I often enjoy wildlife photography, but the stories behind the photos are sometimes as interesting as the photos themselves. Hearing about (and seeing) the encounter with this massive Leopard Seal is awesome. I don't know if I would've been as calm and focused as Nicklen was upon the initial encounters.
Kansas City is supposed to see snow tomorrow afternoon just in time for Christmas Day. However, all precipitation is rain currently. While on the way home tonight I noticed how even though most of the rain had stopped the wet streets reflected light very well. Ignoring common sense in the short-term, I grabbed my camera and shot these pictures as I headed north on Main Street.
Though they lack technical perfection for the most part, I do like the impressionistic feel to them. In the third photo the camera focused on water droplets on the windshield. I like how the cityscape of downtown buildings is distinctly unclear.
These aren't meant to be serious photos, but just something different on a wet night in Kansas City.
I stumbled upon Transfer recently while checking out free Amazon.com MP3s. Here was something of value, yet I could sample it for free! Sounding like the best elements of bands I like this song drew me in and provided hooks my ears found pleasing.
Upon further investigation I discovered Transfer hails from San Diego. The self-released Future Selves came out in November. They received an 8.0/10 review from PopMatters for the album. The band's site states 'Losing Composure' refers to schizophrenia:
"It was originally inspired by delirium tremens: the condition where the symptoms of severe withdrawl from alcohol cause major hallucinations. I thought of someone that had such an intense hallucination he felt he was sent on a government mission to collect information from an unexplored planet and save the earth. The person I imagined gradually lost his mind over time and this particular trip was his grand maul meltdown."
Based on the songs I've heard so far Transfer is a band to watch. Check them out and let me know what you think!
Losing Composure by Transfer (7662 KB)
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I saw this guy in a local Wendy's yesterday about lunchtime. I initially saw him upon entering and immediately noticed a bushy tail and the large furry ears. As impressive as it was, I wasn't prepared for the makeup, which essentially transformed this guy to a fox (with catlike contacts to boot).
He was with his mother who seemed fine with his costume. When I asked him why the elaborate get-up he said it was a 'social experiment.' It seemed to work on some level; adults were incredulous, kids were fascinated. Still, not your everyday Wendy's patron.
It's really a shame Private Eleanor didn't achieve a higher profile before going on hiatus in late 2007. The band from Baltimore had several well-regarded releases, including what should have served as their breakthough in the 2007 album Sweethearting. Their combination of softly lilting songs and guy-girl vocals are exactly what appeal to fans of Mojave 3 or Yo La Tengo, groups to which Private Eleanor has been compared at various times. Add in a healthy dose of upbeat, slightly jangly tunes and you have a band to watch.
Private Eleanor came to my attention with a track on a Magnet Magazine CD sampler as each issue had a disc of new music. It was a spring night in 2007 when I first heard 'A better way to run' and could not stop listening. I've always been attracted to catchy music and this was ear candy. I immediately found the band's website and purchased the CD. I was pleased to receive the album in a package mailed by PE primary songwriter Austin Stahl.
It is hard for me to compare Private Eleanor with anyone else. No, they're not the most original band, and I understand why Mojave 3 or Yo La Tengo get used as comparisons. My own personal comparison is to the seemingly long-forgotten Aussie band Sea Stories.* They had a similar song dynamic and were similarly lost in the public consciousness despite releasing a couple of albums on I.R.S. Records.
*Music geek story/trivia: I met Sea Stories members Simon Honisett and Penny Hewson in 1996 when they were touring to support their post-Sea Stories project Gigantaur. Both were exceptionally nice people as they co-hosted an episode of my Sunday night radio show and played in-studio. During our discussion I learned Simon's dad had done artwork for many Australian postage stamps, some of which were in my collection. It was an odd connection but one we thought was funny at the time. The last I heard Simon was living in Portland, Oregon while Penny was back in Australia and ran the Choc Chip Records label for a while.
What Stahl and the rest of Private Eleanor created was a sublime sonic tapestry. The instrumentation is always just right on Sweethearting; nothing is too loud or too soft. It probably helps that much of the album was recorded live in the same room, but having producer T.J. Lipple was a good move as well. The results display the work and rehearsals that must have been involved in producing the album.
What really helps Private Eleanor stand out is the vocal interaction between Stahl and Marian Glebes. It seems to me this is a case of two voices being better than one. When Glebes and Stahl mesh the songs excel. That is not to say it's necessary for everything to be a duet. On a quieter acoustic guitar/piano driven song such as 'Consider the archer' you feel it when Stahl sings "Tonight feels like home, but I wonder if it won't be recalled as the end of something." It's a plaintive song and Stahl conveys the emotion perfectly.
