Okey Dokey, Pig In A Pokey

Dr. Pete's got a picture of my fabulous DiVa up over at his blog. I was going to use it, but he beat me to the punch. Now, I like my job. Watching cells with certain admirable characteristics fall into test tubes, not to mention playing with lasers, is interesting stuff. Especially when I learn new things, and Flow will be a great career choice for me. But that doesn't mean I'm not jealous of people with more exciting jobs than me - like Keith's has been lately. Animals, fish, reckless drivers? Man, I've got my ass parked all day...

I don't have any new pictures of the fam to post, that I can think of, but here's some things to look at anyway:

I saw this on the way home from work the other day...No, not really, but I'm expecting to see something similar any day now. Good ol' TL!

Cindy and I are constantly on the look out for good, cheap babysitters (it's one of the downsides to living so far away from the kids grandparents). In that light, lets play a game...

Who Would You Allow To Watch Your Kids?
(Wherein I'll post pictures I've found on-line, and we'll all laugh together at how weird most people are.)

Dio, Diamond, Dylan, or Denver?

Ronnie James Dio could teach your kids the words to "Holy Diver," and some cool metal poses; but he'd probably also have them worshiping the devil before you could leave the restaurant and call home to check up on them before heading to the movie theatre. Neil Diamond could show them how to impress the pants (literally) off of a middle aged woman, but might insist that they join him in a glass of scotch "before the show." Bob Dylan...Well, he pretty much looks scary enough now that my kids wouldn't even let him in the front door. I think John Denver would be the pick of choice, if he weren't deceased. He'd have your kids high on life, and ready to save the planet, fer sure!


A Blues Breaker, James Brown, or Cat Stev...errrm, Yusuf Islam?

Poor John is in his 70's...and probably wouldn't make much of a babysitter even without all the psychadelic drugs that are probably still lingering in his body. James Brown could teach the yungun's how to abuse the hell out of a woman, but might get them hooked on street drugs. I think Cat/Yusuf is the winner, although you might come home to your kids wearing skull caps and toting around the Quran...

Now for the really odd folks...


Hans Pratsch, or Bernd Hackelberg?

Either way you win. And think of the glorious facial hair the kids would no doubt be inspired to grow later in life.


Gallic man on bicycle, or evil grandparents?

Whichever...The kids would definitely be too scared of any one of these people to step out of line. Of course, I think the end result would be similar to leaving them with Dio...


The morbidly obese, Japanese people with crazy toys, or the lamest metal band/cos players ever...

The fat man would probably eat the baby, the technophiles would probably stomp the children, and the lame-o teenagers might do both in culmination of some bizarre ceremony. Three way tie of losers.

Woad. How's that for Random Righteous Ruminations?

Does Anyone Know Of An Automotive Manufacture That Puts Crosshair Hood Ornaments On Their Cars?

Seriously. Route 3, especially in the mornings, is populated by some of the stupidest drivers in the country. Thank goodness I only have to watch out for only three or four of them every morning, instead of the thousands experienced twice daily in the Seattle area. Here's a bulleted list of what I see:

• Guys in monster trucks that tailgate. What gives, guys? I'm not in that big of a hurry to go to work, why are you? Going home I can kinda understand, but going towards the grindstone? I usually drive at the speed limit to about 5 miles over, so it's not like I'm holding anyone back. These guys usually pass the second a broken line is spotted. Just a note - the closer you get, the slower I drive.
  
• Girls in sportscars that tailgate, pass, then slow down. Oh, I'm sorry honey. Does having a car in front of you make it difficult to focus on both the road and your cellphone conversation? Meh.
• People who change speeds from 15 under the speed limit to 15 over. Happens pretty frequently and by far the most aggravating. I followed a car in today that went from 40 for the first ten miles, up to 70 when I tried to pass, then back to 60 the rest of the drive. Evidently marijuana has some strict adherents here in the ADKs.

My solution? A giant muscle car, swaddled in plate steel, with 72 inch tires made out of iron and brawn, with crosshairs for a hood ornament. I could cull the stupid from the herd. Even though such a machine would undoubtedly consume fuel at an ungodly rate, it would actually probably be good for the petroleum scene in general, as I'd be able to remove so many idiots from the driving population. And it would have to have a cannon in the back, so that tailgaters get a face full of BBB.

Enough rantage.

Pick A Peck A Purdy Punkins

The hand is for scale...This pumpkin was featured in an earlier post.

Here's Ethan's Jack-O'-Lantern to be:

See, as it grows, the scars grow, too...

Ethan wanted to try scoring in a Jack-O'-Lantern face on one of the other gourds, but I don't know how much growin' we have left in the season.

