Monday, July 31, 2006

Score the ball


Stunning generosity, the 35 million dollar gift from Paul Tudor Jones. Serious seed money for the new John Paul Jones arena in Charlottesville. It is a fabulous facility. Admirable as well that young Jones chose to honor his dad with the naming request.
My only wish is that someday, there will be a UVA graduate who is similarly inspired by the Library.
That would be sweet. A state of the art library.
Score the ball indeed.

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Sunday, July 30, 2006

downstream from Monasukapanough


Rivanna River
For thousands of years the Monacans were widely dispersed over all of Piedmont and Mountain areas of Virginia. Towards the Late Woodland era, ca. AD 900 - 1700, a pretty strong emphasis of villages on the major rivers for access to transportation and trade and good agricultural soils. From the South Fork Dam east along the Rivanna there is abundant evidence of Monacan villages, as any local farmer or housing developer can tell you, all the way to juncture with the James. --J.L.Hantman

see also Th. Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia

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Saturday, July 29, 2006

technology


What information is in these wires? Why all the separate conductors? These lines characteristically found paralleling railroad tracks in earlier years.

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Friday, July 28, 2006

God's Poem Writer


God's Poem Writer, Harold Jerome Arnold

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Wednesday, July 26, 2006

cut-through


just beyond the Freightliner's right fender, damage from Sunday's hit and run

The first business of a City is to protect the health and safety of its residents.


I wonder if the Locust Grove neighborhood would be willing to loan us their sign for awhile?

More on the subject of cut-through traffic...

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Tuesday, July 25, 2006

the land game


My favorite thing about this picture are the tiny words below the plat of the new development:
"for illustrative purposes only, final site plan may vary."
True words, hear them!

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Sunday, July 23, 2006

day of rest


Sunday shattered when a truck impacts a Mill Village house.

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Saturday, July 22, 2006

Popillia japonica


Japanese beetles travel and feed in groups. A swarm of beetles have been known to strip a peach tree in 15 minutes, leaving behind only bare branches and the fruit pits (Encyclopedia Britannica Online).
Tooth and claw. I plant the trees, the J. beetles eat the leaves. Ah!
This new b&w predator does something to the beetle, don't think its a friendly hug. Whatever, predator is keeping the beetle-mouth off the leaves. Would be interested if anyone can supply caption info .

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Friday, July 21, 2006

appurtenances


downtown Charlottesville

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Thursday, July 20, 2006

Piraeus


view of Security Storage and Van Lines from across Moores Creek

This past Monday night Charlottesville City Council voted to deny a petition to upzone the backyard of Woolen Mills "Lot #1". The vote was unanimous and in agreement with the recommendation of the Charlottesville Planning Commission.

Woolen Mills Road background.

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Wednesday, July 19, 2006

God's Poem Writer


God's Poem Writer, Harold Jerome Arnold

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Tuesday, July 18, 2006

visible atmosphere 3



Makah Nation
, most northwest point of the lower 48.

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Monday, July 17, 2006

visible atmosphere 2


On the other end of the continental U.S., Shi Shi Beach, the Makah Nation, Neah Bay, Washington.

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Saturday, July 15, 2006

visible atmosphere


Town Creek, 7:00hrs, Slabtown, Virginia
The summer duotone, green and grey.

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Thursday, July 13, 2006

then and now


37 40.5 N 76 29.378 W standing on the shoulder of US Route 1, Interstate 95 visible to the west

March 18, 1958 the good people of Charlottesville voted in favor of the City issuing $500,000 worth of bonds to fund a new sewerage plant at Moore's Creek.

In 2006, for $500,000, a donor gets two folding chairs located on the court floor of UVA's John Paul Jones arena, opposite the team benches and along the baselines.

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Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Calderon or Obrador?


Could voting by the civic minded illegal expats make a difference?

For the first time, Mexico's presidential election was open to Mexican nationals and dual citizens living abroad... But only about 41,000, or 1 percent, of the estimated 4.2 million eligible Mexican voters living outside the country requested absentee ballots. Almost 88 percent of the 32,632 valid absentee ballots mailed to Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute were from the United States. -The Washington Post

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Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Corvus corax


Emory, E. is home
A wild raven was recorded living for 13 years and 4 months. Captive birds may live much longer, one captive individual was recorded to have lived 80 years and captives at the Tower of London in England live for 44 years or more.-UMMZ

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Monday, July 10, 2006

back back back


my thanks to Historian/photographer John Mason for finding this image in an old scrapbook and providing me with a reason to dive into 30 year old contact sheets, to find and scan...

