Hiking at Pike Island

Evidence of an active beaver population.

 On Tuesday, Shiloh and I packed into the car and drove down to Fort Snelling State Park so that we could hike around Pike Island.

Zebulon Pike was sent up the Mississippi River in 1805 to buy the land for a fort.  This island, which I believe was quite important to the Dakota and Ojibwe, was named after Pike.

I have not been here in a couple of years, but the beaver population definitely is in good shape.  The same can be said for the deer, who were all over the island.

One of many deer.

On the move.

 We saw so many deer that you had to wonder how they were going to do in depth of winter.  We saw some green grass because the snow cover has melted in the recent thaw.

There were some great deer shots, and lots of woodpeckers at the south end of the island.  I saw one pileated woodpecker.

A very muddy romp, but it was great fun.

Out in the meadow.

The Mississippi on the left meets the Minnesota on the right.

Yet more.

Some creature.

Yikes.  I think the beaver knock down a big tree like this and then take the branches off.

As we are leaving we see several turkey and a four point buck.

Help From a Friend...

Shiloh offers to help with the computer work.

Rope-A-Dope...

Ayala Cove, Angel Island, San Francisio

When I look back over the last two years I notice that I seem to be posting a lot less.  I knew that I was down for this year, but I didn't realize that my slump was actually two years long.  Well, no more.

I am taking back the title, and putting pen to paper again.  I am through muting myself so that I don't venture out where the ice is too thin.  That is no way to live...

Joe Strummer's Telecaster

Robbed....

Joe Strummer - 1952-2002

This morning while I was drifting around the house Steve Seel and Jill Riley from The Current played "Burnin' Streets" by Joe Strummer.  Mr. Strummer is best known for his work with The Clash, but the "Burnin' Streets" was on an album by Joe Strummer and the Mescalero's.  Unfortunately Mr. Strummer died of a heart attack at the age of 50, in 2002.

The song has a haunting melody that sent me scrambling for my mandolin.  The song is in the key of F.  "Soon your gonna be runnin down those burnin streets"...

A very belated thank you to Joe Strummer for the wonderful music.  I don't know what I would do without music like this.  Life certainly wouldn't be as rich.

Laughter in the Face of It All....

Tommy Magliozzi

I feel like I lost a close friend this week when I learned that Tom Magliozzi of Car Talk died from complications of Alzheimer disease.  He was 77.

I didn't realize that the last two years had been repeats of earlier shows.  This also explains why Tommy never remembered what the Puzzler was.

Throughout life's ups and downs, I could always tune in Car Talk on Saturday and listen to the laughter.  What a great gift.  I used to plan my drives up north to visit my father so that I would be able to listen to Click and Clack on MPR.

I hate Alzheimers.

The photo to my right touches me.  Tommy seems to be looking right at me.

I will miss his laughter.  The man who would laugh when they took away his leave privileges in the Army.

Tom in his 1953 MG leaving the Good Times Garage.

As always, "Goodbye Tom, and thanks for the lift."

Jimmy Fallon Nails It

Close to the Bone...

Robin Williams at Dairy Queen in Minnesota - July 2014
Rest In Peace

Two days ago my best friend emailed me to share that Robin Williams had died.  We all know that Robin has struggled with drugs, and usually depression is not far behind for someone with that profile, so it is a bit hard to understand why this news floored me the way it did.

Yesterday, I went through the local paper's coverage and I found this picture of Robin.  He was here in Minnesota at Hazelden to try and get help for the pain in was in.

I can't even look at this picture.  Mr. Williams can't even look at the camera.  This so reminds me of my father.  Alcohol and depression had my dad and they weren't letting go.  My dad had a very bad fall and that seemed to end his alcoholism, but he was never really the same - although, because of years of Mr. Smirnoff - my father was gone along time ago...

Years ago a colleague at work killed himself, and that is when I learned that there are times you just can't help everyone.  Sometimes the pain people are in is so great they just can't see a way out.  I hope to never know that pain...

Robin Williams was a hoot.  It seems that some of what drove him was a incredible pain.  I am so sorry that Robin felt his best choice was end it all.  Perhaps now the black dog of depression has picked himself up off of Mr. Williams front steps in Tiburon and got back home..

Twenty Three Hours of Adventure

Saturday morning at The Guardian.

On Friday afternoon, Karyl and I packed the car up and headed southwest.  I recently read about the Jeffers Petroglyphs in southwestern Minnesota and we decided it might be a fun adventure.  As you drive from the cities toward the southwest, the trees fall away to fields of corn and soybeans.  We had dinner in Mankato at Summers 4 Grill - which was fine.  At about eight p.m. we pulled into Windom, Minnesota and The Guardian Motel.  The most unique feature of this establishment was that each room came with its own garage.  You enter your room from the garage.  Most unusual.

Feed & Quilt

On Saturday we hit Jack Slade's World Famous Steak House for breakfast.   The coffee was weak and the potato pancakes I had were funky...quite the aftertaste.  Before heading out to the petroglyphs we saw this quilt shop and had to stop.  The owner was gearing up for the Crazy Quilt Tour which was the following weekend.  Bus loads of quilters go from town to town and have a good time.  The left side of the structure was a feed store and the quilt part was jammed into the back on the right.  Very cozy.

