Politics Plus

Texas annually anticipates its springtime carpet of bluebonnets producing a Floral Photo Fantabula …

But this year California is taking over the top floral spot with a Super Bloom rarely seen.

[NOTE: I created free-standing GIFs, so you can't stop it to view individual photos.  If you do click on it at a certain photo, it'll open in a new window that takes a while to load – but then reverts to slideshow mode.]

Thanks to the record-breaking, drought-ending drenching California experienced this past winter, its parched desert hills and valleys are awash in a technicolor Super Bloom – a phantasmagorical palette that has not been seen for years and years.

According to research ecologist, Cameron Barrows, seeds that have been dormant in the desert sands for 5, 10, or even 30 years are responding to the rains of winter, creating carpets of red, orange, yellow, and purple flowers that have drawn record crowds – and it’s easy to see why!

The U.S. Department of the Interior, which posted photos to their Facebook page, wrote:

"The Valley floor has endless expanses of yellows and purples from coreopsis, tidy tips and phacelia, with smaller patches of dozens of other species.  Not to be outdone, the Temblor Range is painted with swaths of wildflowers in oranges yellow and purple like something out of a storybook."

And amazingly the Super Bloom fields are so vast, they’re visible from space!

Senior environmental specialist Wendy Picht, notes that the poppy fields draw the largest crowds because they last the longest and are brighter than other area species, such as baby blue eyes, arroyo lupine, caterpillar phacelia, Canterbury bells, goldfields, cream cups, delphinium and blue dicks (I’m NOT kidding, that’s what their name is – you can Google it – the fact that it’s edible … Oh, never mind)

Let's take a closer look at some of these beauties …

But she pleads with all visitors to respect the environment and STAY ON THE TRAILS. 

Granted, it may be hard to not wander afield – but for those that follow, please do Stay On The Trails.  What do you think – did this gal stay on a trail for her selfie?

The Super Bloom show started in the deserts close to the Mexican border, and has worked its way north.  If you’re in the LA Metro – or want to travel – this site has a map of the best locations.  But better hurry – the show is coming to a close soon:

http://laist.com/2017/03/31/super_bloom_3_best.php

 

Does it really take a Village, People, to troll Kellyanne Conway?

Apparently not – as one guy got it done all by himself.  But more on that in a little bit.  Let’s start with what I think makes for a great Trump Theme Song – sung to the Village People’s anthem of “YMCA”.

I’m including the lyrics below – but a HEADS-UP … the lyrics are NSFW [NOT Safe for Work]!

 

White men,

Here's how it's going down.

All the black men,

We'll shoot them into the ground.

 

Mexicans,

This is not your hometown,

We're gonna build a wall 'round the country.

Barrack,

It's time to clear your shit out.

 

Hey Muslims,

Take the first flight out.

Yo Putin,

You're my BFF now.

Together we can nuke

Any country

Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb

 

That's how it's gonna be in

Trump's USA!

I have successfully,

Fucked USA-A!

 

We have no gun control,

So you men can enjoy,

Just don't make out with,

Any boys…

 

Hillary,

You can suck my cock,

I didn't mean that,

It was just locker room talk

 

So ladies…

Don't be too shocked

If I grab you

By the pussy.

 

(I actually said that)

 

That's how it's going to be in

Trump's USA!

 

Of course, Kellyanne Conway has made herself an easy target for trolling between her “alternative facts” and “spying microwaves” – but Alfredo Pelicci (an attorney in Washington) deserves a medal for a great one.

A couple of weeks back I came across this Tweet that was all the rage about Alfredo approaching Conway at the Lupo Verde restaurant in Washington and asking for a selfie.  [NOTE: Given my lack of hearing, their conversation was what I gleaned from reading comments about the Tweet.  So I’d appreciate your 2¢ on what you think they actually said.]

Conway agreed – but rather than the standard issue “Say: ‘Cheese’”, Alfredo went with “Say: ‘I’m ruining America’” – in what was described as a cheerful voice. 

And when Conway demurs, saying “Are you happy?  You must feel really brave saying that”, Alfredo politely and cheerfully closes with “No?  Alright.  Thank you.”

tears, this is hilarious. pic.twitter.com/EADYyiAbCi

— deray mckesson (@deray) March 4, 2017

Let’s close with a useful Schadenfreude tool to follow along on the (hopefully soon) demise of Twitler’s administration.  It’s a site that provides an INTERACTIVE Historical Tracking of Presidential Approval Ratings. 

You select the presidents you want to compare to Trump and duration of administration – it then graphs them out, but it does load a little slow.  Below is the current graph comparing everyone from Reagan on.  That red line way down at the bottom?  That’s Twitler.

ETA [Edited to Add]

Just saw two magazine covers that came out in the past 24 hours that are smile-inducing – so I'll slip them in.

First is from our beloved "The New Yorker" – Andy's home – titled "Broken Windows":

And the second is a very clever animation from "The Economist" – also following a golf theme that so aptly illustrates Twitler violating "The First Law of Holes": If you find yourself in one, STOP DIGGING!

