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It sounds like we shouldn't be happy with "the predator", preferring instead the building of pyramids and sphinxes without spinning... Living in peace and harmony, all our needs taken care of, sort of, when we behave according to somebody's idea of proper behavior (somebody as ignorant as we were, I might add).

But... "Stalled by ignorance" and "pitting differing peoples and religions against one another" sound like an oxymoron to me, since historically people shed ignorance, advancing themselves in knowledge, almost exlusively when they're pitted against one another. Conflict seems to be the common human motivator for those motivated among us.

You make a good point, though... Why would "the predator" want to make intelligent people out of ignorant ones in the first place? Anyway, please continue, thanks for this message. . . Some interesting thoughts about "time", sort of like the 309 year thing in Star Trek: Insurrection.

(A thought... Why do some people want to make ignorant people out of the intelligent ones already completed, I wonder?)

I'm going to swamp you with photos tonight - again. After two cloudless days it was a nice one, finally... We went just up on the bench here where the Virgin River cuts through the desert and makes a little canyon.



Note the little spot in the sky opposite the top of Gooseberry Mesa here, it's a Red-Tailed Hawk soaring over there. Wasn't fast enough to get him when he was close:





This section of desert is about ready to become canyonized:









Cloudy Ribbons over Hurricane Mesa:



A halo tonight over Zion:



Big Bird flies over Gooseberry Mesa:



A "sun dog" I spotted on the horizon and zoomed in on:



On a sad note, today I put Silver up for sale. The back issue won't go away and I just don't think it's right to shoot her. Hopefully we'll find something with adjustable seats... :-)

Casey

Tonight was a subdued sunset, with only a few tiny clouds holding the sky in place.

Here is one:


When the clouds aren't helping, it's a good time to take advantage of the telephoto effect to get layers from the landscape to fill in for them.

In the middle of this photo over Sand Hollow Reservoir into St. George you can see a lone mesa... It's supposed have an ancient Indian burial ground atop it. It's one of the only ones in St. George that hasn't been developed for upper class housing:


This one is at full zoom on my camera (18X), and I reproduce it here because it came out sharp for once (tremor's overcome for a moment), notice the Hawk or Vulture spotted to the right:


Then there was the sunset over Sand Hollow:


Quoting from your previous message:

Why does the concept of "spirit" have to exist in some separate "religious" category, for example?.. There may be no contradiction to speak of science and spirit as being part of the same construct, as it were..

I agree with this and much of what you said. How much of what you said is really what you think, however? I feel a bit mocked speaking to an avatar, sweet and helpful as it may be in superficially mirroring my soul back to me. I may be full of BS and struggling to talk through masks much of the time, but at least the effort means I'm somewhat genuine as human genuineness goes... I have to deal with what I say out front, so to speak.

I'm still considering your profound question there: "But who gains from our being so stalled by our ignorance?"

I hope you're going to answer it... my own attempts at doing so have thus far failed miserably, I believe, assuming you feel I've been asking the same question in a different way. Who would want to withhold reason, maintaining ignorance, at this late date?

Casey

Casey.. interesting what you said about the lone mesa being an old Indian burial ground.. the hotel in The Shining was supposed to be built upon an old Indian burial ground.. 'course that didn't bode too well for Jack and his clan..


.. Anyway, I got up early yesterday morning and wrote you a post, but thought to save it to my desktop so I might think things over as I drove back to the city.. As you'll see, I did mention your car Silver.. Maybe you were trying to warn me, Casey, as I'd almost met my untimely demise yesterday while driving my friend's silver car.. I had been doing her a favor, storing it upstate with all the other unused vehicles we have stored up there.. Anyway, I was on the West Side Highway.. quite a busy thoroughfare with traffic going well above the speed limit (set at about 50-55 m.p.h.).. so, traffic maybe goes 65.. sometimes 70.. or faster, on that highway.. Anyway, this car I was in, a silver 2000 Plymouth Neon (seemingly in very good condition) just completely crapped out on me, as I drove in either the fast lane, or the middle lane (I no longer recall which, but there were three lanes there).. I had just enough time to get to the "slow" lane, though no one was going very slow.. but there was no shoulder on the road, just a metal railing right by the highway.. so the car came to a complete stop right in the middle of the highway (!).. and as I tried to see if I could start it up again (having turned on my flashers), someone nearly sailed full on into the back of me at something like 60 m.p.h... (!).. (it veered away from the car, just as it was nearly upon it).. so I decided to get myself (and my poor little kitty) out of the car.. luckily, there was enough room between the car and the railing to open the passenger side doors.. Once out, I had my cell phone and was making calls.. when I realized I really should be directing traffic away from the "slow" lane, since people were only seeing the car once they were right on top of it, and so I feared someone getting killed.. so.. (placing kitty safely on the grass behind the guard rail) [he was in his travel box, of course].. I headed down the highway.. and from behind the protective railing, I directed traffic to the next lane, until help arrived..

