Nazi Gold
A long read courtesy of the New York Times that details the search in Lower Silesia, Poland, for Nazi Gold. Abundant clues, found treasures, and the standard nut-jobs. It reads like an Indiana Jones script...
Link: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/09/searching-for-nazi-gold
- Details
- Category: Lost
Dissolve
The acid test, over time, well, they all dissolved, and while I'd set up my camera to do some time lapse photography it wasn't in a convenient location, the light sources varied, overall not a success. But I've learned, mebbe, and next time it'll be better. Meanwhile, a few photos of the vanishing implausible shapes and impossible lustres ...
2 rather well formed pyrope garnets, the one on the left orange, on the right deep red/purple. Not diamonds...
- Details
- Category: Miscellany
Alberta Burning
Another beautiful day in Alberta, Calgary, and you can see the haze over the city, smell the smoke from the wildfires, Fort McMurray's on fire and it's the perfect metaphor for what's happening to this province...
...business, at the restaurant, up and down, still don't think he's turning a profit but he's hopeful. Oil's up to $45.00 a barrel. Everywhere on buses and the radio there are ads for debt consolidations, restructure, reorganize, house prices are 10% down and there's still a long ways to fall, no one can remember ever having seen it this bad...
The landlord, meet him in the hall, this building, 4 stories, 6 units per floor, at the moment 7 are vacant. That's 25%. "There's a lot of competition out there now," he tells me ruefully, "We've managed this building for 30 years, never seen it like this...". Now would be a good time to bargain on the rent, but I haven't the heart, the fuse is lit...
We have our busy nights, the waves of people not related to oil and gas, but they're few and far between. In the afternoon, trying to doze, the phone rings, short term business lenders wondering if we need a quick injection of cash, everywhere the vultures, the scavengers are circling, there's a whole economy devoted to mining the chaos and misfortunes of others...
"Blame the NDP", "Blame the Liberals", ""Blame the Saudi's", the finger's quick to point, never a thought to blame ourselves, our province, like it's citizens, has overspent, lived beyond it's means for too long, and now we're all beginning to pay the price...
The lunch customers, lone stragglers, all complaining, there's a lot to complain about, a good many of them are here on stolen credit and borrowed time, filling our ears with denials about climate change, merely a good warm winter, El-Nino, it's propaganda, this carbon tax, environmental bullshit, Alberta needs industry, business, Oil and Gas, Coal, and the sky fills with smoke and I'm thinking it's time to get out of town...
- Details
- Category: Miscellany
Alone, Prospectors, and other bad entertainment choices
And a long week, but I've found ways to squander my time. First choice - Alone - a reality TV show, in which 10 contestants are dropped on the remote NW shores of Vancouver Island to fend for themselves. The last man standing wins half a million dollars (US Funds). They are alone (not together) and film their own struggles. It's brilliant. I mean, there are an awful lot of layers to this, and the survivors - by several orders of magnitude - demonstrate less skills (although these are admirable) but as much, or more, the qualities of integrity and character. You'll either get it or you won't...no spoilers here...
Alone - Watch Here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2uqwvv
The next, can't believe I haven't seen it before, a YouTube recommendation based on my propensity for watching prospecting porn, standard "reality tv", in short, complete and utter bollocks, over dramatized and imaginary conflicts, complaints about weather, overvaluing of finds....for all the things that interest me it could be condensed to about 3 minutes per episode. The rest is added to bulk it up and "add drama". And is that her kid acting as the "claimjumper" in the same episode? The Weather Network? Really?
Prospectors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPw84n0KuMQ
And finally, another YouTube recommendation, I haven't watched yet, but I will, I will...
Meteorite Men: Yeah, you can find this I'm sure, if you're interested.
Still there? Follow the read-more if you want, but there are definitely spoilers ahead...
- Details
- Category: Film
Read more: Alone, Prospectors, and other bad entertainment choices
Page 551 of 997