New Office Space has Natural Light!

Wow! I have a windowsill, so I bought a cactus plant and brought in some translucent pretties.

Not All Bears are Scary

I Finished my Canadian Rockies Web Album

Please check out this selection of the 200+ photos I took in Canada. Let me also take this opportunity to strongly recommend the film Bottle Shock, about the rise of the Napa Valley vintners in the 70s. It's hilarious.

I'm Back From Canada

This is a grizzly bear we saw on our Old Fort Point hike. The Park people say to keep 100 metres away from bears. When we saw this bear I wondered, "How far is 100 metres anyway?"

Stupid metric system.

When we drove in Calgary I noticed signs saying "Maximum 110," and I freaked until I realized they meant km/hr. We rented a Camry hybrid. At a gas station, one of the attendants asked about its "mileage." Yes, they use km/hr, but they don't use kilometreage.

Stupid metric system.

Vacation Photos..

..will be posted after I get back from Canada. In the meantime enjoy this one from Chuck 'n' Jerry.

Chuck Wanted to Know...

...how my garden was growing. Here you see the catnip plant I bought, and in the background you may notice green things sprouting. They may be the things I planted, or repeats from last summer. You should also note my new patio fence. Note that it is a hot day, nearly 90, and that it is supposed to be hotter and humider tomorrow. Then it will rain, and the slugs will come out. The cats are always bringing slugs inside, and then slime gets on the carpet.

I did a little more scanning today. I found out that the scanners at the Science Center computer lab were better than the one at Lamont.
My Dad was here on Monday-Tuesday, back from an African vacation. He took a ton of animal pictures and got a gruesome movie of lions killing an impala. He's supposed to post them someplace so I can look at them.
I am going to the Canadian Rockies the week after next.

OK, Here's the Teeth Shot

I invite my readers to see more old scanned pictures at my Picasa page. Unfortunately I didn't always record the date, place, or context of my photos, so if you know more than I have recorded, tell me.

This Shot Was My Idea

Obviously a Photoshop Forgery!

I Am so Arty

Here's a great picture I took of some stones in front of the Science Center. Then I used the liquify and paintbucket in Photoshop to modify it.

This Was Chuck's Idea

I'm on a scanning binge. I'm going to make a Picasa album of old photos. Watch this site for thrilling updates!

The Eutsler-Petree Residence is Plagued by Many Pests

Jackalope Spotted in CA

My Rambling Rosebush

This rosebush was there when I moved in, and it grows like a weed. But now my patio fence is slated to be replaced, so the rosebush will have to be cut way, way back. Fortunately, it produced blooms early, before the fencers come.

Artsy-Fartsy Photo Tale

P-Doobie's discussion of arty photography reminds me of an encounter I had several years ago in Harvard Square on a clear summer day. I was wandering about when I noticed a young woman photographing the street life. I could tell she was a serious photographer; she had a huge, protruding camera and she was dressed entirely in black. In this case, the black outfit signaled that she, like a stage hand, was (by convention) invisible, and could safely point her lens wherever she pleased. I passed through the main intersection and was waiting at a curb for the walk signal, when I happened to look to my right and see this artistic photographer's lens pointing straight at me. Startled and embarrassed I turned away. My skin tingled and blood heated up. A stranger had taken my picture! My initial excitement quickly cooled as I recalled the kind of pictures artistic photographers produced. They didn't photograph people who looked pretty; they photographed people who looked interesting. How did I look interesting? When I first saw her she was shooting tattoo-covered street musicians and punked-out kids. It haunts me to this day.

Goodbye Filene's

I went downtown with some buddies after work today, and look what greeted us: a smashed Filene's! Why couldn't they use the building for something else? I bought some shoes to console myself.

