MEDITATIVE STATES

This is based on a blog I previously posted on MySpace Feb 23, 2009.  This form is slightly different as I've been able to get around some technical issues that plagued the original.   The result is something a little closer to my original intent.  I also did a little more research on the history of the Alaskan Flag design since I first posted it and edited a change in the first paragraph.

Some time ago, I was watching this show on the History Channel about the 50 states.  Some of the things I found interesting were some of the state flags.  Instead of just slapping the state seal on a plain background and letting it go at that, some designers decided to make things a little interesting to say the least.
First off, there's Sarah Palin's old stomping grounds ....Alaska.....  In 1927, then 13-year old Benny Benson won the contest to determine the design of the state flag.  Personally, I give kudos for the minimalist effect. 



Then there's New Mexico, a state to which I've been briefly, of which I've always enjoyed the scenery.  Even if I never move there permanently, I think I'd like to have this flag around when I'm trying to relax.



Now the above two states have a lot of open space, the kind of thing that sort of gets me in a meditative mood anyway.  So in my mind their flags are sort of appropriate.  The state whose flag surprised me and has become my favorite, though, was that of ....Maryland.....



And my first reaction was..."Dude."
I thought something was wrong with the television, so I went and looked it up.



Nope, that's actually the state flag.  DUDE. 

Now, the New Mexico flag I'd probably save for meditation but if I ever try acid I have GOT to go with the one for the (appropriately enough) Free State hanging on the walls of my "mellow out" room.  Yes.
Seriously, though, the flag is based on British heraldy which in of itself distinguishes it from the other 49.  Now I'm not much up on British heraldy and I can respect the history, but...



Oh, Duuuuuuude, the colors.  THE COLORS!
Okay, sorry, I need to stop that.

This blog is dedicated to my old friend "R", a Baltimore native and fellow Obie at the time I attended Oberlin College.  Wherever you are now, R, I wish you more happiness than is neurologically possible for me to imagine.

  

DEBRE DAMO

Previously posted on MySpace April 2, 2008

 

As I was doing research for a novel, I ran across a reference to a 6th Century monastery atop Debre Damo in Northern Ethiopia. Debre Damo is a flat-topped mountain called an amba.

It’s a four hour drive from Axum until you get to a place where the road stops.  From there, you’d have to hike up a hill for around two hours.  And, finally the only way you can reach the monastery is via a 25-meter climb up a sheer cliff.  In short, you better be pretty serious about visiting this place.

Drawing some of the heartier tourists, scholars, and believers, the monastery at Debre Damo is built around Ethiopia’s oldest church with its intricate carvings on the beams and ceiling. The monastery is also known for its collections of ancient manuscripts and paintings. Now, a lot of this info can be gleaned from the Wikipedia entry, so I’ll just stop blathering for now and let the pictures speak for awhile.



In addition to Wikipedia, I also derived my information from this Naty Tours description and from Dinknesh Tours.

Maybe I’ll get there myself one day.  I just thought one or two people might be interested.

THE FIRST CASUALTY OF WAR

There's really not much I can say about the Shirley Sherrod situation that hasn't already been said or couldn't be predicted from what I've written in earlier blogs.  So anything I'm saying here amounts to little more than a typing exercise.

If tolerating race-baiting idiots in the ranks of the Tea Party weren't enough, Biggovernment.com (not FOX news, by the way) flushes more credibility down the toilet by editing that video of Sherrod's speech to leave out any parts that undermined their point.  One would think that an organization with ".com" in its name would remember that there's this thing called "the Internet" and that people would actually use it to do a little research and FIND THE UNEDITED VERSION OF THAT VIDEO.  Yeah, some people jumped to conclusion without checking all the facts, but not everyone is that gullible.  Allowing for the stupidity of some people in your strategy can sometimes be a good idea; counting on everyone to be stupid doesn't seem to me to make much tactical sense.

