Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Echidna Media Organization project S.N.A.L.'s LiveJournal:

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Thursday, December 24th, 2009
1:09 pm	Christmas List 2009    Christmas always sneaks up on me and suddenly I have to dredge the depths of my mind for some material thing I actually want. Last year I couldn't come up with anything and just asked for donations to be made in support of the San Diego harbour seal rookery (which some people want to turn (back) into a children's beach).    Well this year I've come up with something that wouldn't even cost you money. You see, being a pirate isn't as easy as it used to be back in those easy early days of internet buccaneership. I've tried this whole bittorrent thing but don't seem to have much luck, and nothing's on limewire anymore. As such, there are a number of songs I would really like to have on my computer but I simply can't find them .. at least not for free, and I refuse to support the RIAA on principal.    So if you have skillz at finding songs on the internet, if you could find me the following buried treasure for christmas I would very greatly appreciate it. ( Songs I Can't Find ) Books    Not that I expect any of you to go out and get me something real but if only as a note to self here are some notes on books I think sound interesting: Patrick O'brian's historical fiction about the royal navy during the napoleonic wars Walter Scott's Rob Roy or Waverley (historical fiction set during 18th century Scottish rebellions) Hail, Colombia! - I forget who wrote it but it's about the actual Lady Washington. I got to page 238 reading it during the brief moments I wasn't doing something else on the boat, would rather like to finish. George Leonardos' historical fiction about the end of the Byzantine Empire Dark North by Gillian Bradshaw, set in Roman Britian in 208 AD And.. any other historical fiction set during times of political turmoil in the premodern history of Europe. Suggestions welcome. Unrelated Picture of the Day View from the deck of the Lady Washington at 02:49 in Aberdeen The Best of LJ Idol Season 6?    Having been gone almost the entirety of the season thus far, I haven't really gotten to read any entries other than those of my closest friends. I'd be interested in hearing about any particularly good entries I may have missed. Current Music: Clem Snide - I Love the Unknown (19 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
1:31 pm	A Trip to the Shorehead    After morning chores every morning (every morning the entire boat gets cleaned, the deck washed (except when it's below freezing), the brass polished, and the heads cleaned) there's a little lull around 4 bells 10am when you've finished your chore but not started a maintenance project, and some people are still working on their chores. If the remaining chores aren't something one can easily jump in and help them finish (like polishing the brass, plenty to go around without getting in anyone's way), I like to use this opportunity to make my visit to the shore head.    This usually entailed a nice refreshing walk through crisp morning air for a few hundred yards, at the end of which awaits a gloriously warm and spacious head "restroom" (We always forget they call them restrooms on land, much to the confusion of staff at restaurants and bars when we mistakenly ask for the shorehead). This walk also provides a good opportunity to call one's mother, but I usually wait until the trip back to do that, so I'll, you know, have less on my mind.    In Aberdeen the nearest shorehead happened to be in the gigantic nearby Walmart. Some shipmates were reluctant to go in there at all, as if it was a unholy cursed place the filth of which they would never be able to cleanse themselves of. Others wisely observed "I'd gladly shit on in walmart!"    The first time I made the quest for the porcelain alter into Walmart my first shock was how very many people were in there. I hadn't seen that many people altogether --much less in one place-- since I joined the boat three weeks ago! And the people were so.. strange! If you're not familiar with what "people you find in walmart" look like, turn to bad daytime reality court shows and tabloid talk shows (ie Jerry Springer). If you have the good fortune of having no knowledge of this just picture someone who seems to be only culturally attuned to the most obnoxious and wretched trends of modern society.    Meanwhile of course I probably looked to them like I'd just fallen off a 19th century boat (well they'd be wrong, it was an 18th century boat!). To wit:    Daisy later went over there dressed more the correct century* (18th that is) -- (though she was on an official mission to try to drum up people for tours. Not surprisingly, "Wal-mart people" weren't terribly interested. We probably could have sailed in on Colombus' original vessel and they'd have preferred to attend the party at Jack in the Box)    As I entered the Walmart restroom itself, the faucets trumpeted a greeting of sprayed water as I walked past. Entering the bathroom stall, the toilet flushed indulgently. Then it did so again as I tried to put the wax seat cover on, devouring it.    After I finished my business I looked for the flush lever but of course there was none. I walked away from it.. nothing. I walk back to it and wave my hand in front of the little motion sensor, nothing. I do a little jig, still nothing. Okay I didn't do a jig but I moved around a bit.    I have a strong sense of civic responsibility. This includes both the belief that one should educate oneself about and vote in local elections ... and also that one should flush toilets when one leaves. However, in frustration I'm contemplating just leaving it unflushed, when I see a little button next to the sensor.    The sink greets me with an enthusiastic spray. I put my hands under it and it obligingly sprays my hands with water ... for about five seconds. A little waving and it goes long enough for me to get the other half of my right hand wet. Mildly inconvenient but in about four spurts I'm able to get my hands entirely wet and move on to the soap dispenser, which thankfully is actually manually operated (how quaint!).    With hands now covered in soap I place them under the faucet. Nothing. I wave them in front of the faucet. Nothing. I walk away and come back. Nothing. I give it a "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" look. More waving, more pretending to arrive and place my hands under it, nothing at all. I look for a manual override button like on the toilet but there's none to be found. I'm stuck with hands covered in soap!    Then I remember there's a drinking fountain outside the restroom. I go out there and wash my hands off, giving a passing employee a dirty look. * but the above picture isn't me dressed in period attire, that's just how I dress ;D See Also: Using a restroom in Cairo (AKA "the price you pay for that human touch") Current Music: ATB - 9pm (42 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
