FLASHES-BACK & FRICTION POINTS

A FLASH BACK

     It was on this day, July 9 in 1962 that some of Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame began.  The Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles opened an exhibition of the pop artist's iconic work pictured here.

      Hard to believe this "modern art" is 50 years along. And 

a half century seems a long 15 minutes doesn't it?

MODERN TRAVAILS

     Thanks to the NEW YORK TIMES we know our cellphone carriers responded to 1.3 Million "demands" from law enforcement agencies last year. 

      Text messages, caller locations and other information was sought for investigations.  Congress is conducting an investigation of its own on what the TIMES says is "an explosion of cellphone surveillance."

      I read the full 9/11 Commission Report and recommendations  and have followed changes in intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies since. So I wonder, despite the gathering of all of this data, are our security agencies sharp enough to do anything with it?  As a journalist I saw how vital information was mishandled, miscommunicated, not shared, was amassed without appropriate analysis and even misinterpreted by federal, state and local law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies.  I'm not convinced, nor are experts and those in the field, that things have improved much. That does not, however, negate the serious questions the data collection raises. 

      Just another entry in the age of Information Wars.   

DAY FILE

THE SHORE

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) LOOK, UP IN THE AIR

IT'S A, NO IT'S A....

Today THE WEEKENDER :) provides a 

couple of fascinating videos of 

flight.  

One provides a great visual text of hummingbirds

and interaction. It is promotional video, but it is
very enjoyable.

Now, you'll need to look closely to see
an extraordinary flight.
An unmanned glider flies over the Pacific Ocean
at 20 times the speed of sound.
The video was released by DARPA, the Defense
Advanced Research Agency.  It features
the Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle-2. It was
launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, atop
a Minotaur 4 rocket.  It is hard to see, but it is a 
glimpse of something traveling faster than Mach 5.

Keep looking up.
See you down the trail.

SPRING ON THE BLUFFS

EYE CANDY

       Our sympathy goes to those of you in the mid section of the country, suffering  the aftermath of Sunday's deadly storms. And our best thoughts to those facing  flooding. Perhaps this post will bring some light into your day. The western edge of the continental US is decked out in spring color.

 the bird seemed to be posing

 interesting shadow play
UPDATE NOTE FROM BOB
Friends,

A colleague and friend called me, "You said you would like to go fishing in the Volga River before going into the hospital. If it would put Mrs. Foster's mind at ease, even though you prefer fishing alone, I'd go with you." Monte is a fly fisherman. They understand space and solitude, so I agreed. We waded that little river all day. More to my disappointment than his, Monte caught one little creek chub. I caught a couple of small mouthed bass and a rainbow trout. The water was too cold for much fish activity. We literally wore ourselves out wading, climbing up and down river banks and stumbling through the woods. We saw limestone bluffs, fossil formations, eagles, orioles, finches, deer, a ground hog, muskrat and lavender wildflowers. The woods were freshly greened. The afternoon sun brought the colors alive. We heard rippling water. At the end of the day, Monte turned to me, smiled and said, "Foster, this is the second best fishing day of my life. The best was when I caught a 19" trout in Montana. This is close."

Huh? One little creek chub. 10 hours of work? A good day?  It was unspoken between us. He had taken a cancer patient fishing. His gift was giving me the chance to enjoy one of my favorite activities for the only time I can in 2011.

We have vowed to return in June 2012. The water will be warmer. However, sometimes the number of fish simply doesn't matter. 

Foster 

See you down the trail.