks before bringing out the plants that over wintered under the grow lights in the extra back bedroom. About that time we'll also purchase and plant our favorite potted plants like impatiens, petunias and marigolds. I'm so looking forward to it. This winter held on with a tight grip and I am very relieved to see it leave. I'm looking forward to dirt under my nails and fresh produce from the garden.

May your spring be blessed and portend a glorious summer!

Nerdy Joygasm

Gillian Anderson, the X-Files star, is being lined up to appear in a forthcoming episode of Dr Who, it has been reported.

The 40-year-old, best known for her role as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi drama, is expected to be cast opposite the new Doctor Matt Smith.

Doctor Who's makers want the London-based actress to appear in a one-off special episode as a deadly enemy of the Time Lord

Telegraph.

You can't see me but, trust me, ever since I first read this article I've been doing an inner, and sometimes outer, happy dance. I LOVE Gillian Anderson. I think I was fated to love The X-Files and nearly everything about it. I mean, really, how many people share their first name with an X-Files episode title? (50 points if you're geeky and lucky enough to guess it. Real life friends, all three of you, don't get to play.) I even love Anderson in The House of Mirth and not just because I like the book; she's just a great Lily Bart. And as much as I love Doctor Who I've been less than enthusiastic about the new doctor since he's so incredibly young. I imagine many in the Whoniverse are wondering if this twenty-something can pull off portraying a dark god of over 900 years. But Anderson's inclusion in the series, even if it is only one episode, is enough to convince me to keep my hopes up about the new series.


This is mostly clips from the first movie with "Exit Music (For a Film)" by Radiohead, which is on OK Computer. Video made by YouTuber ilx2002.

Cherry Tree in Bloom

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Know Thyself Deadbeat

From heaven descends the maxim Know Thyself - To be taken to heart and remembered, whether you're choosing a wife, or aiming to win a seat in that august body the Senate. Thersites never laid claim to Achilles' armour: Ulysses did - and look at the show he made of himself. If you decide to plead some touch-and-go case, where vital issues hang in the balance, take stock of yourself, get it clear just what you are - a talented, forceful speaker or a third-rate windbag.

- Juvenal, Roman satirist


The famous phrase Know Thyself was inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece. History tells us that Apollo himself imparted this maxim to one of the Seven Sages. Whatever the original source I think some folks need to revisit it and take some notes. I don't bring it up for any philosophical purpose. I'm not quoting Juvenal seeking drollery. I'm using it to illustrate that I have plenty of company when I become incredibly irritated when I come across certain individuals who, for some strange reason, behave as if they are a god’s gift to the rest of us smelly mortals despite the fact that they are worthless sacks of shit.

To begin with I must say I, along with the rest of the world, dislike being in the company of arrogant folks. It's just irritating and unpleasant no matter how you slice it. But, and this is a big but, some people can perhaps be forgiven for their arrogance if they have indeed achieved great things. If you've walked on the moon then, yes, you can be forgiven for a little arrogance. If you've saved a human life, then yeah, I think you're entitled to a pretty high opinion of yourself. But my willingness to forgive a little arrogant behavior is not usually extended to plain old ordinary folks. And it most certainly is not extended to flat out losers.

Now, for the sake of clarity let me define "losers". I'm not referring to folks who don't have a paying job yet still do lots of work in that they keep a clean house, lovingly raise children and maintain creative and intellectual interests; they're not losers, far from it. No. Rather, when I say "losers" I am referring to those who accomplish nothing day in day out despite the fact that they have responsibilities and are perfectly capable of fulfilling said responsibilities. I'm referring to people so worthless that they cannot be bothered to get off their asses to do anything constructive, positive or progressive. These folks are the lowest forms of bullshit in my opinion and have NO right to be arrogant. And yet some of these people consider themselves not only worthy of respect but deserving of adulation. These people are not only losers but stupid, deluded losers full to the brim with unfounded arrogance.

Fortunately for me I have only come across a few of these types of people in my life. But those few times have nearly driven me from irritation straight to rage. I guess I should be thankful that they are so easily recognizable. You know the type; we all do. They consider themselves above physical labor of any kind because they are too busy with their passionate pursuits of playing video games and whatever the hell else lazy, self-indulgent people do all day. They have no job and shirk their household or familial duties, however few or many they may be. They live with relatives or friends, contribute little or nothing and yet expect that everything will be, and should be, given to them. Why? Well, because they're special of course.

