Small town news...

Back in college I worked for KTEL Radio in mighty Walla Walla. KTEL was a country station, spinning authentic 45s of the greatest Country hits of the mid-80s and earlier (not being a country fan I stuck to the standard hit rotation and routinely threw in Ray Stevens, Jerry Reed, and cross-over acts like the Eagles and CCR). As the youngest member of the air staff by far (I was all of 19 at the time) I also drew the crappiest shift: 6 to noon Saturday and Sunday mornings.

 

Part of the weekend routine was to stop off at the Police station on the way in and pick up the overnight Police Blotter. Then once I got to the station I'd call the two local hospitals and find out who, if anyone, croaked over night. These would then go, along with various national news stories torn (literally) off the AP wire printer, in to the morning's 10-minute news casts, also known as the most terrifying part of my morning.

 

Why terrifying, you ask? Well, the average listener of KTEL was, as far as I could tell, 80 years old and awake at 5:30 listening to KTEL to find out how many of their friends were still alive. So the "Weekend Deathwatch", as I came to call it, was high-pressure. Because 19-year-olds don't know how to pronounce everyone's names. And when they get Aunt Millie Sasperilly's name wrong, Ida Mae Sasperilly will call in and complain. But don't think that the Police Blotter part was any easier...I got reamed once for saying that "a car hit a bicycle at the corner of 2nd and Alder..." because clearly I, a bike rider, was assigning blame to the car. Far better to say "a car and a bicycle collided..."

 

Anyhow, now that I do a canned, voice-tracked radio show that airs 200 miles from my house, I'm far better at reading AP news stories (although thanks to the Internets I no longer have to tear anything...). But I do miss the police blotter. Which is why I was happy to stumble across this, from the Flathead Beacon. Nothing like small-town crimes...a few choice entries:

 

8:41 a.m. A cat crawled under a Willow Glen resident's porch after a car hit it.

4:54 p.m. A 14-year-old girl needed counseling by deputies after she threw a fit and threw her food all over the kitchen floor.

5:14 p.m. Two Coram residents got into a fight over a saw.

6:10 p.m. A woman called in because her 16-year-daughter was threatening to remove her nose ring. (I'm not sure if this means the girl was going to pull out Mom's nose ring or her own...)

Holy crap!

I am definitely glad I wasn't on this flight...

 

 

Not sure what this is an ad for, but it's cool...

And yes, I'm aware that I was going to post a "final show" recap, but I haven't gotten around to it. Too much biking and beer today and now I'm spent. Spent, I tell you!

So instead, here's this ad for something. Hair product, I think...

And one other thing...

Jill Homer (she of the "Jill's Subarctic Snow Biking Blog" link over on the right) finished the Iditerod Trail Invitational this afternoon at 4:20 Alaska time with a total time of 6 days 2 hours 20 minutes. Her report from Nikolai, the checkpoint before the 50-mile push to the end is here...I think this paragraph sums it up well:

Cold weather has been a struggle. I bivied just below Rainy Pass one night as I pushed my bike through the knee-deep snow for 45 miles. My thermometer bottomed out at 20 below. I bivied again last night at Sullivan Creek when I kept literally falling asleep and falling off my bike. I woke up after three hours and set out to pack up, but it was so, so cold. Everything was frozen solid. My chemical warmers had turned to ice bricks and I couldn't make them go. I crawled back into my bag and waited another couple hours before attempting again. Again, couldn't quite handle the cold. I finally just decided to wait until daylight and stayed in my bag until 10 a.m., but didn't sleep much. I woke up to a 35 mph headwind and single digit temperatures. Ground blizzards were out of this world. Again, glacial pace.

I can't even imagine what that must be like. And here I was thinking I was all cool for having run a marathon!

The show recap will have to wait...

Too much going on today to write it up, the thumb still hurts when I hit the space bar, and I'm tired. Yeah, yeah, excuses excuses. But you do have to admire this sweet photo my brother-in-law Tim took of us...looks like we're beaming down from the Chicken Starship. Which we were...

Getting by on a technicality...

Since I haven't been to bed yet I'm not counting this as missing Friday...I have an excuse, honest. I was playing rocky roll music with the band for the last time. Well, the last time for a while, anyway...More details tomorrow. And some pictures as well.

Big show tomorrow night!

Or tonight, depending on when you read this...this is your last chance ever (well, ok, maybe not "ever", but at least for a while) to see Chicken Starship, the most important rock band in the world. Jack Chicken is moving to Minnesota and the rest of the band is going to "go on hiatus", by which we mean "drink heavily".

Here are the details:

We're back at the L.A.B. at Seattle Drum School, up at 15th NE and 125th in Seattle (the address is 12510 15th Ave NE, and the map is here). Relatively easy access from I-5, and while the show is all-ages, there is a tavern about a half mile north on 15th for those of you who can't watch us without getting your drink on.

Kicking off the evening's entertainment are Dapper Jones, a band we've never played with but sound cool, at least based on their MySpace stuff. Kind of a power-pop-punk thing.

It's an early show - 7:00-ish start for Dapper Jones, 8:30 for Chickens.

It's a cheap show - cover is $5 a head, and the money goes to support the Drum School

There's an after-party - and you're invited. We just can't tell you where it will be, because we haven't figured that out yet.

See you tonight! Or tomorrow night, again depending on when you read this...

Vote Frangles!

Entry #11 Frangles the Cat
Originally uploaded by shayneknitter

I'm Frangles the Cat, and I approve this message.

Hi, everyone. My name is Frangles the Cat. My mom, Paige Chicken, knitted me this sweet outfit and submitted my picture to the Mason-Dixon Knitting web site's "Teeny Project Runway" contest. So help me out...go to Mason-Dixon Knitting and vote for me, #11, Frangles the Cat.

Relapse?

Probably not. But after slowly improving over the last few days my thumb is acting up again tonight. Which really effects the typing, since hitting the space bar hurts.

So instead of anything insightful and long, here's a photo of Logan in his Boy Scout uniform, complete with small stuffed cats:

And....scene!

Well, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, my time as a Cubmaster / Cub Scout Dad / Volunteer has come to an end. Or was coming to an end then...and now it's officially at an end. Tonight was the big night, the combination dessert banquet, volunteer thank-you, Arrow of Light ceremony and cross-over to Boy Scouts. Quite a bit to pack in to, oh, an hour and 15 minutes. But we did, and it's done, and now I can relax. Because Boy Scouts doesn't start until, oh, tomorrow night.

But, they tell me, Boy Scouts is "Scout led". And, they tell me, "we don't give parents jobs for the first few weeks." Great. They're working their hooks in to me already, but I'm definitely going to take a break. No, seriously.

Anyhoo, here are a couple photos:

First up was the ceremonial "crossing of the bridge". The Den made this bridge as a part of their "Engineer" pin...designed by an actual engineer, it even supports my massive, elephantine weight!

Then it was time for Logan to officially meet Mark, his new Scoutmaster, who welcomed him to Troop 123. After that Mark asked him to "introduce his parents." To which he responded by turning around and staring at us, then mumbling something. Amazingly, he's not even a teen-ager yet!

After that awkwardness, he was given his new neckerchief by the Senior Patrol Leader, whose name I've forgotten and wouldn't mention anyway because of privacy issues (hence all the blurring of faces earlier). We'll call him Rasputin. That Rasputin can put on a mean neckerchief, I must say.

