One year on...

As of 2:30 pm today, I have been a resident of Hibbing, MN for one year. The wind chill aside, I like it and think I'll stay.

Lil' Porgy's BBQ, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

1. I worked there and will still eat there.
2. I joined the Lil' Porgy's group on Facebook.
3. I have begged, pleaded, paid and blackmailed people into sending me sauce whenever I lived far away.
4. I have deliberately scheduled time away from family and friends to eat there.
5. I own a store t-shirt.
6. As pictured here, I have been seen cuddling a bottle of sauce as if it were a crying child ("There, there, daddy's spicy little fellow. You know you are delicious.").

And since BBQ is one of the signs of an advanced and civilized society, why do we still eat bolagna?

If you are what you eat, then I am ham.

During the visit to my folk's, I ate plenty of ham. I like ham, but really!

12/23: Arrived in CU, where Dad was slicing the Xmas ham. Miri and I had ham sandwiches for dinner.
12/24: Dad put ham in the breakfast omelets.
12/25: The ham was officially served for dinner.
12/26: Visited my buddy Carl, who served us leftover ham from dinner with his folks.
12/27: Stopped by to see my old friends, David and Sharon, who gave us Virginia ham sandwiches for lunch.
12/28: Somewhere between Rice Lake and Superior, WI, Miri and I consumed the ham sammies that Mom packed for us.

Tonight, I shall eat Chinese buffet, where there is NO HAM!

You know you are in northern Minnesota when...

...it is 25 degrees warmer than it was six hours ago, and it is still below zero!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

For the first time since 2003, I'll be home in Chamapign on Christmas. I'm very excited to see my family, especially since so many of them will be meeting Miriam for the first time. So please wish us luck on the long trip and a Merry Christmas to you all.

Here is the King to sum it all up for me!

My new second most favorite song

You gotta seach my blog to find my favorite...

Two captions

Since I created both of these captions for this really funny photo, I submit both:

"Attempting to get sympathy from the judge, OJ breaks into his rendition of 'The Robot.'"
or
"To remind the judge of his status as a football hero, OJ strikes a pose like the Heisman Trophy."

Either way, it is great to see him in prison garb!

Fleas on the dog

I count the "official" beginning of the Christmas season when I hear the first Christmas-related song on the radio on Thanksgiving Day. Regardless of the fact that the holiday stuff starts to show up at Wal Mart around Halloween.

Anyway, the season started for me at 8:30am on Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving Day). I was in my car, on my way to deliver a special "Black Friday" version of the local free shopper, when the oldies station played "Feliz Navidad" by José Feliciano. Not the best holiday song, but so much better than "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."

So, Merry Christmas. Yeah, that's right, I said it.

Don't shoot me, I'm just the piano player

Miriam channels a young Elton John...

Winter sets in

When I first moved to Minnesota, it was already winter. My body was set for a Kansas winter, so it only registered the cold. Now my aged body is realizing that it now lives in northern Minnesota, where it gets cold earlier, the temperatures are considerably lower and stay longer, AND it is always cloudy. So, like all reasonable mammals, I want to hibernate. I sleep 10 hours a night, am sleepy all day and eat anything that can't or won't fight back.

My tiki room is a cave-like room in the basement with a big, comfy chair. I may get in there and not come out till April.

The up side is that Frippen wants to get his walk over with FAST!

Linus would have voted for Obama

Then why did we vote? Is it really this simple?

Why "time outs" were invented

"Never raise your hand to your children - it leaves your midsection unprotected."
- Robert Orben

I'm Ready!

Ready to eat, even when asleep. That's my girl!
(Thanks to Aubrey for this most excellent shot!)

I remember!

It is going to be a long 4 years...

Where the girls are

I'm bachelor-man this month, as Cole and Miri are visiting her folks in Terrace Bay, Ontario. They run a motel there and needed help for their final month before the winter shut down. I miss them, but Frippen and I are enjoying the quiet (as I'm sure Cole is as well).

The only problem is this: how will I ever get my gravy fix at Thanksgiving?

Dog videos

Why it is good that dogs can't talk:


Why dogs should not go deep sea fishing:

Think, people!

A rant

Ladies and Gentleman, let me just say this: I am sick to death of being told to "grow up" or be referred to as "needs to grow up." And this is not the preamble to some comedy bit, joke or Jimmy Buffett reference. I am genuinely angry.

I am a grown up. I have grown up. If there are things about my personality that are annoying or child-like, it is not because I have not "grown up." It is because I am human and need a few things to support my emotional well-being, not because I have the mentality of a 6 year-old or stunted emotional development.

Are there things that I do or want that seem childish? Yes, on the surface. But if you look a little deeper, or contrast them with all the very "grown up" things I want and do, you will see that they are my very human way of trying to maintain emotional stabilty in the face of some very bad times.

I get up and go to work everyday in order to support myself and my family. I successfully pulled myself and my family up out of dire economic and geographical circumstances. I can drive without mishap, iron out problems at the bank, get my daughter dressed and fed. I survived a horrifying emotional collapse after my first wife left. I can budget and balance a checkbook. I don't leach off of my friends, family or government AND take responsibilty for my actions. I thank people when they help me. I don't begrudge my wife a few nights off or wanting to hang around with her friends instead of me. I know what it means to be a father and husband. I don't need sex to make me feel good or fulfilled. I have accepted the fact that my relationaship with my wife is not the same as it was when we first got married. I have grey hair, wrinkles, high cholesterol and hypertension.

Now, why do I need to "grow up" because I want praise for a job well done or be thanked for something I did that was helpful? Why is it "childish" to miss people who I love when they are not there? Why do I need to "be a grown up" when things make me feel unhappy? I am a grown up, because all these things are natural for all humans, even mature ones. I would need to "grow up" if I didn't look at my life, see what me problems are, then try to change them or accept them.

All my life, I have battled low self esteem. Lately, it has been particularly bad because of the nightmare in which my family and I have lived. I have not curled up in a ball and wept till someone else came along to pick me up. I did it myself. Because I am a grown up.

Maybe you will see this rant as another clue that I "need to grow up." If so, you need to stop being judgemental and find out more about me. Believe it or not, I don't live in my parent's basement.

I will now climb down off my soapbox and return to my life. My grown up, mature life. And that's all I have to say about that...

About damn time!

Send the old biddy to jail!

Having gas

Gasoline prices have done quite a nosedive here. On October 5, it was $3.54 per gallon (down from just over $4 in July). Yesterday, I saw it for $2.82. That's a $.72 drop in just eight days. Pretty cool.

