Monday, April 12, 2010

Tomorrow Bear



Dancing bear by day, crime-fighting scientist by night!
Thanks to takineko and Maz for the awesome artwork and color as I finish up the text and prepare to re-pitch this re-tooled idea. If I'd had any art this good the first time around we'd all be living large.

Black Water at Devil's Gate

The dam you see here is Devil's Gate Reservoir. Team in Training usually staffs an aid station atop the structure for longer runs up the Hahamonga Watershed, past Jet Propulsion Labs and up into the Angeles National Forest. This video shows the run-off power of January's storms, black with ash and dirt from the fire-swept areas. Running trails are off-camera but parallel to the flow. The last footage in Brookside Park is near the start point for many TNT runs. Fire and El Nino rains equal instant landscaping.

Via PhotoBoost

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Go Ask Alice in Wonderland

My wife and I saw Alice in Wonderland yesterday, keeping alive our streak of only seeing films that have "aged" a few months. Pleasant and entertaining. I remember little from the original Disney version and barely anything from the books. My only quibble would be Alice's closing "mad" idea of opening markets in China. As the film was set in the Victorian era, China was already colonized by Western powers. In fact, the country was on the brink of erupting in anti-foreigner violence known as The Boxer Rebellion. Perhaps the sequel can draw on proper history, as Alice enrages the Dowanger Empress with her pert forthrightness, causing boxer Chinese to attack the Hatter and lop him to bits in a frenzy of patriotic zeal.

Or maybe more cute stuff with Tweedle dum and Tweedle dee.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Biopsy Results

Biopsy results indicated skin cancer; something called basal squamous - which sounds like the name of a cheap carnival owner. Apparently, there is danger of metastasizing so I have an operation scheduled for Thursday, April 15. This will result in an even bigger bandage on my nose. But the doc seemed positive he could snip out all the bad cells which makes me positive. (If he sobbed and apologized over the phone, I'd feel different.)

This morning I did my walk starting in pre-dawn gloom. As I now have a 40% chance of reacquiring skin cancer, I must temper my interactions with the sun. Considering how I almost blew off meeting the dermatologist, I'm feeling rather grateful today.

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