Beer and Burritos

The birds and the bees

2011-09-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

Come to Nature's First Green and read my latest musings about the birds and the bees. Invite your friends!

The burn

2011-03-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

They came, they burned.

That's some serious tilling

2011-03-05T13:24:00.000-08:00

Whilst researching tillers I discovered that many people have posted YouTube videos of tillers and tilling. They even put effort into these. Hence force the blog is dedicated to tiller videos on YouTube (at least this once).

I wonder if anything actually grows in this field. Looks like the dust bowl. I like the high wall also.

NYC

2011-01-23T11:50:00.000-08:00

Bad picture of Times Square - very bright there:

$6 a bottle water - the tap water seemed fine:

Empire State (the rightmost building) building out of hotel window:

12/19/2010

2010-12-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

Last weekend of fall!

9/19/2010

2010-09-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

The last weekend of summer and the mud pit has finally reformed itself to a quasi wetlands.

6/26/10

2010-06-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

There is a fire.

The Fed Ex driver pointed it out to us and we called the fire department so it is out now and we have no idea what happened.

6/18/10

2010-06-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

The sky is on fire.

6/6/2010

2010-06-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

Grass, the fence going up, and a turken!

5/29/10

2010-05-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

The forest on the other side of the creek. Its where they who are drawn to red live.

5/14/10

2010-05-16T19:12:00.001-07:00

4/30/10

2010-05-02T19:17:00.001-07:00

It rained a bit here! This is still a smaller puddle than those that form in Pueblo after a bit thunderstorm though.

Across the creek.

4/25/10

2010-04-25T18:31:00.001-07:00

The corn field slowly turns to a pasture. At least some grass is growing!

There's something about this tree. Maybe it is just that it formed a triangle instead of completely collapsing.

4/4/2010

2010-04-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

Top of the hill - many thorny bushes and trees are on this hill so its a shot with great cost and a tree-filled view:

Fording the creek:

The raccoon eying the chickens:

3/21/10

2010-03-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

The chickens are now officially spring chickens.

3/13/10

2010-03-13T20:56:00.001-08:00

The snow melted in one week of constant fog. So that's where the orange shovel went! I like how's it embedded into the ground.

And the mud pit.

3/6/10

2010-03-06T18:09:00.001-08:00

The road and the tortured tree.

Chickens - 2/27/10

2010-03-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

Chickens - 2/7/10

2010-02-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

The chickens make a good show of the passage of time since they grow so quickly. Here they are straight out of the box.

2/14/10

2010-02-24T19:49:00.001-08:00

The spring

Some non-snow covered ground! Mainly due to high winds it would seem...

1/29/10

2010-02-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

Cabo San Lucas Mexico - 2 whales and lands end.

1/17/10

2010-01-17T18:38:00.000-08:00

1/2/10

2010-01-10T20:00:00.000-08:00

12/20/09

2009-12-20T19:19:00.000-08:00

12/9/09

2009-12-13T19:02:00.001-08:00

12/6/09

2009-12-06T18:33:00.001-08:00

11/29/09

2009-11-29T19:56:00.001-08:00

They finally harvested all the corn! It took about 1 hour for them to harvest 7 acres - seemed fast to me. I keep getting stuck in the mud pit with our "tractor".

11/22/09

2009-11-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

The installation of the geothermal piping left a mighty mess.

Across the creek

2009-11-07T17:57:00.000-08:00

It was 65 today so I decided to venture across the creek. I started by crossing on the highway and then just going onto an animal trail. I managed to find a nice little spring doing this.

However I quickly gave this up due to the large amount of thorny bushes. I believe most to be blackberry bushes which is nice in a way but not nice to walk through.

So I crossed the creek to get to the path I mowed last weekend. However crossing the creek is a bit of a challenge as both banks are 3-5 high.

So you have to find a place where you can get down into the creek, walk a way in the water, and then go up the other side. Not so easy, especially when surrounded by thorn bushes.

Still I made it and went up a ways, got to the point where it is a meadow on the other side of the creek, crossed again getting soaked, almost losing the boots to the mud, and got to the meadow across the creek! Once in the meadow it was very nice. No thorn bushes, less chance of poison ivy. Heaven!

Here's a picture from the furthest most point on our land with the house. Of course the bush is in the way.