UPDATE!
$2.62 this morning (10/20/08). Dare we dream of travelling again?

YET AGAIN!
Last night (10/22/08), $2.55. That's a $0.99 cent drop in 18 days. Go! Drive!

OH YEAH!
Tonight (10/25/08), $2.41. With only 6 days to go in the month, how much further can it drop?

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
October 26, 2008: $2.37!

DONE, I THINK. (10/30/08)
We've been at $2.32 for the past 3 days here, so the prices may have finally leveled off. So in 25 days, prices dropped $1.22. The cheapest in Minnesota yesterday was in Cloquet, about an hour south of here, at $2.03.

NOPE, NOT DONE YET!
November 1, 2008: $2.19. That is a nearly $2.00 drop from it's most expensive in Mid-July and a $1.35 drop in 27 days ($.05 average drop per day).

THAT'S ALL.
I've been following this for a month now, and we seem to have leveled off at $2.16. I may go somewhere this weekend.

A new favorite

That's right, ketchup flavored potato chips. Pretty weird, huh? I thought so, too. Then I tried them.

My in-laws run a motel in Canada, so there are plenty of bags of snacks around. Late one night, during our first visit, I was feeling peckish and couldn't locate any chips that I recognized. "Ketchup" seemed fairly harmless, so I got a bag, opened it and popped on in my mouth.

"Acckk! Awful! What horrible things! Canadians EAT these? Gross! Take them away!"

So I ate another one.

"Eww! What was I thinking, having another one? Really, these are terrible!"

And another.

"Too tangy! Really, no more."

Yet another.

"Well, they aren't so bad, but I certainly won't develop a taste for them."

Two more, then a third.

"I'll finish this bag, but no more."

I then empty the bag, crumbs and all.

"Can I get these in the States?"

No, but I'm not THAT far from Canada. I never would have thought another chip could have replaced my old favorites, Cool Ranch Doritos. Sorry, guys.

What I really wanted when I joined the SCA...

Live steel combat! "Clang!" not "thunk." How do I find these people?

Back when the choice was clear...

I do so miss voting for that man.

The world's biggest "Breakfast Club" fan

I suppose that if your life is so awful, you may wax nostalgic about high school. But to go back?

Next time, steal some one's life who has a job.

Didn't I say I love being in the paper?

Bucks Buy Books launches yearly appeal
2008 marks fifth edition of library funding drive
by Dan BerganSpecial to the Tribune
Published: Monday, September 15, 2008 6:10 AM CDT
Hibbing Daily Tribune

HIBBING — Imagine being handed a brand new book to read every other day for four straight years.

Or imagine books aligned cover to cover from the goal line to midfield at Cheever Stadium.

Or imagine every K-8 student in Hibbing given a new book at the start of this school year.

Bucks Buy Books has — no imagination needed — literally had that kind of impact on the book acquisition program at the Hibbing Public Library.

Initiated by the library board of trustees in 2004 in response to a drastic cut in Local Government Aid that saw a 50 percent reduction in the acquisition budget, Buck Buy Books has added 1,123 new books, some $28,000 worth, during the four year run of the community appeal.

In cooperation with the Hibbing Public Utilities, the library sends a funding appeal letter with every HPU bill mailed to utility customers at this time of year. Customers may either enclose donations in the attached envelopes and mail them to the library or stop directly at the library to drop off contributions. Either way, the donations have become a crucial part of library book acquisitions, perhaps this year more so even than in the past.

“Our book budget has been seriously threatened again this year,” reported library director Ginny Richmond.“My book budget for next year is $66,000, and I have been asked to cut $50,000 from my overall proposed budget for 2009."

“There are only so many line items that can be trimmed, with most of my requested funding dedicated to staff or maintenance. Book acquisition is the only large area that can be significantly pared.”

Reference librarian and technical services director, Nancy Riesgraf, reinforced how crucial Bucks Buy Books has become to the public library. “We can’t have everything,” she reported, “but we try to have a little bit of everything and Bucks Buy Books helps a great deal.” As the staff member responsible for ordering adult books, Riesgraf tries to balance the library’s 82,000 item collection with everything from best sellers to local authors to medical books and history. “Bucks Buy Books has permitted us to have multiple copies on hand of popular selections,” she explained, “particularly fiction genre–our most popular category.”

Children’s librarian Chuck Bell tries to stay current with popular works by consulting the New York Times list of best sellers and checking with Amazon and Barnes and Noble “to find out what kids are reading” before he does his ordering. Access to Bucks Buy Books monies means that he can stay topical with popular reading material for children. “Books on dinosaurs change as rapidly as does the research on them,” he illustrated as an example. “Kids will catch me if I don’t have up-to-date materials for them to read.”

Richmond concurred, noting that “new is important because information changes so rapidly in the modern world. “Bucks Buy Books allows us to acquire current materials and frees up other dollars for collection development throughout the library.”

Library Board of Trustees chairman Mike Marincel hoped that the 2008 drive matches the success of past years, success that “speaks well of the value that Hibbing residents place in literacy and the importance of a community library.”

HPU customers may mail their contributions in the envelope provided. Or anyone may drop off donations directly at the Hibbing Public Library.

Lest we forget

I was mistaken...yet another Clinton joke

I don't know whether or not you watched the memorial service for Ronald Reagan a couple of years back, but if you did, you probably noticed that Bill and Hilary were both dozing off.

President Reagan, who never missed chance for a good one-liner, raised his head out of his casket and said...

"I see the Clinton's are finally sleeping together."

Truth

Where I met my wife

Today I heard that the Governor of Illinois is closing many state parks and historic sites as a budget saving measure. I won't get into that...

One of them is the Jubilee College Historic Site near Peoria. I will miss it, since so many great memories are attached to the place. It is where I met my wonderful, beautiful wife, at a medieval re-enactment. She was quite the noble lady and I was her knight in armor.

Here is a view of the place. I hope it survives.


View Larger Map

A dark horse...even though he's blond!

As Rachel Lucas would say...

...what an asshole.

Honestly, does the VP selection really matter?

Listen to people who have been there:

Thomas Marshall, Woodrow Wilson's vice president, said the vice president "is like a man in a cataleptic state: he cannot speak; he cannot move; he suffers no pain; and yet he is perfectly conscious of everything that is going on about him."

FDR's first veep "Cactus Jack" Garner described the office of the vice presidency as being "not worth a bucket of warm piss" (not "warm spit" as is generally believed).