Arthursday2

Okay, I'll blow my load with this one...kinda. I forgot last week to post the Bob Peak pic that first caught my eye. So, mostly to get some more rants out of Dr. Pete, here it is:


Innovative use of color: Check. Composition that draws the viewer's eye to the subject: Check. Badass guy with a moustache: Check. Swinging seventies style: Check.
Graphic courtesy of: art by Bob Peak http://www.BobPeak.com
Many Thanks for permission

Earlier I posted the picture of that Starbucks gal looking for her nipples. It comes from a cool community art site that I will link to...here. The idea was simple and cool - print out cartoon style speech bubbles, attach them to posters throughout NYC, and let the good citizens of the world fill them in.

Speaking of community art projects, one of my favorite sites that I check out quite often is PostSecret. Another simple idea - people anonymously mail in postcards with depictions of their deepest, darkest secret; postcards appear on a blog; catharsis happens. Interesting stuff.

Post Facto Disclaimer: Both links have some offensive language in them - ask real people to submit there thoughts and you get to see both the good and bad in the world.

Something more light hearted? I quite enjoy good caricature artists. I've done some arting in my day, and would have to say that good, accurate portraits take a large amount of talent and skill. To be able to boil that down into an accurate depiction of someone based on a few of their more noticeable features, all the while keeping it (usually) good willed and simple? Sounds pretty damn near impossible to me. Oh, and Pete, there's a great Seinfeld ensemble drawing in there if you look through the portfolios...

Here's this thing, that made me laugh so hard that I nearly wet myself at work:

I recommend downloading and viewing full to read all of the captions.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm about to travel through time, I bid you adieu."

Salmo Salar: Not Just For Dinner Anymar

The Sunday breakfast that started my artery clogging day: Salmon Benedict...

The dish loses some of its appeal in the washed out tones of the close up shot.

Eggs Benedict is one of my favorite dishes - why not add salmon? Okay, I got the idea from a magazine. Salmon patties - 2-3 cups precooked, flaked up salmon flesh (I used the farmed, fake color added variety because I live nowhere near salt water of any kind), a cup of some good breadcrumbs (break out the food processor), a good bit of food processed onion. Mix that stuff together, then smoosh in an egg or two, form into patties and get your fry on. Then toss 'em on some lightly toasted English muffins, top with a poached egg and some hollandaise sauce (Knorr's only, and eat. Awesome. Fried potatoes help round out the cholesterol extravaganza.

Hope that didn't bore anyone...

BcausHesASk8rBoiSheSaidCULaterBoi

What's scarier: That Simon and I have that song on the computer or work, or that we have the acoustic version on the computer at work?


How hard do I laugh every time I see this picture? HARD.

Now that that's out of my system, here's a picture I found on a site I think I'll link to for Arthursday2:


So true. Where are the naked mermaid's nipples? I think she left them on a seat in a dreary metro bus, in dreary Seattle...

B Out! I'll be playin' superstar, slammin' on my guitar...

Monday, 1:00pm, Where's My Horse and Carriage?

This local news story is inspiring to me...Not, mind you, inspiring enough for me to want (or be able) to do likewise, but it's nice to see there's some forward (or backward) thinkers in the world. With funny names and cool hats.

Not much else to say, really, had a decent weekend. More demolition, running, playing with a dog and kids, and eating fattening Sunday foods (I've got a picture of my special Sunday breakfast to share when I get around to Flickring - Is that lame?). So here's a ton of pictures with the usual (un)witty repartee...


Oh nos! The dogs missing half of his head!


Modeling the outfit Gramma Carol sent...


Wearing my shoes, and also showing everyone out their in cyberspace what a bunch of caffeine addicts we are.


Handsome devil, eh? Note to self: Take more pictures of Ethan, get Ethan to sit still long enough to take said pictures.

And I'll leave you with a picture of some happy polar bears:

Sadly, after this picture was taken I had to kill them both with my bare hands to feed and clothe my family. Can you say "time for a raise?"

Now I leave you all - mostly Keith - with a...

Woad.

Arthursday

To continue with sharing the art love, here's some pics of works from Bob Peak - A super swingin' painter that created many movie posters and such in the seventies and 80's, ya heard.


Artists that have there own recognizable style are by far the best - and rarest.
Graphic courtesy of: art by Bob Peak http://www.BobPeak.com
Many Thanks for permission

I think the poster for "Every Which Way But Loose" with Clint Eastwood and the monkey is my favorite. View these in bigger sizes for full appreciation, and be sure to clicky on the linky!

I'm A Lumberjack And I'm Okay

I sleep all night and I work all day. Apparently some of you think that my last post was made because I was upset about the issues mentioned - not so. I'm just a cynical, rude bastard who has a dark sense of humor.

This last weekend, hmmm...Not really sure if I accomplished much of note. One thing that I have been doing lately is running throughout the greater TL area, dog in tow. I'm not approaching the distances tall guy routinely runs, but I can run a little over three miles uninterrupted (outside of dog related pauses). This isn't a distance I'm proud of, but it is a distance I'm not ashamed of.

Here's pictures - check out Cindy's blog for more:

We found a gnome living in our garden...

