Burnin’

We rode a 7.1 mile loop today on Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. It’s Memorial Day weekend, yet there were only a dozen or so cars at the trailhead to this natural treasure. People come to HHI for the beach and golf. But Pinckney offers visitors and locals alike great hiking, biking and kayaking opportunities. And we saw a fox!

Established in 1975, Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of Pinckney Island, Corn Island, Big and Little Harry Islands, Buzzard Island and numerous small hammocks. The 4,053-acre refuge includes a variety of land types: saltmarsh, forestland, brushland, fallow fields, and freshwater ponds.

Archeologists have determined that prehistoric inhabitants dwelled on Pinckney Island as early as 10,000 B.C. Tribes of coastal Indians continued to live in the region until the 1700’s. The interior islands west of Hilton Head Island were protected against ocean storms, and provided abundant fishing, shell fishing, hunting, and edible plants to the native islanders.

p.s. We’ve also recently encountered wild turkeys, armadillos, deer, dolphins, turtles, gators, sharks, snakes, frogs, lizards, spiders and countless bird varieties livin’ the Lowcountry life.

“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” -Jim Morrison

From the Museum of Media History (not a real place, as far as I can tell) comes EPIC 2014, or Evolving Personalized Information Construct, a viral that walks viewers through the history and future of media since Tim Behrens-Lee “founded” the internet in 1989.

Writers Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson make several spooky projections, but due to the mood music in the piece and the soothing narration, their thinking seems legitimate and non-threatening. Unless of course, you happen to work at the New York Times. They claim the Times will be offline by 2014, the once mightly gray lady reduced to “a newsletter for the elderly and the elite.”

Thanks to Tom Asacker for the pointer. There’s some interesting discussion of the piece in his comments area.

All architecture can be considered public art. Although, much of the slap-and-paste variety so prevalent in American communities today, falls well short of such a lofty designation.

Not so in Japan, where even the manholes receive thoughtful treatment from city planners.

In a related note, Good Graffiti showcases another form of (unsanctioned) public art.

Mark and Heather done got hitched. The setting for this union could not have been more dramatic. H, a native of St. Simon’s, chose Driftwood Beach on neighboring Jekyll Island for the ceremony. Reports have it her grandmother was responsible for the perfect Sunday weather.

Weddings are almost always festive occasions—this one, especially so. From the Colorado High Country they came, dozens of smiling faces and dancing feet, belonging to friends I had not seen in too long a while.

Many blessings to the happy couple!

Last Saturday, we headed in a northwest direction to Thoroughbred Country—not to ride horses, but to hear live bluegrass. In fact, we knew nothing of the horsey set, awaiting us in Aiken. We learned quickly.

As it happens, Aiken is known throughout the world as an equestrian training center, claiming National Champions such as 1981 Kentucky Derby winner, Pleasant Colony; 1990 Preakness winner, Summer Squall; 1993 Kentucky Derby winner, Sea Hero; and Kelso, Horse of the Year for five consecutive years in the 1960s.

The source of this equine foothold? Long famed as a winter resort for some of America’s wealthiest families—the Goodyear’s, Whitney’s, Astor’s and Vanderbilt’s included—Aiken is no stranger to leisure class interests and activities. Rolling hills, pine-scented air and pleasant weather will do that to a place.

Reagan, Bush and Dubya may in fact be socially conservative, but they’re far from fiscally conservative. Cavalier spending is going to bankrupt this country unless we do something about it, and call these liars on their bullshit.

Thanks to Preposterous Universe for the heads up.

Savannah is Georgia’s first city. It’s also a place with a lot of character, and such places draw characters to them. This topic could surely serve as a cultural geography doctoral thesis, but for our purposes here, allow me to point out that Savannah is a port city. Port cities import people, and ideas carried by these people, from near and far. One such person Savannah has attracted is tall ship sailor and storyteller, Rigel Cockett.

Crockett’s book, Fair Wind and Plenty of It chronicles his year-and-a half circumnavigation of our watery planet.

According to his web site, Crockett grew up in Rose Bay, near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and has sailed professionally in tall ships from the age of twelve. A graduate of Mount Allison University, he also holds a 100-ton master’s license and a 1600-ton mate’s license in sailing and motor-ships, issued by the US Coast Guard. At the end of his twenty-six-month tour aboard the barque Picton Castle, he was awarded the title of Best Shipmate through a nearly unanimous vote. He lives in Savannah, Georgia, where he does editing work, plays bass guitar in a band and is at work on his first novel.

His site was designed by Savannah graphic artist, Ariel Janzen, who also attended Mount Allison University, leading me to believe the two may be a couple. Like I said, Savannah attracts characters.

Respect MP George Galloway is in Washington today to confront a Senate committee accusing him of profiting illicitly from Iraq’s oil-for-food program.

from Reuters: Pursued by a crowd of British journalists, Galloway arrived at the hearing just minutes before it began reviewing testimony aimed at exposing corruption in the now-defunct U.N. scheme.

“This group of neocons is involved in the mother of all smokescreens,” he said of the committee. “I want to turn the tables on this neo-con, pro-Israel, pro-war, Republican lynch mob.”

Galloway was the last witness at the hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that is examining how ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein used oil to reward politicians, particularly from Russia, France and Britain, under the humanitarian oil-for-food program.

Galloway, a maverick kicked out of the Labour Party for his fervent opposition to the Iraq war and for personal attacks on Prime Minister Tony Blair, has dismissed allegations by the committee that he benefited from the program.

To summarize, Republicans in the U.S. Senate are accusing one of Britain’s most liberal and outspoken anti-war voices of “insider trading” with Iraq. Hmmm…this sounds an awful lot like accusing John Kerry of dishonoring his country, when in fact he served his country during the Vietnam debacle, unlike the sitting President and V.P.

