Loving the Useless

I found this while browsing on the Musing about Mud blog, and thought I'd share.

Click on the pic for a great talk about art and our perceptions and expectations of it...

28 Years Later

 Blog buddy Michael Cathcart (The Skull and Pumpkin blog) and I were Facebooking back and forth about being in school the day of the Challenger disaster. How quiet it was in my school, because of the tragedy, yes, but also because one of our teachers had been an alternate for teacher Christa McAuliffe. He told me how many people were crying at his school, and that the school just sent everyone home.

In spite of terrible, terrible accidents such as these, there are people out there brave enough to continue to look outwards, into space, and to continue to fight ignorance and budget cuts in order to reach for other worlds. I'm deeply grateful to them for their sacrifices and their vision.

I may not see humans on Mars in my lifetime, but wouldn't it be wonderful?

Click here for Challenger news today.

And Now For Something Completely Different: Taiji Edition

The capture pens in Taiji.
Photo via Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians Facebook Page

Within the pages of this blog, I really do try to keep politics and my personal causes to myself, with varying degrees of success. Today's post represents an epic fail to keep that policy! :) This post may ramble a little here and there; my apologies in advance.

I'm one of those "greenie tree-huggers," for the most part. Sorry if this offends some of you, but that's the truth. I'm deeply concerned with the environment and what we're doing to destroy it, in addition to the direct damage we're doing to other species. But first, a little background:

My husband is an environmental consultant, has his masters in zoology and was about halfway through his PhD when life kicked his butt and he had to leave his PhD program. He specializes in aquatic ecology and fisheries biology. In short, he's what I call "wicked smaht!" (What he's doing with me is a mystery!) I've been lucky enough to pick up some peripheral knowledge of our ecosystems through chit-chatting with him at the end of the work day.

That's not to say that I'm an expert, by any means, but I do have the privilege of having the "why" of some of our environmental concerns explained to me by a knowledgeable person. I'm deeply alarmed by the idea that we're removing entire links of the chain which sustains life on our planet, bit by careless bit, and dumping toxins into the environment. (I mean, when your cities are so polluted that you have to televise the sunrise because it can no longer be seen, there's a serious problem!)

O.K. Get to the point, already! Sheesh!

The point is, I'm really, really upset about what's going on in Taiji, Japan, as well as in the Southern Ocean. (With respect to the folks who are my friends on Facebook and have been enduring  my rants about this situation!)

Right now, the annual hunting of dolphins is going on in Taiji. This is a process of selecting dolphins to be shipped to hotels and theme parks worldwide, as well as unchecked slaughter of the ones not lucky enough to be selected. This "season" lasts for six months, from September to March. (If you've never heard about this or don't care, please take time to see the award-winning movie "The Cove." Don't watch it with small children in the room; it's far too graphic and upsetting for little kids! Educate yourself on what's happening and why it's of paramount importance for this "traditional practice" to stop.)

The ones slated for death (i.e., the ones that aren't "pretty enough," due to the wounds inflicted during harvest time) have a steel spike driven into their spines and are left to bleed out, a process which can take as long as forty minutes. (Can you imagine what a stink we'd have in this country if our cattle took forty minutes to die?) Since there are now outside witnesses, they do this under cover of canvas and tarps. 

Capture boat, with blood from injuries inflicted on the dolphins during the capture process.
Photo via Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians.

Our Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, has expressed her concern about this practice to the Japanese government, along with Nickelback, Yoko Ono Lennon, and numerous other public figures.

Why then, do they continue the slaughter in spite of the negative attention they're receiving? Money. They say it's a main staple of their economy, and it's obvious that's the truth, as I noticed a couple of sports cars and a Mercedes in a picture that was taken of their parking lot. (Yes, that was snide, but I couldn't help myself.) 

Even though they defend their actions with cries of "tradition," "It's no different than eating cattle" (blatantly untrue, as we enforce our regulations which provide protection for our domesticated livestock, and clearly there are no regulations being enforced in Taiji) and "we have to make a living!", the fact is that the animals sold as food are chock full of dangerous levels of mercury because of the industrial waste dumped into their oceans in the past, and shouldn't be sold for human consumption. (Heck, the U.S. has similar problems!) It's appalling that any government (ours included) would sanction the sale of poisoned meat to its people in the name of tradition and profit. 

There's no doubt that the animals sold to hotels and theme parks worldwide are what bring in the lion's share of income for these people. It's estimated that rare dolphins, such as the little albino calf captured earlier this week has likely brought in a mid- to high-six figure price. What a shame its mother didn't survive.

A rare, albino dolphin baby was captured with its mother. Pic via 
Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians page. 

She's not the only one to die this week, either. A small pod of Pantropical Spotted dolphins was just destroyed this morning. Calves were taken from their mothers, a few adults were chosen, and the rest were slaughtered. This kind of thing has gone on since September, every single day.

O.K., I'll stop now. You get the point.

Before I get hater comments that I'm a racist and hate the Japanese, I want you to know that as a potter, I have a deep respect for the culture which created the art by which I'm inspired to continue my own work. I don't hate the Japanese. I am saddened by the callousness and cruelty I have been forced to accept as part of a culture I previously viewed as the embodiment of peace and elegance. I hate the actions of these "fishermen" and the government of Japan, not the people of Japan.

