RUN - THE COWS ARE ATTACKING

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as always - click photos to enlarge (the photos).

Busy day before End Month Processing and we have to cover someones ass for someones else's eight month lapse of judgment. I guess when a system is being fazed out and the fazers tell a County NOT to report data EIGHT months ago and then they like forget to tell them to start sending data because it's like they forgot and now the FED tells us they like want their data and your all like well we don't have your data.

It's like - we should have a meeting or something.

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So - a weekend story while I can.

I picked up my buddy Elweed Saturday,. I was going to introduce him to a new power machine. A Mantas, one of those mini rototillers. I knew that once I showed him how fun it was under our two decks I could sit back and drink beer and watch him hit his head on the deck WHILE he was having fun.

Worked out exactly as planned!

So anyway, I picked him up and we were driving back to Columbus via back roads as I wanted to show him the field of sunflowers and maybe get more photos.


After showing him the fields we were driving north on Deansville (?) road and came across a field of cows. I thought this was a good photo opp (although Elweed was bored) so I stopped and walked out to take some photos.

All was quite and pleasant . . . . . . sort of.


While I was shooting photos that one cow on the bottom left side was looking at me and started to walk towards me. I figure she was just curious.

As she was approaching me another cow, way way up on the hill started mooing VERY loudly and she was also curious (but a long way off).

The first cow kept getting closer and I was taking photos but my buddy said every single time I would turn my back I would miss an outstanding photo as the cows ears would perk up.

So I turned around and took more photos and all seem relatively calm except for Mr. Loudmouth mooing at me and getting closer.


I was kneeling and shooting and talking to the cow who seemed innocent enough when her buddy Mr. Loudmouth who was making a pretty loud racket approached.

He/she seemed disturbed and had a look in her eye (you can see it) like she wanted to eat me or something but knowing cows don't like the taste of humans (I don't think) I was not really concerned . . . . . at the time.

Again. notice the wild look in Mr. Loudmouth's eyes (maybe she was mad that I was calling her "Mr.").

And if you will look behind the first two cows, now the others are interested and Loudmouth is telling them that this human looks mighty tasty. They are all starting to turn their massive bodies full of stomachs towards me and now ALL of them seem to be mooing in anger. EVERY COW was mooing at me!

I take a step back looking for an escape route in case they jump the fence and start to chase me.

WHICH - SEEMS TO BE WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO!!

They are all looking at me like I'm dinner and mooing and getting all agitated so I decided it's time to leave before things get really ugly and my next photos might be from a cows rumen (1st stomach).

POST SCRIPT!

I took DJ to the same pasture yesterday and THEY REMEMBERED ME and started to attack once again.

I will leave them alone and I bet it was the cow talk of the weekend. They are all laughing in the barn about how brave they were and telling human jokes.
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If the Brewers could play their last 32 games at home against the Pirates AND WIN all 32 games (I think that could be done). The Cardinals would have to go 17-15 and we would be tied for first! WE HAVE A CHANCE.

But in reality the Brewers last 32 games include 12 games against the Cards and 6 against the CUBS. BUT - "we" are only 2 games behind the Cubs so that is the goal. BEAT THE CUBS.

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Speaking of cow stomachs! Did you know that there are times when a veterinarian can do what is called a fistulation. They surgically prepare a large hole on the side of a cow and insert a cannula which looks like a port hole on a ship.

Then the vet can reach in and . . . I guess look for things.

The hole in no way hinders the life and well being of the cow. The researcher can then reach in and the cow could care less.

Now the COOL thing is that there are times like at agriculture fairs when they will let normal people stick their hands inside a cow! One grade school kid said

"The temperature inside the cow was rather toasty inside the stomach with the top layer like warm peanut butter with grass mixed in. As you push your arm down through the goo you reach a lower layer which is more liquidy, about the consistency of a melting Wendy's frosty."


OH MAN - I gotta find me a ag fair that has this. This would be so awesome to do!

I'll leave you with that!

Rod

This and that Friday

This Sunday is the Ride the Drive event in Madison. The green roads will be closed to motorized vehicles from something like 8:00 to 2:00. Just a heads up if you are goign to MadCity.

I'm making a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone and am looking for a good name. It will not be EXACTLY like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale but in the same style. Any ideas?

Also - my rant about the New Glarus Brewing Old English Porter. Upon further review I see that the word "Old" when it comes to Porters is another way of saying "stale" or "sour" Brewed in the "old tradition" which to me are two words I would not really want any of my brews to be associated with.

HOWEVER - I suppose of you like "old" "stale" "sour" beer this must be a very good one. I suppose there are different classes of poop also but that does not make me look for the good poop.

Did you hear that Craft Beer sales rose 9% in the first half of 2009! In 1978 there were less the 100 Craft Brewery's. At the beginning of 2009 there are 1,575. Do ya think the Big boys are noticing?

Imported beer sales dropped 9.5%.

Also - a lot of people that attend the Great Taste of the Midwest are going ga ga of Cask Conditioned Ale. So what the does Cask Conditioned Ale actually mean?

When beer is being brewed CO2 is produced and it is typically vented into the air. Once this process stops the brew is kegged and sealed. The CO2 is forced into the keg and enters the liquid. When you open a bottle or keg that CO2 escapes creating bubbles and carbonation.