11:43 am	The Journey Home    My journey home began around 10am on Sunday, at which point I disembarked the ship for the last time, while on deck my erstwhile shipmates sang out the ship's traditional (and rather vulgar!) farewell song.    First stop was the lobby of the nearby hotel to pillage their intertrons and try to make sense of the bus schedules. At this point I was able to read the advice misalady and wildcelticrose had left me about the local buses (very appreciative thanks!!)    Now it so happened that the girl working in the hotel lobby was possibly the most attractive girl I'd seen in three weeks, and she kept smiling at me! Gratuitously starting conversations with cute girls isn't normally my style but she seemed to be veritably asking for it, so on one of the occasions when she floated past me smilingly, I commenced the chattorizing. When it came time for me to head off to the bus stop I went up to the desk and informed her "I have two questions: (1) how do you get to the transit station from here?" and after she had answered that "(2) next time I'm in town would you like to hang out?"    She said that would be awesome (or something) and now I have her number. Notwithstanding I don't know when I'll ever be in Aberdeen again but hey. False Start    Then hurried off to find the bus stop but apparently I was one street off and traveled several blocks in the wrong direction before I asked someone and turned back around. Consequently I just barely missed the 11:30 bus. Next (and only other) bus in my direction wouldn't be until 15:30. Asked someone at the transit station if there was a coffee shop or something I could wait around in. They laughed heartily and exclaimed "You're not from around here are ya!!! Coffee shop?! HERE!? This is Aberdeen!!!"    Felt a bit awkward about returning back to the hotel and lingering there all day but didn't really have a lot of other options. Felt awkward to return to the boat after already having said goodbye to everyone, and anyway there wasn't any interwebs on the boat.    So I malingered in the hotel lobby most of the day. Cute Girl didn't seem to mind though. My last view of the ship as I walk away ): Take II    Returned to the transit station. A short walk through light rain during which I was creeped out by the vagrant who looked like he could be a crazy ax murderer who (happened to be?) following me most of the way. Stopped in at Jack in the Box to get a bite before hitting the road but it was closed for a private party (!)    My bus arrived but it hadn't occured to me that I would need exact change. All I had to my name was a $20 bill, and $1.05 in change. Bus driver was utterly unsympathetic. Asked if the station office could make change and he grunted an impatient "yes." I run over there and am told an impatient "no." Run back to the bus and try to urge him to accept $1.05 but he is utterly not having it. Am I going to seriously miss my bus because I don't have fifty cents?!?!    Finally a passerby pipes in "I have fifty cents would that help?" !!! I very very gratefully accept the change and board the bus.    Upon leaving Abderdeen it occurs to me: the town itself isn't so bad, I mean, the physical town, but what makes it such a despised place is surely the people. Nearly everyone I've seen anywhere in town looks like people who love to shop at Wal-mart and are liable to turn up on the Jerry Springer show. People who throw parties in Jack in the Box. Guys who are overweight and wear stupid looking backwards baseball caps of a hip-hop style, girls who are also overweight and wear sagging pants and chew gum loudly.    Wikipedia has this to say about Aberdeen: "By 1900, Aberdeen was considered one of the grittiest towns on the West Coast, with many saloons, whorehouses, and gambling establishments populating the area. Aberdeen was nicknamed "The Hellhole of the Pacific", or "The Port of Missing Men", because of its high murder rate." (And 100 years later it's not much better!)    Anyway, at one point the bus driver brings the bus to a screaching halt and makes the door towards the back open. "Get out or spit it out!" he angrily commands. I look back confused, to see one of the backwards-baseball-cap youths lazily haul himself to the door and spit his gum onto the pavement, mumbling some kind of impertinent excuse. The guy next to me is talking my ear off about fishing in the Bering Sea, and pauses only long enough to point out the Lady Washington as we pass. Olympia!    Pull into Olympia around five, greatly relieved to be somewhere that is by all accounts much much more cultured than Aberdeen. I have a two hour layover until the next bus towards Seattle. I'll still have to change buses at either the Tacoma Mall or "Sr 512 Park and Ride" (whereever the hell that is!), and am I bit concerned the buses will have stopped running or something by the time I get there. This whole thing feels a bit precarious.    Walking down the street things do indeed seem a lot more civilized, with shops of all different types still open. Shortly I pass The Spar, a bar/restaurant I immediately recall having heard some of my shipmates talk about. Specifically they were complaining about how it had been McMinimized -- bought by a company called McMinimins that buys a lot of famous old bars and things .. but hey it preserves them more or less how they were and otherwise they'd probably just fold, so McMinimins is fine by me.    It was still raining outside and I was sitting in this beautiful old bar/restaurant eating a delicious grilled sandwich, drinking their delicious stout, and they were playing Shout Out Louds - Very Loud over their sound system, a song I rather like. Coupled with that I was hundreds of miles from anything I am familiar with (save the boat but you know what I mean) and on this complicated journey.. I decided it was a very awesome moment.    Got on the 19:00 number 620 bus and asked if taking this bus to Tacoma Mall was the best way to get to Seattle, she said I should take it to the SR512, which is what Sage had said, so I felt relieved I was on the right track. Rest of bus ride, including changeover at the SR512 to the 594 bus was uneventful. Christmas in Seattle!    Janelle and her friend/neighbour Lane (or something) picked me up from the bus stop when I got there around 21:20. Back at her place her friends Nicole and Nick, whom I'd met on more than one occasion in So Cal, were hanging out. Apparently they'd all been gathered to help decorate the Christmas Tree, so suddenly I was surrounded by friends in a cosey christmas-decorated little apartment. Quite the setting change from a day of riding buses and surviving the wilds of Methlaberdeen. Monday    Monday morning I head out from Janelle's around 08:50, head down the street a few blocks to Victrola Coffee. Victrola is a very good coffee roastery and I recommend it for your coffee needs in Seattle. Got a coffee there, having gone the previous three weeks without any caffiene -- hey I needed to get something so I could plunder their wifi and why miss out on an opportunity to have some truly good coffee? Looked up how to get to the airport (light rail service had apparently only opened up days before, and there was a station three blocks away!) and was off to the rail station.    