Here's a picture closer without the bush.

Crossing the creek again I was glad to get back to the civilized path I've created . No more threat of poison ivy or thorn bushes or need to cross a creek by jumping into it and finding a way to jump out again!

All in all it is very nice but we need a bridge closer to the meadowland!

11/1/09

2009-11-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

Clouds. Also I mowed a path around the conservation district so we have a nice little path to walk on. This is probably the most boring part but was closest and has clouds.

10/24/09

2009-10-24T13:51:00.001-07:00

It's fall and the crick is high.

10/18/09

2009-10-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

We lost the camera until sunset on Sunday so here's sunset on Sunday.

10/10/09

2009-10-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

First freeze and a pheasant.

Top Gear goes through Alabama

2009-10-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

WOW! You have to watch this to see what happens to the Top Gear guys in Alabama. Really unbelievable - not a good advert for us (or US) at all. I guess in a way 'they were asking for it', but still!

Farm 10/4/09

2009-10-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

So I previously posted pictures of the front and backyard once a week just to show how time goes and record what happened but lost interest. Maybe with the farm the pictures will be more interesting and it'll go longer? Anywho here are some from the farm, haven't decided on the view to take yet. These seem good.

(And I'm apparently recording exactly how they mowed that hill of grass without rolling over too!)

The pestilence

2009-10-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

As you can see from this satellite map from Google Maps clearly there is a pestilence decimating Madison. Perhaps Odana Hills Park will hold...

Thankfully it hasn't reached the farm yet.

Last weekend of summer - 2009

2009-09-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

Healthcare summarized on napkins

2009-08-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

I thought this was an interesting summary of the healthcare debate. Probably not wholly accurate but it is on napkins at least.

Healthcare Napkins All

View more documents from Dan Roam.

Oh yeah! The 80s rocked...

2009-08-24T19:55:00.001-07:00

This is a very special advertisement for Renault cars. Mimes, old western town, dancers, its got it all!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T10:25:00.001-07:00

The declaration is pretty interesting really (especially if one is used to reading philosophers from the time). I'd say those folks were angry and with good reason. And in the end they appear to have done a fine job with it all. We're still ticking along pretty well despite the current gloom.

It's all cycles, one side gets grumpy for a couple of years, then the other side gets grumpy for a couple of years, and all moves forward pretty well despite all the shifting grumpiness. Then there are those who when in power still stay grumpy just 'cause.

We should really realize this cycle and, at least those of us who are not always grumpy, should be less grumpy. Can't help the perma-grumps but perhaps it is their duty to keep the cycle going and keep us moving forward. It really does all seem to work out in the end and the founding fathers made a damn robust system keeping all the grumps in check.

Anyhow -
here's the declaration

Not just a hat. Longevity for 7.99

2009-06-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

As the tag states:
Sunguard

As society becomes more knowledgeable about health care, sun protection becomes a priority. Hats are the easiest and most commonly used form of protection from the sun today.

The world's finest hatters have designed and produced 'Sunguard' headware for those who take pride in a long healthy future.

Today I was on a call

2009-06-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

I recently thought to myself, 'Man, you be complanin alot there on that blog.' So maybe this is complaining or maybe not. Trying to reform though and just stream o' conscousness. James Joyce and what have you. (no idea if that reference is correct btw. Before you freak out over it read below and decide if you really want to.)

So, anyway, today I was on a call and I thought, 'whoa people just need to chill out! It'll all be fine!'

I dare not give you more detail should they find this and freak out. I dare not comment any more since there are bound to be people who will freakout whatever I say. In fact I bet some are freaking out already and I've said nothing.

Why post so vaguely then? Don't know, it's vaguely entertaining and why not?

Anywho, sometimes you just have to realize how petty it all is and just chill out. Stuff happens, it generally all works out. Just breathe and calm down.

Ah well, more complaining I guess. Did I in fact freak out over people freaking out? Maybe I'll do better next time.

Generic car company - we dislike cars

2009-06-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

I was confused by an ad I saw at the movies the other night. I find it peculiar that an automobile/motorcycle/generator/lawn mower/generally internal combustion engine company seems to dislike automobiles and internal combustion engines so much. Why would you buy an automobile or other miscellaneous internal combustion engine product from a company which so hates such things?