But it's the more upbeat numbers where I fell in love with Private Eleanor. There is a nominal story through the album, and it ends with a mostly optimistic outlook in 'This year I'm going to see the sun.' I understand the hopefulness in a lyric such as "I'd forgotten how the light looks when the sun's this low in the sky, and the feeling of possibility when you know it's on the rise." However, it is immediately tempered by "But the sensation's fleeting." It is that cautious optimism I found endearing in Private Eleanor.
Due to band member's schedules, school responsibilities, life, etc. Private Eleanor announced they were going on indefinite hiatus in November 2007. All is not lost though: the band is still selling copies of Sweethearting on their site for $5 shipping included. Treat yourself to a lost treasure.
A Better Way To Run by Private Eleanor (5382 KB)
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This Year I'm Going To See The Sun by Private Eleanor (8149 KB)
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If you order Sweethearting you may receive a free copy of the Baltimore band compilation This City of Neighborhoods if any are left. On it are a couple of tracks by Pupa's Window, a band of which Austin Stahl is a casual contributor. Though 'Warm Embrace' hasn't been released on an album yet, I thought this short song was very promising.
Warm Embrace by Pupa's Window (3564 KB)
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Dear Son Volt,
I never saw this coming. I never thought I'd hear a Son Volt album I could possibly love more than Trace or Straightaways. What have you done? American Central Dust is a left turn onto a dusty gravel road that is new, yet strangely familiar and comforting. Thank you!
Seriously, I read the press about the new album serving as return to the roots of Trace. Everyone says that when they want to inject a bit of life into their fan base and possibly raise an eyebrow or two. But you guys are serious. From the first line of the opening tune it is clear this is a different Son Volt album. 'Dynamite' is the best album opener since 'Windfall.' A fairly short song at 2:50, it sets the album mood nicely with the accordion, acoustic guitar, and percussion. I feel it when Jay Farrar sings "There is no right way, only the way that keeps your mind free."
Quality songs keep coming. 'Roll On' is beautiful with the gentle electric guitar flourishes. The organ complements the guitar perfectly. 'Cocaine and Ashes' is a great piano-driven ode to Keith Richards. Even the single 'Down to the Wire' doesn't let down with its nasty vibe and groove. This captures the ear and stays once the song has ended.
Perhaps my favorite song so far is 'No Turning Back.' This ode to the long-haul trucker has everything fans love about Son Volt: a great hook, guitars and organ playing well together, and harmony vocals. And who can't use a song that namedrops Lead Belly?
Granted, there may not be a song that rocks in the same way as 'Route' from Trace, but Son Volt is a different band now. The Boquist boys have departed and it's a new group around Farrar creating the tunes now. I give credit to Chris Masterson for creating some of the texture here too. I saw his work in Jack Ingram's band and I think it's possible his contributions are large. If I'm wrong please feel free to correct me Jay.
The bottom line is this: after producing music for nearly 15 years as Son Volt I don't think we fans had any expectations the results would be this solid. Sure, we hoped they would, but one never knows how a band will mature. If there was any doubt it has been dismissed. Heck, at this point my biggest regret is I didn't take advantage of the CD/t-shirt combo offered on the website upon the album's release.
In 'Dust of Daylight' Farrar sings "Hand in hand there are angels that are holding warning signs." Certainly none of the signs are warnings about this album. American Central Dust is a first-rate release by one of the founders of the alt-country movement. Now all I need to do is fill up the gas tank, find the open highway, and absorb all Son Volt has to offer.
Sincerely,
Me
From American Central Dust:
Roll On by Son Volt (6131 KB)
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No Turning Back by Son Volt (6927 KB)
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From Trace:
(3741 KB)
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Jay Farrar with Mark Spencer performing 'Cocaine and Ashes' at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, CA.
Save the Seal!
Whales act instinctively to save seals
Robert L. PitmanLast January we sailed from the tip of South America to the Antarctic Peninsula on the sixty-five-foot yacht Golden Fleece, in search of killer whales. The kind we were looking for—which potentially constitute a new species—prey on seals that live on and around the sea ice. We hoped to document one of their remarkable hunting techniques: sometimes as many as seven whales swim side by side to make a wave that washes a seal off an ice floe. The journey brought some surprises.
Early one morning, we located a pod of ten killer whales that we had previously tagged for satellite tracking, and found they had a pair of agitated, adult-size humpback whales in their midst. The humpbacks were bellowing loudly through their blowholes and slapping the water with their tails and fifteen-foot flippers. At first we thought that the humpbacks were under attack, but we saw no overt signs of aggression, so we concluded that they were probably just being harassed. Killer whales often test larger whales, perhaps to check for weaknesses that they might be able to exploit. We ducked below deck to quickly review some video footage of the event, however, and noticed a Weddell seal between the humpbacks—perhaps that’s what the killer whales were after.
