The Kell Well

Happy 38th Birthday, Amy

2010-01-18T08:58:00.002-06:00

Happy 40th Dustin

2010-01-17T08:20:00.001-06:00

Happy 1st Birthday, Aubri

2010-01-09T10:56:00.002-06:00

Happy 9th Birthday, Travis

2009-12-16T11:13:00.002-06:00

Happy 9th Birthday Travis

Happy 11th Birthday, Dylan

2009-12-08T13:25:00.001-06:00

Happy 25th Dustin

2009-10-31T09:13:00.002-05:00

Happy 44th LORI

2009-10-28T20:59:00.002-05:00

Happy 39th Cindy

2009-10-24T09:48:00.002-05:00

October 19: Happy Anniversary Stan & Lois!

2009-10-19T18:12:00.001-05:00

Stan & Lois celebrate their anniversary on October 19!

Enjoy your special day!

They are off

2009-10-11T08:34:00.000-05:00

Omar says the meter is ticking.
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Taxi ride

2009-10-11T08:32:00.000-05:00

Sam and Beth head for the city.
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Birthday at home

2009-10-10T19:17:00.000-05:00

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Carlos bakery

2009-10-10T14:05:00.000-05:00

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Central park carriage ride

2009-10-10T14:04:00.000-05:00

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Bubbas birthday cake

2009-10-09T20:48:00.000-05:00

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Morocco desserts

2009-10-09T20:23:00.000-05:00

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Bellydancer

2009-10-09T20:17:00.000-05:00

Moving pretty darn fast.
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Sam and Beth at the marakesh restaurant

2009-10-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

Belly dancing is next.
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Happy Birthday , Guys

2009-10-06T12:21:00.002-05:00

Scarecrow

2009-09-30T14:01:00.001-05:00

My sentinel. The dogs think he is family.
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Kathy in KC

2009-09-20T10:45:00.002-05:00

I've been helping in Lee's Summit, suburb of Kansas City. This, of course, is a 'set-up' shot of me and Rosa, a shift manager. I am there to help with some new software/hardware in this store. It's a Wingstreet/MainPath which means nothing to you but is a concept that I am not familar with selling 139 different types of wings and other fried foods plus your normal pizza. I will be down there this week also and Rosa has promised to make me some sushi so I'm sort of excited.

Birthday boy

2009-09-20T07:40:00.002-05:00

Hope you had a good birthday, Norm

Dustin in drag

2009-09-19T19:56:00.000-05:00

Spotted at the golf course. Guess he got a stroke taken off for dressing up.
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Happy 24th Birthday, Megan

2009-09-09T20:21:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday, NOLA

2009-09-08T07:22:00.001-05:00

Hoover Dam Bridge

2009-09-01T11:17:00.001-05:00

The bridge won't be done for another year. We are down by the dam taking this picture. This bridge is quite an example of modern large construction and I think will be more of a site than the dam itself. It will be the bypass for traffic so there isn't so much congestion over the dam as they still check every vehicle that goes over it.

Lake Mead

2009-08-30T18:24:00.001-05:00

I'd say the lake is a little low. See the water line on the rocks? Picture take from Hoover Dam.

Morning in Vegas

2009-08-29T09:55:00.001-05:00

It's already 100 degrees...This is our view of western Vegas and mountains from the hotel room. The day we left, you couldn't see the mountains because of all the smoke from the California fires.

Las Vegas

2009-08-29T02:45:00.001-05:00

Made it to our hotel, Treasure Island. I know you can't tell but this is a pirate ship outside the hotel.
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Happy Anniversary

2009-08-26T22:00:00.001-05:00

Lori and Mark in Las Vegas

PFL

2009-08-26T10:47:00.002-05:00

Peewee Football League

Yes, that's 'Bubba' Bouabidi carrying the ball in Giants Stadium during halftime of the Giants game last Monday night. He got to play quarterback.

