Red Bud Days Are Upon Us

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Celebrate Spring with the blooming of the famous Columbus Redbud Trees. First Lion's Brat Stand of the new year, special events throughout the city, city-wide garage sale, sidewalk sales and the Columbus Prince and Princess contest. May 9th!

That comes from a website called The Bubbler.

Looking for other information I see nothing on the City website - not even on their calendar. I'll mention this again - Columbus has to be the worst city for tooting it's own horn and advertising.

For a town of 4500 this place has so much going for it, it's like everyone wants to keep it a secret.

What do we have?

An Aquatic Center, 27 holes of golf, a hospital, amazing flowering trees, the entire down town Historic district (in which the government cares nothing about . . it seems), Amtrak, a non navigational river, THREE pizza places, a Chinese restaurant, a corridors for FIVE highways (we're like Bastogne if there is another world war - I can totally see the Allies defending Columbus at all costs), over 200 one hundred year old buildings in great shape, the epic center for Public Enemies, six parks including the beautiful Firemans Park with it's deer pen where animals can be viewed in their natural habitat behind wire link fences, a huge fireworks display that, from a newcomer from Madison, amazed me (this year 33% larger).

Now I understand that being a small town has it's problems, just not enough people to get things down. I know this first hand because the Main Street Website is a little outdated but we're working on that. But Main Street is not funded by the city (any more - why would the city want to help an organization that promotes . . the city). However - I would think The City of Columbus website would be a little more up to date.

Even the Chamber of Commerce has a broken link to their website. THAT will bring in business won't it!! I'm not putting the blame on any one in particular but come on people - let's get it together. Broken links? For a city? It's like people take no pride in their city. Let's find someone who is not me to get things fixed (I'm taken).

ANYWAY - in celebration of Red Bud Days which only the people in Columbus will know about, soon (tomorrow) at all the normal places you will find a new post card (except Walgreens which I'll have to talk to AGAIN)!

I don't know why "Columbus" is blurry, must be a 72 pix problem online

West James Gallery
Sharrow Drugs
Julie's Java House
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Speaking of photos - I have the beginnings of a new website.

Melotte Photo Imagery

I just needed a place to show stuff. I have all this pent up photo marketing from 30 years of taking photos.
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On this day in 1945 - A Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon. A pregnant woman was killed in the only fatal attack of its kind during World War II.
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Speaking of Public Enemies. dum dum dee dumm dum dee dum de dum

Tips on how to make 'Enemies'

This comes from the LA Times

Billy Crudup gets asked the same two questions whenever he tells friends he's playing infamous FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover in Michael Mann's gangster thriller "Public Enemies."

The first question is always an excited "Really?" says the 40-year-old Tony Award-winning actor. "The second question is, 'Did you put on a dress?'

"There you have it," says Crudup, who was last seen as the towering blue Dr. Manhattan in "Watchmen." Crudup promises he keeps this Hoover strictly in the closet.

Set in 1933, the action-thriller, which opens July 1, revolves around the legendary Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), whose crime spree in Chicago made him Public Enemy No. 1 to Hoover and the recently formed FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale).

Crudup spent just two weeks working on the role last year in Chicago and Wisconsin, and said his time playing opposite Bale was great. But he's still looking forward to working with Depp -- the two had no scenes together.

Crudup says that the "Public Enemies" script, by Ronan Bennett and Mann and Ann Biderman, was rich with character development -- "filled with this mixture, which seemed always to be Hoover's problem, of ego and patriotism. That was more than enough for me to tackle him."

Mann, says Crudup, always sort of characterized Hoover as a visionary to the actor. " 'Visionary' to me speaks of somebody who is attempting to change society or culture for the good," Crudup says. "It was interesting to think of him in a somewhat positive light."

Crudup was in awe of Mann's skills as a filmmaker ("The Insider," "Heat").

"He's incredibly ambitious and has a fierce intellect and is driven to create spectacular work," he says. "He is fastidious about everything and really likes to be the singular voice behind, not just the spirit of, but the minutiae of the story he's telling. It's impressive . . . I barely have the mind to juggle my lines!"
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The Chicago Sun Times has a photo of Columbus in it's May 3rd edition.