Red wing blackbirds - I dislike them alot

2009-06-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Sort of in response to Zombies are Magic - when we first moved to Wisconsin I thought the red winged blackbird was very pretty. What interesting coloring!

However after having been attacked by them multiple times around town, for no other reason than my sheer being, I've often thought to myself 'I don't really like these birds.'

Having seen signs at the local gardens about how they are federally protected I couldn't believe it. Another conspiracy to let birds roam wild in the highly cultivated gardens. Mind I generally think of myself as a nature lover and general Taoist and such but I don't really like these birds...

Too bad they are federally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Intentionally harming a red wing exposes one to a $250,000 fine and two years' imprisonment on a felony conviction. Whoa!!! These bird are jerks!

Texas

2009-06-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

So I went to Texas this week and I must say I've not been anywhere recently where all there was to eat was meat. Pretty cool really. You go to the BBQ Pit (at the airport mind you, or not) and the menu includes meal options such as:

1 Meat
2 Meats
3 Meats
Half Chicken

I might have to open me a franchise! Really, good stuff, may not fly up north though. Too bad.

I hear the BBQ pits outside the airport are even better.

I am angry gorilla, I heard you needed me.

2009-04-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

I must say - sometimes the news is just too serious. And the hacks they get to interview about a topic. Really, lighten up.

Wow! Just sit back and let the money come in!

2009-04-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

So I put a motorcycle for sale on Craigslist two days ago and I already got this amazing offer today! Wow - it's that easy! And such good grammar and diction too! So close to the sample scam emails Craiglist has! They aren't even trying!

Sort of subtle really since you don't have to give out your bank account info, they'll just send you a check!

Good Day,
I am happy to read your email concerning the sale of your bike,i am intrested in it and ready to buy it immediately.and dont worry about the shippment,I will handle the shipment myself via a private shipping company () they are the leaders in Worldwide auto shipment and they will come for the pick up at your door step and prepare all shipment papers and also bill of sales.it will also be insured by the shippers.

I will make your payment through a cashiers check drawn from (Bank Of America) the check is a legitimate chashiers check it will be mailed to you through UPS and it will be deliverd at your door step,so when you have the check then you proceed to bank and deposited it into your bank account and wait for few day for bank verification while i will wait till the bank confirmed it and cash it and it will be remitted into your bank account ...then you go ahead and chash it....... so my client () will issued the checkin your name so far that its the fastest and secured means for this type of transaction.,So forhim to issued the check he will need the the following information...such as :
1 : Your name ( the name that will be on the check)
2 : Your contact address ( Your home address that the check will be posted to)
3 : A valid phone number ( Your phone number that you can be contacted on for updatings)
The check which will cover the price of the bike and the shipping will be mailed to you as soon as you send your information and will be delivered second day.then you will proceed to have the check deposited....

Don't let Smoky Mountain smoke get in your eyes.

2009-04-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you what - those Osborne Brothers had it right.

Transformative pictorial meaninglessness

2009-03-22T20:00:00.001-07:00

If 2 hikers and a horse go one way do they come back as 1 hiker and 1 horse? Will you find a companion if you go the opposite direction? And which arrow to follow to ensure the correct outcome?

Phantom of the Paradise

2009-03-08T12:35:00.001-07:00

This movie is quite simply amazing - the 70s were something else! Couldn't decide which preview is better so here are both! Its available on Netflix for instant download so watch it now!

Pictures from the Intergalactic HQ

2009-02-15T19:07:00.001-08:00

Yes, that's what they call it. Can't name names since they use Google alerts to search for mention of it and don't want to stir the waters posting pictures of the scenery around the HQ. :)

Whooo! Most snow in a month ever!

2009-01-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

The caption reads:
Dec 2008 - Snowiest December on record
Most snow of any month

OH YEAH!

The messed up thing is it is -6 out right now and the forecast is for freezing rain. WTF!!!

1/11/09

2009-01-10T17:40:00.000-08:00

Still snowy and the moon is full.

12/27/08

2008-12-28T20:06:00.001-08:00

Foggy day in Madison town. Just noticed the prayer flag is down.

12/21/08

2008-12-21T11:59:00.001-08:00

Happy solstice! It snowed here.