... for some reason (I.F.), all of this has me thinking of Casteneda's Don Juan.. the story you told about Carlos' tying his shoe.. In my case (as Carlos was just tying his shoe, and not cognizant of any immediate danger), but in my case, I guess all you can do in such circumstance is to keep your wits about you.. still.. timing is everything.. and somehow beyond us, it seems.. and guess what?.. speaking of timing, the "car" problem had to do with the timing belt.. that (I later learned) is what crapped out on me..

.. so it's all about timing, Casey.. timing..


.. addressing your last post.. you know, it's funny, Casey, that you "get to be" genuine.. and for some reason.. (according to your perception of things).. I (somehow) don't..

.. I can only say to that.. that, my sense of humor aside (oh, and you have a sense of humor too, don't you?..).. anyway.. my sense of humor aside [later note.. which, come to think of it, is also, well, rather "genuine"].. anyway, I am as genuine as you claim you are being in this conversation.. we are both just looking for the language (cumbersome as that may be at times) to say what is in our hearts and minds to say.. I don't really see any difference, other than the fact that we are different people, with different life experiences and perceptions of things.. Still, it's somehow funny to me that I don't get to be genuine somehow.. from your perspective, I mean.. and I honestly can't imagine what I would be being if I weren't being genuine [later note.. I mean, I can't imagine what my motivation would be to be disingenuous].. so.. just what are you suggesting with that, anyway? .. (or maybe I don't really want to know)..

.. as to "who gains from our being so stalled by our ignorance".. maybe what I wrote yesterday starts to address that..

.. so here goes..


Monday, early a.m.. Oct 19...

Casey Butler wrote:It sounds like we shouldn't be happy with "the predator", preferring instead the building of pyramids and sphinxes without spinning... Living in peace and harmony, all our needs taken care of, sort of, when we behave according to somebody's idea of proper behavior (somebody as ignorant as we were, I might add).

But... "Stalled by ignorance" and "pitting differing peoples and religions against one another" sound like an oxymoron to me, since historically people shed ignorance, advancing themselves in knowledge, almost exlusively when they're pitted against one another. Conflict seems to be the common human motivator for those motivated among us.

You make a good point, though... Why would "the predator" want to make intelligent people out of ignorant ones in the first place? Anyway, please continue, thanks for this message. . . Some interesting thoughts about "time", sort of like the 309 year thing in Star Trek: Insurrection.

(A thought... Why do some people want to make ignorant people out of the intelligent ones already completed, I wonder?)

On a sad note, today I put Silver up for sale. The back issue won't go away and I just don't think it's right to shoot her. Hopefully we'll find something with adjustable seats...

Casey

.. okay, Casey.. I have to leave soon.. heading down to the city.. but I thought I'd take a stab at your response..

... I have my reasons for utilizing Casteneda's term "the predator".. Mainly, it's because I'd like to keep that as a somewhat daunting notion (the term "the predator," to my mind at least, being abstract enough to do that).. In other words, I'd like to keep this idea from collapsing into some New Agey Sci Fi scenario, which somehow we might never take too seriously.. Along such lines, the idea that we are ants in this plastic ant farm.. or rats in a maze.. seems appropriate when thinking about a slightly larger conception of things than what we actually see here (earth-bound wise).. And we, of course, as humans, have an understanding of what sort of power we may have relative to the "toyed with rat" situation, for example.. and so.. how to fathom who or what might have and wield that same sort of power over us..

