Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places or Senator Seeks Sausage

Senator Perv from Idaho claims he was guilty, no wait - not guilty, set up, whatever, but there are a few things I can’t buy. First, who the hell uses the stalls in the airport? I wouldn’t put anything I wanted to keep on those seats and they don’t make seat covers thick enough. Second, if you were that desperate you’d be too busy downloading to be playing footsies or waving hi to the guy in the stall next to you. The senator claimed he was reaching back to pick up a piece of toilet paper on the floor. Also doubtful as the only thing more disgusting than actually sitting on the seat would be touching anything on the bathroom floor, especially a mystery piece of toilet paper.

Then there is his wife – kind of manly looking to me. I saw one scene on the news where he was trying to get her to hold hands but she didn't want to, probably worried about airport bathroom cooties or worse. So maybe he should cut his losses and just admit to smoking pole and press on with life, maybe he could open a sex shop in Idaho or go on the lecture circuit and talk about how most politicians are two-faced lying bastards. The only thing refreshing about this scandal is that for once it wasn’t a Kennedy.

Good Intentions Thwarted by Evil Chance

Goodbye Platteville off to Wally wedding. Verona speed-trap cop, Viroqua liquor store replenish beer and Madtown!! The Whiskey sheepskin snakeskin dancing women too drunk too late to make rehearsal – ol’ Walczak is pissed already flat tire story doesn’t wash. On again Milwaukee bound leaden skies over open fields drumlins corn and meadow another small bar must stop beer out thirsty boys again. Pile of cans on back seat floor clink-clanking into the turns edge of city chipped concrete freeways jammed with Illinois fatheads and farm fresh bumpkins too slow get off. Parent’s house stumble out mom still up fries us eggs off to sleep as snow plummets from dark Wisconsin clouds.

There Was One???

I am a little groggy after having been up at 0200Hrs to watch the eclipse, but it was worth it. What a sight. I managed to get a couple pictures though not all turned out that well.

Montag

Lunar Eclipse Calculator - Find out what time is best for viewing in your location


Another Bush-buddy bites the dust as we approach the end of the Era of the Decider. Not that we’ll miss Gonzales – let’s face it, along with Rove and Snow the guy was a real snake. Slowly but surely the bush buddies have been jumping ship or been given the boot. One of the sad parts of the American system is that you can vote for a candidate (or most likely vote against a candidate and wind up with the leftovers) but you haven’t got any say in the candidate’s entourage.

There’s an eclipse tomorrow morning (28 AUG) that will be visible to those on the Pacific Rim. I’d like to see it, but the downside is that it starts at 0245Hrs. I am an early riser, but even that is a wee bit on the early side for Ol’ Phos. I am not getting any younger and I need my rest. It might be worth it though. I am just not sure how much I am going to get to see being a ways away from California. Australians will have a good view, but US East Coasters are SOL.

There are some fantastic artists out there. Most of you already know /t., he has two sites, both with some excellent pieces. There is also another artist recently come to my attention. You can see Ruela’s work here and here. This is all cutting edge stuff using new media to create and display original art. This is a strong counterpoint to the dark side of the internet. Check these folk’s work out if you haven’t had the chance it is very impressive.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Hated to see it come to a close, but that’s the way it goes. Wish I had some interesting yarns to spin but my weekend was mundane. The temps are going to shoot back up this week so that will stifle some of the outdoor activities.

The weather has turned hot again, I had hoped the storm pictured below would offer some relief, but it was just a tease. The storm broke up and dissipated shortly after I took the picture.

Goodnight Bloggers, Wherever You Are...

Into Each Life...

Dreary was the word for the weekend. That is ok. The much vaunted Hurricane Dane threw a little rain our way. It ade for a cloudy day, which in turn meant lower temps, also welcome. Dean was a rough deal for the folks that were schwacked, but a boon for Arizona.

I added Rosemary cloud pictures as well as a shot of our yard boss sheltering for the rain drops. The last shot is the interior of possibly the worst restaurant I have had the displeasure of visiting, Chuy's Mesquite Broiler. The place was noisy, cluttered, and adds a new dimension to the words "choke and puke". The best thing that could happen to that place is a grease fire.






Companies really need to think things out before going to market...

It'll Do, Apparently

Didn't get much rain so far, but the cacti have decided it'll do and are going about the second round of making baby cacti...

A Gift of Tamales

Tamales, well made ones, would be my Death Row food. The spiced meat complimented by the mild outer masa covering can't be beat. I was lucky enough to receive these from one of Mrs. Phos's friends. As far as I am concerned, this is what the South West is all about, if the Southwest had a taste, this would be it...