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Brewers

A Brewer vent - WHAT was Manager Macha thinking??? Hall in Left Field? He admitted after the game that he did not know that Hall had NEVER played left field, and nobody mentioned it to him?? Hello? Knock knock anybody home?

Also it seems that according to one statistical analytical website Cameron is the #1 most valuable defensive outfielder in all of baseball so far this year.

Kendall is the 2nd worst catcher in the Majors at throwing out runners so far this year. And the Brewers, IF you take away the 1st game of the year, steal the least amount of bases. 8 total but 4 in the 1st game of the year. The funny thing is that Baseball as a whole is having a HUGE stealing year!

According to ESPN

Macha said he hid in the bathroom when Hoffman took the mound to start the ninth. Hoffman had earlier complained in jest that his AC/DC entrance music wasn't loud enough, causing the sound crew to crank it up the last two appearances. "That baby is so loud, you should have OSHA investigate that," Macha joked.

So what does that tell us?

1. Ken Macha does not like loud music
2. Trevor Hoffman likes loud music
3. Trevor Hoffman>Ken Macha
4. Ken Macha likes to hide in the bathroom

GO BREWERS!


BTW - which is better

Frame #1 or Frame #2 If I'm going to have an entire wall of photos. Seems to be a difference of opinion on Photo.net
Rod Out

Vaguely familiar

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www.FrontPorchColumbus Dot Com

Good news and bad news about H1N1.

First of all it's a mild flu so people getting it are not really getting EXTREMELY ill. The bad news is that still, if 100 million people get it and are off for a week it's going to hurt the economy. But the good news is that it seems if you are over 60 you have a good chance of being immune but the bad news is I'm not over 60.

It seems my home town where I grew (Fort Atkinson) has a school that is closed. The GOOD news is that I went to Purdy Elementary and the school that is closed is Berrie which used to be Elementary. Yes - I was a Purdy Boy. We had a pretty big rivalry back then in 2nd grade. You really did not want to get Purdy Boys mixed with Berrie Boys! Toy trucks would be flying.

Actually I started my troubling ways in Purdy when I brought a mighty fine National Geographic to school. Can you believe I can STILL see those natives in my minds eye? I was expelled until my dad stormed into school and reamed some principle a new arse hole. And it was all down hill from there.

Back to H1N1, the bad news is that if millions of people go down with the flu and are needing to go on respirators, the United States does not have enough so you will have to wait in line.

The good news is that while you are waiting in line for a respirator there are a lot of great movies coming out this summer. (ok - not the best transition there but . . it's Monday)

On the Today Show they were talking about summer movies and Public Enemies was the one the reviewers were REALLY waiting for as being the big one of the summer.

One that is not on everyone's radars is "Julie & Julia". In August 2002, Julie Powell started documenting online her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in "Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a blog.

Then she wrote a book called "Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen" and it was picked up and was made into a movie - the very first movie based on a blog.

Here is the trailer which it seems IMDB people HATE because the movie is SO much better.

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So I was looking into Julia Child and saw that during WWII she worked for the Secret Intelligence division of OSS (Office of Strategic Services) working directly for General William J. Donovan, the leader of OSS. She typed ten thousand names on white note cards that were used to keep track of officers.

Then she worked for the OSS Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section where she helped develop a shark repellent that made sure sharks would not explode ordnance targeting German U-boats.

Anyway - movie looks good. In fact a LOT of movies are looking good this summer.
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Ever watch a TV show and a character keeps reminding you of someone you know?

Every time we watch Parks & Recreation (which is pretty good - never mind the 1st show - remember - The Office sucked it's 1st year) and we see Ron Swanson the image of Who's always pops into our head.

Just seems to fit.

Here is a little clip of Who's at about the 15 second mark - you tell me!!



