Effluence of the Mind

Playing Chess With Missiles

2008-04-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

How quickly we forget. We must remember the Russians are good chess players. Years ago during the "Cold War" the USA put Jupiter C missiles in Turkey. Naturally the Soviets didn't think that was a friendly gesture. So, being great chess players the USSR put missiles in Cuba and said "CHECK!! "

The USA got all excited about the missiles in Cuba but did not inform the American public that we had missiles in Turkey. The entire Stratigic Air Command loaded nuclear weapons and was on the ready before President Kennedy made his public speach announcing the USSR missiles being in Cuba.

The American public was lead to believe the USSR backed down and removed their missiles.
NOT TRUE!! The USA and the USSR made an agreement. The USA would remove its missiles from Turkey and the USSR would remove theirs from Cuba.

Now the USA is about to start a similar situation. Will we wise up and save the world, or will we see Doom's Day?

The USA is going to put "defensive" missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia doesn't think this is a friendly move. What will Russia do before they say "CHECK" next time?

Good Bye Pus Pus

2008-04-04T16:04:00.000-07:00

Puss Puss was found in a rental truck. It was her cries that attracted attention. A Manx cat with an interesting face lived for twenty years. One day her mistress was going on a trip. Puss Puss climbed into the suitcase and settled down as to say "I'm going too." One day a chill wind blew and Puss Puss was taken away taking a piece of our hearts with her.

Two of Puss Puss's residential friends miss her: Thai and Pussy Cat.

Watercolor Painting

2008-04-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

Being an old man there is not much I can do in the way of high energy activity so I have settled down to passing my time painting watercolors /sumi-e. I have traved the globe extensively so have many images stored in my mind I draw on these mental images often to paint.

Li River, China

2008-03-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

The karst topography of the Li River Valley in the Guilin area of China is one of the most scenic areas of the world. This watercolor is a mythical painting from my mind.

The mountains of this area remind me of French bread standing on end.

Walla Walla Branch of the Oregon Trail

2008-03-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

Back in the days when covered wagons rolled to the West a portion of them took a little route north passing through the present Walla Walla area. Here are two paintings of two landmarks along that trail.

Yes, someone keeps pink or red paint on the nipple!

Chinese Brush Painting

2008-03-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

Having lived in Japan for more than four years and having visited several other Asian countries I have become enamored with Asian art. I am a member of the Sumi-e Society of America. Here are some recent sumi-e paintings.

A Great Experience

2008-03-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

Some years ago while I was in my work area in the Division of Invertebrate Paleontology in the Natural History Building of the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution I was working with some fossil echinoids when a stranger came into my room. He intrduced himself as Louis Leakey and asked if he could visit with me for awhile. I offered him a chair and said I would be happy to visit with him.

I must say I was very startled to realize I was to have a one-on-one visit with this renowned anthropologist. After exchanging small talk for a few minutes I learned why Dr. Leakey had come to the Division of Invertibrate Paleontology instead of going to the Department of Anthropology. Dr. Leakey was not looking for someone to discuss fossil hominids, but rather to show a very unusual invertebrate fossil he found.

Reaching into his pocket and slowly withdrawing his closed fist he reached toward me and slowly opened his hand. I was amazed at the sight of a fossil rare indeed. It was a silicon dioxide perfect caterpillar without hair. A caterpillar is an animal composed of entirely soft parts. It is vary rare for such animals to be preserved as fossils especilly as three dimensional specimens. The Cambrian Burgess Shale contains soft body fossils but they are just a thin film on the rock.

I speculate this caterpillar must have been trapped in a mud deposit that turned to rock. As ground water slowly removed the organic material silicon dioxide gradually filled the cavity left by the caterpillar. After the erosion of the rock the caterpillar lay on the ground and Dr. Leakey found it. Even the little ambulatory appendages were visible on the abdominal surface.

Dr. Leakey and I sat for about an hour discussing fossils before he decided he had to leave.

Meteor: 5:30 AM 2/19/08

2008-03-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

At 5:30 AM 2/19/08 there was a loud sonic boom and a bright flash over Walla Walla, Washington, USA. A meteor had passed over town and exploded. I painted this little watercolor for a memory

Sumi-e painting

2008-03-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

I've lived in Japan for a little over four years. I've also visited India, Thailand (several times), the Philippians and Korea. I like Asian painting styles. especially sumi-e. This painting is a fifteen minute memory of Asia.

2008-03-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Internal Respiration and Antioxidants

2008-03-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

We inhale air but it is the oxygen in the air that the body requires for internal respiration of the body cells. Where does the oxygen in the air come from? It comes from the photosynthesis activity of chlorophyll in plants. How does the oxygen in the air we inhale get to the cells in our body? From our lungs it passes into the circulatory system and attaches to the hemoglobin molecules in the red blood cells. Capillaries, very narrow blood vessels, pass close to the cells and and allow the oxygen to be released from the hemoglobin and pass through tissue and into the body cells.

There has been a very widespread effort in the past several years to encourage people to eat and drink foods containing antioxidants for the health benefit they provide. An example is the drive encouraging people to drink green tea. Supposedly this is to prevent the oxidation of the electrolytes in the blood.

Something to think about: If we ingest a high number of antioxidants do we inhibit internal respiration by reducing the oxidation of carbon in our cells? It is this oxidation of carbon that provides energy for our body. It is a flameless process similar to burning coal or oil to get heat energy. Within the cells the oxidation of carbon forms carbondioxide creating energy. The carbondioxide is carried by the blood to our lungs to be exhaled.

How much is too much antioxidant? Could a person ingest enough antioxidants to interfere with internal respiration and experience suffocation?

The Profoundness of Now

2008-03-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

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This point in time is not the same as now. This point in time is fleeting and is locked to a specific time which passes very rapidly into the past.
Time, events, thoughts, and actions are impermanent. They flow from the present into the past.
Now is assumed to be fleeting, but it is not; it is continuous.
Now appears to flow in the opposite direction of time, events, thoughts, and actions.
Now never advances into the future or lags into the past. You are always in now.
Now is permanent and eternal. Everything that is real only exists now. The future is a fantasy. The past is a memory.

Impermanent

2008-03-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Understanding that everything is subject to change and therefore impermanent one wonders why start a blog. How long will it last?

I'm an old man of 86 years, have had a full life of happiness, sorrow, fear, and joy. I'm retired from the USAF and a veteran of WWII and the Korean war. After retiring from the Air Force I was employed by the Smithsonian Institution as an echinoderm specialist.

In my dwindling days of existence I enjoy watercolor painting and writing short articles. I'll be posting some thoughts and watercolors on this blog.