12/14/08

2008-12-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

I'm adding a new picture to the series for a segment called "Where did the driveway go"? We got a snow thrower so maybe it won't be that bad this year.

12/7/08

2008-12-07T18:22:00.001-08:00

It's here...

11/30/08

2008-11-30T10:45:00.000-08:00

11/16/08

2008-11-16T11:24:00.001-08:00

11/9/08

2008-11-10T18:54:00.001-08:00

11/2/08

2008-11-08T20:44:00.001-08:00

A week late is better than never. Some fall color out there.

10/26/08

2008-11-01T12:53:00.001-07:00

Forest fancy free frolic

2008-09-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

They who feed on the living, are attracted to red, and live in the forest appear to be gone for the year. Knowing such we ventured deep into the forest and captured these images of the place:

Is this summer?

2008-08-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

It never seems to have warmed up here and we're dreading the winter. I mean, you're supposed to get HOT during the summer and look forward to winter because you are sick of the HOT. But that's just not happening this year.

I think though that we may have an irrational fear of winter since last winter. I hope so. Here's support for our irrational fear. As you can see below last winter we had TWICE the average snowfall for over 100 inches! I hope to never see that again but now we do fear winter...

Day at the beach

2008-08-10T19:30:00.001-07:00

Lake Michigan - there really is a beach here, I just didn't get any nice pictures of it.

Prairie and wetland

2008-07-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

Lake Kegonsa State Park. Lake Kegonsa is the first of the four lakes of the four lakes region. It's also the nastiest being the most down stream from Madison. We used to be able to swim at the beach pictured last (albeit 'used to' is like 2 years ago...), this year its just nasty. The prairie and wetlands are still very nice though.

Prairie

2008-07-16T19:50:00.001-07:00

Prairies are nice in the summer.

Citronella candle

2008-07-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

This keeps the mosquitoes away.

Flood pictures

2008-06-15T19:37:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of a bridge one can normally walk across and a bench one could normally sit on. Also the ducks (if you can make them out in the last photo) shouldn't be able to swim where they are swimming. I know it is shocking that my $40 camera phone takes such lousy pictures! :) Regardless you can sort of make out the problematic nature of the settings.

Lake Delton is gone!

2008-06-11T18:54:00.001-07:00

Due to the large rains I document with my earlier post, Lake Delton no longer exists. The earth next to the damn just gave way and completely drained the lake. Thankfully no one was hurt.

Wow! The lake is gone like that.

Flash Flood!

2008-06-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

As you may have read on Grandamascellardoor or Zelmarific we've had some crazy weather. Its still thundering, we're under another tornado warning, and its been about 2 days of this now. It's supposed to do more of this tomorrow too.

So it started flooding in the backyard and all the flowers are taking a beating.

Olbrich Gardens in May

2008-05-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Looks a little greener in May than in January, doesn't it? You can barely see Lake Monona for all the foliage.

We dare trod the forests of Wisconsin!

2008-05-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

They whom we shall not name, they are attracted to red, and they dwell in the forest. They are not here yet so we trod the forest and here we have some photos of the outings during this brief safe period against them:

The woman who wouldn't listen

2008-05-06T18:01:00.003-07:00

Not one single economist thinks that the gas tax suspension for the summer is a good idea. There are economists who will support anything, left, right, up, down. But NONE will support suspending the gas tax hike for the summer. Hillary Clinton isn't listening to the 'elite opinion' of economists. 'Elite opinion' of economists. She isn't going to listen to people who all agree despite any other differences they might have. Left-wing, right-wing, she won't listen to people who have thought about these sorts of things and think its a bad idea. And if she become president through her magic she'll make it save us all and buy us a puppy too!

Why should we elect someone president who will not listen to experts - even when all of the experts regardless of political persuasion agree??? We already have a president who believes in magic - do we need another?

Suspending the gas tax will save us all something like 30 cents a gallon so be like $30 over the summer. Great... And we'll be in even more debt too! McCain supports this crap too. At least Obama doesn't support this bull.

Here's the Daily Show on this:

Here's Hillary via CNN:

In a fight that could also influence working-class voters, Obama and Clinton have sparred over Clinton's proposal to suspend the federal gas tax during the summer.

Clinton says she backs the tax holiday despite the "elite opinion" of economists who have widely called the tax holiday an ineffective method to lower record gas prices.

