Saturday porch pictures.

I have discovered my next ride, except i'd paint it bright red.

Chikuminuk Lake, Canada.

Some sort of self destructive insanity has taken hold of the country since the election of this administration.

The Holder justice department decides to sell AK 47 assault weapons to the Mexican drug cartels, then arm American border guards with beanbag guns, and require them to be used in any confrontation.

Result: American border guard is shot to death with an AK 47 provide to the cartels by our own government. It is unknown how many Mexican citizens have been killed or wounded by these guns.

Justification for the original order to the ATF to sell the guns to organized Mexican criminals: "If you are going to make an omelet, you have to break some eggs." Except Mexican citizens and American border guards are neither eggs nor omelets.

The moral bankruptcy displayed by this decision making is breathtaking.

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

The Keltic wave breaks keen, and heavy.

As liquid rock,

Against real,

To feel

No comment needed.

The vast waste of money that is the UN finally exasperated the Brits so much that they cut off most of their funding for that institution. The adults are reasserting their authority.

The state of Utah is working closer to passing legislation making gold and silver a legitimate and lawful alternative currency.

Other states are preparing to follow suit. Ben Bernanke must be annoyed, but at least someone is trying to show the way.

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

Wow. What a ride this was. I also like the dog at the beginning that wanders onto the track and looks totally startled that this crazy biker was about to run him down. The guy should have score extra points for avoiding a furry collision.

I think this takes place somewhere in Chile.

I took a day off of work yesterday so a buddy and I could drive up to Tahoe to check on a cabin he has there. While in the area, we dropped down into Carson Valley for a little sightseeing. The storm that was causing snow in the Sierras seemed to dissipate on the peaks, leaving the Carson Valley in broken sunlight and relatively warm temperatures. I guess that was a clear illustration of the rain shadow effect.

The first picture below is a pasture with the eastern wall of the Sierras in the background. You can see the light dusting of snow on the ground while up in the mountains there is a storm raging. The distance of only a few miles makes a huge difference in the weather you would be experiencing.

Below is a view 180 degrees eastwards toward the Pine Nut Mountains, taken from the same spot as the above photo, displaying the really excellent sunny winter weather yesterday in the Carson Valley.

Up at Tahoe, only a few miles away, the story was a bit different. This is my friend's cabin, with about three feet of snow on the roof. Notice the hand hewn boards on the door.

This is the pack on the cabin from a bit further away. We didn't go inside because we would have had to shovel a lot of snow away from the door just to get it to open. This cabin was built in the early years of the last century by Swedish carpenters who hauled the logs to the site with horses. There isn't a single doorknob in the cabin, all the doors open by pulling on ropes that release a latch. Really old school, although there are the modern conveniences of running water, electricity and a flush toilet. It was a great way to spend a Wednesday.

At about age 7-8, this is about the most fun you can have if you are stuck inside. I know I spent hours at that age doing this on my parents furniture. In fact, I would probably still do this game if I thought my wife wouldn't call the sanitarium and have me committed.

Bjarki Mikkelsen posted this picture of the aurora borealis from Porjus, near Jokkmokk Sweden. Bjarki said that the green shine was so strong that the snow glowed almost as green as the sky. Amazing stuff.

From Poland, a really cool picture of the moon and Venus. Almost unreal.

A couple days ago I whipped up this shepherds bread in the dutch oven, and we finally finished off the last of it today. I think I'm going to do it again next weekend. The smell alone is worth the effort.