Saul Bellow wins the Nobel Prize, Roots the #2 nonfiction book, Stevie Wonder awarded a Grammy for Songs in the Key of Life, Chairman Mao dies.

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Sunday, July 09, 2006

day of rest


Woolen Mills Union Chapel Sunday School, summer 1905

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Saturday, July 08, 2006

Sylvilagus floridanus


Eastern cottontails are solitary animals, and they tend to be intolerant of each other.

Age at sexual or reproductive maturity, 2 months
A mating pair performs an interesting ritual before copulation. This usually occurs after dark. The buck chases the doe until she eventually turns and faces him. She then spars at him with her forepaws. They crouch, facing each other, until one of the pair leaps about 2 feet in the air. This behavior is repeated by both animals before mating
Rabbits average three to four litters per year.

Vocalizations of the eastern cottontail include distress cries (to startle an enemy and warn others of danger), squeals (during copulation) and grunts (if predators approach a nesting doe and her litter). Eastern cottontails are short-lived; most do not survive beyond their third year. Females are larger than the males.- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

In America, people like rabbits. Disney propaganda? Thumper? They definitely thump a lot.
When moving this rabbit out of the road I wondered about contracting Tularemia.

Several precautions can protect individuals from tularemia.
? Avoid drinking, bathing, swimming or working in untreated water where infection may be common among wild animals.
? Use impervious gloves when skinning or handling animals, especially rabbits.
? Cook the meat of wild rabbits and rodents thoroughly.

Why is there concern about tularemia as a bioweapon?

Tularemia, in aerosol form, is considered a possible bioterrorist agent. Persons who inhale an infectious aerosol would likely experience severe respiratory illness. Any suspected cases of tularemia inhalation should be immediately reported to local and state health departments.- Illinois Department of Public Health

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Friday, July 07, 2006

God's Poem Writer


God's Poem Writer, Harold Jerome Arnold

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Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Calderon or Obrador?


Close to seventy people from all over the world sat in the sun in front of the nickel porch at Monticello yesterday and became citizens of the U.S. The level of their intention is impressive. They followed the law. After the ceremony they were able to register to vote.

Meanwhile, down in Mexico, the tally in the closest presidential election ever is being recounted. About 402,000 votes separate Felipe Calderon and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.


I am unfamiliar with Mexico's absentee balloting procedure. Did the citizens of Mexico here in the U.S. vote in the Mexican presidential election? Would it make a difference if they participated in politics at home instead of voting with their feet?

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Monday, July 03, 2006

report


Emma and Helen are in their 5th week at Quantico.

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Sunday, July 02, 2006

day of rest

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Saturday, July 01, 2006

pave paradise


With 800,000 acres of pavement, the Chesapeake Bay watershed is more funnel than filter in a rainstorm. Torrents of water have thrown the estuary's salt and freshwater mix off-kilter -- chasing out jellyfish, which love salty water, but stressing crabs and oysters, especially those farthest from the ocean. Washington Post


Impervious surfaces are any surface coverings that do not absorb water. These include roads, roofs, and parking lots. In urban environments, large areas are covered with impervious surfaces. As a result, water cannot infiltrate into the ground, and instead drains into storm sewer systems, and then creeks and rivers, much faster then it naturally would. This rapid drainage and increased quantity of runoff results in high peak flows in waterways, causing severe erosion of stream banks, scouring of stream beds, excessive sedimentation, and flooding. Sediment loading is recognized as one of the greatest threats to the Rivanna River and the Chesapeake Bay; sediment carries pollutants that have bonded to it into waterways, suspends in the water column and blocks sunlight from aiding in the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation, clogs the gills of fish (sometimes suffocating them) and eventually destroys aquatic habitat in streambeds when it settles. Impervious cover also prevents stormwater from infiltrating into the ground and recharging the groundwater supply. This leads to small creeks and streams drying up during prolonged periods of dry weather, contributing to drought conditions.-City of Charlottesville

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