Oh, and that arrow Logan's holding in his left hand? Yeah...that's basically what I did today instead of going to work: created two slide shows on the computer and painted stripes on two arrows. If you need an arrow-painting jig let me know, 'cause I've got one.

Save the sandwich!

So as you no doubt know, Starbucks is phasing out their delicious breakfast sandwiches. And I must say, that's just sad. Not that I eat them every day, but there are those occasions when you want something greasy, cheesy, and with a nice spicy bit of sausage in the middle. Or ham or bacon, for that matter. Anyhow, the point is that when that mood strikes I'd much rather go to the Starbucks in my building than have to go out in the world and find either a deli that sells something similar or, perish the thought, a McDonalds Eggamuffin.

Which is why I was so happy to find this site where I can mouth off about the wonders of the "Classic Sausage Egg and Cheese". Won't do any good, but what the hell.

Anyone have, oh, 36 hours to spare?

I am wicked behind on too many projects for Tuesday's big Cub Scout meeting...stuff to paint, slide shows to make, songs to pick, scripts to revise, yeesh! Hence this nicely short blurb, and a shout-out to Diablo Cody for not only writing the best original screenplay of 2007, but also for best name and best tattoo at the Oscars. One of these days I might even see her movie!

So about what I said yesterday...

Today was, well, not quite the same. It was sunny and gorgeous, yes. And I went skiing, yes. So far so good. But that's where the similarity ends.

The difference starts with the snow. Today we were at Summit Central up at Snoqualmie Pass, and it was a weird mix of ice and slush. When we got there at 9-ish it was all ice, all the time. The groomed runs were big frozen washboards. Great for a foot massage, but that's about it.

The next difference was the temperature. While yesterday was warm at times, I never had to adjust any layering. Not so today...after the first run it was back to the car to drop the chamois shirt.

Which brings me to difference number 3: Yesterday I didn't lock the keys in the car, today I did. Lucky for me, the security guys at the Summit are experts at unlocking cars.

The final difference is that yesterday my legs were sore, but that was the worst of it. Today my legs are sore, true, but so is my hand. Why? Because I had a nice face-plant on the third or fourth run of the day and manage to sprain my right thumb. Like to the point where I thought I might have partially dislocated it. So that pretty much ended my day at 11 AM, and let me deal with getting the car unlocked while Dave got to continue skiing. The punk.

What's that old saying?

"A bad day fishing beats a good day at work?" Something like that. Anyhow, I would posit that a good day skiing beats pretty much any day at work, except maybe the day at work when they tell you to leave work and go skiing. Or give you a gabilliion dollars.

So today was day 1 of the Heuga Center's "Vertical Express for MS" ski event thingy at Crystal Mountain. It didn't suck at all.

Back in High School I skied at Crystal 'cause that's where the bus the school chartered went. As I recall, it was better than Snoqualmie Summit, but it was also a lot harder. And I got stuck at the top of more runs I wasn't able to ski.

That was in, like, 1983. Haven't been back until today. And I must say, it's definitely better than the Summit. Maybe not better enough to get me to spring the extra $400 or whatever it is for a season pass up there (that 2 hour drive isn't much fun), but definitely enough to think seriously about renting a condo or room up there for a few days next year.

So anyway, on to the event itself. It's a three-day thing, and unfortunately Dave and I were only able to go today. Which, it turns out, wasn't a bad thing. First, we didn't have to go to work. Second, as you can see from the photo at the top, it was sunny - at least in the morning. And even when it clouded up, it was still bitchin, as shown in this shot of Dave standing in front of some valley leading over to where Mt. Rainier would be if there weren't clouds.

And thirdly, since it was Friday, there were very few people there. I think the longest we stood in line was maybe a minute, and we never had that "I'm going to be steamrolled by a mob of snowboarders" feeling that you get at the Summit. In fact, it looked a lot like this most of the day:

And best of all, we raised a bunch of money for a good cause. And second-best of all, since Dave and I can't go tomorrow due to ski school up at the Summit, Dave's wife and daughter get to use our passes and be honorary one-day members of the mighty Team Minkey Boodle!

For the record...

I posted the "Breaking News from 7200 BC" before Taranto threw it up on Best of the Web, although I will admit that the whole "breaking news from..." headline is his. Probably should have prefaced my post with "shameless idea theft", but I didn't. So sue me.

We like da moon...

'cause it is close to us. And sometimes gets eclipsed by the Earth and looks super cool. Tonight's eclipse was a great opportunity to get the kids outside looking up, and to bust out the tripod for the camera:

This one's kind of fuzzy as it was the first I took, and had the longest exposure. According to the photo properties it was a 20 second exposure at f/4.8. And I don't think I bumped it, I think the streaking is from the long exposure.

This shot is much closer to totality. Only went with an 8 second exposure on this one and it popped the iris out to f/5.6.

Now we're starting to see the moon come out of the umbra, kind of mimicking the "diamond ring" effect you see with solar eclipses. We're now shooting 5 seconds at f/6.3

This one was taken shortly after the previous, but now I'm zoomed out so you can see Saturn down to the left of the moon. We popped that up on the telescope and the kids were able to see the rings, but since I don't have an adapter for the camera this is the best you get. Once again a 5 second exposure, this time at f/4.0 (the camera was choosing the f-stop...)

And then the clouds rolled in. We had pretty darn perfect weather for the eclipse, and at the end the clouds streamed in from the south, whispy and white, slowly covering the moon as she came out of the shadow. 6 seconds this time, again at f/4.0

Breaking news from 7200 BC

Headline from today's Seattle Times:

"Kennewick man kills neighbor's 2 pit bulls"

(Kennewick Man, in case you didn't know, is a fossilized human about 9200 years old)

Sunday pondering

Meant to post this on Sunday but I got all distracted...

So Sunday's "Parade Magazine" was the annual "who's the biggest dictator" issue and I have to wonder...do these guys check this stuff on line? Is North Korea's Kim Jong Il totally psyched that he made it to #1 and knocked off that bastard Omar Al-Bashir from Sudan?

And, in light of today's announcement, do you think that Fidel Castro finally gave up the fatigues because he didn't even make the top 20 this year?

Personally, I like to think that they all sit around the Dictators Club in Zimbabwe (home of #6 Robert Mugabe who moved up one slot this year), smoke their cigars and razz each other about their standings before going in to dinner and discussing new ways to oppress the masses.

What kind of directions are these?

So I'm reading a story about the new Habitat for Humanity Home Improvement store in south Seattle, and I'm thinking "Gee, I don't recognize that address. Wonder where it is?" And then I see the link for "directions". I click on it and, for some reason, start reading the "From South" set:

From South: Head North on I-5, take Tukwila Exit to WA-599. Highway 599 will connect into Highway 99. Take Highway 99 towards East Marginal Way . Take left onto East Marginal Way. Turn left onto Idaho Street use left hand turn lane. Turn right onto unmarked street before the Fiberlay building. Follow road and turn left on S Nevada Street

Is it just me, or does that sound like either the directions to a speakeasy or a street fight? "Turn right onto unmarked street"? WTF?

Crap!

Here I was going gangbusters, remembering to post every day, and then we have a holiday Monday and I blow it. Damn!

Anyhow, here's what I WOULD have posted yesterday if I could have...

Wish I were here...we were supposed to go up to Mt. Baker and go skiing today, but Paige got sick so we stayed home. Luckily, thanks to camera phones, I can now see what I was missing...CRAP!

Two week warning...

