Near the Salty City

Another trip around the sun.

2012-01-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

Sixty years ago today, I entered this world at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nevada. Where the hell did the time go?
I was hoping to post before now, but I was feeling quite run down, and I had an aching in my lower jaw in back, which got progressively worse. Wednesday I was able to get into the dentist, where I found that I had a bigass abscess that had to be cut into and drained. The last couple of days I have been doped with pain killers, taking antibiotics, and feeling like someone hit me repeatedly upside the head and jaw with a cricket bat. Hope it gets better soon, I'd like to do at least a little bit of celebrating this weekend. Right now I am having trouble eating anything that takes much chewing, so a steak dinner is off the books for now.

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Hopefully Congress will get a clue from the protests against SOPA and PIPA and drop them. If they don't, the people need to remind them when election time comes around again.

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Wanted to do more writing, but I'm in a bit of a fog right now from analgesics and lack of sleep. Just the little jottings I did today made me feel like I have just finished rewriting War and Peace Any ranting will have to wait until I'm feeling a little better. Right now I'm too tired to be pissed off at anyone.

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Anyone familiar with this bunch of oldies?

"Dark Eyed Woman" by Spirit
"Orinoco Flow" by Enya
"Five O'clock World" by The Vogues
"You Give Me Fever" by The McCoys
"Send Me No Wine" by The Moody Blues
"You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore
"Sometimes in Winter" by Blood, Sweat, & Tears
"It Ain't Me Babe" by The Turtles
"American Pie" by Don McClean
"Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band

All right, this has gone on long enough

2012-01-09T16:37:00.002-07:00

I'm over a week into the new year and still haven't posted anything. Time for me to get off my (metaphorical) ass and do something here.
Christmas was fairly good here; everyone exchanged gifts and no one has gotten seriously sick or had to go to a hospital, so I call that a good time.

My last set of injections seem to be working; my back is still fairly stiff, but little or no pain for now, so I have been able to do more than usual. We got about 3-4" of snow Friday night, and I can still feel that in all my old joints. Woke up Sunday morning feeling like hammered dogshit. Head was aching and fuzzy, I felt week, and didn't feel like eating, so all I had for breakfast was a V8. Forced myself to get the grocery shopping done, and when I got back I got stuff put away I had to lie down; I had bad shakes, and was sweating profusely. At first I was afraid I was having a heart attack, but didn't have any pains. Didn't get around to eating anything until around 14:00 when my wife got home. Got better during the evening, so I think it was just some kind of bug that hit me.

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I'm certainly getting tired of all the garbage in the presidential races; I can't stand the current POTUS, and the contenders for the GOP slot are pretty much a bunch of losers, in my opinion. Most of them I wouldn't even want living in my neighborhood, let alone running the country. The only one that I seem to have any agreement with in some things is Ron Paul (the rest of the so-called "Republicans" don't seem much better than the idiots and crooks in the Democratic party), and I don't think he has a chance of being elected.
After a bit of thinking, I have decided that the independent and libertarian voters are going about this all wrong; instead of trying to elect Paul to the office of president, we need to find more like him and vote them in Congress. I think a bunch of people like that in Congress would do more good than one guy in the White House. The office of president is strange in some ways; a president can't really do much good with the backing of the Senate and Congress, but they can whip up all sorts of bad shit without the two houses being able to stop it. All a POTUS has to do is slap together some bullshit agency (plenty of letters in the alphabet for a lot more), and then let it make laws he wants and bypass Congress completely unless they put up a decent fight. And too many of Congress and the Senate don't have the guts or integrity put up a fight over anything that doesn't score them some pork.
Time to hit the reset button and boot them all out. Let's start over with a new bunch.

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Salt Lake City named "America's gayest city" according to an article in a magazine. Living here in Utah, that cracks me up! I imagine there are a lot of my acquaintances and some relatives that will be having conniptions about that.
ROFLMAO

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Anything look familiar? Mostly oldies, and I think the latest ones are from the Eighties.

"Magic" by Olivia Newton-John
"Take the "A" Train" by Duke Ellington
"Crazy" by Patsy Cline
"Dirty Water" by The Standells
"Send Me No Wine" by The Moody Blues
"Li'l Red Riding Hood" by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs
"99 Luftballons" by Nena
"Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles
"Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult
"Friday on My Mind" by The Easybeats

And good will toward men

2011-12-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to do some last minute stuff for Christmas.
Spent part of yesterday morning getting my last series of spinal shots (L3, L4, L5), then spent the second part of the day sort of fuzzy from the sedative they gave me. Right now I'm a bit fuzzy from lack of sleep (my insomnia is still working); my back is a bit stiff, and my left leg is a bit weak, but almost all the pain is gone for now.

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No complaints or raving today. I'd like to wish a happy holiday weekend for anyone who drops by, regardless of your personal beliefs. I'm not religious myself, but I have no problem wishing people a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you believe in. The important thing is that there should be a time when people can all put aside their complaints against one another and just show some good will to others. After all, we're all related if you go back far enough.

I'm neither dead nor comatose, but you couldn't prove it by me.

2011-12-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

It's been several weeks since I posted, and I don't really have a good reason, because I do enjoy writing and ranting. I haven't really been feeling up to snuff since the cold weather started (getting up in the morning when it's 16º F outside tends to be discouraging), and haven't been doing my usual photographing. I usually get some inspiration from the internet, but every time I look at the news, I get overwhelmed by the huge avalanche of WTF? that cascades onto the screen. I'm already sick of the presidential campaigns, and we still have almost a year left to go; either we will have the narcissist socialist that is there now, or one of two RINO dumbasses for president. I have a feeling the country is doomed no matter which one of the Three Stooges wins.

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My friend Meleah has lost her grandfather. From reading about him in her posts, he seems to have been quite a character, and someone I think I would have liked. She and her family have my deepest sympathies.
That's one of the (many) problems with getting older, the people you care about the most start disappearing, and leaving you with nothing but photos and memories. Make the most of the people you love now, otherwise you'll regret it later.

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Still no news about why the killer in Belgium attacked all those people. I'm getting the feeling he may have a lone nut case, but usually they give some sort of idea of an agenda. This guy just gathered up a bunch of weapons (all illegally, by the way) and started attacking people without warning.

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Any favorites or comments on this bunch? Some of them may seem a little dark, but sometimes I get in a melancholy (not depressed) mood, and my music choices can reflect it. Bear with me, please.

"I Wanna Go Back" by Eddie Money
"The Thrill Is Gone" by B. B. King
"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield
"Someday Never Comes" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Just a Pilgrim" by Jim Byrnes
"Whispering Pines" by Johnny Horton
"The Actor" by The Moody Blues
"I Am A Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Have a Nice Day" by Bon Jovi
"One of the Living" by Tina Turner

One of my favorites by Jim Byrnes, actor, songwriter, and blues singer.

This road to the harbor is all that I know
I'm here at the crossroads, which way do I go?
I've been lost, sometimes found
Down this road, that's where I'm bound
With all of the others, we all travel alone

I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road
Yes, Lord, I'm a pilgrim on the side of the road

This road to the harbor is paved with our tears
I've been out here walking for what seem like long years
I wonder, how can this be, that they all feel like me?
All of these others, though we travel alone

I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road
Yeah, Lord, I'm a pilgrim on the side of the road

Please don't let me find that I've been left behind
Hope I will reach the end before dark night closes in

This road to the harbor out here under the sun
I'm tired, Lord, I am weary, my race halfway run
But I must, I will soldier on, even when hope is all gone
All of the others, we have to travel alone

I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road
Yeah, Lord, I'm a pilgrim standing at the side of the road
Yeah, sometime I, sometime I, sometime I need help on my journey
I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road

One of Tina's best, in my opinion.

"I was just thinking, if it is really religion with these nudist colonies, they sure must turn atheists in the wintertime." - Will Rogers

2011-11-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

We had a snowfall a few days ago, but it melted away within a couple of hours. Didn't really affect much other than the tomatoes and zucchini plant; they are down for this year.
The flowers are still doing fine, even though it has been freezing every night. As of yesterday, it hasn't been too bad; these are some pictures I took in my yard.

Nasturtiums

Chrysanthemums

Wild Geraniums

This morning that all changed. What is especially bad is that none of the leaves have dropped yet.

Looking west from my mailbox

Tree hanging into driveway

Apple tree in back yard

I guess winter is here.

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The news is all full of an effete boy accused of fathering a child, and a gold-digging bimbo is getting divorced.

WTF, people? Don't you have anything more important to worry about?

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I get quite amused by all these protestors with their Guy Fawkes masks; do any of those people have a clue who he was, other than a mask in the movie Vendetta? Fawkes committed treason against the British government to replace an Anglican king with a Catholic queen; he really didn't give a shit about the British subjects, their rights, or anything like that. So why is he treated like an icon of freedom?
It makes about as much sense as all the brainless halfwits who run around with Che Guevara on their t-shirts, and treat him like some kind of freedom fighter. The man was a ruthless cold-blooded killer, who only cared about people as tools to use in supplanting one type of dictatorship with another. He helped set up a government that was just as vicious as the one that he and Castro kicked out.

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One of my favorite commentators has passed away. I always considered him the best of the bunch on 60 Minutes; you're welcome to your opinion, but I found him very entertaining.

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A few days ago one of my favorite bloggers left this world. In between stuff with his job (he was a medical examiner) he had interesting posts on shooting and life in general. I didn't know him personally in the real world, but enjoyed reading his blog, and will miss him.
For a better look at his personality and character, Breda has a good post.

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There must be at least one favorite in this bunch. Any comments?

"Abraham, Martin, and John" by Dion
"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"La Grange" by ZZ Top
"Evil Woman" by Electric Light Orchestra
"Salt Lake City" by The Beach Boys
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"See Me, Feel Me" by The Who
"Break On Through" by The Doors
"Do You Believe In Magic" by The Lovin' Spoonful
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

"You know you're getting old when you bend down to tie your shoelaces and then think about what else you might do while you're down there." - George Burns

2011-10-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted anything. At the time of my last post, I was doing quite poorly; my back was a constant throbbing and cramping that kept me from doing much. Even walking forty or fifty feet required me to sit or lean against something to get some relief.
Back on the 13th I had an appointment with a pain-management specialist, and have gotten some relief. I was given some steroid injections in some of the L vertebrae, and in the S-1 vertebra, along with some Lidocane. The Lidocane helped somewhat with the immediate pain, but I was somewhat dizzy afterwards and had to be driven home. Over the past few days the intensity of the pain has lowered considerably, even after the Lidocane wore off. The pain is still there, but nowhere near as bad as it was, and seems to be abating still. I still have a lot of stiffness in my back from my waist to my shoulderblades, but I am able to ignore it in most cases. For about a week after the treatment, I had sort of a low level buzz going on, just enough to keep me from sleeping well, but not enough to make me feel active. I'll be getting some more treatments next month, and hopefully will improve even further. Now that I have a little more mobility, I hope to get out and do more photography, and maybe get more sleep. Lack of sleep tends to make me feel fuzzy, and I have a hard time posting when I am feeling burnt out. I am able to walk more, and have started doing some light work with weights.
Thanks for having patience with me and showing up here.

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Qadhdhafi is finally gone; I doubt if anyone will miss him much. I just hope we don't get mixed up in that mess in Libya; from the sound of it, the new government will probably be just as bad, if not worse. They are planning to run it according to Sharia law, which is about as backwards and barbaric as they come.

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The OWS protests are reminding me of the ones I used to see in the sixties; probably the same sort of people. There were some idealists out there back then, but most of them didn't have a clue what they were talking about. The rest of them were basically out for free stuff, and getting stoned and laid.
I've been seeing some ugly stuff happening at these OWS happenings, and I think it's going to get worse before this is over.

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Any favorites in this bunch? A lot of older ones in there.

"Something's Gotta Give" by Christian Kane
"Ribbon of Darkness" by Marty Robbins
"Chelsea Morning" by Judy Collins
"Just for Love" by Quicksilver Messenger Service
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
"Mr. Bad Example" by Warren Zevon
"Yesterday's Gone" by Chad and Jeremy
"Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring
"Solitary Man" by Neil Diamond
"Squeeze Box" by The Who

2011-10-10T19:45:00.001-07:00

Starting to get some fall weather around here. We haven't had any frost yet, but we did get some snow and sleet last week, though none of it stuck at our elevation.
Thursday, I had this view of the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of my mailbox:

My vegetable garden is still ok, so the temperatures are still well above freezing at night, but we've been getting a lot of rain, wind, and cool weather.

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A few days ago I received a box of .45ACP ammo (PMC 230 grain bronze hardball) from an internet ammo company called Ammo.net to try out. Their prices are relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other companies, especially for good name brands, so I will be adding a link on my sidebar if anyone would like to check on their goods and prices.

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NBA lockout still on. You know, I can think of a lot of things more important than a bunch of guys getting paid enormous amounts of money to play games.
Yawn...

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"You're the One" by The Vogues
"Eye in the Sky" by The Alan Parsons Project
"I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles
"Run to You" by Bryan Adams
"Midnight Rider" by The Allman Brothers
"Stay" by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs
"I'm Alive" by Spooky Tooth
"Down In Mexico" by The Coasters
"Someday Never Comes" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"The Midnight Special" by Johnny Rivers

"Only criminals, dictators and democrats fear armed citizens." - Jeff Cooper

2011-09-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

It would appear that the Gunwalker program of the ATF is looking worse all the time. The Federal government has been maintaining that it was merely a sting operation that has suffered miscommunication. Now we find out that not only was the ATF knowingly selling to illegal buyers, but they were actually buying firearms illegally themselves, and delivering them to the Mexican cartels. That is not a sting operation; it is the deliberate arming of criminals, and the only explanation I can see is to give credence to their complaints that the cartels were arming themselves from American dealers, all so that they could whine for more gun laws and more funds.
Sort of like an unethical fireman starting fires so he could get more work and a raise. And these sales were under the aegis of the Department of Justice, though they claim they didn't know about it. The ATF would have had to inform the FBI for the NICS checks, so the DoJ would seem to be lying. The information was also being relayed to the White House, so when the POTUS says he had no knowledge, I don't believe it. Most of the information media has been completely ignoring the situation, with the exception of the NY Times and the Washington Post, who have both been trying to make excuses, so we know who's pulling their strings.
It's a sad day when the federal government is working with foreign criminal gangs for the purpose of curtailing civil liberties of American citizens.

