If Al Gore and Global Warming is Wrong….So What! We need to get off oil anyway!

I for one, believe that the earth is warming. I have seen the pictures of Glacier National Park and Killamenjaro and know that the disappearence of so many glaciers and snow fields can’t be a good thing! Rivers arise in the snow capped mountains, and we need the rivers for life! It is that simple. When the scientists show me that the snow pack in all the globe’s mountain ranges has come back to the level of the 1950s, I will be much comforted. Until then…not so much.

Even if we do experience a cool down and the water we need starts flowing downhill where we need it … Big Oil is a ghastly problem for the US. The oil from unfriendly and downright hostile countries is causing terrible problems for us as a nation. Better that we wean ourselves off Middle East oil and develop our solar, wind, natural gas and geo thermal, waste (manure) gasses ect….All we need is the political will to create and implement these programs. Forget Nuclear tho…just look at Hanford and see how fast we have not solved the waste issues.

So who cares about whether Al is right or wrong….we need to get away from Petroleum as our source of power. My next blog will be on Coal! Cheers!

New Painting for US Bank In Woodenville. They asked me for a Wine Painting…I did this one.

I very seldom do a painting for a specific reason, but the US Bank system has been especially good to me by showing my work, so I did this to show for them since they have alot of wineries near their branch. Am I selling out? Not unless the painting sells and I do more and more just like it. Ah…the quandry of painting for a living……………

Seattle Rain brings me back to the easel…new painting in progress.

Winter is fast approaching and I am busy painting on rain days. The yard is muck and going out is tedious so I turn to my best friends  to keep me happy…I just hate to miss out on showing in Pioneer Square! Rain and wind makes that option impossible. Some jewelry folks take tents down and fight the weather, but the public shuns the park on rain days and so the only customers are the homeless, and they are not into buying paintings……..here is my current project…rough sketch now but will post the finished painting in a week or so……….

First Thursday …Pioneer Square! Here is hoping that it does not rain!

October is a sketchy month in Seattle. Sometimes it is warm and lovely, other times raining buckets. I am hoping for good weather as I have som many paintigs to show! I have worked on new Seattle pieces as they sell the best for me at Art in the Park. Is that selling out? Naw…I love Seattle so much it is one of my favorite subjects. Where would Dali be without Gala as a subject? Monet without his haystacks? Rothko without his blobs? I will post my latest effort from preliminary underpainting to finished product.

Did you drown your cell phone…here is the cheap and easy fix.

I did it…dropped my cell phone in water and lucky for me, my number one son was home for a time. He quickly pulled the battery and I shook it dry and then used my hair dryer to blow it warm and dry. Then the second step was to place it in a jar of rice and cork it tight. Left it for two days, put it all back together, and voila’ …works just fine now. The rice trick I got from my number two son who had drowned his cell the month previous and took it to the dealer who charged him $100. for just replacing it……then gave him the old one back and since it was dry he could retrieve all his info. He said the next week his buddy told him the rice cure…………better late than never

This Saturday I will be showing at Queen Anne in Seattle

The now annual Uptown Stroll will happen at the newly completed Counterbalance Park on the south side lower Queen Anne here in Seattle. If you want to come, I will be painting on a new Seattle cityscape and showing quite a few of my recent (and older) canvas paintings. Come meet me and tell me you follow my blog! Of course I discount my paintings to those who come meet me face to face.

Deep Water Aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico Must Be STRICTLY Regulated!

The Gulf waters are of huge importance to our country and every other country that surrounds this precious basin of ocean water! Deep or shallow aquaculture poses severe risk to the delicate balance of nature that creates coral reefs, mangrove forests, and all the life in the water. Net balls and cages of cultured fish produce millions of gallons of fish waste, and create algae blooms, (red tide) not to mention that confined millions of fish breed bacteria and virus swarms that follow the waste into the water. To prevent this, gallons of antibiotics are dumped in and of course follow into the water! Not good for raising beef, pigs, chickens, and definitly not good for the water in the Gulf. If we are so dammned obese, we do not need more food…just better food. Why keep on the way we are going? Corporate greed.

Here is an idea! The nasty flying carp that have invaded our precious rivers are eaten in Asia and some fishermen are hard at work harvesting the buggers for profit. These corprations should prove their concern for the marine environment by jumping on the bandwagon and fishing out these invasive lovlies! Name them something like “avionfish” and sell them at Albertson with recipies from Asian cooks!

Puget Sound Is Once More Swarming With Egg Yolk Jellyfish. Some Are Very Large

I have been on the ferry to Bremerton 6 times over the last three weeks, and have seen a great increase in the size and number of egg yolk jellies in the last week. Earlier, there were more of the moon jellies drifting along, but the egg yolk ones are really taking over now. They seem to be drifting about a foot beneath the surface and some are the size of basketballs now.

Interesting fact…they do not keep egg yolk jellies in the Seattle Aquarium because the people who work to clean and stock the huge tanks do not appreciate their fierce stings. The moon jellies are less painful so they have a great display of those. If you want to get a good look at the egg yolk ones, you will just have to go out on a boat and check them out personally. But do not touch!

I wonder what kind of inroads they make on salmon smotes. I understand they eat them when they are small minnows. I also wonder if they travel (drift) beneath the surface to escape hungry birds?  I do not find alot of info about them but I do know sea turtles eat them. we should perhaps raise up some sea turtles to chomp them up. I am afraid the turtles would be harmed by all the boat traffic in the Sound tho………

We Live in a Forest here in Seattle. If the drought we are in lasts too long, the whole region could have forest fires!

I worry about forest fires here in the city because everwhere you go in Seattle, and the surrounding suburbs, we live in forested land. I am surrounded by 60 foot tall douglas fir, ponderosa, and many other types of pine trees. No one waters them but mother nature, and when she skimps it sets up serious fire danger. Just three nights ago, a careless barbecue on Lake Ballenger island caught the trees and peat bog on fire and it is still burning of course because it is a peat bog. Any damned fool with an outdoor grill could start a fire here that would take out a huge number of homes. I have seen fires in the forest and trees explode like bombs, sending showers of embers flying in the wind a fire creates.

I am talking to the city council about perhaps getting a program started to remove ladder fuels along I5 and also putting a few fire trucks into service blasting the trees with water several times a week. Might be a bit expensive, but it would be alot more expensive if a whole neighborhood caught fire.

Andrew Gunderson Pastel for you to check out. My friend in Illinois found it and is selling it.

Since I get alot of hits on dear old Andrew Gunderson, here is one you wont find on ebay, but Sarah is selling it for $250. This is a really nice one and if you are interested, I can put you in touch with her. It is a large one, Mages frame, all original, and is in good condition. A little chalk dust on the glass, but nothing unusual or bad.The frame is especially nice!