Cousins

2009-08-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

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Happy 2nd Birthday Lily, on Wed. the 19th

2009-08-18T11:36:00.001-05:00

Grub at the mall

2009-08-12T10:01:00.000-05:00

I took my crew up there cause they had an exceptional year. This is some of us after eating. We may look haggard but we had been to the zoo also
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Trip to the mall

2009-08-12T09:57:00.000-05:00

If you have been to the mall of America you may recognize this amusement park.
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Happy 3rd Birthday, Katelyn

2009-08-07T09:03:00.002-05:00

Lori and Mark in Alaska

2009-08-03T20:55:00.001-05:00

sooooo jealous!

Not bad for a day off

2009-08-03T15:43:00.000-05:00

Too bad it wasn't a dollar machine
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Happy 39th wedding anniversay, Roger and Wendy

2009-07-31T07:45:00.002-05:00

Two people who are "FAMILY" to me.

I wish them the very best.

Happy 17th Birthday Logan

2009-07-31T07:31:00.001-05:00

Skating Babies

2009-07-30T09:57:00.000-05:00

This is great!!

Betty speaks on RAGBRAI

2009-07-28T12:32:00.003-05:00

I spoke with Betty at the Miller/Moody/Copley Reunion on Sunday.

She said everything went perfectly as RAGBRAI overnighted in Chariton.

Nola's Bar did more in sales than they had all year...

Betty may have made a few sales...

and everyone is accounted for...

like it or not.

RAGBRAI overnighted in GC back in '83 when there was only about 7,000 riders. I cannot imagine triple that amount today. It takes a tough infra-structure to accommodate 20,000+ riders and crew. As a matter of fact, Betty said the court house in Chariton shut off all electricity for a while to help with the influx of electrical usage during the day.

About ten years ago when RAGBRAI went through Cedar Falls, we got some fallout in GC. Enough that our sewage system couldn't keep up with the 'traffic'. I doubt if we will host this event in the near future. I think the county fair is as big as we are going to get...

RAGBRAI heading to Chariton

2009-07-24T00:37:00.003-05:00

Wednesday -

Needing fog lights, the bikers head to Chariton.

We are waiting for an on scene account of the madness...if anyone survived...

See ragbrai.com for more pictures. Also a cool map of past overnight towns since the ride began - 1973.

Happy 47th Birthday, Nancy

2009-07-23T09:20:00.002-05:00

Happy 47th Birthday, Nancy

Hope you have a wonderful day.

Don't celebrate tooooo much.

Chinese Heat Wave

2009-07-21T00:49:00.002-05:00

Thousands of people pack swimming pools and beaches in China to escape heatwave.

Look at these crowds! This is what Chariton will look like when RAGBRAI goes through town...

Happy 30th Birthday, Tana

2009-07-20T08:26:00.001-05:00

Happy 7th Birthday, Jacque on July 17th

2009-07-18T20:18:00.002-05:00

Ah, Paradise!

2009-07-17T08:23:00.005-05:00

On the beaches of Big Major Spot Island, the Bahamas, a family of brown and pink boars and piglets live freely on the sandy white beaches and swim in the tropical surf--for real!

Floating Arctic Blob

2009-07-16T21:55:00.005-05:00

Something big and strange is floating through the Chukchi Sea between Wainwright and Barrow, Alaska.

Hunters from Wainwright first started noticing the stuff sometime probably early last week. It's thick and dark and "gooey" and is drifting for miles in the cold Arctic waters.
A North Slope team in a borough helicopter spotted a long strand of the stuff and followed it for about 15 miles, shooting video from the air.
The next day the floating substance arrived offshore from Barrow, about 90 miles east of Wainwright.

The stuff is "gooey" and looks dark against the bright white ice floating in the Arctic Ocean.

"From the air it looks brownish with some sheen, but when you get close and put it up on the ice and in the bucket, it's kind of blackish stuff ... (and) has hairy strands on it."

No more Sears Tower?

2009-07-16T09:46:00.003-05:00

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Sears Tower is history. As of Thursday, the iconic Chicago, Illinois, skyscraper is now named Willis Tower.