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The last time I posted I mentioned that I had received a copy of a book for a review; the book was Glock: The Rise of the American Gun, by Paul Barrett.
I found the book quite fascinating. In it, Paul tells the story of Gaston Glock, from his humble beginnings repairing car radiators and making cast items such as curtain rods, to becoming a multimillionaire. I can't say that Glock comes off well; he changed along the way, and not for the better. A quite common story of someone with humble beginnings catapulted into wealth and power, and losing part of themselves in the process.
Alongside his story, we are shown how the Glock pistol spread ripples into modern culture, including politics, movies, TV, law enforcement, and music. Something that I found interesting was that the more anti-gun groups attacked him, the more successful he became; he had people working for him who were smart, knew how to spin things successfully, and used their own attacks against them. He also had amazing luck; things would happen at just the right time and to just the right people for him to use to his own advantage.
We are told the story mainly through the people who were involved; his sales people, legal people, and those from other parts of society; the other firearm companies, politicians, police, and more. If I were making a documentary of the book, I could advertise that it would feature "politics, intrigue, treachery, sex, violence, and courtroom drama!".
For the most part the book is quite objective; the author does believe in some gun laws that I do not, but reserves those for the last part of the last chapter of the book, and doesn't let them affect his telling of the story. He actually corrects a lot of misconceptions that people have about firearms and gun violence statistics, including a lot of false facts spread by the anti-gun groups, so I feel that he is doing his best to tell the story in an unbiased manner.
Whether you are a firearm owner or not, pro-gun or anti-gun, I can recommend it to anyone interested in modern culture and its influences.

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If anyone is curious about the type of people who go to a Gunblogger Rendezvous, Sam has put together a slide show just under five minutes long of some of us who attended. If anyone is interested, I'm the fat guy with the shaved head and photographer's vest at 2:41. SandyG (my wife) is holding a Cabela's hat at 3:47.

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Anyone familiar with these oldies?

Trying to blog more often

2011-09-21T16:15:00.002-07:00

Back again.
Had a meeting with the doctor about my x-rays and MRI scan to see if they could do anything about my back problems.
As I was already aware, I have several disks in the lumbar area that are somewhat displaced and are also arthritic; these are what is causing my spasms and bouts with sciatica.
The doctor also was curious when I had fractured my spine.
"!!!!?????????"

Evidently I have fractured one of the higher vertebrae at some time, but luckily it healed without adding to my problem. I have a feeling that it may have happened when I injured my shoulder, and the pain may have been masked by the pain I already have in my back.
They have decided to try a treatment that has done fairly well in the past in which they do some injections into the bad area, and then do it again a month later. This has been successful in most cases like mine, though on occasion a third set of injections has been necessary. Hopefully it will work, otherwise I may be looking a a surgical approach, which I would rather not do, unless absolutely necessary. I am currently waiting for them to schedule the treatments.

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During the Gunblogger Meet a few days ago, one of the people we met there was author,journalist, and editor Paul Barrett, who has written a soon-to-be-published book entitled Glock: The Rise of the American Gun. I sat across from him at dinner the first night, and talked with him later that evening and the next day about such things as gun control, gun rights, violent crime, and similar topics. He told us about his book, and offered to send interested bloggers galley copies if they would read it and give it a fair and critical review. I got my copy today, and will be reading it over the next few days. According to the author, the book is about the invention and marketing of the firearm,and examines its impact on modern literature, media, and our culture in general. I think this shall be some interesting reading, and I would like to thank him for this opportunity.

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A meme going around the gun blogs, started by Og, is to show which knife you carry normally.

The bottom one is always clipped to my pocket, it is a S & W SWAT with 3.75" blade. I like it because it is one of the few folders that fits my hand and feels comfortable.
The Swiss Army knife and the Leatherman Wave are usually in my vest pocket, but sometimes I carry the Leatherman on my belt.

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Any favorites in this bunch?

"God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys
"You're the One" by The Vogues
"Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"On the Road Again" by Bob Seger
"Back Where You Belong" by 38 Special
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan
"The Old Man Down the Road" by John Fogerty

"Right Down the Line" by Gerry Rafferty
"Come As You Are" by Mindy Abair

Vacation

2011-09-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

Got back from the Gunblogger's Rendezvous late Sunday night/Monday morning. Still getting stuff put away, but wanted to start this post, even if I don't finish for a bit.
The post below is not all that we did, it is only hitting the highlights. We were actually doing more than it appears.

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A pretty good time was had by all. We got there Thursday afternoon, and met up with the rest of the group at Cabela's, who was kind enough to give us a tour and a $20 certificate. We got together afterwards, and listened to some speakers, saw some new equipment and goods displayed and explained by manufacturers, and went to dinner. Afterwards we got together again and mainly visited until the wee hours of the morning.

Friday after breakfast we spent several hours at the range. Since there was quite a variety of firearms there, a lot of time was spent shooting one another's ordinance, and getting familiar with different types. For example, Rick of Traction Control had a nice little full-auto Uzi with a silencer that was a hoot. My wife got to shoot a Ruger 45 Long Colt, got to fire a Glock for the first time, and had an especially good time shooting Skip's .308; she had never shot a center-fire rifle or used a scope, and she quite enjoyed doing some precision long-range target practice with a firearm suited for game hunting and military shooting. An amazing person to watch was Molly, a young lady in her teens who can shoot better than most grown men I've seen; she was a joy to watch. My shoulder was acting like it belonged to someone else, so as I had thought, I couldn't shoot worth a damn. I am basically having to learn all over again from scratch with my shoulder in its present configuration.

Pic 1: Rick with his Uzi
Pic 2: My wife doing her sniper shooting
Pic 3: Molly

More time that night listening to people who are helping to keep the Second Amendment alive in this country, and more milling and such until late.

Saturday after breakfast was steel shooting, but I was hit with sciatica bad, so wasn't able to go. Felt a little better after lying down, so we played tourist and went out to lunch and to the National Automobile Museum in Reno. I have uploaded a few pictures to my Flickr account; you can go to it from the sidebar if you would like to see them.

We had raffles and drawings for some firearms and a lot of sporting equipment that night. Visited until late.
Left after breakfast on Sunday. There was a cowboy shooting contest for those who desired to attend, but we had to start on our way home.

One of the reasons the GBR takes place (other than like-minded people getting together and having fun) is to raise money for the Project Valour-IT program to help some of our wounded soldiers. We managed to raise a fair amount ourselves, and some of our sponsors added to this also.

This was my first visit to the GBR, and I must say it was awesome to find how friendly and helpful everyone was, and how much they went out of their way to make my wife and me feel welcome and have a good time. I hope we can make it again next year, if possible.

Pic 1 and 2: Couple of candid shots of us milling about.
Pic 3: Caleb displaying his awesome hat-wearing skills. He is a top competition shooter, and was in the first season of Top Shots, if you are familiar with the show.
Pic 4: The person standing is Alan Gura, whose name you may know if you are familiar with the famous Heller decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment was an individual right, rather than a collective right.

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After leaving Reno, we went to Carson City, and visited the
Nevada State Railroad Museum; there are also some pictures from there at Flickr.

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Should be something of interest to someone in here; I was in sort of a disjointed mood for music here.

"Rocky Top" by Chet Atkins
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
"Alone" by Heart
"England Swings" by Roger Miller
"Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
"Hellhound on My Trail" by Robert Johnson
"Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert
"I'd Love to Change the World" by Ten Years After
"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." - Rudyard Kipling

2011-09-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

Next week my wife and I are going to Reno for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous; getting together with other bloggers in the western US for some visiting, range time, and whatever we feel like. Should help get rid of some of the cabin fever bothering us at this time. I haven't been to Reno in years, and then it was passing through at about midnight, so I'll be interesting in seeing the sights, and meeting some of the bloggers I've read over the internet for several years now.
Don't know how well I'll do at shooting; I haven't been able to work a firearm for over a year now because of my shoulder, so it should be interesting to see if I can hit a target, or end up seeing Maggie's Drawers a lot.

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I got almost a full night's sleep last night; feel like my IQ went up several points.
Went in for an MRI on my back yesterday (had an X-ray last week); the doctor is supposed to look them over and get back to me on whether there is anything they can do for my sciatica and spasms; I'm trying to stay hopeful that they can help without any major surgery.

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Looks like the revolt in Libya may be winding up soon; it all depends on when they can dig out Qadaffi from where he's holed up. Then will come the fight to see which faction/tribe will run the country; at that time we may see a bloody civil war take place, depending on what the military does. I just hope the POTUS doesn't get us involved in that part; what those barbarians do over there is their own business, not ours.

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Some oldies; some of you out there might even remember a couple of them.

"Substitute" by The Who
"If You Don't Like Hank Williams" by Kris Kristofferson
"Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot
"Baby, Won't You Come Out Tonight" by Buddy Holly
"Mechanical World" by Spirit
"Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac
"I Am A Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Diggy Diggy Lo" by Doug Kershaw
"Runnin' Blue" by The Doors
"Can't You See" by The Marshall Tucker Band

Late again

2011-08-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

I hoping to get back to here sooner, but didn't make it.
Went to the art festival, but had to take my cane with me. The fair is on main street and is about a quarter mile long, and uphill. The worst part for me was the trip downhill; had to stop at times and lean on my cane when spasms hit. After getting home they got worse, and I ended up fighting them for several days. Haven't had any in the last couple of days, but my sciatica is keeping me awake a lot, and makes it difficult to focus sometimes.

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Looks like the police were lucky and found out about a teen who was building a bomb to set off in his high school from which he had been expelled.
Looks like he was a stoner with a lukewarm IQ; why am I not surprised?

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Supposedly the POTUS has a plan for the economy. Of course, he can't reveal it until he is done campaigning and has taken a vacation (he takes more vacations than anyone I've ever heard of).
I don't have much faith in him coming up with anything that will work. Time and again he has shown that both he and his advisers have no knowledge of economics or business; I can only imagine what sort of bullshit that bunch will try to pass off as a recovery plan.

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Tomorrow (Aug 18) is my 38th wedding anniversary; it was the best thing that ever happened to me, and the smartest thing I've ever done. I'm just lucky that I married the amazing woman that is my wife, Sandy.
Damn, but the time really flies.

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In an oldies mood; seems to make me feel better when I'm feeling down.

"Forever in Blue Jeans" by Neil Diamond
"You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt
"Saturday in the Park" by Chicago
"Tequila" by The Champs
"If Not for You" by Bob Dylan
"Bottle of Wine" by The Fireballs
"Woman, Woman" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
"My Little Red Book" by Arthur Lee
"Look Into the Sun" by Jethro Tull

Hi, remember me?

2011-08-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks since posting; still not getting any better at it, I'm afraid. The last couple of weeks we have had intermittent rain, and as a consequence I have been laid up with constant sciatica and muscle spasms. Makes for poor sleeping, and when I do get any energy it is put into housework and yardwork during the brief times when the pain abates.
I had some major yardwork done a few days ago; two of my trees in front needed pruned badly, and I also had a large pine removed from the front yard.

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Looks like the economy is still circling the drain; between the idiots in the Whitehouse, and the ones in Congress and the Senate, I think we are in for a rough time in the next few years.

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Time for the yearly trip to the arts festival; we like going up in the late morning, and have lunch at Wasatch Brewery; they have good brew and great beer-battered fish and chips.
I'll probably have to take my cane (have used one at times for several years now) and walk slow, but I enjoy getting up there anyway.
About time to go pick a few tomatoes and then spend some time with a heating pad on my back. Hope to get back sooner with my next post.

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A few oldies in this bunch. Any favorites?

"You Ain't So Tough" by Heart
"Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto
"Run Through the Jungle" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Dark Night" by The Blasters
"Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol
"Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits
"Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody
"Soapstone Mountain" by It's A Beautiful Day
"Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer
"Foxy Lady" by Jimi Hendrix

To the lady in my life

2011-07-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

I'd like to wish a happy birthday to Sandy, my wife.

"Good times, bad times, you know I've seen my share" -Led Zeppelin

2011-07-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Good times and bad ones this weekend.

My wife and I spent some time Saturday up in the Uinta Mountains, about an hour and a half from Salt Lake.
It was still early spring/late winter in the higher elevations, and quite a bit of snow there. The Bear River and the Provo were both raging fairly well due to the high runoff at this time. It was a pretty good day, all in all.

Picture 1: alpine flowers starting to bloom.
Picture 2: Mirror Lake
Picture 3: the trail around the lake (some of the drifts were 3 feet deep)
Picture 4: upper falls of the Provo River

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Now for the bad times.
We were driving out to my mom's place to visit her, and never made it out there.
As we were heading out of the valley, along the Great Salt Lake, we ran into a downpour of rain. I slowed down considerably, since the road can be slippery (the speed limit is 75mph, I was doing 50mph). Up ahead I could see people slowing down and stopping (there were a couple of accidents up there), so I let off the gas, and tapped my brakes to slow down as I was approaching them. Nothing happened; I had hit a sheet of water and lost all traction. My my brakes had no effect, and I was unable to steer, so I just sailed into the back of a small car.
The other driver was unhurt, I was uninjured, but my wife (being much smaller than me) was bruised across the sternum and waist when the seat belt kept her from going into the dash and windshield.
Some days you wish you had stayed in bed.

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A mixed bag in this bunch of music

"It's Only Make Believe" by Conway Twitty
"Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon
"If I Were a Carpenter" by Bobby Darin
"Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine" by Country Joe and the Fish
"My Back Pages" by The Byrds
"You Ain't Going Nowhere" by Bob Dylan
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar
"Waltzing Matilda" by Slim Dusty
"Wanted Man" by George Thorogood

Small talk and pictures

2011-07-05T16:04:00.002-07:00

Summer has finally hit. We went from cool temperatures to 99°F (or just over 37°for you of the metric persuasion) in a matter of days. Some of the flora is confused however; the yucca plants in the neighborhood are just barely opening their flowers, which is something they usually do in early June.

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Remember the photo of the dove I had at last post? They have a new member of the family now. I caught this picture while mom was away from the nest.

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We went for a drive in the mountains Saturday; American Fork Canyon and over to Provo Canyon. We wanted to go there on Memorial Day, but the road was still closed due to snow and washed out roads. What we noticed was that all the streams were roaring white water, and many were trying to overflow the banks.

Picture 1: this is normally a tiny seep next to the road. It had washed out a section of road and had to be diverted into a culvert under the road. Instead of a few inches across, it is now about four foot across, and flowing fast.

Picture 2: a lake up at Granite Flats; the people were having good luck pulling out some fair-sized rainbow trout.

Picture 3: typical looking area; there are humongous boulders scattered about in some of the forest areas left over from the Ice Age.

Picture 4: patch of wild columbine

Picture 5: closeup of columbine

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For those who liked the Moab photos, here are a few more. .

Picture 1: a lone butte from Island in the Sky
Picture 2: a jeep road, looking down from the Sixshooter Viewpoint
Picture 3: looking down from Island in the Sky; if you look close you can see roads all around down there

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Still listening to the oldies.

"Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean
"Your Cheatin' Heart" by Hank Williams
"Light My Fire" (long version) by The Doors
"Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
"Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys
"The House of the Rising Son" by Eric Burdon and the Animals
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
"Summer Nights" by The Marianne Faithful
"She's Not There" by The Zombies
"Beg, Borrow and Steal" by The Ohio Express

Falling down on the job again

2011-06-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to get back here earlier, but I've been busy. Between putting in a vegetable garden, fighting weeds, and cutting down a small tree, I haven't had a chance to put together something really coherent.

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It's been rainy and chilly the past couple of weeks, then starting yesterday we have gone straight into summer weather.

Picture 1: one of my miniature roses; the flowers are only an inch across
Picture 2: robin's nest
Picture 3: mourning dove nest

Click to enlarge

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Congress is debating a balanced budget amendment; I'll believe it when I see it.

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress."
- Mark Twain

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."
- P. J. O'Rourke

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Thought you might like to see some of the photos that my wife took down in southern Utah.

Picture 1: a good reason not to stray far off the roads
Picture 2: view of potash ponds; they are used to extract chemicals from the desert
Picture 3: one of the local inhabitants
Picture 4: sunflower with a small visitor

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For those who have heard of the Gunwalker hearings (the media hasn't given them near as much air time as it should), this is probably one of the best summaries out there.

Deliberately selling guns to known smugglers and cartels in a foreign country is not police work, it is criminal behavior, and the people running it should be prosecuted as such.

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I've been in the mood for almost all oldies, I don't know how many of these anyone will remember.

"I Saw Her Again" by The Mamas and the Papas
"Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash
"Coming Into Los Angeles" by Arlo Guthrie
"Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers
"One" by Three Dog Night
"As Time Goes By" by Rosemary Clooney
"Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix
"How Can I Be Sure" by The Young Rascals
"98.6" by Keith
"Hang On Sloopy" by The McCoys

"Home is the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill." - Robert Louis Stevenson

2011-06-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, actually I wasn't sailing or hunting, but I did get home.

We came home Monday afternoon, but I've been so busy catching up on stuff around the yard I haven't had much of a chance to post until now. It was cool and raining here in Salt Lake, so the grass and weeds grew into a jungle. I've also been tilling and planting a vegetable garden, so I've been fairly busy.

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We took our time going to Moab; it is only about a four hour drive, so we did some stops on the way.
One of stops we made was the Natural History Museum in Price, Utah.

As usual, click on the pictures if you want to see the full-size version. These are only a small portion of the pictures, I may post some more later.

Not far from the town they have been pulling out some mammoth skeletons, such as this guy.

They also had a few dinosaur skeletons, allosaurus, stegasaurus, triceratops, and a few others.

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Coming into Moab, it is necessary to cross the Colorado River.

The first picture shows the highway crossing the river.
The second picture is taken from the bridge for foot and bicycle traffic.

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We spent quite a bit of time south of Moab; our first stop was a small museum in Blanding that was built next to a small Anasazi village. The Anasazi were the ancestors of the modern Pueblo people; their culture collapsed during the time of the 13th and 14th centuries BC. The name Anasazi means "the ancient enemy" in the Navajo language. The ancestors of the Navajo and Apache peoples raided the Anasazi, hence the name.

Some ruins.

Some of the pottery recovered from the ruins.

We next went on to Hovenweep, another Anasazi settlement.

Hovenweep is in a small valley, and has towers along the edge. I took pictures of some of the towers.

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Some time was spent around the Canyonlands area. There was some wind that day, so the air was a little hazy in some areas due to dust.
The first two are from Sixshooter Viewpoint.
The other two are from on top of Island in the Sky area.

We also saw various wildlife, such as raptors, elk, and pronghorns.

I couldn't pass up some of the flowers blooming at this time.
The first two are cactus.
The third is wild hollyhocks, a type of mallow.
Wild irises.

When coming home on Monday, it was fair weather until we reached Soldier Summit.
My wife was driving at the time, and I took this picture(through the windshield while we were moving) of a blizzard we had to pass through. It was actually worse than it looks.

We also stopped by the Sundance Institute to check out the mountain roads in the Wasatch area. The road going over to American Fork was still closed, and snow was still present at Sundance in many of the shaded areas. I got a picture of the sculpture there when the sun was out.

All in all, we had a good time.

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A lot of oldies in this bunch.

"It's My Life" by Bon Jovi
"Lightnin' Strikes" by Lou Christie
"Season of the Witch" by Donovan
"Shape of Things to Come" by Max Frost and the Troopers
"American Pie" by Don McLean
"She's My Girl" by The Turtles
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
"Burnin' For You" by Blue Öyster Cult
"Rock Me" by Steppenwolf
"I Drink Alone" by George Thorogood

Letters from the road

2011-05-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

Just dropped in to say hi; I'm on my wife's laptop here in Moab, Utah. We've done a lot of goofing off, seen some interesting rock formations, some Anasazi ruins, a few critters. Having a good time just relaxing and seeing the sights, also went to the art festival happening this weekend. Should have a few interesting photos when we get back in a few days.
Hope you're all having a good weekend.
W00t!

And now for a drive-by post

2011-05-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

Finally got some sunlight; the past few days have been almost constant rain, until we are having some flooding in some areas of Utah. When the ground dries a bit over the next few days, I hope to get the garden ready. There are lots of perennial herbs that I have been able to use, and some of the greens, but it has been a bit chilly for stuff like tomatoes, peppers, and squash.

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Some areas of the country are getting hit pretty hard; my best wishes go out to the flood victims of Mississippi, and for the people in Missouri who are fighting with tornadoes.

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I've been getting stuff ready for a vacation; my wife and I are leaving for southern Utah tomorrow morning, and will get back sometime Monday. Hope to have a good time and bring back a few interesting photos.

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A mix, with mostly oldies. Any favorites in this list?

"Gimme All Your Lovin'" by ZZ Top
"Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin
"Sometimes I's A Bitch" by Stevie Nicks
"You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt
"My Way" by Frank Sinatra
"White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane
"Termination" by Iron Butterfly
"Thinking Of You" by Christian Kane
"Conquer Me" by Blues Traveler
"Summertime" by Janis Joplin

A CW song by actor Christian Kane; he may be familiar to you from the series Angel, and is currently one of the main characters in the series Leverage.

One of my favorites from a blues group that has been around for a while.

An old blues song from one of the greatest of the blues ladies. Janis looked like ten miles of bad road, and had a voice like the day after too much booze and cigarettes, but she sang with a passion and feeling that gave her music a depth of soul that most singers only can aspire to.

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Yep, I'm still here

2011-05-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

Been having joint problems; until a few days ago the air pressure was on a roller coaster and we were alternating with snow, rain, and sunny weather. It seems to have leveled out a bit for now, so we are getting some sun.
Friday night my wife and I had to go out of town for a bit when she got out off work. She had some accounting to do over in Ft. Duchesne, so we drover over to there. Ran into some snow on the way there, but it wasn't too bad, just a mild blizzard.

On the way back however, it was a different story. We were coming down Daniels Canyon at about midnight and ran into a whiteout. The snow was coming down hard, and had enough wind to blow it horizontally, and directly at us. It was impossible to see past the hood of my vehicle. The road was covered with a thin layer of ice and snow, and the paint on the road was invisible, and we couldn't see far enough to see where the road ended and the dropoff began. The only thing I could make out, with my window rolled down, was the faint texture differnce on the road where the rumble strips were, and some times when the snow drifted higher, they were invisible. We crept along like that down the canyon, rarely going over 5 mph until we got into Heber, where it was snowing a little lighter, and we could see the road. From there we were able to drive over the Wasatch Mountains and down into Salt Lake, but we didn't get home until after 1:30 AM. A long stressful night. I've been in whiteouts before, and they are nasty.

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The military got Osama finally. I'm not going to shoot off a rocket, or celebrate, any more than I would celebrate after shooting a rabid skunk. The garbage has been taken out, so let's move on.
And quit giving the guy in the White House credit for it; it was done by our people in uniform, not that wishy-washy character who would have probably apologized if 9-11 had happened under his watch, and then gone on another golf vacation.

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I notice most of the media is still ignoring the investigation of Project Gunwalker; if you're unfamiliar with it, it was a project where the ATF ordered a number of gun sellers to sell firearms to people they knew were smuggling guns to the Mexican drug cartels, and then lost track of them. The guns numbered in the thousands, and one of them was used in the murder of a border patrol officer. The ATF denied it for some time, until some ATF whistle blowers agreed to testify. When the ATF when called on it, they refused to cooperate. It has also been shown that it was run by the Department of Justice, who is also refusing to cooperate with Congress, even after an order from a judge. The Obama administration has been doing its best to block all investigation, but luckily some of the representatives have been pursuing it. Holder testified yesterday, under order of Congress. He claims to know nothing about it, and never heard of it, though it has been running since 2009. He is either incompetent, or a liar. My personal opinion is that it could go either way, but I tend to lean toward the later. This administration and the ATF are both very much against firearms and the Second Amendment, and have been trying to blame the American guns in Mexico on American gun sellers, in order to chip away at the Second Amendment in the same way they have been doing to the rest of the Bill of Rights.

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My brother had to have some "minor" surgery (minor to anyone but the patient, anyway), so I've been trying to be available in case he needs anything. His birthday is in a few days, so this is sort of a bummer for him.

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Sort of a mixed bag in this playlist.

"Guantanamera" by Trini Lopez
"Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake
"Magical Mystery Tour" by The Beatles
"Nothing Is Easy" by Jethro Tull
"This Ain't the Summer of Love" by Blue Öyster Cult
"I'll See You In Hell" by Lewis Ray Cammarata
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" by Gene Pitney
"Night Moves" by Bob Seger
"Never Comes the Day" by The Moody Blues
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams

One of my favorites of his.

One of my favorite groups of all time.

If you can't identify with this one, you must not have been around much.

A peek of spring

2011-04-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

Decided I wasn't in the mood to comment on all the gloomy bullshit happening in the world today, and we have warm weather and sunshine, so I figured I'd post more of my sappy spring photos that I took today.
As usual, click on them to humongify (yeah, I know that isn't a word, but WTF)

Picture 1: Blood Plum blossoms
Picture 2: Daffodils next to my front porch
Picture 3: Bi-colored daffodil
Picture 4: Miniature daffodils (the flowers are only an inch across)
Pictures 5 and 6: the first tulips opening in my yard; the rest are getting ready to bloom

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The stuff up above I typed in Saturday. Just after I had saved it, I heard a whining form my computer, and my hard drive expired. Put a new one in, and decided to upgrade my operating system from XP to Win 7. Just getting things set up from backups.

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Lately I've been in the mood for a lot of old stuff; I don't know how much anyone will recognize.

   "To Cry You A Song" by Jethro Tull
"Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison
   "King of the Road" by Roger Miller
   "Substitute" by The Who
   "Under the Boardwalk" by The Drifters
   "Yesterday's Gone" by Chad and Jeremy
   "Homeward Bound" by Simon and Garfunkel
   "Runaway" by Del Shannon
   "All Your Love" by John Mayall, Eric Clapton, and the Bluesbreakers
   "Sunday Morning Coming Down" by Johnny Cash

Who could forget this tune?

An oldie from some of the best of the blues players.

I think a lot of us can empathize with this song; written by Kris Kristofferson and done by the Man in Black.

Hi again

2011-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

Anyone else getting tired of winter? Around here it has been a roller coaster the past few days; we get a half foot of snow, then it turns sunny for a day, then it snows again, then it is sunny, until you don't know what the weather is like until you look outside, and if you wait a couple of hours, you better look again, because it may have changed. (Damn, that was an awfully long sentence, with too many commas.)
I was finally able to hobble to the gym today and do some work on the machines; I still can't use a treadmill because of the pain in my left leg, and I don't dare use the free weights. Still trying to get the strength up in my bad shoulder so it will be ready when spring finally comes.

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Saw this little item the other day; if the reviews on it turn out well, I may have to look into one, especially for that price. Check out some of the stuff you can do with infra-red.

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Have you seen the people that the Stupid Party (Republicans) have been coming up with? I think Tamara pretty much sums it up better than I could express it.

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I see the feds are still battling about the national debt. There is no way they are going to come up with a good solution; you cannot pay off something when the money out is more than the money coming in, and anyone who thinks just raising taxes will solve it is an idiot. The government has raised taxes in the past, and it never works, because they do the same thing that some families do; when they start making more money, they just start spending more, so it doesn't help them relieve the debts at all. Both parties will do their song-and-dance, make a lot of noise, and not solve a damn thing. I have a bad feeling that the charade will go on until the camel's back breaks, and then we will have an economic crash that will make the Great Depression look like a party. I hope I'm wrong.

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A bunch of oldies in this batch.

"Waltzing Matilda" by Slim Dusty
"Society's Child" by Janis Ian
"Lovely to See You" by The Moody Blues
"Maggie May" by Rod Stewart
"Lazy Bones" by Leon Redbone
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye
"Can't Find My Way Home" by Blind Faith
"Lady Willpower" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
"California Nights" by Lesley Gore
"All Along the Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix

Anyone around in the sixties should remember this group.

A lot of her songs were "bubble-gum"; this was one of her best.

What can you say about this version? It speaks for itself.

And Mother Nature plays her game...

2011-04-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was 70ºF, during the night a storm moved in; I woke up to the yard covered with snow. Around the neighborhood quite a few branches got broken off; some of mine are bent to the ground.

#1: you can see from my birdbath that there is about 6-8" in my back yard.
#2. some trees in my front yard. The snow isn't as deep because it is all on the trees, bending them to the ground
#3: looking into my driveway from the street. I had to knock snow loose to drive out.
#4: looking out into the street from my driveway.

The sun came out a couple of hours ago, so hopefully some of this will melt away.

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It appears someone burned a Qu'ran; so now people are rioting over in the middle east, and killing people who have no relation whatsoever to the person who burnt it. Bunch of savages still stuck in the dark ages.

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Will try to post more often; sometimes I have the focus and energy, sometimes not. If my health gets better that will probably help.

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Any familiar ones in this bunch?

"Knockin' On Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan
"Fire and Ice" by Pat Benatar
"I'm Eighteen" by Alice Cooper
"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" by Crystal Gayle
"Dark Night" by The Blasters
"Once Bitten, Twice Shy" by Great White
"Morgana" by John Renbourn
"Black Unicorn" Heather Alexander
"Take Me to Heart" by Quarterflash
"Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." - Robert Frost

2011-04-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

Was hoping to get here sooner; I've been laid up with sciatica for the past couple of weeks. Feels like my left kidney, hip, and leg are being beaten with baseball bats, and that's on a good day. When it gets acting up badly, it feels even worse, and throbs continually. I'm feeling a bit better today, so I'm able to focus a little better. My wife is visiting her brother for the weekend (I'll be taking her to the airport in just a few minutes), so I'm going to be a bachelor for a couple of days.