Just wanted to give you a two-week warning for our big Pre-Reunion show...yes, two weeks from tonight is your last chance ever (well, ok, maybe not "ever", but at least for a while) to see Chicken Starship, the most important rock band in the world. Why, you ask? Because Jack Chicken is moving to Minnesota to be closer to Target and the rest of the band is going to "go on hiatus". At least until we can sign an aspiring lead vocalist to an exclusive contract...

Here are the details:

• We're back at the L.A.B. at Seattle Drum School, up at 15th NE and 125th in Seattle (the address is 12510 15th Ave NE, and the map is here). Relatively easy access from I-5, and while the show is all-ages, there is a tavern about a half mile north on 15th for those of you who can't watch us without getting your drink on.
• Kicking off the evening's entertainment are Dapper Jones, a band we've never played with but sound cool, at least based on their MySpace stuff. Kind of a power-pop-punk thing.
• It's an early show - 7:00-ish start - and it's a Friday night, so get off work early, come on out, and give Jack Chicken the all-ages sendoff he so richly deserves!

Click here to put our songs on your Facebook profile.

Ugh...

So here it is, Saturday night of the big President's Day weekend, and I'm bushed. Got up early (well, late for a work day but early for Saturday), took the boy up to ski lessons, skied for about 5 or 6 hours, and completely toasted my legs. I am, as they say, wicked out of shape. Then we had band practice tonight getting ready for the big pre-reunion show on the 29th (at the L.A.B. at Seattle Drum School...more info on the band MySpace page). So now I'm beat.

Oh, and it doesn't help that Mrs. Chicken is down with the crud, fighting a sore throat and a fever. I'm guessing we're not going up to Bellingham as planned tomorrow night...just guessing...

More shameless idea theft

This time stealing from John "Monkey Disaster" Moe, I bring you the resurrection of the Family Herman project.

As some history, back in our carefree college days, when John and I would read the Spokesman Review over coffee, we'd do the swap with Family Circus and The Far Side. But since the Far Side isn't in the paper any more, now you gots to swap in Herman. Assuming you read the Seattle Times, which I don't (I'm a lifelong PI guy and still peeved that they killed The Phantom).

Anyhoo, the concept is this: You swap the captions between the two strips and see what comes out. And today we've got this:



It appears, to me anyway, that Daddy or Mommy is trying to scrape snow off the car, and Billy is finding a great deal of enjoyment in the fact that they're using the wrong scraper. Maybe the right scraper is lost and they're stuck with a credit card...we just don't know.

Herman, meanwhile, apparently requires a snow shovel to remove the tartar from his teeth. We can only assume that the dentist likes this kind of bad weather because it gives him an excuse for having the snow shovel in the office...people would ask embarrassing questions if he whipped that sucker out in July.

Happy VD!

I'm not cool enough to have a sweet graphic like Tina has up today. Heck, I'm not even cool enough to do the traditional Scott Chicken protestation of love to Mrs. Chicken, the free Stranger love ad. Usually I'll submit one, then lead Paige through the pages of the paper with a trail of sticky notes, pointing out all the freakish ones (well, some of them...if I did all of them the pen would run dry) before leading her to my lame one.

This year I was even lamer than that, and completely forgot to get it in on time. So instead I had to use the Stranger's "Lovebot". It's not too late to send your own.

Unless, of course, it is, in which case you're on your own.

Help me help the Heuga Center fight MS!

I've been raising money for the MS cause for years now, initially because I was looking for an excuse to go on a cool bike ride, and then because more and more people I knew were being diagnosed - from my sister to a friend's sister to another friend's wife to, well, lots of people. I took a break from the MS cause in 2006 when I ran the Portland Marathon (and thanks to those who supported me with that cause), but this year I'm back to MS, but with a twist: This year I'm leaving the bike in the shed and strapping on the skis instead.

I'm teaming up with a couple friends to participate in the Heuga Center's Vertical Express for MS, a series of "on-snow events" (mainly skiing, although I think there's some other stuff in there too) at Crystal Mountain in two weeks - February 22nd through 24th. And with just a week to go I'm still a few hundred dollars short of my goal and I'm hoping you can help push me over the edge by following this link here and pledging money on the secure donations page. Seriously, it's that easy.

Thanks for your support!

My latest album

So, been working hard in the studio with the new band, Priscilla Studd, and we're just going to press on our new album* "Else Has Seen You". I'm really happy with the album art, especially the drippy font that gets to the heart of the Priscilla Studd sound. That and the photo of the 80s new wave-looking dude...



*In case you've forgotten the album cover rules, they're here...

Book suggestions?

Just figured I'd put this out there on the off chance anyone reads this crap...so young Logan Chicken is doing a "reading wheel" in class where he's supposed to read books from different genres and write reports on them. So he's done humor (Captain Underpants), he's done SciFi (Restaurant at the End of the Universe), he's done myths and legends (a book of NW Native American fables), and he's working on fantasy (The Book of Three). But he needs others. Other categories are historical fiction, classics, biographies, and a bunch of others I don't remember.

So...any suggestions for a 10-year-old who isn't really in to fiction? One of the biggest hurdles for him is getting past the first "boring" chapter or two, so if it's something that just jumps right in that would be good...

Yet another thing I don't know

And that would be "what the hell is that?" No, not whatever they were talking about in that old SNL sketch that really should be on YouTube but if it is, I can't find it. No, I mean what the hell is this thing?

And then there was one...

One more event as Cubmaster, that is.

Today was the big Pack Pinewood Derby, 3 hours of boys racing cars down a wood track broken up only by a few befuddled senior citizens looking for the Republican Caucus. We offered to let them stay and watch and maybe vote on which car looked the coolest, but they all declined. Probably their loss...they looked like Huckabee supporters. Although they might have leaned toward McCain. Definitely not Ron Paul, who not surprisingly finished 3rd in the Washington caucus (while on the Democrat side of the aisle Obama walked away with like 65% of the delegates...Tina must be ecstatic).

But back to the Cub Scout stuff. Four years ago, when Logan was in 2nd grade, I kind of pushed him in to the Cubs. I'd had fun in Scouts, his friends were in the Den, and so I gave him a nudge. And agreed to be the Den Leader because, well, no one else was really jumping up and down wanting the job and I knew Logan would be more likely to stay in it if I was involved beyond the "parent" role.

The next year I passed the Den off on another guy and moved in to the "Pack Committee Chair" role. This was much better since a) I didn't have to plan two Den meetings a month, b) I didn't have to deal with a bunch of rowdy 8-year-olds whose favorite game was "Kill John", and c) I could handle almost the entire job via e-mail. Man I loves me the e-mail. That gig lasted for about two and a half years, and then last February I was basically thrust in to the spotlight as Cubmaster.

And in retrospect it hasn't been that bad. Yes, I had to deal with the kids again, and a lot more of them than at the Den level, but it was only once a month and I had a lot of help since if they started acting up I could lean on their Den leaders to get them back in line. I still had to plan meetings and stuff, but one meeting a month is way easier than two, especially when you're expected to actually get stuff done during the two Den meetings. The Pack meeting is more of a party.

Which brings me back to "and then there was one..." Just one more meeting, at the end of the month. And it is most definitely a party. There will be desserts. There may be cookie decorating. There will be pins, ribbons and trophies awarded. And Logan and 3 of his Den-mates will receive the Arrow of Light (Cub Scouting's equivalent of the Eagle) and "cross over" in to a Boy Scout troop. Where hopefully he'll have more fun, learn more stuff, and not need me to run the whole show!

