Camp Fire Update 11/17/18

Picture of the Day - Lava Lamp and Rocki

Today I pulled my old giant lava lamp (last fired it up in 2009) out of storage. By the grace of God I found a light bulb (100W R-20) which I still had which used to be in it). After much cleaning up the base and bottle, I fired it up. Tonight I captured this scene as my feline friend and I enjoyed the new ambiance in our living space. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Moon-rise Over Spring Fire

From the first day of the Spring Fire (yesterday) in Costilla County, Colorado, it has been an exceptionally photogenic and dramatic-looking fire. Tonight was no exception as this freeze-frame from live-streaming Viaero webcam convincingly demonstrates. Image courtesy of Viaero Wireless.

Current California Wildland Fires (6/28/2018)

*Updated 6/28/2018-12:13 p.m.

Seventy-Four Years Ago Right Now

This was happening tonight here, but early tomorrow morning there:


For my foreign readers who are not familiar with this event, this was the Western Allied amphibious assault (a.k.a. Operation Neptune) on German forces in Normandy, France, as the tip of the spear of a broader invasion of Nazi-controlled Western Europe known as Operation Overlord in June, 1944, per the agreement at the Tehran Conference a year earlier.

I just had a profound & profund realization & revelation.... while heavily buzzed on a delightful red blend.

Picture of the Day - Zombie Apocalypse PSA

Today at Atascadero High School, I encountered this poster on the door to the staff restroom adjacent to the Student Health Center. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - CAL FIRE Aerodrome

I found this Google Earth image on Twitter tonight. It shows numerous CAL FIRE aerial assets parked on the tarmac at an unidentified airfield. In this image we see six of CALFIRE's 23 Grumman S-2T 1,200 gallon airtankers and 10 of its 14 OV-10A airtactical aircraft (air attack planes).
Image courtesy of Google Earth (all rights reserved).

Nocturnal Kilauea

The ongoing eruption of Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii continues to captivate me. Below is a USGS video published this morning showing events yesterday.
REMINDER: this is really more of a change and escalation of an eruption which actually began in 1983 and has periodically escalated in the past such as in 1990 when a similar change and escalation sent it into Kalapana Gardens which destroyed it. This time, the community of Leilani Estates is being destroyed by an eruptive fissure. This contrasts with the 1990 eruption which destroyed property by way of lavas flows from elsewhere sending lava into the community. This current phase has featured a rather intense earthquake swarm capped by a M6.9 earthquake and a few M5s and many smaller quakes.

Picture of the Day - Mark Is #1

So there is a new safety webcam on my alley.... to test how vigilant is my Slumlord Sauron and his All-Seeing Eye, at a random moment I visually let him know he is #1 in my book, which he summarily captured for posterity. Image courtesy of Slumlord Sauron a.k.a. Mark (all rights reserved).

R.I.P. Krautchan

I discovered the chans several years ago, coming to the party rather late in the game. I've never posted even once on any chan, forever a lurker. I found them to be a veritable gold mine of fresh memes (I refuse to call them "dank") and even older memes which I'd somehow missed. One of my faves was the late Krautchan (oft-referred to as "KC" by fans), a German language image board. Having never posted there let alone shitposted, I don't qualify as an authentic "Bernd", the honorary title of all "anons" (anonymous posters) there. Earlier this year Krautchan was finally killed off (closed down by the host nation) once and for all by the uber-PC SJW German guberment. This followed repeated shut-downs previously due to racially-themed un-PC shitposting there. Each time it reemerged from sanctions such as its near-death experience in 2016 for which the above image macro refers. Alas, poor Krautchan, I hardly knew ye!

Picture of the Day - XXXIII-Year Chip

Earlier this evening I attended an an "open" (as in non-alcoholics are welcome) speaker's meeting (A.A.) in Atascadero. The older fella (66 years old) sitting next to me was wearing his most sentimentally important chips, including his latest chip (33-year chip) in a cool custom badge-like epaulet on his road bike jacket. I christen him "Jerry Garcia" and he served in Vietnam nearly getting himself killed more than once as an army truck driver. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)

The Wine Club Manager's Credo

One of my brothers by another mother is Mark whom I've known since 5th grade and from whom I've rented the place across his carport since 2009 here in downtown Paso Robles. He works at a top-tier local winery. His smart phone is an iPhone and is particularly important to his career. Something happened this week in regards to it that inspired me to reconfigure the U.S. Marine Corps'  Rifleman's Creed to make it apply to his phone. I had fun doing this and I hope you do reading it.