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I don't know what is going to happen in the Middle East, everything seems in an uproar over there. It will probably turn out the way it usually does; whoever has the most soldiers and the best weapons will bully and beat everyone else into submission, and run things like usual. Nothing really changes over there, a bunch of neo-barbarian tribes fighting it out, only they can afford better guns these days.
I just hope the idiots in DC keep us out of it; nothing good ever comes of messing around in other people's civil wars.

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We're getting a taste of spring, but it could still rain and snow this weekend; around here the weather is sort of odd. The daffodils, hyacinths, and crocuses are blooming well; the tulips should be opening up soon.

At least the flowers are brightening up things a bit.
Picture 1: a miniature daffodil; it is only one inch across.
Picture 2: full size daffodils
Picture 3: periwinkle
Picture 4: violets
Picture 5: catkins on a quaking aspen

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Any favorites in this bunch?

"As Time Goes By" by Rosemary Clooney
"One" by Three Dog Night
"Saginaw Michigan" by Lefty Frizzell
"Squeeze Box" by The Who
"Those Were the Days" by Cream
"Cats in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin
"Jump" by Van Halen
"Waiting for the Sun" The Doors
"Dark Eyed Woman" by Spirit
"Sometimes in Winter" by Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Hello again.

2011-03-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

It's been way too long since I've been here. I've been concentrating on getting my arm better, and have been sleeping poorly, which leaves a person sort of apathetic and unfocused. I finally finished up my physical therapy; now the rest is up to me. I can say with confidence that I feel able to arm wrestle a ten-year old girl and could probably win! The extent of my injury is such that the doctors said it could take twelve to eighteen months to get near my original strength back, so I have a lot of work ahead over the next few months. At least I have full mobility with some strength at this point.

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Spring is peeking around the corner. Around here we get teased by spring a lot, but end up getting snow clear into early May sometimes. Just a few days ago we got several inches of snow, now we have flowers blooming.
Picture 1 and 2: crocuses
Picture 3: catkins on a quaking aspen.

I'm getting cabin fever really bad.

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The videos and photos coming out of Japan are horrendous; I can only hope they don't get bad aftershocks; I don't know how much that little country can take of being pounded on by Mother Nature.

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I was reading over the president's speech on gun control the other day; that was a waste of a good teleprompter. That guy has a definite talent for weaving a skein of drivel a mile long without really saying anything of substance. If he was half as smart as he and his followers think he is, he would fire 99% of the people advising him and hire some people with a bit of experience and something to their credit besides being able to kiss his ass.

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Looking at my calendar, I just noticed that my blog will be five years old on Friday. W00t!

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Anyone out there having problems with Firefox crashing? It just started doing it the other day. I uninstalled and then reinstalled it, but it still crashes, even without adding any extensions. The only time it doesn't crash is running it in safe mode. I have a suspicion some sort of glitch in the latest flash software is doing it, but I'm not certain. Right now I'm using Chrome (I HATE Internet Explorer), but I wish it was more customizable.

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Any favorites in this bunch?

"I'll Pay You Back With Interest" by The Hollies
"Jupiter's Child" by Steppenwolf
"Someone to Watch over Me" by Reneé Olstead
"Eight Miles High" by Leo Kottke
"Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer
"Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell
"Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin
"I Never Cry" Alice Cooper
"There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" by Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings
"Don't Come Around Here No More" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

One of my favorites of Alice Cooper

A classic by two of the best country singers; I miss these guys

One of my favorite groups and one of the best videos from the eighties.

Posting again already.

2011-02-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

Looks like I have some new neighbors moving into my front yard. A pair of magpies have decided to open house in one of my trees. We have quite a few of them in the neighborhood, along with mourning doves and (in summer) a ridiculous amount of robins and finches. I sometimes get hummingbird nests in my trees, and always welcome them.

Picture 1: View of nest from the street.
Picture 2. View of nest from my yard. That black thing is the tail of one of the magpies while it is working on the nest.
Picture 3: Nothing to do with birds, just happy to see the daffodils coming up, finally.

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Looks like Swiss have decided to stay free; they voted against government restrictions on their right to keep and bear arms.

"If the 'Yes' goes through, it really risks destroying the country," Xavier Schwitzguebel, an army reservist officer, was earlier quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
"If we take away the weapon, which represents this trust, that means that we are breaking the sacred union between democracy and citizen."

That explains it better than just about anything; a government that does not trust its citizens has drawn a line between the people and the government, and they become subjects rather than citizens.

"When you disarm your subjects you offend them by showing that either from cowardliness or lack of faith, you distrust them; and either conclusion will induce them to hate you."
--Niccolo Machiavelli - The Prince

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Some of you have probably already seen this; I just wish we would bring them all home. If you can watch this without feeling moved, then you have an empty spot where your heart should be.
H/T to Borepatch and Life and Times of An Average Guy

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Some of these should be familiar, depending on your age and what type music you like. I tend to listen to a broad range; about the only kinds I won't listen to are disco and rap.

"Magic" by Olivia Newton-John
"The Wanderer" by Dion
"Not Fade Away" by Buddy Holly
"Take the "A" Train" by Duke Ellington
"It's Only Make Believe" by Conway Twitty
"Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard
"Exodus" by Ferrante and Teicher
"You Know What I Mean" by The Turtles
"Fallen Hero" by Vixen
"With You There to Help Me" by Jethro Tull

One of my favorite bands from the sixties.

Another great band from the sixties and seventies.

I'm surprised anyone is still visiting, considering how infrequently I blog.

2011-02-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to be posting before this, but it seems that stuff kept coming up. I'm still planning on blogging more often.

I've been watching the action in Egypt in the news for a few days now; I'm not certain where they are going to be once the dust settles. I just hope we don't get people in DC who think we need to go poking our fingers into that hornet's nest; I'm still waiting for them to bring our soldiers back from the mess they've got them into in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Went out to my mom's last week to do a bit of repair at her place. The fog was interesting that I ran into at spots on the way. The thickest was at the last leg from Grantsville going south to her place. Once I got onto higher ground, I came out of the fog, and it was sunny the rest of the way.
Click on pictures to enlarge.
The first two pictures are taken halfway through the fog; the first one is facing south, the second is facing north.
The third picture is right after I came out of the fog, but you can't really appreciate the size of it from the photo. It was a vertical wall, several hundred feet high, and it flowed along the ground without breaking up, like watching a tsunami in slow motion.
The last three pictures are taken at my mom's place, where the sunlight had not burned away the rime yet.

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Very cool; check it out.

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Any of these look familiar to anyone?

"Hang On Sloopy" by The McCoys
"Fallen Hero" by Vixen
"Moon River" by Andy Williams
"No More Words" by Berlin
"The Tide is High" by Blondie
"Midnight Rider" by The Allman Brothers
"Moonlight Seranade" by Glenn Miller
"Sitting at the Wheel" by The Moody Blues
"Renaissance Faire" by Blackmore's Night
"With You There to Help Me" by Jethro Tull

Another trip around the sun

2011-01-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

This is number 59 for me, as a matter of fact. On Jan 20, 1952, I came into this world as a breech baby, and have been doing things ass-backwards since. My mom had her birthday on the eighteenth, so my younger brother took our mom and me to lunch that day.(Thanks again, Rich)

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We seem to be having a mid-January thaw around here; it has been either sunny or raining for several days now, and all the gray snow is about gone. It's a nice break from the cold and ice we've been experiencing.

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Still spending a lot of time working on my shoulder. I have full range of motion, but my strength leaves something to be desired. Right now , if I tried really hard, I could probably arm-wrestle an eight-year-old to a draw.
I try to spend some time on my lower body with the machines at the gym, and walking on an inclined treadmill. Strangely enough, I haven't lost any pounds, but I've had to tighten my belt almost four inches, so something must be taking place.

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No comments on the news; most of it is a mixture of WTF? and bullshit, and hopefully the smoke will clear soon.

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There has to be a favorite or two in here; if there isn't one, there should be.

"Touch of Gray" by Grateful Dead
"Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins
"Come Stay With Me" by Marianne Faithful
"Small Town" by John Mellencamp
"Beg, Borrow, and Steal" by Rare Breed
"Our Guessing Game" by The Moody Blues
"Legs" by ZZ Top
"Hurt" by Johnny Cash
"Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert
"With You There to Help Me" by Jethro Tull

This song was originally done by Nine-Inch Nails. The Man in Black does a haunting rendition of it, not long before he passed away.

A hot song from a firecracker of a lady.

One of my favorites of Jethro Tull.

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." - Charles M. Schulz

2011-01-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

From the looks of it, however, Australia is taking quite a beating from Mother Nature. Of course, they were assured that (according to Al Gore & Co.) it would be a dry, warm year down there.

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So much for New Year resolutions; I was going to try and blog more often, and have failed dismally.

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I'm not going to say much about the killings in Tucson; right now I've pretty disgusted with the way media and the left wing have behaved like a bunch of hyenas and vultures. I don't care for either party, but this occasion has been nothing more than a bunch of jerks trying to capitalize on the tragedy by dancing in the blood.

"There is something about a Republican that you can only stand him just so long; and on the other hand, there is something about a Democrat that you can't stand him quite that long."
- Will Rogers

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Snow, and more snow. Wish it would get up to freezing for a change; we've been well below freezing night and day now for at least a week or two. It's getting tiresome.

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Didn't see much to photograph the last few days; one pile of dirty gray snow looks like another. Thought I'd post a few pictures taken before I started blogging. These are all of warmer weather, which may be of interest
to some of you. Click to enlarge.

Picture 1: my wife took this one down by Deadhorse Point. She spotted this buck running into the brush, stopped our Jeep, and was out of the door with her camera before it came to a full stop. The buck was cleaning the last of the velvet from his antlers, so she caught several shots of him sparring with a bush.
Picture 2: sunset above the Colorado River, right outside of Moab, Utah.
Picture 3: river coming out of mountain. The river starts on the other side; it was diverted by tunneling through the mountain and channeling the river through it. It runs down to a small lake in Spanish Valley.
Picture 4: closeup where river comes out.
Picture 5: Upheaval Dome. An old meteorite crater outside of Moab. You can find it in Google Earth at lat=38.4370537, lon=-109.9293747.

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Any favorites in this bunch? Any comments or anecdotes?

"Hold Me" by Fleetwood Mac
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"Promises in the Dark" by Pat Benatar
"Runnin' Blues" by The Doors
"Pictures of Matchstick Men" by Status Quo
"I Thought I Heard the Devil" by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers
"Have a Nice Day" by Bon Jovi
"Rock Me" by Steppenwolf
"We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" by Eric Burdon and the Animals
"Shot of Poison" by Lita Ford

A rockin' song from a great group of the sixties.

At a place I used to work, whenever this song came on, everyone sang along with the chorus, even the people who normally didn't like rock music. One of the great classics of the sixties.

A hot lady in leather with a hard rock guitar. Gotta love rock 'n roll...

Getting tired of snow

2010-12-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

It's been snowing for a couple of days now, and is coming down good as I write this.
These pictures are from yesterday morning; it snowed all day yesterday, last night, and is still coming down. It's dropped a good eight inches since then, and I didn't feel like going out to take pictures today.

Picture 1: View from my mailbox to the west. Can't even see the Oquirrh Mountains.
Picture 2: Birdbath in my back yard. The birds are out of luck.

The snow does have its own kind of beauty though; the two shots below show that.

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Another year is winding down, ready to end. Looking back, a lot happened from my viewpoint. The economy, a fire at my mom's place, my injury and the long recovery I'm working on, being diagnosed with diabetes, etc. Hopefully next year will be a lot better, at least for me.
I don't feel too hopeful for the economy; even if things pick up, it's going to take a while to get the momentum going.
The federal government? We changed one bunch of crooks for another, hopefully this bunch will have a little more sense of self-preservation and start listening to their constituents instead of just passing more pork and ignoring the public. I'm not holding my breath until it happens, however. As far as the the White House goes, I don't have much confidence in that bunch; a bunch of elitists who look down their noses as anyone not of their persuasion, and seem to think they can get by by blaming everything on the past administration. None of them seems to know a damn thing about business or economics, yet they keep coming up with more bullshit to fling out into the economy.

"The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre - the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.
The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
-H.L. Mencken

Just my opinion.

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There should be some familiar tunes in this bunch.

"Lights" by Journey
"You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt
"Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks
"Cold, Cold Heart" by Hank Williams
"Against the Wind" by Bob Seger
"Nickel Romeo" by The Bangles
"The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel
"If I Were A Carpenter" by Bobby Darin
"The Lonely One" by Duane Eddy
"I Just Want To Make Love To You" by LMuddy Waters

A Bob Dylan tune done by the late Bobby Darin. Great version of a good song.

Duane Eddy had a distinctive style that makes him one of the classic guitarists of oldies rock.

Blues, from an old master.

Too long between posting, sorry about that.

2010-12-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the international news, and noticed a strange thing happening over in Switzerland.
In most countries, the governments are always trying to disarm the populace; the sheep are easier to govern when they feel helpless. In Switzerland, however, we have the opposite thing happening; the government is trying to keep the population armed, and are urging the people not to disarm themselves. It would seem there is a group pushing for strict gun control, and locking up all the guns, which would completely negate the reserves and militia. WTF?

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Winter is in full swing, and has afforded a few opportunities for photos. I hope to get more later, as I'm now able to get out more.
These were taken out at my mom's place last week.

Click pictures to enlarge.

Picture 1: Looking east toward the Oquirrh Mountains from the back yard.
Pictures 2 and 3 are a couple of trees. These were taken in the afternoon, which goes to show how cold the air is out there.

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There was a wreath ceremony at Arlington for the fallen. Our fallen soldiers don't get the recognition they deserve. For one of the best posts I've seen in a long time, drop over to Brigid's blog and read it. If you don't find that to be a moving article, your heart is in the wrong place.

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December 15 is Bill of Rights Day, for those who didn't know. It wouldn't hurt to get out a copy (or pull one up off the Web) and look it over. It is one of the most amazing and ignored documents in the history of human rights.
Most paperwork associated with the formation of governments deals with the powers of the government, and what rights are "given" to the subjects, through the magnanimity of the rulers. The Bill of Rights is unique; it does not grant rights to the people (who are citizens, NOT subjects), but enumerates them as things that the government has no power to negate; only the people themselves have that right. The rest of the Constitution lists the powers of the government, but they are to take second place to the rights of the people themselves.
Sadly, over the last few decades the lines have been blurred by those in power; they talk of the "rights" of the government, and try to squeeze the boundaries of the rights of the citizens. It is time that people start looking at the what has been happening and taking stock of what has happened. When the government starts re-defining your rights, then you are no longer a citizen, you are a subject.

