• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
Alain in tall wading boots, fishing in a river

Alain Chamot (1971-2020)

You are here: Home / Archives for Alain Chamot (1971-2020)

Alain Chamot began writing at Balloon Juice in 2015. He was a valued author and member of our community. Alain passed away on April 14, 2020.

Alain is dearly missed.

On The Road – SkyBluePink – Buddhas on Walkabout

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  April 14, 20205:00 am| 18 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

Good morning everyone,

Enjoy!

On The Road – SkyBluePink – Buddhas on WalkaboutPost + Comments (18)

On The Road - SkyBluePink - Buddhas on Walkabout 4

Becoming One with Azalea – 1

On The Road – J R in WV – Spring in the WV Woods, right outside the house

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  April 13, 20205:00 am| 22 Comments

This post is in: J R in WV, On The Road, Photo Blogging

Good morning everyone,

Let’s get this week started well!

These were taken in February and March this spring, yes spring started last Feb when the first Wood Frog eggs were laid in our newly rebuilt tiny pond right outside the front door. These are the earliest frogs to wake up from winter hibernation around here, and are really shy, so I have no photos of them so far. They’re medium sized, brown and when stretched out floating on the pond surface about 4 or 5 inches long.

I’m sure multiple frogs laid these eggs over several nights, and there is one more egg mass that sank deeper into the pond, which is nearly 18 inches deep in the center. Those eggs will hatch later on since it’s colder down there. There are also some ferns and flowers in this set of photos.

All photos this time taken with a Panasonic Lumix FZ-1000 camera with a fixed Leica Vario-Elmarit 9.1-146 mm lens, 35 mm equivilent is 25-400mm so pretty long effectively.

On The Road – J R in WV – Spring in the WV Woods, right outside the housePost + Comments (22)

On The Road - J R in WV - Spring in the WV Woods, right outside the house 7
Outside the front door in SW WVaFebruary 2, 2020

This is the first frog egg mass laid in the newly rebuilt pond of last August. We were thrilled to hear the Wood Frogs chirping and splishing in the pond back in early February, it wasn’t until we heard that music again after years without that we realized how much we missed the frogs and toads outside the front door.

When the weather is good (not too cold, not too hot, not too many bugs) we leave the front door open to hear the froggy action while surfing the innertubes and snarking on Balloon Juice. There is a second egg mass deeper in the water, and I think they have all hatched as there appear to be hundreds of tiny tadpoles swimming near the surface of the pond in the sunshine.

Help the USPS

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  April 12, 20204:49 pm| 76 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

Folks,

The Post Office is in deep need of funds and the Feds under Trump are not playing nice. We could end up without mail in just a month or two.

Many folks are helping out by buying stamps and postcards. I just bought my Christmas card postage for the next two years as well as some “Forever” international stamps. And some “extra ounce” stamps to cover those situations.

Cost: $100 and some change. The value of my investment: priceless

If you can spare a little scratch, they can use a cash injection! Please pass along.

https://store.usps.com/store/results/stamps/_/N-9y93lv

Help the USPSPost + Comments (76)

On The Road – Albatrossity – Springtime in Flyover Country

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  April 10, 20205:00 am| 27 Comments

This post is in: Albatrossity, On The Road, Photo Blogging

Good morning everyone,

Have a great day and weekend; the alternatives are worse.

Here’s the next installment of images from the spring of social distancing in flyover country. We are now under a state-wide stay-home order starting on Monday March 30. There are two cases (so far) of COVID-19 in my home town, and apparently one of them was likely to be community transmission (the other was a professor who had been teaching a Study Abroad class in London). We can still go out and watch and photograph birds and landscapes, however, so that is what i plan to do. It is remarkable how other vexations can just disappear when you are trying to coax a bird into the right spot for a photograph!

On The Road – Albatrossity – Springtime in Flyover CountryPost + Comments (27)

On The Road - Albatrossity - Springtime in Flyover Country 4
Near Alma KSMarch 19, 2020

When this part of the state was settled, there were no trees which could be used to build fenceposts. There were plenty of limestone rocks in the recently plowed fields, however. So the early settlers learned how to build dry-stone walls, separating fields and pastures from each other. Most of those were eventually replaced by barbed wire fences and imported fenceposts, but some relics still remain. Here’s one, with a winter Flint Hills pasture behind it.

