Parrots, Wrestling, Vandalism, Piglets & Sextuplets

Just some fun stuff today. Enjoy!

Parrot? Check. Twine? Check.

Me after one of my high school wrestling matches.

OK, weird story, but looking at the mug shots these are two women I don't think I'd want to double-cross!!

What do you say to this one? I really don't know.

And what would be on your list of things to do after giving birth to sextuplets?

The Mad Hatter

Did you watch any of the US Open? I only saw Tiger’s putt yesterday on 18 to send it to a playoff, but what a putt it was. He is such a tremendous athlete. Some people don’t like that he’s dominated golf so much, but just think how 30 years from now you can tell kids how you saw Tiger Woods play. Definitely one of the best golfers ever, and we get to watch him live.

Friday night the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society had their Man & Woman of the Year Gala. Julie and I were again in charge of compiling all the information from both the silent and the live auctions. We had about 10 candidates (I think 5 men and 5 women) competing and over the 10 weeks the campaign ran they raised $200,000 and counting! Incredible!

I want to buy a hat, not a baseball cap or some novelty hat or a cowboy hat, but a hat nonetheless. Perhaps something to wear when driving, or hanging out by the pool, something cool. Julie is against the idea and probably for good reason. Feel free to send me any suggestions you may have.

Julie and I couldn’t believe the news that Tim Russert had died. Everything I’ve read and seen has confirmed that he was really a great guy. It was a feeling I know I always got when I watched him. He was so passionate about politics and offered great insight and really broke things down. I’ve been wanting to get his books and read them, especially “Big Russ and Me” which is about his relationship with his father. Now I really want to get it.

I think it would be cool to be a locomotive engineer. That’s the guy that drives the train, right? That seems like it would be a cool job. I always wonder where the tracks go, what do they see. Fascinating.

Here is a picture of me standing with my first truck.

Isn’t it ironic? So, with the fuel prices being as high as they are more and more people are either taking the bus or are thinking about it. Well, I get on the bus today and am handed a piece of paper detailing how, due to rising fuel costs, they are eliminating some stops, routes and scheduled runs. Why? Because of the rising fuel costs. Is it ironic? I mean, it’s not like it’s a black fly in your Chardonnay, but hey, it seems ironic to me.

Lyric of the Day:
"Gliddy Glub Gloopy
Nibby Nabby Noopy
La la la lo lo
Sabba Sibby Sabba
Nooby abba nabba
Le le lo lo
Tooby ooby walla
Nooby abba nabba
Early morning singing song."
- "Good Morning Starshine", Oliver

Some Good Reading

Just a quick post this morning. I've been reading a lot of really good columns lately and wanted to quickly put some links out here so you can read them if you want. More to come later. Have a great day!

Offshore Drilling

Windfall Profits

Gas Prices

All The World Loves Alice

Short post – mind is blank…

One of the coolest things is to see the sun poking through the clouds off in the distance. You can see the rays of sun flowing down beneath the clouds. Pretty cool.

Torrential – I like that word. And Poppycock.

I think the bus couple (the “buple”) is a couple no more. She hasn’t been on the bus for close to a month now, but he still rides. A couple of months ago I thought I saw her one morning running from her car to his so they could sit together waiting for the bus. They definitely seemed to be “together” but I don’t think they are married to each other. Hmmmm, I say.

Bernie Taupin wrote nearly all the lyrics for Elton John’s songs while Elton wrote the music. Obviously, they are one of the best songwriting duos over the last 40 years. I wonder, tho, if Elton ever writes lyrics, or if Bernie ever writes music. I also am curious if the words come first (which I think they do in most cases) and, if so, does Bernie ever listen to the finished song and think “I never imagined that song as a ballad” or “Those were great lyrics and the music stinks!” Just curious.

Lyric of the Day: “Don’t discard me” – “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me”, Elton John

Let It Ride?

I’ve found a few cool videos on YouTube over the last month or so.

This video is of an animal called the Lyre Bird. This bird has an incredible knack for impersonations. A must see.

This next video is an acoustic cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya”. You might think an acoustic version of a hip-hop song wouldn’t work. Think again.

Have lung, will hack.

So KQRS, a classic rock radio station here in the Twin Cities, had their annual Memorial Day countdown of the top 500 songs of all time. Let’s just say the list was a joke. There were a few songs I agreed with, but to say that Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” isn’t in the top 100 is blasphemous!! Some top 10 songs that shouldn’t have been in there -Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Let It Ride” (maybe in the CANADIAN top 10), Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (it’s really his best song? No way) – great songs they both are but c’mon, top 10??? Call me when you have a REAL top 10.

Ok, so here a few songs I can think of that are top 10 worthy, but there are others:
The Beatles – “A Day in the Life”
Rolling Stones – “Satisfaction”
Lynyrd Skynrd – “Free Bird”
Led Zeppelin – “Stairway to Heaven” (Should be #1)
Bruce Springsteen – “Born to Run”
Bob Dylan – “Like a Rolling Stone”
The Who – “My Generation”
The Eagles – “Hotel California” (at least Top 20)
Aerosmith – “Dream On”
Partridge Family – “I Think I Love You” (OK, just seeing if you’re paying attention)
Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Pink Floyd – “Comfortably Numb”
Derek & The Dominoes – “Layla”
Eric Clapton – “Cocaine”

Honorable Mentions:
The Who – “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, “Baba O’Riley”
The Beatles – “Come Together”, “Hey Jude”
Aerosmith – “Sweet Emotion”
ZZ Top – “Cheap Sunglasses”
CSNY – “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”
Dire Straits – “Sultans of Swing”
Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
Rod Stewart – “Maggie May”
Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”
The Doors – “Break On Through (To The Other Side)”
Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”

Lyric of the Day: “Remember when I was so strange and likeable?” – “Back In Your Head”, Tegan and Sara

Memorial Day

Thank you to all who have fought and sacrificed and continue to fight in service to this great country. Let us never forget.

“And I’m proud to be an American,
Where at least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died,
Who gave that right to me.” – Lee Greenwood

‘The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree.” – Thomas Campbell

“Cover them over with beautiful flowers,
Deck them with garlands, those brothers of ours,
Lying so silent by night and by day
Sleeping the years of their manhood away.
Give them the meed they have won in the past;
Give them the honors their future forcast;
Give them the chaplets they won in the strife;
Give them the laurels they lost with their life.”
~Will Carleton

“We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them.” – Francis A. Walker

“Freedom is never free.” – Unknown

Lyric of the Day: “Find the cost of freedom buried in the ground. Mother Earth will swallow you, lay your body down.” – “Find the Cost of Freedom”, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

I Keep My Feathers Numbered

I love holiday weekends. Getting that extra day off doesn’t seem like it would be that big a deal but everyone looks forward to it. No sleeping in on Monday, tho. The Tahoe team gets their bikes picked up at the LLS office I think at 7:30 or 8 in the morning. The bikes will be wrapped in a blanket and loaded on to a semi. Bikes from multiple chapters will be on the same truck as it makes its way to Lake Tahoe for next weekend’s ride.

I’ve noticed that the seats on the right hand side of the bus (when sitting down) have a couple more inches of leg room, I believe because there is one less row of seats – to accommodate for wheelchairs. Don’t tell anyone else who rides my bus that, or they’ll sit their first. And I’ll be sad.

So we have an evergreen tree out our front door that stands about 10-12 feet tall. For the last couple of years a robin has built her nest in that tree – about 4 feet off the ground. Typically the girls leave the birds alone or are oblivious to the fact that they’re even there… until the last week or so.

We usually let the girls out the front door, they’ll sniff around the tree, we’ll tell them “no”, they’ll go away and do their business, no problems. Well, apparently yesterday while the girls were a few feet away from the tree the mother bird decides she’s going to fly out of the tree. The two baby birds decide to follow her (the first time we’ve seen them fly) and Gracie grabs it in mid flight.

I was at work so Julie was by herself, and she doesn’t do so well in these situations – her dog standing there with a live bird in its mouth. Julie gets Gracie to drop the bird, at which point the mother and father are quite upset and other robins join in the ruckus. Before she knows it, a dead bird is on the ground, angry birds or flying overhead and dive-bombing the dogs, and Julie is frantically trying to get them into the house. She calls me at work and notifies me that there is a bird killer in the family and a dead bird waiting for me when I get home. Wonderful.

Although, I do get a chuckle picturing Gracie with feathers flying out of her mouth, like in the cartoons. But unlike in the cartoons, the bird didn’t get out alive this time. “Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered, for just such an emergency.” – Foghorn Leghorn

Lyric of the Day: “Everyone’s a Captain Kirk” – “99 Red Balloons”, Nena