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Days off, Work, Etc
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
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Last few days off, beautiful, still a bit chilly but the snow is vanishing. Sorted through a pile of my crystals and rocks to drop off at "Magic Rocks" kids house, some good specimens of Silver, Black Tourmaline, Fluorite, Quartz, the black tourmaline - looking at it, there are the streaks of aqua - I have to get back there this summer. There's too much possibility, it's been a couple of weeks since last I tried, maybe the snow is gone? I should lay a claim...
Talk to Chris, the restaurant will be opening...soon, maybe I have a week left, and I'm panicking. I need the money, for sure for sure, but - the hills are calling too...
Unboxing, the rest of Stormy's Scrolls, 2 hours to unroll, reroll approximately 200+ scrolls. The same as always, although he's got the phrase "Glittering Glory Hole", which I think is referring to the "Prospector's" variety of Glory Hole as opposed to the one seemingly depicted in his illustrations. He has a way of layering meaning in his pictures...
Today, to town to visit Dagmar, she's arranged an interpretive dance/movement class for us to attend. I'm a bit skeptical, the thought of doing all this with a bunch of 70 and 80 year olds isn't so appealing...fortunately at the last minute she reads my mind and changes it to doing some thrift shopping...
Whew...
And, for the moment, that's it!
5MEO & Other Picks
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
- Hits: 1435
So, down a few more worthwhile rabbit holes lately, thought I'd share.
First, Podcasts: The Apology Line - (Link Here), this so far, so good, apart from the ads but I understand they have to make a living. What's annoying though is when the podcaster has to read out the ad - as if it's some sort of personal endorsement, which - if it was - why are you reading it like an ad? Anyways, enjoying this but I need a studio or someplace to paint/be creative while listening to it - it doesn't work for me to listen to anything while trying to read or write.
Next - went looking for a trailer for 5MeO - (Link Here) - a documentary about 3 guys trying out 5MeO-DMT - apparently one of the most powerful psychedelics out there, derived from Sonoran Desert Toads. it looks promising but, jeezuz, $17.99? Am I buying a movie or a Non-Fungible token? Or do they take your address and send you out a dose? Bloody Hell. I'm sure I'll watch it but would be a lot more comfortable with a more accessible price point.
Naturally, searching around for 5MEO led to some other interesting discoveries, most noteworthy of were Hamilton's Pharmacopeia - (annoyed, I had considered "Shulgin's Pharmacopeia" for a little project I was working on myself, but - you snooze, you lose). I'd seen the one where he interviews Shulgin (Link Here), but I had no clue he had his own channel on Vice. Anyways - watched the episode "The Underground LSD Palace" - Good start, the subject - (pitching here own show - "Neurosoup"), some hilarious lines like her favorite episode "DMT Anal Colonic" - (WTF? I'll let you search out that one), amusing how she rails about the closed mindedness of middle-American life, and yet when he's interviewing her in her house - well, I expected a little more from the decor after all she's been through. From here to a fine series on the Zombies of Haiti in which Hamilton ends up interviewing the esteemed Wade Davis (Formerly from Calgary!!), travelling to Haiti and interview various personages in his quest to find the powder used to create Zombies. (Link Here).
Curious and Curious. He does a great job of interviewing interesting - and occasionally very sketchy - people, sort of a 21 Century Shaggy he needs only a giant dog to take along on his travels...
And, finally - Jordan Peterson's interview on Channel 4 (Link Here). He's been a lot in the news, for less than enviable reasons, so I went back and watched the interview to see what all the fuss is about. Essentially it's this: Reasonable, articulate, informed person holds his ground against rabid feminism. There is nothing about him that is even slightly inflammatory, and so you know you're in troubled times when every voice of reason is shouted down by people claiming that you're violating their rights. He held his own very well against someone who wasn't even rudimentarily equipped with the requisite intelligence to have a conversation with him. So, admirable in that he's brought uncomfortable truths to power and has the audacity to have done the research before having an opinion. And amazing how many people revile him having never heard him out, merely because "They Disagree". Not that I'm going to go full Joe Rogan or Bromance on the guy, but the people he's offending really need to examine why they're taking offense.
Censorship
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
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Again, as always. First there was Shylock, in Merchant of Venice, the negative portrayal of a Jewish moneylender. Then there was Huck Finn, the not-so-negative but perhaps a little too stereotypical depiction of a former black slave in the South. And there have been hundreds, thousands since then. Lolita, De Sade, Fahrenheit 451, the list goes on and is endless.
But the latest casualties are hitting a little closer to home. I mean Pepe Le Pew, who was an overly affectionate doesn't-take-no for an answer skunk. Presumably a comically reference to French Canadians or stereotypes about French Lovers. And not technically "Censured" so much as cancelled, so - fine - most things are humorous or relevant only in the context of the culture - time, place and people - that produced them. But that they publicize it is worrisome - part of a larger trend of whitewashing history. And by whitewashing it I mean making it as Vanilla as possible; devoid of anything that might possibly offend anyone.
But I should say, if you're killing Pepe you should really be killing Ms. Piggy. Like, I get a lotta creepy/stalker/abusive vibes out of her and Kermit. Picture me screaming and waving my hands and shouting "Somebody, won't somebody PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!".
I should make up a sign saying "Cancel Ms Piggy" and go stand with the Anti-Maskers tomorrow. There's been a lot of protesting lately, but it's never about things that matter.
This is not to be confused with "Cancel Culture", in which a "celebrity" does something outrageous or stupid or questionable and then loses their lavish lifestyle, endorsements, etc. I don't give a damned about that. That people get upset about somebody losing their job over doing something stupid is entirely what the whole wide rest of the real world deals with on a day to day basis. It's less "Cancel Culture" than it is "Consequence Culture".