They had a rough childhood so they're entitled. Or not everyone liked them in high school so they are the exception to every rule. Or their dreams didn't come to fruition so they're allowed to do whatever they want - which usually means very little. They've got a limitless supply of ridiculous excuses involving convoluted tales of persecution. They're often full of sob stories that not only rationalize their lazy, self-centered existence but express their self-image as a put upon individual so complex no one can comprehend what they've endured. They can't lift a finger to actually accomplish anything and yet, for all this, they act as if their shit doesn't stink. They carry themselves with a heavy, dense air of accomplishment and expect the rest of us to defer to them in all matters.

Well, guess what buddy? Your shit does stink. In fact, you stink with the stench of lies, selfishness and Grade A bullshit. I don't care what so-called problems keep you from getting a job or picking up after yourself. If you feel good enough about yourself to demand the admiration of everyone you meet then you're obviously not so depressed that you can't get off your ass and do something constructive. There are plenty of people who have suffered but still most of them manage to drag their ass off the couch and take care of business. Do something with yourself. Prove you are worthy of life. Then we'll see if you deserve any respect and admiration.

There. I feel a little better now.

Memento Mori Tree

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Here's the remains of a tree trunk that was killed by the Ice Storm of January 2007. I like the contrast between the big 'ol dead tree trunk and the fresh, bright green of the spring growth around it. There are some of my images of said ice storm here, here, here, here and here.

American Hate Groups

The Southern Poverty Law Center has released the results of their study of hate groups across the United States; they report that there are 926 active groups. To see how many of these groups are active in your neighborhood visit their Hate Groups Map. The map, and the overall results, paints a pretty depressing, if fascinating, picture. The hot topic of immigration has been an obvious boon to American hate groups as they have seen a 54% jump since 2000. And given that President Obama is our first African-American president I'm not surprised that American hate groups have seen a 4% increase since 2007.

I'm also not surprised to learn that my home state of Missouri has at least 30 known hate groups. And I guess I always knew in the back of my mind that there were surely some racist organizations around my own area of southwest Missouri. This is the Ozarks after all, land of hillbillies and rednecks. But I was somewhat surprised, not to mention dismayed, to learn that there so many so close to me. There's something like 5 or 6 within an hour of my home!

I don't know quite how to feel about the Christian Identity brand of hate group and its connections to Norse neopagans. According to the SPLCenter:

In recent years, deep doctrinal disputes, the lack of a central church structure, and a shift among white supremacists towards agnosticism and racist variations of neo-Paganism have weakened the Identity movement and reduced the number of its adherents.

I've always been aware that a very small subset of Neopagans was of the racist variety but to see it discussed in such a matter of fact manner is chilling, to say the least. As far back as 1998 the SPLC has been discussing the racist varieties of Asatru and Odinism but did at least concede that:

Some 40 Websites are devoted to forms of Asatrú (most of them nonracist).

A later 2001 interview with a Swedish expert goes farther. A professor from Stockholm, Mattias Gardell, states that there are three distinct types of Norse neopagans:

There are really three positions: the militant racists, the nonracists and, in between, a third, "ethnic" position.

While I'm not of the Nordic persuasion I think Gardell did a pretty fair job of making it plain that just because one is a Norse neopagan does not necessarily mean one is a racist. He does, however, tend to lump all neopagans into one group. Or, rather, he simply leaves out the non-Norse neopagans. But as he is discussing racism within neopaganism he can perhaps be forgiven for that.

There's also another map worth visiting at the SPLC site. It's the the interactive Stand Strong Against Hate map which allows visitors to add their name and home state information in a show of tolerance. It might not really accomplish much but it is nice to see so many positive green spots on the map as opposed to the red hate group dots. Said page also has a list of recently reported hate crimes which is, again, depressing as hell but important nonetheless.

As I said on Inauguration day:

I don't know if today is the fulfillment of King's dream or just the beginning of the fulfillment of his dream.

We have an African-American president; we have made great strides. But racism, religious hatred and all that goes with it are still very much alive in this country. The above links speak to that. We haven't achieved all of our progressive goals simply because Obama won the election. We've turned a corner, yes, but we still have a long way to go now that the haters of this country are redoubling their efforts.

Blush of Spring

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Early Morning Silhoutte

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The Pope Did What?

