Hang On To Your Ego Mirror

"De son vrai nom Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV..."

Alcatraz Guard's Toilet

The guards at Alcatraz had a toilet at one end of their observation deck.

To the right of the toilet, with a small chain hanging down, is a small sliding metal flap large enough to stick a gun barrel out but not large enough to fit a gun through.

A toilet with a view.

A voluntary larger cell overlooking dozens of smaller involuntary cells.

One wonders what all those NOMI communist Cubans make of the recent judicious and astute discussion about using Alcatraz to detain all those currently at Guantánamo Bay?

Pneumatic Lobster

Pneumatic lobsters are not just about riveting or serving tennis balls, there are also manually activated pneumatic lobsters.

Fake Bus Stop

From the eighth floor I could see the fake bus stop.

It was raining again in Portland.

The rain was real. The bus stop was not.

Bright lights and a glistening Don Quixote waiting to appear. Lights wrapped in plastic and blocked streets.

The next day it was all gone but the bus stop.

Two guys with a flat bed truck drove up.

They took out the screws attaching it to the pavement and used a crane to lower it onto the back of the truck.

The following day even the fake bus stop was gone.

Eagles Over Klamath Lake

There are things you miss when you fly or drive - like the eagles soaring over Klamath Lake in the morning. That and the Coast Starlight has an arcade room.



BYOSB or Bring Your Own Sleeping Bag. Get a seat away from the doors if you can - they are noisy and foot traffic doesn't fall off until well after midnight. The arcade room was mostly empty but every now and then one of the machines would erupt with an advertisement for a video gaming system "available in 1995". At one point the arcade room was full of a group of people grooving to someone playing a guitar and another point it was a few people waiting for the next smoking stop.

The food varies and includes ramen noodles. You can also bring your own ramen noodles. The young couple ahead of me traveling with their infant was having ramen for dinner and breakfast. The breakfast ramen was delayed due to an unplanned engine change in Oakland. Someone gave me a couple of cans of beer for the trip. The floor of the downstairs become sticky at one point. The fog in southern Oregon was so thick that the afternoon sun was dimmed and it was hard to see even 20 feet from the train. An amputee with a metal leg struggled with the swaying train. One kid kept punching the door opening button for moving between cars. I overheard the conductors discuss seating arrangements and carry-bys or passengers that miss their stops. I saw a carry-by rushing off in Emeryville.

But the saccades of beauty make it all worthwhile.

Palin Pumpkin

This was a three candle pumpkin to get enough light to the carving on the front. Used the previously cut stencil without any modifications. Had to cut a large ventilation gap in the back under the lid. Ready for Halloween.

Dried Artichoke Flower

Dali in Legos

Looking intense and featured elsewhere, the Salvador Dali in Legos is something to see. Such rectangular plastic brickness glaring in the California sun. In contrast to the flowing melting semi-corporeal forms in his paintings.