"I'm not going to put my lot in with economists," Clinton told George Stephanopolous on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday after he asked her to name a single economist supporting her plan. "If we actually did it right, if we had a president who used all the tools of the presidency, we would design it in such a way that it would be implemented effectively."

It's green again!

2008-04-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying the weather so much I've forgotten to post recently. Here's a picture of the backyard without all the snow.

I'm a survivor

2008-04-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

68%

No Cal

2008-04-09T13:47:00.001-07:00

Outside Palo Alto:

Golden Gate Bridge:

Rainbow tunnels:

Identical $80,000 cars:

OH NO! SNOW!

2008-03-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

And we're all out of wood!

The Subprime Primer

2008-03-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Now I'm not trying to post anything but pictures anymore but this is such a nice concise explanation of what the subprime problem causing all the financial turmoil these days that I just had to share.

http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=ddp4zq7n_0cdjsr4fn&skipauth=true&pli=1

What a difference a week makes!

2008-03-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Hey, we can see the driveway again. And I do believe that is grass under all the snow.

Olbrich Gardens is looking a little less snowy too - you can see walkways!

Will it EVER MELT?

2008-03-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

We finally can see part of the driveway again. Of course we used a couple of bags of salt and I had to chip away through an inch or two of ice to get there.

Ice Storm!

2008-02-24T19:30:00.000-08:00

Pictures of the results of the ice storm last weekend:

Verona

2008-02-24T18:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture from Epic's training center - didn't have the nice camera but you can still tell its wintry and Wisconsin:

At the Zoo

2008-02-16T18:26:00.001-08:00

The zoo in winter is nice because no one is ever there so you have it all to yourself.

The penguins are looking at the wall like normal:

The lions are sitting on their big rock like normal:

The sea lion is waiting for his tank to fill up again - it was empty for some reason:

The new baby giraffe is in out from the cold:

And the turtles were chillin':

All was as it should be.

Snow at night

2008-02-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

All the little sparkles of light are snow flakes.

Olbrich Gardens in Winter

2008-01-28T18:41:00.001-08:00

Florida

2008-01-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

I'm in Florida today - a wee bit warmer here than Wisconsin. Here are some pictures of St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay, fearless pelicans, and mossy trees at night.

Still snowy

2008-01-13T19:04:00.001-08:00

We went to the zoo and forgot to take pictures. So this week some of the backyard in its current state.

Warm and foggy.

2008-01-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

All the snow is melting and it's spooky at the arboretum:

Here's from the back porch:

It's cold and snowy here.

2008-01-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

2007-12-14T19:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I should have never opened that box in the basement. Nothing horror like as my earlier post suggests. Just weird. I'll get to that in later. Right now, let me give you a little story about meeting people out of a movie - it'll sort of tie in later.

I think that "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is a great movie. What an amazing pilgrimage showing a weekend of going to Las Vegas and consuming LOTS of medications and other such. Regardless of what some might think of such movies, this movie does not glamorize pharmaceutical use or those who partake in such. What is glorious about any of those hotel rooms they consume in their madness? It doesn't seem glorious to be paranoid frightening people everywhere you go? Too honest, no glamor there at all.

As Duke says of Dr. Gonzo:

There he goes -- one of God's own prototypes --
a high powered mutant of some kind
never even considered for mass production.
Too weird to live and too rare to die.

So yeah, they're great in a movie. Hilarious in a movie. 'What did he just do!! He didn't!' in a movie.

But then there was the day we were outside of the Target and we saw Duke and Dr. Gonzo - or at least modern interpretations of them. There's a line of cars in the parking lot with the leading car waiting to turn left out of the lot. This is taking awhile. Perhaps a little too long.

A guy leans out of his car (Duke) and starts screaming - "Lets get going! What's the holdup here!!! We've got to get GOING!" The other guy (Gonzo) throws his door open and stumbles out of the car. Gonzo's got a wife beater on with full stomach showing just like his movie self. Can't see what Duke is wearing.

Gonzo starts weaving his way up the line of cars muttering something. Car waiting to turn left misses a chance to go. "Goddamnit! We got to get going man!!! What's wrong with those fuckers?" Duke screams. Gonzo's still mumbling to himself and stumbling up the line of cars.

