COLORADO BOB

40th Ann. as a Leather Artist

2007-06-04T20:15:00.000-05:00

I was getting scared I wouldn't get this thing finished.
April was my 40th Anniversary as a leather artist. Here's my 10 min. retrospective.

40th Ann. as a Leather Artist Pt. #2

Jethro Tull: Back to the Family (Jan. 1969)

2007-06-01T01:15:00.000-05:00

You should have been there.

Junior Brown - Broke Down South of Dallas

2007-05-26T17:21:00.000-05:00

Colorado Bob's Internet Tombstone

2007-05-11T23:46:00.000-05:00

I've been building this palace since last August. It's the tail-end of my life in the archive here. Read some of my stories.

Bob Dylan - Isis (Live 1975)

When this tour played Ft. Collins, Colorado, they stayed at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Bob Dylan nearly drove over me one night in downtown Estes Park.
We were both under the influence.

"Enjoy every Sandwich"

The Wallflowers and Jordan Zevon - Lawyers Guns and Money

The Eagles .....
"GET OVER IT"

fleetwood mac oh well

NPR's Climate Connections

2007-05-03T04:07:00.000-05:00

NPR & National Geographic have started a year long series on the Climate. All that hamburger money from Mrs. Croc is being put to work.

NPR's Climate Connections

A Bit of Clarification

2007-04-25T04:30:00.000-05:00

I should have gone into some detail about my condition, but having shared it with my friends at Crawfordslist for some time, I slowly forgot that information wasn't tattooed here.

I am not suicidal, but I have the liver of Poppa John Phillips [Before he got his 50,000 drink over haul]. It's not really a bad way to go. Your liver doesn't have nerves, so pain isn't a big problem at this point. But my ability to sit up, and type has taken a turn in the past week or two. So I haven't been visiting the places on the web as much as I once did, and I haven't had the energy to do all those things with my MAC that are so much fun.

One thing about the web, it saves lives. I ended up on the web because my lower disks gave up a few years ago, and needles invaded my legs and feet. I started looking around the web, and ended up at Crawfordslist .... That move has kept my mind going for the last couple of years. Brain Rot is far more deadly than Liver Rot. Pin-Heads like Chris Matthews think the web is populated by guys like the one in the MAC commercials. But there's a hell of a lot of people like me who use it as a line to minds that keep them going. Someone should do a post about this, it's a fertile subject.

I'm concerned that in the not too distant future I won't be able to write any more. That's why I posted the one below. I've never been a big fan of mysteries ... I'm a Virgo, I want to know what's going on, hence my reason for these comments.

Many thanks for the concern, and kind words... But I water skied under a helicopter, and danced with a lot of beautiful women. Some even took me home. What more can a man ask for ?

Piss and Vinegar

2007-04-23T05:17:00.000-05:00

The mind is a funny thing, take Art Buchwald for example. He fought depression all his life, but last year when he decided to quit fighting the effects diabetes, and moved into a hospice to play out his string, he turned into the Energizer Bunny. The surrender to that fate was something that probably kept him going and going and going. A sense of peace with his decision was no doubt a big factor.

Like Art, I was a manic/depressive all my life. Most of the time it was just "Piss and Vinegar" that kept me going, when that failed, I relied on just dumb luck. Back in December, [8th & 9th] I wrote that my string had run out too. At the time .... I was pretty sure I didn't have much left in me. But this site, and the interest in foolin' with it had a real medicinal effect. But in the past couple of weeks my energy was been flagging, and I'm afraid that my posts are going to be few and far between. It's getting hard to sit up right for any length of time.

I set-up this site last year to spin out some of my stories, along the way another idea occurred to me. That it could be a sort of tombstone.
With that in mind, I have a graphic to go along with it. I didn't want to put it up, and freak out everyone, but don't be shocked when you see it.

No pity please, I'm a guy who had one fine trip through this world, even when I didn't know it.

Save Net Radio

2007-04-17T17:11:00.000-05:00

The Deadliest Massacre in U.S. History

2007-04-16T23:13:00.000-05:00

December 29th 1890-Miniconjou Chief Big Foot

Today was not the deadliest massacre in US history. Just off the top of my head here are two :

Sand Creek November 29, 1864

Colonel Chivington and his 800 troops of the First Colorado Cavalry, Third Colorado Cavalry and a company of First New Mexico Volunteers marched to their campsite in order to attack the Indians. On the morning of November 29, 1864, the army attacked the village and massacred most of its inhabitants. Chivington proclaimed before the attack "Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice." Only 9 or 10 soldiers were killed and three dozen wounded. Between 150 and 184 Cheyennes were reported dead, and some were reportedly mutilated, and most were women, children, and elderly men. Chivington and his men later displayed scalp and other body parts, including human fetuses and genitalia in the Apollo Theater and saloons in Denver.

Wiki Page for Sand Creek

Wounded Knee December 29 1890

By the time it was over, 25 troopers and 300 Lakota Sioux lay dead, including men, women, and children.[2] Many of the dead are believed to have been the victims of "friendly fire" as the shooting took place at point blank range in chaotic conditions, and most of the Lakota had previously been unarmed.[3] Around 150 Lakota are believed to have fled the chaos, of which many likely died from exposure.

Wiki Page for Wounded Knee

Randy Fisher

2007-04-14T00:19:00.000-05:00

I just love this guy's work .

Technorati Now Counts 70 Million Blogs

2007-04-11T14:18:00.000-05:00

How the hell did you ever find this place ?

The number of blogs or weblogs on the Web continues to grow at a breathtaking pace.

The Technorati blog search engine is now tracking over 70 million weblogs. The company sees 120,000 new weblogs being created worldwide each day. As Technorati’s David Sifry’ says: “That’s about 1.4 blogs created every second of every day.”

Tornado Gallery Opening

2007-04-09T14:11:00.000-05:00

Neon and ceramics by Tony Greer
Click the title for more pictures.

PLANET EARTH

2007-04-09T12:20:00.000-05:00

The Discovery Channel's series is just some of the best television ever. Last night this fellow was on, he's a Tibetan Fox. Here's the link to the animal pages .... Some stunning images.
Animals in the Series

A Picture from Spiffy

2007-04-07T17:14:00.000-05:00

Spiffy sent me a picture. He's still doing heli-drillin' with Xtreme Drilling.
This is from the Book Cliffs Utah. Last Oct.
Hell of a location ain't it ?

Best Buddies

2007-04-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

Don't you just long for a simpler, more innocent time. With simpler, more innocent people ...

Charlie "Blaze"

2007-04-03T07:28:00.000-05:00

Lama toeing in, High Uintas Utah. (Submitted by Laura Cullen) Via USA Doodlebuggers

I nearly cried when I saw this picture.
It could be the best shot of a Lama ever taken. Which brings up the "Best Long Line Pilot" I ever saw.
"Charlie "Blaze"
I, and all my co-workers put our lives in the hands and feet of these pilots. So, we were pretty good judges about how good these guys were. It was an interesting group of men. Mostly small in height, but never short on balls. We flew when the Vietnam pilots were all getting 10 or so years into their careers. That's mostly who we rode with. I did a little flyin' with a fellow that became a helicopter pilot from Korea, and one who put himself through helicopter school .... Charlie "Blaze".

We were drillin' in the Flat Tops of western Colorado. And like the name says, we were on pretty flat ground. Which was a treat. Plus it was a beautiful open meadows with little Aspen stands. So long about 2 or 3 in the afternoon I'm drillin' this hole, and I go down about 12 feet of easy footage .... and Boom I'm into this beautiful blue granite. Running on top of that granite, was the water table for one of these meadows. So I come out of the hole, and put on my :
Mission #3115 Down Hole Rock Hammer. [I always loved to say that phrase] It was a beast.
I change out the bit and go back in the hole, tag bottom, and start drillin' again.