Caucus Schmaucus

I know, I know, it's my duty as a good citizen of these United States to vote. Or, in this case, to caucus. And I would, honest, if a) I didn't have other plans, and b) I gave a damn. But I do, and I don't.

The other plans are the all-important Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, Logan's final Derby since he moves on to Boy Scouts at the end of the month. And I feel pretty confident saying that his streak of non-victory will be unblemished since I just can't make a fast car. They look kind of cool, or funny, or whatever, but they just ain't fast.

The not giving a damn isn't as insidious as it sounds...at least not to me. Back in 2004 I caucused for the first time because I was actually inspired. Or, if not actually inspired, maybe just more interested than previously. Anyhow, back then (on the off chance you don't remember 2004), there were 4 candidates still in the running come Washington's turn in the spotlight: Kerry was the front-runner, Dean was still hanging on, Edwards was a strong second, and Kucinich was, well, Kucinich. I was an Edwards man at the time, for two key reasons: First, I liked what he had to say on pretty much all the issues; and second, I had a gut feeling that there was no way in hell the American people would hire a guy who looked like Herman Munster or Lurch and was as condescending as hell to be their President, and it was really important to nominate a candidate that would actually stand a chance of swaying the electorate and convince them to shift the political course mid-war.

So I went to the caucus. The few remaining Deaniacs were fairly easily swayed, but most of them went to the Kerry party. The Kucinich people were definitely a harder nut to crack. There weren't enough to warrant a delegate to the district convention, but we were able to sway a few of them over to the Edwards camp, enough to land us a second delegate spot. Horay for us, we did our caucus job, and Democracy was saved. Or something.

Anyhow, we all know how 2004 turned out...Edwards accepted the VP slot (a huge mistake, in my opinion), and in spite of their self-proclaimed great hair, they lost the general election to GW because a) people didn't want to change horses mid-stream, and b) Kerry continued to look like Lurch and be condescending as hell.

So now we're here in 2008 and I'm not nearly as moved as I was then. It looks like the Republicans are gathering around McCain, and he's not quite as scary as GW. And the Democrats have two strong candidates, either of whom I feel confident can win in November. And while I've heard them both speak, neither of them really moves me quite the way Obama moves Tina or the way Hillary moves whoever it is Hillary moves (white women of a certain age, perhaps? I'm not exactly sure).

So that's why, instead of being at the school fighting for who I think should be the nominee, I'll be across the street watching 7 - 10-year-old boys squeal with glee as their little wooden cars zoom down 40 feet of wooden race track. Whee!!!

Fast and Easy Ordering from Your Mobile Phon

So I get this e-mail from Pizza Hut today (see the screen shot below), touting how fast and easy it is to order a pizza with my mobile phone. And I think to my self, what a wonderful world. No, wait...I think to myself "um...isn't it fast and easy to just call the number I've stored in my phone and tell them what I want?" Apparently not. Apparently it's easier to text message my order in, or use the mobile web.

Who knew?

From the "things I'll never do" file

The latest item on the list: make a functional bicycle out of wood. Like completely out of wood. Well, with the exception of glue, but the glue no doubt had "wood" in its name. The point being, no metal pieces.

No mention in the article about how it rides, but it definitely looks sweet!

More Gondry

Since the Chicken household has a thing for Legos and Lego stop-motion animation, I bring you this...far better than anything we'd ever make!

"Harvesting brains"

Sounds like something a Zombie farmer would do (a farmer who is a zombie, not a farmer who raises zombies...they'd just harvest the zombies). But apparently it's not, and it's leading to some weird new disease. All of which makes me really, really glad I work at a cushy desk job.

Mementos of the past

So John Moe, author of the fine Monkeydisaster blog, is moving to Minnesota to pursue his lifelong dream of living near the Mall of America. As a result, John has sold his house and is now in the process of packing to move, which involves much purging of years and years of crap. As outlined in this post right here.

Well, as a genetic pack rat, and one who hasn't moved farther than 15 miles since coming home from college (which was a whopping 350 miles or so), I haven't done the purging thing, much to my wife's chagrin. So it is that, on a bookshelf in the basement, in addition to some weird drum stick with a rubber dohickey on it that I've had since I was like 17, I have two autographed baseballs.

The ball on the right is an authentic player ball, autographed by legendary Mariner's outfielder Greg "Pee Wee" Briley. This was a gift from Steve Chicken many years ago ('93 or '94, I think), signed at spring training and given to the wife because she was a huge Pee Wee fan (both Briley and Herman).



The ball on the right was signed by Darryl Tarbox, John's character in the play Tent Meeting. John and I (and fellow classmate Erika Rolfsrud) did Tent Meeting as our senior project back in the glory days of college. It was the closest I ever came to being an evangelical preacher, and I was told I was frighteningly realistic. Probably good that I didn't take it up as a profession, or I'd probably have turned out like Ted Haggard. Only with a female prostitute, because I prefer them with my meth.

Anyhow, um, what was I saying? Oh, yeah. I kept the ball. Mostly because it's a good conversation piece, but also because it's a reminder of a great time in my life, working with two actors who so vastly outclassed me that they pulled me up. Maybe not to their level, but definitely above where I would have been otherwise.

I didn't save any photos of the show, but fortunately someone else did. So now I've got more photographic evidence that I did indeed at one time have hair:



Me as Reverend Eddie, no doubt trying to drive the devil out of my son Darryl (John)



Erika as Beckie Ann, devoted daughter and mother of our savior the eggplant (eggplant not pictured)

More video fun

So in addition to being followed around by his poop, filmmaker Michel Gondry is also a wizard at the Rubik's Cube:

Hmm...

Not sure what to make of this. I mean, it's funny and all, but disturbing at the same time. Still, it's hard to beat David Cross...

Wow.

That's all I can say. And not just because it's almost midnight and I might pull off a Galivanting Monkey (a term I'm coining for Tina's plan to post twice in a row just around midnight, thereby killing two days' postings with one stone, if by "stone" you mean "blogging session", if "blogging session" is even what you call this).

Anyhow, the reason for my "Wow" is the latest post on Jason's Blue Moon MySpace Blog. If you don't know Jason, he's the guy who books bands (like, oh, Chicken Starship, the most important rock band in the world) to play at the Blue Moon, possibly the most important dive bar in Seattle. And if you've never read his blog you should.

But you should REALLY read this particular entry, because it's timely, it's not about music (well, not about music performed at the Blue Moon), and the videos are just atrocious. Seriously. I think I could have happily gone through the rest of my life without ever seeing the LA Rams do "Let's Ram It". Or the lilly white folk of Boston singing "New England, the Patriots and You". And possibly worst of all, the Seahawks' own "hit", "The Blue Wave" (or maybe "The Blue Wave Will Be Rockin'". Sing it, Mike Tice! (Side note: Mike Tice was the guest speaker at my Eagle Scout court of honor. I remember nothing that he said, but damn that dude was big...).

Thanks a lot, Denmark!

What did I ever do to you? Whatever it was, I don't think it warranted the invention of furniture you assemble yourself, or all those pegs and weird bolt/toggle things. And don't get me started on the drawers...

That said, Maya loves her new bed, and it's no doubt way cheaper than if we'd bought something pre-assembled. And it was far easier than if I'd done it the hard way, with hours and hours of work trying to mimic Norm Abrahm. But at least with that plan I would have been able to justify buying some new tools...

