Kitties From Mars

"There are not enough cats doing cute things on the Internet", is not a statement you are likely to hear ever. While I find my intention to fire up the blog again with a cat story a bit questionable seeing as how there is no shortage of cat stories/photos/videos on the Internet. I also see that while the Beatles created massive amounts of amazing Pop and Rock music it did not stop others from doing so too.

This is my cat, Josie she has long hair. This cat's hair is one of her best qualities while simultaneously being the worst attribute she has. Pros: Soft, warm, creates a pleasant petting environment, and makes her a pretty kitty, yes she is, just the prettiest kitty ever, cutie, cutie, oh sorry.... Cons: It's Everywhere. Kitty hair is in the carpet, floats in the air, Kitty hair in the food (yuck) Kitty hair in he bed, Kitty hair in my soul. And forget going to a nice event with a jacket and tie. Pop out the lint rollers to be used in the parking lot of the event you are attending because any lint rolling at home is the same kind of battle that Custer was familiar with.

So the solution to kitty hair. Well, kitty hair be gone of course. The cat was given "The Lion Cut" Yes I suppose we will still be eating kitty hair but at least it will be smaller and easier to digest. I do love the Lion Cut, while it mimics the look of a real lion (except maybe for the pom-pom at the end of the tail and the kitty booties) I feel if I were confronted with a real lion I would not have the overwhelming desire to laugh at it as I do my own kitty with a faux lion hair cut.

Stock Market

I have been looking at the stock market as of late. I can not help it. I sit down at the computer with the intent of using it to check e-mail, or use Word or some other useful thing and I get stuck on looking at what the stock market is doing. Mostly because each company has it's own little story, and each story can change dramatically day to day and in this market from hour to hour. Like a cash soap opera, "Yahoo might get bought by Microsoft, because Yahoo is cash poor and Microsoft needs to keep up with Google, but Yahoo is holding out for a better price, only to find out Microsoft doesn't love Yahoo anymore and breaks off negotiations because it is having an affair with Intel. Meanwhile, Seagate go's into a coma and Cisco is having someones love child.
Yes, the market is endlessly fascinating to me because of the risk, drama, and stories of the stocks but recently, because of the economic upheaval, I have been reading many of the doomsday stories out there. "This is an economic Tsunami" The Economy is Crumbling", and so on. Used in the description of wealth and money are the words "Destruction, Devastation, Collapse, and Disaster." don't get me wrong, I have sniffled a bit while watching my 401K contract like a shrink-A-dink but just to keep our heads straight. When Goths and Huns invaded the Holy Roman Empire, that was a "Collapse", When General Sherman marched to the sea using the "scorched earth" policy, burning towns to the ground and salting the earth so crops would not grow that is "Destruction", and when George Lucas is allowed to make a prequel with a character named "Jar Jar Binks" THAT is a "Disaster" (yes, I know it was years ago and I should just let it go, but I NEVER will, NEVER let it go). I have sympathy for the people who have been hurt by the economy but still...A Hun is not burning your house and stealing you wife. Oh and the whole "Economic Tsunami" term, really needs to stop being used. A. It makes NO sense at all.. Economic destruction has washed over our shores? At best is means a mountain of cash forty feet high has flooded inland about a mile and half. That sounds pretty good to me. Although it is a good example of my point. Economic Tsunami: a scary sounding, but meaningless headline to freak people out about money issues we will all live through. Actual Tsunami: Over 250,000 people die in real Devastation.

Disney Market Land

I hear they have a new ride at Disney Land that is based on the stock market. It's called "Crash Mountain" It's a roller coaster ride that plummets 300 to 600 poin...errrr feet a second until it evens out and flat lines for the next 3 years. It is a very long ride but people keep saying once you are at the bottom you might as well just stay on because you feel too sick to get off anyway.
Oh well enough about that. How about drinking and riding a bike in a costume.

Fort Collins is a Mecca of beer and breweries. New Belgium Brewing Company,Odell Brewing Company,Fort Collins Brewery, and of course Anheuser-Busch are just a few of the breweries around here. But it was not until a friend told us there was an opportunity to dress up in costumes...Drink...And ride our bikes around in a city wide parade that I realized what a great city we live in. New Belgium Brewing Company sponsors an event called "Tour de Fat" every year.