"It's not an endlessly expanding list of rights — the 'right' to education, the 'right' to health care, the 'right' to food and housing. That's not freedom, that's dependency. Those aren't rights, those are the rations of slavery — hay and a barn for human cattle."
- P.J. O'Rourke

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There must be a few people who have some favorites in this bunch.

"Bat Out of Hell" by Meat Loaf
"Crackerbox Palace" by George Harrison
"Bring Me Some Water" by Melissa Etheridge
"Question" by The Moody Blues
"That'll Be the Day" by Buddy Holly
"Beg, Borrow, and Steal" by Rare Breed
"Songs to Aging Children Come" by Joni Mitchell
"Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March" by The Boxtops
"Over You" by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
"As If" by Sara Evans

An under-appreciated group in the lat sixties, The Boxtops were good at rock, blues, and odd stuff. This one was banned in some areas when it came out, because of the subject matter. I though it was a hoot, myself.

Another group of the sixties, this one was fairly popular due to the lead singer.

One of the better female country singers (and easy to look at). This one is for Terri, who is a Sara Evans fan.

At least the holidays were good.

2010-11-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving Day at my in-laws was good; I watched what I ate, so my diabetes didn't give me any trouble. Cold day, but clear.
The following day we visited my mom; my brother and his wife were out there also.
The weather was also good that day, which is good since my mom lives an hour away from Salt Lake. We have to swing around the Great Salt Lake to and from, so I got a couple of photos on the way back.

Picture 1: the Oquirrh Mountains (Salt Lake is on the other side of them)
Picture2: another view of the Oquirrh Mountains, reflected in a bit of the lake

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Today's weather was a whole different story. Got over a foot last night, and the streets were nasty when I went to physical therapy.

Picture 1: Looking west from my driveway (those mountains in the back are the Oquirrh Mountains seen from this side)
Picture 2: my front yard
Picture 3: getting to my vehicle. The snow was actually high enough to block the door; I had to brush snow away to open it.

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Everyone's excited about Wikileak; personally I think it might be a good thing to air out some dirty laundry and stir the pot.

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         "Promises in the Dark" by Pat Benatar
         "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash
         "2000 Light Years From Home" by The Rolling Stones
         "Poison" by Alice Cooper
         "Tube Steak Boogie" by ZZ Top
         "My Mirage" by Iron Butterfly
         "Sugar Town" by Nancy Sinatra
         "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits
        "Come As You Are" by Mindy Abair
         "I Think I Love You Too Much" by Jeff Healey

Who could forget Dire Straits?

For when you are in the mood for some light jazz.

The late Jeff Healey (you may remember him from the movie Roadhouse); cancer took his sight at eight months old, and ended his life when he was only 42. Great blues guitarist.

Global warming strikes again.

2010-11-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

Nasty business with the weather; we got a foot of snow Saturday night. One big problem is that the temperatures haven't really been cold enough to drop all the leaves, so the snow is building up on trees, and I expect quite a few broken branches around the valley.

Picture 1 This is a tree in front of my house (you can see my mailbox in the lower left corner)
Picture 2 This is my driveway, as seen from the center of the street
Picture 3 The birds are out of luck
Picture 4 My neighborhood, looking to the west

Click to enlarge

This stuff would be of more use up in the mountains; down here it is just a PITA.

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I imagine everyone has heard quite a bit about dissatisfaction with TSA; it seems like they like hiring idiots, bullies, and goons.
If you want to really get pissed off, take look at this. Check me if I'm wrong, but when the TSA does stuff like that, shouldn't it be considered a health hazard? Seems to me that the asshole who checked the passenger should be fired for something like that; there is NO excuse for that sort of bullshit.

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Any favorites in this bunch of tunes?

"Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty
"A Hazy Shade of Winter" by Simon and Garfunkel
"Flight of the Bumblebee" by Al Hirt
"Shot of Poison" by Lita Ford
"For My Lady" by The Moody Blues
"Walk Away Renee" by The Left Banke
"Find Another Fool" by Quarterflash
"When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues" by Martina McBride
"Lawyers, Guns, and Money" by Warren Zevon
"Alone" by Heart

This one always cracks me up

One of my favorite songwriters; the late great Warren Zevon

One of my favorite groups of the eighties.

"Heroes are often the most ordinary of men." - Henry David Thoreau

2010-11-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

Since it's Veterans Day, I'd like to take this time to pay tribute to America's veterans.
At the south end of Salt Lake valley is the Camp Williams Memorial Park, a cemetery for American veterans. My brother put this clip together, in honor of this country's veterans, and I'd like show it here. At the end of the video there are three marker stones shown; the first one is my dad's brother (Korean War, Vietnam), the second is his brother-in-law (WWII), and the last is my dad's marker (WWII, Korea War).
Thank you to everyone who has worn our nation's uniform.

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I was finally able to drive myself a couple of days ago (I've been unable to drive since July 6); just about wore me out. My arm is getting stronger, but still has a long way to go.
I seem to be doing ok on controlling my diabetes; I check my blood sugar morning and evening, it seems to be running between 95 and 125 most of the time, which isn't too bad. Enough about me.

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For some reason, I feel more like oldies today; probably has a lot to do with the weather, cold and rainy. Anyone out there remember these? Any favorites?

My Way by Frank Sinatra
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot
No Milk Today by Herman's Hermits
Heart and Soul by Hoagy Carmichael
The Pusher by Steppenwolf
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
American Pie by Don McClean
The Ballad of Ira Hayes by Johnny Cash
Kentucky Rain by Elvis Presley
Tuxedo Junction by Glen Miller

"Feeling good about government is like looking on the bright side of any catastrophe. When you quit looking on the bright side, the catastrophe is still there." -P. J. O'Rourke

2010-11-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

Rant of the day, if you're not in the mood, better skip it.

Well, the voting is over. It is now time to mop up the blood and carry out the trash. Over most of the country there was a change in the political political parties, the Republicans ousting out a lot of Democrats. The left wing looks at it as a failure of communication, the right wing sees it as a triumph of sorts. They are both wrong.
To those on the left: the failure wasn't in communication, we just didn't like the message you were sending, and the fact that you were ignoring all communication from your voters. When you were handed the keys to the city two years ago you had a chance to do something important. Instead, overnight you changed into the same kind of greedy, crooked, stupid assholes that you were voted in to replace.
To the right wing: don't go strutting around; you people are on probation, since we know what happened last time you were in charge. We can throw your asses out too, if you get out of line. The only reason you got voted in was because you were second choice, and regarded as the lesser of two evils.
Personally, I feel that gridlock is the best thing that can happen to the federal government; you get better government when your representatives have to talk things over to pass laws, rather than just rubber-stamping everything.

"Whenever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship."
-Harry S Truman

“I vote for the candidate that I believe will paralyze the government the most. The last thing we need is a fully functional government looking for something to do.”
-Comment seen on a blog

This country is walking a fine line; it is in a position to crash if things go the wrong way. The only thing that can pull us back from the brink is the economy getting better, and this means more jobs, and more people working. Handing out money from the government does not help things get better; that is like taking money out of one pocket and putting it in the other and call it a profit. Governments do not produce revenue; all they do is move part of it around in the form of taxes. Only private business can generate wealth. If you want to help them, quit making it more difficult to run a business by coming up with new taxes and regulations that aren't always needed. Just giving a business a tax break will not get them to hire more help; anyone with any business savvy knows that you don't hire people unless you're already making money and need the help. Make it easier for a business to make money, and it encourages them to hire more people. When you tax a business, they pass on the tax to the buyer, and that can discourage buying. If the government wants to help the economy, quit hiring "czars" and creating bullshit agencies, and start talking to people who have run successful businesses and get some input from them.
Just my opinion.

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Some of the plants in my yard are changing, but others seem to have completely missed the fact that winter is coming.

Mums are doing fine.

My mulberry trees are ignoring the cold.

This tomato plant is six feet high, and doesn't seem to mind the cold.

Some vines are changing.

The vine still has berries; the birds usually get them all by now.

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Odd bunch in my playlist today; any favorites in the top ten of them? Any comments?

We're Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister
Long Tall Sally by Little Richard
Midnight Rider by The Allman Brothers Band
Runnin' Blue by The Doors
Hey Joe by The Leaves
Veteran of the Psychic Wars by Blue Öyster Cult
Against the Wind by Bob Segar
Sweet Lorraine by Benny Goodman
A Time for Everything by Jethro Tull
Piece of Wood and Steel by David Allan Coe

Nobody played a jazz clarinet like Goodman.

Any oldie from 1970; still one of my favorites.

Coe can write stuff that you can tell comes from the soul.

I'm back already...

2010-10-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

...and it's only been a week.
Got some bad stuff yesterday morning; I took this picture after getting back from physical therapy (I go from 6AM to 8AM Mondays and Wednesdays). Not very cheerful, is it?

Supposed to get colder and wetter, so my joints should be giving me interesting weather updates for a while. Something to go along with the sore throat and head cold I seem to have picked up.

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From the No-Shit-Sherlock department comes a study that almost half of high school students have had experience with bullies.

The survey findings are from the Ethics of American Youth Survey by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, a non-profit based in Los Angeles that has surveyed teens on conduct and behavior every two years since 1992.

It took them 18 years to figure that out? Hell, dealing with bullies is one of the things kids learn to deal with from the time they get around other kids. There have been, and always will be, some people that are going to try and pick on others, clear up into adulthood. It's not nice, it's not fair, but that's just the way it is. If you don't learn to deal with it when you're young, you are going to be in for just as rough ride as an adult. If you have kids, it's up to you to try and guide them through this, and also make certain they aren't bullies themselves.
Just my opinion.

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Election time is coming up, and the mud is flying in the media. The Republicans are running on the platform that they aren't Democrats, and the Democrats are still running on the platform that they aren't Bush.

"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."
- Aesop

"One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork."
- Edward Abbey

"A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them."
-P. J. O'Rourke

"Liberals are very broadminded: they are always willing to give careful consideration to both sides of the same side."
- Anonymous

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A lot of oldies, some newer ones.

"Pirates Of The Caribbean" movie soundtrack
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" by Gene Pitney
"No Milk Today" by Herman's Hermits
"See Me, Feel Me" by The Who
"Hey Baby" by The Buckinghams
"Eli's Coming" by Three Dog Night
"Look What You've Done " by Pozo Seco Singers
"Jenny Take A Ride" by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
"Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert
"I'm That Kind Of Girl" by Patty Loveless

Hi, remember me?

2010-10-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Still not feeling up to snuff. Have been getting about 3 to 4 hours sleep a night, so I tend to be a little rundown during the day, and have trouble doing any really focused thinking. Still working on my shoulder, but it is not responding as quickly as the therapist would like. I still can't raise my arm high enough to the front to even shake hands with people. Shoulder feels tight and throbs continuously due to the physical therapy, but it has gotten a little stronger in other areas. The holdup seems to be one head of my bicep. My bicep was torn off, and had to be re-attached, so it is responding slowly. So goes that battle.

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Looks like some nitwit decided to take potshots at the Pentagon, luckily no one was hurt. I imagine those on the far right will blame it on Muslims, and those on the far left will claim it was done by militia or tea party members. I'm betting it's just some dumbass with a rifle and no common sense.

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Both parties are getting ready for the voting in a couple of weeks. I expect the political ads to get even more heated the closer we get to elections. Both sides will be lying to the public, and the mainstream media will be right in there with them, depending on which side they are on at the time. I'm hoping there will be a few shakeups this year; some of the incumbents are getting too comfortable in their positions.

“The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn.
The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it. ”
-P.J. O'Rourke

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Any favorites or comments on this bunch?

"Spooky" by Classics IV
"Angel of the Morning" by Merrillee Rush
"With a Little Help from My Friends" by The Beatles
"I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
"I Can't Help Falling In Love " by Elvis Presley
"The Girl From Ipanema" by Astrud Gilberto
"Goodnight My Love" by The Happenings
"Crying In the Rain" by A-ha
"Got My Mind Set On You" George Harrison
"California Dreaming" by Beach Boys

I like this version better than the old one by the Everly Brothers.

One of my favorite Beatles.

Good arrangement of an old classic; I like the instrumental selection a little better than the original.

“Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven't fallen asleep yet”. -Unknown

2010-10-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Was hoping to get back here before now, but shit happens. Between stuff going on, and not sleeping well, I don't seem to have as much time and energy sometimes. Hopefully my shoulder and back will get better over the next couple of months.

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Last Tuesday my brother and I went up in the hills again, found a few more interesting photo ops.

Click pictures to enlarge

Lambs ears

Wasp nest (luckily it was unoccupied)

Brown trout

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Saturday I had to go out to my mom's place; there had been a grass fire that had hit part of her home. She was checked out and is physically fine, but it's not a good thing. Evidently, a bird managed to blow a line on top of the power pole running to her trailer, and the sparks started the fire.

Click pictures to enlarge

The culprit

Area where fire hit the trailer

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A lot of old stuff here. Anything familiar, any comments?

"Misery and the Blues" by Maria Muldaur
"Hellhound on My Trail" by Robert Johnson
"Maggie May" by Rod Stewart
"Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright
"Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins
"Stardust" by Artie Shaw
"Gimme All Your Lovin'" by ZZ Top
" All Strung Out" by Nino Tempo and April Stevens
"Wild Summer Nights" by John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band
"Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel

You can certainly hear Phil Spector's hand in this one.

This one always makes me think of driving on a warm summer night with the top down on the Jeep.

I've always been fond of these guys; not only can Paul Simon play guitar, he writes lyrics as only a poet can.

"It's just a flesh wound." - The Black Knight

2010-09-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to be posting sooner, but I've been feeling run down. A physical therapy session a couple of times a week and exercises at home have made my shoulder a large, stiff, aching lump; on a good day it feels like a grizzly is gnawing on it. I'm getting a bit stronger, but it is going slow; I still can't work a stick in my vehicle, so I'm stuck at home a lot. Thank you for all the good wishes; they have been appreciated.

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My brother, who just retired a few months ago, picked me up Thursday and we spent part of the day up in some of the local canyons where some of the leaves are just starting to turn.

Hillside in American Fork Canyon

Down above Cascade Springs in American Fork Canyon

A conifer in which all the branches died and/or were broken off; it is sprouting new ones all over the trunk

I saw these on a maple; they look like wild hops.

Closeup of hop vine

Acorn on a Gambel oak

Ever present wild flowers

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We've been having grass fires here in the Salt Lake Valley, and the air is suffering. So far no one has been injured or killed, but some houses have been lost. My best wishes to those unfortunate people.