OK - I believe this is just a Caricature of Who's actually. :-)
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sigh - I'm looking at my calendar that has all the important things in my life. Like Plants being delivered Friday, Hazel's Nut Brown Ale's 6 month birthday, Meeting at Kims on Tuesday, Golf on Wednesday and FRKNES on Monday . . . . . . I wish I knew what that meant. Is it a meeting? Some appointment? A clever reminder? I guess I'll find out at some point.
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Saturday morning I was taking photos of Nancy O's house and left a 6-pack of beer off on the porch - I hope she got it before any neighbor found it.

I took this shot after walking next door to take a photo of a woodpecker on a power pole. I hope it looks better on a real monitor - this one is dieing.


Have a Monday
Rod

TGIFF and touring the lawn!

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www.FrontPorchColumbus Dot Com

Very important warning…

CDC Warning:
***DO NOT DO THIS!!!***

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Man it's been a long week. Thank God it's Frapping Friday!

I have to point you to a new blog, American Carriage Builder - pretty cool stuff by a trouble maker. Check it out - interesting carriages and I have to get my camera over there.
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How bout dem dar Brewers. For a while I would wear my Brewer jacket and people would look at me and like I could see their eyes saying "I'm so sorry your team really blows, you must be in agony and your life must really suck . . . . . loser".

HA!! Who is the hottest team in the NL baby!!!

Check out this graph . Let me explain.

The horizontal axis is Pitching dependent ERA. It only counts ERA the Pitcher is responsible for, walks, strikeouts and home runs allowed.

The vertical axis plots the number of balls in play (batted balls, not including home runs) converted into outs.

Teams in the upper right quadrant have good pitching AND good fielding, while teams in the lower left have poor pitching AND poor fielding.

You can see the Brewers have below average pitching but good fielding.


If you are looking for a team to root(??) against it's the Mets and of course teh entire NL Central.

One thing the Brewers are doing this year is walking a lot more - The batting averages are about the same but their OBP is .345 compared to .325 last year. Plus take into account two full time player hitting a collective .160 OUCH!!!

Another oddity is that the Brewers lead the NL in Home Runs but do not have one player in the top 10 in HR's.
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Movie goers - hang on to your hats as the summer blockbusters kick off with a month long celebration. X-Men Origins: Wolverine kicks it off this weekend and while many people are thinking it will be a huge hit it does have some hidden problems.

Franchise fatigue - this is the 4th Wolfy movie with the last one being the worst so many fans MIGHT be thinking, ENOUGH! Fan favs Storm, Professor X, Rogue, and Magneto are not really in the movie so there is THAT drawback and lastly all of the clichés, plot twists, and visuals will be in the "been there, done that" arena.

Normally in May studios put out the BIG films to plant the seeds for future films but this year there is a LOT of competition plus many reviews of the movie have not been kind at all, but core fans don't care, IT'S WOLVERINE. Most people "in the know" are saying 80 to 85 mil for the weekend.

Personally I'm excited for the non-geeky non-nerdy, ADULT Star Trek coming out next weekend. Wash your hands of the old and bring on new Star Trek.

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We took a walk around the yard last night but the grass was so long we could not make it to some areas. Guess I'll be mowing the lawn this weekend. HOWEVER - I still have gas in the snow blower - I'll have to run it out. Does anybody know if there is anything I should add to the old gas in the blower?

Of course the one thing worse the mowing the lawn is trying to start the mower for the first time in the year.

As for the gardens, everything is coming up nicely except for the Sweet Autumn Clematis which is showing zero signs of . . anything. I cut it back to about 8 inch's but she looks dead Jim. Although this is the first spring so I don't know what to expect.

I'll have to take photos this weekend of everything as it's the 1st weekend in May. I'm seeing nothing with the Jolly Bee Geraniums either but they are shade loving and the earth is cooler in the front yard.

For those who forgot check out the photos from last year in Lasagna Beds for Beginners.

OH - one last thing - Milo passed a test last night. He was out in the back yard at night and I heard growling and hissing and got a flashlight to look what was goign on. He was on one side of the invisible fence growling at a look-a-like cat on the other side. NORMALLY it's is brawling time and Milo can kick any cats ass but he stayed in the yard.

The other cat ran back towards the mean neighbors yard.

Have a dry weekend.
Rod