… Read full post »

The indigenous people have been very active lately.  The federal government passed some legislation that removed protection from a lot of waterways, opening the way for mining and oil that will pollute.  Also, I gather, opening indigenous land to outsiders to go i… Read full post »

I was in Montreal over the weekend and my friend and I did some shopping - to an Italian supermarket (yummy pictures tomorrow), then to a music store (we're thinking of setting up our own small amateur recording studio, gods help us), and finally to a… Read full post »

Some people think that any restrictions on how they say things is an infringement of their rights. (Note – the first amendment has to do only with preventing the government from curtailing your freedom of expression [tho of course it does so every day; otherwise Occupy would be occupying, for
… Read full post »

Mt. Etna is erupting.

I was there a few years ago.  The volcano was dormant at the time.  We got there with some difficulty (hint: when an Italian road sign on the right-hand side of the road points left, it may be pointing at the… Read full post »

There was a Toronto newspaper article yesterday about the appearance on city streets of knitted/crocheted 'graffitti' - "little bursts of welcome colour in a drab wintery streetscape".

What was the knitter’s intent? Perhaps it was simply whimsy, a chance to make s… Read full post »

 Salon has a scathing piece about Scalia today.

Scalia has the power to rewrite the rules for who participates in American democracy and those decisions could last for decades—until Congress or another Supreme Court majority reverses them.

That's what's scary.  It's not just anothe… Read full post »

Linda organized a Necromancer show and dinner at the Seccaspina family-owned hotel.  Here's my daughter Laura entering:

The hotel has quite a history.  It was built in 1872 and called the Mississippi Hotel because the Mississippi river is close by.  No, not THE Missis… Read full post »

A famous puke venue is the ship crossing of the English channel. I did that trip in choppy conditions once, quite a few years ago. I was fine, tho I did… Read full post »

One of our free days in Vienna, my friend and I went to the twin buildings, one of which housed art and the other was the Museum of Natural History.  My friend was going to see the art and I wanted to see the Venus of Willendorf in… Read full post »

...of most recent trip.  We 'did' Prague and Vienna, and ended up in Budapest.

And then a final bus ride thru the city.  Wine, exhaustion and our driver, Atilla (really!), zipping right along:

It was interesting.  Content not to go back.  Wh… Read full post »

That's what it's called, and who am I to argue.

It's in Budapest.  On a somewhat uninspiring street in a somewhat dismal neighborhood.  But, like, wow.

First, all the Pan lights outside.

But the outside, however dazzling, hardly prepared one for the interior:

That last pictu… Read full post »

What me, crazy? 

Hollywood actor Randy Quaid has been refused refugee status in Canada.  He fears for his life because "Hollywood Star Whackers" are out to get him and other minor stars...for reasons unknown.  Well, if anyone deserves a (non-fatal) whacking, it would… Read full post »

It's 99% theoretical and improbable ... but 1% - oh-oh.

New action today - with video (if everything works as it should...).

Indian protestors blocking international bridge to U.S.

Interesting opinion piece today (Native talks with the Crown challenge Canada’s very existence) in th/… Read full post »

Follow up to this post.

Below - and you might want to turn down the sound - is a brief bit of video showing a huge round-dance of a thousand or so people in front of the Canadian Parliament Buildings.

This happened Friday, as Natives demanded to… Read full post »

All right, that's an unfair title, possibly racist, certainly misleading given that the protests are peaceful.

But the situation is that Canadian aboriginals, who protest regionally periodically over desecrated burial grounds and such, currently have a nation-wide action underway. The… Read full post »

Ah, so nice to be home. I can sleep in – no wake-up call to get on a bus. No need to gawp at palaces and stuff all day, hearing about a bunch of (usually depressing) historical stuff, no eating rich food morning, noon and night.

On… Read full post »

I mock-shocked our tour guide and an American fellow tourist with this declaration.

But we'd just toured the Hungarian parliament,

a splendid building, a Palace of the People, gilt and all the Euro trimmings, much too fine a place (and too quick a pace) for a… Read full post »

Synchronistically, a couple of visitors last weekend asked if they could make off with a few of my things. First was a wooden dinosaur pull-toy on the porch that someone wanted for his nephew. Another visitor asked if I'd read that bio of Alan Watts yet. I… Read full post »

Real trees and frost trees

Real sun (shown only indirectly) and glass sun

  Read full post »

How do I hate bi-focals? - Let me count the ways.

I think the low point came a couple of years ago during a tour to Egypt, when a couple of people took my elbows and helped me navigate stairs at night on our way to a Sound & Light… Read full post »

I wanted to call this post after the info booth at the Great Synagogue in Budapest, but I thought my amusement wasn't worth the possible offensiveness. 

That was the only amusing thing about the synagogue, scene of WWII horrors.

Well, one other mildly amusing… Read full post »

Mythical eagle of Hungary, celebrated in a statue in Budapest

Hungarian eagle in the flesh (and feathers)

A handsome bird!  And the eagle's pretty cute too.

For a few thousand florins (it's one of those currencies) you can get your pictur… Read full post »

Demos are crowing about the pummelling Biden is thought to have given Ryan. Quoth Bill Maher: "Somebody call 911, there's an old man beating up a child on my television.." And a comment from some site or other: “This was a freaking beat-down”.

I was going to reply… Read full post »

Okay, so there's too many photos and they're not very good, but it was a thrill to see the Venus of Willendorf.  Vienna had lots of neat old stuff of the historical persuasion, but I'm particularly interested in prehistoric.

Jeez, can't even read the sign. … Read full post »