Latest SNL video

We're on the verge of Palin burnout here...

Wind Cave Trail Run Video

Here's a video from my recent trail run on the Wind Cave Trail.

Do you Cornhole?

Cornhole is a backyard game that we started playing last spring. Last weekend, our neighbor and friend Hillary came over to play against Megan, and here's how it turned out:



By the way, I hadn't realized how popular Cornhole had become. There are a plethora of cornhole videos available on you-tube, and even an american cornhole organization.

I'll Get Back To Ya!

I didn't want to get too political here, but here are some videos to watch to see what might be in store for tonight's VP debate.







It's hard to tell Tina Fey's impersonation from the real thing.

Le Breakdown

Last weekend, we took a trip up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Greg and Lauren's wedding. The ecologically-minded bride and groom had the foresight to rent a "Le Bus," which broke down on I-215.

The wedding guests were told to bring a rock for the newly-minted bride and groom. As we waited on the side of the road, some of the wedding guests found theirs.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Oddly enough, none of the dudes could find a ride up the canyon.

The reception was held at an aviary, which had this room full of swivel chairs. It didn't take long for the chair jousting to start.

Rock Out With Your Caulk Out!

Megan is (finally!) putting the finishing touches on our kitchen remodel. We iced down some beer (Pabst), cranked up the 'skinard, and got 'er done.

Don't forget the little details...

City of Rocks

On labor day, I made a trip to the City of Rocks with Megan, Richie, Sarah, and 3 furry friends (Callie, Ruby, and Lil' JR). We camped near the Twin Sisters, and this is the view from our campsite.

The weather didn't quite cooperate, so I spent some time driving around on the back roads with Callie. The landscape was desolate, but beautiful.

The Twin Sisters (below) were a landmark on the California Trail. Something like 100,000 people passed through this valley in one summer around 1850. If they would have waited a few years, they could have just taken the train.

The remnants of the California Trail can still be seen cutting through the sagebrush.


Callie had a good time sniffing from the back seat.

Crazy Eye

When Callie has a play date (in this case, with Sierra the big ol' St. Bernard), she tends to get a case of the crazy eye (below).

first photosynth

This may be the best thing Microsoft has done.

The setup is simple: first take an assload of pictures (I took 104). The goal is to each point you see in at least 3 photos. After uploading the photos to the photosynth website, it takes about 2 hours for this image to generate. Even with 104 photos, my image was only 88 percent of the way to a fully synthesized image.

Presidential Brew

My Dad and I were on vacation in the south, sometime circa 1978, and made a long detour through Plains, Georgia, to stop at Billy Carter's gas station. Of course Billy wasn't there, but we stopped long enough to fill up the gas tank, and to load the pickup with some great-tasting Billy Beer. Billy Carter billed himself as some kind of professional redneck, a niche currently filled by the likes of Hank Williams, Jr.



Needless to say, the fad didn't last long. The beer, made by Falls City Brewing, was crap, and now is sold for about a dollar a can on e-bay. I think Dad still has one of the cans (empty of course) displayed prominently in his basement.

Dregs of the Netflix Queue, part IV

With the Olympics (yawn) wheezing along in their 5th day, I'm spending my days writing my dissertation, and nights filling in some gaps in my knowledge of early 70s cinema. That gritty era is correctly viewed as very experimental and influential (e.g., the Godfather, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, etc.), but it also produced its share of dense, unfunny, indecipherable movies. Case in point: Little Murders.

This dark comedy does a good job of portraying 70s gloom, disenchantment with societal institutions, and a bleak, crime-riddled New York City. But the "comedic" elements don't hold up: the square dad who continually asks, "What's your pleasure?" The closeted gay son who laughs uncontrollably and looks as if he spends 18 hours a day locked in his room. Eliott Gould, covered in his dead wife's blood, riding the subway without eliciting a reaction from the other passengers. Maybe this was subversively funny at one time, but this kind of humor hasn't aged well.

However this scene, featuring Donald Sutherland, was a rare high point.

Relaxating

Make sure to find some time for relaxating this summer.

Dregs of the Netflix Queue, part III

I've been having a running conversation with the Ribald Storyteller (see photos below) about his rating of the bad 1980s movie "Six Pack." The Ribald Storyteller rated it one star out of 5, despite the fact that he recently paid to re-watch the movie. I argued that the fact that he was re-watching it meant that he should give it something around 2-3 stars.

This brings up the question: How does one rate a bad movie that you watch specifically because it is bad?



Coincidentally, I later read in the New York Times that a re-make of Six Pack is in production, and will be directed by David Gordon Green.

The article states, "Mr. Green speaks with admiration of the Billy Crystal-Gregory Hines action comedy “Running Scared” and reels off references to the Kurt Russell-Sylvester Stallone cop movie “Tango & Cash,” to “Surf Nazis Must Die” and Rowdy Roddy Piper in “They Live,” and to the entire output of Cannon Films (gems like “Missing in Action” and “Death Wish 3”), it becomes apparent that for him the late ’80s, a boom period for the kind of processed American cheese that has yet to be rehabilitated by critical re-evaluation, was formative."

I like that statement: that Six-Pack "has yet to be rehabilitated by critical evaluation." So what do you say, Ribald Storyteller--any chance of bumping the movie up a notch in your Netflix rating? If you need some coaxing, just watch this clip.

State of the garden: early August

After a cold spring, the garden is finally starting to look like a garden. For the record, we have tomatoes (14 varieties), broccoli, carrots, beets, potatoes, basil, eggplant, beans, lettuce, squash, watermelon, and arugula planted.
Last night, I harvested our remaining red onions. The yellow onions and garlic had just finished curing in the basement. We've harvested about 20 pounds of garlic and 40 pounds of onions so far.


As usual, Callie played an important part in the vegetable harvest.