Duke dry-heaves out of car window and then screams something incomprehensible. Other cars leave the line to find another exit of the lot. The car causing the holdup is still waiting to turn left. They miss another chance to go. We're thinking of not going into Target just right now. We'd have to pass them on the way in.

Duke screams.

Gonzo totters on.

Gonzo's almost to the car and the situation seems ugly. Duke lays on horn as he screams to Gonzo to get them to move. He's clearly got to get going.

As Gonzo almost gets to the car waiting to turn left the driver FINALLY seems to notice the commotion going on behind them. Perhaps they even notice the dude in the wife beater lurching towards them. Perhaps they wonder why this man is hobbling towards them. They might wonder why another man is screaming out the window of his car.

At this point the driver now makes the decision to turn right. I think this was a good choice.

Mr Rush!

2007-11-28T18:11:00.000-08:00

And now for a message for the wee ones from Mr Rush:

Treasure Part 2!!

2007-11-26T19:26:00.000-08:00

No new pictures (yet), I'll just let you enjoy the original findings. But I did go through yet another box and found more teeth. I going to assume they are my wisdom teeth, not sure how they ended up in 2 separate boxes - one set in a jar and the other still in gauze. I'm starting to get a little scared of these boxes - what could the next possibly contain?

Almost make for a good horror story - we should never have opened the box in the downstairs closet. What were we thinking! We thought it fun. After having opened the 3 original boxes of 'Brian's Stuff' we naively approached the remaining boxes downstairs with aplomb. 'Oh what will we find now to put on the silly blog!' Funny those boxes. Hilarious the malodorous boxes the cat hissed at as we brought them down from that dull, dark closet. Amusing how the closet returned to its normal off white once the boxes were out of it. Never noticed that before. If only we had the sense to see the warning of teeth in the other boxes...

I may never go downstairs again! The fool still jests, but once I open those boxes...

Treasure!

2007-11-25T16:56:00.000-08:00

I've had this couple of boxes in the bottom of the closet for some time now. My mother saved the stuff in these boxes for me for many years and finally gave these to me a year or so ago. Today I finally looked through the boxes. What treasure was found!

The boxes:

Picture 1 of treasure:
1 - Pro Wrestling Nintendo Game - don't have a Nintendo anymore though.

2 - Collection of rocks on fishing line. Very nice.

3 - Zippo lighter collector's guide - exciting shots of classic Zippo's inside.

4 - Detective's notepad.

5 - Broken watch. Unusable.

6 - Ice cream style eraser. Hard as a rock.

7 - The Card?

8 - Wire...

9 - Box of rock hard erasers and dice.

Picture 2 - the pacifier was not in the box:
1 - A Swatch. Cool.
2 - Teeth in a jar. Yes teeth, from the mouth. I assume they are mine.
3 - A mirror.
4 - Eraser with brush. Unusable.
5 - Empty Zippo box. I got excited for a second thinking I'd found a Zippo.
6 - Someone's glasses. Not mine.
7 - Camel cash. Wonder if it's still good?
8 - Gobot.
9 - Cigar case. What's inside?!?! A pen with refills.
10 - Cover of box for the Gift Unusual for Amigos, The Gracious Hostess, The Sportsman, The Shut-Ins.
11 - Very uncool sunglasses.
12 - Old address labels I will never be able to use unless I want returned mail returned to the wrong address. There were about 100 of these.
13 - Aerosmith CD.
14 - Quote about Pueblo being the trashiest place around and coupon for Scotch audio cassettes - expired in 1993.
Picture 3:
1 - Razor sharpener. OK...
2 - Bag for cat litter bags. No actual cat litter bags in the package. Huh?
3 - Receipt from 1997 for UFO ornament. I remember that, it was pretty cool.
4 - Broken watch. Not cool.

Picture 4:
1 - 3 facial tissues.
2 - Frogger box with Star Wars Empire Stikes Back back. Full of pencils.
3 - Single shoelace. Why just one shoelace?
4 - 5 Garfield bookmarks, 1 Jesus bookmark, 1 Hans Solo bookmark.

Sesame Street DVD - Adult-Only Entertainment?

2007-11-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

Just when I was not going to have anything to post about I found something.