Cask Conditioned beer only means that yeast is not filtered out of the beer the brewer is and letting it eat some of the residual sugars (fermentation) to produce CO2 which gets absorbed into the liquid. If you see a bottle that says "bottle conditioned" this is what happened. Over time the bottle will actually become more carbonated and (slightly) higher in alcohol.

Cask conditioned beer is beer that has been naturally carbonated in a keg. All of my beer is naturally carbonated. "bottle conditioned" "cask conditioned" same thing, just a larger vessel.

Speaking of poop.

Blake is funny. In the mornings I whisper because I get up about 10 minutes before DJ so I'm saying "Blake Blake, wanna go out out?" in hushed tones. So he must think he needs to be quite so when he wants to come in he actually whispers "bark bark" very quietly. Every morning "bark bark" but at night it's his normal "BARK BARK" .
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Seems all is not wonderful up dar in Minnesoty. Seems some Viking players are not that excited over our former hero Brett being the QB and have come out and said Jackson will give them a better chance to win.

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Geez - 63 tomorrow? are you kidding? with the average high of 77 I hope we bounce the other way at some point and hit 90 yet this year. This August we are about half a degree below normal.

El Niño is here! The Climate Prediction Agency is forecasting warmer ON AVERAGE temps all the way through April.

Gotta run
Rod

Eating Columbus

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I was looking at the New Glarus Brewery website and was interested in their new Unplugged Old English Porter. I did a search and their site said Bob's Liqueur (or is it called Beverage??) in Columbus carried it.

WHAT? A place in Columbus that has actual beer?

So I stopped in and was pleasantly pleased to see a variety of micro brews which had not been there before. This must have been new. I made sure the woman behind the counter knew I was happy and then felt I had to buy a 4-pack. I took my treasure home and opened a bottle and it was the 2nd worst beer I've ever had in my life (Lazy Mutt was #1)! I actually poured the 2md half of the bottle out. Elweed will be getting some.

Looking at their site again it says "Half of the batch went through a souring fermentation, in the traditional way, to promote the characteristic wine-like acidity. Yea - like chewing on aluminum. YUCH!

hmmmmm - My latest One Putt 12 that went down the drain with an infection - I could have said "Half of the batch went through a souring fermentation" and sold it.

I looked at Beer Advocate and 14 politically correct reviewers rate it as an A-. I'm going to have to enter my opinion on Beer Advocate. Seems others are being kind and giving high grades. I think it sucks and will tell them.
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I've been taking photos of all the downtown eateries for the Main Street website and noticed that Pizza Shak was still open. I believe they have the best pizza in Columbus but they have had some business partner problems in the past.

I stopped to say high and was wearing my Ale Asylum shirt (the best Micro Brewery in the area) and when they saw me they all started laughing. While this is not uncommon I was rather curious why was someone was laughing at me THIS time.

It seems it was my Ale Asylum shirt. They had 5 employees all making frozen pizza's for Ale Asylum. If you go to Ale Asylum and order a pizza you will get a Pizza Shak pizza! WELL DONE guys, you have the Ale Asylum account. SWEET!!

So if you make it to AA and get a pizza make sure you compliment them on the pizza.

So - go to Bob's Liqueur (or Beverage) and buy some micro brew and thank them, then go to Ale Asylum and get a pizza and tell them it was good (it will be).

After you are finished at AA you should drive back to Columbus and go to Mullins before they close for the season on SUNDAY! That's right, closing for the season.


And while I was there there was a SUV that had some pretty awesome airbrushing and with extreme immediateness I thought of Tod and his Columbus Carriage Works. I think I found what has been missing on his carriages. He has to trick them out a little!!

SO - Bob's for a sixer of Micro brew then Ale Asylum for Pizza Shak Pizza afterword drive back to Columbus and go to Mullins, but first stopping on the way for a carriage at the Columbus Carriage Works and then a quick jaunt to Waterloo for some airbrushing at X-treme Air (920 988 1420 ask for Willie).

Speaking of Columbus Carriage Works, check out Tod's blog yesterday which shows before and after photos of his shop (which is across from the City Hall).
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I'm trying to rescue a photo and this is getting mixed reviews - what can ya do. I gotta shove it out there for the world to see.


I was looking at my online sports book and noticed a few interesting bets.

Mission Mars: Will a human land on Planet Mars before December 31, 2020?
NO -500 (bet $100 and get $150 back)
YES +300 (bet $100 and get $400 back)

Green Bay Packers o/u regular season wins
Regular Season Wins Over 8½ -135
Regular Season Wins Under 8½ +105

The sports books have the Packers behind both the Vikings and the Bears.
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INFOMERCIAL FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oshkosh Public Museum Presents Public Enemies Weekend Events

Time may be ticking down on the Oshkosh Public Museum’s The Era of Public Enemies exhibit, but the museum is fueling up for an autumn full of flashy cars and semi-celebrities. Weekend programming, including a Public Enemies car show and movie extra day, will provide fun family outings into the fall.

Oshkosh, WI – August 26, 2009 - The Oshkosh Public Museum is planning several weekend events to coincide with the summer’s blockbuster exhibit, The Era of Public Enemies. This fall, exhibit programming and events will bring back the glitz and glamour of those few days of Hollywood in Oshkosh .

“We’ve had great success with the exhibit thus far,” explains museum marketing coordinator Megan Del Debbio, “but we’d like to finish with some family-friendly weekends that give visitors a last-chance glimpse behind-the-scenes of Public Enemies before the exhibit leaves the museum in October.”
On Saturday, September 12, the museum will host Chrome and Cocktails, a Public Enemies vintage car show. A number of 1920s and 1930s cars used on set for the filming of Public Enemies will be on display on the museum grounds from 1-4 pm. After cruising the grounds and taking in the car show, visitors will be invited to step inside for free non-alcoholic cocktails served from Johnny D’s, the exhibit nightclub. As part of the day’s events, the museum invites visitors to dress up in 1930s clothing to be judged for a costume contest.
On Saturday, October 3, the museum will give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at what went into the production of the Public Enemies movie. Movie extras, set designers and stagehands will be at the museum from 1-3:30 pm to talk about their roles and experiences in the production of the Hollywood hit. Adding to the day’s festivities, light refreshments and non-alcoholic cocktails will be served from the exhibit nightclub starting at 1:00 pm.

The museum will wrap up the exhibit with a free admission day for University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumni on Saturday, October 17, from 10 am–4:30 pm. The museum is pleased to present this offer in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Alumni Association and in conjunction with UW Oshkosh’s 2009 Homecoming festivities.
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Well - it's time for me to run to the dentist for some humiliation and dehumanization as they poke my gum's with sharp sticks and then yell at me for not flossing five times a day.

Don't ask - I have no idea.

Rod

Grumpy Wednesday and the word "coalesced" is used incorrectly

Hi Y'all!

Not in a wonderful mood today so bear (bare?) with me.

According to Paul Scharf, a real reporter, arrests are up in Columbus. I mention this because Trooper Zank, our hero, has had a busy summer protecting motorists in Columbus be pulling them over because of the lack of front license plate. Last weekend DJ and I were out for a drive and saw him pull over two cars on separate highways (not at the same time).

So I have now seen him give out seven tickets. Thank you Trooper Zank for protecting us. I'm sure you are spending our tax payer money in the most efficient way. Thank goodness you are not on an actual Highway helping people.

OH - according to the State Patrol Website

"The State Patrol promotes highway safety and enhances the quality of life for all Wisconsin citizens and visitors by providing professional, competent and compassionate law enforcement services. But if you do not have a front license plate we will ticket your ass"
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Put this on your calendar - September 11 (a Friday night) will be a GRAND reopening of the West James Gallery. Come at take a peak at Kim's new digs. Then perhaps we can all coalesce (not used correctly but - deal with it) get a brew at the Kurth!! OH - I have some canvas on the walls!



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A Sunflower photo

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Seems the City Council is going to have a survey about what to do with Udey Dam. 1044 random people will get the 8 page surveys. It will cost $5,650 to get all views of uninformed residents of Columbus. I guess you know how I feel about this. Seems a cop out to me. They can't make a decision so let's ask the people that know less then then them about it.

I hope I get one.

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The Columbus Community Hospital Chicken Shoot was Saturday. The first time DJ heard there was a Chicken Shoot she was amazed that they would shoot defenseless chickens. I said "well, chickens are pretty nasty and dirty, maybe these are the real bad chickens". But then later we heard it was a trap shoot with the winner getting a frozen chicken and a frozen pizza. WHEW!!

I didn't want to get PETA involved.

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I was watching The Universe last night about the origins of the moon (that large bright object in the night sky which is not the sun).

I thought this to be ultra cool and found the section that was real interesting on YouTube. Seems there was a giant fender bender a few hundred years ago.

Plus if you watch it you can now have a reason to say "coalesced" which is a cool word to say.


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I'd like to give my condolences to my good friend John Pratt who had his sister pass away a few weeks ago. I'm sorry for your loss John!

Rod Out

Corn Corn Too Much Corn

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I'm considering changing the name of the blog. I'm not sure if Public Enemies Columbus actually fits anymore. Opinions? Is this something I should be thinking about? Whatever I/we decide the address would either stay the same of it would transfer to the new name automagically. Maybe I should take over the FrontPorch Columbus site as my own (since it's rather a dead blog at the moment).
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If I printed out all of my blogs they would wrap around the Dallas HD Video board 10 times.

Stick that in your pipe Jerry Jones!

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This time of year in Wisconsin and the Midwest it is Sweet Corn time. With about 20% of readers not living in the Unites States perhaps the idea of Sweet Corn is a strange one (I really don't know).

We have festivals where the featured food is boiled or steamed Sweet Corn, slathered with butter and sprinkled with salt (I like Italian Seasoning at times also).

Sweet Corn is a variety of maize with a high sugar content. The corn is picked when immature and eaten as a vegetable, rather than a grain.

The Iroquois Indians gave the first recorded sweet corn called Papoon to European settlers in 1779 and it soon became a popular vegetable in southern and central regions of the United States.

The benefits of sweet corn is that when cooked it has a significant antioxidant activity, which can substantially reduce the chance of heart disease and cancer.

ANYWAY - every year on the same date as the local Sun Prairie Sweet Corn Fest (if you want GOOD sweet corn DO NOT go there) DJ's relatives have their own corn fest in which I am thrown into the mix of a few hundred relatives and am suppose to remember their names. I'm getting better, another decade and I should be good.

So I stand around smiling, personality mirroring and nodding and do pretty well for the most part. The corn is good and all the food others have brought is pretty good but it seems I missed the "adult" brownies which, from what I hear, were a BIG hit later in the evening.

