Hang In There

If you know anything about cats, you know this was not his first attempt to get into that hanging nest. You also know the first try did not end well. 

After the loud crash coming from the closet, you know there was a cat sitting on the floor next to a pile of pants and hangers saying - "I meant to do that, no really I just wanted to show you how unstable those hangers can be."

But not only are cats curious, they also can be persistent, that's his permanent bed now or at least until you notice and get a picture to put on the web. And just think all those slacks now have a nice even vertical fur crease on one leg.

I know the "Hang In There" slogan has prompted a lot of dangling photos, so rather than have you labor at finding them. I have given you what I think are some prime examples.

you knew there would be at least one more cat

betcha weren't expecting pandas

sometimes hangin' in there is not your best option

it would seem that frogs might dominate this category

see what I mean . . .

Gratuitous?

Saturation Saturday: Pink

Clearly not a case of pink eye.

No alcohol was consumed by either the elephant

 or the photographer.

The Steinmetz Pink Diamond weighs 59.60 carats and has been graded as Internally Flawless. 

Reminds of a woman I once dated in Massachusetts.

Still the best hot dogs on the planet.

Even better when you eat them at the original location on LaBrea in L.A.

a pink albino dolphin

pink limpet snails

because it's just not often you get to say 

pink limpet snails

and of course, Pink Floyd

. . . and for those who grimace at my pictorial playfulness, I would note that I still produce at least another three posts each week; one of which has content if not merit.

Social Scientist Sees Bias Within

A very interesting NYTimes article from a couple of months back reported on potential liberal bias in social science research. It seems that the organization - The Society for Personality and Social Psychology is made up of over 80% liberals. The article touches on the generalized 'fact' that academia in general is more liberal than the society as a whole. What makes this more interesting is that the SPSP focuses research on areas of gender, racial, ethnic and other forms of social prejudice but when it comes close to home, the article suggests, the professors are unable to see their own bias - liberalism.

The counter arguments ("80% of cops are conservative," "conservatives are X or liberals are Y") play out quite effectively in the comments section attached to the article. And while I do recommend both the article and the follow-up debate, I am more interested in what the article implies about the liberal mindset. 

You see Barack Obama has announced his intentions to seek a second term and my liberal friends are beginning to line up in one of two muttering masses of thought.  

Pro-Obama - "He remains the bright shining light of hope." "Have you listened to the Tea Party!" "Of the two choices..."

Not-So-Much-Anymore - "He hasn't kept any of the promises I heard in '08." "What about Gitmo?" "How can our guy bomb Libya and keep us in Iraq and Afghanistan.."

So yes, this is the opening salvo of my 2012 advocacy of third party candidates but with a twist. It has become more and more apparent to me that liberals including many of my liberal friends are engaged in really weak-willed self delusion. Conservatives don't listen to your old worn arguments, they reject them as 'heard it all before.' Conservatives know what they believe and they often know they are right in those beliefs. Liberals or Progressives, on the other hand, tend to hang out with the antiquated notion that every position deserves equal time and contemplation again and again and again. Stop! Stand up for what you belief. Be willing to say that others are wrong, entitled to their opinion yes, but wrong is still wrong.

There is a huge difference between being co-opted by local prejudice of your self-selected tribe and simply but vocally declaring that some truths are self-evident and not subject to interpretation or political spin. Some truths are etched in stone and conscious, do you know which of your beliefs rise to that level of truth? And perhaps even more importantly to a civil debate, which of your beliefs are not actually up to the label of truth and therefore are capable of compromise.

Five New Ways to View Blogger Blogs

You may not know and more than likely don't care that Blogger (aka Blogspot) the host for this and millions of other blogs is owned by Google. Until very recently it has made absolutely no difference, the corporate campus of Google has basically ignored the blogosphere. But things have changed. The creative minds down south in sillycon valley have turned the flaming eye of attention on Blogger.

One of the first innovations involves five different "dynamic views" that allow you to see the content of my blog in several rather unique visual configurations. Because I use a large number of images, a couple of the new views actually work pretty well for this blog.

You get there by going up to the browser window where you now see: http://pokershrink.blogspot.com and adding /view. Or just click here. This takes you to the first view called Sidebar, for me the least interesting of the new front pages. You'll find a blue-green pulldown menu on the top right that will whisk you to Mosaic, Flipcard and Snapshot - the more interesting content displays with a variety of 'mouse over' options. 

Interesting new features for Blogger and hopefully a sign that Google is turning its mass of talent to the blogging software; giving me more toys with which to entertain and periodically enlighten you.

Detroit Redux

I was surprised after my series on the ruin of Detroit that I did not hear from the few friends I still have there. I did hear a lot from many; family, friends and strangers. The comments were from both sides of the Detroit Decline. Some felt I was too harsh, others agreed and most of those had lived there and since moved away. But no one still fighting the good fight has turned up to defend the soot-covered Motor City.

Summer 1967

The New York Times did a silver-lining piece on Detroit. How some residents are attempting to hold on to selected portions of the city. How even the new mayor has stated that saving the whole city is folly, while encouraging residents to concentrate themselves in salvageable corridors. Neighbors are doing citizen patrols and paying private companies for services the city can no longer provide.

I would like to find some reason to jump on the Save Detroit bandwagon, but the logic of saving certain neighborhoods necessarily means abandoning others. It is indeed a triage situation, which when extended to the country as a whole would mean saving certain cities and letting others go.  Detroit is going to be on everyone's list to let go.

R.I.P Motor City, let the wild flowers bloom, let the grasses cover over the scars of what once was.

Saturation Saturday: Blue

With the end of M&M Mondays this past week, I decided I needed another artistic outlet. Since I have gotten a lot of comments over the years about my selection of photographs and art to grace the blog, I thought I would empty some of the backlog of my blog art files. Welcome to the first edition of Saturation Saturday, where for several or many weekends into the future I shall explore the hues of the phantasmagoric rainbow as depicted on the world wide web.

Today - Blue.

This would be a blue whale, the largest creature ever to inhabit the earth. Not just the biggest mammal or the largest living creature on earth today but ever. Not even the biggest dinosaurs got this big; blue whales can weigh up to around 180 tons.

This is the Great Blue Hole, a giant sink hole about 50 miles off the coast of Belize. It's about 1,000 feet wide and 400 feet deep.

blue frog

blue morpho butterfly

rare blue lobster

Blue-Footed Booby 
I saw a whole colony of these when I went to Antarctica

Yes, a blue tennis ball.
Supposedly they were withdrawn from the market because they were "too painfully blue"

there have been some confectionerial complaints about the cancellation of M&M Mondays. . .

please note I did not mix this one up with the photo of the bird.

Something Peculiar Day

Something familiar, 
Something peculiar, 
Something for everyone:

A comedy tonight!

Nothing with kings, nothing with crowns;

Bring on the lovers, liars and clowns!

Old situations,

New complications,

Nothing portentous or polite;

Tragedy tomorrow,

Comedy tonight!

-from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Some things just defy comment.

I have wanted to use this picture for so long; it just never seemed appropriate, it still isn't I suppose.

There exists a fine line between social commentary and outright ridicule.

I imagine some will think this crosses that fine line.

Now wasn't that better than some tired, long-winded joke about me getting engaged, moving to Mississippi or supporting Sarah Palin? The date Emily, look at the date.