What the hell is wrong with you people?

The people in question: My children, young Logan and Maya Chicken. The reason for the exclamation? Their agreement that Dare chocolate fudge cookies, a traditional Chicken family treat dating back to the glory days of the 1970s, are "too rich." And "too chocolatey." As if that is even possible...I mean look at the packaging. Does that look too rich or too chocolatey? No, it looks like a nice chocolate sandwich cookie going for a swim in a sea of fudge. And really, who can blame it?

I suppose I will have to keep plying them with Oreos and Teddy Grahams and save the good cookies for myself!

Radio, now with 90% more flames!

So I volunteer with a community radio station (the glorious Northwest Indy Radio and Radio KYA, voice of the downtrodden lefties of Grey's Harbor and bringer of music to Ocean Shores). And while at times I may not agree with the formatting (I'm not a talk radio fan, nor am I usually a fan of anything referred to as "sweetest music"), that's not my job. My job is to talk in to a microphone and hopefully say something entertaining.

Such is not the case for Paul Webster Feinstein down in Austin. Paul clearly cares a lot about the music and content on his station. And I'm sure if I were doing more than voice tracking from my basement I might care too. But I doubt that I would react the same way Paul is alleged to have reacted when his music stylings were overridden by some other volunteer...maybe it's just my passive-aggressive nature, maybe it's the fact that the studio is like 100 miles from my house, but I would never resort to arson to solve my problem...

Well, at least I don't do this...

I've been known to tie one on on occasion, but I have never drunk-driven my riding mower to the liquor store to stock up. Might be because I don't have a riding mower, or it might be because I'm always sure to stock up before the binge. One of those.

In the mean time, here's another album cover, 'cause I'm bored and uninspired. It's by Christopher Cross' lesser-known brother Simon. I think it's kind of new-agey, based on the watter droplets and the English spelling of "Labour". It's also in some weird long-format packaging, so I'm not sure it will play in my CD player.

What a difference a day makes

So yesterday it was all sunshine and light, hummingbirds and blue sky. Then this morning I woke up to this:







Heck, even the guys at JiffyLube got in to the spirit (sorry for the crappy cell phone photo, but hey, I was in the car...)!

Hummingbirds??? Hummingbirds!

Quick check of the calendar...yep, still January. But hey, it was sunny today, and not super cold - probably upper 30s or 40 or so. So why the heck shouldn't we have 5 or 6 hummingbirds flying around in the back yard? No reason, that's what.

Tried to get pictures of them in flight but I'm just not good enough. So here are a couple just hanging out (I don't think they're the same one, but I'm not enough of a birder to know):

The drive home, a recap

So if I were a good bloger I would have thought to pull out the ol' camera phone and snap some pictures on the way down from skiing today, but I'm not and I didn't. Oh, and I had my hands full of steering wheel. So here's the recap in words, rather than in pictures.

First, the drive up: Uneventful. Met Dave and Kelsey at the Preston P&R at about 8:20, loaded them in the car, and continued on up to Snoqualmie. At the top of the pass it was 15 degrees and snowing lightly. By the time we got on the Silver Fir chair it was snowing slightly harder, but not too bad. By the time we dropped the kids off for ski lessons it was definitely cold and definitely snowing. Being a good dad I gave Logan my face covering thingy to keep him warm, figuring the beard might protect me.

It didn't. It just filled up with snow and ice, making my face colder and colder. Because it kept snowing, and in fact got harder as the day went on. By the time we got to the car (probably 12:45 or 1) there was at least an inch of snow on the car. Nice and dry, powdery stuff, but snow nonetheless.

The kids were cold and grumpy, so we decided to bail on the afternoon and head back down. Which is where the fun started.

The traffic wasn't too bad until we got past the Summit West on-ramp and the long descent down the pass. Not super crowded, and everyone was being relatively smart - no nutjobs in SUVs driving 60 when the rest of us are going 30 - but mostly because the visibility blew and the road was pretty much covered with snow. And it had warmed all the way up to like 17 degrees. But over the top of the pass and heading down the west side the snow started getting wetter. Which made it stick more to the windshield and the wipers. Which led to the wipers getting iced up, which in turn led to me not really being able to see much out the windwhield. Which, when you're going down a relatively straight freeway at like 25 miles an hour, isn't that big of an issue. I mean, it's not like I had to worry about running over pedestrians or something...

The really weird thing about today's drive was that the lower we got, the worse the conditions. The snow got wetter and heavier, the roads got more covered, and the windshield got more ocluded. Eventually, with the heat on high defrost and the wipers on full, things melted up enough to start shaking off some of the ice and snow and I was finally able to see. Kind of. Traffic sped up a bit, but not enough to be dangerous, and finally we got low enough that it turned to rain and all was right in the world.

Amazingly, we only saw one accident. Even more amazingly, it was below the snow line. All I can think is that the guy saw that there wasn't any snow on the road any more, punched it, then hit some ice or something and boom: it's off the road and up the hill for you, sir!

Yet again, I got nothing.

And worse yet, I don't feel like doing another album cover. So instead, this. Further proof that I just don't play the right slot machines.

In other news, tomorrow's weather forecast for Snoqualmie Pass actually looks decent! While there's snow in it, it's also cold enough that we might not get soaked before lunch and actually get to ski in the afternoon. w00t!

"Too cold to walk"

That seems kind of weak as an excuse for stealing a car. Especially when you were on your way to a court-ordered counseling program aimed to keep you away from stealing cars.

But hey, the kids are 16 and 17, and it was 40 below outside, so maybe it is a valid excuse.

What really gets me about this story, though, is this part: "...the city has introduced a program where high-risk offenders are called as often as every three hours to ensure they are not out stealing cars."

WTF? There's enough money in the Winnipeg Police Department budget to pay someone to call potential car thieves 8 times a day and make sure they're not boosting a car? What, do they outsource these calls to Bangalore or something?

Thanks, guy on the bus!

I really enjoyed having "California Dreamin'" stuck in my head all day. But I have to ask...doesn't having the volume on your iPod high enough that I can hear it across the aisle make it hard to hear? Or are you related to Edgar Montrose (pictured here)? 'Cause you didn't really look like him, but that could be because you didn't have the headphones on...

Who's Heather?

Here's why I ask...Back on the 11th I posted this bit about Jackson Kirk "Jack" Grimes, candidate for President (of the US, none the less). Shortly thereafter (like in a few days) I got this in the comment section (a rare thing for the ol' Chicken Blog...unlike John, Tina and Bonnie I'm not well read):

Anonymous said...
STOP making a joke of the United Fascist Union.

Would you be inclined to do so in person, where Sam McCoy's Storm Troopers would kick your ass?

As a politician Director Grimes tailors his speeches to his audience and the flying saucer people were paying him to be there.

Hail Grimes!


I was sitting at home alone the other day when my telephone rang, and some sort of automated voice-activated survey was asking residents of Cecil County whether they believed abortion should be legal in this country. Despite pressing the #9 button, as instructed for pro-choice, the robotic voice thanked me for being pro-life.

So, I am writing this letter, publicly stating, for the record, not only do I believe abortion should always be legal in the United States, but actually encouraged, as a great way to reduce the surplus population.

Religious fanatics and right-wing lunatics are pushing these backward-thinking programs because of that maggot, Bush, and his fundamentalist Jesus freaks. Can we allow the Christians, who have a worse reputation for bigotry than the Nazis, to dictate morality in a free country?