I was not going to post a photo of me but I had THE SHIRT on. Anybody that has a Public Enemies Shirt and goes on vacation, make sure you get a photo of it with some famouse object in the background - I'll post it. I have an Alaskan-shirt photo coming soon


The big hit of the event was little Caydie-bird who had a real active weekend. Her first restaurant (trivia alert - The Capri) her first Sweet Corn Festival, her first Wedding shower party thing and her first Packer Game with daddy (sort of scary with daddy getting excited).


Obviously Jennie is already messing with her head with the socks on the hands thing.

Also at the sweet corn festival was some dude who was missing a monkey but had the pipe organ.

Some people brew beer, some make pipe organs.

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On another topic.

I like to make jokes about our Corgi, Blake, and his brain power but in reality he is pretty smart . . on somethings. I bring this up because I have been reading some new research about dogs brains and how they work.

Anybody that has lived with a dog will understand. Sometimes it's like they can read your mind. For instance, last week Blake was laying around in the bedroom and I was walking in and out for various reasons. But then I needed to go to the store and had to get some socks. I walk into the room and BAM, Blake is up looking at me with his "can I come along eyes". WTF - how did you know that!

Dogs are amazing at body language. They can tell the tiniest subtle movements, maybe I was walking up straighter, with purpose, maybe a little faster. Who knows.

When I let him outside I always have to make sure Sierra our little cat does not get out. I put a foot up to block her and Blake notices that. Now he stand back and wait for me to clear her out of the way. Then when I let him in he will purposefully block her with his nose and turn his body sideways, always in front of her. Then look up and smile at me.

Dogs are awesome.

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Anybody know what sort of flower this is? The tiny purple ones with the white center are?

Mostly shade I suppose as they are below street level. This is the building across from the Glass Bank on the Square. Look down into the stairwell. Pretty little garden.


Have a nice day - lots of rain coming tomorrow - cold front is going to stall south of Madison and rain will stay on top of the front Wednesday.

BTW - the 3 month outlook as above average temps for our part of the country. Normal Precip.

Looking farther out they are looking at a warmer then normal Winter.

Have a nice day.

F-DAY

DJ has an F-Day today so I figured I'd take a vacation day. SO - here I am and since I have not been up for 3 hours already my brain is sort of fuzzy - SO - a short blog for a Monday.
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I'm going to start this Monday off with something SO stupid and so insane that . . . .well . . . I gotta pass it on in hopes that anybody that tries this will have their gene pool stopped and we will no longer have to worry about that generation.

I'll join you all after the insanity.


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SIGH - I think what is so intriguing about that video is just thinking what they will do NEXT to beat that!
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Back to reality.

I was driving home Thursday on a cloudy stormy day and spotted a beam of sunlight striking a field in the distance. I quickly took the next exit onto small roads and spotted fields of yellow in the distance. I drove towards it and what I saw were fields and fields of sunflowers.

As luck would have it my camera had no memory card - OOPS - so I only had a point and click camera but took a mental note of where the fields were.

But now came the hard part. How do I shoot a field of sunflowers. I've seen hundreds of sunflower photos. Do I want to shoot something that has been done before? Can I help it? Geez - I feel ANY photo I take will just be a copy of what I have seen. Been there, done that.

So I thought I had an idea but the weather did not cooperate. DJ and I went out anyway - I took some photos and I'll go back with new ideas. Here is one of my attempts. Sunflowers were a learning experience.

OH - Mr. sunflower - I'm not done with you guys yet.
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Thats it - time for coffee

Have a great Monday

Go Packers - there is a thought.

We watched the Vikings Friday night and I swear the announcers had a boner as they kept talking about awesome and wonderful Favre was. The fans were not as excited as the announcers but they were into him. I have no problem with Viking fans being excited. After all, all they NORMALLY see and all the world NORMALLY sees are his amazing moments. The 60 yard rockets for TD's and so forth.

I mean this in all seriousness amd am being totally honest - I hope they get the total Favre experience. I would like them to feel the exasperation of the bonehead "what were you thinking" plays.

They will have the 3 and 4 TD games but as favre gets more comfortable he will loosen and start "having fun", MARK MY WORDS.

Plus - the Vikings allowed 43 sacks last year. I have to think the Metrodome is a little harder then Lambeau Field. The announcers said that there will be 33% less sacks with Favre this year because he gets rid of the ball so fast, well, I think they forgot to factor in that Favre is not as mobil as Jackson. I think it's a trade off.

Brett will be on his back a lot and throwing in a hurry trying to make things happen.

Good luck Brent.

UPDATE - seems we're going to Ho-Chunk with DJ brother and wife (Don and Becky). What's the saying - What Goes to Ho-Chunk Stays at Ho-Chunk?

Cheers
Rod

Government bureaucracy, District 9 trailer and yada yada

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Columbus makes National News
The Today Show - the 3:40 mark!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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ALERT - we are looking for more people for a football pick'm pool. All NFL and selected Collage games against the spread each week. We are down a few people this year to maybe 8 or 10. $50. Lots of money spread around. Winner each week gets $$ and top 3 places. Contact me (easy competition).
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We have all heard my stories of my lifelong exploits with my friend Elweed. We have known each other since before kindergarten and thinking about it he is actually more like a brother you would like to kick every so often.

He is a poverty person who has SAD (Social Anxiety Disorder) works 15-20 hours a week at low wages cleaning because he can be on his own. If you want someone to clean your house or business there is no other person I would hire then an anal cleaner (like Monk).

