This Machine Kills...: April 2013

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Monday, April 22, 2013

Please enjoy the scenic photos including the first which captures a good friend. Carla, a vivacious member of the Peace Corps, is a constant joy and never struggles to find a smile or kind word. This was taken while touring Khao Yai National Park northeast of Bangkok. Carla and the tree were kindred spirits and crooked comforts.

Carla leans against her spirit tree.

Sunset in western Montana. July 2010

Only when the last tree
Has been cut down
And the last river
Has dried to a trickle
Will man finally realize
That we cannot eat money
And reciting old proverbs
Makes you sound like a twat

-Banksy

Friday, April 19, 2013

Boston on my mind

Boston Mayor Menino has initiated a city-wide initiative to encourage citizens and visitors to use bicycles for fun, exercise, and transportation.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

"This is what I am"

"There are monstrous changes taking place in the world, forces shaping a future whose face we do not know. Some of these forces seem evil to us, perhaps not in themselves but because their tendency is to eliminate other things we hold good. It is true that two men can lift a bigger stone than one man. A group can build automobiles quicker and better than one man, and bread from a huge factory is cheaper and more uniform. When our food and clothing and housing all are born in the complication of mass production, mass method is bound to get into our thinking and to eliminate all other thinking. In our time mass or collective production has entered our economics, our politics, and even our religion, so that some nations have substituted the idea collective for the idea God. This in my time is the danger. There is great tension in the world, tension toward a breaking point, and men are unhappy and confused.

...

At such a time it seems natural and good to me to ask myself these questions. What do I believe in? What must I fight for and what must I fight against?

And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about"

John Steinbeck - East of Eden

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Seasons of Change

Don't like Indiana weather? Wait ten minutes.

Fall 2013: High waters left some unexpected decoration in trees near the White River.

Fall storms destroyed 1/2 this tree and a segment of St. Mary's iconic rod iron.

Winter 2013: Frequent warm and cold snaps resulted in heavily iced tree branches dipping into the White River

Spring 2013: Finally a literal light at the end of Winter's tunnel.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Namie, Japan

Two years after the March tsunami, Namie Japan remains deserted. Google street-view provides amazing pictorial evidence of an area the becomes more eerie the longer you explore. Time consuming but worth investigating. These were all found within 1-2 blocks of Namie Elementary School. Some areas appear relatively untouched while others are devastated.

Forgotten bicycle on sidewalk right next to the empty elementary school.


It's difficult to tell what smashed this car, but obviously it had some force.


Empty bike lanes and toppled street lights in the foreground of a long empty bus station.

Just to the left of the bus station is this lonely bike depot filled with stationary bikes.

Open-air stairwell. This appears to be the building's only damage.

Bike, trash, and Coke litter the entrance to Rism Sunfriend.

Relatively undamaged, this bike shop on the Tomioka Hwy certainly shows signs of being ignored for the past 2 years. Couldn't resist posting the penny-farthing signage.