Wine Club Manager's Creed:

"This is my iPhone. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My iPhone is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

My iPhone, without me, is useless. Without my iPhone, I am useless. I must dial my iPhone true. I must dial more accurately than my coworkers who are trying to take my job. I must out-dial them before they out-dial me. I will...

My iPhone and myself know that what counts in this industry is not the size of our pours, the number of minutes spent on the phone, nor the amount of dank smoke we make in the parking lot after work. We know that it is the wine club member totals that count. We will recruit more...

My iPhone is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its apps. I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my iPhone clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

Before God, I swear this creed. My iPhone and myself are the defenders of my winery. We are the masters of our competitors. We are the saviors of my career.

So be it, until victory is my winery's and there is no worthy competition, but high membership levels!

Picture of the Day - Crystal Gayle

Tonight at the event I worked I had the distinct privilege of watching Crystal Gayle and her sister Petty Sue perform at a private birthday party of a prominent local person.
Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Graphic of the Day - Incoming Atmospheric River IV

Twenty-four hours since my last check-in here about this, the weather models are once again bullish that a storm system will develop and coincide with the arrival of an Atmospheric River/Pineapple Express event here in California by next weekend.

Obviously, the forecast keeps changing which is to be expected given how far out we are. However, weather models of improved dramatically in recent years and this will probably be a thing. If it does, this could potentially something the likes of which I've never experienced this late in the season.

Images courtesy of NBC Bay Area (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Easter Cajun Omelot

This morning en route walking to the downtown park in Paso Robles, I revisited a spot at which I enjoyed a shrimp cocktail & 3-mimosa for lunch yesterday. Since then I plotted this morning's breakfast strategy and indulged in a pre-Easter Sunday service breakfast at Spring Seafood Bar & Grill. Their Cajun Omelot is cheap at $14 given what it is. I took my orange juice straight today. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Graphic of the Day - Incoming Atmospheric River III

Now the weather models are backing off previous prognostications to the effect that this late-season Atmospheric River/Pineapple Express event later next week will be epic nature. It seems now that there won't be any storm system coinciding with its arrival to squeeze maximum precipitation out of it. Hence, it appears at the moment that this event will bring mostly very warm showers with high sno levels and higher precipitation where orographic lift can occur such as the Sierra Nevada. It also appears the focus of this moisture will be further north than the Central Coast. Image courtesy of NBC Bay Area (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Model A Downtown

While walking along the periphery of the downtown park in Paso Robles today, I chanced upon this functioning museum specimen, a Ford Model A (1927-31). Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Graphic of the Day - Incoming Atmospheric River II

Atmospheric scientist Alicia M. Bentley tweeted this earlier today. This is now the second consecutive 24-hour period in which models are progging an Atmospheric River/Pineapple Express hitting California about a week into April. This is no April Fools Joke!

Picture of the Day - Marlyn Moonroe

Today I felt lost with what's happening in my family and needed to reboot my mind by leaving town and heading south to San Luis Obispo for a couple of hours. I had my breakfast/lunch/dinner combo in the form of the sampler plate at Mo's Barbecue Steakhouse, my first such visit. I also visited BooBoo Records and Phoenix Books, although I purchased nothing. On my walk back to my car as I passed along the south side of the SLO REP, I espied one of the Cow Parade cow statues on permanent display. I do not recall seeing this one before which made it an added treat. As some of you may or may not recall, I worked both the public display event for the Cow Parade at the Madonna Inn in September, 2016, and the private auction of the cow statues at Oyster Ridge Barn outside Santa Margarita.

Graphic of the Day - Incoming Atmospheric River

NBC Bay Area weatherman Rob Mayeda tweeted this tonight.... I hope this happens (Atmospheric River/Pineapple Express) .... it would be a first here in California in my living memory.

Picture of the Day - Haile's Rare Pepe

Today I subbed at Atascadero High School. Two of my students from last year's student teaching experience were in study hall. Haile began to draw the outline to Pepe the Frog, my all-time favorite meme. She remembered from last year when I revealed my Pepe-fetish to my classes and shared some of my favorite Rare Pepes. As she neared completion I handed her a green dry-erase marker to color in Pepe. She created a great Pepe image! Thanks, Haile! Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

A Great Last Breath

Two minutes into this 2014 modern progressive house gem by Polish deejay Matt Eray (Mateusz Szadziun) and Russian-Canadian Serei Kanev entitled "The Last Breath" comes alive.

