BBC NEWS | Technology | UK company launches in-car toilet – Finally, something to do with the back 2 rows of seats in your Ford Excursion – the ones that go unused 99% of the time on your way to and from the office.
Grocery Store Wars | Join the Organic Rebellion – Here’s a hilarious Star Wars spoof film, with all the characters played by vegetables. There’s an agenda here, and it’s to promote buying organic produce, which I think is a fine idea. But the animated veggies are just hilarrious! Check it out.
I’ll probably end up writing a travelogue for this trip, but for now here are best of the photos. Actually, this page is thumbnails of scaled down versions of the best photos.
Well, I’m back from my weekend of rafting and hiking. It was much wilder than expected, and I’m still so exhausted from Saturday’s “hike” that I’m taking the day off work to recover.
On Friday, we all met and camped at the put in site, near Loma, Colorado. Saturday morning, we rafted (and, in my case, kayaked) about 3.5 miles to Rattlesnake Canyon. Most of us hiked from the river up to the arches, which was certainly the most strenuous hike I’ve been on in a few years. It was a lot of hand over hand climbing. Then, we split up, and I got lost and rimrocked. Eventually I found my way down and trudged back to my kayak, then paddled alone 10 miles in the cold until I found our campsite. Sunday, we paddled another 10 miles or so to the take out, then packed up vehicles and drove 5 hours home. Whew!
More details later, once I gather my wits and photos.
Amazon.com: Music: With Teeth [EXPLICIT LYRICS]
I see Nine Inch Nails has finally released their (his) new CD. Wow, it’s been 6 years since the last one, the 2-CD “The Fragile”. I read a few of the reviews of this new one on Amazon, and it’s now on my wish list.
One review, strangely, implied that “The Fragile” was hard for most of the group’s fans to appreciate. However, I’ve got to say that for my money, “The Fragile” was Trent Reznor’s masterpiece. With one exception – a track on CD 2 that I don’t think fits in at all with the rest of them – “The Fragile” is one of my favorite concept albums ever.
(ps. If you can figure out what song I’m talking about on CD 2, leave me a comment. But I doubt anyone will. I haven’t met anyone who appreciates the brilliance of “The Fragile” as much as I do.)
Man, Sunday was a busy day. I’ve been wanting to take our new inflatable kayaks out for a spin, but it’s been so windy and rainy that it just hasn’t worked out. But finally, this morning, it looked like the weather would cut us a break. So I got Beth out of bed and we loaded up the truck and headed to Barr Lake.
As we arrived, the water and sky looked beautiful. Very calm and glassy. But, it took us about 30 or 45 minutes to inflate our new inflatable kayaks (this was Beth’s first time setting hers up, so it took a bit longer than it would otherwise).
Sadly, by the time we got in the water, the wind had kicked up severely and we were getting whitecaps on the lake. But we set out anyhow. Beth had a bit of trouble at first, but once we got away from the cottonwoods growing in the water near shore, it was much easier. We paddled out a ways into the lake.
Here’s a shot of Beth in her kayaking duds.
The Crocs in the foreground are mine, strapped to the top of my own kayak. The camera wasn’t too steady, due to the high winds and choppy waves, but at least we finally got our boats out on the water!
My boat took on a lot of water, and I discovered just how flexible it gets when the kayak gets cold. You see, when it gets cold from the water, the air pressure goes down, and then the kayak starts to sag in the middle. Given the waves, I had a lot of water splashing up over the saggy part, and into my lap. My lesson learned is that if I’m going to inflate it on hot asphalt, I should cool it down and then top off the pressure before going boating. I also think I’ll start packing a sponge to bail it out. Unfortunately, these aren’t self-bailers.
Anyhow, we paddled back to shore and packed up, and then headed back to Broomfield. By then, I was late for my Ultimate Frisbee game, which started at 1:00. So, I quickly changed clothes and rushed to the game, which was actually two games since we have double headers every week this season.
My team lost both games, unfortunately, but I got more than my fill of exercise. I was pooped out by the end of the 2nd game.
But when I got home, I edged and mowed the lawn. Normally, that’s just not a seriously tiring job. But on top of everything else, it really exhausted me. Fortunately, Beth made a yummy supper and I’ve been rehydrating ever since.
Kapok Pillows: by MetaEfficient – I think kapok may become the next big thing. As you may have read in my blog, Beth and I bought PFD’s (personal floatation devices, aka life vests) that are made from kapok as the main filling.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Florida girl’s abortion allowed: “Abortion is a deeply divisive issue in the US. ” – Now that’s an understatement! And why I love reading the news from the BBC…
Yes, that was some serious squish that day…
For those who may not be aware, I’m responsible for doing the weekly “squish test” for Grass Roots Ultimate Spring 2005.
Well, I had to call off the games for Sunday May 1, after we’d had snow and rain all week long. Here’s a photo I took of part of Field 1. You can faintly see a white circle on the grass under this small pond. That’s where the cone marking the right front of the end zone is supposed to go. If we’d tried to play that day, a good chunk of the endzone would have literally been underwater.
Note, I uploaded the photo at full original resolution, so it’s kinda big. For those with dialup connections, I don’t recommend clicking on the “Very Squishy!” link above.