At least that's what the owners of the 110-story skyscraper now call it after its new main tenant, the London, England-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings. However, there are plenty of people who refuse to call it that.
More than 90,000 people have joined the group "People Against the Sears Tower Name Change," on the social networking Web site Facebook.

Sure enough, I went to www.searstower.com and up came

"Willis Tower."

I think I will just use "the Old Sears Tower" because at some point, it will probably be the WalMart Tower anyway--as will be Mt Walden (Mt. Rushmore), Sam's River (the Mississippi), and Wally's Dam (Hoover Dam), etc.

A rose is a rose. By any other name, a rose would still be a rose.

-Gertrude Stein or Shakespeare or both

Farm boys

2009-07-12T23:08:00.002-05:00

My calves came running when they heard my voice. Made me have visions of Pamplona. They have been out at the farm for a week now and are enjoying romping around.
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Origami City

2009-07-11T20:44:00.003-05:00

This ain't no 'snowflake'

Mr Ito, 25, started building his 'Castle on the Ocean' when he became bored during his university entrance exams.
Using just a knife and glue, the art student built up an entire cityscape over four years by cutting and folding hundreds of pages of craft paper.
The finished piece is now being displayed for the first time at an exhibition on the artificial island of Umihotaru, near Tokyo.

Capuchino kills man in Spain

2009-07-10T22:03:00.004-05:00

For a bull, this one was on the smallish side, at just over a ton. And its name, Capuchino, sounded harmless enough, like coffee with frothy milk.

Friday, July 10, 2009. A man was gored to death Friday at Pamplona's running of the bulls, the first such fatality in nearly 15 years. Nine others were injured in a particularly messy and dangerous chapter of the tradition.
But of the things that can go wrong when hordes of humans sprint with thundering beasts at Spain's most storied fiesta, the light brown bull did one of the most dangerous on Friday, straying from the pack, spooking and charging at anything that moved.
The rogue bull gored a young Spaniard in the neck, the first fatality in nearly 15 years at Pamplona's running of the bulls. The victim was killed almost instantly as he scurried for cover under a wooden barrier, sliding under it feet-first.
Had he dived headfirst, the experienced bull runner and son of a Pamplona native would probably still be alive.
The party went on despite the death, the 15th since record keeping began in 1924. The running of the bulls — made famous by Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Sun Also Rises" — has never been suspended just because someone has died in the mad, half mile (850-meter) dash from a holding pen to the city's bull ring.
There, the same six bulls that run in the cool of the morning over cobblestone streets face off against matadors and the prospect of almost certain death in the afternoon. Ironically, on Friday, Capuchino was scheduled to go first.
A minute of silence was to be observed in memory of the late Spaniard, identified as Daniel Jimeno Romero, 27, from Alcala de Henares, a town outside Madrid. On the social networking site Netlog, where condolences were being posted Friday, he described himself as a glassmaker who loves soccer and snowboarding.

Spoilers

2009-07-09T09:30:00.003-05:00

I guess it's not all fun being a running bull, either:

Despite all the excitement around San Fermin, there are those who oppose the Running of the Bulls. It’s common for the protesters to be nude and wearing banderillas or barbed darts that are stabbed in the bulls’ necks during bullfights.

In the photo above taken by Alexandra Browning, animals rights protesters affiliated with PETA and AnimaNaturalis, and hailing from 23 different countries, participate in the annual protest against treatment of bulls during San Fermin on July 5. Participants were called on throughout the protest to hold signs in their countries’ languages at the front of the group.

Drunks and Nudes

who could ask for anything more?

Here come the Bulls

2009-07-09T09:09:00.004-05:00

Yes, it is that time of the year again, rivaling the Felix Grundy Festival:

The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain

The following could be said of both festivals:

A major reason why there are so many injuries is that people often run whilst incredibly drunk.
Your biggest fear should be not of the bulls but of other people around you falling on top of you or tripping in front of you. With the vast numbers of people, running this happens a lot. Even if you think you can outrun a bull, take into account that when five people fall in front of you, it is going to be difficult to take evasive action.