Damn the Miners and Full Speed Ahead!

For a look at typical big business one can listen to the mine boss in Utah who suddenly switched from We’re going to get them out” to “we will start mining in the safe parts of the mine as early as next week. I don’t know much about mining, but it seems if they were going to all the trouble of drilling boreholes, why not drill the 30” hole for the escape capsule right from the start. I am sure it would take a lot longer, but they might not have lost any more miners in the attempt. I hope the time factor and not the expense was the driving force behind the decision to try to dig the poor men out vice going the capsule route. The moral of the story is if you think the company you work for really cares about you, wait until the bottom line is involved.

Still quite hot here. If the temperatures keep above 100 into September, Arizona will set a new state temperature record for the number of consecutive days above 100. I don’t; mind the heat, but would like to have a little bit of a break As terrible as Hurricane Dean is – I wouldn’t wish that any anyone (well, almost anyone) the Low coming in with the hurricane was supposed to help pull some moisture in to the state. The Weather Buffoons aren’t saying much about that anymore so I don’t know if it will come to pass or not. In a way the Weather Jackasses aren’t much different from the mine boss- they keep saying everyone was lucky Dean came ashore in a sparsely populated area. I suspect the sparse population at Dean’s ground zero doesn’t share their sentiment.

There I go yakking on and on again. Here’s a picture for those of you who put up with it…

The orange tail is to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, in fact this entire monument is dedicated to their memory... The 302nd FS was originally one of their squadrons.

What,, No Broken Glass??

I opened up a box of lead I bought and found a toy inside. I was pretty upset that my lead had toy contamination. It was almost as disappointing as finding out there were no metal shavings in my Girl Scout cookies and buying a bag of marshmallow circus peanuts that were actually fresh. Comes a time when you expect something to be one way and when it isn’t the experience is really crushing.

I sometimes wonder if we aren’t getting a little carried away. When I was a kid we didn’t have seatbelts, didn’t wear helmets or pads when we rode our bikes, I used mercury to shine pennies (the dentist gave my brother and I some to play with), and I am pretty sure there was plenty of lead in the paint. In fact I had some lead soldiers I played with all the time. Somehow I managed to live without any big side effects. Of course I was a finicky eater as a kid so never tried paint chips – I couldn’t even see the fascination with eating library paste. So I guess I dodged that bullet. I did work with hydrochloric acid in my basement. I also had a chemistry set and most of my experiments were pretty far off script. I still lived to tell the story and developed some stains impervious to the cleaning products of that time.

I guess it was kind of a right of passage. You had to experience things as a kid to move on. For instance, unless you were a total moron, you only shoved a fork into the wall outlet once. That was enough to develop a lasting respect for electricity. You only had to take one trip off the roof to understand manned flight without the proper equipment is impossible.

Now while I think seatbelts, car seats, and other safety gear are important, I always use a seatbelt when in a car, some things should be for the discovering. You have to have the first hand experience of messing with a bee to find out why you really shouldn’t. Having someone tell you isn’t enough, because the child needs to have the “why” question answered. The child needs the pain and swelling as re-enforcement to the lesson.

That probably isn’t the best example because my brother and I kept messing with bees anyway. In fact we had a game called “Clap ‘em” where you had to smack the bee between your hands. Bees are kind of like peppers in that size has no bearing on the power of the sting – the small ones were usually worse than the big ones. We also participated in a game where all the kids formed a circle around a rock. The kid that was “it” took a jar full of hornets and bees captured earlier, shook it a bit then broke it on the rock. Everyone had to run; anyone stung was “out”. Boy those bees were really pissed when they got out of that jar!!

Anyway, I think you need to let kids be kids up to a point. I know I am excited about showing my grandson the fun you can have with an ant colony and a magnifying glass. Boy do those ants get pissed off!!

Helpy Helpertons

The nice thing about having dogs around the house is that they help with the every day chores. Both Yukon and Austrella help me cook, I couldn't make dinner without them. They make sure I stay on task and test any meat or meat by products.
Yukon helps with the yard work by adding some contours to the back yard - mostly from the dirt he's excavated from his holes. Even Austrella chips in once in awhile and made herself a comfy hole under the lemon tree.

Yukon watches the stove to ensure I don't burn anything, both help with the grill. I don't know what I do without their help! Below is a picture of Austrella helping to make the bed...

Paint Chips Ahoy!

Good to see sending those jobs offshore has made a difference... Read More...