Conflict, as I well know (having written a number of screenplays), drives drama.. And I'd agree that it has caused technological advancement, as wars especially have their unrivaled way of advancing technology.. only.. well, I guess what I'm suggesting is that those pitted against one another are not always the true enemies of one another.. and so.. just where to draw that line on this planet between "the good guys" and "the bad guys" ?.. Or, in other words, just what is the conflict worth having?.. and where is it more instrumental -- to the advancement of goodness, say (for lack of a better word) -- to join forces, so to speak.. (since I think the bad guys don't like it when people do that).. (methinks..).. (just saying)..

You know, Casey, the more I read what I feel to be valid sources, and the more I look around me, the more I do feel that "time" is a wasting.. With massive bailouts for banks, and people left and right losing their jobs.. and the "common wealth" openly being bankrupted right before our very eyes.. well.. I think it is time we all take seriously the fact that, well, for the time being at least, the bad guys seem to be winning.. So, I guess I'm just attempting to broaden the dimensions within which such an Evil vs. Good scenario might actually be taking place..

.. What I meant with the pitting of ideas against each other (thus the fomenting of all of our ignorance).. well, what I meant had to do with how oppressive it can be when strict categories aren't "allowed" to in some manner converge.. That's why I brought up "spirit" in the same breath as "science".. I'm suggesting that how things are conceptually framed -- in this case, as worlds that can never meet, let’s say -- can serve to keep us all in the dark..

.. I don't have a lot of info. on the matter as yet, but I did read that there are those who believe that Einstein actually did come up with the solution to his Unified Field Theory.. and that this totally shattered his Theory of Relativity.. AND THAT.. this crucial happenstance was indeed suppressed.. at least as far as mainstream science goes.. or "visible" science, let's say..

.. now IF this is true.. one might well ask why all of our "advancement" in the crucial knowledge department wouldn't instead be endorsed..

Okay.. that's all I'll say for now.. It's actually all I can say.. I myself feel quite ignorant with regard to these things.. but I do at least know the areas I'd like to learn more about, and if there is any credibility at all to the statement I've just made, well, I for one would like to know more about it.. so.. I shall look into this further.. and..

.. as my mother used to say.. "We shall see what we shall see"..


... I love your photos, Casey.. those contemplative skies.. where all my want and longing seem directed toward some far off future.. (or past).. such as the one where the pyramids maybe actually were constructed via some manner of spinning.. (!)... (what's that little prism of light, by the way.. hovering just over that little precipice in the foreground?.. an accidental happenstance.. eliciting what though?)..

... this photo, meanwhile, has a slightly ominous feel to it.. as the ground (ideational?) we are just now standing upon.. could indeed be cracking.. But maybe this is a good thing.. maybe it's time to wake up to what's looking more and more to be a kind of hell on earth, and seeing what might be done about it.. Yes, there are the political means to attempt such things.. but there is also the Self (or even the illusion of Self, as the Buddhists would have it).. and apparently, there may well be a lot of "contested territory" deep within our very tissues.. (speaking of our DNA again..)..


.. okay.. signing off, for now.. (and longing for a heaven on earth)..
v i o l e t (flower).. (opening her withered petals to the light of knowledge.. well being.. and (hopefully).. a deepening wisdom)..

.. oh, sorry about Silver..

.. oh, also.. you should know that there is no strict line between Science proper and Sci Fi writing, understanding that scientific materials are passed along to Hollywood screenplay writers quite often, as I understand it.. this does not mean that all that we see on the big screen (or our television screens) is based in fact.. nor does it mean that Science itself doesn't dabble in "Science Fiction".. so.. well.. what was that word?.. perspicacity.. one must develop perspicacity when venturing upon this rocky, treacherous (and sometimes arid) terrain, that is the pursuit of true knowledge..
.. I just wanted to point out again, Casey.. how, in light of my near demise, most of the above might well have been my last (written) words.. hmm..

Well... It's like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, like pictures and words are interchangable but by varying quantities. So I have a lot of pictures again tonight, sorry, but it's been such picture-perfect weather!

One of the things sign-hunting for you makes hard is that I take so many pictures on any given day, and then it's up to me to choose which ones to post as sign candidates. It's easy when we spot vultures or an eagle or condor or roadrunner or massive wildfire, but when it's just photos I'm always wondering if I've chosen ones that are "meant for you".