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Looks like Rahm Emanuel is trying to decide whether to leave the president to run for mayor of Chicago. I think he should do it.
Chicago is used to having corrupt, pompous bullies in local government, so he should fit right in.
Obama should be able to replace him easily; there are plenty of crooks and tax evaders available for him to draw from.

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Looking at the list I notice two by Clapton. Oh well, how can you have too much Clapton?

"It's In The Way That You Use It" by Eric Clapton
"Stardust" by Artie Shaw
"Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones
"Edge of a Broken Heart" by Vixen
"Mirage" by Pentangle
"She's My Girl" by The Turtles
"Love Me Two Times" by The Doors
"Come A Little Bit Closer" by Jay And The Americans
"Layla (unplugged)" by Eric Clapton
"A Summer Song" by Chad & Jeremy

A classic from older days

I like the electric version, but this one is my favorite

It's getting that time of year, and these guys always sounded good

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." - Jack London

2010-09-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted here; sometimes you just don't know what to say.
I was able to get off the oxygen tube a couple of weeks ago, that was a relief. Went to the doctor today, and I don't have to wear the brace on my arm any more. Starting Thursday I will be doing physical therapy a couple of times a week to get my arm to something approaching normal in strength and mobility. Right now I can raise my arm to about 40º, which is higher than I could do before the operation. I still can't lift more than about a pound in weight, since my arm has atrophied somewhat since my injury. At least now I can work a mouse and type with my right arm as long as it is resting on the arm of my chair.

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Evidently some ~~asshole~~ religious leader is advocating a large-scale burning of copies of the Qur'an; I can't go along with that, I have to say. There are a lot of people in the Muslim religion that consider kafirs (non-Muslims)to be enemies, but that is no reason to be causing this sort of disrespect, any more than it would not be proper for them to do this sort of thing to the Talmud or the Bible. This country is partly based on the idea of freedom of religion, whether the other religion likes us or not. If you think I'm wrong, fine; it's how I feel.

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To my Jewish friends, I wish you a good Rosh Hashanah; may your new year be prosperous and happy.

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"Green-Eyed Lady" by Sugarloaf
"California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & the Papas
"With You There to Help Me" by Jethro Tull
"Walkin' After Midnight" by Patsy Cline
"Time for Livin'" by The Association
"Gingerbread Man" by Mindi Abair
"Ain't Even Done With the Night" by John Mellencamp
"Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield
"Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
"I Drink Alone" by George Thorogood

This first one is for Terri

Still hanging in there

2010-08-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

I'm still on oxygen, but my blood sugar is looking better and I had my stitches out yesterday. Will be wearing this sling/brace for another three weeks,

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Thirty-seven years ago, today, I did the smartest thing in my life; I got married to my wife.
Happy anniversary, Sandy.

I was hoping to be posting sooner, but there's been some unexpected developments.

2010-08-15T08:06:00.002-07:00

I should start at the beginning...
Wed morning, went in for surgery. I in worse condition than was previously thought; when the doctor opened me up, it was to total carnage. My bicep was torn loose, and all the top tendons and muscles were flapping loose; there was nothing really holding my humerus in the socket other than the surrounding skin, so my whole shoulder had to be reconstructed. Got home 1530 that afternoon.
At 2200 that night, I lost my breath and was fighting for breath; my diaphram was not drawing air into my lungs, and I was struggling just to breathe. Went to emergency. My lungs were fine, they cat-scanned for blood clots in the lungs, checked my heart, could find nothing wrong; in the meantime I have an oxygen mask on, and I am struggling for every breath. Tests all night. Tests all next day (I've been awake for 30 odd hours by now, getting goofy).
Middle of the day, the pain starts shooting through my shoulder; there was an automatic pain killer pump connected to my arm (which is in a gigantic sling and spacer arrangement), and a couple of minutes later, I can breath. Turns out the pump had leaked some nerve deadener onto the nerve for my breathing, and the idiot emergency doctor had never bothered to mention the pump to the succeeding doctors, so they hadn't known about it until then. I can now breath, but my oxygen levels are not looking right, I have picked up a bit of pneumonia in one lung, so I have to stay on oxygen. Was able to get about an hour sleep after they gave me massive pain killers. Getting slowly better.
Get some news; during my testing they found out I have Type II Diabetes, so now I have more joy in my life.
By now it is Saturday, they decided to send me home with antibiotics, a machine for testing blood sugar, and some oxygen tanks.
So right now I have one working arm (my left), oxygen tubes dangling from my nose, and I am studying up on how to live life as a diabetic. The only reason I have made it is because of my amazing wife.
Typing is hard with one arm and the other complications, so I may not be posting for a couple more days, but I will be reading on the net. Thanks for all the support so far, and I hope to visit your blogs today and later.

"I got better..."

2010-08-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

...even though I wasn't turned into a newt. Hopefully anyone coming here knows the reference.
Through the miracle of modern science, and the local Walgreen's, my gout is almost gone; my toes are a bit sore, but the rest of my foot is pretty well healed up. Good thing; this weekend is the Park City Arts Festival, which we haven't missed in over twenty years. Arts and crafts, music, and lots of types of food. We usually have lunch at the Wasatch Brew Pub and Brewery; beer-battered fish and chips and a couple of local brews does a body well.

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Personally, I'm getting tired of the same-sex marriage fight; it's time to get this thing done and move onto other things.
I don't see why anyone should really care if gay people want to become legally married. Notice I say legally married; if a church or religion does not want to recognize it, that is their right, but the government does not legally have the power to keep couples from forming legal unions analogous to marriage. If your religious beliefs don't accept this, get over it.

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New justice for SCOTUS; not much experience as a lawyer, none as a judge, mainly worked as a clerk for Clinton. What did you expect? The POTUS wanted a rubber stamp, not a constitutional judge.

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         "The Poor Side of Town" by Johnny Rivers
         "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" by Buddy Holly
         "I Don't Know Where I Stand" by Joni Mitchell
         "Welcome to My Nightmare" by Alice Cooper
         "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac
         "Sweet Lorraine" by Benny Goodman
         "Dawning Is the Day" by The Moody Blues
         "Bluebird" by Buffalo Springfield
         "Ship of Fools" by Robert Plant
         "El Paso" by Marty Robbins

Just a short blog today, life is still using me for batting practice

2010-08-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

Still getting by; I'll be glad when I can get this shoulder taken care of so I can start on the process of using my arm fully. Right now I can't even drive.
To make my happiness complete, Friday I woke up with a throbbing right foot; it seems like my body decided that this would be prime time to have a gout flare-up, so I also have the joy of hobbling about with my cane until my medication can bring it down to reasonable levels. For those that have never had gout, consider yourselves lucky. It feels like someone dropped an anvil on your foot and crushed it. The pain level is almost as intense and pleasurable as a well-placed, hard kick in the groin.
At least I have been getting a little more sleep than before; the doctor gave me some Percocet to dull the pain when I go to bed, so now I have been getting four to six hours of sleep, which is a definite improvement.
There are some mornings where, right after you get out of bed, you tend to duck, just on reflex.

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It's been hard to work in the garden; hoeing and weeding with one arm and a bit of the other has been slow, so my garden isn't as nice and neat as I would like, but we have been picking from it. Tomatoes, zucchinis, herbs, onions, garlic, horseradish, lettuce, chard, and sorrel have all been contributing.
As usual, click to enlarge.

Tennis ball sized tomatoes

The tomotillo patch is doing well

Cherry tomato, about five foot high. Behind it is grapes, and to the left is a horseradish plant.

Japanese blood plums, starting to ripen

Found a homesteader in one of my grape vines; I'm careful not to disturb her or her nest.

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I can't say I'm in favor of the Ground Zero mosque. I first read about this a few months ago, and it seemed a bad idea then, and still seems like bad idea to me. In my opinion, it is about as tasteful as erecting a Japanese Cultural Center on the deck of the USS Arizona. If they do go through with construction, I worry that there may be some major protesting, and eruptions of violence. The events of 9-11 are too fresh in most people's minds, and I don't see why they are pushing for this so hard; there are plenty of places it could be built without shoving it in the faces of citizens who saw their city come under attack by people touting the same teachings as will be in the mosque.
Just my opinion.

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More old stuff.

"Chitlins con Carne" by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
"If Not for You" by Olivia Newton-John
"Never My Love" by The Association
"Tom Dooley" by The Kingston Trio
"Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" by Santana
"Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding
"Lili Marlene" by Dave Brubeck
"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" by Johnny Cash
"Me and Bobby McGee" by Kris Kristofferson
"Lady Willpower" by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap

"Lady Willpower" by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap

♫ Here I stand, pen in hand...♫

2010-07-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

Metaphorically speaking, that is. About the only time I use a pen anymore is to sign my name to something.

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My shoulder quit improving a few days ago, now it just hurts worse. Went to the specialist today and got it checked out. It seems I have a bad rotator. From what we could see, not only is the cartilage bruised, I have several muscles that have torn loose from the rotator cup and are flapping away in there. Bottom line is that in a couple of weeks I have to go into surgery and get them re-attached. Oh joy. Following that, several months of physical therapy and awesome pain levels. I guess my summer is pretty well shot in the ass as far as doing much physical stuff. Oh, well, you have to do what you have to do.

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I don't know why everyone is so excited about the so-called "leaks" about the situation in Afghanistan; anyone with a lukewarm IQ has figured out all that info by now anyway.

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Trying to blog more often, but the pain in my shoulder has been interfering with my sleep; I'm lucky to get two or three hours a night, and that is broken up into an hour here, twenty minutes there, etc. When I go several weeks on little sleep I have trouble focusing on anything very long, so thanks for bearing with me.

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Since I am tired and somewhat ornery, I have been listening mainly to sixties stuff; it seems to cheer me a bit. These are all sixties or late fifties, so I don't know how many of you out there have even heard of most of them. Try to enjoy.

"Rhythm of the Rain" by The Cascades
"Monday, Monday" by The Mamas & the Papas
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles
"Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra
"I Am a Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Downtown" by Petula Clark
"White Bird" by It's a Beautiful Day
"Runaway" by Del Shannon
"Season Of The Witch" by Donovan
"Good Morning Starshine" by Oliver

From the rock musical Hair.

No rantings on this post

2010-07-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

This one is to wish a happy birthday to my wife.
She is the person who keeps me grounded, loves me in spite of my many faults, and takes care of me when I am down. She treats me better than I probably deserve, and doesn't give up when the going can get bad. To me, she is the most important person in my life, and I would be lost without her. I can't imagine what my life would have been like without her, and cannot imagine not loving her.
Happy birthday, Sandy.

For My Lady by The Moody Blues

I'm still here

2010-07-09T16:16:00.000-07:00

Getting some movement in my right shoulder, finally. Right now I can move my arm almost a half foot in any direction. W00t! Should know in a few days if my shoulder is going to be alright, or will need surgery. Back is still complaining about the abuse, but the swelling in my jaw is almost gone, though it is still painful and has some large scabs on it. Seem to have a constant headache, also. I may have gotten a slight concussion, but since I didn't lose consciousness completely, I doubt it.
A word of advice: Don't get clubbed in the jaw, it hurts, and it's embarrassing to get your ass handed to you by a piece of wood.

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Looks like the nation's left wing has decided to copy the tea party movement that they have been complaining about for months. Seems to show a lack of imagination to me.

The groups involved represent the core of the first-time voters who backed President Obama -- including the National Council of La Raza, NAACP, AFL-CIO, SEIU and the United States Student Association.

Now there's bunch of thugs, crooks and losers; personally, I wouldn't trust any of that bunch. I expect that they'll be too busy with each group trying to hijack the party for their own agenda.

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Does anyone really care about a rich, spoiled, idiot who can't keep her shit together, no matter how many breaks she gets? I'm getting real tired of seeing her every time I try to read the news.

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Mostly old stuff here; some of you might remember it from when you were quite young.

"American Pie" by Don McLean
"Burnin' for You" by Blue Öyster Cult
"Alone" by Heart
"Time of the Season" by The Zombies
"Summer Nights" by Marianne Faithfull
"Songs to Aging Children Come" by Joni Mitchell
"At the Zoo" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Love of the Common People" by Waylon Jennings
"Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)" by Hombres
"Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" by Nat King Cole

An old one of Waylon's from the late sixties. The lyrics are still valid in the modern world.

This one is here just because it was funny and quirky.

Not only did he have a beautiful voice, this song was one of my favorites from the early sixties because the lyrics draw such a good picture of summer fun.

Running a computer with one hand is a pain in the ass

2010-07-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

Especially when you're right-handed and that's the one you can't use.
Yesterday I got to take a trip to the hospital for some x-rays; I managed to to trash my jaw, my back, and my shoulder, so I am here with my arm in a sling.
I'm supposed to get the use of my arm back in a couple of days (my shoulder won't move at all, and is one big mass of throbbing pain), but if that doesn't happen I will need an MRI and possibly some surgery. Oh, well, shit happens and life goes on. If I don't do a lot of commenting over the next few days, you know why.

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Any favorites or comments on this bunch?

"Moondance" by Van Morrison
"If I Had a Hammer" by Trini Lopez
"Overture" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
"Whipping Post" by The Allman Brothers Band
"Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys
"Teacher" by Jethro Tull
"Touch the Sky" by Tim Weisberg
"Hell in a Bucket" by Grateful Dead
"You Know What I Mean" by The Turtles
"Handle With Care" by The Traveling Wilburys

Happy Canada Day

2010-07-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

Today is hundred and forty-third birthday of The Great White North.

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Looked in a bit at the confirmation hearings for the new Supreme Court justice.
What a joke. Not only is Kagan inexperienced, she can't even answer a question straight. She's even better at dodging questions and talking bullshit than the president who put her name out there.

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Another July 4 coming up; hope everyone is going to have a happy and safe weekend.
Seems like it isn't quite what it used to be, even when you take into account the rose-colored glasses that all children wear until they start seeing how the world works.
Fourth of July picnics were conducted a lot different than many do them today. Hamburgers and hot dogs that were grilled over charcoal, rather than the tasteless "healthy" hot dogs of today, that are cooked over propane. Homemade potato salad, pickled eggs, corn on the cob with real butter. People played games out in the yard, and then set off fireworks when it got dark. These days the adults are watching TV, the youngsters are playing video games, and the teens have their iPods cranked up to the max and are busy ignoring everyone while texting like crazy to their friends at their own family get-togethers.

Picture of me (the taller kid) and the family over at my maternal grandmother's yard. I was probably about 14 or 15 in this picture. Click to enlarge.