Rail to the Seatac airport. Was annoyed to find that half the seats by my gate were taken but the other half all had the first half's bags in them, while meanwhile a fair number of people were stuck standing. How rude! And then southwest has you stand in line according to the number on your boarding pass, but glancing at the numbers of the people near me they were all standing several numbers ahead of where they should have been. Jackasses.    Flight to Oakland, flight from there to the Orange County airport on a half full flight (why would no one be traveling at this day/time??), mum picked me up at the airport (around 15:00) and finally, after more than 24 hours in various modes of transportation I was back home! (26 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 19th, 2009
10:06 pm	Busses! ):    I hate trying to figure out bus schedules. Especially when I have to traverse an area I'm not familiar with and change between different bus lines.    I've gathered I need to take the Gray's Harbor Transit "route 40" bus to Olympia, but even knowing that their schedule is confusing to me. They use 12 hour time without notation of AM or PM, though one can figure it out through what's reasonable compared to the other times on it, but then the 10pm departure from Aberdeen has no listed arrival at Olympia.. does that mean that that departure and only that departure does not arrive in Olympia at all?    As to the next leg, Sage told me to take the 601 or 602 to the 5SR12 Park and Ride and then the 590 or 594 to downtown Seattle, but even knowing this fairly specific information I can't seem to coax a schedule out of Sound Transportation, whom I believe is the carrier for that.    If anyone is familiar with Washington public transit or just has a magic touch with understanding the behaviour of buses, assistance would be appreciated d: (13 Comments |Comment on this)
8:45 pm	LJ Idol - Zombies II    Daniel placed the last cinderblock in the wall snugly and stepped back to survey what had been accomplished. All ground-level entrance had been solidly sealed with cinderblocks and mortar. "Let's see the zombies get through THAT!" he thought happily.    With just a little warning, secure protection against a zombie outbreak seemed shockingly easy. Bricks and mortar are not hard to come by, and zombies aren't exactly super-man. Combine this with a complete lack of problem-solving abilities and it's really no problem.    At the first news of the spreading zombie outbreak Daniel had taken his family and joined several others to hole up in the local Wal-Mart. With only a few entrances to begin with and just about everything you could dream of already stockpiled on the inside, it was the obvious choice. It had taken very little time to procure bricks and mortar to make the remaining entrances into solid walls themselves. Those inside would be able to get in and out should they find the need simply by accessing the roof and lowering ladders to get down. They would probably even find or make a rope ladder for easier raising/lowering of the entrance.    Daniel ascended to the roof to survey the situation in the surrounding area. Distant sirens could be heard wailing in several directions, but more immediately there was a constant blare of horns due to the jammed traffic on nearby roads. The occasional pedestrian would run by on foot in a mad panic.    Ladders would be lowered to fleeing refugees down below who weren't in so much of a panic that they didn't notice those waving from the roof of Wal-mart. As time went on and more people gave up on the snarled automobile traffic, foot traffic increased. Presently an argument arose among those on the roof about "how many people can we rescue? we can't save them all, we'll starve!" Tempers rose as those who couldn't dream of leaving people to fend for themselves below got in shouting matches with those who feared they'd be overrun with refugees.    "What if one of them is infected??" asked someone's wife with a gasp. There was a moment of silent contemplation and then the "save everyone" contingent silently relented and the ladders were drawn up for the last time.    The flood of refugees steadily increased to a veritable torrent. One by one those on the roof retreated back down into the store to avoid the pleading eyes of those they would not save. Daniel and the last few were about to go below when another man held up his hand "wait!" he said with an uncomfortable look on his face, "someone should stay up here"    "Why?" another man asked    "What if... they throw a ladder up on the side or something? Someone should, you know, be up here" he said, squirming a bit. It was clear who "they" was and it wasn't the zombies.    Daniel gratefully avoided ladder tipping duty and hastily retreated down below to check on his wife and kids.    Initially they had all dreaded the time when they'd hear the moaning of zombies surrounding their fortress, but something they weren't prepared for haunted them first. Cries of "Let us in!" and "please help us!" could be heard through the walls and drove the families as far from the walls as they could get. They all huddled in the shoe aisle near the centre of the store.    People took turns patrolling the walls making sure the newly erected walls were holding up. People were clearly banging on them on the far side. There had been no shortage of man-power and materials though so they'd been made several feet thick.    The sturdiness of the walls didn't stop the horrifying psychological impact though of the cries for help and fruitless banging on the walls. It sounded like there was quite the multitude out there now. Daniel tried not to even think about what it must be like having duty on the roof.    Suddenly there was an incredible crash and the wall in front of Daniel exploded into dust and shards of concrete. Daniel dove behind a shelf of cheap plastic trinkets to dodge the shrapnel. When he jumped to his feet in disbelief to see what could possibly have happened he beheld frantic mobs of terrified people streaming into the store from the gaping hole that had just been made by someone driving a truck through the wall.    As a lifeguard in high school I was taught that someone who thinks they are going to die will do absolutely anything to save themself, not the least of which would be to pull their would-be-rescuer to their death. I experienced this first-hand on several occasions when my rescue tube slipped from my arms or for whatever other reason failed to be between myself and my rescuee. They look at you with this look of terror in their eyes that you'll never forget, lunge at you like a waterborne zombie, and shove downwards on you with all their might.    