We all spent some time outside, picking what's left in the garden, wishing the tomatoes would ripen...

The bean carried some beans around for quite a while...

And here's some more pictures of the CooperTrooper.

Woad.

Deep Thoughts On A Sunny Friday Afternoon

Secrets From The Working World

As everyone knows, I have worked as a science type person ("scientist," at least where I currently work, denotes someone with a bit more education than I) of sorts for a little over 2 years now. In those two years I've made many casual observations about what it really takes to work in the lab. Things that we were never tested on in 300 and 400 level biology and chemistry classes. One would think that mathematics were important - but most everything (conversions, concentrations, reactivity) you studied and memorized in school is written out like a recipe in a real lab. You might think that you'll be called upon to have input on experiments and papers, just like in college - not so. They have smarter, more important, and higher paid people to do that. College fosters (at least in me) an inquisitiveness to find out what experiments are going on around you, or to learn the inner workings of the task at hand. Surprisingly, this behavior gets met with a big mental smack in the working world. Ask that important scientist what they're working on, and more than likely, you'll be treated with an "You wouldn't understand if I told you, underling" attitude. So what, you might ask, is the most important skill one must have to be successful in a lab? Why, it's the ability to write small, legible words on odd surfaces. Honestly. Other than that, we're helper monkeys. But if you can write, in 50 words or less, the gist of a 1000 word experiment description on the side of a test tube, or the corner of a 96 well plate cover. You're golden. Put it on your resume! "Can write on small, oddly shaped surfaces."

That's some valuable knowledge - take it to the bank!

Of Dogs And Men

My second random thought involves my dog. When we first announced to several friends and family members that we were thinking of getting a dog, we were grilled (okay, I was probably the only one that got grilled) about "you know that a dog involves a lot of responsibility." "You have to either take it with you or have someone watch it when you go on vacation." Etc., ad nauseum. Here's the little known secret, that everyone knows...I HAVE KIDS! No one's questioned my abilities to raise children - not that I'm going to be winning dad of the year anytime soon. I never once heard any complaints about my parenting style, nor have I been questioned about what I plan on doing with the two juniors when I go on vacation. But, mention a dog, and everyone seems to think that neglect and abuse are going to be happening in spades.

With that said, so far the dog has been into more trouble than the two children combined. But a week without food, water, or human contact should take care of that. The rest of us will be in sunny Acapulco anyway.

Who's On First?

I still need to do some flickring - Cindy did a little for me, of which I'll share a few...Now.

Teh Stoopdiets Shti Evar!!!


That's right. Snowmobile on grass drag racing. An excellent waste of the gasoline that we all can barely afford. Ahhh, good ole TL!

Cooper the Maybe Dog has become Cooper the Definitely Dog (more pictures to come), so last weekend we went for many long walks, and thus we came upon this episode of "Slednecks With Nothing Better To Do." Sigh.

The Culprits Leave A Clue!

On the left, you have a picture of my clue. I was busy stalking the elusive fiend that keeps eating the tops of my sunflowers - pictured on the right - when I came upon the scat of some unknown beast. What? The pictures blurry? That's to enhance the MYSTERY!

Lots of sunflowers and pumpkins in the garden, along with tomatoes that won't ripen. Also, I've been finding deer pooh in the long grass - after the sunflowers and apples, perhaps?

Pictures That I'm Told Are Adorable

Okay, so I'm not adorable, but Connor is. I like how in the first picture he looks like some hard on his luck mechanic from a movie. Also, when the second picture's shrunk like that, it looks like my tongue is hanging out.

I will leave you with a preview of new shows on the boob tube this fall. There's a few naughty words in their, but when I read it, I laughed so hard that about two drops of pee came out. Tear.

Woad!

While You Wait

I've been lazy about getting my pictrs flickred lately. Cindy's going to help me out from home if she gets a chance today, so maybe I'll post some stuff again this afternoon. Here's a joke:

St Peter decides to take the day off to go fishing, so Jesus offers to keep an eye on the Pearly Gates. He is not sure what to do, so Peter tells him to find out a bit about people as they arrive in Heaven, and this will help him decide if he can let them in.

After a while, Jesus sees a little old man with white hair approaching who looks very, very familiar. He asks the old man to tell him about himself. The old man says, "I had a very sad life. I was a carpenter and had a son who I lost at a relatively young age, and although he was not my natural child, I loved him dearly."

Jesus welled up with emotion. He threw his arms around the old man and cried, "Daddy!"

The old man replied, "Pinocchio?"

A Tear For RL

RL Burnside, delta bluesman extroardanaire passed away today (or maybe it was yesterday) at 78:

You owe it to yourself to check out a copy of "A Ass Pocket Full Of Whiskey."

Like most of us, and unlike most people that are able to attain fame and fortune - at least as musicians - RL didn't do his best work in his 20's and 30's. Most audiophiles hadn't even heard of him until he was in his 60's...Gives me some hope for my late start with the ole' g-box.