When the Whig Party was looking for a vice president on Zachary Taylor's ticket, they approached Daniel Webster, who said of the offer "I do not intend to be buried until I am dead."

Truman wryly remarked that the job of the vice president was to "go to weddings and funerals."

Just pay your fines!

The secret is out! Watch out for those library cops!

Honestly, I can't wait to see the fall out from this one.

My last Bill Clinton joke...maybe

I've always wondered: if Wonder Woman caught Bill Clinton in her Golden Lasso, would it explode?

Three year olds are a different matter...

28

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site

One good thing the Global Warming nut jobs have facilitated

The demise of the SUV. And pick up truck. Sorry to my friends who may own these monsters, but I own a small car and I'm tired of being nearly run down in parking lots as I back out of a space. Seems other drivers can't see me because I'm always between two of those damn things as I back out!

Out of the SCA

This time for good. And that's all I have to say about that...

Elmo Loves You!

I bought my little Mitsubishi Mirage about 11 years ago, new. It had 1.3 miles on it and was bright red (thus the moniker, "Elmo"). As of yesterday, just west of Grand Rapids, MN, it passed 170,000 miles (that's 21.5 times around the Earth). Wow. That was a great investment on my part.

And he's still going (but not so bright red).

Turn the other cheek? Screw you!

More wisdom from Demotivators

The Dreams of Youth...or at least 7 years ago

Once upon a time, when I lived in Illinois, I really wanted a PT Cruiser. A dark blue one. With silver flames painted on the sides. And this was the licence plate I wanted.

Now they stopped making PT Cruisers. And I live in Minnesota. That's what I get for waiting, huh?

Rabbi said the same thing!

You are a Self-Discoverer

You're not religious, but you've created your own kind of spirituality. Introspective and thoughtful, you tend to look inward for the divine. You are distrusting of all forms of organized religion. You especially dislike religious gurus and leaders, who you feel are charlatans.

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

Hoist the Jolly Roger! And whoever else pisses me off!

You are The Cap'n!

Some men and women are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any scalawag who stands between them and unlimited power. You never met a man - or woman - you couldn't eviscerate. You are the definitive Man of Action, the CEO of the Seven Seas, Lee Iacocca in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. You're mission-oriented, and if anyone gets in the way, that's his problem, now isn't? Your buckle was swashed long ago and you have never been so sure of anything as your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off his head if he shows any sign of taking you on or backing down. If one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.




What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

Man in a skirt

I am desperate to make snarky comments about this, but it speaks for itself. Lose some weight!

There would have been a riot if it been a ChiSox home game!

Not very Minnesota nice, you betcha! Twin's fans explode due to all that pent up emotion.

Why he will always be "The King"

Let's get a law like this!

Our buddy Jenn is a secretary at a high school. Each year she compiles a list of ridiculous names that idiot parents have given their children. She would support this law, I'm sure.

Boring!

Summer: quiet.
Life: quiet.
Job: quiet.
Blog: really quiet.

Sorry...

Compliments of JibJab

To those who know me: watch the whole thing. I'm in there!

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

And speaking of my dog...

My dog's name is Frippen. He is a wacky Bedlington Terrier that we adopted in 2002 and the name just seemed to fit (I once knew another wacky gray dog called "Frippen").

When I put his name through the Google search engine ("Google" is not a verb), I discovered that "frippen" is now an on-line substitute for the f-bomb! So, for all these years, we were ahead of the game. And cursing twice whenever we said, "Dammit, Frippen!"

Polls have gone to the dogs

Don't get me wrong, I love my dog, but, seriously? Who thinks of these polls?

You know you are a youth services librarian when...

...you spend an hour searching for two-sided tape powerful enough to hold google eyes to a sock puppet!

More time wasted

127 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Pizza Lust

Drew is the man!

I wonder if I can get some delivered from Micheleo's in Normal?

Compass Points

With our Memorial Day trip to Canada, I now have new compass points. As a lover of roads, road trips, maps and geography, I like to keep track of this stuff.

Northernmost: a spot on the Trans Canada Highway, 10 miles east of Nipigon, Ontario 2008(replaces Virginia, Minnesota)
Southernmost: EPCOT Center, Walt Disney World, Florida 1982 (replaced San Antonio, Texas)
Easternmost: Baltimore-Washington Airport, Baltimore, Maryland, 1980 (replaced Chattanooga, Tennessee)
Westernmost: Denver, Colorado airport 2007 (replaced San Antonio, Texas)

But it doesn't matter...

...because when these people get to prison, they will be killed within a matter of months. Even murderers and rapists have standards when it comes to those who hurt children.

It is the thought that counts!

I love getting little gifts from my story time kids. Today it was a lovely bouquet of unidentified orange flowers that a young man had pulled from out of the cracks in the sidewalk. They are now wilting proudly in an over-sized vase on my desk.

Thanks dude!

Grasping at straws

But only green ones. At this point, it has become comedy...

Cheap books for sale in Cedar Rapids?

Ouch.

Greatest Defenders of the 1st Amendment

1. Thomas Jefferson
2. Gregory Johnson
3. Those that have died defending your right to free speech
4. George Carlin (and a very funny one at that)

And she would be right!

Miri and I were playing the other day and I started tickling her with great enthusiasm. And from the mouths of babes:

"Stop it! Old man!"

Ouch.

Cutest Sock Puppet Ever!

While looking over the Internet to find images for a puppet show flyer, I found this guy. Just made me smile!

See? SEE?

I said it four months ago. Go me!

Brrr....

I took this picture today at about 3:30pm, when it was 55 degrees, cloudy and the wind was blowing to beat the band. Rudi has a valid question...

In the Billiard Room with the Revolver!

The Cult of Customer Service

Once upon a time, I was written up by a spineless boss. Seems that, rather than stick up for me, the employee who had followed policy and denied a patron a request that saved the city money, she couldn't take the abuse this patron dished out and punished me. She called it "poor customer service."

For anyone else in this situation, enjoy this article. Then let's find the author and kiss him on the mouth!

Whatever happened to...the Elite Diner?

So many good times with Aaron, rommie Jen and Cole. And so many calories...

Storied diner putting down new roots
Former home of 14th KFC franchise awaits a new beginning in Princetown

Schenectady Daily Gazette
By Justin Mason
Sunday, December 9, 2007

PRINCETOWN — Tom Ketchum is struck by a bit of nostalgia every time he sets foot in the former Elite Diner.

The vinyl stools, stainless steel interior and sleek art deco design all hark back to a time when the cozy eateries dotted streetscapes across the United States. Most of them have disappeared into the pages of history along with the revving hot rods and soda shops that symbolized the times.