This is everyone dressed up and ready to go. I was told this year there were over six thousand people in the parade. It was very entertaining. Next are a few photos of the events...










so that's it, a little photo extravaganza, I think the photos tell the whole story. Lotta found JC at the end of the event and I think that is all a person can ask for.
Lots of luck for the start of this next week.

Back In Black

Or back in Red as the stock market would be telling us. After a brief year break the blog is back. Lotta and I have moved to Colorado to enjoy the great out doors and here are a few images of that happening.
This is at the top of horse tooth, a bit of mountain that from afar looks like a horse tooth.
A friend that Lotta made at the top of the mountain. He is eating some crackers that Lotta gave him but soon after this she felt he needed some greens in his diet and gave him small bits of green pepper which he pushed out of the way so he could lick the rocks, so as to get any loose bits of cracker he might have missed. Our mission is to leave as small a footprint as possible while getting small mammals hooked on junk food.

Last weekend was up to the mountains to see the changing leaves. They did not disappoint, they are changed.


That is it for now, just a quick update but more outdoors to come

Halloween

There has been an absence in the travel report latly but it was for a good cause. That cause being HALLOWEEN, and halloween recovery.

The build up for the Halloween party this year resembled in many ways the precaustions NASA takes before a shuttle launch. Much elbow greese and help from family and friends.

But WHY? well unknow to many people, there was a secret experiment in ther early 70's that determined that Halloween was the "bestest holiday EVER." O.K. so this is just my opinion but it is a great holiday to get dressed up set a creepy mood and make spooky theamed food dishes.

I see that every year there is more and more Halloween crap on sale and I could not be more happy about it. I think they should start making Halloween fireworks. Something that explodes in the shape of a pumpkin, a screeming witch cone, or maybe a flaming bottle of petrol being thrown at a car (God knows that would scare me).

Anyway, the party got started and we had a haunted house this year. We had a good turn out with a lot of fun people showing up and some scaredy cats who would not even go in the haunted house. But, far be it from me to judge. I heard on the radio this morning that Bush had petitioned to be alowed to run again in 2008 becasue he was not officially "elected" in 2000 (the supreme court appointed him during the re-count fiasco, strike three for democracy) And since the Republicans do not have very strong canidates this year, Bush was actually considering running AGAIN. This new story was played straight but of course it turned out to be a joke. Non the less, for a second it scared me more than a marathon of slasher movies ever could, or for that matter, it was more scarry that a REAL slasher attacking me. In all fairness Cheney is the really creepy guy. Be honest, no matter what your political view, if you came home, went to put your coat away and Dick Cheney came jumping out of the closet your heart would stop, O.K. his might stop too, but just the thought brrrrrrr.
Oppp's too much coffee this morning back to Halloween. Halloween started as a Gaelic holiday celebrating the havest.

They thought on Oct 31st the border between the living and the dead was weakend and they dead would come back an destroy crops and livstock so they did what they could to stop this: They got drunk and had a party, why can't we come up with solutions like this for our modern day problems? OH wait we DO it's called: The WEEKEND.
Halloween is of course the shortening of "all-hallow-even" celebrated by those wacky European Pagens until Pope Gregory the III changed it to "all-saints-day" There was a short period when instead of Halloween they called it "Saintsween" but many sacreligious jokes were made and even the Pope could not say it without a holy giggle so the chuch gave into Halloween.

It turns out that Trick-or-treating did not start until the 1950's in the U.S. Before this time children simply sat at home eating sugar cubes in funny looking costumes. The first forays into Trick-or-Treating were pioneered by the sons of mobster who would ask for booze and cash "OR ELSE" this slowly sofened into our moderen day Trick-Or-treating tradition.
No matter how it started it reigns as a really fun holiday now which I fully suport and enjoy, hopfully next year we can start decorating for Haloween the day after the 4th of July.
The party was a big hit and we even had some government officials there. Mayor McCheese and his wife came out, although I think it was just a political nessesity that forced him to show up and try and rebuild his reputation in the face of his recent scandel.

In case you do not know, the Mayor was recently involved in a controvery where he might have been soliciting sex in a McDonalds bathroom stall. While the Mayor had no comment a witness at the scene was asked if he could be sure it was Mayor McCheese and responded "Um he has an enormous burger head, Yhea I'm pretty sure it was him".

