Jonathan Kieran

Look, it’s exciting to see a Great White Shark of any size cruising alongside one’s seaworthy vessel, but there is a tendency (as with everything, these days) to exaggerate to the point of … well, gross exaggeration. The white shark seen in THIS CLIP was/is hardly a 15-20ft. monster, as described in the accompanying article, even without benefit of any proper marker or accompanying focal point for the sake of perspective. The physiological characteristics of a genuinely “large” white shark (15ft.+) are distinctive in ways not yet possessed by the specimen recorded in this case. The sharky seen here was maybe 11ft., tops. Still a thrill, but hold still, fellas.

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#GreatWhiteShark #Exaggeration #FishTales #Footage #MarineBiology #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram 

The remnants of a 2nd Century CE Roman shrine have been discovered beneath the site of St. Martin’s Cathedral in Leicester, England, confirming centuries of “folktale” tradition. Just goes to show you: memories linger in continuous societies.

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#Archaeology #Leicester #RomanTemple #StMartinCathedral #England #Folktales #AncientHistory #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram

“Sensitivity readers” my ass. You’re Orwellian devils. If you ever meet me and tell me that you are a “sensitivity reader,” prepare to make tracks.

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#YesItIsExactlyThat #Orwell #LatePhases #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram 

So, such and such claims it’s a coinkydink that actual human writers are being laid off and replaced by Artificial Intelligence “journalists”. Whull. Color me shocked.

For crying out loud, either this phenomenon is already in full swing at many major media outlets or else it might as well be, because a lot of current news copy (whoever/whatever is writing it) reads like something emerging unfiltered and “live” from the brain of a grand mal stroke victim suffering from a side-order of rabid squirrels juggling ginsu knives inside a cracked and leaking cranium.

We’re in Late Phases, assholes and elbows, and we’ve been in Late Phases for just over a century (which is a mere dust mote in the purview of Time) and I can’t wait until Robot Murder Hornets take over and restore global balance … leaving the planet to iguanas, which in an additional 150M years will be sitting on couches, beating their recalcitrant kids with chanclas, masticating Cheetos, and blissfully unconcerned as the sun prepares to explode at last.

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#StickAForkInIt #Journalism #WeAreDone #AI ##AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram 

Interesting STUFF from the Wall Street Journal regarding the upswing in Barnes & Noble Booksellers’ fortunes. It seems to me that the revival of the hallowed chain is due to variegated strands of cultural and economic influences and shifts, but one must admit that it is more than a little ironic that renewed focus upon a local, friendly neighborhood bookstore “model” (of the sort that were crushed under the steamrolling big chains 15-20 years ago) is getting the lion’s share of credit, lately.

Oddly enough, I rarely thought of Barnes & Noble as one of the primary culprits in the decline of “indie” bookstores, at least not in California. The heaving juggernauts of Amazon and Borders seemed more than sufficient when it came to literally seeing how smaller stores were overwhelmed in most Main Street communities. I always thought that Borders, especially, overshot its mark by opening gigantic outlets with overheads that would eventually prove unsustainable once Amazon had really sunk its fangs into the global marketplace for books, et al.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall, at least in the case of Borders’ shocking demise. At all events, THIS is an interesting—if not entirely probative—perspective on B&N’s present revival. (Didn’t every large chain bookstore try to masquerade as a “quaint” neighborhood gathering-spot, replete with cafes and bistro offerings? I always got the impression that Barnes & Noble stores managed to walk the tightrope between being too coldly gargantuan and terminally limited in buying power, thereby maintaining a sliver of sustainability when times got rough. Oh well, decide for yourself. I, for one, like their bookstores quite a bit and am happy to visit specialty bookstores, as well.)

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#BarnesAndNoble #BookstoreRenaissance #WallStreetJournal #NeighborhoodBookstores #Recalibration #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram 

I have traveled to the glorious scene of this ancient, ruined Roman city in Morocco since childhood, borne on the wings of enchanted imagination by Eleanor Hoffman’s “best kept secret” classic, Mischief in Fez. If global human civilization doesn’t lose its goob entirely in the next twelve years, I may pay an actual visit to the alluring, mysterious site, ever wary of empty oil jars and midnight conclaves of djinn atop the triumphal arches. READ UP.

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#Volubilis #BooksInspire #AncientRuins #Morocco #MischiefInFez #ChildrensClassics #EleanorHoffman #Djinn #RomanArchaeology ##AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram

… except AI would presumably be able to spell correctly and employ proper grammar as it skews the truth.

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#TooLate #AI #Journalism #SixOfOne #HalfADozenOfTheOther #Publishing #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram 

… for verily I say unto thee, IT SNOWETH.