You just have to trust me I guess. :-)

So we went up on Smith Mesa (the next level above Hurricane Mesa) where it's the closest to a Southwest-style heaven I can imagine, and there were lots of clouds again...

Bear with me while scrolling through these please. I promise I'll not post so many again (unless posting so many is called for):

First, another Panorama from the top of Smith Mesa where you feel like you're on top of the world down here: http://viablesoftware.com/casey/panorama5.htm

On the way up these clouds caught my eye... that's Molly's Nipple on the right, a better view:


I think this huge cloud over Hurricane Mesa is what kept me thinking we should go up there tonight...


Some shots of the shrubbery up there, it is so cool...








All day there were clouds looking like they were "pouring" over the Pine Mountains. This happens quite a bit, but I've never seen them so thickly poured!


Some old farm implements left out in the field:


Zion cliffs (this is a different angle of view for the same ones in the photos up in "Heavenly Valley"):


The road looked cool the way it winds up there...


The sunset to the southeast:


The sunset to the southwest:


Guess who finally showed up? Pretty soon it should be bright enough for me to practice the night pictures I'll try to get when the moon is full again.


And I didn't say you weren't or couldn't be genuine, Violet, I just said I'm trying to be.

That was an exciting ride (or stop) in that Neon. I'm glad it turned out okay. If literal, I wish I could have seen you directing traffic...

A timing belt breaking causes expensive damage. They used to have timing chains. I think my VW camshaft was geared directly to the crankshaft. The belts are quieter, though, I'll bet, yeah, that's it. We all needed more maintenance experience.

(E woke me up at like 10 AM this morning to see the clouds, I can barely keep my eyes open. Will do some more reading tomorrow... :-)

Casey

By the way, the bright place on the picture was caused by the light passing through the lens, a lens/light artifact. I could use a lens filter to cut down on them or eliminate them all together, but I think they look cool usually.

Casey

.. now IF this is true.. one might well ask why all of our "advancement" in the crucial knowledge department wouldn't instead be endorsed..

Well, isn't the Theory of Relativity empirically "proven" in a way... I mean it's working parts have been used semi-successfully for so long that it's comfortable, known.

The solution to the Unified Field Theory has never been demonstrated, and it's so different from the Theory of Relativity as to seem impossible to relativity's beneficiarys. This fear exists despite the fact that the Unified Field Theory is well known to all, even dear to all because of the good-will Einstein generated while expounding on it. Relativists resist it, pretend it is unknown - or worse, they claim the theory was invalidated by Einstein's own associates' failed attempts at demonstrating it.

Yet the limitations of the Theory of Relativity are clear to most everybody today. That's why its proponents' "advancement" has become "retreatment" and they will continue to retreat and retreat into what they feel are the "proven" methods and disciplines of the good old Theory of Relativity, which, after all - as they see it - has served them well up to now.

The Unified Field Theory will be endorsed by many of relativity's proponents when the Unified Field Theory is demonstrated to be science, not just another failed theory. Even Einstein's documentation of the Unified Field Theory calls for a demonstration prior to its acceptance by relativists. A few other noteable theoretical physicists, following in Einstein's footsteps, have confirmed this call for a demonstration - unamimously even.

That's what I read on the subject anyhow....

Your message gave me deja-vu for some reason, sort of depressing. But I'm a cup-half-full type of person so what the heck... FWIW, Violet.

Now... Today E had to do the laundry (see what i mean about retreating... it's scary, girls), so Mr. Darcy and I drove up on Sheep's Ridge alone for the sunset. It was an exceptional one again, with ribbony clouds and soft smooth clouds and... just a darn pretty sunset. Here's how it looked:

The bank of clouds over the Pine Mountains as I drove up:


Molly's Nipple with the sun setting:


Facing south: Silver and the Cloud Ribbons:


The Ribbons morphed into this shape that stayed well after the sunset. Which is unusual on such a windy day as they had changed a lot before then.




The sunset to the north:


The moon is getting fuller... Not that unusual but I thought I'd mention it:


I hope you understood my message with the Smith Mesa photos. I was attempting to follow a pattern I thought I saw you spelling out in your obtuse way. :-)

Thanks for the initial good things felt from your post.

