Blooper

It's a pity that church signs don't come with spellcheckers:

Sea Gull Spat

Betcha didn't know that sea gulls have little spats, just like people do. Here's the proof:

Maybe I should start a career in tabloid journalism!

OBX5

The Unveiling

As a followup to yesterdays' post, I'm going to show you the cartoons that outraged Muslims around the world and, in one case, inspired a conspiracy to commit murder.

I caution you to think carefully before you read any further. What you're about to see may cause dizziness, blindness, kidney and liver disorders, digestive difficulties, skin rashes, eternal damnation or - even worse - make you wet your pants.

Are you still here? Okay - don't say I didn't warn you. What appears below is the complete set of cartoons as originally published in Denmark:

If you're still reading (and your pants are dry), and you're up to taking yet another risk, this is what I consider the funniest cartoon in the set:

NB: I am not liable for damages to your eyesight, internal and external organs, soul or clothing incurred by the reading of this post.

Yale University Press Caves In

Yale University Press has removed from an upcoming book, The Cartoons That Shook the World, twelve cartoons that Muslim extremists deemed offensive.* Some of you may recall that, just over a year ago, Random House elected not to publish a book entitled, Jewel of the Medina, because they feared Muslim backlash. That book was published by Beaufort Books, a small publisher that proved to have a much stronger spine than the big boy on the bookseller's block. Is it too much to hope that a small publishing house will publish a supplement to Cartoons that actually includes, you know, the cartoons?

These decisions disappoint and infuriate me. They disappoint me because publishers, particularly a university press, should have the intestinal fortitude (aka, guts) to stand up for free speech and a free press. If nothing else, it's in their own self-interests to do so - no need to worry about censors if one is willing to censor oneself. They infuriate me because decisions like these tell extremists that, if they throw temper tantrums and get violently nasty, then the rest of humankind will accede to their demands, no matter how unreasonable or oppressive those demands may be.

We in the west like to talk big about what we've fought for and how much we've accomplished. If we stop fighting for things that are worth fighting for - like freedom of expression - then we will lose those things to extremists who are willing to fight and die for nonsense. And, once we lose those freedoms, the chances are that it won't be long before we're not accomplishing anything worthwhile anymore. The USA is supposedly fighting terrorism and extremism in the Middle East, at least in part, to protect our freedoms (unless I missed the latest pronouncement about what we're trying to accomplish over there this week). I've got news for the people who continue to waste precious financial, material and human resources in those wars, and to those who continue to justify that waste: if we willingly surrender our freedoms right here at home, just because some people may be offended by what we say or do, then we've already lost those wars. There's no need to fight "them" over there, because "they" won't have to bother coming here - they've already beaten us. Or, to be more precise, we've beaten ourselves.

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* If nothing else, this seems to be a marketing fiasco: who in her right mind is going to read a book about controversial cartoons and their effects, yet settle for not seeing firsthand what all the brouhaha was about?

OBX4

The storm front is moving out and the weather is getting better here in OBX. I got down to the beach with my camera yesterday afternoon and came away with lots of wave action and animal antics.

I took this one in the morning, while conditions on the beach were still pretty rough.

I took these in the afternoon.

I've also got some critters for the animal lovers among you.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the black lab that was running headlong into the waves, bobbing up and down and thoroughly enjoying himself. I spoke briefly with some of the humans in his pack and we all agreed that the dog was having a grand time.

Speaking of grand times, the sun is coming out, so I'm going to get ready for some quality beach time.

OBX3

I don't know if you've been tracking the weather in these parts. The weather has been frightful since we arrived at the campground on Sunday night. We had heavy winds and rainfalls for nearly two days. The rain finally stopped around 8:00 or so this morning. The winds have settled down somewhat, but it's still pretty windy out there. Dave and I got down to the beach for a few minutes before brunch. I'll post two of the photos I took here.

The first one was experimental. Since the wind was blowing, I set my camera at a slow shutter speed to catch the movement of the grass and played with multiple exposures. Then, I played with the lighting and coloring. This is what I came up with - I was trying for an ethereal, impressionist effect.

I also took some high speed shots of a series of waves as they broke on the beach - more experimentation. The idea here was to capture waves in motion. You'll probably have to click on the photo to get a better look at what I was trying to do.

That's all I'm going to post for the moment. I'm going to wander back down to the beach before it rains again.

OBX2

Dave and I saw several of these birds yesterday. I think this is a brown pelican. Does anyone out there know for sure?

UPDATE: A bird-watching friend and a US forest ranger both confirmed, via emails, that this is a brown pelican.

OBX1

Dave and I arrived at the Outer Banks today. Today's travels included two ferry rides. The first one, from mainland North Carolina to Ocracoke Island, took about 2.5 hours. After a short drive up the island, we took another ferry from Ocracoke to Hatteras Island, where we are staying in a campground on the oceanfront. The ocean is a little more than 100 yards (and one short climb over a sand dune) from our campsite. Yeah, tough life, but someone's gotta live it. Here are some of today's photos. I haven't edited all of them yet, I just figured I'd take a break from editing and start posting them.

This is the approach to Ocracoke from the Pamlico Sound, which separates the Outer Banks islands from the mainland. The lighthouse in the background is the historic Ocracoke Lighthouse. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to walk on the lighthouse grounds because there was no place to park our camper.

This is Dave driving the camper off the ferry at Ocracoke.

These are some of the sea gulls we saw today. Dave saw a school of dolphins, but they got away before he could shoot them. I was in the camper at the time, so I missed them completely.

Happy Birthday, Joshua!

Today is Joshua's 19th birthday. Since he chose to attend college halfway across the country, I'll have to send his birthday greetings through cyberspace.

Happy Birthday! Enjoy your special day with your friends down in Baton Rouge!