Scared at the Sears Tower

2009-07-08T08:26:00.000-05:00

This would be me at the Sears Tower Ledge

Happy 62nd Birthday, SAM

2009-07-05T19:20:00.002-05:00

Strange Sunsets

2009-07-04T23:18:00.005-05:00

While waiting for the fireworks to start, did you notice the strange clouds in the sky? If so, it was caused by swirling sulfur dioxide:
A massive plume of ash and sulfur dioxide expelled by Russia's Sarychev Peak volcano on June 12th is swirling through the stratosphere over the northern hemisphere.

Sarychev's emissions are causing some beautiful sunsets. Here's what to look for: When the sun goes down, delicate ripples of white appear over the western horizon. The ripples are volcanic aerosols--a mixture of ash and sulfur compounds. Then, as twilight deepens, the sky turns a lovely shade of "volcanic lavender." Lavender is what you get when you mix blue light scattered by fine aerosols with ordinary red sunset rays.
Is a plume passing over your area tonight? Keep an eye on the western sky for Sarychev sunsets.

You have to be pretty far north to see these sunsets. Visit www.spaceweather.com for more information. This site will also help you prepare for the large solar flares expected next week.

Mini Horse

2009-07-03T23:13:00.002-05:00

A horse that weighs just 22 kilos and stands 63 cm tall is a serious bid for a Guinness World Record.
The little horse called Sandy was born at a farm in Yekaterinburg, Russia, three month ago and has not gained a single pound of weight since, Life.ru writes.
“She is not just small, she is super-small!” the horse’s owner Elena Alexeyeva says.
“In three months she hasn’t grown a gram heavier. Zoologists say she will always remain a mini-horse.”
Sandy has a great appetite and veterinarians pronounce her to be in good health, albeit extremely small.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s smallest horse, Thumbellina, is 43 cm high and weighs 27 kilos. Sandy is taller, but significantly slighter.

My garage calves are now out at the farm.

I'd like a couple of these little horsies, though, to take their place.

Where do I sign up?

Sushi Masters

2009-07-02T23:26:00.001-05:00

Yum Yum. A must watch for us Sushi eaters. Wish I had audio - can someone tell me what they are saying?

Backyard full of elephants

2009-07-02T22:18:00.004-05:00

Gavin Hogg painstakingly carved out seven adult elephants and three babies from his hedgerow.
It took two days to craft the herd with a trimmer, shears – and a pair of scissors for the fiddly bits.
The result is a striking 100ft-long trail of green elephants that stretches around the corner of his family home outside Brecon in Mid Wales.

So cute!!! I have the perfect overgrown hedge just waiting to be carved out. When mosquito season is over, I will see what I can do.

Sears Tower Ledge Opens

2009-07-02T00:27:00.005-05:00

OPEN STARTING ON JULY 2 @ 9am!

The Ledge Experience

The Ledge brings an exhilarating new experience to the Skydeck. At 1,353 feet up, The Ledge’s glass boxes extend out 4.3 feet from the skyscraper’s Skydeck on the 103rd floor, providing never-before-seen views of the city.

My stomach turns just looking at this but would be a good place to view fireworks...you'd probably have to look down to see them!

Cha Ching

2009-06-29T09:46:00.002-05:00

Looks like Sam had some luck at Prairie Meadows.

Deer in mom's backyard

2009-06-25T22:02:00.000-05:00

But as soon as I got there, it decided to move on. It had been relaxing under a pine tree for some time. Oh, it's that brown spot there.
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Little Hitler

2009-06-24T21:05:00.000-05:00

Incognito
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Cousins

2009-06-24T21:03:00.000-05:00

Zach and biskit
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Father's day brunch

2009-06-21T16:18:00.000-05:00

Steve and kids Meggan, Sam, and Lauren taking us out to eat this a.m.
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Happy 1st Birthday, Grace Marie

2009-06-20T07:51:00.002-05:00

Stan's Gather

2009-06-19T16:57:00.001-05:00

Recent picture of the 5 of us...pretty good, huh? Love, Lois

Tornado in Aurora, Nebraska

2009-06-18T08:06:00.004-05:00

A tornado touched down near the city of Aurora in southeast Nebraska on Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service said.
Aurora Mayor Marlin Seeman said the twister severely damaged a rural county five miles west of his town.

