onshore afternoons

Photo copyright Gazelle 1992

Will Rogers State Beach, CA

killing bugs

Photo copyright Gazelle 1992

Palisades Park, Santa Monica

In honor of the release of Foulweather #2, I offer some beauty from the filth:

"Nothing in the shelter makes more sense to me, makes me understand my purpose more, than to kill bugs on a homeless man's flesh, to dress him well in donated, cast-off clothes, to see him the next day, laughing beside a burning barrel."

- another bullshit night in suck city, Nick Flynn

down south

Photo copyright 2000 Gazelle

Redneck mini-mall, rural South Carolina

flutter bye

I am not ashamed to admit I like butterflies. Sure, they're not the most masculine of creatures but in my book they've got a lot going for them. First off, they're really cool looking - in flight, or migration, or just hanging out on a rock or a flower. They also pollinate a lot of plants. And how about the way some will rhythmically fan their wings while stationary? Or the fact that they start off life as a caterpillar (a very cool creature in itself)? Face it, butterflies are bitchin' and you know it. You're probably thinking you'd like to be reincarnated as one right now.

I remember as a little kid living in Laguna Beach in the early 70's, seeing Monarch butterflies everywhere. They used to camp out in eucalyptus trees in my neighborhood. It was a migratory pattern for them to travel through on their way to Mexico or points north. They fluttered by everywhere. It was awesome. There were other butterflies around, too, and I dug all of them. Little did I know then I would live to see a rapid decline in their numbers. Butterflies worldwide have been hit hard by deforestation, development, pesticides, air pollution, and infections. In Britain, Sir David Attenborough is backing a project to help save butterflies and educate people of their intrinsic value and importance to ecosystems: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/13/conservation.wildlife1. These creatures are indicators, very sensitive to changes in the environment, similar to amphibians in that regard (don't get me started on salamanders - they're disappearing too and it pisses me off). Anyway, when indicator species start disappearing, it's time to pay attention and do something.

the other side

Photo copyright 2000 Gazelle

Edisto River and wetlands, S. Carolina

"Disengaging the clutch, I lurch forward, one car's length closer to the border - one unit closer to a newer, less-monied world, where a different food chain carves its host landscape in alien ways I can scarcely comprehend. Once I cross that border, for example, automobile models will mysteriously end around the decidedly Texlahoman year of 1974, the year after which engine technologies became overcomplex and nontinkerable - uncannibalizable.
...I will find fences built of whalebones, chromed Toyota bumpers, and cactus spines woven into barbed wire. And down the town's deliriously white beaches there will be spare figures of street urchins, their faces obscured and overexposed by the brightness of the sun, hopelessly vending cakey ropes of false pearls and lobular chains of fool's gold."

Douglas Coupland, Generation X: Tales For An Accelerated Culture

ristorante cinese

Photo copyright 2000 Gazelle

Venice, Italy

fun in the bun

Photo copyright 1996 Gazelle

Chicago, Illinois

Is there any fun out of the bun?

soft and pointed

Photo copyright 1994 Gazelle

Yucca, San Gabriel Mountains, California

Away from the decay and back to the beauty.

terrorism clarified

in case you were unsure...

(click to enlarge)

gordon gekko lives...

...and he's richer than ever!

Ben Stein tells us all about it

The Gekko character may not have been a CEO, but his business philosophy was right in line with most of these raiders. This a very, very, very big problem for our economy and all working class and middle class Americans. Demand that Congress or the SEC do something about it!

damn commie tree huggers...

Green Is The New Red