Picture of the Day - Twisted & Glazed

Today was a particularly fulfilling day for me as I experienced a number of minor successes in sharp contrast to how things have felt for quite some time. I also wanted to cheer myself up after suffering a big let-down when I visited Loved One this afternoon. After celebrating by grabbing a burger & shake at a downtown diner I took a walk to burn off some of those calories. I unexpectedly kept walking much further than I had originally intended. On the fly I elected to walk at sunset from my 15th Street address all the way down the main drag of Spring Street to First Street/Niblick Street and turn around and walk back on the opposite side of the street. I was waylaid in that endeavor just past 6th Street when I walked southbound on the southbound side of Spring Street in front of a specialty doughnut store at 521 Spring Street with the carb-ominous name "Twisted & Glazed". Previous to this and recently, my brother-by-another-mother Wibergman let me finish half of a doughnut he acquired from this place and I was impressed and noted to myself that I needed to visit the place. Of course, I then proceeded to forget all about it.... until earlier this evening. Somehow I got out of their with only three calorie grenades at $2.50 a pop. Yes, the one at left has bacon on it, the one at top has Fruity Pebbles cereal on it, and the onte at bottom right has wafers and chocolate and such on it. Note: I did not actually eat any of this tonight preferring a full pour of red wine and two Rum & Mexican Cokes for dessert and to numb my pain. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

How It Works

Well it happened again today. I stopped by to visit and guess what I discovered? It must have started yesterday. Apparently, it was once again triggered by "breathing problems" (read as Anxiety Attack) and self-medication ensued. This will not end well I fear. I've been going through this full-on for just over three years now and much longer than that peripherally and unaware. I am haunted by the words from Alcoholics Anonymous' Big Book which are read before every meeting. That the Big Book of A.A. was heavily influenced by the Bible (A.A.'s founders were Christians) can be seen throughout this breathtakingly beautiful and profound excerpt. I am haunted by multiple parts of this which God has been bringing to mind a lot the past several months not unlike how He brings to mind passages of Scripture. It is noteworthy that one can replace the word "alcohol" with the word "sin" and it all works just as well. Each can be seen as a metaphor of the other.


"Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average.
There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest.
Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it -- then you are ready to take certain steps.
At some of these we balked. Thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.
Remember that we deal with alcohol, cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power that One is God. May you find Him now!
Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.
Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.  Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.  Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.  Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection." 

~ Chapter 5: How It Works

Picture of the Day - Mobile Mancave

Today into this evening I worked a wedding at Four Sister Ranch Vineyards & Winery northeast of Paso Robles, CA. There I witnessed a new thing in the universe: Mobile Mancave "For the Modern Day Gentleman" courtesy of Kramer Events. I wish I had thought of this first and possessed the capital to make it a reality. Oh well: at least it now exists and on my Central Coast no less. I was told by those who know, that within is contained are flat screen TV & surround-sound and plush chairs & sofas and a kitchen no less.

Both photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Graphic of the Day - So It Begins

The long-awaited Pineapple Express/Atmospheric River has arrived in California.
Image courtesy of National Weather Service.

Graphic of the Day - Incoming Pineapple Express

This is a computer modeling of rainfall totals across California from this week's epic Pineapple Express/Atmospheric River event as of earlier today with expected arrival sometime tomorrow. Image courtesy of John Lindsay (all rights reserved). 

My First Grey Pines Trail Hike

Today I took another vigorous hike on the west side/main section of Santa Margarita Lake Park with my hiking bros. I'm trying to get into a weekly routine of a 2-3 such hikes as I attempt to get back in physical fitness and lose weight. Below are some of the notable things I observed as I hiked the entirety of the Grey Pines Trail from Grey Pines Flat to Vaca Flat and back.

There are an abundance of interesting sedimentary rock formations.

This part of the lake is also where the Salinas River Channel used to run before being dam impounded by the Salinas Reservoir Dam.

The main trail skirting the north shore of the lake is visible across the lake from here.

I christened this the Penis Formation for obvious reasons.

All the rock formations in this area are Miocene sedimentary deposits that have been tectonically lifted at a uniform angle.

On the way back to the car we encountered these vultures sunning themselves on a tree overlook. They seemed utterly unconcerned with our close proximity. All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Alas, My Newest Crush Is Married

Move over, Kate Beckinsale, I have a new crush. Tonight, I watched last year's Wonder Woman movie. By the end of the nearly 2-1/2 hour movie, I was and remain besotted with  Gal Gadot. Quite unfortunately, she's already taken. Otherwise, I'd like totally have a chance with her. Then again, Kate is currently unmarried now so we'll see.