“It brings back memories, don’t it?” said Ketchum as he gazed around the empty diner. “We grew up in these old stainless steel diners.”

Today, the Elite Diner rests on wooden blocks alongside Ketchum’s body shop off Route 20. Plywood covers segments of the 38-foot-long and 17-foot-wide structure, which sits more than 890 miles away from the spot in Illinois where it left its mark on history more than five decades ago.

The structure was one of the last of its kind to roll out of the Mountain View Diner Co. factory in New Jersey during the mid-1950s, and it housed the first Illinois franchise selling Col. Harland Sanders’ famous recipe for fried chicken. It was revered as a local icon as it shifted from one street corner to the next in Champaign County, and it was bitterly mourned by patrons when it was closed to make way for a multi-million dollar courthouse facility, according to stories in the News-Gazette in Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Now, Ketchum and his wife Sally are planning to restore the diner, which has remained in a warehouse in Michigan for nearly five years. By next spring, he hopes the shiny structure will again serve as a beacon for hungry travelers searching for a cup of joe in the morning or a burger for lunch.

“We need it in this area,” he said. “There are no diners here at all.”

Cheap eats, odd hours

The American diner originated in Rhode Island during the late 19th century, when a young entrepreneur began selling food from a horse-drawn wagon he parked outside the Providence Journal at night, explained David Zilka, a curator at the American Diner Museum in Providence.

Within several years, similar wagons began to crop up across the northeast, offering graveyard-shift workers and club room crawlers their only opportunity to purchase an inexpensive meal late at night.

“It was a really working-class type of environment,” he said.

By the turn of the century, the number of these wagons in operation had grown so immense that many municipalities began passing ordinances limiting their hours of operation. Some operators attempted to side-step these laws by locating their wagons on quasi-stationary locations.

At first, many of these operations were converted from old rail cars and trolleys, and cleanliness generally took a back seat to making a buck, according to Zilka. But as the concept grew in popularity, the industry began cleaning up its image in an attempt to shed an unsavory reputation.

Companies such as Mountain View began creating sleek diner cars in the 1940s, with stainless steel exteriors, large windows and Formica counter tops, among other modern amenities not characteristic of their older, more rough-and-tumble counterparts. At the height of the nation’s diner craze after World War II, there were a dozen companies in the United States producing models of the prefabricated restaurants.

Kentucky fried roots

The model later known as the Elite Diner was built in Signac, N.J., and was the 499th restaurant to be produced by Mountain View, just one year before the business folded in 1957. Bill and Nixie Dye purchased the restaurant for $56,000 and had it shipped in three pieces by rail to Champaign, Ill., just a short distance away from the largest public university in the state, recalled the former owner.

The couple sank every dollar they had — and many they didn’t — into financing the restaurant. For a while, Dye said, their finances were somewhat tenuous as they tried to pay back a loan through Mountain View that was annually accruing more than 18 percent interest.

“It was a tough nut to crack,” he recalled recently.

But the Dyes found their niche. During a chance outing through Indiana in 1956, they had stopped at a restaurant called the Chuck Wagon, where Dye said they were served the best fried chicken they had ever tasted.

When Dye inquired about the recipe, he was put in contact with a somewhat eccentric businessman from Kentucky, who was traveling the countryside selling fried chicken franchises. Just three days before the Dyes were to open their diner — also named the Chuck Wagon — Col. Sanders pulled up in a beat-up Cadillac with a trunk held down with baling wire.

Dye said the colonel plucked a chicken frying pot and a bag of tools from his trunk and went to work in the diner car, wearing his trademark white suit. Within several hours, Dye found himself the proud proprietor of the state’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, only the 14th in the entire nation.

For two decades, Dye and his wife fried chicken at the diner, which remained open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And with the Colonel’s recipe in hand, it didn’t take them long to get back in the black.

“Boy, she went like gangbusters,” recollected the 87-year-old former restaurateur. “We were out of debt in a little over a year.”

March of progress

In fact, the franchise was so successful the Dyes opened up three others in the county and sold the Chuck Wagon. The stainless steel diner was uprooted from its street corner and moved 22 miles south to the small city of Villa Grove, where it was operated as a doughtnut shop for six years.

The diner was uprooted again in 1983 and moved to Urbana, a city neighboring its former home in Champaign. There, it was known as the Elite Diner — pronounced EE-lite by locals — and became a popular lunch destination for workers at the nearby county offices.

Six years after it opened, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch listed the Elite Diner’s chocolate milkshake as “one of the top 10 things to experience before leaving” the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. In classic diner fashion, the Elite served up a specialty called “the Scrambler,” a garbage plate consisting of biscuits, sausage gravy, potatoes, cheese and eggs.

But in 1998, county voters approved a $27 million project to construct a 90,000-square-foot courthouse facility on land leased by the Elite’s proprietor. Although patrons balked at the idea of closing the popular eatery, owner Eric Faulkner eventually relented and closed the diner for good in 2002, according to published reports published in the News Gazette, a daily newspaper serving Champaign and Urbana.

Just two months after the Elite closed, fans were offered a slight reprieve when the historic diner was moved to the small village of Homer, about 20 miles southwest of Urbana. Dave Lucas, the village mayor at the time, purchased the diner with the intent to lease or sell it as a private business venture.

However, Lucas was unable to secure the roughly $36,000 he needed to break even on the deal, and the diner was again placed on the market.

After it spent about a year on the market, Alex Altier purchased the wayward diner and moved it 361 miles away to Canton, Mich.

Altier, a lifelong restaurateur, originally planned to open it about 12 miles away from the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. Instead, the diner remained stowed for four years in a warehouse near Detroit.

Difficult journey

Even as recently as July, Champaign County residents have griped about the Elite Diner’s disappearance from the city. In a letter to the News-Gazette, native Robert Dunn chided the city council for allowing businesses to disappear.

“I remember when Urbana had businesses in places like Lincoln Square and Sunnycrest Mall,” he wrote in a letter to the editor. “I remember the Elite Diner. They are all gone.”

Meanwhile, in New York, Ketchum had embarked on a leisurely search for the perfect diner to bring into Princetown. He first considered purchasing Schenectady’s famed Silver Diner but decided it would be too much work after touring the converted trolley car.

“I looked at it, and it seemed like too much restoration,” he said. “And it wasn’t what I wanted. It was a trolley car, and I wanted one of the old stainless steel diners.”

Then, a mutual friend introduced Ketchum to Altier, and in mid-September, he bought the historic diner for $30,000.