In such cases I'd just go underwater and aim to re-emerge on the correct side of the rescue float, but one might not always have that option.    In contemplating the coming zombie apocalypse, as I'm fond of doing, it occured to me one day that really, zombies ARE very easy to avoid. Disappointingly easy in fact. Build something strong enough that one can't destroy it with their hands alone that takes at least an iota of brainpower to get around. BUT, fleeing refugees, that's another story entirely.    These frantic masses would be driven before the actual front line of the zombie outbreak like a shockwave of destruction, desperately overrunning anything defensible. Aside from their overwhelming numbers, add to the equation that they might be infected and thus liable to turn, and like a spark starting a wildfire, bring the infestation into the defended area. They would sow more destruction than the zombies themselves, and once entrenched defenders realized this, may actually be met with as much gunfire as the zombies themselves.    And thus, in the Coming Zombie Apocalypse the hordes of refugees will be looked upon as utter pariahs. (Part of a continuing series on the upcoming zombie apocalypse) (27 Comments |Comment on this)
7:59 pm	Final Destination    So we're standing on a dilapidated dock in the dilapidated town of Aberdeen (nicknamed by those who know it as "Methlaberdeen"), lugging debris around for reasons which aren't entirely clear to me.    "There used to be a building here didn't there?" says someone, observing that the outline of a building foundation can be seen on the solid part of the dock.    "Yes, the Lady Washington was built right here" says The Captain. We all look around. Trash floats slowly down the river. A freight train rumbles by in the opposite direction. Behind us a Wal Mart dominates the landscape. On the fourth side, the beautiful Lady Washington floats like an island of beauty amid a droll crappy landscape. It all began HERE?    In googling public transit options just now I came across the following quote from an article that otherwise paints an idyllic picture of the REST of the Northwest: "In the hopeless town of Aberdeen, Washington, where the downtown seemed to have completely given up and moved to California, I sped past a muffler shop advertising a concrete statue of local son Kurt Cobain, who got out of town as quickly as he could. I could have gotten off and checked it out for an hour, but I decided to follow the rock star's lead and stay on the road." (I still like this place better than say anywhere in Southern California though)    Shortly after arrival, several of us had been belowdecks watching Zombieland while sewing canvas, when a call came down for all hands to report to the dock. There we found that we were to help move a dilapidated rowboat from the dock to the shore. In order to do this without it sinking (it looked likely to) most of the crew went to the shore and a line was run from the boat to the shore. We all pulled it to shore as fast as we could (got it going pretty fast actually), and proceeded to pull it up an embankment, across a parking lot, and into the foundation of the former buildings.    Wednesday night a bunch of the us ended up playing Apples to Apples for several hours. Hilarity, of course, ensued. "Lady Washington" and "Our Captain" were written on blank cards (the latter got used for the word "Pure," much to everyone's amusement)    Thursday evening a bunch of us sat around in the hold practicing knots or teaching / learning knots. You know, typical sailor activities. Then we all sat around Daisy and she read Pippi Longstockings to us. Just typical sailor activities (:    Yesterday it dawned on me that since Sage was leaving a day before me (today), I would actually get to move into the forecastle ... for about 24 hours!    This morning moments after Sage had departed, down the ramp comes a new new-old crewmember, who apparently will be boatsitting the boat over winter break. I had sudden flashbacks to Jesse's arrival the day Daniel left and snatching up that bunk! ...fortunately she moved into the aft cabin, leaving me to move in to Sage's now-vacant bunk. Welcome to Aberdeen, Washington    Tomorrow (Sunday) I depart the boat. Public transit my way to Seattle, crash at my friend Janelle's place that evening and catch a flight back to Southern California Monday morning.    In the mean time though I've got to hammer out some kind of LJ Idol entry on "reprobate" this evening when I SHOULD be spending one last evening with my crew. d: (17 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
10:06 pm	Photos of the Day Me with Kendrick the wasp, whom we had found trying to get warm in the fridge Trying to warm Kendrick up. / giving the poor girl a terrible fright that she's going to be eaten ;)    In ironic news, while writing yesterday's LJ Idol entry about feeling like part of the crew and how nice it was to go to that couple's house .. I apparently missed out on joining the group that went there that night. Oops.    But on the plus side I'm there right now (Saturday night). They're really the nicest people ever. They welcome us salty sailors into their living room and chat with us all evening while bringing out hot chocolate and cheesecake! (Today only myself and i_id are here)    Monday morning at 04:00am we are leaving Astoria to head through "The Graveyard of the Pacific" to Westport up north. It's supposed to be at least a 20 hour transit but rough conditions can apparently make it much more. We've reviewed emergency procedures, counted lifejackets, practiced putting on immersion suits, and the captain has ordered plenty of barfbags to be prepared (the entire crew has been on the Colombia River for months now so rough seas will be a new thing for many of them). "Crossing the bar" to get out of the Colombia River is notoriously dangerous and according to wiki, "Since 1792, approximately 2,000 large ships have sunk in and around the Columbia Bar."    Additionally, for the transit we'll be breaking into "4 on 4 off" watches (whereas heretofore we've been more or less all working 08:00-17:00 and then all off*) * though even when everyone is sleeping people still wake up to check the mooring lines every so often throughout the night at this dock. (18 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