So, we all know about the many cases of Catholic priests sexually molesting and abusing their church members, in most cases young boys. According to this AlterNet article there's been nearly 5000 priests officially accused of abusing children. When I first read that figure I wasn't sure I believed it, but this study commissioned by the US Catholic Church confirms it. While the number of cases investigated, and successfully prosecuted, is much lower that figure of 5000 accused priests is still pretty resounding. Imagine it: thousands of kids sexually abused by their only link with their God: a priest. And, lest we forget and the report points out, that abuse wasn't limited to inappropriately suggestive conversation or the viewing of pornographer. There was actual forced penetration being done against these children and some of them were younger than 7 years of age! And out of all those priests accused none of them have been excommunicated by the Pope. Some voluntarily went to counseling, some went to jail, some quietly retired from their posts and some just went on to find a new batch of victims in a different parish. But NONE of them were ever kicked out of the Church. Now, keep those facts in your head while I go on to the next bit.

From the AlterNet article:

"Nearly 5,000 Catholic priests [in the U.S.] have sexually abused over 12,000 Catholic children…but they were not excommunicated," says Father Roy Bourgeois, who faced the latter scenario after helping celebrate what the Vatican considers to be an illegitimate ordination mass in August 2008. Bourgeois, a Vietnam veteran with a Purple Heart who became a prominent peace activist, stood with the trailblazers of the female ordination movement in Lexington, Ky., to make Janice Sevre-Duszynska a Catholic priest.

For thumbing his nose at one of the most sacred tenets of the conservative hierarchy -- that only men are worthy of the priesthood -- Bourgeois was swiftly rebuked by the Vatican in a letter two months later, telling him he had 30 days to renounce his actions or face excommunication.

Yep, you read that right the first time. I had to read it a few times myself. It's apparently okay to willfully abuse a sacred trust by molesting and raping small children but if you place a woman, A FEMALE, on the same level as a man then you're out of the Church! Can you believe this shit? Perhaps I'm oversimplifying in an explicit way but what the Catholic Church is essentially saying is this: if you are a male, and a priest, it's perfectly okay to take a five-year-old boy into the confessional, strip his clothes off, hold him down, ignore his cries and pleas and purposely insert your penis into his anus with bloody force but if you dare to ordain a woman as a priest(ess) of the Church you will go to Hell and suffer eternal damnation. But go on permanently and irrevocably destroying the minds and bodies of children cuz that's just fine. Humiliate the kids, abuse them, dehumanize them, warp their developing minds, scar them physically and psychologically and as long as you keep women out of the Church it's just fine and dandy.

Obviously, it makes absolutely no sense at all. And so I have come to a perhaps radical conclusion: the Pope is trying to destroy his own Church. Think about it: Church attendance is in the toilet, churches are closing down left and right and the country, the world, is becoming more secular every day. So what does the Pope do? Why, give the child molesters and rapists a slap on the wrist and denounce with holy fervor a priest who dares include women. According to the AlterNet article well over 60% of American Catholics favor the ordination of women as priests so I guess the Pope is also getting the extra benefit of alienating the remaining faithful. So, what gives? What's the answer, the reason? Well, I figure there's only one of two possible answers for this craziness. One: the Pope is trying to destroy his own Church. Or, two: the Pope is batshiat insane. Or both.

Bunny Cake

Meet Rick, the gay bunny cake of Easter 2009. I decided he'd be gay in honor of the recent victory in Vermont. And since I made this one, all by myself, from scratch I got to choose his identity. Okay, okay, the frosting came from the store but that's only because our frikkin' mixer broke. I think we figured up that this is the 36th bunny cake we've made in our family. My mom started the second Easter my folks were married and only missed making one the year my brother was born and remained in the hospital (he was born with a cleft lip and palate) but I digress. Anyway, we do this every year and I took the reins this time around. I know it's not art but it's pretty crafty and considering I don't like to cook I thought I'd show it off. It's really easy to make. It's just two 9-inch round cakes. The two ears are cut out of the sides of one cake and the remaining piece is the bow tie. Getting the bow tie to actually look like a bow tie is usually the hardest part. If you want to make a really furry looking cake just use coconut.

This is the 2008 model. I think the lemon slices were meant to be glasses, perhaps in a Harry Potter motif. I honestly don't remember. I know, I know, what is a neopagan doing making a cake for Easter? Well, as I said above, my family has always made one. My mom is really the only Christian left in our family but long after she's gone I'll still be making a bunny cake.