The killer whales moved on, and fifteen minutes later they spotted a crabeater seal on an ice floe. They created a wave that broke up the floe and left the distraught seal on a piece of ice not much bigger than it was. Just when it seemed the killers were about to have their way, the same pair of humpbacks charged in, swimming around the floe, bellowing and thrashing the water. The killer whales seemed annoyed and finally left the seal alone, still safe on the floe. We concluded that perhaps this deliberate intrusion by the humpbacks was some jumbo-size form of mobbing behavior, comparable to the way songbirds pester birds of prey to drive them off.
A week later we witnessed a similar event that suggested a somewhat different interpretation. Another group of killer whales was attacking a Weddell seal on an ice floe, and a different pair of large humpbacks had inserted themselves into the fray. At one point, the predators succeeded in washing the seal off the floe. Exposed to lethal attack in the open water, the seal swam frantically toward the humpbacks, seeming to seek shelter, perhaps not even aware that they were living animals. (We have known fur seals in the North Pacific to use our vessel as a refuge against attacking killer whales.)
Just as the seal got to the closest humpback, the huge animal rolled over on its back—and the 400-pound seal was swept up onto the humpback’s chest between its massive flippers. Then, as the killer whales moved in closer, the humpback arched its chest, lifting the seal out of the water. The water rushing off that safe platform started to wash the seal back into the sea, but then the humpback gave the seal a gentle nudge with its flipper, back to the middle of its chest [see photograph]. Moments later the seal scrambled off and swam to the safety of a nearby ice floe.
It occurred to us that in all three of these encounters, the menacing behavior of the killer whales may have triggered a protective maternal response in the humpback whales. Even though they did not have calves that were at risk, they acted immediately and instinctively to counter the threat posed to a smaller animal.
When an animal provides maternal care to another that is not its own offspring, it is termed allomaternal care [see “Meet the Alloparents,” April 2009]. Maternal behavior may even cross species boundaries. Perhaps the most common example of that is when humans raise pets, but there are plenty of cases of domestic cats and dogs adopting orphaned animals. Such behavior has been documented less frequently in undomesticated animals—though in 1996 a mother gorilla at the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago made headlines when she gently picked up a three-year-old boy who had fallen into the gorillas’ enclosure and carried him to the zookeepers’ door.
When a human protects an imperiled individual of another species, we call it compassion. If a humpback whale does so, we call it instinct. But sometimes the distinction isn’t all that clear.
This interesting story about the Antarctic humpback whales was brought to my attention by Betsy Karasik on Twitter. It would be extraordinary if we could prove they are acting in a protective manner. In any case, the instinct/compassion shown to protect the seals is noteworthy.
Charges filed in case of john robbed by prostitute in KC
Kansas City police have arrested a prostitute accused of robbing a customer over the weekend and stealing his car, which contained up to $50,000 in sports memorabilia.
Jackson County prosecutors today charged Carolyn A. Williams, 45, of Kansas City, with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action for the holdup Sunday.
The victim said he met the prostitute about 8 p.m. on Independence Avenue near Brooklyn Avenue. After he drove her to a parking lot near Independence and Tracy Avenue, they walked into an apartment, where he thought he was going to pay $40 in exchange for sex. Instead, the prostitute and a gun-toting man robbed him.
The victim gave them some cash, but the prostitute said she wanted more.
“I got rent due tomorrow,” she said.
The robbers took $360, the man’s cell phone and car keys and told him to walk away. The victim saw the robbers drive away in his car, which contained the valuable memorabilia.
Police said they recovered the stolen memorabilia. Police were still looking for the suspected gunman.
If you need the services of a working woman, please take the $50,000 worth of sports memorabilia home first. Why risk the Jose Canseco rookie card while out looking for a good time? This is clearly not the brightest guy on so many levels.
Rural Missouri sometimes does things just a little bit differently. Sure, the festival may not actually be in the cemetery but at first glace it's hard to be sure!
An accident on the Heart of America Bridge in Kansas City this morning is still causing issues. While the wreck happened in the southbound lanes northbound traffic was still effected by emergency vehicles.
Though a van ended up straddling the barriers there didn't appear to be any injuries.
After my post earlier this evening of Peter Shankman's column regarding Air Traffic Control and business (here) I thought it was time for a photography post. Inspired by thoughts of air travel here is a selection of photographs I've taken from the air.
Early morning Missouri countryside departing Kansas City International.
Taken with my Holga on a plane from Atlanta to Kansas City.
The unusually shaped Quimby Island in California, just to the west of Stockton, part of the Franks Tract State Recreation Area.
Countryside in western Missouri as my plane approaches Kansas City International Airport.
Two shots from the same landing approach into Kansas City.
Taking photographs from the air presents its own unique challenge. To learn more about how to achieve good photos while in a plane, check out these columns for tips and tricks: Ken Rockwell and photo.net.