Then granite starts making these great cuttings. Big Flakes of granite are coming up the hole mixed in with water ..... all being hurled in the air by a Gardener Denver Air Screw runnin' straight into a Chrysler 360 with this itsy-bitsy muffler.

Modern Man

Any way ..... It's was really a mini Spindle Top Moment. Now, that morning I had a dead battery on my drill. We screwed with more batteries. They just didn't like being in the out doors "bun-geed" down under that hot engine. As I'm watching this fountain of noise, water, and granite. A long comes B.J. Walker, our party manager and O.B. Olberlander the Field Coordinator. We chit chat away from the rig, and after a while we call Charlie on the radio and tell him to come pick these two birds up . B.J. knows there's a deposit to be had from my dead battery so he tells O.B. to get my dead one. So Mr. Oberlander gets two of my shop towels [paper], gets the dead cat out of my support basket, and moves off into the meadow to await the helicopter ride.

Pretty soon we hear the beautiful sound from that piece of French Engineering the Lama. By this time I'm back near the drill, and the two visitors are about 50 yds. away with the meadow rolling out behind them. Then that helicopter popped-up .... made this big sweeping turn in the meadow, and set down in the grass right next to B.J. He comes out of his crouch and runs around the front of the ship and jumps in the front seat. O.B. is trying to manage two paper shop towels and my dead battery. Charlie is watching O.B. in his prop wash fumble with this battery, and he tells B.J. to close his door......
Then he picked up that helicopter, and started pushing that battery around in the grass with the skid. Pushing it toward O.B. After a few moments of this and O.B. getting frazzled, Charlie cuts it...... and the ship settles back down in the grass. O.B. is just outside Charlie's bubble mouthing profanities ..... The shop towels are long gone, and everyone else is laughing their asses off. So O.B. finally grabs the battery and begins to run around the nose of the ship. When he gets to the very tip of the nose, Charlie picked the ship up again, and started to rotate around to match O.B.'s speed. O.B. peels off about 55 degrees on a circle him and Charlie are making, and stops again .... mouthing profanities ... Charlie sets the ship down. Charlie assures him through the plexi-glass .... he's through screwing around. O.B. runs another 55 degrees on that circle.

At this point I can see B.J.'s side of the ship, and he's eggin' Charlie on to make a full 360. Sure enough, O.B. Grabs that battery, and they both did a full 360 out in that beautiful meadow.
O.B. never lost his position on the nose of that Lama.
Then O.B. stops, gets on his knees, and pleads with the plexi-glass to please let him in. I'm still laughing as I type this.

This story is the God's Truth.

More drilling stories :
" HELLO LAMA " - 40 BELOW at STRAWBERRY RESERVOIR
How I Became A " Flying Squirrel "

I SPENT MY WHOLE LIFE in the 20TH CENTURYScroll down
Another Doodle Bug Story
Life, Near Death, and Other "Feats of Strength"

Big Earth Quake

2007-04-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

This one is damn interesting have a look at the two epicenters.

Click title for the USGS page on this one.

Tornado Gallery

2007-04-01T11:32:00.000-05:00

Old friends Open Gallery
One thing about living in the Real Tornado Alley, is that one can develop an your face attitude toward the things. My friend Tony Greer's father owned a business at the corner of 19th and Buddy Holly Ave .... for many many years. It was an iron works most of it's life, Tony grew-up in it.

Now, with some of his friends,
# Jennifer Greer
# Larry Simmons
# Randy Fisher
he's transforming the the ole' girl into an Art Gallery in part of the whole complex.

I stopped by yesterday and had a look, it's going to be a great space. Here's the web page for the over all project I've been puttin' together for them.

IDEA WORKS

2007-03-31T11:13:00.000-05:00

Fish Rot From The Head

2007-03-30T10:43:00.000-05:00

A senior Bush political appointee at the Interior Department has repeatedly altered scientific field reports to minimize protections for imperiled species and disclosed confidential information to private groups seeking to affect policy decisions, the department's inspector general concluded.

The IG noted that MacDonald "admitted that her degree is in civil engineering and that she has no formal educational background in natural sciences" but repeatedly instructed Fish and Wildlife scientists to change their recommendations on identifying "critical habitats," despite her lack of expertise.

USA DOODLEBUGGERS

2007-03-29T06:46:00.000-05:00

Lama toeing in, High Uintas Utah. (Submitted by Laura Cullen) Via USA Doodlebuggers

I got an email from Rick (Slip) Bonifer yesterday, he gave me the link to USA Doodlebuggers.
He mentioned that he had read my story on How I Became a Flying Squirrel.
If you have the time, have a look at the site, it's an alumni page of sorts and really a lot of fun.
Be sure to have a look at the photos section, dozens and dozens of pictures, many of folks you've never seen .... But many pictures of just how far and how high we went to find oil and gas.

God Damn That Man, God Damn Him To Hell

2007-03-28T10:09:00.000-05:00

Inside the secretive plan to gut the Endangered Species Act

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is maneuvering to fundamentally weaken the Endangered Species Act, its strategy laid out in an internal 117-page draft proposal obtained by Salon. The proposed changes limit the number of species that can be protected and curtail the acres of wildlife habitat to be preserved. It shifts authority to enforce the act from the federal government to the states, and it dilutes legal barriers that protect habitat from sprawl, logging or mining.

"The proposed changes fundamentally gut the intent of the Endangered Species Act," says Jan Hasselman, a Seattle attorney with Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, who helped Salon interpret the proposal. "This is a no-holds-barred end run around one of America's most popular environmental protections. If these regulations stand up, the act will no longer provide a safety net for animals and plants on the brink of extinction."

The Generator Blog

2007-03-26T07:06:00.000-05:00

A Giant list of various sites that have generators ....[Click the Title]

Example :

Parody Movtivator Generator

2007-03-26T04:06:00.000-05:00

States I've Seen

2007-03-24T05:22:00.000-05:00

create your own visited states map

Via Philly Bits

Caption Contest :

2007-03-24T04:39:00.000-05:00

Connections by James Burke

2007-03-23T07:52:00.000-05:00

"Telecommunications exist because the Normans wore stirrups at the Battle of Hastings- a simple advance that caused a revolution in the increasingly expensive science of warfare."

This is a series produced by the BBC 29 years ago. I saw it on PBS a few years later. If you love history, by all means bookmark this page [click the title], and watch the series as time allows. There are 10 programs , each about 45 min. long.

You'll never look at history the same way, after seeing these shows.

The first program is at the bottom.

Mt. Erebus Antartica

2007-03-23T05:17:00.000-05:00

Another find from Stumble Upon

Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Pilot

2007-03-22T08:58:00.000-05:00

I always loved Fat Freddy's Cat .....

R. CRUMB

2007-03-21T05:24:00.000-05:00

A massive Robert Crumb retrospective curated by Todd Hignite just opened at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. It runs from March 16 to July 8, 2007.

The show includes over 200 of the best examples of Crumb's art, spanning his prolific and rich lifetime body of work.

Here's 81 photos taken on the opening day.
R. Crumb's Underground

ART & LEFT-WING PROPAGANDA

2007-03-20T22:40:00.000-05:00

[At Work]

A Thank-You note to PhillyBits
Philly said some kind words about my images. I didn't do a very good job on the latest one, but I saw someone on the Vine posting about "Returning to Their Principals" ..... I'm afraid I couldn't find just the right image of the Constitution for this one.

Still my favorite one.

Some from storage :

MY IMAGE SHACK PAGES
MY PHOTO BUCKET PAGES

EARTH TO PHIL SPECTOR

2007-03-20T21:38:00.000-05:00

Jury Selection To Begin In Phil Spector Murder Trial

LOS ANGELES (March 18, 2007) -- For decades, famed music producer Phil Spector was a recluse, hiding in his hilltop suburban castle. It took the gunshot death there of a glamorous actress who starred in a cult movie to force him out into the Hollywood spotlight.

ATTENTION PHIL :

I'm not sure the "Side Show Bob" look is the best one for court.

"We All Steal, but If You're Gonna do it ..... Steal From The Best"

2007-03-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

Who Said that ?

Supposedly Pablo Picasso about art.

With that out of the way I steal from The Cariboo Ponderer

Vic on Walmart :

# At Wal-Mart, Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour of every day.
# This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!
# Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.
# Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.
# Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private employer.
# Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World.
# Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only 15 years.
# During this same period, 31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy (including Winn-Dixie).
# Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
# Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are SuperCenters; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago.
# This year, 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at a Wal-Mart store. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 billion).
# 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart.

These Guys Just Got The Attorney General of the Unithed States

2007-03-18T21:25:00.000-05:00

Photo : LA Times

Josh Marshall has done something very important, we all owe him a Thank - You. Read the Times Story

Talking Points Memo

Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching

2007-03-17T14:28:00.000-05:00

Dr. Toni, Lucy & Ethel, and The Hawaiian Starman

2007-03-15T09:49:00.000-05:00

I knew absolutely Zero about web pages last August when I unpacked my New MAC. I didn't know a GIF. File from a "Johnson Rod". So last Oct. when I cleaned out my Safari cache', I had no idea that it would effect my ability to upload images to the Blogger. But MAC users have a great support system, and I went to it to try and solve my problem. There the Hawaiian Starman walked me to a solution.

There's nothing like being in a dark room, and having a complete stranger show-up with a candle, and some matches. Then, as the dim light takes hold you find ..... You're standing next to the light switch.

So the thing that's really a hoot about these little clubhouses we construct of electrons, and ones & zeros, is that one never knows who's going to pop in to say hello. A few weeks ago, I bumped into Lucy & Ethel, took a look, struck a match, and they were off to the races.
Last Saturday, Dr. Toni dropped in. She has what I think will be a great clubhouse to visit, and she's about to find her light switch.

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

Thanks Off the Grid

Google Loves Me

2007-03-14T20:46:00.000-05:00

I was looking at my site meter tonight, and found these referrals :

mexico's tractor trailers - 1,210,000 hits

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mexico%27s%20tractor%20trailers

working vests - 1,200,000 hits

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2005-12,
RNWE:en&q=working%20vests

salt wells fallon - 437,000 hits

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1B2GGGL_enUS176&q=
salt%20wells%20fallon&btnG=Search

picture hudson bay blanket coat - 189,000 hits

http://www.google.com/search?q=picture%20hudson%20bay%20blanket%20
coat&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&start=30&sa=N

I have no idea why my posts about these subjects are popping-up so high on these searches, but it's O.K. with me.

19th Century Shipping Posters

2007-03-14T06:52:00.000-05:00

Via : Boing Boing
Five pages of shipping posters, dripping with flags, Davey Crockett water skiing on alligators, and romance.
From Putafla

Language Lesson

2007-03-14T03:19:00.000-05:00

The Grrlscientist found this beauty .... Warning, don't have a mouth full of coffee when you watch this.

It Finally Rained

2007-03-13T14:35:00.000-05:00

Nearly 2 inches in 2 days. Talk about life giving.

Harry Nilsson - Coconut [1971]

2007-03-11T12:35:00.001-05:00

I don't drop in on Vanilla Birdies as often as I should. She posted on Harry Nilsson which led me to this great clip :

Sex and Republicans .... "Let's review, shall we "

2007-03-10T03:00:00.000-06:00

Who among you can recall the Mayor of Spokane, Washington ? The one who was using his office as bait to troll on the internet for young men. As he spoke out against guys.
Until the good people of Spokane, organized and threw his lyin' Republican butt out of office.

Then came Jeff Gannon, planted in the White House press room to ask "Little Scotty Mac from Texas" softball questions ....... when Scotty needed to catch his breath. Now Jeff was a find, 2 careers, stooge reporter, and Male Prostitute !

I want to thank the "Party of Family Values" for having Rep. Mark Foley [R] Fla. "Champion OF the Rights of Children" keep a close eye on our congressional pages. While the Republican Leadership held his coat.

Rep. Foley could have called Ted Haggert for consul, but he was in Denver in a motel room with a Male Prositute ..... "Speedin' His Young Life Away".

Now it's time to enter a new entry in our history. It seems that Ann Coulter, that skinny butcher knife of the right, has used that expensive Conn. Prep School education ......To make an joke, that in an 8th grade hallway would get a high-five. When she was at that gig, she posed with young man , who David Horwitz has been dragging around telling everyone how mean colleges are the right.

Because they "Support the Troops" this guy is a Sgt. It doesn't get any better than this .... a threefer.
Sgt., Student, and Male Prostitute !

Then, to rescue the day .... WE have Newt get a confession from Dr, Dobson for adultery ! And just like Bill Clinton, who's sex life the Republican Party still is fixated on ....... Newt's lover was a Federal Employee. Will we get a refund from Newt for "working" on the clock. I paid the salary of the woman while she gave Newt a B.J.
Newt's a history guy, you know he got a B.J. in the Capital, if he didn't then I'm a Texas Polar Bear.
He better have, or he's not much of a man.

In closing, as we start the 08' bid for the brass ring, the top 4 Republican challengers ...... 2 who are adulterers ....... have had 9 wives. The mormon is the only one that's just had one marriage.

Tell us all about "Family Values" in 08'. By then then newest Washington Madame may have put out her phone records. She started up her business in 93' with the "Republican Revolution."
Dr. Dobson may be very busy around then.

Please sic Sean Hannity on me, his smilin' face with all the hookers at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada are here on the site. Look under "Manufactured Outrage"

See the poll for this post here :

Live Poll

Sex and Republicans-Whats the Deal With All These Male Prostitues ?
Republicans a have good speed.
Republicans pay good.
Thank God for Newt !
Rudy Too !
Vote Here & View Results

politics, republicans, tom-delay, ann-coulter, male-prostiututes, newt-ginrich
Colorado Bob

Lt. Commander Data Works With Vista

2007-03-09T13:48:00.000-06:00

More From Stumble Upon

2007-03-09T04:36:00.000-06:00

I have no idea who this guy is, but he's a freakin' genius:
More @ Postere

Stumble Upon & Other Sites

2007-03-07T11:24:00.000-06:00

I found the following places that are pretty cool :

First, StumbleUpon, I guess you'd call this a search engine that looks for just the stuff you want, but it does it randomly. Say you set the preferences for antiques, web design, and web artists. Each time you click, a random site from just those topics appears.
Warning ! This thing will waste a lot of your time, it's absolutely wonderful.

These two sites came from just such a session :

Web Sketch

The image on the page was created with :
Thinkature

Via PhillyBits

2007-03-06T13:01:00.000-06:00

PhillyBits

Bear #339 is Working on Another Op-Ed

2007-03-05T11:36:00.000-06:00

Photo: Jonathan Hayward/AP

Public Image Ltd. - Disappointed

2007-03-03T10:39:00.000-06:00

The Best Line I Ever Heard

2007-03-01T19:40:00.000-06:00

Salt Wells Nevada

Sean Hannity's photo album from the Bunny Ranch set me to thinking about my trips to the bordello. There's was one east of Fallon Nevada, on U.S. 50. Waayyy out in the desert at Salt Wells .... The Salt Wells Whorehouse. I got on a rig drilling out of Fallon in the spring of 1980. We were drilling a geothermal exploration hole at Austin, Nevada, which is a 150 miles east of Fallon. We were staying in Austin, but on weekends we drove back to Fallon. The bar at the Salt Wells Bordello was the first place to get a beer coming from Austin, and we would stop to get one there every time we made the trip.

The first time we stopped, I was at the bar talking to the driller Tom, and after a bit I sensed someone had taken stool next to me. I turned, and there was a great looking employee of the bordello.
She smiled and said, "It's all your fault."
I said, "Excuse me ?"
She said, "Your eyes, it's all your fault."

Manufacturing Outrage

2007-03-01T09:34:00.000-06:00

As long as we're getting everybody on the morally correct path, Why is this man smiling ?

These are screen shots from the Bunny Ranch's own page.

As far as a caption contest ..... Well this is like shooting cronies in a barrel.

I'm going with :

"A room full of Bimbo's"

Note to the Reader:
This catch was made as usual by The General

I have warmed to this subject, and posted expanded version of this nugget here :
Manufacturing Outrage
Don't forget to take the poll .

Al Gore's Utility Bills

2007-02-28T09:18:00.000-06:00

[Twig from my Apricot Tree]

RE: The hit piece on Gore has been something in the political war that I've bee waiting on, and right on que it came 2 days after his Oscar wins.
7 weeks ago January 10th I posted about Climate Change here :
El Nino, Global Climate Change, and Bi-Polar Logic

Now, on the last day of February, I went out and got another twig off my apricot tree. My apricot tree doesn't give a rat's fuzzy bottom about Al Gore's Utility Bills. I'm making an educated guess that we will see our 1st fruit trees blooming here today or tomorrow.
For the 57 years I've been in this county, apricot trees that bloomed in the 2nd week of March ran a good risk of being frosted so the fruit would be lost.
As the right wing rails against Climate Change with some of the most desperate and pathetic arguments in the history of any debate anyone has ever had.

Spring has come to the southern plains of North American 2 weeks ahead of when it used to. Last year at this time I was counting how many times we had set all time temperature records since Christmas day. The number was around 5 or 6. And when we weren't setting records our temps. this time last year were running 15 to 20 degrees above average nearly everyday. 100's of thousands of acres of Oklahoma and Texas were on fire as James Inhofe stood in the well of the U.S. Senate and railed against Global Warming.

Now, the right wing may throw all the crap it can on the TV screen, but people all over the world ..... step outside into the proof everyday. Everyday all over the world there is a torrent of data points flowing in that say Al Gore is right. Last week we learned that:

THIS JANUARY WAS THE HOTTEST EVER RECORDED WORLD WIDE !

The sad terrible truth is that in 5 more years these people are gonna look as stupid on this issue as they have on Iraq. And a lot more people are gonna get killed by Climate Change than this stupid little war in Iraq.

More Leather Work-Vests

2007-02-28T07:20:00.004-06:00

I have no idea how many vests I made over the years. At one point back in the mid 70's in Estes Park, I was making 36 at a whack.

The one on the right is made of Elk with buffalo nickel buttons. There's a little story about this style of vest. I had made a set for a little cowboy boutique, and the owner had gone to San Antonio to a show with them. When she returned, I got a call from her saying that a Texas Ranger had come up and bought 3 of them. He was in town, and wanted to meet me.

At the time, I was working in the Tandy Leather store here. I said sure, send him over. He came in the store, and after the introductions related the following :
Wearing a vest is part of our "uniform", and over the years, I've had dozens of vests. I wanted you to know this is the nicest vest I've ever had.

<-Ladies vest .... Lamb skin with mercury dime buttons.

<- Deer skin with hand-made silver concho buttons. This vest is completely hand sewn with 2 colors of thread. [White/Black]

Screen Shot @ 2:05 cst.

2007-02-27T14:04:00.000-06:00

Web Wabbit Wholes

2007-02-27T12:04:00.001-06:00

So I'm poking around at the CNN page,
looking for quotes on the "Market Slide",
and I come across these guys :

They're listed in this story on :
25 Startups to Watch
This is their chrome skin for U-Tube, several more designs.
[I fooled with the code and you can take those buttons
a long the bottom out.]

Up Date :
Now, that I've fooled with it.
The Slide Skin script is messing up the script
on the right that run my email and
those buttons that open my Pages I Painted links.
It also messes with the layout on the blogger.

New Button in the Link N' Logs

2007-02-25T18:48:00.000-06:00

I put this site-up 6 mos. ago. Monday is it's anniversary.
I didn't know a gif. from a Johnson Rod. But I had a "Brand New Rod Computer", and an Imagination.
I've added what I had on the back of my business cards on the right hand column. And since I've been learning for 6 mos., I got to update it with Web Artist. I may not be very good, but that's in the eye of the beholdbeholder.
I've been foolin' with getting my friends here onto the web with their new project. And I got it working good enough, and show it off. Idea Works

Butterflies and Tractor-Trailers

2007-02-25T10:10:00.000-06:00

I found something profound .....

Sat Feb 24, 9:25 PM ET

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will enforce a "zero tolerance" policy against logging that threatens to wipe out the monarch butterfly and will act to stop a rare and ancient oasis from drying up, President Felipe Calderon said on Saturday.

Calderon said soldiers will be deployed to clamp down on illegal logging in a protected forest where monarch butterflies winter after migrating thousands of miles from Canada and the United States.

"We will work intensively to establish a zero tolerance policy to illegal logging in the monarch zone," he told villagers in the region at the launch of a five-year conservation plan.

Mexico vows to protect monarch butterfly

In the fall of 2000, I was west bound on the I-20 near Sweetwater, Texas. It was one of those days that we all know & love.... bright, clear, and still. I was in a Freightliner FLD, which for those who have never experienced it, puts your eye level almost 10 ft. off the ground.

My eyes glanced-up and a Monarch Butterfly was bravely beating it's way cross the 20 south bound to Mexico. As I proceeded down the road more and more of his kin began to appear. One had to be looking closely as the little guys were some 50 to 60 feet off the ground. But there it was, one of the great migrations in nature, moving unnoticed by us humans all breaking the speed limit on the Interstate. It took awhile for me to recognize what I was seeing, but as I went on I became more and more excited. I emailed my mom on the Qualcom that night telling her what I'd seen. She was just as excited.

The following spring I was parked on a small turn-out near Del Rio, Texas, taking a leak, and a north bound Monarch bravely beat his way pass me.

Screen Printing

2007-02-25T06:34:00.000-06:00

I was searching for something profound to post about, you know that inner need to be "Deep", but I'm just all out of "Deep".

So back to past glories ....
I haven't written about my screen printing adventures. so here's just a bit of some of my better efforts. The model is Alice, she was my help for a while, we met a AA. A great kid.

My best seller. Artist-A.G. Blankenship

I got into the research, and printed lots of Southwestern pottery designs. Both as transfers, and as direct prints.

A Weather Post

2007-02-23T21:57:00.000-06:00

Here's the National Weather Service radar loop for the Southern Plains.
We have the following forecast for Saturday Feb. 24. ..... "A High Wind Event" Winds of 45 M.P.H. with gusts to 60 M.P.H.
If this comes to pass, I can assure everyone down the line from this keyboard, that this is one hell of a storm.

Another Time Waster on the Web :

2007-02-23T21:33:00.000-06:00

....

Peter Fonda's Birthday

2007-02-23T08:10:00.000-06:00

Pete is 67 .... Yikes ! .... Name the movie this pic came from. Yes it's the The Wild Angels-[1966]

Life, Near Death, and Other "Feats of Strength"

2007-02-21T23:37:00.000-06:00

dnd at Crawfordslist read the post below, and told me about his adventures setting transmission lines and towers on a helicopter crew. He spoke of loading injured people on an Alouette III.
[dnd I have a picture of an Alouette III somewhere, I'll post it here if I can find it.]

His story jogged my memory, I loaded some hurt people myself while the pilot did some amazing flying, and I saw some amazing flying even when nobody was hurt.

[Image taken in the Fishlake National Forest Utah. We have just finished loading the drills on on two semi "floats" ie: flatbeds. I am thrilled I wasn't crushed. This was the most dangerous part of a very dangerous job]

I took a lot of Squirrels to the field, I can only remember the names of a few, but one I will always remember. His name was Harlin King, and I only spent about 4 hours with him one morning in the Flat Tops of western Colorado. O.B. Oberlander, and I were having some dispute. We were both drunks and room mates so I'm sure the reason was pretty important whatever it was. But Harlin King picked up the tab for it that morning. The H.P. II Helidrill was an amazing piece of machinery, we could set them in some truly mind blowing spots, but there still many places they couldn't be placed.
It was the field co-ordinator's job to run the line and pick the set-ups as we moved a long, leap frogging from the back of the line to the front. My first move that morning O.B. set me up on a 35 degree rock slide made up of rocks the size of your head, a real chicken shit stunt. The only good thing about that morning was "Charlie Blaze" was flying the Lama. As we arrived at this location, Charlie brought us the fuel barrel, so we could get the last of the gas out, and he could take it to the L.Z. to be refilled. This thing was 150 gallon Eaton drum with a manual pump screwed into the side, and some bullshit little angles welded on the bottom for "Feet". The pump was the Old Timey kind where you pump the handle up and down. These drums were touchy, everything that has a round shape is touchy on a mountain, their long axis had to be pointed down the fall line of the mountain, or they would want roll off the thing.
We landed the fuel drum and I was busy chewing out O.B. on the radio about his stunt, as Harlin set about pumping our gas into our jeep cans.
To keep the geologists happy in Denver, we could off set these shot holes at right angles to the line, so I set off up the mountain to see if what looked like a "flat spot" could be had. I told Harlin that Charlie would be coming for the empty barrel soon, and when he set his hook down he wanted the drum. Pretty soon, I was on an out crop above our location so that I was just about even with the Helicopter. Sure enough, here comes Charlie to get the drum, and as I watched him hover nothing seem a miss. But as he pulled off, and away to where I could hear, over the radio came : "Robert how bad did your helper get hurt?"

I was on my way back down the mountain before he was finished keying his mic. As I came out of some trees, there was Harlin standing by the support basket. I was greatly relieved to see him on his feet, but as I got closer he looked just like some character in a Warner Brothers Cartoon, you know, they get hit in the head and Saturn and Jupiter are rotating their head with tweety birds. That is what Harlin had going on, and he kept saying "I'm O.K., I'm O.K.". His hair was hanging down across his forehead, and I could see a small drop of blood on his eye brow. I said, "Sure your are just let me have a look", as I raised his hair. There on his forehead, was cut in the shape of that pump handle's side bracket. The barrel had shifted when Charlie picked-up on it and it spun and smacked Harlin right in the noggin. By this time I could hear Charlie coming back, and he told me to take Harlin up to the spot where I had been when this whole sorry deal happened.
When we finally got up to the out crop, Charlie came in and set the tip of his left skid on a rock and I loaded Harlin in the front seat. On three sides of this rock it was 100 ft. straight down to more rocks. Charlie flew him into Meeker, and I never saw Harlin King again.
O.B. lost his coordinator's job for setting us in that rock side.

A Bell 204 or 205 landing in the Fishlake to pick-up some Squirrels. Note the pinhead on the left standing up. He's betting that the helicopter won't sink in the snow when the pilot cuts the power, and the full weight of the ship rests on the snow. He won that bet, but if he had lost this picture would be called "Pink Mist".
Here's another drilling story if you're interested, scroll down it's the second part.
I spent My Whole Life in the 20th Century

Another Doodle Bug Story

2007-02-21T12:41:00.000-06:00

I decided since I spouted-off about the oil business on my last post, maybe it was time to revisit the topic again. I have written about my adventures in the "Oil Patch" here:
" HELLO LAMA " - 40 BELOW at STRAWBERRY RESERVOIR

and here: How I Became A " Flying Squirrel "
[Note the red objects in this picture ... they are gravel baskets]
I promised to write about "Next time ..What we didn't say at the safety lesson's" on my How I Became A " Flying Squirrel " post, so here goes.

As I explained in that post, helicopter's generate static electricity. One never knows from day to day just how much they will make, but if it's very dry or very wet there's a good chance you're going to get the shit shocked out of you. And by the way, the bigger the ship, the bigger the shock. The only way to control this is for the pilot to set the long-line on the ground, and the charge will discharge into the ground. Then, and only then, can you go over and pick-up the hook on the long-line, and hook it to whatever the pilot is after.
In the mornings one of the first things out of a good pilot's mouth would be this :
"Boy's the hook is hot today."

[This is a drill skid flying on a 150ft. Long-Line]

If we had a "Squirrel" [New Guy] with us, he would be introduced to this bit of physics in the following way .....

All our shot holes on the Heli-port-able crews had to be back filled with gravel. This was done to keep as much of the explosive's energy in the ground as possible. It also kept people from having their heads blown-off, but that was just a happy plus to the real reason. More "pop" that stayed in the ground ... better readings at the "Dog House". As a result of this, we flew gravel from our L.Z. [Landing Zone] everyday to every drill out on the line. It was some of the most expensive gravel in the history of gravel by the time it went down one of our 30 ft. shot-holes.

But back to the "Squirrel", he would generally be one of the last people to catch a ride up on to the line, which meant that he was at the L.Z. shoveling gravel into one of these baskets. As the mornings tasks were taken care of the pilot's would be very busy getting everyone into the field, fueled, and making the powder deliveries. Some time around 10 A.M. he would have to land at the L.Z. and take on fuel himself, at this point he could begin to start screwing around with taking gravel up to whomever was running low. This would be the first time the Squirrel would get to stand under the ship and hook him up to a piece of "equipment".

Even under a Lama with a 150 ft. long-line the rotor wash is picking-up small rocks and gravel and throwing them in your face, and the whole affair gets your blood moving no matter how many times you've done it. The powder monkey would tell the Squirrel to "Hook-up that Basket" as the turbine on the ship would start to whine for the move .... And the first thing that would happen, as the 35 lb. hook moved near the Squirrel, would be his hat flying across the L.Z. at 60 miles-an-hour. Then the dust filling his eyes, and as the hook dangled like a crazy yoyo, he would reach out for it, and BINGO it would shock the crap out of him. And he would let go, but the charge builds up instantly, so the next time he touched it, Bam shocked again.
At this point he would be looking at everyone in the L.Z. and the following was always on their face :
"What am I doing wrong?"
And everyone in the L.Z. would keep saying "Hook it up .... Hook it up". With much waving of hands, Like they had never heard of static electricity. But usually the pilot would set the hook down at this point, and the poor Squirrel could walk over and pick the hook up off the ground and get it hooked on to the basket.
Now, this all sounds cruel, and it probably is, but men do this to each other all the time, and it has a purpose. You want to see what the New Guy is made of, and you want him to always pay attention to what that hook is doing.
A few more things about the long-line being "Hot"..... If you reach out and grab it, and don't let go, the juice goes through your body and you just get shocked once. But if you're under a big ship, like a 214 [Huey] you can feel that charge coming down the line every rotation the rotor makes. Even if the pilot sets his hook on the ground, a 214 is gonna make your weenie wilt. And a 214 hook weighs 50 lbs. The prop wash off a 214 picks-up even bigger rocks and throws them in your face, and it blows dead limbs out of the trees, and you never know where those are coming from. I hated working under 214's.

"IT"S THE OIL STUPID"

2007-02-19T06:42:00.000-06:00

Something serious for a change.
[Click this map to see the BIG version]
In the ocean of electrons that are flowing through Senator Steven's Tubes, I found just one dog that has been chewing on this bone, week in and week out. That is Professor Smartass. Visit his pages, and you see that boy grasps the real reason for this war.

But let me add my 2 cents to the reasons behind this folly. Over the weekend there was this article about Study sees harmful hunt for extra oil. We are now drilling in 5,000 ft of water in the Gulf of Mexico for the stuff. When Dick Cheney hosted his famous "Energy Meetings" in the spring of 2001, you can bet your last dollar that this was topic "A".

Let's break it into two camps :

A. Easy Oil
B. Hard Oil

It's easy to lose sight of just what this means to us, but try this on ....
You will hear something like this :

"We have plenty of oil" [A true statement]
BUT ...Ask your self, "Is this easy oil? Or hard oil?" Oil Shale in the Western U.S., Tar Sands in Canada, the Tar Belt in Venezuela, deep ocean deposits around the world. There is no question that there's a lot oil still around, but as Matt Simmons said,
"Worse, it takes vast quantities of scarce and valuable potable water and natural gas to turn unusable oil into heavy low-quality oil.”

“In a sense, this exercise is like turning gold into lead,”
And there's nothing cheap about drilling in 5,000 ft. of water.

Now, to the Mid East. In Texas and almost everwhere else, there is something called "Lifting Costs" .... That is the money that comes off the top to pay for those pump jacks. Their up keep, power usage, etc. In Saudia Arabia they go to the well head, and turn a valve. The shit comes out of the ground and on to the boat.
Easy Oil.
Iraq has either the #2 or #3 proven reserves in the world, and boys and girls ... It's the "Easy Oil", if we're just talking about the oil business.

So this morning over at Informed Comment the following popped-up:

Iraqi Oil Law Leaked
Here's the translated version
Iraqi Oil Law.pdf

I'm no lawyer, but I bet my last dollar that's the "Easy Oil" buried in all that "Where As" and "Where For"
I know this, and so did Dick Cheney and that hand puppet we call a president, back in 2001.

"It's The Oil Stupid"

Introducing the Book

2007-02-17T11:35:00.000-06:00

BOTDA

2007-02-16T21:06:00.000-06:00

"Even a blind pig, finds an acorn every now and then."

[I'm speaking about me winning something, not them giving this.]

stones-you got me rocking

2007-02-15T04:16:00.001-06:00

I was a pitcher down in a slump,
I was a fighter taken for a sucker punch
I was a hooker, losing her looks
I was a writer, can't write another book

The Best Damn Script You Can Get

2007-02-15T04:06:00.000-06:00

Sounds like a lot of Hype huh ? Well, here it is .... Click any link on the is page and what happens ? Go ahead, click one. You didn't get steered away from this one did you ? This page stayed on your screen didn't it .... Here's the place to get this script, paste it just above your closing body tag < /body >. Open offsite links in new window

I Always Won the "Big Hat Contest"

2007-02-10T00:42:00.000-06:00

Here's the 1st post I ever made here :
Saturday, August 26, 2006
"NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO....THERE YOU ARE"

The only thing I learned in college.

I had a work study grant in college. 3 days a week I worked in the ceramics lab with George Soco. George had been tricked into coming to Texas Tech by the administration there. George wasn't happy about that. They promised him a modern lab to teach glass blowing to grad students, he ended up in the government surplus barracks teaching education majors ceramics.

Everyday when I showed up, my first duty was to ride my bike to the student union and get Prof. Soco 5 packs of Marlboro green 100's. Then my day could begin. On days we emptied the kilns after a firing, he would stand by wearing a big asbestos glove. Should a particular ash tray or coffee cup catch his eye, he would step forward, take the offending object, and hurl it across the court yard into the barracks wall that contained offices of other art profs. The pile of broken bisque ware was 3 feet deep.

In the late April of 1970, while sitting in a biology lecture, something snapped in my head and I got up, rode my bike to the administration building and dropped out of Texas Tech. I was bound for Colorado. When I went by the ceramics lab to say good-bye Prof. Soco said the following:

" Bob, if you forget everything I've taught you remember this....No matter where you go, there you are."

About my garb .... The hat band is bead work, and hand sewing on black deerskin. The shirt is brand new. Mule deer with brass buttons. Chaps are moose hide, they're the nicest pair I ever made. They had brass zippers and Buffalo Nickels on the pockets for fasteners.

Enough is Eough

2007-02-09T14:23:00.000-06:00

Anna Nicole :

The Winston Churchill of "Reality" TV

MSNBC Contacts : Just click it'll open your email

dabrams@msnbc.com

KOlbermann@msnbc.com

countdown@msnbc.com

letters@msnbc.com

viewerservices@msnbc.com

If you have a site, please ....E-Mail me and I'll send you this code. It makes writing emails a snap for your readers. Let's stuff Dan Abram's email inbox by 6 A.M. Monday morning.
You know what to say ... just don't use "No Bad Talk" as Stubbs used to say.
Write them and tell them to stop, please urge your readers to write them.

Good Stuff

2007-02-09T09:04:00.000-06:00

When he's not playing with his Photoshop, Mur 38 has nack for finding some amazing stuff ..... like finding catfish swallowing basketballs, and this. Click this link and see one amazing picture Perth Comet. Click Mur's link for the explanation.

Dexter at Crawfordslist sent me this, it's a link that let's you paint like Jackson Pollock. When you get there just start moving the cursor, and clicking the mouse.

Best Music on the web ..... RadioIo Click the Red Button

This Bear Has Something to Say .... Version II

2007-02-08T03:57:00.000-06:00

Photo: Joseph Napaaqtuq Sage/AP

To protect the Bear's next of kin, I'm calling him Bear #339 for now.

BOB TV

2007-02-08T00:01:00.000-06:00

Well, here's what I got so far :
a. I got a clip 127 sec. long.
b. Background sounds.

Plot lines so far :
a. Bear is Hostage
b. Bear being Interveiwed
About Rush L's remark
c. Bear with second banana [Voice over]

I need a name for the bear.

This Bear Has Something to Say Part IV

2007-02-07T02:10:00.000-06:00

Photo: Joseph Napaaqtuq Sage/AP

Study this clip ..... send me dialog. I know it's backwards from what REAL animators do, but I'm no real animator.
You get a writing credit at the end of the editorial. If you just see a passage that the lips sync to your words, make a note of how much time into the clip it is, and let me know.

I'm not in any big hurry to lay down a sound track, so this little project is still on going.

Here's the U-Tube link :
This Bear Has Something to Say

This Bear Has Something to Say Part III

2007-02-06T00:40:00.000-06:00

Photo: Joseph Napaaqtuq Sage/AP

We've made a big break through, when the bear heard what Rush Limpballs said about these bears:

He broke his silence, and is now quite willing to begin speaking out. We're working on script for him, but any thoughts on just what he should say will be welcome.

Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe

2007-02-05T11:50:00.000-06:00

Dancing With Mr.D

2007-02-05T09:20:00.000-06:00

This Bear Has Something to Say Part II

2007-02-04T03:56:00.000-06:00

Photo: Joseph Napaaqtuq Sage/AP
I'm teaching this Polar Bear English, but it's slow going. And his breath smells like seal.

The West

2007-02-03T23:41:00.000-06:00

I was in a small debate yesterday with a twit from New York City on the pros and cons of burning wood. I didn't care who won, I just enjoyed poking him in the eye with my stick. But the whole affair did plunge me back into the past, and the gathering of the firewood for the winter, and then it dawned on me that I've been meaning to post about the West again.
This is a very small section of the back wall of a ruin in Chaco Canyon. It is called Chetro Ketl. It was shot by a fellow named Dave Rintoul who has a very cool set of pictures at Ancient Pueblo Sites and Archaeoastronomy Tour - Winter 2006-07
[Dave emailed me and informed me that he didn't sleep with Gracie Slick either, and I was forced to change my tag line.]
I saw Dave's great pictures at another very good place called Grrlscientist. I visited the Chaco Canyon back in the 80's. It is most well known for Pueblo Bonito, and more recently for Fajada Butte and it's Sun Dagger Calender
But the back wall at Chetro Ketl is one scene that I have always remembered. When it was done, it was 4 stories in some places, and longer than a football field. Some of the rows of stone work, have pieces of rock as big as your index finger. As you walk along the wall you are just over whelmed by the care that was used to build this wall. Each stone was ground down, so that the exposed side is flat.
Chaco isn't easy to get to, and that's good, it keeps the riff/raff away. If you ever get the chance to visit, make a note of the educational level of the other people you meet there. No Glenn Becks is this crowd.

This great shot was taken by "Mo" a friend of one of my best friends,Larry. "Mo" lives in Northern Utah, or "Behind the Mormon Curtain" as I'm fond of calling it. "Mo" works for the government, and would have to kill us all if we knew what he did. But when he's not doing that, he goes out into places most of us can only dream about, and he's got a great page mo4.org.

That's the thing I really love about the web, going places we've never been, and returning to places we've missed.

Let's Dance While We Can to Duran Duran !!!

2007-02-02T21:49:00.000-06:00

This Bear Has Something to Say

2007-02-02T15:48:00.000-06:00

Photo: Joseph Napaaqtuq Sage/AP

Stay tuned for updates.

UTAH PHILLIPS

2007-02-02T15:27:00.000-06:00

An audio clip of Utah Phillip's story about making MOOSE TURD PIE
This clip came via dnd posting at Crawfordslist

The Sex Lives of the Founders Part IV

2007-02-02T04:13:00.000-06:00

The Money Shots

One of my favorite founders. blackdogg reminded me of this Franklin message ......
Franklin tells one of his would be mistresses that his "little willy is getting lonely!"
The sad thing about Ben was, he wasn't much of a "family man". In 1730 he acknowledged his illegitimate son William, whom it seems never got on with his father. Then there's Deborah Read, no not the fact that they had a common law marriage. The fact that Ben just treated her kinda shabby. I won't even get into his years in Paris, or his living with Margaret Stevenson and her daughter Polly in London.

That's four founders who have more in common with Bill Clinton than George Bush.

The Sex Lives of the Founders Part III

2007-02-01T09:09:00.000-06:00

The Money Shots

This good looking dog is Alexander Hamilton. Our first Sec. of the Treasury, and the man generally credited with saving our economic system after the Revolution.
In 1791 he was approached by Maria Reynolds with a sad tale of money woes. Hamilton let his "Little head do his big head's thinking", and started an affair with the married Mrs. Reynolds, which continued for three years. All this time Mr. Reynolds was blackmailing Hamilton. When the whole tale was exposed in the press by Hamilton's political enemies IE Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Hamilton wrote a pamphlet admitting the whole thing with the catchy title :

Observations on Certain Documents Contained in No. V & VI of "The History of the United States for Year 1796," In Which the Charge of Speculation Against Alexander Hamilton, Late Secretary of the Treasury, Is Fully Refuted. Written be Himself

That's three founders who have more in common with Bill Clinton than George Bush.

The Sex Lives of the Founders Part II

2007-02-01T01:02:00.000-06:00

The Money Shots

This one's easy .. Most know this one. "The Sage of Monticello", writer of the Declaration of Independence, 2nd President. He knocked-up his slave Sally.

That's two founders who have more in common with Bill Clinton than George Bush.

The Sex Lives of the Founders Part I

2007-01-31T00:30:00.001-06:00

This fellow is Gouverneur Morris He wrote this :

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union"

In addition to that little jewel, he's the one who actually wrote the Constitution of the United States .... I mean he sat down and took pen in hand and wrote it. Now, a lot of people kicked in on this project, Morris was the one that was putting the words on the paper. He got a leg knocked off in a carriage accident, but it didn't slow him down. He was a notorious "Rake".
Married, single, Morris didn't care, if it had estrogen in it he was interested.

That's one founder who has more in common with Bill Clinton than George Bush.

Tomorrow I'll use our money to advance my story.

Here's the Google page for Gouverneur Morris if you want to have a better look.

John Adams VS Bill O'reilly

2007-01-30T04:16:00.000-06:00

PBS re-ran their American Experience on John and Abigail Adams last week, and I caught the re-re-run of it over the week-end.

It jarred me into writing about something that has been rolling around in my head for awhile, namely what would Fox News and Bill O'Reilly do with John Adams ? Poor ole' Adams. he knew he was gonna get shafted by history .... IE : There ain't no Adams Memorial on the National Mall. No Adams statue parked among the daffodils in Washington DC. Never the less we own John a big debt of gratitude. The list is long of the things we own the 2nd President, but the item I have in mind is his defense of the British troops involved in the "Boston Massacre". Consider what he said about his defense of these men :

"The Part I took in Defence of Cptn. Preston and the Soldiers, procured me Anxiety, and Obloquy enough. It was, however, one of the most gallant, generous, manly and disinterested Actions of my whole Life, and one of the best Pieces of Service I ever rendered my Country. Judgment of Death against those Soldiers would have been as foul a Stain upon this Country as the Executions of the Quakers or Witches, anciently. As the Evidence was, the Verdict of the Jury was exactly right." --John Adams

Those British troops were scared, cold, and out numbered by what was surely a drunken mob, and like most situations like that, things got out of hand. Adams took on their defense, because he was convinced that the rule of law was our only hope.
I wonder what Nancy Grace and O'Reilly would do with Mr. Adams, and his defense of these men today?

Elvis Costello - Peace Love and Understanding

2007-01-29T07:18:00.000-06:00

Clip from : Pincfloit

Cheney's Testifies

2007-01-28T22:21:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I posted at Crawfordslist, that when Cheney placed his hand on the "Good Book" to take the oath at the Scooter Libby trial, the thing would burst into flames. Sr. Horse Dooty reminded me that Cheney would be using his cloven hooves ....Then the Bible would burst into flames.

A Very Smart 16 Year-Old

2007-01-28T14:02:00.000-06:00

Clip from :
MeepGoEep

The T-Shirt Business

2007-01-28T11:35:00.000-06:00

Good Dick/Bad Dick

Cheney's Latest Gem:

In the interview, Cheney also said he doesn't spend any time worrying about how the public or the media view him. When pressed to react to personal criticism from people with whom he has worked before, Cheney said: "Well, I'm vice president and they're not."

I had a little screen printing business once upon a time. It was some of the most fun I ever had. Get a wild hair, and Bingo a few hours later someone was being immortalized on cotton from the San Joaquin Valley. Give these guys a shot if you need something for the Easter Parade.

Better Wake the Captain

2007-01-27T06:32:00.000-06:00

Johnny Winter-Highway 61

2007-01-26T14:59:00.000-06:00

Clip from GL Dave. He's got more of Johnny.

MUR 38

2007-01-24T21:29:00.000-06:00

My friend Mur in the land of the Bill-O-Bong has been on a real roll lately, first he finds this amazing Aussie Fish Tale . Then these guys :

The Temple of Artemis

2007-01-24T09:07:00.000-06:00

An experiment :

Click Image to see full size.

Attention Tree Huggers Everywhere

2007-01-22T21:54:00.001-06:00

Tree Hugging on the Avenue of the Giants

Evil Pacific Lumber Declares Bankruptcy
From easong's Kos diary:

In the continuing story of how a Texas scumbag corporation named Maxxam has planned to destroy hundreds of acres of old growth redwood forest for a neat profit, the plot has entered the final phase -- trying to get a bankruptcy court to annul the provisions of a habitat protection agreement hammered out several years ago by Senator Feinstein and state water boards.

easong's post with links on where to write

Here's the Houston Chronicle story:
Maxxam's Pacific Lumber subsidiary has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying the limits on logging imposed by California water quality regulators sharply cut its revenues.

This is a long and sad story from the era of Reagan and the corporate raiders.. Pacific was once a family owned business that was careful with it's employees and it's stands of lumber. One of it's real assets was the company pension plan, which was "Over Funded" . Then it was bought out by these ass-holes from Texas, this is part of the same crowd that brought us George Bush. They looted the pension fund, and set about blackmailing the State of California over the Redwood Trees they owned. These trees are the last stands of Redwoods that are not protected from the chain saw. Maxxam thinks they should be converted into decks, patio furniture, and paper with green ink on it.
Of all the Redwoods that ever lived, these are the last ones we can still save.

So click on easong's link and write a letter to anyone he's listed there.

January 2007 the Global Climate Change Dam Has Broken

2007-01-21T23:20:00.000-06:00

UPDATE- 1/22/07
Here's the USCAP Web Page and today's press release :
Major Businesses and Environmental Leaders Unite to Call for Swift Action on Global Climate Change

You had to be paying attention, but it's happened. Last week we learned that EXXON/MOBIL have dropped their funding of The Competitive Enterprise Institute.
It perked up my ears when I read that. So, I've been listening for more to come down the pike, and it's really about to start flowing. This came over the wires on Friday :

Industry signals Bush to do more on warming
10 companies join activist groups in calling for caps on carbon emissions

WASHINGTON - Major corporations and environmental groups on Friday announced what they called an "unprecedented alliance" to push for quicker action against global warming — urging lawmakers to pass mandatory curbs on carbon emissions, in contrast to President Bush's voluntary approach.

These two events are directly related, to each other, and to the many reports that are flowing in now. These guys are not dummies. They know the jig is up. Inhofe is out of his seat in the Senate Chair. He was their paid stooge in the Senate. It's a whole new Ball Game on this issue. This subject is about move up the list on voters concerns.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not breaking out the wine for toasting till dawn. But this month is one for a bit of optimism. The ground is moving under people's feet ....... These are the moments when things become possible.

The post below is off the wire tonight. I took the whole post off the Globe's site. [ Which I try to avoid, but this one is important and I want people to see it. ]
Another reason why EXXON pulled their money :

Global Warming: The Final Verdict

2007-01-21T21:41:00.001-06:00

A study by the world's leading experts says global warming will happen faster and be more devastating than previously thought
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday January 21, 2007

Observer
Global warming is destined to have a far more destructive and earlier impact than previously estimated, the most authoritative report yet produced on climate change will warn next week.

A draft copy of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, obtained by The Observer, shows the frequency of devastating storms - like the ones that battered Britain last week - will increase dramatically. Sea levels will rise over the century by around half a metre; snow will disappear from all but the highest mountains; deserts will spread; oceans become acidic, leading to the destruction of coral reefs and atolls; and deadly heatwaves will become more prevalent.

The impact will be catastrophic, forcing hundreds of millions of people to flee their devastated homelands, particularly in tropical, low-lying areas, while creating waves of immigrants whose movements will strain the economies of even the most affluent countries.

'The really chilling thing about the IPCC report is that it is the work of several thousand climate experts who have widely differing views about how greenhouse gases will have their effect. Some think they will have a major impact, others a lesser role. Each paragraph of this report was therefore argued over and scrutinised intensely. Only points that were considered indisputable survived this process. This is a very conservative document - that's what makes it so scary,' said one senior UK climate expert.

Climate concerns are likely to dominate international politics next month. President Bush is to make the issue a part of his state of the union address on Wednesday while the IPCC report's final version is set for release on 2 February in a set of global news conferences.

Although the final wording of the report is still being worked on, the draft indicates that scientists now have their clearest idea so far about future climate changes, as well as about recent events. It points out that:

· 12 of the past 13 years were the warmest since records began;

· ocean temperatures have risen at least three kilometres beneath the surface;

· glaciers, snow cover and permafrost have decreased in both hemispheres;

· sea levels are rising at the rate of almost 2mm a year;

· cold days, nights and frost have become rarer while hot days, hot nights and heatwaves have become more frequent.

And the cause is clear, say the authors: 'It is very likely that [man-made] greenhouse gas increases caused most of the average temperature increases since the mid-20th century,' says the report.

To date, these changes have caused global temperatures to rise by 0.6C. The most likely outcome of continuing rises in greenhouses gases will be to make the planet a further 3C hotter by 2100, although the report acknowledges that rises of 4.5C to 5C could be experienced. Ice-cap melting, rises in sea levels, flooding, cyclones and storms will be an inevitable consequence.

Past assessments by the IPCC have suggested such scenarios are 'likely' to occur this century. Its latest report, based on sophisticated computer models and more detailed observations of snow cover loss, sea level rises and the spread of deserts, is far more robust and confident. Now the panel writes of changes as 'extremely likely' and 'almost certain'.

And in a specific rebuff to sceptics who still argue natural variation in the Sun's output is the real cause of climate change, the panel says mankind's industrial emissions have had five times more effect on the climate than any fluctuations in solar radiation. We are the masters of our own destruction, in short.

There is some comfort, however. The panel believes the Gulf Stream will go on bathing Britain with its warm waters for the next 100 years. Some researchers have said it could be disrupted by cold waters pouring off Greenland's melting ice sheets, plunging western Europe into a mini Ice Age, as depicted in the disaster film The Day After Tomorrow.

The report reflects climate scientists' growing fears that Earth is nearing the stage when carbon dioxide rises will bring irreversible change to the planet. 'We are seeing vast sections of Antarctic ice disappearing at an alarming rate,' said climate expert Chris Rapley, in a phone call to The Observer from the Antarctic Peninsula last week. 'That means we can expect to see sea levels rise at about a metre a century from now on - and that will have devastating consequences.'

However, there is still hope, said Peter Cox of Exeter University. 'We are like alcoholics who have got as far as admitting there is a problem. It is a start. Now we have got to start drying out - which means reducing our carbon output.'
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

This came out Friday too :

U.N. panel to step up warnings on climate

OSLO (Reuters) - A U.N. climate panel is set to give its strongest warning yet that human use of fossil fuels is stoking global warming, informed sources said on Friday.

A draft of the report by 2,500 scientists says it is "very likely" that human activities are the main cause of warming in the past 50 years, strengthening a conclusion in their last study in 2001 that the human link was "likely."

Collective Soul - December

2007-01-21T10:32:00.000-06:00

I'd be Safe and Warm if I was in L.A.

2007-01-19T19:39:00.000-06:00

The Mamas and the Papas - California Dreamin'

I wonder if these guys would make it on American Idol ?

So long Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty
November 29, 1940 - January 19, 2007