Grinders Island: Top of the Cat

Balderdash is going to Las Vegas next week and he mentioned renting a car and going Zion National Park for hiking. I mentioned the Grand Canyon which is unworldy in beauty but he said that walking on a 3 foot wide trail with a mile drop was not a comfortable thing to do.

So - I said instead of that he could get a thrill out of this at the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas. I love the audio of this video (insert evil laughter).

OR - as DJ says - why not just get a guy and have him grab your ankles and dangle you over the edge - that would be cheaper and also pretty thrilling!

That actually happened to my buddy Elweed when we were in High School. We were walking across the Fort Atkinson railroad bridge over the deadly (seriously) Rock River and 3 bullys were walking across from the other direction.

I could care less but my buddy showed fear and crossed to the other side. Well - geez - next thing you know he is being hung over the the bridge by his ankles. I laughed pretty hard this morning when I remember that.

I was beat up by that same guy later in life just for being me. I'm sure I got cocky with him at some point. I'm never one to back down even with an impending pounding looming on the horizon. I think my nickname should have been "the glass hammer". While I was getting the tar beat out of me I did manage to get a right hook and gave him a black eye. I think I surprised him some.

My status as a buzzed out hippy was elevated to . . . . buzzed out hippy with a right hook I guess.
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Columbus Block Party! Seems there are plans just beginning for a BIG block Party June 20th (the Columbus Carriage Classic Weekend) Weekend next to the former City Hall on the Boulevard. We're looking for bands and so forth. IF anybody knows of any good bands that would fit into Columbus let me know. A few we have checked have been booked.
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It's always fun to sort of embarrass yourself and Saturday I did just that.. I was in Papa Murphy's in Sun Prairie waiting for a pizza to be made and there were about 4 or 5 others. I could not really tell exactly because you really don't look at people in that situation. You avert your eyes in sort of a elevator style environment. All in your "space", keep a distance and mind your own business, you are here for a pizza and you stand uncomfortably waiting.

At least that is how it was how it started.

So I'm standing there and I see The Onion sitting on the counter and I boldly walk over and grab one. Of course with movement everybody looks to see who has upset the routine. The first thing I see is.

Latest Sarah Palin Speech Opens Sixth Seal.

and it reads . . .

Speaking unto an audience of anti-immigration advocates, global-warming deniers and members of the Tea Party Nation former governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave forth utterances Monday that reportedly opened the sixth seal of the Book of the Apocalypse*.

Well - for some reason I read that and it seems EXTREMELY funny and I actually LOLed but quickly contained the damage and regained my composure. The others in the store gave nervous shuffles and I sensed a heightened alertness.

I stopped reading this as it might tickle my funny bone again and turned the page.

Paleontologists: "We've Been Looking At Dinosaurs Upside Down".

. . . definitive proof that for the past 175 years , everyone has been looking at dinosaur fossils upside down."How they moved ,what their appendages were for, we were wrong on everything"

Basically they scooted around by grabbing nearby vines with their mouths and pulling their bodies. Almost like a snake. What we used to think were legs were actually big flappers and flapped about in the air, driving them forward . .

at which point . . . I lost it. Thank goodness I was not drinking anything as it would have come out my nose. Also as luck would have it my pizza was ready seconds later and I exited quickly without looking back and ran to the safety of my car.

NOTE - I don't actually believe there is The Book of the Apocalypse - it's actually the Book of the Revelation of John - OR - the Apocalypse of John and it's the last book of the New Testament. (Apocalypse comes from the Greek's, is a synonym for "Revelation")

And if you are interested- here are the other seals

First Seal: One who is both a king and a conqueror rides forth on a white horse.
Second Seal: A rider on a red horse brings war.
Third Seal: A rider on a black horse brings famine.
Fourth Seal: A rider on a pale horse brings death.
Fifth Seal: The martyrs in heaven cry out for vengeance.
Sixth Seal: There are earthquakes and natural disasters.
Seventh Seal: The breaking of the seventh seal begins another series: the seven trumpets.

The first four seals sound like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse so this confuses me. Were they riding horses of seals! The Four Sealriders of the Apocalypse just does not sound that scary to me.

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I see the Jay Leno Tonight Show is back (I guess I missed it) it's not a pretty site. The one review said that the funniest things were actually Sarah Palins one liners and there is an "air of desperation to this whole, sad project". WELL DONE NBC!!!

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I entered my first beer competition, The Drunkin Monk in Chicago. I entered my Wooden Indian Brown. It's a little "extreme" actually for class 10C (American Brown) but I'm hoping for a Top of the Cat(igory) medal.

I'm not big on entering homebrew competitions because if the Top of the Cat phenomenon where the judges taste buds get so compromised only the big brews have a chance of winning. Of course when it is I that has the big brew . . . need I say more .

I'm running low on this so it'll be my next brew. I just bottled my Heidi-weizen which is a great beer also and balderdash who gives me painfully honest appraisals of my brew said and I quote "The Heidi Weisen was the best I have ever tasted." unquote.

The pipeline is running strong again - winter is tough because I can not ferment at the correct temperatures. after the Indian Brown I have a label I have to brew. Yea - you read that right. I have a label I've been sitting on for 6 months but I need a brew to go with it. LOL

remember my American Amber? Let's just say Amber as a sister.