On The Road – Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!) – Guanacos and chulengos in Torres del Paine, La Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  April 9, 20205:00 am| 12 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

Good morning all,

Another highlight of our trip to Chile late last year was taking the “Ruta del Fin del Mundo” the “Road to the end of the World” and going to Tierra del Fuego and Torres del Pane National Park in Patagonia.  (Note: the name Paine is pronounced “Pie-nay” not “Pain” by Chileans)

Today I’m sharing a few of the pictures of the hour we spent standing among a herd of guanacos. We were actually looking for a puma and our guide Rafa and one member of our group got a brief look at one going over a ridge away from us but I didn’t see it. However, the scenery was spectacular and I’ll share some of that soon, but for today it’s the guanacos and ther wonderful babies, which are called chulengos For me they were the scene stealers.and we were within a hundred feet of them and they were all around us!

 

 

On The Road – Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!) – Guanacos and chulengos in Torres del Paine, La Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica ChilenaPost + Comments (12)

On The Road - Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!) - Guanacos and chulengos in Torres del Paine, La Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena 7
Patagonia, La Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica ChilenaDecember 3, 2020

“Ruta del Fin del Mundo”

the “Road to the end of the World”

On The Road – ?BillinGlendaleCA – Salvation Mountain & Slab City

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  April 8, 20205:00 am| 15 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

Further south from Bombay beach and a few miles east of the Salton Sea’s shore is Salvation Mountain and Slab City. During WW2 this was a Marine training base, and after the war the land was given to the State of California. The State really hasn’t done much with the land except remove the old buildings leaving Slabs(hence Slab City). Folk have just kind of squatted on the land, formed a community and even built stuff. Salvation Mountain was built by Leonard Knight as his tribute to the Sinner’s Prayer. It was built with adobe and straw and covered in latex paint. You can climb Salvation Mountain by following the Yellow Brick Road up to the top. Further east of Salvation Mountain is Slab City, it features a preforming venue(The Range), a library and various art project. The area is home to both folk who drive their RV’s there for the winter as well as a hearty group of permanent residents that live in mostly rundown trailers.

On The Road – ?BillinGlendaleCA – Salvation Mountain & Slab CityPost + Comments (15)

On The Road -  ?BillinGlendaleCA - Salvation Mountain & Slab City 7
Slab City, CAFebruary 9, 2020

Wide view of Salvation Mountain you can the God’s mailbox at the right.

On The Road – BigJimSlade – Getting Out For a Hike

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  April 7, 20205:00 am| 23 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

Good morning all,

Another Tuesday, another day to be thankful for breath and good cheer.

 

Submitted March 6, in the beforetime.

Hello fellow Juicers,

Consider this part of the “On the daily walks” series. We are lucky enough to live near a handful of trails, so we only had to drive a few minutes to start this hike (but the drive cut out about 900 feet of elevation). This is in the Pacific Palisades area of the Santa Monica Mountains. Oh, regarding my nym (from the not-exactly-a-classic Kentucky Fried Movie), my real name is Mike, but I came up with that nym in a fit of divine, sarcastic inspiration while getting frustrated at having to come up with yet another username.

For the camera geeks, I’m using an Olympus O-MD E-M1, this time with their cheap, but decent, 40-150mm lens on it (it’s a micro four-thirds camera, so double those numbers for the full frame equiv.)

Enjoy and hang in there!

On The Road – BigJimSlade – Getting Out For a HikePost + Comments (23)

On The Road - BigJimSlade - Getting Out For a Hike 6
Temescal Ridge, Santa Monica MountainsMarch 18, 2020

A pano looking towards Mt. Baldy (50+ miles away) – I’m not sure just which one it is from this side :-/ Anyway, it’s got a nice pile of fresh snow :-)

On the left side, you can see part of Mt. Wilson (with all the transmitters on it), and a glimpse of the Hollywood sign, about 1/3 up and 1/3 from the left. The LA basin is on the right and the valley is to the left.

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 126
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - way2blue - EAST 2 WEST, SAMOA—RESPITE EDITION—FEBRUARY 2025 ( third of five) 2
Image by way2blue (6/21/25)

Recent Comments

  • Anyway on Saturday Morning Open Thread (Jun 21, 2025 @ 2:08pm)
  • Hildebrand on Saturday Morning Open Thread (Jun 21, 2025 @ 2:07pm)
  • scav on Saturday Morning Open Thread (Jun 21, 2025 @ 2:04pm)
  • Geminid on Late Night Open Thread: Compare & Contrast (Jun 21, 2025 @ 2:02pm)
  • Steve LaBonne on Saturday Morning Open Thread (Jun 21, 2025 @ 2:02pm)

Personality Crisis Podcast (Cole, DougJ, mistermix)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Cindy – No Kings – Everett, WA (near Seattle) 2

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc