Don’t ask me how or why babey Abey butted in front of baby Bess, I’m just grateful that she is confirmed for arrival sometime in the middle of May. Here’s a quick preview:
My First Knife Service Holiday Coupon
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Dull knives invite dull guests. Sharp knives, you got it, sharp guests. Simple as that.
Babey Abey Likes to Hike
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Feeling that there wouldn’t be many more Sunday afternoons of fair weather, Babey Abey saddled up his Papa and invited his best friends (Balboa, Goobah, Bahbear & Wubber) to join him in a jaunt up the nearby mountainside. Mama stayed home to catch up on her Z’s.
Raising the Roof
Friday, September 11, 2009
I spent five hours on the north beam - aka “The Wall” last Saturday. Dren was on the south beam - aka “The Other Wall.” Me, the beam, thin air, 25+ ft up, setting the trusses as they swung, shook, squeaked, shifted and leaned. Dren kept saying, “That East Gable really screwed things up.”
When I finally got down, I was shaky and twitching (muscle fatigue + energy drink + sheered nerves), dizzy (now I relate to Hitchcock’s classic, Vertigo) and darn proud (yeah, it was my first time). So yes, this video was captured by my cell phone and I was in no condition to be filming, but for posterity’s sake, I had to document this worthy feat.
Dren’s skill and competence inspired and impelled me.
Balboa did a stellar job of keeping Dren and I hydrated and stocked with 2×4’s etc.
Dallin Smith had the safest and smoothest moves of any crane operator I’ve ever seen.
Dad was a rock - as always.
What Do You See?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The footage and soundtrack impress upon me an indelible notion of beauty. Then the logical, over-analytical guy steps up and asks:
1. How much do those scuba divers get for cleaning the tank? Do they pay them hourly - because at approx. 10 meters depth, they shouldn’t stay under for too long.
2. Also, do they take decompression stops on their way up (and presumably out of the tank)? They are safe from sharks on the bottom, because sharks attack from below, but it takes at least one decomp. stop (for, say, 6 minutes) and that is prime time for prime rib human (rare).
3. What are they cleaning up? Whale shark poop? I can’t even see it. How many divers are mucking the aquarium? Like, 2-3?
4. Look! Aren’t those Steve Irwin Sting Rays? Wonder if the divers have barb-proof suits. Like, some kind of second chance vests so they don’t get pierced through the heart.
5. Don’t the divers look out of place? Everything else is crammed into a viewing tank and so, to stay alive (gills filter oxygen and if fish don’t move around, they suffocate and die) and desperately fight insanity due to boredom, they swim in harmonious circles of the living dead - call them “zombie fish.” The divers lolly-gag around and find curious and varietous forms of fish poop - much more engaging than swimming in circles forever.
6. Do the fish feel trapped in an artificial environment? Aren’t they providing services to a non-profit institution - for room and board? Isn’t that exactly what humans in the public sector do every day too? Ewwww. Too many similarities.
7. What do YOU see? (please add comment below). I have some very interesting friends, their views always enlighten or amuse me.
“PULL!”
Monday, August 24, 2009
That’s the command for excitement in the deadly-fun game of shooting trap. Goob requested this activity as a integral ingredient to his ideal birthday celebration. After smoking scores of skeet in 102 degree heat, the party relocated to Mantua reservoir to cool off.
Tiffany Shares with My Baby Bear
Sunday, August 2, 2009
2009 is the year of the First Attendant. Who is Miss America this year? Yeah, I don’t know either, but the First Attendant’s fair renown for her frank and friendly remarks regarding man/woman marriage will live forever.
The 2009 Davis County First Attendant this year, rather than relish a ride in her fancy personal parade car, benevolently parlayed her exceptional success by sharing the extra space in her auto with my Baby Bear. For the high-class example and grandly genuine gesture, Tiffany will forever outshine the competition. BRAVA!
Golden Rectangle Treasure Chest for Bear
Friday, June 19, 2009
It’s a jewelry box that I made for bear-bear. Honeycomb onyx tiles donated by Big D who had them compliments of a neighbor with a big heart. Golden geometry dimensions provided by Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci from his 13th century classic, Liber Abaci. Tile saw borrowed from brother Phil. Abrasives and polishing compounds gifted by The World’s Coolest In-laws. All other art, inspiration and perspiration are attributable to the man in the title and The Man Upstairs.
Treasures! Most used: blue swirly bouncy ball.
Freely it was given, freely you may have:
King of the Road misses Queen of the House
Thursday, June 11, 2009
I miss Kym. As such, identifying with King of the Road (Proclaimers covering tune by Roger Miller) and Queen of the House (by Jodi Miller) seems natural.
Quick question. Why didn’t Jodi Miller sing “Queen of the Home” instead of “Queen of the House?”
Faking The Fall, a Goob Debut
Friday, June 5, 2009
This really would have been bad if he had jumped stage left instead of right. There is a 200+ drop on that side (with no net).
