Missouri Atlatl Deer Hunting

Atlatl. Funny name. It's pronounced "atlatl."

For the first time this year Missouri allows the use of atlatl to take deer, but only during the regular firearms season. The conservation commission must think these 10,000 year old spear flingers are in the same category of accuracy and deadliness as a firearm. They may be right. Missouri Department of Conservation's definition of the device: "atlatl, which is defined as a rod or narrow board-like device used to launch, through a throwing motion of the arm, a dart 5 to 8 feet in length."

Missouri requires the use of centerfire expanding-type bullets, shotgun slugs or 40-caliber ball-type black powder ammunition when hunting deer. Or atlatl. Whatever works best. But Wooly Mammoth is a different game entirely. None of the firearms methods allowed for deer today would be effective in harvesting a mammoth. Except the atlatl. Atlatl points have been found deeply embedded in the bones of killed Mammoths. Elephant meat tonite, sisters and brothers.

I wonder what advantages an atlatl has in an urban guerrilla warfare setting?

Bourbeuse River Mill Rock Access

This low-water crossing of the Bourbeuse River in Franklin County Missouri is a special spot. Mill Rock juts upstream toward the concrete crossing, standing like a sentinel. Cool shade, fishing holes to wade and other delights await. Bivouac the top of the rock on a clear night and the stars will transform you.

North America 2010: Bad for Veggies, Great for Fruit

This has been a hot and brutal summer in the Midwest for veggie gardens. Tomatoes were virtually wiped out, leafy greens wilted before they started, sweet corn parched and miserable. But the fruit trees have been bountiful. I had a huge crop of blueberries, pears, and apples - and they were delightful.

Which brings me to my point: Paw paws are going to be wonderful this year, and the persimmon trees are literally breaking down from the weight of fruit. Get yee to the woods, young 'uns, and rustle up some wild fruit... before the deer and raccoons eat 'em all up!

Gone Contractin'

The UNIX infrastructure is whining again. Lucky for me, somebody's putting pretty good money at the problem. The UNIX hippie rides again!

It's about the same old systems problems but with more domains abstracted behind a conceptual user view construct that trivializes the user interface and pretends to simplify the experience.

But the 'vi' editor comes to the heroic rescue, assisted by Larry Wall's Frankeinstein Shellscript and a host of pipeline shell and troff-based eccentricities. As always.

Kick ass, take logins!

Blackberry Bonanza

It's blackberry time! My arms are scratched and bleeding. The sweat pours down from my brow. Chaff from the weeds sticks to my thorn-ragged, sweaty arms and itches like a thousand paper cuts.

But there's easily a gallon of big, ripe blackberries in the bucket hanging around my neck. And more to come. They're just turning ripe now and will continue to ripen over the next two weeks.

I have a secret place where fallow fields have been burned off to improve wildlife habitat. Blackberries like that kind of periodic burn-off and come in thicker each year. Couple that with the mild and wet early spring and you have the perfect storm for blackberry blooms.

Gosh, wouldn't it be a good idea to make some homemade ice cream to go with that cobbler I'll be baking?

Secret Wilderness Lake

I've got a secret: There's a lake nestled deep in an Ozark hollow few people know of, spring-fed and spitting distance from a pristine Ozark stream. I spent two days in glorious vernal reflection there this week. Not a human sound around, save an occasional airplane.

Declaration of Evolution

I had the honor of narrating "The Declaration of Evolution" by Timothy Leary a few years ago. It was performed with the C3 Psychoto-electro Arkestra and mixed down with additional digital synthesizers.

When I first read "The Politics of Ecstasy" in 1968 I thought the idea of all species having rights was a little radical. And the notion that we needed to retreat to tribal societies to keep from fucking the Earth up was even more radical. Some of the hippies were adopting this philosophy and although I admired their courage I wasn't ready to give up my creature comforts.

Boy, does it seem different now! After watching "Avatar" and hearing the conservative paranoid fallout about the storyline it makes perfect sense.

Here is a link to the audio file of the reading. I hope I can do some scant justice to Uncle Tim's brilliant and eternal work.

Cecil Nixxon MySpace page

Cabin Fever

It's been snowing for a while. You're cooped-up and getting irritated at the family and the pets. There's nothing on TV but soap operas and 37 different varieties of court TV shows. Maury is about to test some deadbeat for paternity. Jerry's boys are taking their shirts off for a fight. Your first thought: "I'm gonna kill somebody!!!!!"

You have cabin fever, the only known antidote is putting on the boots and getting the hell outdoors.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge is a good place this time of year if you're layered up. The bald eagles are out fishing and the ice floes are awesome.