Tornadoes seem to be hitting towns named Aurora this year as I just posted one over Aurora, CO. I'd look out if I lived near Aurora, IL.

On another note, I hope Bettys made it through the night. At about 1 AM, a tornado vortex was in NW Lucus County headed straight for Chariton. I decided to wait for it to approach Derby before I called...about then, it started to dissipate...Shwoo!

Seattle's Gum Wall

2009-06-17T20:25:00.004-05:00

This Gum Wall, also known as the Wall of Gum, is one of the least known (and perhaps the oddest well not quite) attractions of the historic Pike Place Market - known nationally for its fish throwers and as the location of the original Starbucks logo.
It has its beginnings in the early 1990s when theatre patrons waiting in line to buy tickets or attend the theater began placing their gum on the wall. At first people used gum to anchor coins to the wall, but the practice stopped, leaving only the gum on the wall after the coins were taken by some people.

Hum...and this is a tourist spot?

Happy 15th Birthday, Dylan

2009-06-15T10:19:00.000-05:00

Happy 44th Birthday, Nathan

2009-06-15T10:11:00.000-05:00

Garage calves week 3

2009-06-14T19:19:00.000-05:00

My garage is starting to smell like a barn as my little guys are beginning to eat big boy food.
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Giant Anaconda

2009-06-14T08:43:00.003-05:00

From the website Phantoms and Monsters:

It sounds like an Indiana Jones adventure. After 23 years of research including the detailed study of ancient art, cultures spanning 3000 years and three continents to the latest in satellite imaging technology, a father and son make an extraordinary trip deep into the heart of the Peruvian Amazon to confirm their theories that this is where a giant anaconda with a difference lives.

I can't tell if this is a picture or artwork. Whichever, it is creepy!

Kell addition #2

2009-06-13T23:16:00.000-05:00

Maggie Lynn

Kell addition #1

2009-06-13T23:14:00.000-05:00

Mason Lee Kell 6-11-09 9:41 AM 3#12 oz. 17" long

A curious case of Lazarus Syndrome

2009-06-11T23:52:00.003-05:00

Mr Wilkinson was pronounced dead by staff at the Royal Preston Hospital on February 1.
But 30 minutes after he was given the Last Rites doctors realised that his pulse had returned. He survived for two days before being pronounced dead a second time.
An inquest in the city heard that his return to life was known as Lazarus Syndrome - the spontaneous return of circulation once attempts at resuscitation have failed.
The syndrome takes its name from the biblical story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. There are only 38 recorded cases in the world.
John Whittaker, a consultant at the Royal Preston's accident and emergency department, said it was "not a small thing" to pronounce a patient dead. "You make absolutely certain," he added.
In Mr Wilkinson's case medical staff had worked on him for 15 minutes before acknowledging that there was nothing more they could do to help him.
Mr Whittaker told the hearing: "There is a phenomenon known as Lazarus Syndrome. It is incredibly rare - there have only been 38 cases of this ever in the world."
He said that the patient's pulse had returned as a result of the drugs he had been administered.
Mr Wilkinson, a roofer, was pronounced dead a second time on February 3.

And the reason I posted this curious case is because a similar thing happened to a friend of mine who lost her 27 year old daughter suddenly to an allergic reaction. When the daughter was pronounced dead, the hospital administered a drug to help preserve her organs for she was to be a donor. The same thing happened though---within an hour, her heart started beating again. My poor friend--she had to sit around and wait for her daughter to die, again.

Wouldn't wish that on anybody!!

First Twin Kells Born

2009-06-11T23:41:00.001-05:00

Note the update to the family tree: Lisa gave birth to Maggie and Mason this morning. Pictures to follow...