There's more than just women's rights at stake here, and it's high time free thinkers tell these anti-abortion idiots, the lunatics from the religious right and Jesus -boy Bush, to stick it.

Jackson Grimes
Presidential Candidate
United Fascist Union

11:44 AM

I assumed that Jack's got some google bot out there checking for his name and he then pops up and comments. Cool, works for me, no biggie (and yes, Anonymous Possible Jack Grimes, I would make fun of the UFU in person, but only because I've lined Sam McCoy's pockets with Benjamins).

But then today I get this one:

Anonymous said...
Hi Heather:

How are yor & Director Grimes doing. Here's my thingy to help out a little.

Hail Grimes!

Jackson Grimes Presidential Priorities
"Abolish paper money. Establish a 'Transferable Work Point Card' as an electronic credit and debit system which would bring about a cashless/checkless society." "Establish a 'Universal Price Index' designed to first freeze and then greatly reduce the cost on all necessities of life like rent, groceries, car payments & etc." "Create a league of none or ten nations that would form a Confederacy of States to create a global government. The keystone of which will be Corporate Statism. Import Canadian-Style, Hate Laws, that would outlaw hate groups like the American Nazi Party & the Ku Klux Klan. Then grant "SPECIAL PROTECTIVE LEGAL STATUS" to Afro-Americans, homosexulals, Jews, women and, certain other minorities, that have been traditional targets of bigotry in the past.

12:43 PM

To which I must say..."Who's Heather?"

I got nuthin'.

Heath Ledger is dead, former fake New York District Attorney Fred Thompson has pulled out of the race, and I'm sleepy. I should really start writing these things in the afternoon.

So instead I'll just post another album cover for my second fake band, "Foindu", which is not melted cheese as I thought, but instead "village in Kono District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone." At least according to Wikipedia...

From the shameless idea theft department...

Well, maybe not technically theft, since it's a meme and that's what they're about, right? Anyhoo, I saw this over on Gallivanting Monkey and figured it was worth a shot, expecially since it's so dang easy.

It's the "Album Cover Meme," and here are the rules:

Go to this website:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/

The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.You then take the pic and add your band name and the album title to it, then post your pic.

Done, done, done and done. And here are the results (not as cool a photo as Tina's first one...might have to try this one again):

Why?

Why can't this kind of stuff be on US TV? I mean, sure, we've got MXC, which is great, but really...hard to beat the old "rubber tubing around your face while trying to eat a marshmallow on a string" contest. Beats the hell out of Plinko.

Coming soon...

To a YouTube near you (and probably here in the ol' Chicken Blog), a fresh new animated short from Mr. Logan Chicken. The photos are done, now I just have to animate it and load it up. Maybe tomorrow...

Happy Birthday, Big Sister!

So it's my sister Carol's birthday today. Well, technically it's tomorrow, since I'm writing this on Friday, but she lives in Maryland where it's already Saturday so I think I'm safe.

Anyway, if I were a good brother I'd have prepared a slide show or something like I did for the kids, but I'm not. And I don't have that many pictures of her...I do have some she took back when I was like 5 or something...nice black & white shots of me climbing a tree, and swinging on a swing, and jumping around in the yard. I think it was for a class project documenting stuff from Winnie the Pooh, with me in the Christopher Robin role. Kind of amazing that I was able to climb the tree, since I appear to be wearing saddle shoes...

Selv en verdensmester har brug for selen

No idea what it means, but it might be "buckle up".

So tired...

Too sleepy to come up with anything original tonight, so I'll just post a link to this fine story about the taxpayer's dollar hard at work in Richmond, Virginia. Because you wouldn't want people hanging just anything from their trailer hitch!

Survey says....Bad Clowns!

So some researchers at the University of Sheffield over in England did some research and determined what we all know far too well: Clowns are scary.

I think one look at this picture taken by my nephew Matt (from his photo log 43Photos.net explains it all. Well, except for what the hell happened to the end of the nose...

RCRG on French TV? Oui!

I know...crappy headline. But hey, it's late. Sue me.

I don't speak French, but now I know that "Pia Mess" / PMS translates to "Miss Ragnagna". And that's good to know.

Anyhow, if you DO speak French, or just want a little cultural roller derby action, check out the video!

Life imitates "Little Miss Sunshine"

From the fine folks at KGW:

Family continues road trip to Ore. with dead grandma in RV

Another item in the long list of things I just don't understand

Raw Milk. OK, I can understand the general concept of the "eating raw" movement...sure, vegetables and fruits and whatnot have more nutritional value if you don't cook 'em. Sure, meat is cruel and leads to clogged arteries and a big ass. But raw milk? Does the pasteurization process really take that much out of the product? I mean, you can get whole pasteurized milk that's chock full of milk fat and all that goodness, it's just had the bacteria cooked out of it. Or is that the problem, that the pasteurization process kills both good and bad bacteria, and the benefit of the good outweighs the risk of the bad?

Can you tell I haven't actually researched this one? I know, it's easy to miss.

Anyhow, what brings this to mind is this story from the AP, via the Seattle Times:

Five sickened by raw milk from Ferndale dairy
By The Associated Press

FERNDALE — Health officials say five people were sickened by bacteria from a batch of raw milk that was recalled by a dairy in Ferndale.

According to the Whatcom County Health Department, four were from Whatcom County and three were from neighboring Skagit County.

All tested positive for the same strain of campylobacter jejuni that was found last month in unpasteurized milk from Pleasant Valley Dairy. That batch was pulled from the shelves, and the dairy has resumed distribution of raw milk as far south as Seattle.

Health officials also say the dairy has changed its testing procedure to reduce the risk of releasing contaminated milk.

Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of diarrhea in the United States.

Ouch!

Apparently Arthur W. Nack, my bus driver in Elementary School was right all those times he yelled at us to keep our arms inside the bus. And here we thought he was just trying to scare us!

Lazy Sunday

And not a muffin nor a Chronic what? Cle of Narnia to be found. And in spite of it's laziness I actually did accomplish something. I managed to do some laundry. And Scotchgard™ some ski stuff so I won't (hopefully) get soaked next time it snows. And cut up the Christmas tree and put it in the yard waste, something I'd been putting off for, oh, a week or two.

The rest of the day, though, was pretty dang lazy. Which is really what Sunday is all about, at least in the Chicken household.

Oy!

So the weekend started off great...big show last night, our next-to-last gig with Jack Chicken, the Sacred Truths' final show, plenty of rock and quite a bit of roll. Then everything went to hell.

So the boy is back in ski lessons with the fine folks at Webbski, on the same Saturday morning schedule as in past years. Which on a normal Saturday would mean I get up at 7, drag the boy out of bed at 7:30 or 7:45, then go meet Dave and Kelsey at the Preston Park & Ride at 8:30 or so and head up the hill.

Well, since I knew the show would run until 1, and since Paige was going to the show as well and we'd therefore need some child care, we imposed on Mom to host the kids over night. Mom lives in south Bellevue, right off I-90, and is therefore at least 20 minutes closer to Snoqualmie. So it was all going to work out great, right? Well, not quite.

Got to Mom's at about 1:20, was probably asleep by 1:45, and set the alarm for 7:45 figuring I'd leave the house at 8:15 or 8:30. That part of the plan (the waking up part) worked fine. But I'd forgotten the small problem of waking up young Logan Chicken. The boy just loves to sleep, especially at around 8 AM. So we didn't get out of the house until about 8:45 or 8:50, well behind schedule.