He makes about $8000 a year and applied for BadgerCare + CORE and Foodshare recently because it became available. Before these programs you had to be a non-American or a woman with kids to get any health benefits.

He was excited as he has seen a Doctor only once in the last 30 years and I doubt he has seen a Dentist since High School.

He applied and received all the forms and became exasperated at trying to figure out what exactly is needed. People like this have not really dealt with government bureaucracy.

So he applies and on their site it says BY LAW his request MUST be handled in 1 month or less. If it takes longer contact Enrollment Services. After 7 weeks he tries to call but uses up all 30 minutes left on his phone while on hold. So I call and after 49 minutes on hold I'm told to disregard the BY LAW thing and all is going well and they will contact him.

After 7 weeks they contact him and say they need certain information and it MUST be in to them within 7 days or they will "deny your assistance".

This puts a little stress on him.

He ask me for help so I look at the forms because they baffle him. One says he needs "Proof of Health Insurance Access" . . . . . . . what? what does this mean exactly? and there are a number of other things that will take more time to get as it is from his place of business who are not really "into" doing things fast and a few other ticky tacky things but if you do not have a car it's a freaking hassle.

"If you have trouble obtaining the information please call as soon as possible".

I call the number listed and am on hold for 65 minutes. Finally I'm told not to worry about the time thing and just send what you have with a letter explaining that more is coming.

So he gets everything ready and it is due today. The instructions say "Send or bring photocopies of these items to the agency . . . " . Well - he wants to do everything right so he decides to bring in the papers. HOWEVER - there is no address on any forms.

We figure out where the offices are and he WALKS four miles with papers in hand to deliver his forms.

NOPE - they say you can not hand in the forms, you can only mail or FAX the forms. He says but it says "bring in" and they say if there is a problem you can always "call the number listed" OR use the FAX.

He has never even used a copy machine much less a FAX and he is a little ticked off now.

SIGH! Now I see how they are trying to save money. Make it so convoluted half the people that need help will drop out.

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Lately I've not been drinking coffee at work to save some money and instead I've started taking out all my bills and rubbing them between my fingers since 90% of all American bills have trace amounts of cocaine. I'm not sure if this is good news for Starbucks! But then - it does not seem to be working very well for me and I might have to start licking all my bills! What do you think.

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Speaking of Global Warming. One of the common theory's is that while the earth warms (due to natural conditions of man made) there will be more violent weather. In Wisconsin this year there has been a huge LACK of violent weather. In fact this summer is one of the calmest on record with only 12 twisters. This lack of twisters is creating The Weather Geek Blues. Might as well live in San Diego.

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Happy Birthday Hawaii!!! I hear there are protests over there about being part of America. Well, I'm sure you would be much better off being part of the Japanese Empire instead of the American Empire. At least you would not have to pay your woman so much. That whole equal pay thing America has is not quite how Japan does things.

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Movies. When I saw the first advertisement for Inglorious Bastards I knew this was not a movie I would be seeing with DJ. And I still think that. But this thing is getting some big time buzz. It had a 16 minute standing ovation at Cannes, it got 3.5 out of 4 stars in USA Today, and EVERYONE is talking about it's violence and humor.

I've never had a problem with funny violence. Heck I read The Preacher which was a way way funny black humor Comic (I have copies if anyone wants a good dark humor comic) one of my all time favs.

I might have to Netflix this one as I love a movie that reinvents history.

Another movie getting big time Buzz is District 9 which is being called "the most inventive sci-fi action film of the summer". It's about some aliens whose ship breaks and they are forced to live in the inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. The area is called District 9 and is for Whites only. Now they are being forced to move.

I might have top go see this one. The aliens just want to go home - they don't want to be here either.


District 9 trailer


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Have a great weekend.

Rod

Shot Down at Little Bo

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Sources are telling me there is another big budget 20s-30s period piece in the works, BUT, because Wisconsin no longer has any tax incentives it is going to be filmed in Illinois and Michigan!

Well done Department of Commerce.
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I received an email from Kitty from a recien trip to Little Bo. Here is the reprinting
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Shot Down at Little Bo

It was going to be a leisurely Tuesday in the Northwoods. Spend the morning prowling around in the woods in search of the White Deer herd near Boulder Junction. Then make a stop at Little Bohemia to lap up some suds; pick up a copy of The Little Bohemia Lodge Chronicle; and find out when in the heck they were going to start the Dillinger Room Tours.

So much for plans. Kitty had been shot down at Little Bo. Even though the huge sign out on Hwy 51 said something about only serving dinner on Tuesdays, I thought "Well, so they're not serving breakfast and lunch today. At least the bar will be open and I can lap a few suds and purchase my souvenirs." I was wrong, as were several other potential patrons who were there when I pulled in and continued to pull in as I was leaving.

It is apparent that the folks at Little Bo have been planning for Public Enemies pilgrimages. Their website has been promoting the Dillinger Room Tours and they have a huge PE banner on the building. Plus they came out with the Chronicle chock full of reproductions of original newspaper clippings as well as some stuff on filming at Little Bo.

Even though they were closed, that didn't stop people from flocking to Little Bo. Many seem thrilled just to be able to walk around outside and go around back to look for the bullet holes. Anyone planning a trip to Little Bo should keep a few things in mind: only dinner is served on Tuesdays (I believe they open at 3 p.m. and start serving at 5 p.m.); the Dillinger Room Tours have begun and the charge is $5; The Little Bohemia Lodge Chronicle is available for $6.