Firstly though, Zelma smiled today when I played the banjo. So it isn't just the fiddle that she likes. I'm sure some may hear my latest on the upcoming 2007 Christmas album. We usually practice for about an hour and record. Very professional.

Secondly, I saw mention that Sesame Street is coming to DVD. As ADULTS ONLY! Oh my.

Lookie at the New York Times or Slashdot. Apparently since Cookie Monster has a pipe in some of the episodes the volumes 1 and 2 of Sesame Street are for adult viewing only. Can't have a cookie addict smoking a pipe. Not to mention apparently he no longer eats just cookies. Also because Oscar is too sad.

Its really amazing we all made it through childhood! My goodness! With Sesame Street destroying our young minds. We probably don't even know how traumatized we really are... I always wondered why I smoked and liked to eat lots of cookies, now I know. Darn you Cookie Monster!!!!

The most beautiful instrument

2007-11-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

Some may know I play the banjo. The banjo apparently is the butt of many jokes, it gets no respect. I think it must be that people are jealous they can't play such an angelic sounding instrument.

Today Shoshanah says, "You've got to read this article in the Isthmus. Its about learning to play the banjo." I read the article. You can too. Wow, I didn't realize it was that bad!

Rather than as the author did, learning claw hammer first, I learned to play 3 finger picking style first. I remember times when I pulled out the banjo to learn how to play something and Shoshanah would go upstairs. "I'm sure it'll sound better with practice." she said. It probably did sound pretty horrible. I'm learning claw hammer now and it seems MUCH simpler than 3 finger picking, the blood pressure goes down and all it good. But three finger is so fun when you actually almost get a song out.

Now its been 3 years and I think I'm a little better. Not so horrible anymore, sometimes I can even get Shoshanah to do a little jig. I even played for dear Zelma last night and she looked at me with such awe and confusion. But she didn't cry or run away (not that she could since she can't even crawl). So she must have liked it, or at least could stand it. Then of course Shoshanah gets out the fiddle and starts playing and Zelma smiles and starts kicking her feet in excitement...

Troglodyte - not just a funny sounding word

2007-11-09T19:56:00.000-08:00

I've always found troglodyte to be such an odd word. It somehow seems very offensive. All it means is 'A person who lived in a cave.' I guess that has come negative connotation now a days. I mean who lives in a CAVE? Well, thinking of it, I guess some people we don't much like but let us not go there. We're here to talk about underground cities.

So imagine my surprise - and delight of an actual use for the word troglodyte - when I actually read of entire cities built underground. That is pretty unusual I'd say. A cave for shelter sure, an entire city underground - surely not.

But yes! Apparently the Cappadocia region of Turkey is host to a number of underground cities. The rock is so soft there you can apparently dig through it with your hands. So take for example Derinkuyu, an underground city where they even build bars (as in drinking) and giant churches underground. It seems some motivation behind these cities was to provide defense against others. People says times are tough now, whatever. Those are some crazy hard times when you become a troglodyte for safeties sake... We've got it easy.

Pickled Peppers!

2007-11-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

I like pickled peppers, mainly the jalapeno kind. We unexpectedly grew lots of serrano peppers this year. It was a shock to see we still had a 50-100 peppers still on the plants, what to do with them! Serrano peppers are 4 times hotter than jalapenos apparently, certainly can't eat them all tonight.

Put these facts together and you get me making pickled peppers tonight. I've never done it before, but there is a great satisfaction of having done something old-timey and not having all my peppers rot. Of course my hand is still on fire from having sliced all those hot peppers, it even swelled a bit. Got me out of changing the baby's diaper though.

Here's the recipe I found randomly on the internets:

2 qts. Jalapeno peppers
2 cup white vinegar
2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon pickling salt
4 cloves garlic

Slice peppers or leave them whole. (To prevent bursting, cut two small slits in whole peppers.) Pack peppers tightly into clean, hot jars.
Combine vinegar and water; heat to a simmer. Do not boil. Pour hot vinegar over peppers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Add pickling salt and and a clove of garlic to each jar then seal.
Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Rather than garlic, I used onions. Its a shame we didn't have any carrots, those always seem to go well in pickled peppers. And rather than pickling salt I used normal table salt. Which according to Alden at Sonic.net, should you be worried, is perfectly fine. Now in a few weeks I can have my very own homebrew pickled peppers.