Yep, it's me again

Finally got around to posting again; you'd think I could do it more often, but I tend to get writer's block a lot. When it comes to talking to people (even strangers) I have no problem at all, but give me a pen or a keyboard and I choke up. If any psychologists out there have any explanations or ideas why, please let me know.

If you don't like political rants, skip to the bottom.

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It appears that General McChrystal made some derogatory remarks (he has now apologized for the remarks) about some of the POTUS' appointees, and now Obama and his lackeys are acting all butthurt and whining about it. I guess he hurt their little feelings...
You know, that's the sort of reaction I'd expect from a twelve year old girl, not an adult. The civilian sector and the military sector are always going to bump heads, it's just the way things are. The politicians are always dumping on the military, but when one of them says anything bad about politicians, all hell breaks loose. Hey, personally I think most of those same people are a bunch of assholes, and I'll be damned if I'll apologize for feeling that way. How about we get some adults in office, for a change?

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."
-Mark Twain

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"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."
-Rahm Emanuel

Saw the president's speech the other day about the oil disaster down in the Gulf. I was not impressed.
Basically, he used it as a platform for his energy-climate bill; some how windmills and solar power are going to cut down on our use of petroleum. What a total crock of bullshit. Most of the power in this country comes from coal, oil has nothing to do with it. He is using the oil disaster to say that we need caps on carbon emissions, and a system for carbon permits. Oh, and by the way, it's all Bush's fault!
Damn, I'll be glad when this egotistical idiot and all his tax-evading buttmonkeys are out of a job.

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Some so-called watchdog group is suing McDonald's for putting toys in Happy Meals. Evidently this causes the children to uncontrollably buy them, and their health is ruined.

"Such a meal gives a child age 4 to 8 years old half a day's calories, two days' worth of saturated fat, two days' worth of sugar, and a large dose of salt."

Tell me, those of you who have children, how many of you let children in that age group decide everything they want to eat, and give them the money to spend on it? What ever happened to the idea that the parents decide what the kids will eat, and take responsibility for it? We have enough goofy do-gooders in the world who think it is their job to tell everyone else what to do "for their own good".

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"Pretty Ballerina" by The Left Banke
"In the Mood" by Glenn Miller
"Fire at Midnight" by Jethro Tull
"Maggie's Farm" by Bob Dylan
"This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis & the Playboys
"Moon River" by Andy Williams
"Ain't No God in Mexico" by Waylon Jennings
"Take on Me" by A-Ha
"Short Change Hero" by The Heavy
"Sun Is Still Shining" by The Moody Blues

Museless blogging

There are times when I am amazed at the people that are able to put out daily posts, and in a lot of cases, multiple posts. Seems like every time I get in the mood to babble on the Web, either I'm not near a computer, or something distracts me from it.

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I don't know what it is like in your neck of the woods, but around here the weather is more like the middle of my than a third of the way through June. We haven't had any freezes, but it's been raining most of the time, and the temperatures have been down in the low fifties. The garden is loving it, but so are the weeds and the lawn, which means more work when things dry out. My miniature roses are all in bloom, I may be taking a couple of pictures of them when I get a chance.

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For those who liked the pictures from Moab, I have a few here that my wife took.

This was taken from the same place as the last two pictures in the post about Moab; these kids were just to the left of us, and made a lot of people nervous by sitting on a cliff.

This is a small jay that was feeding and bouncing about us at one stop we made. I'm not sure of the exact species.

These little guys were all over the place.

Our state flower; the Sego Lily.

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For those who like retro type technology, you may find this item interesting. Hooking up a typewriter to an iPad or computer. Steampunk people should be able to do some very creative stuff with something like this.

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A lot of you are too young to remember Jimmy Dean before he became a sausage salesman, but he did do some good music on occasion. He passed on at age 81.


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So what kind of music are you listening to? Anything here strike a chord with you?

"We Must Believe In Magic" by Crystal Gayle
"Rain on the Scarecrow" by John Mellencamp
"When I'm Away from You" by Kim Carnes
"Galveston" by Glen Campbell
"Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin
"Maybe I Know" by Lesley Gore
"Mona Lisa" by Nat King Cole
"Bad Things" by Jace Everett
"Eight Miles High" by The Byrds
"Just A Pilgrim" by Jim Byrnes

This song may be familiar to you if you have watched True Blood on HBO.



One of my favorites from the sixties.



If you have watched Highlander: The Series, this next performer should be familiar to you, as the actor who played Joe Dawson on the show. Besides being an actor, he is an accomplished songwriter, blues guitarist, and singer who has put out several albums of music.

We're back

Got back into town Monday afternoon, been trying to get things together from the trip. Our short vacation was quite good.
We went to the Moab, Utah to goof off; my wife and I have enjoyed that general area for years.
For those unfamiliar with it, it is in the southeastern part of the state and is on the Colorado Plateau.  If you are a fan of old westerns, a lot of the country would be familiar to you.  Many of the old John Wayne movies were shot down there, and a lot of modern movies feature the area.

Double click pictures to enlarge.

I wasn't able to hike as much as I wished (back still bothering me), but we were able to take a few walks, drive into some interesting areas, and in general kill time having fun.

This is a boat that runs tours from evening into the night down the river canyon.  The picture was taken from a foot/bicycle bridge that spans the Colorado River.

This is the bridge where you walk onto it.

Looking across the bridge.

There is a road outside of Moab called the Potash Road where there are a lot of cliff areas that have been used for beginning mountain climbers.  This is one such spot.

Closeup of the young lady in the previous picture.

To the east of Moab is the Manti-Lasal mountain range.  This is Lake Oowah; it is a favorite spot for trout fishing.  Notice the snow drifts on the far end.

Cactus flower; they were all in bloom.

Looking out over Canyon Country from above.

A detail along one of those canyons, many of the roads are a lot steeper and more narrow than this.











I took a lot of other pictures, and may post some of them later.

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Any favorites in this batch?  Any comments?

         "Crippled Crow" by Kris Kristofferson
         "Only the Lonely" by Roy Orbison
         "Your Cheatin' Heart" by Hank Williams
         "Crown of Creation" by Jefferson Airplane
         "April Come She Will" by Simon & Garfunkel
         "It's Up to You" by The Moody Blues
         "Hellraiser" by Lita Ford
         "Understand Your Man" by Johnny Cash
         "Bounce" by Bon Jovi
         "Bat Out of Hell" by Meat Loaf