Speaking of idiots jumping to conclusions, the Government and the NAACP shouldn't get off the hook too easily either.  Their whines about being misled impress me not one bit.  Again, the relevant people involved in these groups should have followed the leads of some of more ethical people and done a little more damn research before rushing to cover their political asses.  I couldn't blame Sherrod for being ambivalent about getting her job back.

Most annoying of all to me are people who continue to ignore all the inconvenient details of this story and bash the "other" side while playing down or completely ignoring how much "their" side screwed up as well.  Apparently, Sherrod was one of the few people who had stopped to take a look at her own worldview and same something akin to "Oh, my ideas are the ones that need fixing here."  Alas, that seems to be the main thing too many people are intent on not hearing.

SOME THOUGHTS ON ALBERT HOFFMAN (1906-2008)

Previously posted on MySpace April 30, 2008

Yesterday, I found out from Disinformation that Albert Hoffman, first to synthesize lysergic acid diethalymide (a. k. a. LSD) had passed.

Now, I'm not saying we should all drop a tab of LSD in memoriam (but I'm not about to shrilly rant AGAINST doing so either). Everybody's body different and what substances you put (or refrain from putting) into it should general be up to the individual. I've never tried LSD, psilocybin, DMT, and anything really psychotropic. But if I were going to take someone else's advice about such things, I'd be a little more confident in someone knowledgeable of pharmacuticals than I would be of someone's who's training was in politics or law enforcement. (Nothing against police in this particular statement, folks, but come on: if someone stole your car, would your first choice to go after the culprit be your doctor or pharmacist?)

But I'm straying from the subject here, which is that a major part of the foundation of what we think of as the counterculture (whether he really intended to be or not) has moved on. Psychedelic art may not be your thing, but I think it beats crack and meth's contributions to our culture hands down.

According to everything I've read about him, he dropped acid at least once a year and lived to be 102. It makes me think that Timothy Leary was right when he said "Just say KNOW." Maybe Dr. Hoffman knew something the DEA would prefer the rest of us didn't.

Fare thee well on your next great trip, Dr. Hoffman. And thank you.

ANOTHER REASON CHILDHOOD WAS OFTEN THE PITS

Apparently, you just can't win for losing.  Back when people were just starting to worry about the hole in the ozone layer, there was this big push to wean everybody off chlorofluorocarbons, or CFC's.  The stuff was commonly used for coolants and propellants, which probably explains a ritual I sometimes dreaded when I was a kid (you know, back in the day when pointless torture of youth was looked upon as the Universe's way of building character). 
I speak of the ritual of the dreaded deodorant spray, which we applied somewhat faithfully because my peers and I were all just hitting puberty and had enough whiffs of those who skimped a little too much on the Right Guard [1].
However, this was back in the day when pointless torture of youth was looked upon as a legitimate way of building character.  Just what kind of twisted character you were supposed to become as a result of this was something the adults of the time didn't seem interested in being clear on.
The torture I speak of came in the practical application of the product.  I had always wondered why even though we kept the cans at room temperature, it always felt as we had been blasting Freon into our armpits.  It turns out we might have been doing that literally for all we knew at the time.
So when we started hearing all the horror stories about how our spray can were turning the ozone layer to Swiss cheese, I had no problem switching to roll-ons and creams.
Then this morning, I came across this article.Sometimes, you just can't win for losing, huh?  Oh well, I'm still not going back to spray deodorants, but does this mean I can go back to using cheese spray?

[1] The horrors of Brut constituted a problem from the other end of this olfactory spectrum.  Unlike other manufacture scents that tried to trick you into thinking they were natural, this cloying stuff fooled no one.  The stuff made you smelled like air freshener sprayed inside a chemistry lab.  To be fair, this problem was probably due to its overuse; but in my mind nothing more says to your potential date "not only broke but tacky and delusional about my chances of getting laid" quite like something out of one of those Brut gift packs my peers and I always ended up getting each other for Christmas because the stores were closing up on the 24th and we were all out of ideas again.