The City Of Rocks and Roll
Thursday, June 4, 2009
The old days: We set up camp in the most hospitable and logical place (wherever we pleased). Lex introduced you to bran (yum! and the jokes would never end!). Don fell asleep flat on his back and awoke in exactly the same position (the trick of a clear conscience). Boy Scouts made time to shoot rabbits with their .22 calibur rifles. Boys were warned not to step on the cactus because it was dangerous - not endangered. It was a place for scouts and family reunions. If you met someone you didn’t know, it was because you didn’t know your geneology well enough. And they knew you, because you looked just like your dad or uncle or grandpa when he was your age.
Nowadays: There are 65 camping slots. Each camp site has a 12 L x 12 W x 18 H (raised) bed of indigenous mulched material for a standard 4-person tent. Don’t you dare place your tent anywhere else. There is also an elevated (18″) fire ring. If you use indigenous wood, you will be fined and ejected from the facility. Parking is limited to two average American cars per unit. Got a horse trailer? - Sorry Charlie, there’s no room for that here. And finally, if you aren’t lucky enough to have reserved one of the 65 sites, I’m afraid you’ll have to backtrack to a town (Elba or Almo) and get a room - lucky for you that someone just built a $2M facility for just such an emergency, oh, and more likely than not, the owners of that facility are the same ones that reserved all of the camping sites that weekend (they’ll “leave the light on for you.”). Yeah, more than half of them were still empty the next morning. As for scouts and families, they are gone. Probably got tired of being snapped at by grumpy environmentalists who tell them to stay on the trails (no signs indicate such) or not to climb on that rock (Treasure Rock in our case - no signs indicated such) - I know my kids had a belly full of it.
Advice to my peers? Steer clear of City of The Rocks. It will abuse your fond memories and is unfit for future ones - UNLESS - the cowboy in you doesn’t mind BREAKIN THE LAW. 
Another FrankenTool
Thursday, May 28, 2009
We own three dandelion diggers with the cumulative tensile strength of a wet noodle. Now we have one dandelion digger that won’t bend everytime it is inserted into the lawn and therefore will not be cursed and thrown across the lawn by its owner. Without further delay, I am pleased to introduce you to the only dandelion digger in my estate worthy of squabbling over during probate.
Hornet Sting Pics
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
While closing the door to an old barn, the kind that has three hinges and only one hinge is functional, a disgruntled hornet darted to my forearm and launched its stinger. I dropped the door and slapped the hornet flat - mosquito style. The stinger shot even deeper. Here are the consequences.
In this image, the red area of skin is traced in ink. If the infection decreases in size, that is a good sign. If the infection increases in size, that is a cause for concern.
Here is the examining incision that was expertly and almost painlessly created by the venerable and anonymous Dr. P. To her and Master P. are extended my gratitude. Thank you for your many kindnesses and especially for your great care during my late night intrusion and lengthy imposition.
On the bright side, here’s some cheer from Gary and the Hornets.
Happy Trails and Blue Shadows
Friday, May 15, 2009
The first vid has exceptional authenticity but really needs Happy Trails by a good whistler. The second vid has a fake set and wonderful song. Martin Short nails it @ 00:01:26.
Rhyolite Ghost Town from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.
A Dire Prediction
Friday, April 10, 2009
Has anyone else considered the unspoken but undeniable truth that cleantech will be the first technological revolution in history driven by constraints rather than opportunities? (Read full article here.)
John P.,
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My Response:
Thank you for the thought-provoking question. My answer is: Yes, it crossed my mind. But I contemplated it in another way. The agrarian model favored by Jefferson flashed through my recollection and I chuckled a bit. He was too old-fashioned for the people of the Industrial Revolution. There is something akin to irony flowing from the green movement. It seems we must endure high prices and long hours to geo-clean what has required high prices and long hours to create. Feels a lot like digging a hole with a shovel and then being told to fill it in again. Yep, it’s just plain stupid. Family farms and Tesla’s electricity machines would have prevented the existing predicament - but, as there’s no money or monopoly on such things, they don’t come to pass. I’m partial to reopening the Homestead Act for the purpose of “green living.” At the same time, I’m afraid that over 90% of this generation would fail to “prove” 160 acres and many would die of exposure or starvation.
Because of convenient consumption,we are an extremely vulnerable people. The bulk retailers (like Costco, Walmart, etc.) that thrive on thin margins, high volumes and variety are collapsing under reduced volumes and specific staple choices. We’re hardly the rugged individuals that persevered through the previous depression. Our commercialized food sickens and weakens us.
It’s all very sad, but I suspect that a portion of the population will, due to conspicuous corruption, summarily reject all corporate and government programs. Call it a vote of no confidence. This small group of fundamentalists, reformers, etc., will return to a life of virtue and trust in the land and hand of Providence. Every other institution will be reduced by civil war, self-cannibalization and raiding robbery unseen since Atilla the Hun (p.s. the future raiding robbers of the U.S. currently reside south of the border).