Copyright Concerns

So, since I've gotten back into collage I got to thinking about that pesky, irritating and potentially inspiration-killing issue of copyright. Copyright infringement to be precise. I hadn't been too worried about the issue as a whole until I visited this page about copyright myths and learned some interesting facts. Most of my collages tend to center around ancient art, sculptures, mosaics and the like. But plenty, plenty, oh plenty of my images come from magazines like National Geographic, etc. And while I don't ever intend to sell my collages I do worry since I've recently discovered that simply by making a collage that incorporates the copyrighted images of others I am technically breaking the law. That's right, even if I have no intention to sell, duplicate, distribute or ever show it to anyone the mere fact that my collage has the copyrighted images of others in it means I am breaking copyright law. And since I've started to post some of them on this here blog I've gotten to worrying a bit.

Now, I seriously, very, very seriously doubt that any published and professional artist would care all that much about my little collages. I'm just one amateur crafty witch whose "works" or "pieces" will probably only ever been seen by a mere handful of people. But I am going to start making a concerted effort to use more of my own photographs as well as ancient images. I'll especially try to veer closer to photos of ancient mosaics and other 2 dimensional pieces as I've also recently learned that photos of statues can be considered creative and thus covered by copyright law as issues of position and lighting must be considered by the individual photographer.

And I've found mention of various free sources of images that fall into the category of creative commons so I guess I need to look into that. Needless to say, this puts a big kink in my collage plans but I'm not going to let that stop me. I just need to rethink my collage process and maybe ditch all those magazine clippings I've spent hours cutting out and organizing. This also means I've got to obtain some more printer ink and hope, no pray, that my printer can produce decent, collage-worthy images.

Different Headspace

If you're one of my regular readers you've probably noticed I haven't been blogging much lately. Well, that's because I've been busy blogging elsewhere. My creative juices have been turned on high lately and I've resurrected my crafty/photography blog. I've been doing mostly nature photography and collage, as well as creative journaling. And since it's me we're talking about here it's all done with a pagan slant. If you'd like to see what I've been busy doing please check out Sacred Spiral Creations.

Returning

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I like this image of my friendly neighborhood stump being reclaimed by these green plants, i.e. life, the Earth Mother.

Hecate Altar

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Various magazine clippings. The moon and stars are from the same painting as the stars from the previous post that I can't remember. I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with this one but since I can't fit anything more into it I've decided to leave it alone for now.

Aphrodite 4

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Here's another Aphrodite collage. The mural is actually Venus from the remains of Pompeii. The painting is "The Kiss" by Gustave Klimt from 1908. The stars are from an old painting of some sort as well but, unfortunately, I can't recall which one. My bad. The other images are from various magazines.

Spring the Green Man

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This is really creative journaling and expresses my frustration regarding the local weather. I'm tired of being cold and am so ready for spring so I just went with it. The flowers and trees came from magazines and the little green man pendant comes from a new age catalog. All the inverted colors are just my way of trying to make a collage I wasn't truly happy with a little better. I think the look also speaks to the duality of our weird weather consisting of two or three days being warm enough to wear shorts and sandals and the next night temps dipping to around or even below freezing. It's also just fun to mess with stuff like that.

Offering to Aphrodite

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The statue is the Venus de Milo but the prayer is meant for Aphrodite, same difference, so sue me. I found this prayer uncredited on a long lost website, so I have no idea who wrote it. I'm really quite pleased with this collage if I do say so myself. Most of the flowers came from seed catalogs and there's a bit of old stationary in there too. The Venus came from an illustrated encyclopedia of mythology I shredded to bits for its many photos. The text was added with my plain 'ol paint program.

Aphrodite is one of my patron goddesses so I'm sure I will eventually post more offerings to her to go along with this and the other 2 already posted.

Sacred Snakes

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This collage was made on paper slightly too big for my scanner so I had to photograph this hoping it would turn out okay. I'm not really happy with the quality of the image but pretty happy with the collage itself. The text, if you can make them out, are lines from a haiku of Singh. At any rate, I'm gonna be purchasing smaller paper for my future collage efforts so as to avoid the obvious problems of glare and lack of focus.