But moving a 36-ton diner more than 630 miles across four states is no easy feat, as Ketchum soon learned.

When the diner was just three miles south of the border with Pennsylvania, it was flagged by New York State Department of Transportation officials at a weigh-in station and turned away for several minor violations, including being four inches too wide for its permit as a super load. For more than four weeks, the diner remained parked at a nearby motel as Ketchum wrangled with New York state officials to get it across the border.

“There were a lot of people excited about it,” said Steve Hendrickson, one of the contractors helping Ketchum move the diner. “They thought it was going to hit the ground there.”

The Elite Diner gained its first fan in New York when it crossed onto Interstate 88 near Binghamton. Waiting there was Michael Engle, the operator of the Web site nydiners.com, who filmed the last miles of the Elite’s journey to Princetown and then uploaded the footage on YouTube.

“It’s like tornado chasing, but only safer,” Engle posted in a subtile on the video.

Late last month, the Elite Diner was finally unloaded at what Ketchum hopes will be its final resting place. Already, he said the mysterious-looking structure resting on blocks near Route 20 has drawn a fair amount of interest and anticipation.

“Before, they used to junk them all — they were too old,” he said of the old diners. “Now, they’re coming back.”

According to the NY Diners website, it is still not open for business. Bummer.

But...are they gay?

The tie that binds

I don't mind wearing ties, but if I don't have to, great! As an employee of the City of Wichita, I had to wear a tie, even though a youth services librarian in a tie is a bad idea. Kids see men who wear ties as scary authority figures. When I interviewed in Hibbing, I asked about the dress code (ties and aloha shirts). The City Manager was on my interview committee and he said, "I think I'm the only one around here that wears a tie."

So for those of you still forced to wear the collar of respectability, take note.

Another reason to love the British

From the web. Check out the coroner's comment:

Mohamed Al Fayed claimed the British royal family including the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles, the UK and French security services, the CIA, Tony Blair, police chiefs, senior politicians, judges, Paul Burrell, newspaper editors and Diana's sister were responsible for murdering his son Dodi Fayed and Diana Princess of Wales.

Giving evidence on oath in the High Court, Al Fayed claimed that these individuals conspired in the murders in 1997 to prevent Diana marrying a Muslim.

The coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, told him: "There seems to be an awful lot of people involved in this conspiracy."

Al Fayed said Charles and the Duke of Edinburgh could not accept that "my son as a person who is different religion, naturally tanned, curly hair" could be the stepfather of Prince William, a future king. He called the royals the "Dracula family", and the Duke of Edinburgh "Frankenstein".

I wonder what Dodi's daddy thinks about global warming?

What an expensive degree from the top library school gets you...

But it is still a great job, especially here in northern Minnesota, where today it is a balmy 51 degrees!

I Laughed! I Cried! I Peed My Pants!

An awesome combination of teen flicks, classic cinema, modern editing, with Sam Jackson thrown in the mix. Gotta love it!

Light blogging for a while...

Though summer may be quiet for nearly everyone else, it is the busiest time of the year for a youth services librarian. Summer Reading Program starts next week and will run till August 1 here in Hibbing. Kids come in practically non-stop for those 2 months, checking out books, reading books and returning books to get their prizes. I'll be running the program as it has been since the beginning of time, but I plan to make major changes next summer.

Programs look great: Author Debra Frasier (who did the artwork for this year's theme, shown here) will visit, Underwater Adventures is bringing some sharks, Sparky the Clown will entertain as well as singer Casey Aro, and Creepy Crawlies is bringing, well, creepy crawlies. Plus story times, a puppet show, cooking classes and a chocolate festival. And it all starts off next week with a tie dye party.

Busy, busy. So wish me luck and I'll post when I can.

Great White North

We are back from our trip up to Canada to visit Cole's folks in Terrace Bay, Ontario. That's some beautiful country up there along Lake Superior's north shore.

But I did learn a few differences in seeing the world. In Canada:
1. Milk comes in plastic bags.
2. The dollar coin has a loon on the reverse, so its called a "Looney."
3. You can get ketchup flavored potato chips.
4. They don't say "We kept driving." They say, "We pushed on."
5. The speed limit is only 62 mph (which makes "pushing on" go longer).
6. It doesn't get really dark till 10pm.

I'm glad to be home, eh?

I'll behave. Really.

I really, really, REALLY want to post a snarky comment about Teddy dying and finding Mary Jo Kopechne waiting for him at the pearly gates, having been given the honor of personally sending him to Hell.

But I won't. Out of respect for everything Teddy has done.

Really.

Yeah, but does he want it?

If there is anyone in presidential politics right now with the big capital "L" on his forehead, it is John Edwards. Ignore it, dude!

When professional ethics take on personal opinions...

...ethics must win. Period. So I ordered this highly recommended picture book;

Winston of Churchill by JD Okimoto
"The ice is melting. We are losing our home." Near the town of Churchill in Manitoba, Canada, Winston, a great white polar bear, calls a meeting about global warming. The other bears listen as he tells them why "it's getting hotter" and they all join in a demonstration, carrying signs that read "Solar Power," "Recycle" and more. Churchill even gives up his cigar. Of course, the picture book audience won't get the Churchill references ("We will fight them on the beaches...") but adults can talk about the heroic leader and connect the World War II battles with the threat to our home. Trammell's wry illustrations make the huge, bespectacled leader seem both bear and human as he galvanizes his followers (and listeners), encouraging them to burn less gas, make less garbage, and plant more trees. Playful and informative, this has an urgent message that strikes home.

Even though I believe human-driven global warming is an amazing load of polar bear crap. Now give me a medal!

Lost it?

With all of the politcal, military and enviornmental disasters in China, it may be time for the people to rebel. It is an historic truth that the Chinese are obligated to overthrow their rulers when those rulers have lost the Mandate of Heaven. Looks that way, huh?

More TV smash!

As promised, here are more pictures from the TV smash event. The first features essay contest winner Summer Campbell, strapped into a safety harness and ready to go up in the bucket. The TV also stands ready, filled with treats and toys. Next comes a shot of the target painted on the street (that's me in the Aloha shirt. Ya think?). The third picture shows Summer starting her climb, compliments of John from the public works department. Photo number four shows just how high up Summer got John to take the bucket: 65 feet! Lastly, the TV hits the target dead on! Check out the balls bouncing and the kids taking off!

It was a great time and many people have already asked if it will happen again next year. You betcha!

