MW Mobile Blog

For friends, family and the random search engine visitor. This blog started as an experiment in mobile blogging from my Palm TREO 600, 700, Prē, HTC Evo, Samsung 5, Pixel 3, Pixel 6 Pro. Now it serves as a simple repository of favorite activities. Expect bad golf, good fishing, great sailing, eating, drinking, adventure travel, occasional politics and anything else I find interesting along the way including, but not limited to, any of the labels listed here...

Friday, January 27, 2012

A Walk in the Park


I used to regularly get out to Lincoln Park two or three times per week for a crack-of-dawn back nine.

This morning, I managed to drag myself out of bed and make my way to the course at sunrise for my first outing of the year. Now I remember why I used to do this regularly. Perhaps it is time to get back in the habit.

Some vistas caught on my Droid as I made my way around the back:











Sunshine on the17th tee and low fog across the golden gate

17th Panorama (click on image to enlarage)


Sent from my Sprint HTC smartphone


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Where's Morpheus? British Virgin Islands Edition


We have not played Where's Morpheus in a while, last time was when she transited the canal. Jim, Deb and Morpheus are currently hanging out in front of a webcam in the British Virgin Isles. The notification from their blog:

Saba Rock Web Cam

http://www.sabarock.com/webcam.php

See if you can find us!
You can control the webcam movement and zoom in if you want to try and catch the captain or crew in some indiscretion on deck, but you must apparently fight everyone else in the world for control of the camera. I had luck finding Morpheus by hitting Preset 5 and panning right.

Caught these screenshots today:





Friday, January 13, 2012

San Francisco Values - County Sheriff Edition

This is our new Sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi. He was elected Sheriff in our last election in November. He was sworn in on Monday. Today he was arrested for "domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness" in connection with a recent incident involving his wife, the Venezuelan telenovella actress Eliana Lopez:


Where to start? Like Jean Quan in Oakland, Ross Mirkarimi's election was a triumph for Ranked Choice Voting. As I noted last November:
"Mirkarimi could never win a one-on-one runoff between himself and either Miyamoto or Cunnie, the second and third place finishers who are actually qualified to be Sheriff. He is only Sheriff because his opponents split the rational vote and voters either don't understand how ranked voting is gamed or don't care enough to think about the consequences of their second and third place votes or just do not understand Ranked Choice Voting at all. Who knows what damage he'll do to the Sheriff's Department... We probably should start on the recall petitions now. But - there is a silver lining. Mayor Ed Lee will appoint a replacement to fill out his term on the Board of Supervisors. Anyone will be an improvement on the board, and Lee is likely to appoint a moderate. Mirkarimi will do less damage to the city as Sheriff than on the Board of Supervisors for the next year."
Looks like we need not wait for the inevitable recall. According to the SF Chronicle:
"City law gives Mayor Ed Lee the authority to charge Mirkarimi with official misconduct and temporarily suspend him from office - a move that eventually could lead to Mirkarimi's permanent expulsion. During a temporary suspension, the sheriff's department would be run by a caretaker appointed by the mayor...

The sheriff oversees a paramilitary organization of more than 800 sworn officers and a civilian staff of about 100. The department runs San Francisco's jails with an average daily inmate population of 2,200, provides City Hall and courtroom security, carries out court-ordered evictions and warrants, and aids San Francisco police in enforcement actions."
A "paramilitary organization"? The Sheriff's department?? Maybe Mirkarimi should follow in the footsteps of other great leftist leaders - like the President for Life of his allegedly battered wife's native Venezuela - Hugo Chavez. He could lead his paramilitary Sheriff's department up Market Street, storm City Hall, and stage a military coup right here in the People's Republic of San Francisco. No doubt District Attorney George Gascon will be first up against the wall. Your loyal blogger might be next.

Eliana Lopez - Mrs. Ross Mirkarimi

Frankly, I am surprised by this turn of events. When this story hit the wires on Sunday, I figured it would blow over. I thought there was no way they would prosecute unless his wife cooperated and pressed charges. Since she was not and is not cooperating with the police, I assumed there was no case.

Regardless, I could not help feeling some sympathy about the dynamic of Mirkarimi's domestic situation. Even without charges, Ross clearly would have nothing to say about anything that would go on in that household from now until... oh... eternity. Mirkarimi's political career hangs by a thread. One word from his Venezuelan firecracker and it is over. He created his own special ring of hell for himself, right here on this earthly plane. That seemed sufficient punishment to me.

We'll have to see how this soap opera develops. Look, I don't like the guy, and I think his politics are really bad for San Francisco, but District Attorney Gascon better have a lot more than what has been made public so far. Otherwise, without Eliana's cooperation, this case will never hold up to the kind of intense public scrutiny it will receive and could backfire big time. For Gascon's sake, they better have some pretty damning evidence from the neighbor, or something that has not been made public from elsewhere.