9:02 pm	One Touch Bonus Entry    I still don't know what I'm going to write for this week's LJ Idol topic (it is "One Touch" -- is he TRYING to make us write sappy "touching" entries now?), but here's a sort of bonus item on the topic.    It is a song, not written or performed by myself, but it's about the boat I'm currently on (the current one, not the original this one is a replica of), and the time it received "one touch" from a railway bridge. I don't know the actual name of the song but its by some fellow named William Pine (and its a true story). William Pine - Lady Washington and the Railway Bridge In other news    Today I'm up on deck helping re-rig our new spritzel yard (recall the old one got smashed on the devil dock) when suddenly there's a clamour from the main hold and someone emerges "Kris, KRIS! We need you down here!!"    Being as I'm hardly the expert on anything onboard the ship I'm a bit confused as to why I personally am needed urgently down in the old. I'm ushered down to our refridgerator, where I find they have found a big fat Vespula germanica crawling about. A wasp in the refridgerator! Probably because it was the warmest place on the boat ;)    I of course gently put my finger in front of her and she climbs aboard. We decide to name her Kendrick after one of the original captains of the Lady Washington (who was known for his stinging temper). Fifteen minutes of later I'm sitting down to lunch, with her still on my hand, when she finally feels warm enough to take flight and flutter out the open hatch. Picture of the Day Daisy reattaching rigging to the new sprits'l yard Note that she's holding on with two hands and holding a rope in her mouth. She's hard core like that. (21 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
10:18 pm	A Day in the Life    So last night I'm sitting at the local tavern with my captain, bosun, cook, and three other shipmates, drinking pitchers of Broken Halo IPA, when three vikings walk in. It's crewmembers from the research vessel moored beside us (wearing plastic viking helmets)!    They come hang out with us and we all drink and pretty much everyone but me sang karaoke (the vikings even found some ridiculous song about vikings). The Portway Tavern closed at midnight so we all piled in a cab to find another bar. After finding two more that were closed already (and this is Saturday night!) we found one that was relatively happening. By now I was wearing one of the viking helmets myself.    My shipmate Garret kept disappearing and coming back with a piece of hot fresh bacon, which we would eagerly fight over. It was a mystery how he was getting this, but as to where, it turns out the front part of the bar is actually a diner. When the bar finally closed our appetites had been so whetted by the bacon we had to sit down to some delicious diner breakfast foods (most of us got biscuits and gravy .. it was only $3.50!)    I wake up this morning after only four hours of sleep, and not at all hungry for breakfast (number two). Being as I gave up caffiene a few days ago, and if I don't eat now I might be starving by lunchtime, it's looking to be a long day.    As it would happen, today turned out to be a totally freezing day. I'm wearing the sweater I thought was warm enough for anything, over a long sleeved shirt and a t-shirt, and with my peacoat and scarf over it, and STILL too cold. I need to find a way to work another layer in.    I survived till lunch but lunch was interrupted twice by calls of "ALL HANDS TO MOORING LINES!!" as the diabolical pier we're moored to worked its pilings between our fenderboards again. Our spritsail yard (the yard arm off the bowsprit) had broken when we were initially pulling up to this pier, and today the chainplate broke -- masts are held steady by fixed lines going down from them in all four directions, to the port and starboard these lines are the shrouds (which are also used for climbing aloft), and they are anchored to the boat through the chainplate, so that thing being broken is very bad.    I think our daily sail may have already been cancelled previous to this mishap, but that really torpedoed things.    The day we arrived here in Astoria the chief "elected chairman of the tribal council" of the Chinook tribe came aboard and officially welcomed us to Chinook territory, and led us in a ritual cleansing of the boat with cedar boughs. This was done by brushing everything with the boughs that one wished to cleanse. People even took them to the tops of the masts ... but clearly no one thought to visit the chainplate with them. Some Pictures Sage & Beth (i_id) Yes we go out in public dressed like that. jk they hadn't had time to change before our impromptu fieldtrip to Englund Marine. Not that I don't usually look like I'm stuck in the 18th century anyway ;D (to change into our "funnies" or period attire for tours really all I need to do is change my pants)    Here's some crewmembers showing off the booty foul-weather-gear they bought when we made the abovementioned store run.    And here's the ship's-dog, Tiller, sitting on crewmember Ivan as he tries to catch a few minutes of shut eye today (he was among those of us who only got four hours of sleep the night before). The other day while the captain (her owner) was up on deck late talking with Ivan and Garret, Tiller came down and climbed into my sleeping bag with me. It was cute.. and added much appreciated warmth! See Also: Regular updates on twitter Pictures I just put up on my old photobucket account and pictures on flickr (no new ones today (yet) but I had posted some the other day) An excellent entry by I_id posted today, also about our latest happenings! (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 4th, 2009
10:05 pm	LJ Idol - On Waking Up in a Boat    I wake up in my sleeping bag on my bunk. I can see my breath, and beyond that I can see the early morning light coming in through the hatch above me. Some people do everything they can to avoid morning light, but I actually selected this bunk specifically for its proximity to the hatch. I hate waking up in the dark -- when it's morning I want to know!    It's still an hour to reveille, but I have one thing on my mind. It pertains to having drank three pitchers of india pale ale in town with the captain the night before. Though it's always disappointing to have to climb out of a nice warm sleeping bag before you have to so you can relieve yourself, it's not all bad news -- there's a wonderful thing that happens to be nearby called SHORE HEADS! (ie bathrooms that aren't on a ship!!)    I climb up the ladder out the hatch and find myself slipping on the deck -- it's covered in frost! But it is a beautiful crisp morning with the sun just barely rising over the horizon (and frost on all the ground). The shoreheads are just a short walk away in the marina office, but I decide while I'm up to walk a little further.    To get to the town of Kalama one must walk all the way around the marina, up a pedestrian overpass over the train tracks, and then under the freeway. Once there one will find two bars and three antique stores, and a 24 hour laundromat/espresso bar with free wifi. But most noteworthy, on the freeway underpass there is a mural of the Colombia river with from one side to another: indians in canoes; trappers in longboats; the original of the boat I am on (the Lady Washington); and two or three progressivly more modern ships.    We have a crew of 12-14 (every few days we lose or gain someone), nearly all of whom are either 26 or 27. The youngest is 25, the captain himself is 27 I believe, the first mate is 30, and then there's maybe two people who are older. One of the other crewmembers is i_id and posted a faq about life aboard.    