The Mysterians

In my youth I watched any kind of science fiction film or TV show. I saw The Mysterians on some Saturday in the late 60s or early 70s. Some bits from that flick stuck with me into my early fifties (i.e. now): the bird-headed robot with ray-gun eyes, the Mysterians' cool helmets and capes, the abduction of Earth women from hovering saucers. Recently, I noticed it had come out on DVD; I ordered it immediately. After 3 viewings I must say I am impressed with the beautiful Mysterian gadgetry and the splendid martial music accompanying the parade of tanks, planes, missiles, etc.
The version I got was dubbed, but when I listened to the original Japanese trailer, I realized that "Mysterian" was not the translation of some Japanese word. They actually call them "Mysterians," which must suggst the exotic, mysterious Occident.* The DVD cover supplies the uncredited quote "The Greatest Science Fiction Picture ever Conceived by the Mind of Man," which may be a bit inflated. Still, it's definitely worth at least a look at the trailer for the American release. I may have to have a Mysterian party.

*(The allure of the west still rules in modern Japan. Teenagers are keen to have their eyes embiggened.)

Love Thy Neighbor? Not This One!

This is James W. Lewis and his wife LeAnn. The couple lived in Chicago for a few months in 1981-2, after which they moved to New York. They were calling themselves Robert and Nancy Richardson, because James was wanted on Kansas City charges: bilking elderly people out of land and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Since LeAnn had been fired from her Chicago travel agency job for taking office stationery for personal use, James needed to take revenge on her ex-boss. The 1982 Tylenol poisonings gave him the means: he wrote a note to Johnson & Johnson (on the travel agency letterhead) demanding one million dollars to end the poisonings and signed it with the ex-boss's name. He asked that the money be transfered to an account belonging to said ex-boss. However, his clever plan backfired. Apparently he did not think to type the note or to disguise his handwriting. Police found his fingerprints on the letter and matched the handwriting. Since the couple were in New York when the Tylenol bottles must have been tampered with, James was only charged with extortion. After serving 13 years of his 20-year sentence he was released. He and his wife moved into a lovely building in Cambridge, MA, which happens to be one of the 2 buildings in my condo association. Luckily it wasn't my building. Still, it was pretty close.
Fast forward to July 29, 2004. Once again, Mr. Lewis is in trouble with the law. His partner in a consulting business claimed he had used spice spray on her and struggled with her for four hours before raping her. When the case finally came to trial, the accuser refused to testify against him and Lewis was released. Recently he's been giving interviews, bewailing his wrongs. Being suspected of the Tylenol killings caused him great anguish: "I can tell you it is a big weight to have thrown at you and it is nothing that your mother prepares you for and it is not something that you learn about in school" (see McCabe).
I don't suspect him of being the Tylenol poisoner. But I do call him the Tylenol man; writing that note earned him the name.

Bibliography:
McCabe, Neil W., "My Chat With the Tylenol Man" The Alewife, October 03, 2007
Bell, Rachel, "The Tylenol Terrorist: Looking for Answers" TruTV Crime Library
Hilts, Philip J. and Joyce Wadler, "Wanted on Extortion Charges; Tylenol Figure Arrested in New York" The Washington Post, December 14, 1982, Tuesday, Final Edition, First Section; A1
Roger Nicolsen Interview: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WH4iQzHdtIU&feature=related

John Malkovich Being John Malkovich

Overheard in a Harvard Square restaurant:

He: I saw John Malkovich today!
She: Where was he?
He: Just walking down the street!
She: Just walking down the street?
He: He was shopping!
He was shopping!

View From My Patio

Here you see the side of the old building next door. The bottom part houses Mayflower Poultry. Their sign says "Live Poultry, Fresh Killed." It sounds like a Zen koan. The tree on the right hides the grill behind which blows an industrial-strength fan, sending the scent of uncooked chicken outside. Sometimes the people on my side of the building have to call the city health dept. when the scent gets a bit too intense. A bunch of people, unconnected to the chicken trade, live in an apartment above. You can see two of their windows in the upper left. One of the occupants does commercial photography and makes big flashes that you think are lightening, until no thunder comes.