Wilder, Minnesota - Where Breck School started.

Karyl mentioned that Wilder, Minnesota was only eight miles away, and we should go check it out since that was the city were Breck School got its start.  I sneezed and missed Wilder on the first try, but we doubled back and found the "town" which had no buildings other than homes--and not many of those.  Here is the sign that shows where Breck .
After Wilder we headed back to Windom and we noticed smoke billowing up from the center of town.  We investigated and found the fire department and neighbors standing around watching an old house burn down.  Someone told us that they didn't hear any sirens, which let us to conclude that this was a planned event.  Seems an odd way to get rid of an old house, but maybe that is the best/cheapest way to go.

Finally, after the fire we ventured up highway 71 and despite a few bad directions from our Google map app - we found the petroglyphs.  Unfortunately, as we arrived for our visit, so did a passing shower, which made our stay a lot shorter than we had wanted.  The walk from the visitor center out to the ridge of rock that Native Americans used to carve thousands of images was only a couple of hundred yards.  We timed our arrival perfectly to catch the 10:30 a.m. tour, which helped show us many images that I am sure we would have missed on our own.

The stick points near the head of a big Thunderbird.

The images range from "Thunderbirds" to handprints, to animals, to atlalts and drawings of buffalo.  Some of the etchings were more faint than others, but they were lots of them.  It would have been cool to tour the site with a college professor or someone who knew a bit more about what we were looking at, but it was impressive.

Thunderbird in upper left, moose or buffalo calf in middle.
Horses were not here yet.

Building with Tree Sculpture

Finally, we head back home and stopped in New Ulm for lunch.  New Ulm was a center for German settlement way back when.  So we stopped at the Veigel's Kaiserhoff for a German flavored lunch.  After eating way too much food we wandered up and down the main drag. There were a lot of handsome brick buildings.  Here are a couple.

Brick Building from 1890....Wow!

Jeter Introduction - Well done

I have to say that I was moved watching Derek Jeter's introduction at the 2014 All-Star Game.  The game was here in Minneapolis, and I have to tip my hat to MLB.  When I heard Bob Sheppard's voice introducing Jeter - wow.  Hat tip to Adam Wainwright for backing off the mound and allowing the fans the chance to expression our appreciation for Jeter's remarkable career.   The video is from Major League Baseball.  My dad would have loved this moment...

Hat tip to #2.  Well done.

Brazil vs. Netherlands

Flopposaurus

So the Dutch leave the 2014 World Cup with a third place finish.  The Dutch get their first goal when the referee misses a call award a penalty kick in the third minute when it should have been a free kick outside the box.

To add insult to injury the referee awards a yellow card to Brazil in the second half for flopping when Arjen Robben has been flopping left, right, and center during the game.

I didn't think I could feel bad for Brazil, but this was salt in the wound.

Go Down Swinging...

Tim Howard stood on head and kept the USMNT in the game.

Yesterday on Men's National Team lost in extra time to the Red Devils of Belgium, 2-1.

I missed the first half, because I can't tell time and I scheduled a haircut with the one man in the Western Hemisphere who didn't know there was a soccer game on.

I got home at halftime and I saw the rest of the game.  The first fifteen minutes of the second half was played in our 18 yard box, and not very inspiring.   Gradually we were able to move the ball down the field more often, but the only reason we were in the game at all is Tim Howard had an exceptional day in the goal.  He was flat out - brilliant.

Three minutes into extra time Belgium score (#7 De Bruyn ?) and then ten minutes later they scored again on a breakaway.  At that point it would have been easy to spit-the-bit and give up.  We did not!

Julian Green (#16) comes off the bench and scores on his first touch.

Julian Green came in to his first World Cup game as the youngest player ever to play for the USMNT.  On his first touch Mr. Green put the ball in the back of the net, and the game was on.

We didn't give up.  We kept the ball in their half of the field and we peppered the goalie with several shots.

I am so proud of the way our team played this game.

We went down swinging.  Way to go gentlemen!

World Cup - Round of 16 - Shiho Style

Fun Day with Karyl

Stan Bond, Medalist Concert Band

Last Saturday the Medalist Concert Band had a brief show at the Bloomington Farmer's Market.  Here is their excellent trombonist playing "Stardust", which would have sounded better inside where you could actually hear all of his subtle phrasing.  

Sea Salt - Minnehaha Falls

We hit the farmer's market afterwards for some vegetables at a little lunch.  Mine was too spicy for me to finish, but still good.

Karyl

For Date Night we hit Sea Salt where we had some excellent crab cakes and then we wandered over to look at Minnehaha Falls.  Given all the rain we have been having it was roaring.  A bit scary.  Earlier in the week some young man rode a kayak over the Falls and survived.  He had lots of experience in big water, but still not something you want a lot of people doing.

Minnehaha Falls from the top

The Falls from the bridge at the bottom.