When not handling sails, standing bow watch or doing other chores we're usually kept busy the entire time from 8-5 with ship maintenance or other projects. They keep us busy and it's wet and it's cold, but it's altogether damn fun. (:    Our cook is great, the food has all been delicious, and almost every day she bakes fresh bread.    After Kalama we pulled into a quaint little fishing town called Cathlamet, where we didn't even get cell phone reception. When I finally got a chance to walk downtown that evening and find cell phone reception I found I had a text from a friend back home, whom we'll call friend X -- friend X wanted me to confront friend Y about something friend Z had said friend Y had said. Ugh. I informed them I probably wouldn't have reception for several more days and turned my phone off.    Was going to wake up early the next morning to see the sunrise but when I awoke, cacoooned in my sleeping bag, and rustled around to stick my face out, I found it far far too cold to consider venturing out and withdrew back inside the protective cacoon.    Clearly I should have planned ahead and tried the three pitchers of beer trick the night before :D [Stand by while I try to jostle my photo processing software into submission so I can add a picture] Nevermind apparently that's just not in the cards. Here's one that would be better if it was cropped and possibly had the curves adjusted to brighten it (and of course borders added... My current home The Lady Washington At Kalama, Washington    In Astoria now, where the harbour office not only has shoreheads for our use, but shore SHOWERS! A shower has never felt so much like heaven! (25 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
11:35 pm	And now for a lolcat See also: (7 Comments |Comment on this)
8:47 pm	Epic Sailing Adventure - Day 1 Friday the 27th    Flew into Portland via Seattle on Friday, via Alaska Airlines. Leg from Seattle to Portland was actually Horizon Airlines, who apparently serve complimentary BEER on their flights! And not shitty beer either, it was the Widmer Winter Ale! I was extremely pleased with this!    Also I took this picture out the window: Mt St Helens & Mt Rainier as seen from the plane Closer-up    Portland Airport was quaint. My friend Mike (xaositecte picked me up. We then drove around doing some errands and getting ready for the party he was throwing that evening.    Call our friend Sameer to invite him but that bastard was throwing a competing party of HIS OWN! Bastard!    Mike's got a lot of cool friends. Including one that's a blacksmith at the local historical fort .. and also a beekeeper. And also brews meade. On a hunch I asked if he distilled, and we proceeded to make vague allusions to having kettles with columns on them full of wire mesh until we were certain we were on the same page. ;D    Eventually we decided to all go downtown and went to a bar that was converted from something else (I don't know what?) but the ceiling was three floors up. Here we played pool and Mike and I were undefeated, because clearly we are awesome at pool.    ...or the other teams kept scratching on the eight ball. It's my secret winning move, really. :D Saturday the 28th    Mike works at the local VA Medical Centre and Saturday morning had to go in and coordinate volunteers working in the memorial garden. He said I could just sleep in, but imo doing something is always better than not doing something, so I decided to wake up early for a little gardening myself.    So spent the first half of the day in the crisp morning air trimming bamboo. It was rather enjoyable.    Went out to lunch with my friend Mindy (meowmeowpants) and her boyfriend. When I was up here on Road Trip 2008 they were on like their 2nd or 3rd date, and now they're still dating so I think that's cute.    We ate at this place where there's a whole bunch of tasty food carts (on Albina Street?). The food was really tasty, despite being vegan. I kept speculating that I should go to the mexican cart, which did have meat, and ask for some meat to put in my vegan stew bowl.    I really heart Portland. Every time I'm up here I wonder why I don't live here.    Back at Mike's place everyone was still feeling kind of under the weather from the night before (*grin*) so we just ordered pizza and watched movies. First we watched Rockandrolla, a Guy Ritchie movie I had never heard of. It was kind of like Snatch and Lock Stock had been, in terms of crazy criminal shinanigans, but no complaints here, they're all three excellent movies. Then, since we found out that Mike somehow hadn't seen either of the other two, we watched Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Sunday the 29th (today)    Caught up with my ship The Lady Washington where it was tied up giving dockside tours. Obligatory picture of me in front of it upon arrival.    Shortly after I arrived we sat down to lunch (a delicious lentil stew!), then we took on passangers and went sailing down the river and back for three or four hours.    Felt kind of useless not knowing where to jump in and help with lines but the experienced crew is really nice and I started to figure out the basics after awhile, esp since we did about two dozen tacks. Felt more useful when I got to go up and help furl the sails.    Dinner was a delicious ground beef in noodles or something? With bread pudding for desert. Gorged self.    Am now in the nearby hotel lobby sitting next to the fireplace, enduring horrid christmas music.    Also: Visiting former crewmember: "Hey do you know who the pursar is?" Me: "No I've only been on for a few hours" Visiting former crewmember: "OH. Sorry. Because of your muttonchops I assumed you must have been here awhile" Current Music: "celebrate christmas!!" repeated x250 times in a shitty rock and roll fashion (31 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
11:25 am	LJ Idol - Thanksgiving    "The Pilgrims" arrived in North America in December of 1620. What they found in the area they landed was abandoned Indian villages, some with unburied skeletons of the dead lying among the weeds --due to diseases introduced by earlier settlers,-- and a very hostile reception from those Indians still alive. It would seem the last European to come by (one of John Smith's lieutenants, Thomas Hunt) had decided it would be a jolly undertaking to capture some Indians to sell into slavery in Europe, and had gratuitously killed a number of others.    Thomas Hunt had intended to sell the Indians for £20 a piece in Spain, but apparently some friars in Europe managed to interdict this plan, and one of the indians, known as Squanto, was able to make his way back to North America, and ended up at the Pilgrim's Plymouth Colony as a translater.    In 1621 the Pilgrims celebrated what is regarded as "the first thanksgiving" in North America (there had already been a long tradition both in the New World and Europe for thanks giving feasts though). They somehow convinced some local Indians to attend.    In 1622 Indians were again invited to a feast*. Their share of the liquor was poisoned and 200 Indians died. A further fifty were finished off by hand.    Then pumpkin pie was probably eaten, though I doubt they had whipped cream.** * Admittedly this occurred in Jamestown, some 600 miles South. ** Yeah I looked up the history of whipped cream, sounds like it would need to be colder than they could probably make it in order to whip properly I don't usually attend Thanksgiving wearing arms and armour, but then again, I didn't just barely decide not to kill the guests THIS year    Thankyou for tuning in to another Emo-Snal Classic Historical Downer! ;D    Notwithstanding, I am looking forward to devouring some turkey/stuffing/pumpkin pie until I go into a food coma.    And in other news, tomorrow I fly up to Portland for the weekend, check into the tallship Lady Washington on Sunday, and Monday set sail! Will be sailing for at least two weeks. Internet access may be spotty. (27 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