Strange clouds over Iowa

2009-06-11T23:29:00.003-05:00

and never seen before...causing a 'whirlwind' of discussion amongst weather enthusiasts.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Looking out the 11th floor window of her law office, Jane Wiggins did a double take and grabbed her camera. The dark, undulating clouds hovering outside were unlike anything she'd seen before.
"It looked like Armageddon," said Wiggins, a paralegal and amateur photographer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "The shadows of the clouds, the lights and the darks, and the greenish-yellow backdrop. They seemed to change."
They dissipated within 15 minutes, but the photo Wiggins captured in June 2006 intrigued — and stumped — a group of dedicated weather watchers who now are pushing weather authorities to create a new cloud category, something that hasn't been done since 1951.

Post Atari Ailments

2009-06-10T00:35:00.005-05:00

Teen hospitalized after 40 hours non-stop gaming
A 15-year-old Russian from the Siberian city of Omsk had to be rushed to hospital after 40 hours of non-stop playing computer games.
The teenager’s parents had given him the computer as a birthday present, after months of complaints that he couldn’t play the games all his friends play, Life.ru website reports.
However in just a couple of weeks the parents had to restrict gaming time, as their son’s school marks started to suffer dramatically.
When his parents finally went away for the whole weekend, the teen had the PC all to himself.
On returning home, the parents found him white as chalk and showing no reactions to anything around him.
“At first we thought he was faking, but then he started to turn blue,” his mother said.
The paramedics that arrived at the apartment took the unconscious kid, who appeared to have spent 40 hours at his computer, to hospital with low blood pressure.
The boy now faces weeks of rehabilitation, and possibly months of not playing computer games.

I thought only Atari could put you into a catatonic state. It only happened to me twice back in the early 80s. Once an addict, always an addict but these days I only play 3-4 hrs at a time...

D.B. Cooper, Alive and Well

2009-06-09T00:07:00.003-05:00

While attending the annual Rose Parade in Portland OR last weekend, a www.coasttocoastam.com contributor caught a glimpse of the infamous D.B. Cooper. Looks like he might have survived the jump after all!

I've been saying this for years!

Tornado chasers

2009-06-07T21:28:00.002-05:00

Tornado - Aurora, CO
someone caught this creature on their phone
and sent it to CNN

Happy 12th Birthday Madison

2009-06-07T08:04:00.004-05:00

National Doughnut Day

2009-06-04T22:47:00.005-05:00

Friday is National Doughnut Day

It is always the first Friday in June...dah...
National Doughnut Day honors the Salvation Army "Lassies" of WWI. It is also used as a fund raiser for needy causes of the Salvation Army.
The original Salvation Army Doughnut was first served by Salvation Army in 1917. During WWI, Salvation Army "lassies" were sent to the front lines of Europe. These brave volunteers made home cooked foods, and provided a moral boost to the troops. Often, the doughnuts were cooked in oil inside the of the metal helmet of an American soldier. The American infantrymen were commonly called doughboys. Salvation Army lassies were the only women outside of military personnel allowed to visit the front lines. Lt. Colonel Helen Purviance is considered the Salvation Army's "first doughnut girl".
On National Doughnut Day, look to see if your local doughnut shop, or other organizations, are offering free donuts to solicit donations for the Salvation Army or for another needy cause. If you find them, please be generous.

I haven't had a doughnut in years. One (or two) sound good right now. I just might have to indulge on Friday. We used to make the best doughnut holes as a kid. We'd use a metal pop bottle lid and cut them out of pillsbury biscuit dough. Then deep fat fry them and sprinkle with lots of sugar. We'd make a meal out of them...such good eating habits being cultivated!!!

Farmers losing crops to circlers

2009-06-04T08:43:00.003-05:00

Here is the Jellyfish crop circle that appeared yesterday in some Shire that, along with the Dragonfly, is causing some to suggest PETA is involved.