The rain turned to snow right around the second chain-up area, but the roads were still clear. Crowded, but clear. The snow got heavier as we climbed the pass, but we were still making good time. Both the Summit and Summit East exits were packed, so we drove past to Hayak and looped back to the Silver Fir parking lot, pulling in around 9:30. So...30 minutes to get gear on, ride the chair, and ski down to the Webbski chalet. Not going to happen.

And it didn't. We got the gear on relatively quickly, and there wasn't a line for the chair, but Silver Fir is slooooow. And on the way down Logan hit a spot where his confidence left him, so he had to hoof it down a bit. But we finally made it to Webbski (probably around 10:25), and luckily his teacher had planned to do a quick run and swing back with the class to pick up stragglers. So off he went, and off Dave and I went to ski on our own.

Now last season I was in shape. I'd run the Portland Marathon in early October of 2006, I ran the Seattle half marathon in November, so even though I slacked off after that I was still in good shape come January 2007. Well, that's not the case this year. Prior runs this year had been with Logan, so it was ski....stop. Ski....stop. Skiing with Dave, on the other hand, was ski....ski...ski some more...stop at the lift. And let me tell you, that hurt. A lot. Like "end of the day I've been on the skis for 8 hours and it's the last run" hurt. Only this was the first. Ouch.

Fortunately for me, Dave was in the same boat (or he's just humoring me...one of those). And also fortunately for me, we skied Silver Fir pretty much all morning, and it's a slow chair so it gave me a nice break. And even more fortunately, we left after Logan's lesson at 12:30 so I didn't have to suck it up any more.

Oh, and it was snowing all morning so I got soaked. Not cold, just wet.

OK, so that's the ski review. Well, the day just got worse thanks to the Seahawks' inability to run the freaking football. I should have turned off the radio and not turned on the TV after I got to Mom's, 'cause at that point they were up 14 - 0 and looking good. Then the Packers remembered how to play and we forgot, and that was the end of it. So now I find myself in a position of either rooting for the team that just beat us (since I can't stand the Giants or the Cowboys), or rooting for the Patriots just so they can make history. Or maybe I should go back upstairs and start rooting for Jacksonville...

Grimes is back!

Sure, you thought his political career was over after his resounding defeat back in 2004, but Jackson Kirk "Jack" Grimes is back in the running for President of these United States. And that's good, because the country needs the United Fascist Union to keep us on our toes and to remind us of who we are as a people.

And we need Jackson Kirk "Jack" Grimes to remind us that, as he so eloquently put it back in 1998 when speaking to the Flying Saucer Society in Dover, Delaware:

The fact that I'm speaking to you today proves that having our business cards in the Wilmington Public Library is not in vain and that some people must actually take the time to look stuff up on the Internet.

More importantly, back in '98 he had FEMA's number, as shown by their fine performance during Hurricane Katrina (from the same speech to the FLying Saucer people):

F.E.M.A. is the “Federal Emergency Management Agency.” They are the American equivalent to the Gestapo. F.E.M.A. wants the president to suspend the Constitution, declare Martial Law across the country and then round up and kill most Americans who will be used as food for Big Brother Grey once colonization begins. President Clinton says he wants F.E.M.A. to conduct emergency preparedness tests in 16 major cities this very summer. So, the Gestapo round-ups could start any day now.

But don't think that Jackson Kirk "Jack" Grimes is only interested in talking to space people. Or Earth people who believe in Space People. Or whoever the Flying Saucer Society is. No, he is also, in classic Fascist form, interested in trains and making sure they run, if not on time, at least to Elkton, Maryland.

And in case none of THAT is enough to get your vote, here are his Presidential Priorities for when he finally assumes office:

1. Abolish paper money. Establish a "Transferable Work Point Card" as an electronic credit and debit system which would bring about a cashless/checkless society.
2. Establish a "Universal Price Index' designed to first freeze and then greatly reduce the cost on all necessities of life like rent, groceries, car payments & etc.
3. Create a league of nine or ten nations that would form a Confederacy of States to create a global government. The keystone of which will be Corporate Statism.

Who could want anything more than a "Transferable Work Point Card" and reduced rent? If that's not worth voting for I don't know what is.

With friends like these...

So Senator John Kerry has endorsed Senator Barak Obama for president, "snubbing" both Senator Clinton and former Senator (and former VP candidate) Edwards (and yes, I realize that's a lot of Senators for one sentence...too bad there aren't any decent Governors in the race this time. Or maybe a Representative or two. Possibly a Mayor or Alderman).

My question is, is Kerry really trying to support Obama? Or is he actually in the Clinton camp but realizes that he can do her more good by publicly endorsing Obama?

In either case, I think Edwards should be happy. I was an Edwards guy back in 2004 and still think he completely blew it by getting on the ticket with Kerry. He would have been better off staying in the Senate and letting Howard Dean or someone else take the fall, 'cause there was no way Lurch was going to be elected President. No way.

Remember that YouTube thing from a few days ago?

Never mind. The YouTube memoirs of my friend Dan and his brother Ben's unscripted ramblings about books and whatnot are gone. Why? Well, to paraphrase Dan's words, he didn't want to become Chris Crocker.

Dan, you may be many things, but Chris Crocker you ain't.

Oh, that wacky Ken Hutcherson

So Ken, if you're not from Seattle or have been sleeping under a rock, is a big-shot Evangelical pastor with a big-ass church in Kirland. And Ken, being all Evangelical and all, doesn't like the gays. Or their gayishness and their wanting to be all accepted and whatnot.

But what REALLY gets Ken's goat is when companies support the gays to the point of trying to influence public policy by doing what companies do best, spending lobbying dollars. Ken's main target is, and has been for a while, Microsoft.

Microsoft has a bunch of gay-friendly policies. Last year (I think...might have been 2006...and please note that the rest of this paragraph is based on my faulty memory 'cause I'm way too lazy to look it up) Ken had a meeting with some Microsoft big wigs, after which Microsoft pulled their support for some gay rights legislation that was working its way through he State House (or Senate). Well, that led to some uproar (most noticeably in The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper) which then led to a renewal of support and the eventual passage of said legislation.

Well, as I mentioned, Ken's back in the spotlight, now asking his followers to buy 3 shares of MS stock and give one share to his investment fund so they can use the clout of the Hutcherson Masses to influence the company's behavior. But what really gets me is this quote, from Seattle's Only Other Newspaper the PI:

"That's when I got upset at Microsoft, when they came down to Olympia ... I said, 'Wait a minute, what are you doing down here trying to make your own policy state policy?' "

To this I ask: Um...Ken? Isn't that what you're trying to do? Why is it OK for you and your horde of evangelicals to make your own policy state policy when it's not OK for Microsoft? After all, there's that whole "separation of church and state" thing in your way...and while there probably should be a "separation of business and state" thing in Microsoft's way, there isn't yet and won't be any time soon...

Bowlarama, or Bumpers are Evil

So as I may have mentioned a few days ago, Friday was Miss Maya Chicken's birthday. Well, since having a birthday party on the actual birthday is apparently not possible (well, not when you're having it somewhere other than the house and don't figure out where that will be until 3 weeks before the party...) we had the party on Sunday. At the Lynnwood Bowl and Skate.