11:44 am	2nd Annual Friendzy!    Last year several of us started a sort of meme thing (or maybe it already existed and I wasn't aware), called the "friending frenzy," or as I like to call it, the "friendzy." (1) answer the following questions in a comment; (2) Feel free to read other people's comments and respond to them. Mingle. Make friends. (3) Extra points if you mention this friendzy in your own lj and send people over. Name: Age: Location: Occupation: Story Behind Your LJ Name: Favourite Food: Favourite Foreign (to you) Place to Visit: Favourite LJ Entry of Your Own: Picture (optional): Now with a poll! Poll #1490342 Location Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 81 Your usual location View Answers North America, West Coast 20 (24.7%) North America, Somewhere in the Middle 21 (25.9%) North America, East Coast 26 (32.1%) South America 0 (0.0%) British Isles / Europe 8 (9.9%) Australia / New Zealand 4 (4.9%) Asia 1 (1.2%) Africa 0 (0.0%) Other 1 (1.2%) Bargh! We all know I suck at making polls. I forgot the Middle East. Sorry ashael! See Also: frenziedfriends Unrelated Picture of the Day Take the dive! Akka, Israel Current Music: Rilo Kiley - Glendora (374 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
8:40 pm	Isketch Now!    Meet me in hell!! I mean uh isketch.net!    It turns out whirled -at least for the time being- still has internet access (she's on some sort of secret mission to some obscure place called "Queensland), so we're about to play isketch RIGHT NOW (also now she is without her wacom tablet, the tides have turned.    Room is "The Possum Cave". Join us! (8 Comments |Comment on this)
4:39 pm	Old Timey Religion, Part II Simultaneous with the "Old Timey Religion" entry I just made: Kingdom of Laighin, Hibernia (Ireland), 375 AD - The River Nore naturally flows slowly, with a delicious chocolate colour. It is surrounded by lush emerald vegatation. Vines hang from trees that lean over the embankments, and beside the river a flat area, perhaps flooded at times of greater rain, is covered in leafy shrubs and flowers.    The scene still looks like it did a thousand years previous, and as it will look one thousand years in the future, or even one thousand six hundred and thirty four.    Several druids (or draoiochts as they'd call themselves) have gathered by the bank in their flowing white robes. Having consulted the auguries, the head druid has predicted the imminent arrival of a time traveler. River Nore, County Kilkenny, Ireland. 1997.    Suddenly there is a burst of light and a crackling noise and a strange contraption emerges in a puff of smoke. It appears to be a seat attached to several tanks with tubes and wires connecting them. Pistons and gears festoon the sides in several places and the machine vents steam as it comes to a rest among the lush foliage.    The pilot unbuckles himself from the chair. He is wearing tight jeans and a shirt from the thrift store that he considers to be "ironic" in keeping with the latest styles of 2009. He pushes back his dreadlocks to remove the "buds" of his ipod from his ears.    "Druids! Excellent! I'm a pagan just like you!" Chad, the time traveler, eagerly greets the gathered druids.    The druids look on aghast. Finally one turns to another, "I think we should sacrifice him." Southern California, 2009 AD - It was a nice warm fall evening, and Travis, a youth pastor at Saddleback Church, was just walking to his porche to go home for the evening. Suddenly there was a flash of light and a loud crackling noise. Travis turned around to see a cloud of smoke rising from around a figure standing in one of the "reserved for pastors" parking spots.    As the smoke cleared Travis could make out that he was holding what looked like a tea kettle with flashing lights on it.    The lad was dressed rather peculiarly, "kind of like a European" thought Travis. On his feet he wore not normal shoes but what appeared to be some kind of covering that closely followed the contours of his feet. His haircut was federation standard.    The strange figure looked around, looked at the giant SADDLEBACK CHURCH sign, the "parking reserved for pastors" sign and Travis looking dumbfounded about to put his keys into a car under it.    "Oh you're a bishop! Excellent! I'm a redneck too!" exclaimed the time traveler excitedly, not realizing that what he knew as the word for that ancient religion of "Christianity" didn't exactly mean the same thing in the good ole days. Current Music: Client - Here and Now (3 Comments |Comment on this)
12:35 pm	Too Late    So of course, after having no idea what to write for the weekly LJ Idol topic all week ("Bearing false witness") and finally writing something guaranteed to offend some people and imo not terribly exciting anyway, I NOW remember a story I'd been meaning to write about at some point that would have worked better.    What follows will be a very rough skeleton / summary of what it would have been.    May 7th, 1946, Prague -- German-held Prague is sandwiched between Red Army forces closing in from the East and US Army forces just a day or two away to the West. Inspired by the imminent collapse of Nazi Germany, insurgents in the city have risen in revolt two days prior. A major motivating factor for this 11th hour revolt may have been to deliver the city to the US forces rather than the brutal Red Army.    The Waffen-SS is however conducting a violent operation to recapture the city using tanks and airstrikes. With their overwhelmingly better equipment the SS is decimating the resistence. Ironically, a goal of the Germans was to capture the train station so that Army Group Centre to the East could be evacuated westward to surrender to the US.    When all seems lost, suddenly a division that appears to be German is attacking the SS itself. I'd imagine this must have seemed very confusing at the time. The unit is actually a German unit formed of captured Soviet prisoners of war ("the ROA"), which has just defected. They are all Russian and veterans of the Eastern Front. They have the experience and the equipment to significantly disrupt the SS offensive and turn the tides of battle.    