The Falls from the bottom

The last couple of shots are around home photos.  The roses are starting to bloom and the cat is loving the summer weather and being able to come and go a bit more.   Life is good.

First roses of the season.

Bubbles lounging.  Fuji#10

Just What I Needed...

Target Field - Section 117

If one definition of a "friend" is someone who leaves you in better shape than they found you, than Jeff Pierce would definitely pass the litmus test as a "friend".  This past week we baked at Target Field as the Astros pounded the Twins.  We took the light rail to the game, which was the highlight of the experience.  Unfortunately after four hours in these seats Jeff's back was quite sore.

On Monday we went by school to pick up some journals that needed grading and then we hit the Once Upon a Crime to load up on good books for the summer.  That evening we were fortunate enough to catch an Elvis Costello show at O'Shaughnessy Auditorium at St. Catherine's in St. Paul.  Elvis was outstanding mixing new and older songs.  Here is my horrible phone picture.    Here is a much better picture from the StarTribune.

Elvis as he really looked.

Elvis Costello at the O'Shaughnessy

A beautiful day at the Low Brow.

On Tuesday we hit the Lakes.  We walked around Lake Harriet and then over to the Low Brow for lunch.  A wonderful lunch provided by Alicia.  For here I hobbled back to the car where we made our what home.

On Wednesday, the highlight of the day was seeing Karyl and Mary Kirby play with Medalist Band at the Pavilion in Como Park.  Fortunately, their music was a lot better than my phone photography.  I brought a camera to this event, but I had no memory card, which made the camera a bit useless.  

Mary Kirby and Karyl at Como Pavilion

On Wednesday we also walked to the Tin Fish for a very scenic lunch.  Again the legs were quite sore by the time we got home that evening.

On Thursday we hit Lake Harriet again and this time we met Erik at his place.  After procuring some  cigars at the Golden Leaf we went to brunch at Butter.  A meal with Erik was wonderful and from there we drove down to the Walker Art Museum for their exhibit on Edward Hopper.  It was impressive to learn that he would make several (as many as fifty) preliminary sketched before he would make a painting.  His painting also have the feeling of being an outsider looking in.  Here are some images from that tour.

Hopper sketched of men - Paris 1905ish

We ended the evening with some ice cream from Sebastian Joe's, which we ranked slightly higher than the sample we had from Izzy's (pre concert) on Wednesday.  Two very good ice cream places however.

Sketches from Paris

Landscape - Massachusetts - I believe

"Office at Night" - I believe is the title - Edward Hopper

We finished Thursday by watching Brazil defeat Croatia to begin the 2014 World Cup.  Oh joy...

On Friday, we hit Lake Harriet one final time before polishing off an eclair from Butter and then heading to the airport.

My problems aren't all solved, but I definitely feel better.  A hat tip to the gentleman from the Emerald City.

Elvis Costello at O'Shaughnessy...Well Done!

Elvis Costello at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul

Elvis Costello weaved quite a tale last night.  This show was very well done.  Costello artfully weaved between new songs and older standards - many of which were played in different tempos or with jazzy twists.

Elvis shared the backstory for a number of tunes - as we learned about his grandfather who played for the White Star Lines before the Depression.  We heard about Costello's father and Costello's own start in the business.

Costello is a first rate guitarist who  seems to float effortlessly between many chords.  He reminds me a bit of a jazz performer who "Never Plays it Straight" - but Costello wanders back to the melody.  Add to this the man's amazing ability to write songs daily - and songs that speak to the heart - and you have a very good show.  Especially when you add that he played for two and a quarter hours.  Well done Mr. Costello.

"Beyond Belief" was there as well "Everyday I Write the Book" but my favorite was when he played "Alison" and sang back and forth with the audience at the end of the song.  What an outstanding evening.

Wow, what a show.  Definitely a top five musical experience.

A First...

Today, for the first time in quite awhile, we took a cat back to the Humane Society. We tried every trick to get this lovable creature to use a litter box on a regular basis, but we had no luck. Karyl did the tough duty and drove for two and half hours to return the suspect. A failed experiment. Sigh.

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It is depressing to learn all the facts about the Dreyfus case, but then books on politics are often disturbing. It is amazing the lengths to which the French went to avoid telling the truth. This is one of the most interesting historical fiction books I have read in a long time. I would give this four paws up.

View all my reviews

Photo: John Minchillo

Last week rallies in Ukraine chased the president Yanukovych out of the capital, and he is now hiding in Russia.  On Friday, last week the Russians sent in troops, tanks, and helicopters to make sure the Crimea remained a place friendly to Russians.

One has to wonder if Vladimir Putin is now the most hated man in Ukraine.  In 2014, can you take over a people who hate you and make the country work.  Yes, Ukrainians need Russian natural gas, and Russia wants to maintain its naval base in the Crimean peninsula, but can this takeover really work?

Has Putin entered another Afghanistan for Russia?  If you have to occupy a people, can it really work?

Photo: Sergei Chuzakov

Looks to me like these people would say, "No."  We shall see.  I am betting this doesn't work out for Russia.