Local farmers, however, are starting to voice as the economic situation of ruined crops becomes a reality:

People who create crop circles are being urged to consider how their actions affect farmers' livelihoods.
The patterns started to appear again in Kent and Sussex with the onset of summer and now cereal farmers are urging the pranksters to stop.
The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said damage is made worse by so called crop circle tourists who trample on crops making them impossible to harvest.
The NFU believes the circles are man-made and not created supernaturally.
Creating crop circles is akin to trampling over someone's back garden - it is unfair and irresponsible
NFU spokesman
David Taylor, a farmer in Falmer, near Brighton, said: "The problems it causes are first of all the damage caused by the crop circle itself which is something we have to put up with.
"But then the problem experienced after that is the public get to hear about it and they walk across the crop to look at it and trample the crop down within the circle and that causes greater economic damage than the circle itself."
An NFU spokesman said: "Creating crop circles is akin to trampling over someone's back garden - it is unfair and irresponsible.
"Crop circlers seem to forget they are damaging someone's property and there is a financial implication.
"The crops, which have been carefully nurtured, cannot be harvested easily when they have been knocked flat.
"But people who walk in the crop circle trample the crops down further and then they really do become impossible to harvest."

What, it's not aliens doing this?

Dragonfly Crop Circle

2009-06-04T08:05:00.002-05:00

A 150ft long crop circle depicting a dragonfly has appeared in a barley field in the village of Yatesbury, Wiltshire.
Crop circle enthusiasts claim the succession of animal designs have been created in an attempt make people more aware of the threat of climate change and predict they could continue throughout the summer.

In past years the crop circle season has typically run from July to August but already four have been found in barley fields stretching from Wiltshire to Oxfordshire this year.
They have been found across the ancient 'ley lines' - believed to have mystical qualities.
"There has certainly been a lot of activity and this is the busiest year since 1999 at the moment,"
"People believe they will increase in frequency up to 2012 where there will be some kind of cataclysmic world event."

Garage calves

2009-06-01T21:57:00.000-05:00

Say hi to my new pets. All was good until they started mooing after dark. We are learning how to bottle feed. They are very tame and the dogs can't wait to play with them.
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Smurf Gathering

2009-05-31T22:59:00.003-05:00

More than 3,000 students from Swansea University hope to set a new world record by staging the largest gathering of Smurfs.

They will paint themselves blue and don white gnome hats for the attempt on June 8.
They hope to smash the existing record of 1,253 Smurfs in one place, which was set in the town of Castleblayney in Northern Ireland last July.

Hannah Lamden, of Swansea University's Student Union, said the bid in the city's Oceana nightclub will put an end to rival 'Smurf wars'.
She said: "It's a Smurf war. Bath, Southampton, Chester and Portsmouth University have all tried but we're going to make sure that no student is left un-blue.
"We want our record to stay in the Guinness Book for years to come."

Does anyone younger than 40 know what a Smurf is?

Scenes from Manhattanhenge

2009-05-30T19:31:00.001-05:00

Before and during

I don't see any fairies like I thought I would...this must not be the Village.

Manhattanhenge tonight

2009-05-30T08:35:00.001-05:00

For 15 minutes around sunset on two days this summer, the sun will set in exact alignment with the cross streets of Manhattan's street grid, making the city's towering buildings function something like a modern-day Stonehenge.
They call it Manhattanhenge.
The first Manhattanhenge opportunity comes this weekend: On Saturday (May 30) at 8:17 p.m. EDT the ball of the sun will be half above the horizon, half below if you look west down a major cross-street (34th Street and 42nd Street are good viewing locations). On Sunday, May 31, the entire solar sphere will be visible just above the horizon at 8:17 p.m. EDT.
The second opportunity comes later in the summer, with another half-sphere sunset on Sunday, July 12, at 8:25 p.m. EDT and a whole-sphere viewing on Saturday, July 11, at 8:25 p.m. EDT.
These times are calculated every year by the astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, who coined the term "Manhattanhenge."
The "henge" comes of course from Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument in the Salisbury plains of England. The large structure of stones and earthen mounds is thought to be a burial ground that was oriented to face the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset.
Manhattan's street grid doesn't run geographically north to south, but instead aligns itself with the direction of the island. If the grid did run north-south, Manhattanhenge would fall on the spring and autumn equinoxes, the only two days during the year when the Sun rises due-east and sets due-west. (The equinoxes occur when the sun sits directly over the Earth's equator and the length of day and night are roughly equal.)
Because Manhattan's grid is rotated 28.9 degrees east from geographic north, the days of alignment with the cross streets are also shifted.
Manhattan's street grid was laid down by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, which was adopted by the New York State Legislature.
New York isn't the only city that can have its own "henge" events: Any city crossed by a rectangular grid has days where the setting Sun aligns with the streets. But a clear view of the horizon and straight streets are needed, and New York might be the only city that fits the bill.