But this is not cancel culture - this is revisionist history, pandering to those who are taking offense where none is given.
And the latest victim - Dr. Seuss.
Author of "Oh, The Thinks you can Think". Only, apparently, you can't. 6 Titles being pulled from publication by the Dr. Seuss foundation on the advice of educators and other so-called experts.
I disagree with this - the censure of history and art and literature.
The "Negative" or "Stereotypical" depictions included a Chinese boy who eats with sticks. Hair done up in Pigtails. Now - really - I looked at it again - to jog my memory - and - could still see nothing of offense in it. Yes, it's a stereotype built upon centuries of their own traditions. The hair, the clothes, chopsticks - until comparatively recently were a very visible portion of their culture. Not in a bad way - it marked them as being different. And when you're a kid it's interesting to view the world as different, exciting to think that different people have different lives, dress, act, and eat in a manner unfamiliar to ourselves.
Another one - "McElligots's Pool" - for having "Eskimo Fish" that wore parkas. I mean - HOLY FUCK! Have you been north of the 49th? Parkas are fucking mandatory in this country 6 to 9 months of the year! It's a stereotype for a fucking reason! It's the truth! Would an Eskimo (They don't even exist, specifically, merely a broad generalization for any indigenous people that live above the Arctic Circle) take offense to being depicted in a parka? Fucking hell! Or are they worried about the depictions of the fish?
They are stereotypes, surely - but negative? Hardly.
These stereotypes engage us and inspire curiosity about peoples and cultures different than us. To be told that Eskimos and Chinese people live in houses just like ours is boring and inspires no one to travel. And, depending where you're from, it's not necessarily true. To be told that Eskimos suffer criminally high rates of substance abuse, addiction, depression and suicide - well - while accurate might also be construed as negative. And it isn't going to inspire anybody to visit. To be told that the Chinese are torturing and raping innocent people held in concentration and forced labor camps might also encourage some negative stereotypes.
If they had said that they were discontinuing the books because no one was buying them I'd understand. But this whitewashing, censure of books because they "Might" cause offense is insane. Given that there are probably fewer than a dozen of these books available in the NorthWest Territories/Nunavut I doubt very much any of the children there are being offended by fish in Parkas. Most likely they find it humorous just like the rest of the world. And given their circumstances they would be I'm sure glad of any portrayal that drew interest to their lifestyles.
There seems to be this equivocation that to depict anyone as different than ourselves is bad. I would disagree. Cultures can be bad, but cultures aren't race. And Dr. Seuss isn't portraying these cultures in a negative way. His books were designed to inspire curiosity and learning. I very much doubt he intended to offend anyone - given that in 1971 he actually went through and revised a good many of his illustrations that might be considered offensive.
Now I'm taking this a bit personally because I personally love stereotypes. No shit. Greedy Bankers. No ones arguing that one. Killer Incompetent Bungling Cops. Another truism. Crooked Lawyers. Yep. Wait...I just described the Prime Time TV/Movie Line and no one's protesting that. Vacuous, insipid women looking for their Prince Charming? The Bachelor, purportedly a REALITY TV SHOW and - just wow - doesn't anybody want to protest that? If not that, then surely the contestants and very premise of it!
Me, I liked the idea of living in a world with headhunters, cannibals, witch-doctors - even if they're not current, they're part of our history. And the fact that we interpret these differences as "negative" and "stereotypical" when we should, in fact, be teaching our kids that it's OK to be different and we celebrate that - is - to say the least - infuriating.
Perhaps I'm not as "liberal" as I thought.
Panning for Gold near Trail
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
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Yesterday, arranged to go down and pan for gold with Chris. Trail. There's some great cracks in a bedrock exposure I'd seen from the road, worth checking out.
But, driving out through Nelson, nearing the old homeless camp, we pass a small table with a handmade sign up - "Magic Rocks for Sale". A little kid is sitting with his mom at a little table covered with rocks. And there's no getting away from it, we have to stop.
The kid, a folding little TV Dinner table, on it he's got about 30 pieces of gravel. The same gravel as we're standing on. A little jar full of money. We look at the rocks. They're gravel. Just gravel. Literally the same gravel we're standing on. And I want to support small business and enterprising youth and so I ask "How Much?".
The kid hums and haws, he's got the gravel sorted into about 4 little piles on the table, there's no difference in any of them, they're all just gravel, but he's giving us the prices...."This pile it's $5.00 a rock....". I'm incredulous, but I don't dare say, his mom is there, it's a little, a lot out of my league. SO Chris and I go back to the truck, scrounge up a few crystals and fluorite lost at the bottom of my rucksack, Chris finds him some pieces of silver ore, we give it to him. Who knows, maybe one day he could be working for me?
Anyways, onward to Trail:
A bit of panning, next to no gold, Chris finds a few flakes - tiny, not worth the effort, and after a bit of crevassing I give up and go and canvas the landscape. This bedrock is pretty cool:
Coarse feldspar sills, smoky quartz, granular crystals like pegmatites but lacking in the mica and other minerals. The basalt has cooked out the minerals - clear divisions and cavities in the rock.
Clearly I wasn't the only one who found this interesting...
In the pan, fine sand, under the loop - black sand, lots of garnet - pyrope, almandine, some citrine, green stones which I guess to be olivine (given the basalts), quartz.
These would be the pretty pictures if I could find a way to take their picture. I need my USB Microscope...
The chromites excite me - the green - in conjunction with the garnets, are used as indicators for diamonds. Maybe it's not all quartz. When I have pictures I'll share.
Anyways, that - more or less, was the day.
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