There also seemed to be more optimism back then; we had more confidence in our government and way of life, we waved the flag more, John Wayne was still making movies, and people didn't complain as much about reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in school.
Like it or not, however, the world changes. And for life to go on we have to work with those changes. Much of that requires adaptation, we have to change or fall by the wayside. But there are still a few things out there that don't need to change; people used to have more faith in their government, and were willing to do what was necessary to keep it. There are some living here who hate this country, and are more interested in running it down than on making it great; they either sit around whining, or try to make it into a place that is not America, but some oppressive socialist state. You expect this sort of behavior from the uneducated, but it is disturbing how much of our academics and politicians want to make us into a place where the government dictates how we live our lives, rather than leaving that to the individual. The founders of this country would be up in arms again if they saw how things are at this point.
But enough ranting; as I said before, have a great and safe weekend, and at least try to squeeze in a little time to reflect on what a great country this is.

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Some old, some older. Any favorites in this batch?

"Yesterday" by The Beatles
"Blues' Theme" by Davie Allan & The Arrows
"For a Few Dollars More" by Soundtrack
"Good Times Bad Times" by Led Zeppelin
"Alabama Blues" by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
"Don't Walk Away" by Electric Light Orchestra
"Photograph" by Def Leppard
"Holy Water" by Bad Company
"Iron Butterfly Theme" by Iron Butterfly
"Behind Closed Doors" by Charlie Rich

One of their best, in my opinion.

I remember first hearing this in the late sixties; the first image that came to mind for me was a picture of the Winged Nazgûl of Lord of the Rings.

Does anyone else remember The Silver Fox?

Yep, it's me again

2010-06-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

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

Five years ago today, I almost died.

2010-05-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

This is the anniversary of the heart attack that sent me into the hospital; I ended up with a stent and found out that I'd had a couple of earlier ones that I didn't know about. I also found out that I had sleep apnea, and that my breathing stopped on the average of 75 times an hour and probably contributed to the problem.
I'm taking a little better care of myself these days, so hopefully I won't have another attack in the near future; those things hurt.

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I was just looking over the email that my spamblocker has shuffled over into the Known Spam folder; I think the majority of it is either Viagra or promises to increase the size of my wedding tackle. Next would be the myriad versions of the Nigerian Scam, and odds and end of other spam filling the remainder.
Judging my all the spam going out in the first category, I get this vision in my head of vast warehouses, overflowing with blue pills that are being frantically pimped in the emails.   I don't even like thinking of all the "enhancing" pills, devices, etc that seem to be piling up somewhere with no one to use them to gain a Wonder Wienie.
Amazingly enough, there evidently are still clueless idiots out there being nailed by the Nigerian Scam.   I have seen some that are claiming Nigeria, others claim to be from various people in the Mideast, I've gotten some purporting to be from Russia, South American countries, India, and some places that I think are pure invention. Every one of them claims to want to give me free money. Folks, if someone says they want to give you something for free, be very suspicious. TANSTAAFL

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          "If You Could Read My Mind" by Gordon Lightfoot
         "Understand Your Man" by Johnny Cash
         "This Guy's in Love With You" by Herb Alpert
         "Leland Mississippi Blues" by Johnny Winter
         "Goin' Through the Motions" by Blue Öyster Cult
         "Autumn Leaves" by Cannonball Adderley/Miles Davis
         "Our Guessing Game" by The Moody Blues
         "I Wanna Go Back" by Eddie Money
         "Run Through the Jungle" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
         "Ride the Wild Surf" by Jan & Dean

I think this one strikes a chord just about everyone, at one time or another.

This is one of those tunes that is made for driving on a warm summer night with the top down on the Jeep, and the volume turned up.

The old surfer music of the sixties was sort of simple, but it also had a light-hearted energy to it that mirrored a happier mood and simpler outlook on things. In other words, it was just sort of fun.

I was hoping to blog more often, but things don't always go the way we want.

2010-05-21T15:42:00.002-07:00

In case you were wondering where the hell I was, I haven't been up to snuff lately. Since I was here last, the weather has been typical spring stuff (cool and raining), which plays merry hell with my old joints and such. My back has been doing its usual nasty tricks, my right shoulder feels like I've spent some time on the rack, and I haven't had much sleep to speak of. All of which is taking place while I've been putting my yard into some semblance of order, and tilling up and planting my usual vegetable garden. Thus, I've been spending a lot of time laid out with a heating pad on my lower back, and ice packs on my shoulder.
But enough whining about my problems, they're just a consequence of living past the age of 50.

"Start every day off with a smile and get it over with."
-W. C. Fields

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The president of Mexico has decided to tell us how to run our country. The president of our country has been hanging with him during this time, telling him how great it is they can get together over this.
To President Calderon: KMA. Don't come up here telling us we're picking on your citizens, and causing trouble in Mexico. The problem with Mexico is corrupt government and a class system that has most of the people on the bottom, and the aristocrats and criminals on the top. Why don't you go home and put your own house in order before coming up here and spewing that sort of drivel at us; we don't need your advice.
To our president: why don't you quit bowing and scraping to everyone from every other country, and start showing a bit of respect for the American people? Pull your nose out of Calderon's ass and start sticking up for us for a change.
Just my opinion.

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

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The Senate has passed a finance reform bill; this should be interesting. Every time Congress or the Senate gets together and starts "reforming" things, it make me nervous. What usually happens is that they manage to cobble together some sort of ungodly monstrosity that no one really understands completely, no one has ready from start to finish, and has all sorts of "Easter eggs" hidden in it. One thing I notice is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are immune; since they are two of the big problems that helped get us into this financial mess, that seems sort of stupid to me.

"One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork."
- Edward Abbey

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I'll be going on a brief vacation with my wife on Memorial Day weekend; we're going to spend a few days down by Moab, Utah, one of our favorite areas. I should have a few pictures when we get back.

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Any of these look familiar to anyone? Any comments, complaints, or accolades? ; )

         "Woman, Woman" by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap
         "Bring Me Some Water" by Melissa Etheridge
         "Concerto No. 8 for Flute and Orchestra in G/G-Dur/Sol Majeur" by James Galway
         "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash
         "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner
         "Someday Soon" by Judy Collins
         "Dengue Woman Blues" by Jimmie Vaughan
         "Fresh Air" by Quicksilver Messenger Service
         "Chelsea Morning" by Joni Mitchell
         "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band

Mother Nature is playing games again

2010-04-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

Last week I was working out in the yard in a t-shirt and short pants; woke up to snow this morning and it is still coming down. At least it's light enough that it isn't sticking much. Sort of plays hell with the blossoms on the fruit trees, though.

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Warning: rant ahead

I'm curious to see how the situation in Arizona ends up with their new law on illegal immigration. I think they have some bad wording in it; where the law says the police can ask for proof of citizenship if they have reasonable cause to think the person is an illegal, I don't really like that phrase. Reasonable can mean different things to different people, and there is a high possibility of that being severely abused. The law should be more clear and specific.
That said, I don't see a problem with the intent of the law; to curb the flood of illegals coming in. Basically the law says the same thing that the federal law says. The only reason it passed is because the federal government refuses to enforce it. They have the manpower and money to go after harmless gun owners, they have the manpower and money to wage war on marijuana, but they can't seem to get their shit together when it comes to securing our border. This has been going on for several years, and the people in the state are tired of the federal government sitting around with their thumbs up their asses while they are getting a deluge of smugglers, thieves, and murderers coming in along with the illegals.
For some time now, the federal government has managed to poke its nose into a lot of areas that are not really their business; the Constitution tells what powers the government has, and it has overreached them badly. But securing our borders against invasion is one of the things that is specifically spelled out as the responsibility of the federal government, and they have been shirking that duty for decades. So to the assclowns in Washington DC and the White House, if you don't like what they are doing, then get your heads out of your asses and do your job like you are supposed to be doing. If you won't, then STFU.
Just my opinion.

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Supposedly, the House and Senate are working on some sort of financial reform to try and stave off a repeat of the mess we're in today. The problem is that we have the same sort of crooked partisan politicians that helped get us here in the first place.

"Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"
- Will Rogers

My feeling on it is that both sides will bicker, insult each other, and finally jam together some sort of abortion like the health care fiasco. You have to remember, these guys may have been voted in to represent you, but they are working for themselves. Any time one of them gets an idea for some sort of funded bill, they all line up for a chance to cut a fat hog in the ass. And guess what? John Q. Taxpayer is the hog.

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Looks like some people are getting ready to run against Chavez in the Venezuela elections.
My personal take is that either he'll find a way to eliminate them from running, he'll rig the elections, or he'll find some excuse to cancel the elections.

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Who says America doesn't have royalty?

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Any favorites or comments on this bunch?

         "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band
         "Kind of a Drag" by The Buckinghams
         "Low Down Mojo Blues" by Blind Lemon Jefferson
         "Watching and Waiting" by The Moody Blues
         "You Ain't Going Nowhere" by Bob Dylan
         "Edge of a Broken Heart" by Vixen
         "A Hard Road" by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
         "Dark Night" by The Blasters
         "The Look of Love" by Sergio Mendes & Brazil 66
         "No More Mr. Nice Guy" by Alice Cooper

One in five Americans is a deluded fool

2010-04-19T13:28:00.002-07:00

according to this poll.

Nearly 8 in 10 people in the country say they don't trust the federal government and have little faith it can solve America's ills, the survey found.

In other words, one in five people trust the federal government.
Hell, I haven't trusted the federal government since Nixon was president, and I trust each administration less than the last. Give the results of the poll a read, you might find it interesting.

But Matthew Dowd, a top strategist on Bush's re-election campaign who now shuns the GOP label, says both Republicans and Democrats are missing the mark.

"What the country wants is a community solution to the problems but not necessarily a federal government solution," Dowd said. Democrats are emphasizing the federal government, while Republicans are saying it's about the individual; neither is emphasizing the right combination to satisfy Americans, he said.

I think he's probably right, bigger government is not the answer to everything.

"Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it."
-Lao Tzu

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Warning: floral photographs ahead

We've been getting some nice spring weather for a few days. Around here, that usually means Mother Nature is setting up to sucker punch you with a hard freeze or a snowstorm just when you get teased into thinking that spring is really here. Hopefully we won't get that this year.

Part of my front yard; the three photos under it are closeup shots within that area. The daffodils are miniatures; they are only an inch across

Future strawberries

My blood plum is blossoming nicely

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Looks like there are people concerned with the tea party movement; the ~~government propaganda corp~~ main stream media keeps trying to paint them as a bunch of extremists and terrorists in the vein of Timothy McVeigh.
What a load of bullshit.
Back when Bush was president, there was all sorts of complaints and accusations of all kinds, and we were told that from those people that “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” When anyone criticizes the government now, however, we are told that it is sedition.
More bullshit. Make up your minds, you two-faced assholes.
In this country we have the right to disagree with our government; as long as we are not violently rebelling, it is the right of any American to disagree and try to change, through legal means, the government. I disagreed with the Republicans of the Bush era on many things, and I don't see why the current bunch of hypocrites-in-office are any better. The fact that they are using ~~their lapdogs~~ the media as willing partners says a lot about how low both the politics and the Fourth Estate as fallen. I am an independent, and I know a lot of other independents and tea party followers, and I am getting a bit tired of seeing them vilified by people who don't have a clue what they are talking about.

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
-H. L. Mencken

We have enough enemies without trying to manufacture them for purely selfish political reasons, from either side of the political spectrum.

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

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Went to a local gun show Saturday; found a few odds and ends, but nothing serious. First one I've been to in a while, so I enjoyed the time. Ammo was selling like popcorn at a ballgame, but they didn't really have any good deals on anything I was in the market for.

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Does Breda know about this?

Librarians in New York's oldest library have uncovered a surprising borrower with overdue books: George Washington.
The first president of the United States of America borrowed two books from the New York Society Library in 1789 but failed to return them.
Adjusted for inflation, he has since racked up $300,000 (£195,000) in fines for being some 220 years late.

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Any favorites in this batch?

         "Runnin' with the Devil" by Van Halen
         "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
         "Time of the Season" by The Zombies
         "I Don't Know Where I Stand" by Joni Mitchell
         "Ship of Fools" by Robert Plant
         "As Tears Go By" by The Rolling Stones
         "Never Comes the Day" by The Moody Blues
         "Prabhati" by Ravi Shankar/Sir Yehudi Menuhin
         "Red, Red Wine" by Neil Diamond
         "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by The Animals

A couple from the list

Unexpected consequences

2010-04-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

A volcano erupting beneath a glacier in Iceland has shutdown air travel in the UK and a good portion of Europe. There could be some climatic effects also, I would imagine. Volcanoes have affected the weather in the past.
I'm just wondering how long before some idiot blames the volcano on global warming.

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For those who like to skinny dip and get in tune with Mother Nature, this should make your whole day.

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For those of you who are hopelessly out of touch with things, today is Tax Day; better get your return in if it isn't already.

"The difference between death and taxes is death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets".
- Will Rogers

There are some in DC who are making noises about a VAT (value added tax), such as a lot of Europe uses. Believe me, you do not want such a thing. It just makes it easier for the federal government to squeeze harder on the taxpayers.

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Thinking about going to a gun show this weekend, haven't been to one in ages and it might be nice to see what's new, and possibly pick up a trinket or two. Can't afford to go all out for BAG Day (Buy A Gun Day, April 15).

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"Pancho and Lefty" by Willie Nelson
"Get Together" by The Youngbloods
"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by The Hollies
"No Fair at All" by The Association
"Some Velvet Morning" by Nancy Sinatra
"Over the Rainbow" by James Galway
"Summertime" by Reneé Olstead
"Guinnevere" by Crosby, Stills and Nash
"Two out of Three Ain't Bad" by Meat Loaf
"You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" by Dusty Springfield

The last two in the list:

One of his best, in my opinion.

The late and great Dusty Springfield

World Peace with rainbows and unicorns

2010-04-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

Evidently there is a big get-together to decide on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, arsenal reduction, and keeping bad people from making nukes. Sort of like when one of the first acts of the League of Nations was to outlaw war. How did that work out, guys? If our politicians are to be believed, all we have to do is get everyone to pinkie-swear to be good, and utopia will follow.
It seems to me that there are better things to be doing than what amounts to a large group wet dream; if you can't enforce this sort of thing, why bother? Do you really think people like Ahmadinejad of Iran or Kim Jong-il of North Korea really give a rat's ass what anyone else thinks?

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A group of researchers claim that spanking children turns them into bullies.
What a crock.
It's been my experience that kids who are undisciplined are the ones with problems. I could understand if they were talking about kids who get knocked around by abusive parents, but spanking a kid is totally different. What they might like to consider is the fact that more aggressive obnoxious kids are just the sort that end up getting spanked, not the other way around. When I was a kid spanking was used by most parents, and we didn't turn out more aggressive or violent than the young people growing up now.