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#CaliforniaLiving #Snowfall #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram 

I’ll be the first to admit that I have enjoyed noshing on foie gras on rare occasions in my life, but THESE TWO South African killer whales are getting way out of hand. Jurassic Park-type specialists need to engineer and clone the Megalodon species and then drop a few of them in the waters down there. See how the Orcas like that! Yep.

(On the other hand, perhaps the orcas are merely doing us humans a favor by indicating how scrumptious shark-liver can be and alerting us to a faboo marine delicacy we’re missing out on. I mean, “gastronomic altruism by example” just might be in their repertoire as a species. They have redoubtable brains, apparently.)

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#KillerWhales #OrcasEatingSharks #SharkLivers #MarineDelicacy #SouthAfrica #Rogues #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram 

Conde Nast is still worth the price of publication, folks. Yes, even in this market that finds print magazines struggling to stay alive and forced to raise their prices to sometimes eye-bleeding levels, they deliver superior content. Beautiful monthlies like Conde Nast continue to rule the roost and remain stalwart beacons for the exotically inclined traveler. The free material they provide online perusers only bolsters their outstanding place among travel-oriented magazines. Case and point is THIS NEW ARTICLE on the culinary delights to be discovered amid the ruins, bazaars, and ancient mysteries across the length and breadth of Egypt. As a frequent visitor to the Land of the Pharaohs I can vouch for the deliciousness and diversity of North African food. This article is a gem that should interest everyone, whether planning a trip to see the wonders of the ancient world or not. Wonderfully written and appointed piece. Enjoy!

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#Gastronomy #CulinaryTravel #AncientEgypt #TraditionalFare #CondeNast #Egypt #Splendor #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram

I’m more mesmerized by her bedazzled fingernail than I am by the fossilized shark’s tooth. People really pay for that kind of detail-work, much less “sit through it” while it’s being done? As a pleasurable activity? By the time a manicurist gets to the tenth finger (or toenail), the client has a good chance of becoming fossilized herself. Ah, well, to each his/her/its own. She’s a cutie pie. May Zeus bless all creatures ‘neath Olympus, great and small.

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#Bedazzled #WomenAndTheirNails #BodyArt #GreatWhiteSharks #OldFossilsLikeMe #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram 

A number of news outlets (mostly crap British tabloids) have been touting the “new sensation” stirred in the past couple of weeks by footage of the 17–20-ish ft. long shark known as “Deep Blue.” The admittedly gargantuan beastie was filmed in the waters off now-banned-to-shark-tourism Guadalupe Island in Mexico.

Well, the footage remains impressive and, moreover, it has … remained. The material was first published via YouTube and various news sources in 2015 and it hasn’t ever been removed or obscured. It has continued to rack-up millions of views and countless analytical articles and memes and every manner of commentary, the pedestrian and the professional. Yet these tabloids seem to insist that it’s all being rediscovered to the point of fresh global astonishment.

Just further proof that repetitive sensationalism and duplicity continue to run rampant, even in the niche of Great White Shark media. Deep Blue is a pretty (and pretty huge) Mama of the Sea, but she’s certainly no longer an ingenue.

(BTW: I never thought Deep Blue was 20ft long. Certainly, she was close to the six ton weight range—a magnificent specimen—but in the renowned video footage I think she tops out at 18ft. maximum. By now, of course, she may indeed be pushing 20 ft. and approaching the heft of a schoolbus, but she hasn’t been reliably documented again, save for a brief appearance at a Hawaiian whale-carcass feeding three years ago or so. Strange mermaid-pest Ocean Ramsey has claimed to swim with “Deep Blue” off Hawaiian waters in separate footage, but I contest that claim. She is swim-prancing alongside and touching/harassing a clearly pregnant and whale-meat satiated female Great White, but it is not “Deep Blue”—the shark in Ramsey’s videos is 15ft maximum and some blatantly deceptive camera work is employed to make the large shark look even bigger. At all events, there are considerably longer and larger Great White sharks out there than Ramsey’s self-serving photo-op subject, and, believe it or not, Great Whites that are even bigger than Deep Blue herself. 25-ft specimens have been reasonably, if anecdotally, documented. Happy surfing, y’all.)

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#GreatWhiteSharks #DeepBlue #Sensationalism #GuadalupeIsland #SharkChat #AuthorJonathanKieran #JonathanKieran #WriterJonathanKieran #CaliforniaLife #OnTheEdge #Wistwood #JonathanKieranTheAuthor #JonathanKieranMusic #JonathanKieranNewAlbum #JonathanKieranArtist #Jericho #JonathanKieranJericho #JerichoAlbum #WritersOfInstagram #ArtistsOfInstagram