Aerie Home

A place not lost, nor unappreciated
Not forgotten. Fully treasured
A colorful universe manifested by eagles

A place unknown to most
A place of freedom, unity and love
A place for eagles. Aerie home

There's a spot 'tween the astral heavens
And the lake where great comfort rests
Four eagles soar and call to each other

Their sky dance; overtly joyous
Free of reality's constraints
Breathtaking to everyone

A place unknown to most
A place of freedom, unity and love
A place for eagles. Aerie home.

Are my geek undies showing?

I found myself applauding at the end of this and was transported to my childhood as I never missed any of the 13 episodes of Cosmos. This mash-up is amazing and gave me special geek-tingles. Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking in "A Glorious Dawn":

What kind of a geek would I be if I didn't include the lyrics?:

[Sagan]
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch
You must first invent the universe

Space is filled with a network of wormholes
You might emerge somewhere else in space
Some when-else in time

The sky calls to us
If we do not destroy ourselves
We will one day venture to the stars

A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way

The Cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths
Of exquisite interrelationships
Of the awesome machinery of nature

I believe our future depends powerfully
On how well we understand this cosmos
In which we float like a mote of dust
In the morning sky

But the brain does much more than just recollect
It inter-compares, it synthesizes, it analyzes
it generates abstractions

The simplest thought like the concept of the number one
Has an elaborate logical underpinning
The brain has it's own language
For testing the structure and consistency of the world

[Hawking]
For thousands of years
People have wondered about the universe
Did it stretch out forever
Or was there a limit

From the big bang to black holes
From dark matter to a possible big crunch
Our image of the universe today
Is full of strange sounding ideas

[Sagan}
How lucky we are to live in this time
The first moment in human history
When we are in fact visiting other worlds

The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean
Recently we've waded a little way out
And the water seems inviting

The Otto Tour

An adventure through the countryside.
Words spoken in kind tones,
Words that spear our very being.

Sharing, not trying to convince, sharing.
Fields, Mountains, streams, the colors!
... That's old man Johnson's place.

An adventure through the countryside
Smells smelled, sights seen, decisions made.
For transition, for growth, for Love, for Life.

Now we struggle, now we strive
Reaching for what we want
Knowing where home resides.

On the Brighter Side

From the twisted minds of the folks at PES comes another wonderful bent-perspective video. This one won the Audience Award at the Annecy Animation Festival.

It really brightened my mood this morning. I hope it does the same for you.

Madman?

This guy picked a tough costume to wear for an entire evening, but he came prepared.
Notice the straw in his beer.

I was going to write a poem to accompany this photo I took at a holiday party, but I really don't feel like exploring my darker side tonight. Feel free to write one.

**Added 14 Nov.2009**
In response to my request for a poem to go with the photo above, Kendogg provided:

From angst and scorn and childhood dreams
a beggar knows what for.
Upon the throne of government
add tax for being poor.
Awake enough to feel the pain
and hatred for you all.
As dawn arrives and enslaves our lives
it's back to work once more.
~kendogg

Between Need to Know, Kinda Funny and Downright Sad

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than one-third of all weapons the United States has procured for Afghanistan's government are missing, according to a government report released Thursday.

The U.S. military failed to "maintain complete inventory records for an estimated 87,000 weapons -- or about 36 percent -- of the 242,000 weapons that the United States procured and shipped to Afghanistan from December 2004 through June 2008," a U.S. Government Accountability Office report states.

Read entire article here.

Welcome the Winter with Gusto!

Winter is on it's way (the official start is around December 21st/22nd). I thought I would give it a bit of a jump start with a Driver from JC Excavating in Armstrong, BC performing a 425 horsepower 10-wheel drift on ice and snow. I only know a few Texans who could perform such a stunt, Of course, it would be in mud rather than snow.

Yes...Armstrong is a beautiful place that is full of fun, adventure and wonderful people...no matter the temperature.

Disclaimer: I have never used these guys, but after watching this ad, I'd definitely consider it.

Canadian Countryside Surprise

Our dear friend, Otto, made certain I got to take a peak at the World's Largest Reel Lawn Mower as we toured around the Okanagan Valley.

(click photo to enlarge)

I love that the "standard-sized" mower is next to the big one...for perspective.

The Deep Creek Tool Museum is open year round and features personalized tours, restorations, and sales. It is located at 91 Deep Creek Road in Enderby, BC.
Call 250-832-2506 for hours or more information.

Morning Music - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs doing an acoustic version of Maps.