Casey

.. Hi Casey.. this is not my "response" as yet.. just sort of, as I have work I need to be getting to.. but no, Casey, Einstein's Unified Field Theory has yet to be solved.. (supposedly)..

.. here's wikipedia's intro on this, and I can't comment on its overall point of view, however it does spell out quite clearly that Einstein's Unified Field Theory is still unsolved.. (again supposedly).. oh, and the electromagnetism part may be especially interesting considering our Coral Castle person.. so hopefully I can tie a few of those pieces together.. I'd love to understand this stuff more, at any rate.. so this can be our little class room for this..

.. so here goes wiki's intro..

In physics, a unified field theory is a type of field theory that allows all of the fundamental forces between elementary particles to be written in terms of a single field. There is no accepted unified field theory yet, and this remains an open line of research. The term was coined by Albert Einstein who attempted to unify the general theory of relativity with electromagnetism. A Theory of Everything is closely related to unified field theory, but differs by not requiring the basis of nature to be fields, and also attempts to explain all physical constants of nature.

This article describes unified field theory as it is currently understood in connection with quantum theory. Earlier attempts based on classical physics are described in the article on classical unified field theories.

There may be no a priori reason why the correct description of nature has to be a unified field theory; however, this goal has led to a great deal of progress in modern theoretical physics and continues to motivate research. Unified field theory is only one possible approach to unification of physics.

"Unified field theory is only one possible approach to unification of physics".. uh.. this may be so, but there's a hell of a lot of emphasis placed on its importance.. so.. just thought I'd highlight the fact, as wiki doesn't seem to want to do that.. In fact.. wiki seems to want to play down the whole thing (!).. (methinks).. (just saying)...

Thanks for the lecture... I should keep my mouth shut... :-)

Today was one of those days... early on I hit the button that adjusts the exposure to darker, so all the day's photos look like they are... well... underexposed.

There were some bright spots though:

A Trumpet Flower (by E):


A Butterfly:


A (your guess is as good as mine... a Punk Rock Fly?)


We also saw a new Life-Lister... A Black Phoebe... Sorry for the poor photo, the others were far worse:


Today as the sun set there was a cloud it went behind and a sundog was created on the top edge of the cloud. As the sun dropped below the cloud it appeared to have split in two, shining both above and below the cloud! This is a first for me... :-)

A close up of the sundog:




You, like me, probably thought I was kidding when I mentioned hating to shoot Silver. But today we came across what may be a little known Utah custom, the humane putting down of broken automobiles:



I assured Silver that maybe they do that just for Subarus... :-))

Today's eventual sunset taken just south of town:


Casey

Sorry for biting your head off, I was really tired last night and the truth is I've seen coat hangers wielded with much more finesse than you've shown probing so far. I just didn't want to leave you with a negative vibe so here are some light-hearted snapshots I took yesterday to go along with the scientific ones above:

Here is E considering this Odd Tree we found in the desert...


A humorous "No Trespassing" sign up on Smith Mesa yesterday (no, we didn't trespass to test it out):


A view through Silver's right window:


Finally, yesterday's moon. Fuller and fuller and slowly rising higher in the Western Sky every day:


I understood from that video that the Coral Castle guy was a serious loner... And well... the Unified Field Theory... I think you're on to something...

Anyway... Go on...

Casey

Tonight there were few clouds left other than jet contrails, but there were a lot of those... Especially to the west:



When the sunset "afterglow" happened they were all lit up in pink:



Kind of like a sky full of coat hangers, the kind you use to open your car door when you've locked the keys in. (You understood that's what I meant, right... the truth came through my metaphor okay? Automobiles are certainly a main subject of these messages lately. Esoterically speaking...)

When I was up on the cell phone tower cliff, a couple of guys came by to browse cars in the junkyard below, using binoculars! Wal-Mart might benefit from some similar browsing scheme...



Also tonight while I was waiting for the sun to set, I got a picture of Rock Wren, just like the one I saw yesterday but didn't mention. It's another Life-Lister for us so since it duplicated itself today I thought it might be important.

