Lost Photo Post: The Palm Beach Zoo

On November 12, 2016November 12, 2016 By StevenIn Florida1 Comment

Here’s another one in a series of photo posts where I took a bunch of photographs, intending to make a blog post out of them, and then never got around to actually writing the post.

In late August, Amelie and I went to the Palm Beach Zoo. We’d been meaning to go for a while because I kept telling her about various childhood memories of going there when it was still called the Dreher Park Zoo. The zoo was founded in the 1950s, and the name was changed to the Palm Beach Zoo in 1997.

As is my custom for zoo visits, I took the dslr camera and took a ridiculous number of photographs. Here’s a sampling of my favorite shots.

A passing staff member took this first one:

This is Mardi, a nine foot long American alligator. Mardi has Leucism, which gives him his white pigmentation and bright blue eyes.

Amelie wants to kidnap this African Serval, and to put a bow tie on it.

This sloth is one of my spirit animals. Excuse me while I take an upside-down nap.

Golden Lion Tamarin. These little guys are so fast!

Sleepy little Fennec fox!

This koala was wandering all over the enclosure because we got there right before his feeding time, and he knew it. Also, I kinda feel like he looks like Bernie Sanders, right?

There were a couple of kangaroos hoppin’ around.

Most of the big cats like this tiger were pretty sleepy because it was a warm day. I also have blurry pictures of sleeping cheetahs.

This one makes me giggle every time I see it.

I cannot remember what type of animal this little guy was. He was smaller than a golden retriever.

Here’s another alligator. He thinks we can’t see him.

Ah, the noble capybara! He’s such a stoic fuzzy fellow!

Parrots!

Look, a bear!

Bush Dogs! They’re technically canines, but they’re small and look a lot like sand otters. The sign said they’re active during the day and sleep at night, but these two were totally bucking the system.

Big ol’ anteater!

Lastly, a regular otter. I took at least thirty or forty pictures of the otter, and this is one of about three where he wasn’t moving. River otters are a lot like small children on too much candy, I bet.

What’s your favorite zoo animal?

Editor’s Note: I’m attempting to blog every day in November with CheerPeppers. I don’t expect to succeed because life be crazy, but any blogging in excess of my previous post-free month is a win, right?

Dance Me to the End of Love*

On November 11, 2016November 11, 2016 By StevenIn Life At Home1 Comment

Damn it, 2016, knock it off already. You’ve already taken Alan Rickman, Prince, Abe Vigoda, George Gaynes, Jerry Doyle, Gene Wilder, and David Bowie. And now I see in the news that you’ve also taken Leonard Cohen from us? This will not stand!

Leonard Cohen was beloved by many of my friends. I loved him too. Leonard has been actively writing and performing music for almost sixty years. Almost everyone knows his work, even if they don’t realize it- he wrote “Hallelujah,” one of the most covered songs ever sung. Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, and countless others have done hundreds of versions of this song, but the original is still the best. Leonard Cohen originally wrote around 80 verses for the song, and different artists sometimes choose different verses, which means that almost every version is just a little bit different.

My first exposure to Leonard Cohen was in 1990, when I was seventeen years old. A group of us (including Jade Walker and our good friend Chris Pine, who is now deceased) went to see the Christian Slater movie, “Pump Up The Volume.” During the movie, Christian Slater’s character spun up “Everybody Knows” and “If It Be Your Will.” I was transfixed, and I’ve been listening to Leonard Cohen (and the ridiculous number of covers of his work) ever since. Those first two songs are still among my favorite songs of all time.

A recent Rolling Stone article mentions that when he finished his “Grand Tour” in New Zealand on December 21st, 2013, he had been touring for five years and played 387 shows. He came out of that tour with serious physical problems. Leonard Cohen had multiple fractures of the spine, and severe mobility problems. His final album, “You Want It Darker,” was recorded from a makeshift studio in his house. His son set up a Neumann microphone on the dining room table, and set the living room up with recording gear, a laptop running Protools, and a set of speakers. Much of that album was recorded with Leonard in an orthopedic medical chair. “You Want It Darker” was released on October 21st, just a few weeks before Leonard left us.

(Editor’s note: I accidentally acquired a subscription to the Rolling Stone a few months ago. I’m still not entirely sure how this happened, but every once in a while the magazine is really entertaining. If you’re interested in reading this fascinating look at the production of Leonard Cohen’s final album, I scanned the page from the November 17, 2016 Rolling Stone. Here you go. Click the thumbnail on the right to embiggen. )

Leonard was 82 when he died, which means he was about 79 at the end of his final tour. Six months before the Grand Tour ended, I was lucky enough to see him at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. I was thrilled to finally be able to see him live, and I had no idea that he was on the last tour of his career. Even then, in late June of 2013, he was spry and witty and a master of his craft.

Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, I can show you what it was like to see him perform Hallelujah live in Mannheim, Germany, about three and a half years ago.

I’m tired of 2016 taking my musical idols from us. Someone keep an eye on Cyndi Lauper, Martin Gore, Andy Bell, and Vince Clarke, ok?

*If you’re not familiar, “Dance Me to the End of Love” is one of Leonard Cohen’s songs. There’s a live version on the 2009 Live in London recording you can get from Amazon and iTunes.

What’s your favorite Leonard Cohen song?

Feelin’ Blue (Musings on a Trump Presidency)

On November 10, 2016November 10, 2016 By StevenIn The U.S.7 Comments

I’ve been positively sick and despondent about the election results ever since I woke up on Wednesday morning to find my phone full of incredulous WTF messages from my German friends. I almost rage-quit my blog out of the intense feeling that I would never have anything to say again- my faith in our country was that shaken.

But then I saw a bunch of news about the things that are going on, and I feel like I need to say a thing.

