Dali Museum

I had some time to myself this morning before my flight to Buffalo, so I opted to visit the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.

Oh. My. God. That was awesome.

I was somewhat familiar with his work, but seeing it in person completely blew me away. I was thrilled to marvel at each tiny brushstroke in his paintings. The level of detail he painted is just phenomenal. His use of light and shadows is masterful. No art book or print could possibly do his art justice: you simply have to see it for yourself to truly appreciate.

I was amused at the sense of humor evident in his work. His Venus De Milo with Drawers had me laughing out loud. A photo shows seated Dali in a deep-sea diver suit with wine glass balanced on his helmet, surrounded by others (including what appears to be Orson Welles) who don’t seem to be in on the joke.

He also had an intense interest in science, even incorporating DNA strands in some of his later works. Dali was also one of the first artists to use holography in his work.

There is no question the man was a genius. If I’m ever in Spain, I would love to visit the egg-topped Dali Theatre in his hometown of Figueres. And if you ever have the occasion to visit the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, do not – I repeat – do not pass up a chance to visit the Dali Museum.

In Buffalo

I’m in Buffalo now for my next leg of the trip. What little snow is left is piled shoulder-high in wet parking lots around town. Trees still had leaves on them when Sunday’s freak snowstorm hit. The heavy snow subsequently ripped many branches off the trees. Driving the three miles from the airport, the place looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. Power is said to still be flickering in the area, too, with lines still down all over town. Fortunately for me the hotel is still powered up (though some of the staff’s homes are not).

Buffalo is an interesting place, the freaky weather being just one aspect to that. There is so much history to see here, so many stately, turn-of-the-century Victorian homes that have withstood the pounding of countless similar snowstorms.

So much poverty, too, in areas.

I was amused at how many New York accents I heard aroundb Tampa. They fit in so much better here.

Global Warming

I’m finally getting around to reading Al Gore’s book, An Inconvenient Truth [warning: music]. I had been unsure about man’s effects on global warming, thinking that the earth warms and cools all the time. Then Gore sprung one of his “aha!” graphs on me: a graph showing the direct correlation of global temperatures and carbon dioxide content derived from Antartic ice cores. Every time there was an increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, the temperature spiked as well, this from a core drilling that spans hundreds of thousands of years.

The other “aha” moment was the mentioning that as the atmosphere gets warmer, it can hold more moisture, which means the moisture in the ground will be drawn into the air. This makes for dry, cracked ground and more unarable land, not what a world with a growing population needs.

Say what you want about the guy everyone jokes about having invented the Internets, but Gore’s science is sound. That’s what makes it so scary. It’s not just hype. If we keep burning CO2 the way we are, we are on a collision course with disaster.

Something’s got to change.

North Korea

Thank goodness the U.N. Security Council voted to impose sanctions on North Korea. Otherwise, we might have to bomb them back to the Stone Age.

Whuzzat? Oh yeah, that’s right. They never left the Stone Age. Sanctions against them, especially ineffective sanctions aren’t going to bother them one whit. North Korea has a large network of secret front companies. This, coupled with its continuing supply of essential items from China, makes it rather unlikely any sanctions will be effective. But at least we can say we are “doing something.”

Condelezza Rice, the lovely and talented Secretary of State, continues to dazzle with her mental prowess, announcing that “North Korea … is now completely isolated.” Gee, Dr. Rice. Did you happen to notice that for the past fifty years North Korea has been completely isolated? I’ll give Condi’s intellect the benefit of the doubt here, and just assume she’s lying again. Or spinning, if that’s what you call it. There’s a better chance of Pyongyang becoming a spring break destination than these sanctions making Kim Jong-Il cry uncle.

Now, if the U.N. imposed sanctions on bad haircuts, then ol’ Kim would feel the pinch.

Changes In Latitude, Changes In Attitude

I’m going to be changing my latitide quite dramatically in the next few days as I fly from Raleigh to Tampa to Buffalo and back to Raleigh. We did a lot of yard work this weekend and there is still more to be done. I hate walking out the door with things unfinished, but that describes my life, doesn’t it?

The last hours before a trip like this always fill me with dread. Then I get out there and things go fine. I guess I’m still not used to leaving the family and taking off.

Enough babbling. Time to pack and see if I can squeeze a haircut in before my flight.

Is Bush Gay?

I read today where Bush became the Fashion Critic-In-Chief at a Rose Garden press conference. Just because you pay attention to fashion doesn’t mean you play for the proverbial other team (and as the saying goes, not that there’s anything wrong with that). Added with other things, though, it makes one wonder.

What if the reason Republican leaders dismissed Mark Foley’s shocking behavior was because far bigger fish have bigger secrets? What if … Bush is gay? Its been the topic of humor sites for a while now. What if there’s really something to this?

Take Jeff Gannon for instance. This guy had unprecedented access to the White House at all hours. It was obvious by his innane, softball questioning that the gay-prostitute-turned-journalist didn’t get his press credentials by being a good reporter. So why was he there? Who gave free access to the White House to a male hooker with no journalistic experience? There always seemed to be a bigger story here that never got covered.

Jack Abramoff, the scandal-ridden former lobbyist, was said to have organized parties for politicians which included both male and female prostitutes. Ex-congressman and current federal PMITA prison inmate Randy “Duke” Cunningham was the most visible fall guy in the Abramoff scandal. Who else was there?

What if this comes a little too naturally for Bush?

Bush was a male cheerleeder at his all-male prep school. His college roommate was another male cheerleader, Victor Ashe, who became mayor of Knoxville and currently serves as Ambassador to Poland. Ashe is rumored to be gay. Ashe has allegedly visited the White House and Bush’s ranch in Crawford many times. Bush reportedly made many unscheduled visits to Ashe in Knoxville before Ashe was named ambassador. Just good friends, or something more? Author Kitty Kelly, while being no bastion of truth, has written about this seemingly special relationship in her biography of the Bush family.

His mother, Barbara Bush, was said to have told a fellow partygoer that her son is “not like the rest of us.” What if she was referring to more than just his noted lack of intellectual curiosity?

What if that story of Laura Bush taking up in the Mayflower Hotel are true?

I’ve got no problem with it if Bush is gay. I do have a problem with him hypocritically pushing an anti-gay agenda if he himself is gay. There is no smoking gun (heh) evidence that he is gay, but on the other hand I don’t see much that rules it out. It does make you wonder.

Justice For Military Justice?

From the day I first wore the uniform, I’ve always considered “military justice” to be an oxymoron. Military courts are more often than not kangaroo courts. If that wasn’t bad enough, military defense lawyers have to play both sides. How can the military’s defense lawyers be free to defend anyone if their careers could be jeopardized in the process?

Once such case shows the contradiction. Navy LCDR Charles Swift was recently passed up for promotion, a move that shows someone wants him out the door. Swift’s transgression? Nothing more than getting Bush’s unconstitutional military tribunal plan tossed out by the Supreme Court. Swift’s supervisor praised Swift for doing an excellent job, while calling his being passed over for promotion “quite a coincidence” in coming two weeks after the Supreme Court ruling.

Swift will surely have a successful career in civilian courts, the Navy will lose another fine lawyer, and the idea that a military defense lawyer can serve two masters will once again be turned on its head. Thank goodness for men like Swift, who never forget that the oath they took was to uphold the Constitution of the United States, not to uphold an overreaching, power-hungry president.