The Rock Wren from Smith Mesa yesterday:


The Rock Wren from the cell phone tower cliff over town tonight:


Zooming in on the contrails where the sun was setting produced a nice design:


Finally, the moon continues its long march to fullness in the Eastern Sky:


Hoping your work is going well...

Casey

Heh heh heh... :-) :-) :-)

Casey.. while it’s true I’ve been busy these days, I also didn’t know what to make of this backhanded apology of yours.. even though I believe you were in some manner trying to back up a bit in the second quote I've put here..

Casey Butler wrote:Sorry for biting your head off, I was really tired last night and the truth is I've seen coat hangers wielded with much more finesse than you've shown probing so far.

Casey Butler wrote:

Kind of like a sky full of coat hangers, the kind you use to open your car door when you've locked the keys in. (You understood that's what I meant, right... the truth came through my metaphor okay? Automobiles are certainly a main subject of these messages lately. Esoterically speaking...)

Of course, I do like your sense of humor.. but feel I shouldn't have to donate blood for it, is what I'm saying...

.. well, I have no new info. to add right now, as I consider whether you, or anyone reading this thread, really cares whether I continue or not.. I will be doing this sort of research in the future, in any case, on my own, so I thought it useful to use this thread, since it was keeping that part of my brain working on things.. I try to assure myself, from time to time, that if it’s of interest to me, then it's bound to be of interest to someone else.. still, we all need encouragement now and then, and to receive the exact opposite of that.. well.. it stops me in my tracks, I guess..

.. Okay.. I had some political material here, which I've just removed, as I feel the need to think more about posting it.. It was never my intention to use the forum for such things, and yet things are looking increasingly bleak, it seems.. so.. we'll see..

... I'll keep your photo here, though.. so to inspire clear thinking.. not panicking.. and being prepared..

signing off for now,
v i o l e t

Lots of Zion pictures coming up for next little while, God willing... The trees are changing, making for bright colors and nice photos.

Tonights batch, starting with a pair of Ravens watching the photographers on the bridge tonight:


A Roadrunner ran in front of us as we came into the park, at one point he had his crest up and looked fantastic... But I had to get the camera ready and missed it...


The Bridge was lined with photographers with expensive rigs. When the leaves turn yellow and clouds are visible there is always a crowd at sunset:


The view off the Bridge at that point:


Really nice clouds, though when you're in Zion not much sky shows so the clouds are hard to show!



We walked down the river path tonight, which has several foot/bicycle bridges across it. I think this view from the second bicycle bridge is almost as good as the Bridge of Perfect Photography's view:


This is how the sunset to the west looks when you're in Zion, it all happens way up in the sky. Must have been a fantastic one in town. Argh.


The moon came out from behind the clouds for a few moments, it's almost half now.


While I was on the Bridge, I spotted an American Dipper just below, doing his thing and dipping in the water. It was really cool:


Here is a short video of an American Dipper dipping in Zion. It's less than a minute, and at the end I zoom out so you can see the view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQzpbBqescw

I'm sorry my inability to comprehend what you're saying and thus reply to it sensibly is discouraging you. Very sorry, Violet. Thank you for taking the time and trying.

Casey

Not much doing today, no clouds, but we went into St George to visit Costco and Wal-Mart.

On the way home I turned onto the Washington County Dump road off of Telegraph Road.

We saw another Shrike! I hope you had a chance to read up on them. They're nicknamed "Butcher Bird" because they'll use thornbushes to hang their prey on for safe keeping... like a refrigerator.


I caught the sunset over that Indian Burial Ground Mesa...


It was so plain I tried experimenting in Paint Shop Pro with it. I used the "Contours" filter on it, then on some of the other ones we've collected in our sign hunts:








I'm posting this a little late because I forgot to take the moon this afternoon. I was reminded when I made the Maverick Sojourn and saw the moon setting, so I flew home and got the camera, then went south of town.

This can be the first night photos from this phase of the moon. I was unprepared with no tripod and sudden alzheimers regarding the manual settings. So it's not the greatest Moonset...

But it's a Moonset...





Now that the order against encouragement has gone out I guess I've got to encourage myself. I'll try to perservere anyway, until as long as I can. :-)

Sissel in Swedish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4r74IIKbh8&NR=1

Casey