Kitty

Kitty sent a copy of the Little Bo Lodge Chronicle and it is really cool. A ton of actual Dillinger photos and news stories from that time and reproductions. Not sure how you can get one but it's certainly something you would want if you are collecting Dillinger stuff.

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For ANYBODY that watches Big Brother (American version) seems Chima is now Twittering and she is even more . . . . . . interesting out of the house. In case no one knows what I'm talking about she was the 3rd person to ever be "fired" from playing the game. In fact it was REAL funny when they escorted her out. I guess throwing a $4000 microphone in the pool is not the smart thing.

Of course she claims she left on her own terms (except they had her by the arm and walked her out).

And of course that only leaves two major nut jobs in the BB house. One is Lydia who called Jordon a whore (she is a very sweet girl) but I guess she forgot she "went down" on Jesse after knowing him for 3 weeks (I guess she forgot cameras are on her 24/7 for EVERYBODY to watch?). Jjust showing gratitude I guess.

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I have a new blog that will show up on the left side called The Madison Beer Review. Pretty good read and pod casts

OOOPSSS - I have to run - they are telling me to log off for

THE MIGRATION - PRAY FOR ME!!!

Rod

We will never forget you Brent.

I won't get into the whole Favre issue . . . much. Just a couple comments/observations.

Did he really say

"If you are a true Packer fan you will understand why I joined the Taliban"
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When the circus tents arrived in Minneapolis from Philadelphia there was a new conference with our former hero. Favre explained that if you are a REAL Packer fan you will understand why he is playing for the Vikings . . . . . . I'm thinking he might be wrong on that one.

He also said that he talked to his good friend Frank Winters who said "this is America it happens all the time" . . . . . . .I'm thinking he might be wrong on that one also.

Favre said that it was not his choice that the Packers decided to go a different direction . . . . . if I remember correctly Favre retired with tears and AFTER he retired the Packers decided to go a different direction.

I heard this morning that officials are saying that the tickets to the Viking/Packer game in Green Bay will probably be the most expensive tickets ever so I went to ebay and saw you can get two tickets on the 40 yard line for a BUY IT NOW price of $800. But - you can get a deal if you look elsewhere as they are only like $400-$500.

We will never forget you Brent.
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For some reason we were talking butterfly's, Monarchs to be exact and I was thinking about this guys amazing journey of 3000 miles to his/her winter home (as seen in the red below).

How can something so fragile fly 3000 miles. BUT WAIT - it gets even MORE interesting and amazing.

Lets start in the beginning. The butterfly wakes up from his or her winter nap in Mexico and finds a mate and then starts to fly north. It's been battered and beat up from the trip south so she will only live for a few more weeks (2 to 6 weeks actually) and as she flies north she will lay eggs along the way.

She soon dies of old age but then the eggs she laid hatch creating a caterpillar who soon becomes a 1st generation butterfly. This 1st generation butterfly finds a mate and starts to fly north laying eggs along the way. She will only live 2-6 weeks.

Then the 2nd generation hatches and the process starts again. The Monarch will fly north laying eggs and soon die but then the 3rd generation hatches and soon THEY start to fly north laying eggs along the way.


HOWEVER - then the weird thing happens. The 4th generation hatches but this one is different. The 4th generation are the ones that live for 6 to 8 months and THEY are the ones that will take the long long journey south back to Mexico AND, they will nest in the exact tree that the original butterfly came from!

They will have their big butterfly party and then settle down for a winter nap before waking up and starting over.

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OH - Milo - seems he had a deep puncture wound and when I asked him where he got it he said it was from a Coyote attack, but then it changed to a Great Horned Owl picking his up and later it was the neighbor with a pellet gun so I'm thinking Sierra got him when they were playing.

I dropped him off at the Doc and they said they would look at him when they had a chance. Later I got a call and they asked if they could sedate him because he is a big big strong cat with sharp sharp claws and they were scared of him.

I said PLEASE sedate him and if there is any left over can we have it for him at night. They laughed (I guess that meant no).

So they fixed him up but I guess they gave him a LITTLE too much and he had to stay over night!

No matter - cost a TON of money.

Reminds me of a knee operation. I was awake and they set up a TV so I could watch the operation. I was totally blitzed out on liquid Valium and having just a wonderful time babbling away about Jacques Cousteau. I realized I might be bothering the Doctor and babbled something out me being quite and he said there was no problem.

About 5 minutes later I remember him saying "Could you give Mr. Melotte a little more medicine" and I said "no no I'm fin . . . .zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

I remember waking up and seeing all the dots on the ceiling and commented on them and the nurse leaned over and I commented on her breasts but then I went asleep again.
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Anybody know a good seamstress in Columbus? DJ purchased some jeans they are too long. A few years ago I purchased some designer jeans for for her and we took them to some one in Madison with blue hair and she stitched the jeans a little short. She did not understand that a blue jean CAN rub a little on the ground.

ANYONE ANYONE?
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And Finally - I would like to give my condolences to Doug Caldwell and family for the loss of their mom!

Of all the saddest days in a person's life, the saddest by far is when they lose their mother.

I am sorry my friend.

Rod

Not Udey Again!

.

Abe Vigota is ALIVE. If you are wondering if he was Alive of Dead I placed a link on the left side for your daily check.