This week's animated cover: https://t.co/EU9VnkU6BD #Trump #TrumpLeaks #Trumprussia #TrumpTaxReturns #fakenews #FridayFeeling #animation pic.twitter.com/AeE1UVcsnJ

— Economist MoGrapher (@MotionNino) March 31, 2017

Did I actually put “republicans” and “fun” in the same sentence?  I know, I know – but to be honest, it’s actually other folks making FUN of republicans.  So we’re good.

The week’s festivities started with Paul Ryan giving his Trumpcare/WeDon’tCare PowerPoint presentation for AHCA – and folks had a field day with memes.  So let’s enjoy some of their handiwork

First, let’s admit that they tried to incorporate some good points into their AHCA plan …

And it does try to offer some sound advice …

And it is elegant in its underlying simplicity at cutting costs …

But surprisingly enough, Paul Ryan actually gave an honest summation of the GOP’s AHCA plan – he concluded that it’s a …

Then Kellyanne Conway stepped up to TRY to “help” out Twitler with his bald-faced lie that Pres. Obama had his “wires tapped”, by claiming Obama wasn’t just limited to spying only by having “wires tapped” … he could also be using a microwave oven camera.

Conway actually learned of the microwave’s sinister photographic powers from her own oven:

And the sad duty of informing Pres. Obama of Conway’s odd, but extremely serious, charge of ordering microwaves to become a Snapchat spy on Twitler fell to Hillary.  Fortunately, she was up to the task:

But in all fairness, if you take a closer look at your microwave’s Control Panel, you can see there’s some possibility to Conway’s claim

But being skeptical, I decided to go right to the source and ask MY microwave if it was spying on me – and this is the reply I got from my oven:

So maybe Obama HAS been infiltrating Trump Tower …

  

I’ll leave you with this sobering clip.  Wanting to be thorough, I setup one of those “Nanny Video Cams” that record exactly what does go on in the kitchen when I’m not around.  To say the least, I was flabbergasted!

So who knows – maybe Conway was correct.

Nah – not a chance in hell.  I was just toying with you.

 

Originally I was going to skip this week because I was planning on heading up to Illinois to do Mom’s income taxes.  (She actually pulls everything together, but because of her macular degeneration she can’t fill in the boxes for the accountant.)  She got sick with a bit of a bug and had some vomiting.  She’s fine now, but I’ve postponed my trip up to Monday – so I won’t have a “Friday Fun” next week.

Since it’s that time of year, I’m going to do a reprise of Yosemite’s Firefall from a year ago. 

Given the snow and rain California has gotten this winter, the natural Horsetail Falls Firefall show that only happens once a year in late February should be spectacular.  The opportunity to view it lasts for only about 10 days … and only for 10 minutes each day right at sunset.  But boy, when the illusion of “lava” flowing down Horsetail Falls’ 1,570 feet (480 meters) face happens – it’s breathtakingly gorgeous!

For five of the past six years Mother Nature did not put on her show because of the drought –and this year’s plentiful snow and rainfall should make it extra breathtaking – IF all the other requirements fall in to place.

Not only must there be abundant water flowing, but the sun must also be aligned perfectly at just the right angle to produce the red, orange and gold reflections to create the illusion.  And for that to happen there can be no cloud cover, which can be pretty rare in February.  And then you have to be in the perfect spot in Yosemite Valley to view Horsetail Fall, which is on the east face of El Capitan, to capture it all.

(We should note that while the angle of the sun is also properly aligned in October, there’s no water flowing at that time of year to produce the Firefall.)

The natural Horsetail Firefall should not be confused with Yosemite Firefall that began in the summer of 1872 and continued for almost a century.  The owners of the Glacier Point Hotel had hot embers from dying fires raked over the edge of Glacier Point to Yosemite Valley 3,000 feet below. From a distance, it appeared as a glowing waterfall.

The Yosemite Firefall was a summer time event that began in 1872 and continued for almost a century, in which burning hot embers were spilled from the top of Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park to the valley 3,000 feet below. From a distance it appeared as a glowing waterfall. The owners of the Glacier Point Hotel conducted the firefall. History has it that David Curry, founder of Camp Curry, would stand at the base of the fall, and yell "Let the fire fall," each night as a signal to start pushing the embers over.

The Firefall ended in January 1968, when the National Park Service ordered it to stop because the overwhelming number of visitors that it attracted trampled meadows to see it, and because it was not a natural event. NPS wanted to preserve the Valley, returning it to its natural state. The Glacier Point Hotel was destroyed by fire 18 months later and was not rebuilt.

Glacier Hotel Actual Firefall of Embers

Undoubtedly the Awahneechee Indians, who called Yosemite Valley home for hundreds of years, had observed the natural Horsetail Firefall – but if so, they never shared that information with white settlers who discovered the Valley in 1851.

Galen Rowell is the person who took the first-known photograph of the natural Horsetail Firefall, and that was only in 1973.  Now hundreds of photographers from around the world flock to Yosemite in late February hoping they’ll be one of the lucky few to actually view it – an experience they describe as so deeply moving that it brings tears to their eyes along with actual applause from the crowd of shutterbugs!

The most convenient and crowded viewing area for the “lava” show is at the El Capitan picnic area, just shy of 2 miles past Yosemite Lodge at the Falls on Northside Drive.  It’s only a small pullout area marked only by a small sign – but in late February, if you keep your eyes peeled for a horde of tripods, you’ll have found it.