(Photos taken by my boss Ginny Richmond, who let me do this silly thing)

A fine old American political tradition

It is easier than we think to settle the Democratic race between the junior Senator from Illinois and the Shrew. Just set up a duel. If it was good enough for one of the Founding Fathers, then it should be good enough for them!

There are even rules. Dig this:

Code Duello: The Rules of Dueling

Reprinted from "American Duels and Hostile Encounters," Chilton Books, 1963. The Code Duello, covering the practice of dueling and points of honor, was drawn up and settled at Clonmel Summer Assizes, 1777, by gentlemen-delegates of Tipperary, Galway, Sligo, Mayo and Roscommon, and prescribed for general adoption throughout Ireland. The Code was generally also followed in England and on the Continent with some slight variations. In America, the principal rules were followed, although occasionally there were some glaring deviations.

Rule 1. The first offense requires the first apology, though the retort may have been more offensive than the insult. Example: A tells B he is impertinent, etc. B retorts that he lies; yet A must make the first apology because he gave the first offense, and then (after one fire) B may explain away the retort by a subsequent apology.
Rule 2. But if the parties would rather fight on, then after two shots each (but in no case before), B may explain first, and A apologize afterward.
N.B. The above rules apply to all cases of offenses in retort not of stronger class than the example.
Rule 3. If a doubt exist who gave the first offense, the decision rests with the seconds; if they won't decide, or can't agree, the matter must proceed to two shots, or to a hit, if the challenger require it.
Rule 4. When the lie direct is the first offense, the aggressor must either beg pardon in express terms; exchange two shots previous to apology; or three shots followed up by explanation; or fire on till a severe hit be received by one party or the other.
Rule 5. As a blow is strictly prohibited under any circumstances among gentlemen, no verbal apology can be received for such an insult. The alternatives, therefore -- the offender handing a cane to the injured party, to be used on his own back, at the same time begging pardon; firing on until one or both are disabled; or exchanging three shots, and then asking pardon without proffer of the cane. If swords are used, the parties engage until one is well blooded, disabled, or disarmed; or until, after receiving a wound, and blood being drawn, the aggressor begs pardon.
N.B. A disarm is considered the same as a disable. The disarmer may (strictly) break his adversary's sword; but if it be the challenger who is disarmed, it is considered as ungenerous to do so.
In the case the challenged be disarmed and refuses to ask pardon or atone, he must not be killed, as formerly; but the challenger may lay his own sword on the aggressor's shoulder, then break the aggressor's sword and say, "I spare your life!" The challenged can never revive the quarrel -- the challenger may.
Rule 6. If A gives B the lie, and B retorts by a blow (being the two greatest offenses), no reconciliation can take place till after two discharges each, or a severe hit; after which B may beg A's pardon humbly for the blow and then A may explain simply for the lie; because a blow is never allowable, and the offense of the lie, therefore, merges in it. (See preceding rules.)
N.B. Challenges for undivulged causes may be reconciled on the ground, after one shot. An explanation or the slightest hit should be sufficient in such cases, because no personal offense transpired.
Rule 7. But no apology can be received, in any case, after the parties have actually taken ground, without exchange of fires.
Rule 8. In the above case, no challenger is obliged to divulge his cause of challenge (if private) unless required by the challenged so to do before their meeting.
Rule 9. All imputations of cheating at play, races, etc., to be considered equivalent to a blow; but may be reconciled after one shot, on admitting their falsehood and begging pardon publicly.
Rule 10. Any insult to a lady under a gentleman's care or protection to be considered as, by one degree, a greater offense than if given to the gentleman personally, and to be regulated accordingly.
Rule 11. Offenses originating or accruing from the support of ladies' reputations, to be considered as less unjustifiable than any others of the same class, and as admitting of slighter apologies by the aggressor: this to be determined by the circumstances of the case, but always favorable to the lady.
Rule 12. In simple, unpremeditated recontres with the smallsword, or couteau de chasse, the rule is -- first draw, first sheath, unless blood is drawn; then both sheath, and proceed to investigation.
Rule 13. No dumb shooting or firing in the air is admissible in any case. The challenger ought not to have challenged without receiving offense; and the challenged ought, if he gave offense, to have made an apology before he came on the ground; therefore, children's play must be dishonorable on one side or the other, and is accordingly prohibited.
Rule 14. Seconds to be of equal rank in society with the principals they attend, inasmuch as a second may either choose or chance to become a principal, and equality is indispensible.
Rule 15. Challenges are never to be delivered at night, unless the party to be challenged intend leaving the place of offense before morning; for it is desirable to avoid all hot-headed proceedings.
Rule 16. The challenged has the right to choose his own weapon, unless the challenger gives his honor he is no swordsman; after which, however, he can decline any second species of weapon proposed by the challenged.
Rule 17. The challenged chooses his ground; the challenger chooses his distance; the seconds fix the time and terms of firing.
Rule 18. The seconds load in presence of each other, unless they give their mutual honors they have charged smooth and single, which should be held sufficient.
Rule 19. Firing may be regulated -- first by signal; secondly, by word of command; or thirdly, at pleasure -- as may be agreeable to the parties. In the latter case, the parties may fire at their reasonable leisure, but second presents and rests are strictly prohibited.
Rule 20. In all cases a miss-fire is equivalent to a shot, and a snap or non-cock is to be considered as a miss-fire.
Rule 21. Seconds are bound to attempt a reconciliation before the meeting takes place, or after sufficient firing or hits, as specified.
Rule 22. Any wound sufficient to agitate the nerves and necessarily make the hand shake, must end the business for that day.
Rule 23. If the cause of the meeting be of such a nature that no apology or explanation can or will be received, the challenged takes his ground, and calls on the challenger to proceed as he chooses; in such cases, firing at pleasure is the usual practice, but may be varied by agreement.
Rule 24. In slight cases, the second hands his principal but one pistol; but in gross cases, two, holding another case ready charged in reserve.
Rule 25. Where seconds disagree, and resolve to exchange shots themselves, it must be at the same time and at right angles with their principals, thus:If with swords, side by side, with five paces interval.
N.B. All matters and doubts not herein mentioned will be explained and cleared up by application to the committee, who meet alternately at Clonmel and Galway, at the quarter sessions, for that purpose.
Crow Ryan, president, James Keough and Amby Bodkin, secretaries.

ADDITIONAL GALWAY ARTICLES
Rule 1. No party can be allowed to bend his knee or cover his side with his left hand, but may present at any level from the hip to the eye.
Rule 2. None can either advance or retreat, if the ground be measured. If no ground be measured, either party may advance at his pleasure, even to touch muzzle; but neither can advance on his adversary after the fire, unless the adversary steps forward on him.
N.B. The seconds on both sides stand responsible for this last rule being strictly observed; bad cases having accrued from neglecting of it.

