Photo Archives: The Fuzz

the fuzz

Operations on the waterfront come to a halt when various law enforcement agencies show up for a surprise shakedown. I instruct the crews laboring in the cargo holds of the ship to take a break because the Fuzz is here. My terminology confuses several of the younger longshoremen, and they ask for clarification. I tell them it means the cops, but I admit I don’t know the etymology of the word. One of the guys does a quick Google search on his phone and informs everyone the term “the fuzz” originated in England, and is a reference to the felt covering on the helmets worn by members of the Metropolitan Police Service. The explanation seems plausible enough. Some of the guys take the opportunity to catch up on their sleep. Others ante up for a game of Poker.

Haiku Archives: Caesar at the Rubicon

It was long thought by historians that Julius Caesar had epilepsy. However, modern medical experts believe it is more likely that he suffered a series of mini-strokes over the course of several years.
Accounts from Caesar’s doctors reveal that nightmarish hallucinations haunted him during these episodes.
It was recorded that Caesar suffered such an episode as he stood at the banks of the Rubicon River. He collapsed into the water and had to be pulled to safety by his bodyguards.
When his head cleared, Caesar told a confidant that he had witnessed a ghostly woman rise from the water. She warned him not to bring his army across the Rubicon.
Hallucination or not, it was good advice. At the time, Caesar was considered an enemy of Rome. Bringing his army across the Rubicon boundary could only be viewed as treason.
Of course, Caesar ultimately decided to press forward – an act that plunged Rome into civil war. General Pompey, who had been charged with protecting Rome, proved to be no match for Caesar and his battle-hardened legions.
After defeating Pompey, Caesar became an all-powerful dictator who was regarded as a deity. Even with ultimate power and mind-boggling riches, he must have known his days were numbered. The political currents in Rome were powerful enough to sweep anyone away – even a god on Earth.
In the years leading up his assassination, Caesar was mired in a deep depression and a constant state of paranoia. The troubling hallucinations persisted, and I can only wonder if Caesar ever regretted crossing the Rubicon that fateful day.

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strange apparition

rises from the Rubicon –

even Caesar balks

Haiku Archives: Tardigrades

Hypsibiusdujardini

Tardigrades, commonly called water bears, are eight-legged microscopic animals. They are among the most resilient lifeforms on Earth. They can survive massive doses of radiation, pressure that exceeds that of the deepest ocean trenches, years of dehydration, and a temperature range of minus 200 Celsius to 149 Celsius. Low Earth orbit experiments have demonstrated that some species of tardigrade can survive for days while exposed to the vacuum of space.

Despite our best efforts, humans could never destroy the Earth enough to render the tardigrade extinct. Perhaps at some point in the distant future, some highly evolved descendant of the tardigrade will happen upon our ruined civilization and tsk-tsk us for our recklessness.

 

tardigrades basking

in the anemic light of

nuclear winter