I hope to post pictures of this event...unfortunately, Omar takes Saturdays off otherwise, we'd have on-site tweets.

First Crop Circle 2009

2009-05-30T08:29:00.003-05:00

The huge crop circle sculpted in a sea of barley seems to be based on the Yin and Yang theme, and appeared near an ancient British burial mound beneath Windmill Hill near Devizes, Wiltshire on 25 May.
The ancient area of Wiltshire close to Silbury Hill, Windmill Hill and the Sanctuary is a hot spot for crop circles.

I bet these folks (the ones who make these) are also tattoo artists.

Truckerize your name

2009-05-27T21:24:00.004-05:00

I convinced mom that she needed to truckerize her name also because she keeps reminding me that Ice Road Truckers season 3 starts on Sunday.

You can now call her BOBTAIL MEAN-GRILL... it's her trucker name!

Don't bother us Sunday, we'll be watching! This year they are in Alaska and there's a woman driver....that's got to increase the drama in itself.

To truckerize your name, click the link in the previous posting.

10-4

One Cool Mother Trucker

2009-05-27T21:21:00.001-05:00

Hey kellwell,

You can now call me KINGPIN MONSTER... it's my trucker name! Also, be
sure to check out season 3 of Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel,
Sundays @ 9pm.

http://www.history.com/minisites/iceroadtruckers/

- kathy mock <jhara@gcmuni.net>

Farm kittens

2009-05-24T21:22:00.001-05:00

If you can see them. They are freshly hatched. By the way, Rootie is our only domesticated pig.
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel

Rootie the pig

2009-05-24T21:08:00.001-05:00

Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel

Happy 36th Birthday, Matt

2009-05-24T16:26:00.003-05:00

Baby Mammoth found in Permafrost

2009-05-21T21:57:00.002-05:00

A Russian man who found the corpse of a baby mammoth will receive 1 million rubles ($31,000) for reporting the find to the Republican Mammoth Museum.
The corpse was found in Yakutia, a republic in Russia’s north-eastern Siberia, by the side of Khroma river, Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reports Wednesday.
Specialists of the Republican Mammoth Museum studied the find and alleged it to be a young mammoth corpse some 15,000-30,000 years old. The animal, who died at about two years of age, had its head, legs and some intestines well-preserved in the cold climate of Yakutia.
In the past few years, mammoths have regularly been found in Russia. In 2004, the corpse of a one-year-old mammoth was found in Yakutia; in 2007, an extremely well-preserved six-month-old female was found in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.

Someday, they will find a well preserved baby mammoth in a vat of Russian Vodka...

Cheesus

2009-05-20T22:08:00.003-05:00

Many people have seen and heard about the likeness of Jesus turning up in unlikely places. Now, one North Texas man says he found Jesus in a Cheeto. Dan Bell found it inside a 99-cent bag of Cheetos brand cheese snacks. He nicknamed it "Cheesus.""Cheesus" is about two inches tall. Despite missing a right arm, the Bells see a body, hair, robe and even a tiny face.

Better dip that Cheeto into something that will preserve it...and keep it away from humidity - Cheetos can get so soggy.

See ya on Ebay!

Guess Who

2009-05-18T21:16:00.003-05:00

otherwise titled, "Mom learns how to enlarge scanned pictures on her new computer."