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The Brandts were in Canada and had set their timer to take a photo of themselves on vacation when this happened.


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Did you know that some promoter offered Pink Floyd $250 million to go on tour? They said no. I guess they didn't need the money.
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OK - I was putting this off but COME ON NOW Columbus City Council - get some balls!

I can not believe they STILL can not make a decision about wheather to fix or demo Udey Dam and now are going to waste $4,000 in Columbus money for a non-binding vote. Now wait a minute here.

I thought that the reason we have a City Council is so they can make informed decisions. We vote for an individual because we believe he or she will make the wise decision. It's their job, right? It's why they ran for office, right? Isn't that the function of a City Council?

The City Council functions as a parliamentary or congressional style legislative body, proposing bills, holding votes, passing laws, AND MAKING DECISIONS to help govern the city.

So here we have the whole Udey Dam business AGAIN. My God people. Mayor Bob Link in his campaign pounded his fist on the table and said "DO THE RIGHT THING". Well - there ya go, here is your chance. DO ANYTHING!

The City Council has all the facts or has access to get all the facts they need to make an informed decision. YET - now they want to spend $4,000 to ask the Columbus residents what to do. AND to make it worse - it's non-binding meaning we vote but it really is a opinion poll so when the vote turns out to be pretty much 50/50 we're back to square one with $4000 less.

They want to have the people that are basically voting with emotions make the wise choice instead of the people, (who we voted for to MAKE decisions) with the facts at their finger tips. It seems they are wringing their hands afraid to make the wrong choice instead of taking this opportunity to make the right choice. They are afraid to succeed.

Asking Columbus Residents for their opinion is a cop out and is more like making sure you get votes for next year! You already have the votes - and the results were YOU make the decisions, that is why you were put in office. You are not going to please everybody on this one.

SIGH!

BTW - I think you should blow up the dam (preferably from an F-14 of F16 but any military aircraft would do). You can't eat the fish behind it unless you love eating all the chemicals that have built up over the last 100 years. Make it a navigational river, FREE THE RIVER! Repairing will only bring up future problems. Get rid of this problem NOW. The dam does nothing.

If Columbus is trying to be environmentally correct, destruction of the dam is the right thing to do.

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I received an email from Connecticut yesterday. A woman has a huge photo of the Kurth baseball team from around 1900. Her husband's grandfather, August Carl Scheel, is from Columbus and played on the team. She is looking for ANY information on this. I can not find the number of the Columbus Historical Society anywhere. She has tried to contact John and Laurette with no luck.

I can't make it to the Kurth for a while (unless we get thunderstorms Wednesday night).

So any help would be nice.
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COLUMBUS TELEVISION SHOW SET FOR FINAL BROADCAST

The Discover Wisconsin Television episode showcasing Columbus is set for its final broadcast. The program, titled “Columbus – Just What You Want,” is scheduled to air in seven Midwest states August 22 and 23. Locally it will air Saturday, August 22 at 10 a.m. on Fox Sports Net, and at 5:00 p.m. on WKOW TV-27 Madison

Several area residents, business owners and local celebrities are interviewed throughout the program as well.

local celebrities? who do we have that can be classified as a "local celebrity".

The episode was made possible by a joint marketing group, with members from the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the Columbus Main Street organization.
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But the sad news is that I have another beer infection. 3 of last 4 are FUBR. I know what the problem is but because of the lag time there was nothing I could do. sucks! The 1Putt12 APA is a foamer and tastes skanky.

Some equipment was designed poorly and has been replaced. Plus I guess the "sanitize" button on the dishwasher is not really accurate.

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have a super duper day
Rod

A Festival Enhanced Weekend

First - a funny photo from yesterday afternoon.

I was mowing the lawn and the sprinklers went off on the course. I thought this was funny and it was VERY funny when that two some hit both of their balls within 10 feet of the sprinkler head.

Once they retrieved their balls they move forward and THOSE sprinklers turned off and the next ones turned on. TOO FUNNY!

Until the head 10 yards from me and my mower turned on for the first time this year soaking me and the backyard.

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With the 40th Anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair happening I spent a lot of the weekend obsessing, listening and watching anything and everything about the festival. I learned a number of cool things in the process and was sort of shocked to see how many "grown-ups" were so casual about telling the world about their acid experiences.

Most of my life when I have seen someone on TV talking about taking acid there was always some sort of dire warnings about how bad it is. Yet, from my experimentation days in the early 70's (Purple Haze, MDA, Window Pain, Strawberry Mescaline, Peyote Buttons, shrooms, blotters, microdots to name a few). I saw none of the "bad" (although I do remember winning so many spelling bees in High School . . hmmmmm).

Then here it is on TV for hours and hours with these normal looking older people who are just telling stories of their Woodstock experience with drugs and how they met their wife's on acid trips and so forth. it was refreshing to know that I was not the only one to remain alive and for the most part hellthy.

Granted the hallucinogens back then were much pretty clean.

LOL - did I just say "much pretty clean"?

So I had a big Woodstock weekend and wish I would have been a few years older as I know I would have gone (maybe I did go but don't remember?). But I do have one thing I can brag about in my life (besides being married to a wonderful wife who puts up with me).

I believe I was one of the first people in the WORLD to hear Dark Side Of The Moon. Here is why I think this.