The Irish Code Duello was followed to the letter by most gentlemen duelists of the Emerald Isle, but was often altered to suit the notions of contestants in England, Europe, and America. For example: although the Clonmel rules specify that the challenger is to choose the distance, it was the challenged, Bainbridge, who was given the privilege. It will be recalled that it was Stephen Decatur who insisted on the murderous distance of four paces when he acted as the second for Bainbridge in his duel with James Cochran at Malta.

I guess the hard part would be to get the duelists from Florida and Michigan to follow the rules so their duels would count!

And how to deal with that bad patron

Once again, I am a bad person

22,000 inocent people are killed in Myanmar, but does my heart go out to them? No. All I care about is the fact that the typhoon wiped out huge areas of rice production. Now, food prices will go up yet again. Honestly, I am starting to worry about the future; things like this tend to start revolutions. And, with one notable exception, revolutions kill more people than they help. First, a revolution kills the "oppressors," then those opposed to it. Then it turns on itself, and the real killing begins. Oh, and the bystanders. It kills them, too.

Worst. Patron. Ever.

And you thought you had bad patrons at your library...

Parasites from Mexico

So it isn't just the illegals who are parasites.

Lest we forget...

What being a librarian is REALLY about...fun!

One Smashing Event

TV Turn Off Week celebrated

by Kelly GrinsteinnerAssistant Editor
Published: Thursday, April 24, 2008 6:10 AM CDT

HIBBING — It’s obvious that Summer Campbell isn’t afraid of heights.

On Wednesday afternoon, the sixth grade student at Lincoln Elementary School was lifted more than 65 feet into the air by truck bucket. Below her, a large bull’s-eye was painted on the avenue.

Traffic along 21st Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenue had been rerouted to accommodate the TV stunt. With all her might, and a little assistance from Public Works employee Jon Blazina, Campbell hurled the TV set to the ground.

The TV set — as predicted — broke into several pieces.

Similar to a pinata, the “guts” of the TV had been taken out and replaced with treats and small toys. All those present made a mad dash for the goodies once the TV set hit the pavement

“That was awesome,” said Campbell, once her feet were back on the ground.

The first-of-its-kind event was organized by the Hibbing Public Library, which is celebrating national TV Turn Off Week, April 21-27.

The stunt was thought up by Children’s Librarian Chuck Bell. The aim was to give kids and families the opportunity to get out and away from the TV.

“TV is predictable,” he said when asked the message of the event. “While you never know what can happen at the library.”

Campbell was chosen as the TV tosser through an essay contest. All kids in grades three through six were eligible. To enter, kids had to write a one-page essay on “Why Books are Better than TV.”

“I really like books,” said Campbell when asked why she entered. “Books, to me, are like an adventure. I also like to write.”

She said the essay was easy to pen, adding that she also likes to compose songs and write poems.

Campbell’s entry was chosen by a committee of librarians from a few entries. Bell said they would have liked to receive more, “but the ones we got were stellar and hard to choose between.”

He went on to comment on Campbell’s essay.“She did her research,” said Bell. “ Each point she made was backed up by a book or genre reference. I was impressed.”

The TV-avoiding festivities continued inside the library. There, several local groups and organizations manned booths to promote their activities.

That was in addition to family-oriented programs and entertainment including a puppet show, a medieval combat demonstration and karaoke.

Bell explained that he was first exposed to the TV Turn Off concept while serving as a librarian in Wichita, Kan. He had wanted to introduce it here, hoping simply to draw attention to it.

“I saw the need for something unusual, something that would really get people talking,” he said. “I wanted buzz about the event. While brainstorming, I remembered a radio station that allowed people to throw watermelons off their broadcast tower and I thought, ‘why not TVs?’”

TV Turn Off Week was started in 1994 by the Center for Screen Time Awareness, as a way to promote activities that involved anything but the television.

The Center, according to its Web site, provides information so people can live healthier lives in functional families and vibrant communities by taking control of — rather than being controlled by — the electronic media in their lives.

Bell said he’d deem the event a success if, three months later, people are still talking about it and wondering what will happen next year. He also confirmed Wednesday that plans are being made for more TV smashing in 2009.

“Absolutely, and promotion will start earlier,” he said. “I want to have a greater ‘block party’ atmosphere, with concessions and entertainment.”

From the Hibbing Daily Tribune, April 24, 2008. More pics to come!

Another useless test!

The fact that I took this one proves several things:
1. I have way too much time on my hands.
2. I miss my old video game consoles.
3. I miss the old video arcades.
4. I love taking these useless tests.
5. Too much pop culture can make you stupid.
6. I'm old enough to remember these characters!

I am Mario. I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble. What Video Game Character Are You?

That's what its all aboot!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
The West
Boston
The South
The Northeast
The Inland North
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Thanks, Charlie Brown!

Well, we certainly felt needed yesterday, when the line was out the door for tax forms!

Yeah, baby! Yeah!

Now THIS is what I call air superiority! Cue "Imperial March..."

How to win an election

OK, compared to John McCain, Hill and Barry are rank amateurs. If he can pull this off, McCain is poised to show he can promote the economy before he is even elected. The gas prices hit everybody and McCain, if successful, will prove that he is willing to take in less money for the government AND give us a break (small, yes, but a break nonetheless).

Politic. Presidential. Conservative.

Flood!

Okay, there is 34 inches of snow on the ground. Add to that temperatures in the 50's with sun for the next week. Canoe, anyone?

Then again...

If Minnesota were a girl, she'd be called a "tease." At this moment, there is 12 inches of snow on the ground and it supposed to snow for another 20 hours. It will begin to warm up again in the next few days, so will begin what my buddy Deane calls "The Season of Mud."

UPDATE, 4/11/2008: Another winter blast today, 10 more inches with blowing and drifting snow. I was supposed to go to a conference today, but there is no getting out of Hibbing. Maybe tommorrow.

Total snowfall since April 6: 36 inches.

I'm starting to think I live in Narnia, where it is "always winter but never Christmas."

Fiddy

Yep, 50 degrees and sunny here in northern Minnesota. If you ignore the big piles of snow (resulting from all the plowing and shoveling), it seems like spring has arrived.

'Cause the Brits don't understand art

A Picaso adorning a common bedroom in Britain should not be all that surprising. Rowan Atkinson made a joke of it in the film "Bean" by having the main character keeping "Whistler's Mother" on the wall of his flat.