In any eventuality, this is going to be as good as any Telenovela. Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter of ...

Don't Cry For Me Venezuela.


Cross-posted from my other blog.

Monday, January 9, 2012

I think they were still using the same bungee cord...



This video is getting lot of play on the news and tubes. On this last New Year's Eve, the bungee cord snaps as a young Aussie takes the 111 meter drop off the Victoria Falls bridge. The cord is still tied around her ankles as she is swept over the rapids. She has to swim underwater to free the cord so she can get to shore. Did I mention the Zambezi is full of crocodiles? Big ones. She survives with bruises and cuts. Un-friggin-believable.


The jump went better for me when I took the same leap of faith from the same bridge in September 1995:


Looking at this video now, that cord does look a little frayed.

They probably should have changed it in the last 17 years.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Rob Moore

Reader, Writer, Sailor, Friend

I lost a friend last week. It was not a surprise. Rob and his wife Leslie have been fighting a battle against lung cancer with courage and grace since he was diagnosed at stage 4 two years ago. I knew Rob as a sailor, as a writer, and although I've only knew him for a few years, as a friend.

I've generally reserved this blog for lighter fare. Rob was a big part of our many adventures aboard Morpheus that have oft been chronicled in this blog, so it feels right to leave some comments about Rob here.

As they fought this battle, Leslie and Rob kept a private blog for their friends and family. Leslie has now made the blog public. From the blog I learned something new about Rob. I learned that many of us connected to Rob through books we shared or an author we enjoyed in common.

In a recent post, Leslie shared a story and a quote from Rob's favorite book. The author is Edward Abbey, the book is Desert Solitaire and this is the quote Rob wanted to share:
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and poets’ towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottos of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you — beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.”
I met Rob through Jim Gregory, who was a friend of Rob's long before I met him. The author that Jim shares with Rob is Joseph Conrad, the story is Youth and this is the quote:
"By all that's wonderful, it is the sea, I believe, the sea itself--or is it youth alone? Who can tell? But you here--you all had something out of life: money, love-- whatever one gets on shore--and, tell me, wasn't that the best time, that time when we were young at sea; young and had nothing, on the sea that gives nothing, except hard knocks--and sometimes a chance to feel your strength--that only--what you all regret?"

And we all nodded at him: the man of finance, the man of accounts, the
man of law, we all nodded at him over the polished table that like a still sheet of brown water reflected our faces, lined, wrinkled; our faces marked by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love; our weary eyes looking still, looking always, looking anxiously for something out of life, that while it is expected is already gone--has passed unseen, in a sigh, in a flash--together with the youth, with the strength, with the romance of illusions."
The author that Rob and I admired in common was Jim Harrison. I was surprised and delighted when he immediately noticed my Harrison collection on a cluttered bookshelf. During a Morpheus delivery from Mexico we talked about Harrison's focus on Michigan's Upper Peninsula and we discussed our mutual appreciation and occasional frustration with his writing.

Since the diagnosis, while reading his blog, my mind would often turn to the topic of miracles, specifically the big miracle I hoped was in the offing for Rob. I recalled a quote on the topic of miracles from Jim Harrison. The quote is from "Returning to Earth":
"... there are no miracles except that we exist... we ride a big horse to the east and then it`s over."
I guess I share that view. If existence and life are the only miracle, then it is certain all of us will come up short on that score, with less "miracle" than we would like. It also follows that how you use your miracle is more important than how much miracle you get. Rob had less miracle than he deserved. But from my perspective, Rob lived life as well or better than anyone I know.

He approached life openly and honestly, with kindness, without guile, writing about what he knew, sailing through oceans and life with enthusiasm and competence, with a heart open to nature and embracing new experience. Along the way he found friends, love, adventure, beauty and he found his soul mate. One cannot do better with this miracle called life.

I'll wrap with another Harrison quote:
“I like grit, I like love and death, I'm tired of irony... Irony is always scratching your tired ass, whichever way you look at it. I would rather give full vent to all human loves and disappointments, and take a chance on being corny, than die a smartass.”
I'll probably still die a smartass, but perhaps less of one because I met Rob.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year 2012 and Old Long Since

We rang out the old and rang in the new with a few friends...

What could be be better?

Well, champagne and caviar and cheese help maintain that festive spirit...

... an opportunity to eat and drink to excess...

... or what I like to call "happiness".

Alfred's Steakhouse for Dinner

An old school San Francisco tradition

And a great way to kick off the new year.

Alfred's New Year Menu prompted a Droid vs. iPod vs. Waiter competition to determine the meaning of "Auld Lang Syne."
The waiter won.


Oysters Rockefeller

Alfred's Steak

My New Year's Resolution: Stop eating and drinking like I am still 25.
No. Really. I mean it this time.