So here's what I'm asking of you. Please feel free to have a polite discussion here in the comments section. I'd love to have your feedback. Do some research on your own, and then take some time out of your busy schedule to sit down and write a polite letter to the Prime Minister of Japan and as many people on the list I provided below, written by Sea Shepherd. Suggest an alternative to killing these animals, such as ecotourism, which is by far the more sustainable solution to this inhumane mess. Write to any hotel chain (or any park) that you know has a dolphin tank or "swim with the dolphins" attraction, and tell them how you feel about the way they get their dolphins and small cetaceans. Above all, don't patronize these "attractions."

And please, blog about this. Tweet about it. Facebook it. Spread the word! After all, there's no reason Justin Bieber's arrest should get more airtime than this!

Nothing will change if you do nothing.

Links to this topic:

Yoko Ono's open letter to the Japanese government.

L. A.Times article.

Sea Shepherd's list of people to contact.

Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians Live Stream.

YouTube video by Autonymousness. *WARNING! THIS IS VERY GRAPHIC AND SHOWS FOOTAGE OF HOW THE DOLPHINS ARE KILLED!* Seriously, don't watch this in front of your kids or at work, or at all if it's going to upset you too much. (I don't support their methods, nor do I encourage anyone to support them, either.)

Dr. Drew on CNN. (Not particularly fond of a couple of these reporters, but they make some good points.)

Reuters article.

U.S.A. Today article.

The Guardian in Nigeria article.

ABC News report with Caroline Kennedy.

Anderson Cooper 360 interview with Ric O'Barry.

Send a message to the Prime Minister of Japan.

Discovery News article, "Where Do Performance Dolphins Come From?"

Sea Shepherd article chronicling Sea World's partnership with dolphin harvesters. This is the mechanics of how things get done and this crime continues.

Sea Shepherd's Twitter.

The Cove's Twitter.

Herp Nation

One of editor Sam Bacchini's babies during its hatch

I wanted to give my friend, Sam Bacchini, editor of Herp Nation, a quick shout out today. 

Sam's been a friend of Mr. ShellHawk's and mine for years, now. Mr. ShellHawk met him through work, which is environmental consulting. When you're in that line of work, you run across all sorts of neat scientist types, such as fisheries ecologists, botanists, entomologists and herpetologists. Sam is a herpetologist, and as such, studies amphibians and reptiles. He also is licensed to breed them, but that's another story!

Right side foreground: Hosmer's Skink, photo taken by "speedy" in Australia

 I thought I'd share this with folks here in the event they're amphibian fans. Mr. ShellHawk brought home a copy of Herp Nation the other day, and even though I'm more of a dog person, I really appreciated how well put together this magazine is! The photos are absolutely gorgeous and the article are as informative as you'd expect from this kind of journal. I went to the website and found out they even have a podcast for those who can't get enough of their passion for herps.

Good job, Sam! Keep up the good work!

Bats in Utero

Rearrange the wings and it could be "Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil."

More critters in utero here. Image via Viral Nova.

Liking Mistakes

Click on the pic for a thoughtful video by Chris Staley, Penn State Laureate.

It's a neat view of the joys of handmade things...

Rough Week

I got a call on Sunday morning from my dad, one I'd been expecting for several years, now. My grandmother passed away on Sunday morning, at the ripe old age of 104 1/2.

While I'm sorry she's gone and I'll miss her forever, the flip side is that I was so lucky to have her for so long. She was the true embodiment of unconditional love in my life, and that's something that most people don't to get to have as part of their family life.

My dad, Oma and Opa (Grandmother and Grandfather) in Venice, 1938 or so.

The Lost Town of Red Bank

While the rest of the country is freezing its collective tail off, my part of the country has seen some of the mildest weather in a long time. You might think this is a good thing, to have seventy degree weather in the middle of winter, and yes, sometimes it is. But not when you haven't had rain in months during what is supposed to be the rainy season.

Folsom, the town where I live, is under drought conditions, and there's been talk of putting the town under emergency drought restrictions. One of the results of this drought has been that Folsom Lake, the primary water source for the town, is down.

Way, way, down.

It's not all bad, though. Yes, not having water is a pretty scary thing. The silver lining, though, is the wonderful archaeological site which has been revealed by the receding waters of Folsom Lake.

Click on the pic for an aerial tour of Red Bank.

As the waters have continued to recede, the old town of Red Bank has come into view. (It's been called Mormon Island by some of the media, but it technically isn't.) The editor of the local paper has been conducting tours of the site-along with a bit of a history lesson- for those who are interested in seeing this rare sight.

It's interesting to see how the outside media has spun the story. The first thing they seem to blame for the water level is the release of the water for the Chinook and Steelhead salmon to be able to breed. (Damn fish! Who cares if they die out, anyway? :P) 

While this is part of the water usage of Folsom Lake, what the media often fails to note is that about 80% of the water release goes to industrial, agricultural, and municipal sources. This week, they reduced the release of water from the lake in order to store it.

Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy the video. It gives a great perspective on the old settlement!

The Awareness

A spooky little movie...

WTF Happened to Movie Posters?

I ran across this today, and have to say I agree with this guy. The dynamic art of the movie poster seems to have completely gone the way of the Dodo bird, and what a shame!