I’m sure this story will lead the 6:00 “news” this evening, and all will be understood. Yeah, right.

My friend Rick owns and operates a thriving restaurant, located atop the tallest building in downtown Bellingham. My design buddies, Dave and Cathy from Omaha, helped us launch the restaurant’s brand identity back in 2002. Now Rick has a local helper, Phil at Midline Design. Phil is taking photos from the restaurant once a week and posting them to the site. Given that the four-directions view is one the main selling points (along with outstanding food, beverage and service), this is a great idea.

Here’s an image I’m particularly fond of, due to the way it captures the typically blanket-like Northwestern sky.

Traditional media star, Arianna Huffington, has opened a can of whoop ass on traditional media (and Matt Drudge). Her group blog, which debuted yesterday, has entries from Walter Cronkite, Larry David, Rob Reiner, Senator Jon Corzine, Tina Brown, Bill Maher, Gary Hart, Jerry Brown and several others.

According to the Washington Post, Warren Beatty says the venture “holds out the possibility that the horrifying danger of media consolidation may be ameliorated.” He says Huffington will provide a forum “not owned by the New York Times, News Corp., General Electric, Disney, Viacom, The Washington Post, Tribune Media, Knight Ridder, Gannett and the like” and that smart writers “will have no fear of being edited or fired for views that might go against the interests of the publisher.”

One post I particularly enjoyed came from former California Governor and current Oakland Mayor, Jerry Brown.

Scanning the TV news tonight, I was struck again by the massive and incoherent stimuli transmitted to American minds in the guise of national news. Is it a post-modern nightmare or Dante’s Inferno?

The rapid shift from one image or story to another–now comic, now trivial, now tragic–undermines one’s critical faculties. Drug and car ads compete with murders in Iraq and a “nuclear option” for the Senate.

The common sense questions–such as, why our government is borrowing madly, tempting nature, engineering foreign nations, cutting taxes for some while increasing financial burdens for others–get lost in the psychic distractions of a perverse media acupuncture of the mind.

The public forum is overloaded with “junk” news, science and politics.

Long ago, America’s founders assumed an educated electorate and the deliberative discussions and reflections that a slower age invited. Then it was an Age of the Book. Now it is the Age of the Screen and its attendant attention deficit.

Not bad for an opening salvo.

Hilton Head has got to be one of the more mysterious places in the U.S. Nothing reveals itself. Things are tucked back off the road, with little or no signage pointing the way. Sure, there are guide books and maps, but they are little more than surface scratchers. One has to dig, turning down this lane and that, to find anything of real interest or value. More to the point, one has to ask the locals. And the locals, nice though they are, may or may not give it up. After all, they don’t want the tourists to know, and if you’re a new resident, they may ask themselves, “Is this person going to make a commitment to the island? Are they going to last?” So, it was quite a pleasure to sit down at The Boathouse bar yesterday evening with two locals, Terri and Terri Jo, and learn a bit more about where to go, and what to do.

Looking to celebrate Darby’s birthday in high style, we had been thinking of walking across the lawn to Charlie’s Crab House. Terri and Terri Jo said, “Oh no! If you want a romantic dinner, go down the street to Old Fort Pub.” I’d not heard of Old Fort Pub before, but the ladies explained the restaurant—owned by the same people that own The Boathouse—had amazing views of the intercoastal waterway and fantastic food. Terri pulled out her cell phone, dialed the Old Fort Pub, explained that two new area residents were wanting to celebrate a special occasion, and asked if they might accomodate us on such late notice.

I’ve had the good fortune to dine at many great restaurants around the nation, but Old Fort Pub ranks as one of the best. Every detail was perfect. The host, our server, the bussers, the window table, the view, and the food and wine were all truly outstanding. Darby ordered medium-rare prime rib served on a bed of gorgonzola mac and cheese (a pretty down-to-earth choice for a five star chef). I had macadamia nut-encrusted Red Snapper. Both dishes were exquisitely prepared.

An interesting footnote: Old Fort Pub takes its name from the fact the Union Army occupied this spot with the landing of 13,000 troops in 1862. Eventually 50,000 Union troops were stationed on Hilton Head Island, their primary duty the blockade of Savannah, and interruption any sea-going trade between the South and England, which was a major purchaser of cotton.

If one were to judge a place by its coffee, Hilton Head would rank far down the chart, if at all. The island of 30,000 residents and millions of annual visitors has two Starbucks and one independent coffee shop (click logo above). Clearly, there’s an opportunity here, not that I’m looking to enter the “restaurant” business. I’m just a non-corporate bean lover, out of my element.

For those who are good with making coffee at home, Fresh Market does carry Peet’s.

The International Herald Tribune reports that Parisian doctors are perplexed by the runaway success in the United States of the best-selling advice book “French Women Don’t Get Fat.”

“Oh, but they do!” said Dr. France Bellisle, a prominent obesity researcher here. “I work in a nutrition department where we see lots of people who are overweight. And I can tell you that French women are getting obese – and some massively obese – these days.”

In France, as in much of the world, the culprit is changing eating habits, experts said, as France’s powerful culture of traditional meals has given way to the pressures of modern life. The French now eat fewer formal meals than they did just a decade ago and they snack more.

The average Frech meal has decreased in length from an hour and 22 mintes in 1978 to just 38 minutes today.

Not surprisingly, food companies say that France is one of the most promising international markets for prepared items like frozen pizza, as well as for outlets like McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken, both of which are planning to open dozens of new stores in the country this year.