Grimmy loves Spongebob!

I've been a big fan of "Mother Goose and Grimm" since the '80's; I've even got a Grimmy plush. But now I like him even more! Check out the show he's watching!

Back in the SCA

In 1996, I walked away from the Society for Creative Anachronism, vowing "Never again!" Well, never say "never."

After leaving, I spent many more years in medieval re-enacting. I performed with the Order of St. Sebastian, did foam fighting with my buddies Jeff and Allen, and served as Lord Chamberlain to the Royal Court at the Great Plains Renaissance Fair. I had been a fighter in the SCA and whenever I went to an event where there were fighters, I would stop, watch and have a mighty internal struggle over getting back out there. Just before I moved, I went to a fighter practice in Wichita and put on loaner armor. After several minutes of being humiliated and reminded of how out of shape I was, I had two marshals and a knight tell me that, if I wanted to, I could authorize easily. And after nearly 13 years!

Cole and I moved up here to northern Minnesota and looked around for fun in garb. The only game in town was the SCA, so we met the folks and joined up. I am now the group marshal and should have a complete set of armor within two weeks. Our friend Sven is now here as well and he is an authorized fighter and armor maker.

Let the beatings begin! The Kingdom of Northshield is not as restrictive in it's crown list rules as the Middle Kingdom, so my hope is to enter Crown Tournament next year. I do not believe for one moment that I could win. It is for the honor of fighting for my lady. I hope I can make her proud.

Or it could mean there is no such thing!

Once again, greenies ignore real evidence. Can you imagine how unpleasant these people will be in their retirement?

Men have always known this!

Cold pizza and warm beer, the breakfast of champions!

A sincere apology

Politicians are into this, so why not?

Once upon a time, I wrote smack about a co-worker who owned a monochromatic aloha shirt. I felt such a thing was an abomination before God and man. Well, now I own one. What a hypocrite!

Sorry, Sheldon. I'm a bad man...

Ahead of my time, if just by a few days.

Wow. I said it first. But thanks for the affirmation.

Monkey of Doom

Hey, anthropologists! What species of primate is this?

Spring is in the air!

Wow, my first spring in northern Minnesota! After 4.5 months of really, really, REALLY cold weather, we are enjoying a day with both sunshine and air temperatures above freezing. MMmmm...slushy...

Well, I can believe it.

"I don't know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who is first place."
The Junior Senator from Illinois, about his opponent

She can because her arrogance is unmatched, which deludes her into thinking that she is in the lead. To her you are Al Gore, an annoying little parasite that should be moved down the hall before you REALLY get in her way.

I'm just saying...

To boldly catalog...

Spock knows how hard we librarians work!

Freedom of Speech? Not if you don't agree with me.

I am so angry about this. Never mind the topic. What this woman is saying is, essentially, "If you don't toe the line and agree with what I am saying, then you don't get a voice." Quoted from the article:

"Meteorologists are among the few people trained in the sciences who are permitted regular access to our living rooms. And in that sense, they owe it to their audience to distinguish between solid, peer-reviewed science and junk political controversy. If a meteorologist can't speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn't give them a Seal of Approval. Clearly, the AMS doesn't agree that global warming can be blamed on cyclical weather patterns. It's like allowing a meteorologist to go on-air and say that hurricanes rotate clockwise and tsunamis are caused by the weather. It's not a political statement...it's just an incorrect statement."

How dare you, Dr. Cullen. If you were to have your certification or degree pulled because you spoke against "conventional wisdom," you would be screaming your head off about the loss of your constitutional rights.

Seat Florida and Michigan delgates? No.

Primaries are not about democracy or the "will of the people." They are about membership in political parties. Political parties are, believe it or not, private organizations that can make their own rules. So, as a society of rule and law, it is important in the United States that the rules are followed and that rule breakers are punished. Democrats in Florida and Michigan broke party rules by holding primaries early. Their delegates should not be seated nor should they be allowed a "do over." Their votes were not political enfranchisement, but party procedure.

So, Hillary, shut up and prove to the world that a Clinton is able to follow the rules.

A fond "Farewell" to the King of the Geeks

Gary Gygax has died. A sad day for us who became true geeks playing his game. I was there near the beginning, when "elf" was a player class and the only alignments were good, evil, and neutral. Monty Haul, White Plume Mountain, Tensor, "throw the thief in," all rangers wore green cloaks. What kind of monster is that on the cover of 1st edition Monster Manual? "You know, Lake Geneva is only 3 hours away!" Greyhawk, my kind of town.

Thanks, Gary. It was fun.

From the state that brought you Howard Dean...

...comes an amazing tale of wasted time and money, voter ignorance, poor planning, bad publicity, and whining.

OK, I'm in.

On the eve of "Little Super Tuesday," these are the facts as I see them:
1. Obama is a socialist. Bad.
2. Huckabee is in bed with the Evangelicals. More bad.
3. Clinton is Clinton and would bring that man with her. Most bad.
4. Bloomberg will not run. A pity.

Senator McCain has my respect, even though he scares me at times. So, now he will get my vote.

A quote for this election

"By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out."
-Richard Dawkins

If you research Richard Dawkins, he is pretty much pro-science and anti-religion. However, it is still a good point, regardless of how you view the universe.

I ate this.

It didn't make me vomit, but it wasn't good. My dear wife got it for me, as she knows my fondness for The King. There are two packages: one like this with the young Tupelo Elvis and the other sporting the older Vegas Elvis. The wrapper will be framed and put up in my Tiki room.

Dream the impossible dream

Now, why can't MY tiki room look like this? Thanks to Don Tiki!

St. George brings the smack down!

Not a nerd, but still a geek!

My second most favorite blog.

Second because, well, who can follow Anwyn?

The Ghost next door

Well, actually it is across the street at the high school. Oooo...spooky...

Not so unique after all.

Poor Miri! We thought she had a rare name and wouldn't have to deal with being confused with anyone else. When she was born in 2004 the name "Miriam" was #274 (according to the Social Security administration) so we figured she had about a .3% chance of having another little girl named "Miriam" in her class when she went to school. It looked good for a while, since we never encountered one in Wichita, a city of .5 million people. Then we moved to Hibbing.

In a town of 17,000, we have met 2 other little girls named Miriam. All three are within one year in age and live in the same school area. So the chances are now VERY good that she will have at least one if not two other little girls sharing her name in the same classroom!

OK all you females named "Jennifer," start laughing!