Undecided Decider

He stood

As tall as he could

And proclaimed himself

The Decider

Whilst astride her

And sent our young off

To punish the unwashed

Devils that broke our buildings

The young went willingly

At first

And died as they fought

To free a people with no idea of freedom

The Decider deluded himself

And us

With the thought everyone

Wants Wal-Mart

And Cadillacs

But some folks

Want their shackles

And are happy in the glory

Of some unseen deity

Aren’t interested in

A blonde blue-eyed Jesus

Nailed to a piece of wood

And hung on a bedroom wall

He died to save us

We have crucified our young to

Save the unwilling

And die they have

The Decider’s hands run with blood

Our hands dip in the blood and glory

In the carnage

Because we decided

And they decided

And he decided

And the zealots decided

And the new crusade

And the old Jihad

Meet again to free Jerusalem

To repaint the Wailing Wall and free Babylon

So we can hang the gardens again

But instead we hung the leader

And his cronies

More blood, more lives lost

For a lost cause

And where are the gods we fight for

why do they not reached down and support us

Or smite us

When will they decided

Or are we once again deluded

And worship figures in Botticelli paintings

Or one who will not be depicted

In Danish cartoons

Where will it end

Will it ever end

Who will decide it is over

Will the Decider decide

Or fade off into a Texas sunset

To chop wood and write memoirs

The veil is drawn

The killing goes on

And the decider is still astride her

Churning his hips in futility

Pennies From Heaven

Since the government is trying to pinch pennies in the manufacture of coins I have suggestion - plastic. We already have paper money so why not plastic coins? Plastic can be colored to resemble metal but it is cheaper to use, lighter, and if your quarter accidentally drops in the toilet, it will float - of course that is a negative if you toss the coin into a fountain to make a wish, and leaving a hand full of plastic change in the car on a hot Arizona day might not be a great idea...

Toy Cameras

I have a small plastic 35mm film camera that has nine lenses. It is a one trick pony, but what a trick. It lets you look at a subject from nine slightly different angles and produces a sense of motion...

Talking Dogs

The Anatomy of a Howl...

Who's Driving this Train?

Yukon howling to remind me that it is dinner time





Austrella kicked back on her private futon...

Mysteries of Nature

Unexplained mystery of nature - why an animal covered in thick soft fur has to have something soft to lay on...

G'Day

Happy Friday!! A nice quiet weekend ahead. Making pizza tonight, tomorrow it is off to the teacher's 'tore to get Mrs. Phos some new teaching crap. Fortunately the store is close to "Thee Pits Again" a great BBQ place. I just have to make sure we are done looking at sentence strips in time for lunch!!

Went and saw The Order of the Phoenix last weekend. I really enjoyed the movie. Our little Harry is really growing up. And Hemoine should be a page three girl in another year or so.

Now I am going to take /t.'s advice and go enjoy the out of doors. BTW the Persid meteor shower is in full swing...

Phos's Very Pleasant Day

Still trying to come up with something worthwhile to write about, but so far I haven’t seen, heard, or been subjected to anything worth bitching about, yet. Mrs. Phos had her first day back at school, so she has that going for, her which is nice. Work for me was quiet, always a plus – except when I need some pesky problem or prickly peccadillo to write about.

Even the news was benign for a change. Just the usual murders, bombings in Iraq, and local drug busts. Not even one of my favorite car or truck driving through a house/into a pool reports I see almost three times a week on the news. Of course, I haven’t watched tonight.

So rather than try to make something of a very pleasant day, I will just wish you all a great evening and a pleasant tomorrow…

Dawgs n' Boids

Just a couple shots of the dingoes and one of a confused bird. He and his buddies were all out on the hummingbird feeder trying to figure out how to get at the nectar. One of our local hummers was not amused and drove them all off.

Fiesta

They are having a fiesta next-door

Is it a quinceanera, some ancient Olmec Observance?

Or just of the joy of life and living

The Tejano springs from the worn speakers of a Goodwill ghetto-blaster

Loud and lyric it livens all it touches

I stand in the yard entranced by the sound

The smell of whatever they are grilling

The laughter and noise of children at play

Playing at musical chairs or some game that once amused their Aztec ancestors

Who knows?

They are living in the moment, loving the moment

Voices in strange tongues (yet somehow understood) praising the evening

Slowly the sounds fade as the fiesta winds down

The music sounds and smells are gone

The piñata broken

The girl inducted into womanhood

Or the boy feted for his birthday

I hope they are out again tomorrow, music loud

Smells of grilling wafting on the breeze

Their laughter reminding me

That life is sweet and to be celebrated

At every opportunity.

Visit from a Tornado

Well, not a twister, but the plane...


Just posting a few pictures taken over the past few days - lots of weather activity and Yukon eating his birthday Twinkie.