However as word of the imminent arrival of the Red Army spread, the ROA quickly leaves the city to head West for US held territory, knowing that Soviet policy is to treat anyone who has been captured by the Germans at any point under any circumstances as a traitor. Germans hold sway over the city for one more day (the Waffen SS ignores the official surrender of Germany that has been announced that day) until the Red Army arrives the next day.    Much of the ROA force succeeds in reaching US lines. There they are rounded up by US forces and forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union where they face execution. Also the US Army could have reached Prague days earlier but halted at the demarcation line that had been negotiated with Stalin.    On a related note of questionable allegiances, apparently the Waffen-SS in Prague included forcibly conscripted Estonians, who described the experience as "Czech Hell" and were later trusted by the Allies to guard the Nuremburg Trials.    So yeah, the above is obviously just a summary, but I think it'd make for a really good story. If only I'd thought of it 36 hours ago. ): Monument to the liberation by the Red Army, Bratislava, Slovakia (19 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
2:42 pm	LJ Idol - Topic 5 - Old Timey Religion    "Let's get back to the city, the religious nuts out here kind of freak me out" says the girl, grasping the boy's arm.    "Oh, they're just, you know, old timey" reassures the lad, as if this explains it. "They mean well, really"    "They're so damn conservative though, lord knows what I might accidentally do and have them accusing me of sorcery." Coming upon the edge of town she was relieved to look up and see the city itself not too far off.    "Haha no one's going to be burning anyone at the stake" says the lad, giving her a playful bump sideways as they walked, "they're just, you know, farmers, and things are slow to change out here."    "Just as long as the religious nuts don't get control of the government again!" exclaims the girl, feeling more at ease to speak freely now that they were away from the nearest houses.    "I don't think that could happen again," speculates the lad, recalling a recent leader who had started an unsuccessful war in the Middle East.. and died there. "Valentinian's got a handle on things, I don't think it will ever happen again" notes the boy.    "Damn pagans," grumbles the girl, adjusting her tunic. "How much further to Rome?"    I don't understand people who call themselves "Pagans." The word "pagan" comes from latin "pagus," meaning literally "peasants." The modern day "pagans" wouldn't be the new agey hippies of Santa Cruz with their vague supplications to "the Goddess," it would be the "rednecks" and "hillbillies" of the deep Christian backwaters. "Pagan" means simply "the religion of the backwaters."    Or at best, it is not a specific religion. Saying you're "a pagan" is like a Christian describing himself as an infidel because that's what an intolerant Muslim might call him.    Yet still you see people, including many here in LJ Idol (at least last year) who will go on seriously about how their religion is "Pagan." THIS IS NOT A RELIGION. You can be wiccan or norse or believe in Celtic or Gaulish druidism, or one of hundreds of other things that have been called pagan throughout history, or you can be something new agey you're making up as you go along based on whims as they come to you, but I feel like if you call yourself Pagan you are probably keeping alive an insult that the original believers of the religion you're trying to follow would not have appreciated at all.    In other news, a few years after the above narrative takes place, Valentinian ("the Last Great Roman Emperor") dies and his son Valentinian II has his power usurped by a "pagan" chief of the military. And around it goes. Picture of the Day Winged Athena Roman ruins of Ephesus, near Selcuk, Turkey And here's a kitten (and in a continuing series of animals in ruins, a (emo?) snail, a (electric!) hornet, and a zombie.) ***EDIT: NOW WITH A SEQUEL! (45 Comments |Comment on this)
1:34 pm	Isketch! Pictionary time! Guess the word!    whirled introduced me to the online pictionary at isketch.net yesterday. We proceeded to play it until our eyes were getting fried (damn thing doesn't automatically give you breaks so with two people the timer is ALWAYS going for you to either be drawing or guessing) last night (/ whatever time it was for her in Australia). You can see some more she managed to cut paste from last night behind the fake cut here that actually goes to her entry! -- ( GUESS THE REST! )    I swear my doodling is a lot better with an actual pen/paper.    Anyone want to make a plan to meet up on isketch and pictionary together? Tomorrow (Sunday) at noon (PST) perhaps? Photo of the Day The "Golden Gate of Istanbul" (as we called it), one of two bridges over the Bosporus, connecting Europe and Asia. That's right you're looking at Europe (foreground) and Asia (across the water) at the SAME TIME    I'm trying to convince my dad, a marathon runner, that he should run the Istanbul marathon -- it crosses this bridge, making it a marathon between continents. (21 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
12:45 pm	Vespa Orientalis    Remember this lass? I know you were all on the edge of your seats to find out what it was. After some poking around I've determined that it appears to be an Oriental Hornet (Vespa orientalis).    Interesting note on V. orientalis, they appear to use electricity!    Various structures or constructions of the Oriental Hornet Vespa orientalis such as the cuticle, the spun silk and the comb cell walls discharge an electric current. In the dark, at a temperature range of 5 - 33° C, this current increases with rise in the temperature and decreases as the temperature drops. Between the ascending and descending "lines" of the current, a broad hysteresis is formed.þ The created current may attain a level of up to 700 nano Amperes (nA).    Upon exposure to light of the hornets or its constructions, the electric current diminishes within minutes to its minimal values, no hysteresis is formed between the warming and cooling lines and the voltage increases. ...    In the Discussion section, an attempt is made to explain the thermoelectric mechanism in pupal silk and its contribution, as thermometer and thermostat, to thermoregulation of the individual pupae, each of which is an independent thermal unit. The thermoregulation here is compared with the mode of action of heat pipes in industry. - source    Also the above-linked website has some cute pictures, such as oriental hornets drinking milk, trying to fly away with too big a piece of ham, eating hamburger, and my favourite, being surprised by an ant. Current Music: Against Me! - Thrash Unreal (21 Comments |Comment on this)