On February 4th 1973 Pink Floyd played at the Roland Petit Ballet, Palais des Sports de la Porte de Versailles but that was the Meddle tour and at the time they were putting the final tweaks onto vinyl for Dark Side.

The very first time ANYBODY but immediate band members and family heard Dark Side was February 27th at a press release at the London Planetarium where a stereo recording was played.

Now something most Madison people do not realize. The very first performance of Dark Side was in Madison Wisconsin on March 4th 1973 when Pink Floyd kicked off their new tour. The concert was 6 days before the album was released.

I was in the front row (actually a poor place to see Floyd) just to the right of Richard Wright with 6,000 other people.

I went on to see Pink Floyd five more times.

And speaking of festivals.

I attended The 6th annual London Homebrew Festival and I'm going to have to talk everyone into attending this next year. What an idyllic setting for a festival. This is something that would make a great story from Good Morning America - small town festival in the summer. A true slice of Americana.

My buddy and I Elweed (I'm going to call him THE CRITIC from now on I think) attended and had a wonderful time. Much better then Quivey's Grove and you can really get hammered - no 2 ounce glasses at this baby!

I took a bunch of photos but in all seriousness they are boring. You can not take photos of tents and drinkers and have the same "feeling" we had. The photos seem sterile and lifeless. Not the wonderful, relaxed, content, CHEERS-like feeling we experienced. So - I tweaked the photos.

The setting is in the outskirts if unincorporated London at their Community Center. Two sides are tall corn with the Center and large oak trees for shade. It's absolutely perfect. Playgrounds for kids and dogs are welcome.

First an HDR photo to give you the lay of the land.

The rest are just images that give "me" the feel I had when I was there. As always clicking on the image (notice I do not call them photos) will as always enlarge them.

A summer oil portrait of the Festival if you will.





It was a mix of All Grain and Partial Mash brewing and just like micro brew fests there were good and bad and all sorts of interesting brews - the whole range. you sit back and drink all day among 150 friendly people! This event will keep growing I believe.

Next year DJ and I will be serving my homebrew at this event.

I have more photos but basically they are much the same.

That's it for today.

geez - I had SO much more I thought! hmmmmm

I'm not getting into the Columbus City Council today!

On With The Show the Show Must Go On and so forth.

I'm taking Milo to the vet today because he is is a world of hurt for some reason which is not like him. cars are so stoic that when one shows pain it must be something that really hurts (probably swallowed an entire mouse).

Any - on with the show.

Most photos are click to enlarge.

The largest traveling circus in the world visited Columbus Thursday and ABC's Good Morning America was on hand to film the occasion because, well, Columbus has seems to have become the buzz worthy small town in America. Public Enemies was picked because of it's beautiful downtown and lets face it Columbus is friendly and happy and has a wonderful setting for the Circus.

So I was on hand to document the erection of the worlds biggest Big Top.
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Here is the crew from ABC. If any of you guys that read this blog from ABC know who these guys are I'd love to put a name to them. . . . . . especially that tall dude in the back, not sure he likes me.

So DJ and I arrive at Firemans Park and there is already a crowd looking at the animals and in the center of the park is this.

When I was a kid I used to climb things like this but they would have gravel below instead of that rubber stuff kids get now. Use to be called monkey bars but PETA had issues so they have to change the name to a jungle gym. (I guess we had a sort of a monkey/jungle fusion thing going on actually).

So I wandered around bumping my head on guy wires.

After a while I thought the drugs from the 70's were making a comeback at an inappropriate time but once I noticed that others were seeing an incredibly large caterpillar also I relaxed.

I bumped my head on another blasted guy wire again and took this as I hit the ground

WHAT LUCK!

Then the worker dudes with the muscles started to unroll the giant moth creature.

I looked around again and no one else seemed concerned. That Saturday night in 1974.
whew man crazy!

I tell yea - these guys really worked hard AND they actually DID whistle while they worked!


Once one side was up a guy would basically WALK up the side and start to stitch the tent together.

Slowly but surly each side went up like clockwork. No one was giving instructions or giving orders. It was almost like they had done this before.

It was very hard backbreaking work

Families of the workers looked on.

Once the tent was up we were allowed to walk into the magical realm of the circus tent where everything is a little surrealistic, OR as Glauco Dattini a guru of HDR photography calls it, hyper-realistic.

But but - where are the heffalumps.

And thus appears Jenny who today is going to help pull the poles to expand the top of the tent.

BTW - it was REALLY dark in there. Honest!

In reality this is like zero work for Jenny. All the animals in the Carson and Barns Circus are very well fed and cared for. The most an animal works is 2-3 hours a day and the rest is spent eating, sleeping and socializing (not unlike Government employees - BA BOOM). And in case you are wondering once they get to old to work they are kept at their winter home in Oklahoma.

"Carson & Barnes Circus owners realize that animals are a lifetime commitment. Our elephants spend their "golden years" with our herd in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, under the watchful eye of animal care experts."

OK - perhaps I should not have shown my bag of peanuts.

And that is my story. I stopped taking photos because I think I had fleas or something and was hot and sweaty and Jenny left the scene and all that was left were workers and a bunch of kids hopped up on candy and parents yelling things like if "you don't stop we are leaving you young man" . . . . . . no wait . . . that was DJ talking to me! never mind.

Robbie was there and lost her sunglasses in the tent so if you find any they are Robbies.

Tonight - lets have a brew at the Kurth Brewery

And that is my photo story!

Rod