Updated post

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Clint

I’ve loved this wooden post marking the northwest corner of the Double Ditch Indian Village site north of Bismarck. I’ve taken many of a photo of it, whether with the International Space Station flying overhead at sunrise or with my little boys and I in the foreground for a self-portrait. One used to be able to walk around the post on the left side, but attempting to do so today would land you on your head far, far below.

It’s pretty clear that the post is hanging only by virtue of the barbed wire looped around it. I’ve been curious about what the other side of the post looks like, but unfortunately the high levels of the Missouri River made a hike along the bottom of the cliffs impossible. Now the water is hard enough to walk on without divinity, so I made my way along the edge to take a peek. I found some surprises along the way that I may divulge later, but let’s get to the post.

Sadly, my suspicions were true. There is no more earth holding the post at all. If the barbed wire ever lets go, this post will join the other unusual items lying along the bank at the bottom of these cliffs.

I wouldn’t even advise getting anywhere near the post at this point. The cliff is seriously eroded. I wonder how long it will be before this whole area drops into the Big Muddy?

Along my drive into town yesterday I noticed some of my other favorite photo objects that have fallen over the past ten years since I decided I wanted to get into photography. Good thing I’m eager to find some new ones!

Out roamin’ at last

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Clint

It’s been a long time since I could just load up the truck with gear and go pokin’ around the area in hopes of some nice photos. Today was that day. I don’t need anything that would require any Black Friday insanity, and I didn’t feel like going in to work today, so I opted to take a little “me time” and peruse some fertile spots along the river.

I was hoping that the warm front hanging out to our west would roll in and maybe cause some frost on the trees and fences, but that front didn’t arrive overnight. My second option was to hope for a colorful winter sunrise, but clouds on the east horizon obscured any chance of that.

I did manage to find a few things to satisfy my curiosity, occupy my viewfinder, and pacify my urge to roam. Here’s the first: a ridge of ice being pushed up along the boat dock at Schmidt Bottoms. The river hooks a left here, and all the ice that was floating down river was getting deposited in the outside of the corner.

I did a lot of hiking today, and I’m sure I’ll have time to share the photographic payoff from that exercise…another time.

It’s been a while, so here’s a windmill

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Clint

For a while, windmills ad nauseum could have been my motto. Then I backed off for a while. They’re still one of my favorite distinctive features of the North Dakota landscape, far better than oil field equipment. This one has seen better days, but I think that adds to its charm. The overcast day captured the mood nicely.

One failing grade Bismarck can be proud to receive

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Clint

According to this report, Bismarck has received a failing grade from a deceptively named activist group called the Human Rights Campaign. They’re not actually for human rights; they just promote sexual deviancy in the guise of “equality”. The last thing they want is equality; they only seek special privilege for the sexually disoriented.

According to the Tribune article, the homofascists are upset with Bismarck “due to a lack of LGBT-specific benefits” (where is the equality in that?) and other concessions that grant special status to people based on their choice of sexual behavior. Sounds legit.

Kudos to Mayor Mike Seminary for pointing out that Bismarck isn’t on a witch-hunt against homosexuals simply because they don’t want to grant them special status. He’s quoted as saying “We are a very open employer, we don’t discriminate in any way shape or form…We put no barriers in front of anyone that wants to be engaged with the city.” Exactly. These people want their lifestyle choice codified and granted status above that of the average citizen. They must not be accommodated (to use their word).

The most chilling sentence in the piece betrays the true intent of this ranking system by the homofascists: A Human Rights Campaign statement called the annual report “a terrific tool” to spur cities into taking civil rights action.

This extortion attempt must not be allowed to succeed. The list of travesties everywhere these people are allowed to establish themselves grows longer every day: photographers and bakers sued out of existence, religious liberties trampled upon, and the rights of private citizens obliterated in “defense” of sexual deviancy and gender-related disorders. Bismarck must not become the latest casualty of these bullies.

I’ll tell you what it is if you tell me how to ride it

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Clint

If I tell you that these are full sized pumpkins, would that help you understand how large this trike is? It’s north of Bismarck, and there’s no way you’re pedaling anything from that seat way there. The long poles coming from the “pedals” on the front wheel look intriguing, though…

Like snow on a turkey’s back

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Clint

As these frigid fowls can attest, apparently snow does accumulate on the back of turkeys. That is,when they’re not doing other crazy things. On a slightly related note, I don’t have any photos of bears doing anything in the woods.