The photocopied image of the statuary is Laocoon and His Sons dating from about 100 BCE. The little female figurine, partially obscured by the glare, is a Minoan snake goddess found on Crete. The little snake head underneath Laocoon's son is Jörmungandr the Nordic world serpent. There's also a tiny Medusa on the bottom and the stone relief serpent near the top is either Aztec or Mayan. I honestly can't remember and forgot to write it down. The photo behind said serpent is a shot of some jalapenos from our garden from a few years back. The snake photos on the bottom were from a Missouri Conservationist snake pamphlet.

Progress?

Officially, the hummingbirds have made it to southern Missouri, but we haven't seen one around here. It's just too damn cold. The daytime temperatures haven't been so bad lately; I've even been opening a window every now and then. But nighttime temperatures have been hovering right about the freezing mark for several days now. We have a nice day or two and then back to being so cold we have to keep both fireplaces roaring. And the forecast isn't very encouraging either; it's supposed to get near 60 tomorrow, near 70 the next day and then back to the freezer after that. Our poor trees and other plants are confused as hell. Sure, we always have some weather weirdness around here but this is ridiculous.

It's really got me thinking about global warming which is, of course, a bit of a misnomer. See, if a man made global warming really is taking place its effect won't necessarily be a hotter Earth. It'll be a generally fucked up atmosphere resulting in all kinds of negative effects. I guess that's why the newer term "climate change" is gaining more ground, although to me it doesn't really go far enough. I think we need to adopt a more precise, if longer and awkward, name. "Global warming" sounds like it could be a worldwide summer where everyone picnics and sunbathes at the same time. "Climate change" could just be one of the semi-regular cooling or warming periods our planet has experienced since its birth. To be fair it's got to be more than two words, maybe four or five or more, to be accurate.

How 'bout "human made armageddon"? Hmm, maybe not; it's a little too Abrahamic for my taste. What about "Earth children spawn their own destruction"? Or, even better, "stupid humans, in an effort to attain unattainable limitless power and wealth create the ultimate irony: their own self-made destruction"? Yeah, I like that; it's a lot closer to the heart of the issue than "global warming" or "climate change". But I imagine it'll never catch on with the wider public or the media. It's too honest, too graphic, too real. And too long for many people who seem to have the attention span of ....well, I'm trying to think of a good analogy. But I can't seem to think of anything that equates to the average television junkie.

I read somewhere that there's a particular brain wave pattern that occurs in the heads of those glued to the television that indicates very little thought taking place. Now, don't get me wrong, I watch my share of Bones, Futurama and Squidbillies, but damn, some people do nothing but watch tv. And I wonder if that isn't part of the greater problem of our possibly-soon-to-collapse society. Perhaps some of us have stopped thinking critically altogether in favor of eye candy-induced zombiehood. I can't help but wonder: if the industrial revolution had never happened, and we had never gained so much free time, and tv was never invented, would we be in this mess today? I know that's a stretch and an oversimplification, but I think my question is still valid. So what's the answer?

I don't know, as usual. All I do know is that I'm cold. And I'm sick of being cold. The growth of our pear trees has already been stopped in its tracks because of the weather; luckily the cherry trees haven't budded yet. The bugs have woken up, dug out and gotten just cold enough to move into the house. The pond frogs keep trying to stick it out at night but I can't help wondering if they're suffering rather than simply giving up and digging back into the mud. But I guess it isn't all bad. Most of the plants are still persevering and I did see a bumble bee yesterday. Our lettuce and radishes are sprouting nicely and the hummingbirds have been reported in areas north of us. So I guess spring is coming; it's just having to take a long, hard, cold road. I guess I need to get back to working some magic to help it along!

Parrallels

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Here's another evening image. I think these are called cirrus clouds, but I can't remember clearly. Given that I love photographing clouds above all other things I guess I should take some time to understand their different forms and functions.

Tiny Mushrooms on a Big Stump

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Just a bunch of LBMs (little brown mushrooms) on a stump in the back yard. I like the way they seem to grow in waves over the edges of the stump. I also like the three different sections of this image: the top is the grayish-brown of the stump, the middle is the pale tan of the mushrooms and the bottom is the green of the grass.

Moon In The Fade

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I wish I had a good enough camera to really capture the details of the moon but in lieu of that I'm really loving the colors fading into each other.

Yep, I finally, finally, finally got a new USB cord for my digital camera!