9 6- and 7-year-old girls, several parents, pizza, cupcakes, and roller skates. So naturally I did what any good father would do, took my son and his friend bowling. 'cause hey, it's a bowl and skate.

Now back in the day I did my share of bowling (not in Lynnwood...at the mighty Sun Villa Lanes in Bellevue). And back in the day if you didn't roll the ball down the middle of the lane it went in this thing called a "gutter". Hence the term "gutter ball". As a result, many of my bowling games had scores in the teens.

Well, now they've got these new-fangled things called "Bumpers". Which is another way of saying "cheater rail that keeps the ball out of the gutter". Which is another way of saying "my 10 year old can beat my ass at bowling because he has no risk of missing with his first ball."

That said, it was fun. Especially when Logan and his friend Kyle decided to see who could roll the ball the slowest (another great technical marvel: radar guns on the bowling alley). That record was set by Kyle, who rolled an impressive 1.6 mph ball. And, thanks to the bumpers, scored a 7.

Anyhow, after the skating was over Paige and Miss Maya joined us on the lanes and they all proceeded to kick my ass. And no, I didn't record the final scores. But I think it was something like 101 for Logan, 95 for Maya, 93 for Paige and a whopping 85 for me.

Next time, no bumpers!

Stupid glasses...

No, not the kind on your face, the kind you have to wash. We've got a bunch of pint glasses, and generally they're really durable. Most of them are pretty thick, festooned with logos and whatnot, picked up on bike rides or at thrift shops.

But we've got a few that are thinner, lighter, and more prone to breaking. Which is what happened tonight while I was washing it. And not some innocent "oops, the glass slipped and broke in the sink" kind of thing. No. This was a full-on fracture while my hand was inside the glass scrubbing it out, carving out a chunk of the side of my pinkie and putting a nice scratch in the back of my hand.

So now I'm trying to type with my right pinkie all wrapped up in gauze, which makes hitting the ? key a bit of a pain.

At least the funk station on pandora.com is cranking out the jams...that's helping.

35 - 14

And that about sums it up. And by "it" I naturally mean today's Seahawks - Redskins playoff game, a game in which the offense looked great at times and crappy at times, and the defense basically saved the day. They've been doing a lot of that this season, and I'm hoping that next weekend in Green Bay they won't have to do it again. Hoping they won't, but also assuming that they will because the running game still looked crappy today and it's easy to defend the pass if that's all you have to worry about!

Happy 7th Birthday, Miss Maya Chicken!

Another January 4th, another birthday for Miss Maya. Hard to believe she's seven. So here, to commemorate it, just like last year, is a series of photos covering this and the previous birthdays:

YouTube weirdness

So I've got a page on the YouTube - a "channel" in the YouTube lingo - but I basically don't use it. I signed on to share some stop-motion videos young Logan Chicken made with Legos, and to post some private videos of the kids for the various grandparents, aunts and uncles. But I'm not a "YouTuber". I don't have a web cam, and I don't really have any interest in getting one. But I know a couple people who do, and now they're using them. A lot. And it's sucking me in.

The fact that they're brothers probably explains it...Dan, who goes by the YouTube handle "Rafter12", lives in the midwest while brother Ben, alternately "Some Guy from Seattle" and "Simpleton's Corner", lives here in the Jet City. So the YouTube gives them a chance to talk to eachother without the added effort of typing. Or picking up the phone. Or interacting in real time. Except when they IM while recording, which is kind of surreal to watch.

I've been making my way through their videos since Dan e-mailed me and directed me to his page, and I find the experience oddly voyeuristic. Not exactly uncomfortable, but not completely comfortable either. They're both pretty personal (Dan's more than Ben's, at least so far...Dan has a series where he's giving an autobiography in installments), which contributes to the voyeurism thing. And while it's helping me know my friend and his brother better, and giving me more insight into Dan's life (and Ben's, for that matter), it still feels like I'm eavesdropping on a conversation going on at the next table at the Starbucks.

RIP, Paul!

Paul Alderson has died.

Who's that, you ask? Well, the short answer is that Paul was a guy I worked for from around 1993 to 2000. The longer story is, um, longer, and if you really want it let me know and I'll post it. In place of that, and in honor of Paul's memory, here are a few things I learned from him:

Enjoy what you do, and have fun when you work: When I started working with Paul every day was an adventure. We were both learning new stuff, figuring out new ways to do things, and building a cool tool. It was the closest I've come to working at a well-funded start-up, and I imagine the vibe was similar. We enjoyed what we were doing, we enjoyed eachother's company, and we were getting paid (relatively) well. In later years as the department grew Paul was forced in to more of a management role which he generally did well, but didn't enjoy nearly as much as the creative side of things. Perhaps not coincidentally he started having some major health issues and the fun pretty much went out of it for him.

Don't sweat the small stuff: It's trite, but it's true and Paul was (generally) good at letting the minor crap roll off his back. And I've tried to emulate that.

Confront staff problems early: This is one Paul and I learned together, but I haven't really learned it. Not that I have people reporting to me any more...anyhoo, we had a couple people on the team that needed to be fired for various reasons, and we let it slide far too long. And as a result the expected happened: team morale suffered, we looked like idiots, and the company spent money on salaries for people who didn't produce. The problem was that both Paul and I were softies at heart and hated firing people. Which isn't a bad thing, except for when it is.

Listen to your body: This is a lesson I learned by observing Paul do exactly the opposite. While he preached the whole "don't come to work sick" thing he couldn't follow it himself. He worked when he was sick. He worked when he was in pain. He worked when he was hopped up on goofballs and suffering from something called "Prednisone Psychosis". And as a result his health suffered, the team suffered, and our relationship suffered. Because let's face it, it's hard to respect a guy who won't take care of himself, especially when he's grilling you on the details of a conversation that never happened.

Listen to your doctor: This one's a corollary (or is it companion? One of those) of the last rule, but it's still important. You'd think it was obvious, but sometimes it's easy to assume the doctor is a quack or doesn't know you and how your body will react. But as Paul proved at least once, doctors aren't all idiots and sometimes when they tell you "you're going to need to take this drug for a while, then cut it off slowly" they're right. And if you suddenly stop taking the drug they warned you about because you've quit other things "cold turkey" you'll probably end up in the hospital.

It's not rocket science: This was Paul's favorite line, so it's not really a lesson...although it is applicable to just about everything I've done in the work world, either during my days with Paul or after. It went along with his other fave phrase of "don't reinvent the wheel". Trite, both of them, but they did sum up a lot of the management philosophy of our group: keep it simple, and reuse anything and everything.

I'm sure there's more, but nothing is coming to mind right now, and hasn't in the weeks that I've been thinking about this (Paul died in early December...I apparently didn't learn any lessons about procrastination from him). So I'll wrap up with a heartfelt thanks to the late Paul Alderson for his guidance, support and friendship early in my business career, and an equally heartfelt apology for not staying in touch (or forcing him to keep in touch) after the department was shut down and we each went our separate ways. Hopefully that will be the lesson I really learn from him!

Happy New Year!

OK, so I'm getting around to this at 10:30 at night on New Year's Day, but what the hell...

In addition to the standard resolutions of losing weight and doing good in the world, I'm going to try to post more frequently. Honest. Tina, of Galivanting Monkey fame, did a challenge last month or the month before where she posted something every day. So I'm going to try that in January, and hopefully continue beyond that.

We'll see how it works out, if I actually put in any original content, or just link to articles and give updates of my Facebook Wrestler's career