Below is a rather effective final official trailer for this movie which movie I highly recommend to anybody whose not a stick in the mud.

Picture of the Day - My Final #3 Hunt

Today my bother by another mother, Ron, and his son Ethan and I got run out of Secret Field #3 in Templeton, CA. The actual owner of the property or one of them as he framed it, drove up and flagged us down to talk to us. He told us that although we had permission to be there from the lessees of the property, his out-of-town partners didn't like the legal risk of having guests on the property. Ron and I don't believe the latter part of the story and suspect he is the sole owner and wanted us out but felt bad about it so put it off on the fictitious "other" owners. Thanks a lot lawsuit-happy America! Below is my final haul from this short-lived (the last nine months or so we enjoyed it on the whole and I enjoyed part of it off and on for the past dozen years or more) biconoid and petrified whale bone locality. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Berlin Wall Remembrance

The Berlin Wall stood as a symbol of tyranny and oppression and the division between light and darkness, freedom and slavery, for 10,316 days. It has now been, as of today, 10,316 days since it was permanently breached en route to being dismantled. Image courtesy of  Milos Vojinovic‏ @infinite_milos on Twitter (all rights reserved).

Graphic of the Day - Watersheds of the U.S.

Artist Robert Szucs is a Geographical Information System (GIS) specialist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and created this graphic (all rights reserved)

My First 2018 Rinconada Trail Hike

This afternoon I joined my brother by another mother, Mike, and his brother-in-law, for a hike up Rinconada Trail from the trailhead off of Pozo Road to the summit of the Santa Lucia Mountains. in the Santa Lucia District of the Los Padres National Forest. We took the official route up and diverged onto side-routes coming back down. This took us through the upper vestiges of the Rinconada Mine (mercury from cinnabar). Below are images I captured in the order in which I captured them.

This is a slickenslided chunk of a mineral unknown to me. There is much faulting in this area and evidence of same.

Jagged outcropped on north side of the summit.

Another jagged near-summit outcropping: they look igneous to me.

The chaparral in this area has not burned since the Las Pilitas Fire in July, 1985.

This is an unusual example of differentially-aligned slickenslide.

I had never taken today's route down the mountain so this was my first viewing of this surviving adit.

Nature is reclaiming the mining site as evidenced by this nearly-mature digger pine.

Chrysotile asbestos vein in rock boulder in mine tailings.

Pit or partially-collapsed trench?

Another example of slickenslide to be found in or near the Rinconada Mine revealing the heavily-faulted nature of this cinnabar deposit.

I wonder what are these odd-looking invasive-looking stalky plants growing in the scar of the EPA remediation of this formerly mercury-contaminated site?

The retorts used on this site were never removed and can be found in two locations in the lower tiers of this site. All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

This Is Inside Of Me

For the past few months I've been listening to this amazing trance track by Russian trance-master Arty a.k.a. Artem Stoliarov in collaboration with fellow Russian trance producer Misha Kitone a.k.a. Mikhail Kitavin. I'm making an exception to my Russia boycott when it comes to music which necessarily ought to transcend geopolitics. "Inside of Me" is a 2009 progressive trance masterpiece which will give you goosebumps if you listen to it when in the right mood, preferably nocturnally with your sound system cranked up. Over the past several months I've discovered some rather amazing trance tracks from several years ago which escaped my notice at the time as well as several new tracks from Arty in his Alpha 9 side project, the latter of which have my restored my near-term faith in the sub-genre. 

My First & Only Blue Blood Supermoon

Earlier this morning at a quarter to 3 a.m. I checked out the blue supermoon before it turned red while I slept. I was awakened by my cat or my bladder or something at 4:35 a.m. and went out and rechecked the moon. At that point it was further to the west behind a huge oak tree sans leaves so I could see it perfectly if I stood in the right place. It was in all its blue blood supermoon splendor at that point. I went to bed thinking I'd miss it and was blessed by not missing it at all. My only regret is that I did not have a good camera with which to capture it. The last one of these visible in North America was in 1866 so I'm pretty sure I won't see another one.
*Note: supermoons are when the full moon happens when the moon is at or near its closest orbit to Earth while a blue moon is the second full moon to occur in a given month while a blood moon is when the moon is partially eclipsed enough that it casts a partial shadow upon the earth which makes it appear reddish in the sky. Photo courtesy of USFS (all rights reserved).