Protected: Of Value and Values on the Tribal Reservation
This blog entry is a brief reflection and commentary on tribal values based on experiences growing up in the Midwest.
While eating lunch in the office break room I thumbed through The Wall Street Journal. Today was one of the rare exceptions that an article caught my interest. The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians made the cover of the Money & Investing section. According to the article the tribe is refusing to pay a bond to a private investment company based on a technicality. The WSJ article seems to support the same stereotypes that accompanied my recollection of growing up in the Midwest.
With the experience of having spent almost my entire life near various tribal reservations, and only 2 hours from Lac du Flambeau, my perspective on the rights the tribes posses has always been accompanied with a lot of questions and misunderstandings. As an outsider looking in the apparent value placed on natural resources by the local tribes was often spoken of in less than stellar regards. Perhaps the local fisherman who I listened to had a biased opinion of tribal rights when fishing was bad because the tribal members had the right to commercially net fish in Lake Superior. A poor summer of fishing on Lake Superior was often blamed by aggressive netting earlier in the spring. Was it a legitimate argument? I don’t know, I’m not a biologist. It was just one of several common stereotypes that regional tribes were branded with.
Sights of the City – Break Dancing on a Moving Subway
Three guys walked into the subway car at a stop somewhere between Brooklyn and Manhattan. When the doors closed and the car began to move a small stereo that began to play a background hip-hop song. The music was barely audible over the noisy car clacking and screeching along the tracks.When one of the guys began to speak I thought to myself, “This is going to be annoying”. Then he began to break dance in a small open area. It wasn’t all that spectacular and by the time the second guy started his routine I was busy fiddling with my camera phone which was only irritating me further because it wasn’t loading the camera software correctly.
At the moment I gave up on the camera and looked up the dancer did a complete 360deg flip in the air – head over heals. I didn’t see anyone else react but it was an amazing feat because of the physical constraints and the moving car. That daring move made the whole performance amazingly memorable.
Oddly enough I believe this is the same line where the subway violinist made an appearance.
Quote: A Word Aptly Spoken
A word aptly spoken
is like apples of gold in settings of silver.-Solomon
2010 Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival Panorama Pictures
The 2010 Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. was amazing. The trees were prime and the weather was beautiful. Sporadic breezes would send a cascade of white petals falling through the air. The crowd under the trees made it impossible to take any close multi-picture panorama images. All of the images were taken free hand from a distance and then stitched.
Below are several stitched panorama images. Click on the image to view it full size in a new window.
Wide panorama of cherry blossoms looking north from Kutz Bridge.
West view of tidal basin with cherry blossoms at either edge of panorama.
JFK Grave in Arlington Cemetery During 2010 Cherry Blossom Festival.
There are a couple more pictures to stitch and post, check back later in the week to see them.
Life In Carcassonne (The Board Game)
Carcassonne reminds me of Transport Tycoon Deluxe, I can’t say exactly why but I think it has to do with the geometry of the pieces and how everything fits together. Maybe I should introduce my friends to OpenTTD… hmmm…
Getting back to the game, it is a cross between The Settlers of Catan and Drakon. The board unfolds with each players turn to generate scoring opportunities. You have a chance to subtly coerce your fellow players and interact with them to make the game more interesting.
We played at the T’s place, RT, CT, and AM where there.
It is a fun game that I’d like to bring home during the holidays to play with my family. Not as intense as Risk or Monopoly but yet has a fun edge so even if you don’t try to over analyze each move you still feel like something was accomplished after each rotation.