Eliminating unauthorized “paywall” cookies in a few easy steps (Firefox)

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Clint

Have you run into that annoying notification from the Bismarck Tribune or other affiliated newspapers’ websites saying that you’ve viewed your quote of free articles for the month? This is only the latest attempt by the publishers to monetize content that other sites give for free. They do so by putting “cookies” on your computer to track your use without asking you for permission. It’s simple to deny them this intrusion.

Here are directions for doing so in the Firefox browser. Yes, I know Mozilla supports homofascism, but what can ya do. Boycott locally, I always say. If one decides to boycott every national business who hasn’t either caved in to or embraced the queer agenda, one will be hard pressed to purchase anything these days. Anyway…

First, go to your Options (under the Tools menu) and select the Privacy tab as shown above. You need to select “Use custom settings for history”. That will change what appears below it, giving you options as far as how cookies are treated by the browser.

Then you’ll want to click on “Show Cookies…” to show which cookies the websites are storing on your computer without your permission. After all, that’s what this is all about.

In the Search box at the top, type in “syncwall” to reveal the offending cookies. Highlight the cookies in the list, then click “Remove Cookies” at the bottom. Close this window. Next, we’ll prevent those unauthorized cookies from being stored on your computer in the future:

You should be back at Privacy Options after closing the last window. This time you want to click on “Exceptions…” to set up a rule preventing future unauthorized cookies.

In the “Address or website:” box, type in “bismarcktribune.com” or whatever other site has been putting syncwall cookies on your machine, and click “Block”. As you can see above, I already have. This will prevent future unauthorized tracking cookies from being placed on your computer without your permission.

That’s it! You have now prevented sites using Syncwall from putting unauthorized content on your machine. That is, at least until they come up with another scheme. I wonder how this will work out for them. In the past they’ve played around with restricting content to paid subscribers, and it hasn’t worked well for them. There are multiple news sources on the web providing similar content for free, so I doubt that viewers are likely to want to pay for it from the newspapers.

This post takes the cake

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Clint

I mentioned a while ago that I was able to play with my new macro lens and grab some close-ups of the various decorations adorning North Dakota’s 125th birthday cake. Here are a few…and by a few, I mean many.

I’ll start off with a piece that you’ve already seen: the state capitol building. It’s missing the J-wing, but that’s alright.

Let’s start with the eastern border of the state. Down near the Wahpeton area we have sunflowers…

To the north a bit we have Roger Maris’ record and Cass-Clay for the Fargo area…

Let’s not forget the NDSU Bison…

Then of course we have the sugar beet and (I presume) wheat or other crops…

As we reach the Grand Forks area we have a catfish (and UND, in the background)…

Topping off the Grand Forks area is, of course, the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

I presume this is a tribute to the North Dakota honeybee, who are all probably wintering down south somewhere at the moment.

Hat tip to Devils Lake and the Spirit Lake nation.

We then move westward to Rugby.

Here’s the Floral Clock, one of the attractions at the International Peace Garden.

Turtle Mountain representin’.

Good ol’ Lake Sakakawea and the Garrison Dam are featured.

To the northwest we have a tribute to oil country.

Here’s the far northwestern corner of the state.

Now we head south into Roughrider Country.

Here we have the Bully Pulpit and Medora.

If I’d gotten the focus right here, you’d think that Dickinson was known more for the Dinosaur Museum than for I-94. In the low light I had to use a wide aperture, making the depth of field very shallow. Excuses, excuses…

Not much in southwestern North Dakota. I’d have put a police car with a mannikin in it to celebrate Amadon, at least…but instead we head east toward Standing Rock and a hunting scene. My friend Nathan just got a big buck like this one.

Strasburg celebrates the home of Lawrence Welk, don’tcha know. Bubble machines come to mind.

Next we have Gwinner and the Bobcat plant.

I’ll wrap this up with the enormous bison at Jamestown.

There were a couple of other fittings on the cake, such as some tractors and nods to the Bank of North Dakota and the North Dakota Wheat Commission. It was a really cool tour around the state, and I made sure to get a slice of Slope County, where the cake is thickest. See, it helps to know a little bit about my home state of North Dakota!

‘MURICA

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Clint

I’d like to take a moment to kick off the weekend with a dude astride a rocket perched on a fire truck. You’re welcome.

Open Range

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Clint

We hit the road this week to take my little boy to a specialist. My medical stuff is nearing an end, same with my wife, and now we’ve got some other issues to deal with. Along the way I did manage to take out my camera a couple of times this week, and this was one of ’em.

I love a good prairie pun, don’t you?

Bismarck-Mandan Blog

Photography , musings, and a love of North Dakota

Monthly Archives: November 2014