To all the #notmypresident protesters. To all the disgruntled Bernie-Bros. He is our President now. For all of us, not just the Red States. Half of our country may have voted against him, but the peaceful transfer of the Presidency is part of what makes us America. Let it go, and choose your battles carefully for the next four years. This fight is already over. It’s time to move on to the next challenge.

To all those talking about leaving the country. Don’t. If you don’t like what this is going to become, stick around and fight. And vote in Democrats at the midterm. And vote in a Democrat four years from now. And subscribe to your local newspaper, even if you don’t plan on reading it- we need those reporters to keep tabs on what a Trump White House is up to.

I saw a picture of the electoral map as voted by people in the 18-25 age bracket, and it gives me hope. This is our future:

18-25map

To all the rampaging bigots who are taking this election as carte blanche to be hateful, a hearty hi ho fuck you. There are already reports of nasty behavior and intimidation to blacks, muslims, trans folk, and pretty much everyone who isn’t white. To the alleged perpetrators, get over yourselves. A Trump presidency doesn’t negate your obligation to be a decent human being. Stop it. Just play nice with everyone else.

Ann Coulter said this thing:

If only people with at least 4 grandparents born in America were voting, Trump would win in a 50-state landslide.

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) November 8, 2016

…and she missed the point. She missed the point by a LOT.

There aren’t that many people in this country who have four natural-born grandparents. I’m a second generation American myself- only two of my four grandparents were born in the US. I think that’s true of a great many people, because the country really isn’t that old. 240 years is not a long time when you’re talking about multiple generations. But I digress… my point in bringing up Ann Coulter is that she missed the point because we’re the United States of America, even if right now it feels like we’re anything but.

My country’s better angels are all about inclusion and adaptation.

My $.02: I am not a Trump supporter. I despise everything he said during his campaign. I find him to be a misogynist, a bigot and a bully.

However, he’s our President now, and we have to deal with that. We made it through eight years of Dubya (who seems positively mild by comparison), and we’ll make it through this. Maybe he’ll turn out to be an OK President- not evil so much as just mildly ineffective. Maybe he’s the guy that will finally actually unite us all. I kinda doubt that last one, but I live in hope.

Fellow Blue-State people, we have to accept that this is a done deal and move on. For my part, I will continue to advocate and fight for minorities, GLBTQ people, and people of all faiths. Even the ones I think are boogety-woogety nonsense. (Hint: That’s all of ’em. I don’t have to share your beliefs to fight for them.)

Besides, now that Sarah Palin is reportedly being considered for a Cabinet position, the late night talk show comedians are going to have a field day. I mean, what’s next, Michele Bachmann as Secretary of State?

Lost Photo Post: The Orlando Eye

On November 9, 2016 By StevenIn Florida

This is one in a series of photo posts where I took a bunch of photographs, intending to make a blog post out of them, and then never got around to actually writing the post.

Anyone who has read even a little bit of this blog has probably already figured out that I love tall things. Tall buildings, tall ferris wheels, you name it. I even have a tall-stuff tag for posts that involve being up high!

The Orlando Eye is one of those places that I wanted to go as soon as I found out it even existed. I’ve been on the very similar London Eye several times now. They were building it when Amelie and I went to Megacon in 2015, but it wasn’t quite open yet. We planned on going on it the next time we were in Orlando, and we almost reached the location but there were thunderstorms and high wind, so we decided to postpone.

Fast forward to Megacon 2016, and we finally had time to stop back at the Orlando Eye. I’ve got a bunch of pictures below, but first some details:

The Orlando Eye is on International Drive, not terribly far from the convention center, Universal Studios, and Sea World.

The Eye is a 400 feet tall ferris wheel with enclosed and air conditioned cabins that rotate slowly around the ring. It’s similar to the London Eye, although the structure and mechanisms are slightly different, and the London Eye is only 43 feet taller.

Since July of this year, it has been rebranded as the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye. From the capsule, you can see the Universal hotels.

The ride is very smooth- a complete cycle takes about thirty minutes. This view is the Orange County Convention Center, where Megacon has been held for many years. You can just make out the Sea World roller coasters behind the Convention Center.

This is another view from the Eye. I honestly cannot tell which roller coasters are visible in this photograph. I think it’s Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, but International Drive is in the heart of the biggest concentration of tourist attractions, so it could be almost anything.

A little bit more of I-Drive, with one of the capsules visible. The Orlando Eye capsules are heavily tinted, because this is Florida. The view here isn’t as interesting as on the London Eye, I’m afraid. For one thing, the Eye has no tall buildings around it to look at. If they had built this in downtown Orlando, thirty minutes to the East, it would have had a better view I think.

This restaurant is a short walk from the Orlando Eye. I suspect that they did the roof lettering deliberately to attract the attention of hungry Eye-goers. This appeals to me immensely: I like when things are clearly labeled!

Off in the very far distance, you can see Epcot. This one required some zoom lens. And, to be fair, the only reason I can tell that it’s Epcot is that Spaceship Earth is pretty distinct.

Finally, here’s a couple of horses. As crowded as International Drive can get, Central Florida is still covered in swatches of land that is either undeveloped or used for farming and livestock. So: horses!

Have you ever been on the Orlando Eye?

Stressed out by the election?

On November 8, 2016 By StevenIn Life At Home1 Comment

It’s going to be nearly impossible to avoid election coverage tonight, but if you’re already stressed out, here’s a web site full of live webcams on various critters.

I’ve been especially fond of this one with fruit bats. They’re like tiny fuzzy flying puppies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cox6vYDVA6A

It’ll all be over in a few hours. Be strong, everybody.

Whimsy. Tacos. The DMV.

Tag: nanopoblano