We also had some Cosmos come out and party down with us. What are Cosmos? Well, you should know by now but if not, they are members of Cosmopolitan International a group that raises money to help fight childrens diabeties. It is a great group that I am a member of so go out right now and give some money to them. Unless of course you have something against CHILDREN WITH DIABITIES. But, it is that time of the year to give a little so even if it is not for Cosmos at least help out the comunity or donate some food.



Ohhhh creepy creepy, hope everyone had a good time, until next year
Boo!

The Bluffs Are Alive With the Sound of Music

A new event going on in Omaha is "Art In The Dark" where people gather at night and a movie is shown on the side of a building/museum. It was a fun event and this week was "The Sound of Music" I love the sound of music and have fond memories of watching it yearly with my family when I was growing up. We watched it on T.V., you know, when there were only four channels, and the VCR was not even invented yet. Oh my GOD I am becoming on of those old people who can remember when daily used technology was not even invented yet. I like to think this means that the world is just moving faster, NOT that I am getting older. Anyway, "The Sound of Music" is a wonderful musical movie that is historically misleading. When I was young I use to be soooooo happy that the Von Trap family made it into neutral Switzerland, peaceful, NEUTRAL Switzerland. A man can be SAFE in Switzerland, because once you cross that boarder NO ONE can get you in Switzerland. Craven, evil Nazis just run after you and once they hit the boarder of Switzerland they throw down their Luger's in disgust, raise their tiny fist toward the heavens and yell out "I'll GET YOU VON TRAP FAMILY SINGERS, If only you weren't in Neutral, neutral Switzerland!" Only years later did I learn (NOT at my worthless high school where the history teacher doubled as the football coach, OR more accurately the Football coach doubled as the history teacher) that Switzerland was not really the bastion of neutrality that the "Sound of Music" made it out to be. Uhhh got a little sidetracked there. Point is, with catchy songs I'm sure the Von Trap family could have ended the whole world war peacefully as soldiers from all sides laid down their weapons to join in a rousing variation of "Do-Ra-Mi".
So here I am years later watching "Sound Of Music" again and it really is a great movie although I have to ask "How many times does a man really need to sing "Edelweiss"? By the way the answer has been scientifically proven as: NONE.
Here is a photo of a friend who came along and had a hand puppet that would sing "Lonely Goatherd" it was the coolest puppet ever.

Even if it sometimes did not work as well as she wanted it too.

And on a last note, because it is always ascetically pleasing
Two Swedes in a field

Bolivia Bound

As a continued public service, for your video pleasure I will shoot out some more videos from South America. We had just left Peru and entered Bolivia. No more of that guinea pig eating, no sir, down here in Bolivia we rise to a higher standard. So if you have just bought a house in Bolivia get yourself to the market and buy a dried baby llama fetus or DBLF if you will. Then bury it in your back yard for good luck. I have to admit that every time I have buried a DBLF in my back yard I have had good luck for a week, makes me consider opening the first DBLF store in Nebraska.
Onto road construction. I have not figured this one out yet. Bolivia is a pretty conservative country. For the most part women do not have hold regular jobs, except selling food or goods in the market. We ran across these women doing road construction, maybe the traditional part is that they have to do it in their dresses. Martha Stewart can make some dandy Halloween crafts but I'd like to see her construct a road, or at least pour some concrete.


After LaPaz our next stop in Bolivia was Sucre. Sucre is the political center of Bolivia. This means that for a long time it was the capital and in theory it still is but in reality the capital is LaPaz because that is where all of the government is and where most commerce is taking place. Sucre is a college town for the most part and has some wonderful whit washed buildings and many of the trapping of a college town anywhere on earth, like many coffee houses, hip bars, good art scene and of course torch wielding protesters who march on city hall and are surrounded by riot police.

Their main complaint is that the seat of the government is in LaPaz and they want it to be moved back to Sucre and I personally can think of no better enticement than throwing flaming torches at city hall.
If government were that girl that wouldn't go out with you in high school and you were a rioting mob, than throwing torches is the equivalent to sobbing and blubbering out "but I really love you, why don't you like me?". It's all going to end in heart ache for Sucre believe me you.
Anyhoo, that is it for now next time I think might be the mines that we went into in Potosi but Halloween is coming up here so it might be a Scarry update. take care until next time.