How does Intelligent design prove Global Warming? It goes like this.

I bought a POS MTD Yardmaster Riding Mower, it was built by pre-teens in some Asia minor country for sure, but designed by humans none the less and designed by humans equals Intelligent Design™.

I live in the Midwest of the United States of America where grass was intelligently designed not grow in late summer but to turn brown and die, thus leading intelligent people to not so intelligently developing chemicals to make the intelligently designed grass even more intelligent, and to soak the grass with water at a time of year when water is most precious therefore heaping some not so intelligent behavior into the mix in an effort to fix perceived flaws in the master designers design which of course leads to mowing the grass weekly when you’re not supposed to by design which in turns adds to pollution and wastes gas and….

Therefore my Intelligently Designed lawnmower choking on 8″ grass blades in Early September just five days after mowing some 6″ blades proves global warming. How?
Well I’ve been mowing midwestern lawns for about 35 years. I’ve (A) never seen green grass in July to August and (B) have never mowed a lawn twice in one week during August to September. Not even as a kid trying to scam old lady Higgins out of some extra cash. Grass simply doesn’t grow in the Midwest during late summer, it dies. The intelligent designers made it so. Therefore the only intelligent conclusion one can reach is something has changed…

I was indoctrinated into thee land of non crappy mass consumption beer during my college days at a certain Midwest university. Around 1986 or so we were one of only two towns in the nation stocking Samuel Smiths on the shelf and with Sunday morning Beer, Wine and egg Merchant du Vin meetings.

Well we developed standards. Basic standards like if beer is in a can pass it to the guy with the Miller Lite cap and Marlboro jacket so he can savor the soapy water flavor before crushing it on his forehead. And if the beer has a twist off top on a bottle hand it to the guy howling Hank Jr. lyrics by the campfire as he’ll enjoy the fine artificial fire brewed flavor before smashing the bottle for emphasis as he lets out a rebel yell.

Well recent exposure seems to show that the beer rivers they are a changing. Crazy kids today are canning damn good beer. Good beer. In a can! and they’re bottling it with twist offs as well. The nerve! How the heck is an elitist supposed to look down their nose when the lines in the sand have been filled with fine hops and barley. Damn kids, they’re on about making good beer for the masses. Well I guess I tip my tin can in their general direction….

Beer in a can, 16 ounces! - CynicAle and Bender are very very tasty.
http://www.surlybrewing.com/cans.php

Dales Pale Ale, in a can….. beat the living crap outta the IPA I had from a fancy Boulder Brew pub (Walnut Street Brewery).
http://www.oskarblues.com/

Several very good beers, with a twist top! (ack!)
http://www.summitbrewing.com/

Our three teenage boys Jacob, Adam and Ezra (no it was not a religious mission) passed through O’Hare International airport security at 2:20am on their way to three weeks in Guatemala.

Two weeks to the day later we found ourselves passing through O’hare security at the exact same time. All ten of us bound for Guatemala. Our flight attendant informed us we had been placed on standby. We apparently should have arrived at 11:00pm, 4.5hrs before our flight. It’s a busy night at Taca Airlines. 3:10am and we are handed all but one boarding pass. My brother inquires if it possible to obtain one more… for he too would like to make the flight! He gets one and the trip begins.

Guatemala Photos: Antigua, San Miguel Duenas,
Lake Atitlan, Pacaya Volcanao, Tikal and more

http://www.gfisk.com/gallery/Family/Guatemala/

http://www.gfisk.com/gallery/Family/Guatemala07II/

In one of my past careers I used to fly in helicopters fairly often to do architectural photography. I was an assistant to an excellent boss who had learned his trade in the military shooting images for maps in Alaska. We flew out of Midway airport in Chicago and had many interesting trips.

Once when shooting a roofing job on the John Hancock building in Chicago my boss requested the pilot get closer to the building as we circled. The pilot politely declined due to the winds that large buildings can create. Apparently you can literally get sucked into the building or blown out of control as you come around the buildings edge and there’s a sudden shift in wind (so we take out a few Mag Mile shoppers… whats the big deal!?). My boss expressed to me that the pilot was a wuss as we could have gotten closer and gotten better shots in doing so.

Well a few months later we went out with the same pilot on the most mind numbing chopper shoot I’d ever been on - 1.5 hours flying straight out over flat cornfields and nothingness to shoot a box shaped Japanese owned factory and then 1.5 hours back - When we finished shooting the building the pilot asked if we minded a little something to spice the flight up since it would be his last flight with us. He promptly buzzed a cornfield and had some fun. When done my boss asked what he was going to do. Pilot says he’s going to Alaska to work the high wire. I asked what that meant (in a loud chopper with open doors wearing headphones) and was informed it meant sitting on a platform extended from a helicopter several hundred feet up in the air working on high voltage power lines in a metal suit. You work one week, take two weeks off. Make beacoup money in two years if you can handle it that long and then move on. What a wuss! Kinda changed my boss and I’s opinion of the Pilot.

Well this video is exactly what our pilot was going to do.

High Voltage Cable Inspection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tzga6qAaBA

IU vs UI today. Will Illinois play the revenge card again? I think not. The Sampson era so far has been marked by a much more focused team. Playing hard on all plays and with awareness. An amazing lack of “what the hell are they doing?!” stretches for the first time in a long time. IU isn’t going down twice to Illinois in one season!

One day away from SuperBowl XLI - Will Rex rock and Peyton plop. Or will the Colt of destiny come shinning through? I think DA Bears will run it. Their D will just barely hold on and Devin Hestor will hit the score that makes the difference. Bears 28, Colts 21. Sorry Indy. and if not… oh well Indy is my original hometown team.

Just when I think there’s nothing special about where I live…

Our nice house in the suburbs lulls one into a false sense of blah. Big box grocery, shiny chain gas stations, drive here, drive there, no where in particular. Then you remember that you live one thirty minute drive from a totally different world that’s not available to 95% of the midwest. Chicago.
Drive we did for dinner at the Ethiopian Diamond with african beer and live music provided by Kelan Phil Cohran, a Chicago legend and one time member of Sun Ra’s band. Kelan played harp, trumpet, french horn, keyboards… After an excellent meal and service we traveled south down Broadway to Green Mill Cocktail Lounge for two sets of excellent Jazz by Bob long and friends. A wonderful evening.
Good food, good music. Worlds away…

I have just blogged about blogging a honey-doo blog

There’s a Hole in the Bucket
Traditional

(Boys)
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

(Girls)
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?

With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.

But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.

So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it!

With what should I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

Use the hatchet, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the hatchet, dear Henry, the hatchet.

But the hatchet’s too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The hatchet’s too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

So, sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So sharpen it dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it!

With what should I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I sharpen, dear Liza, with what?

Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, the stone.

But the stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

So wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So wet it dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what should I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.

With what should I carry it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I carry it dear Liza, with what?

Use the bucket dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, the bucket!

There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.