- Giant oarfish Regalecus glesne in the Gulf of Mexico (M. C. Benfield et al)
Via reddit, I found this video of a giant oarfish, which is apparently a rare sight.
From the Wikipedia entry on giant oarfish (emphasis added):
- The giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne), also called the king of herrings, is a species of oarfish of the family Regalecidae. It is an oceanodromous species that has a worldwide distribution, excluding polar regions.
Regalecus glesne is the world's longest bony fish. Its shape is ribbonlike, narrow laterally, with a dorsal fin along its entire length, stubby pectoral fins and long, oar-shaped pelvic fins, from which its common name may be derived. Its coloration is silvery with dark markings, and its fins are red.
Its physical characteristics and its undulating mode of swimming have led to speculation that it may be the source of many "sea-serpent" sightings.
Today I was out walking around Columbus, Ohio and for the first time I found the old remaining arch that was once part of the Union Station (a train hub for back when people actually used trains for transportaion) there's a lot of history behind the Union Station, and the circumstances of the stations being torn down.
I've expressed my love of rail travel before, but I think it's truly a shame that in the U.S., the rail system is no longer a major mode of transportation. Admittedly, I don't much like cars and I realize that rail travel is something that's a bit romanticized, but I really think that trains could help ease some of the common problems in the U.S. Plus, you can get a beer on a train and not have to worry about it.
I loved traveling by train across the States -That link is my "how to" regarding Amtrak from Ann Arbor MI to Whitefish MT
One of these days, I plan to do the length of the Trans Siberian Express: I'd even like to extend the route, taking the ferry from Sakaiminato to Vladivostok and then making my way to England. Of course, I'd want to take my time with it and would likely need to raise some serious scratch or find some other way to subsidize the trip. What are dreams for, right?
I live in Columbus, Ohio:) for all the crap Ohio gets, we've got some lovely sights.
I went on a hike in Joshua Tree this weekend. It was called an Oasis Hike. 4 miles later you get to this little tiny oasis in the middle of the scorching 110F heat. It was amazing.
Great photos! What was the oasis like? I was recently in Tulum Mexico and I went skinny dipping in the ocean several times. There's nothing like it.
It says during rainy seasons there is more water but it was basically a super lush shady area with a bunch of palm trees in the middle of no where. It was stunning, and reminded me of those old cartoons where people imagine an oasis but there is none there. The insane heat and the fact that the oasis goes in and out of view on the way there as you hike through rocks and hills makes me believe it would be really easy to be confused about what you are/aren't seeing.
The last thing I found truly beautiful, which excites me just thinking about it, is Dependency Injection.
I was just at the Durham Life and Sciences Museumd, a place I visit almost every weekend. They have four American Black Bears there that live in a really nice outdoor enclosure. Every time I go there I try and visit them but they are rarely close. Today one of them was extremely close to me and I got to stand there and watch as he waded trough some water and then sunbathed for a bit. I felt like we had a nice little moment there, just me and the bear. They are really beautiful animals.
What music? What hallucinogens? I decided to take a year off after I graduated from high school. It was a pretty great year and one of the nights that stands out the most is when I camped out on the Potowatami trail in Michigan with some friends. We all dropped acid and went swimming at sunset. Man, was that fun. The pink from the setting sun bounced all over the water, and when I put my head under the water it felt like I could hear everything going on in that lake from the swimmers to the boats and all the laughter etc. It was awesome. When we got out of the water and dried off, I was drawn to a tree up on a hill about 25 yards from our camp site. As I sat there, one of my friends put on #thebeatles Abbey Road. I've never felt more connected to music, nature and everything all at once. The knots in the tree started to swirl and move in accordance to the rhythms of the songs. Faces in the tree started to emerge and seemed friendly. It was crazy. It was awesome. It was definitely "beautiful."
Haha, I wish I could say the same. I took a "legal" (unscheduled) research chemical called 25i recently at 1000ug. It was my first hallucinogenic experience, and for the most part I had what most would consider a horror story. I took it at 11 at night, I didn't know that you couldn't sleep under the influence of it, so I stayed up all night and also stayed up the next night out of pure fear of seeing someone's facial features being broken again. The only escape was music. It was definitely a whole other dimension. It was great! I could close my eyes and see the fractals that my mind interpreted. To me, when I closed my eyes, I saw what the song was made out of. Unfortunately, even that had its downs. I ended up hearing "POWER" By Kanye and thought I was God. All in all, it was a unique experience, and I'm lucky I didn't get myself killed.
Yes, hallucinogens can lead to some dark places, but generally I have found that part of setting the scene for a good trip is being in a state of mind where I'm not holding onto anything. Most of my bad trips and the ones I've witnessed have started out of some desire to control the situation or even worrying that the situation is out of control. Drugs aren't nutritive, but the old standbys are standbys because they're fairly predictable in their effects, within a certain range. Research chemicals can be fun, but often they're so exotic, it's hard to say what one is getting for certain. That said, a great place to find out what's new is MIT around Halloween. All those damn orgo majors and grad students . . .
Haha, I was thinking about MIT for either organic chem or programming. I hadn't thought about that before, that's a great idea though! "Most of my bad trips and the ones I've witnessed have started out of some desire to control the situation or even worrying that the situation is out of control."
-I've definitely started to understand that as of late. Though, I'd say that this trip was a bit of an exception to it. At the dosage that me and my buds took, we all generally had a pretty similar trip. The first couple of hours is like gritting your teeth - except that feeling through your whole body, especially your legs. Because of that, we ended up having to move around and go outside. We saw a dead cat and shit went south pretty quick for a good 7 hours, although. It's not like that mattered since time was just non-existent and it felt closer toa week or so.
Well, can't beat MIT! That sucks your trip got ruined because of that. Dead cats have a way of turning up in weird places. Once I was swimming, just off a gorgeous white sand beach. The water was so clear and so perfectly inviting. As I was remarking on how clean and beautiful the setting was compared to where I was living at the time, I spotted kind of an amorphous blob. I didn't have my glasses on, but as it drifted closer it reminded me of something. So, I swam nearer and sure enough, it was the skin of a tortoiseshell cat! My then-girlfriend freaked right out and ran inside to take a shower. As I brushed my teeth of any potential dead-cat nastiness, I kept wondering why anyone would bother to skin a cat. That day was a little like tripping.
Drugs can lead to beautiful experiences, but they can also be pretty damned scary. They are not to be taken lightly. I've certainly had some bad experiences myself. It's been many years since I've taken anything like that and I don't think I ever will again. Glad you're alive.