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Looks like one of the airlines has decided to start charging for carry-on luggage. Traveling by air is already a major pain in the ass; you have the security theater of the TSA, the long lines, excessive delays, uncomfortable seating, so now they are going to add in extra fees. Good way to discourage even more business, dumbasses. If you make it expense and irritating enough, more people will decide to start driving distances that they used to fly.
Of course, this is a chance for the nanny-state to come to the rescue; Senator Schumer has decided that this is the federal government's concern. Look, I think the extra charge is stupid, but this is no reason to involve the feds; carry-on luggage is not a human right.

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This TV looks like something RobertaX would like.

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         "Colours" by Donovan
         "Fever" by The McCoys
         "Smuggler's Blues" by Glenn Frey
         "Dallas" by Johnny Winter
         "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones
         "My Mirage" by Iron Butterfly
         "Cherokee" by Dave Brubeck
         "When the Levee Breaks" by Led Zeppelin
         "Fresh Garbage" by Spirit
         "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison

Winter takes a break

2010-04-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

It hasn't snowed in a couple of days; it's nice to see temperatures a little higher for a while.

More of my silly photos.

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Looks like the idiot diplomat who caused the airline problems is being sent home. Good riddance. Everyone else has to follow the rules, why shouldn't he? Especially since a lot of the security theater on the airlines was caused by the sort of scum that he had been visiting. Some people think he is being picked on, but I don't; if you're going to act like an asshole, expect to be treated like one.

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Jeez, what ever happened to creativity? Seems like Hollywood can't come up with anything new; just recycle old movies, throw in a bunch of CGI compensate for what is usually a bad rewrite, and then call it art.

H/T to Den of Geek!

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The Republican Party is already trying to formulate strategy for 2012. The first thing they might want to do is clean up their act and pull their heads out of their butts. If they're going to spend their campaign money on partying, they better count on alienating a lot of their supporters.
With the unpopularity of the Democratic Congress right now, the Republicans have a chance to gain some ground back, but I think if they do it will be by accident. The last couple of elections have shown most of the public to be fairly evenly divided between Democrat and Republican. But there is still a few who are independent/undecided. These are the bunch that say who wins or loses. The Republicans pissed off the independents last time, and they either abstained or threw in with Obama. Right now most of those independents are not liking the Democrat's way of running things; it wouldn't take too much to swing them over to the other side. If the Republicans expect to get their votes, they need to make some changes.
1. Quit obsessing about gay marriage/civil unions; what consenting adults do is no one else's business. If two people care about each other enough to commit, let them do so.
2. Try going back to the original ideals of the Republican Party that said small government and less taxes. You guys are just as bad as the Democrats when it comes to spending and expanding the federal government.
3. Try easing up on the "War on Drugs". Keeping meth and heroin away from kids is a good idea; wasting money and manpower to bust some guy with a couple of pot plants in his basement is stupid.
Just my opinion.

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Still listening to the moldie-oldies...

         "My Back Pages" by The Byrds
         "Thelonious" by Thelonious Monk
         "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Tommy James & the Shondells
         "Green-Eyed Lady" by Sugarloaf
         "Just to Satisfy You" by Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson
         "Beyond the Sea" by Bobby Darin
         "King of the Road" by Roger Miller
         "Someday Never Comes" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
         "Dog and Butterfly" by Heart
         "Reasons for Waiting" by Jethro Tull

Some from the list:

A favorite of mine; have no idea what it is about; you have to remember it was written by Bob Dylan.

One of Jethro Tull's best.

If you believe in prayers, now is a good time

2010-04-06T11:17:00.001-07:00

I'm hoping that the miners in the W Virginia mine blast will be found alive. This sort of thing has a habit of not turning out well. Here in Utah we have a long history of mining, and have seen tragedies of this sort ourselves, some quite bad over the years. Good luck and best wishes to all of those miners and their families who are involved.

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Was hoping for spring, but got another couple of inches of snow during the night. Didn't feel like going out in the cold for pictures today. We could use a little bit of that global warming, Al.

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Was watching the POTUS's response to a woman's question about being overtaxed.
Damn, but that guy isn't worth a damn at speaking without a speech all written up and on his teleprompter. (Which has me wondering; if something happens to him, who is next in line, Joe Biden or the teleprompter?)
I thought GW was bad, but even he didn't babble on in three different directions for that long and to no perceivable purpose. All the Big O had to do was answer/respond to the question, but he tried to turn that into some sort of half-assed campaign speech.
Just my opinion.

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This gizmo is hailed as being great for developing countries, but I think it looks like a damn good idea for industrialized countries also. I wouldn't mind having a couple around here or when a person goes up camping. Looks like it could also be good for emergency situations, and is fairly cheap to manufacture.

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Lack of sleep and the weather has me a bit down; when that happens real old music tends to cheer me up.   I'm not one for a lot of nostalgia; the world has changed, and sitting around pissing and moaning about how things used to be better isn't really my style, but for some reason the sounds I listened to growing up seem to make me feel a little better. Make of that what you will.

         "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" by The Lovin' Spoonful
         "Gypsy" by The Moody Blues
         "To Sir with Love" by Lulu
         "Rebel Rouser" by Duane Eddy
         "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell
         "Runaway" by Del Shannon
         "Willow Weep for Me" by Chad And Jeremy
         "Squeeze Box" by The Who
         "Kicks" by Paul Revere & the Raiders
         "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane

The last three in the list:

This was the first anti-drug song I remember; came out in 1966, if I remember right.

How can anyone not cheer up when hearing this old classic?

Anyone growing up in the sixties is familiar with this one.

Hope you had a good Easter weekend

2010-04-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

This was one of the coldest ones we've had in years.
Snow off and on all weekend, so much for spring. At least it's melting away by noon each day. The flowers are taking a beating at times, but still coming back for more. Getting a little more wildlife out there, also.
More silly pictures, double-click to enlarge.

The magpies have a nest they're working on.

The robins are wandering about.

We have whole flocks of doves; they eat a lot of weed seeds.

More varieties of daffodils.

I'm not sure what variety of mushroom this is, or whether it's edible; my neighbor might know, since she harvests a lot them at different times of the year.

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I'm going to miss the space program when they shut it down. Some people consider it a waste of money, but knowledge is valuable. And a lot of spinoffs came out of it; the sophisticated electronics we now enjoy, and a lot of new and useful materials.

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I'm afraid I have to agree with this article; much of the media has been manipulating the political scene; every time I hear someone wetting themselves talking about the "extremists" in the tea parties, I wonder where they were when the left wing was raising a ruckus, and was treated a lot different. I never liked Bush, but I think it quite hypocritical when people who made all sorts of insults and allegations against his bunch get upset if someone hints that our current POTUS is not The Messiah. Politicians are the same on either side; if you think one side has a moral superiority over the other, then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you; cash only and small bills, please.

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Helluva deal with the earthquake on the west coast; I'm actually surprised the casualties weren't higher. Good luck to those people in California and Mexico who are having to deal with it.

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         "Against the Wind" by Bob Seger
         "Grazing in the Grass" by Hugh Masekela
         "No More Words" by Berlin
         "Sonata for keyboard in A major, K. 322 (L. 483)" by Andrés Segovia
         "Goin' Through the Motions" by Blue Öyster Cult
         "Born Under a Bad Sign" by Cream
         "Gold Dust Woman" by Fleetwood Mac
         "The Old Man Down the Road" by John Fogerty
         "Find Another Fool" by Quarterflash
         "From the Beginning" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer

One of my favorites of Seger's.

Nice oldie.

More pirates captured

2010-04-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

NAIROBI -- A U.S. Navy warship exchanged fire with suspected Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean early Thursday, the latest salvo in a growing international effort to curb piracy in one of the world's most strategically important shipping lanes.
Shortly after midnight, the suspected pirates fired on the USS Nicholas west of the Seychelles Islands in an apparent attempt to seize the ship and hold it for ransom. The 453-foot frigate returned fire, sinking one of the pirates' boats and seizing the mother ship, the Navy said in a statement. Five men were taken into custody on the Norfolk-based Nicholas.

I still don't understand the reasoning, why are we capturing pirates? As I see it, there are two reasonable approaches to this:

1. Blow the ship and its crew out of the water; problem solved, and it sets an example.
2. If you don't want to scuttle the ship (it might be worth something) , deep-six the pirates and keep the ship. Again, problem solved, and it sets an example.
Just my opinion.

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Mother Nature decided to play an April Fool's Joke on us today; we thought it was spring around here. When I got up this morning, things were different.

View from my front porch.

Backyard

I'll sure be glad when real spring arrives.
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I think someone needs to tell the POTUS that he won the healthcare vote. He seems to feel that he needs to go around campaigning for it. If he already won, and it is going to make life better, why is he trying to sell it so hard? And why isn't it required for politicians and their aides? And why is the federal government getting its grubby little hands into it in the first place?

"Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it."
-Lao Tzu

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The military is still booting out gay soldiers. I thought this administration was going to do something about that? If you've got someone who is fit, capable, and wants to serve in their country's armed forces, who cares what they do on R'n'R as long as it is with a consenting adult?

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And of course, I imagine by now everyone has seen this dumbass.

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Oldies and eighties hits abound.

         "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring
         "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues
         "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin
         "California Nights" by Lesley Gore
         "Welcome to My Nightmare" by Alice Cooper
         "Sunset Grill" by Don Henley
         "Alone" by Heart
         "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran
         "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan
         "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" by Waylon Jennings

Most people prefer the Hendrix version of this song, but I think there is a lot to be said for the original. I also like the video this guy put together.

One of Waylon's best.

This ain't your Taco Bell...

2010-03-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I like cooking, and do most of it here at home. Today we're having tacos, and I like making my own sauce for the meat filling. These are a few of the ingredients I am using:

From left to right: achiote powder, chipotles, beef paste, unsweetened chocolate, anchos, guajillos, smoked paprika, New Mexican chiles, lime, oregano, cumino, cilantro. I also add garlic and onions.
The dry chiles and spices are toasted, then I throw them in the spice grinder. After the meat has been browned, I throw everything in the pan with it and at a touch of water or beer, and cook until it is ready to use. I also use other chiles such as cascabels, pequins, puyas, and dried serranos in some sauces, but those above are the best ones for all-around cooking.

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Had to get my biannual checkup on my bad ticker. The cardiologist says I seem to be doing ok, but still need to drop some more weight. That I already know, so I'll have to go light on the tacos.

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Is it springtime where you are at? I've got over three inches of snow here, and it is still coming down in large wet flakes. Hope it ends in the next few weeks, I need to get my vegetable garden tilled up and ready for the new harvest year.

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I noticed in the news that Rhode Island is getting waterboarded by Mother Nature. Good luck to the people there; hope everything works out.

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Any thoughts or comments on this list?

         "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart
         "She's Not There" by The Zombies
         "Honky Tonk Heroes" by Waylon Jennings
         "Dancin' in the Ruins" by Blue Öyster Cult
         "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi
         "The Best of All Possible Worlds" by Kris Kristofferson
         "Jump" by Van Halen
         "Wuthering Heights" by Pat Benatar
         "I Wanna Go Back" by Eddie Money
         "Amarillo by Morning" by Terry Stafford

One of his early songs, and a good one.

There are a lot of people who prefer the George Strait version of this song, but my favorite is still the original by the guy who wrote it.

"In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours." -Mark Twain

2010-03-26T16:16:00.002-07:00

Leave it to Mark Twain to know the score. I don't know how it is where you live, but that matches our weather. Yesterday was sunny and fairly warm. It rained overnight, and was snowing this morning after I got up. By noon the sun was out, and steam was rising from the streets. Right now it is dark outside, and looks like bad weather. My joints are corroborating this. I'll sure be glad when the weather improves; I'm getting cabin fever.
Managed to get some pictures yesterday, so here I am again with my sappy flower-blogging.

Crocuses and violets

Periwinkle

Daffodils

More crocuses

Flowering catkins on a quaking aspen

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Earth Hour is tomorrow, in which everyone is urged to turn off all the electricity for an hour.

KMA

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In other news, Sandra Bullock's husband is a man-whore. I'm still trying to find a reason to give a damn. Isn't there more important stuff going on in the world?

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Dennis Hopper gets a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is currently dying from prostate cancer, so I imagine we'll be getting news about that before too long. He's under 100 pounds, and fairly weak.

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Feeling a bit melancholy with the weather, the list shows it. A lot of old ones here.

         "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire
         "Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat
         "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams
         "Leaves That Are Green" by Simon & Garfunkel
         "Baby, It's You" by Smith
         "My Back Pages" by The Byrds
         "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & the Papas
         "Walk Away Renee" by The Left Banke
         "Snowblind Friend" by Steppenwolf
         "When I Was Young" by Eric Burdon and The Animals

"Eve of Destruction" is a classic from the sixties; if you listen to the lyrics, most of them are still applicable today.

"Snowblind Friend" is one of Steppenwolf's that is relatively unknown, but one of their best, in my opinion. It was written by Hoyt Axton, and is a familiar story to those who know substance abusers. Snow was the slang expression for cocaine.

The nanny state sets its claws in just a little deeper

2010-03-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

I don't really see much good coming from this bill, a lot of money spent for something that won't even start happening for another four years. And no one yet has read the whole thing to see what sort of little surprises are in store for us. We do know that it is full of pork, however. Interesting that the only way the Democratic party could get it passed was to bribe their own people. And Congress and the Senate have their own health plan, of course.

"I can remember way back when a liberal was one who was generous with his own money."
-Will Rogers

"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats."
- H. L. Mencken

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Got looking at my posting dates, and it looks like I've been here for four years; my first post was 3/18/06. Where does the time go?

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My wife was in Denver visiting her brother for the weekend, so I went out and visited my mom Saturday.
It was fairly decent weather out her way, but a little chillier.

Double-click to enlarge pictures.

In some of my pictures at home, I have shots of the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of me. This is a shot of them from the other side, over in Tooele Valley. You can see the town of Tooele at the foot of the mountains.

This is a shot of the road from Grantsville to Rush Valley, where my mom lives.

Some of my mom's neighbors have llamas; they are very protective of sheep, very territorial, and have no problems fighting with and chasing off predators such as dogs, coyotes, and cougars.

An insulator from an old pole.

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A little something for those of us who like both rock and classical:

H/T to James at Nourishing Obscurity

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Some old, some older.

         "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin
         "I've Always Been Crazy" by Waylon Jennings
         "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys
         "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
         "Michelle" by The Beatles
         "Centerfold" by J. Geils Band
         "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan
         "Take on Me" by A-Ha
         "Theology/Civilization" by Basil Poledouris
         "The Actor" by The Moody Blues

The last two on the list:

This is from the soundtrack of Conan the Barbarian, an excellent composition from the late Basil Poledouris.

From the album In Search of the Lost Chord, one of my favorite albums of theirs, and in my opinion, has some of their best work.