An Oliopolis Terror Tale
or
The Return of the Curse of the Camden Creature's Ghost

I have been meaning to get this taken care of for a while now, better late than never I guess. Notice the addition of Oliopolis to the blog roll. Not to be confused with Oliopolis under the music links. Maybe Dan can suggest a way to differentiate the two in my sidebar.

In checking out the goings-on in the world of Dan be sure to note the latest appearance of Dan's unearthly tenant. Find my thoughts in the comments.

Didn't I read About This in Revelation?

I just heard Coltrane on my TV monitor. Surprised I looked up, only to realize it was being used in a K Mart commercial. Sinners repent.

Double Entendre

Spam just arrived in my inbox with this subject:

Meat your s0ulmate

Do you think this is simply an attempt to dodge spam filters, an intentional play on words, or simply poor spelling?

The rest of the message just confuses me:

fear kane adulthood congestive stuart cozy corbett screwworm proserpine hereunder locate yourself a becoming babe

One Last Ride

Well, with a high of 45 degrees yesterday I decided that it was time to get the motorcycles ready for winter. So I took them both out for one last ride, filled and added Sea Foam to the tanks, drained the carbs, and today I will prop them up in the back of the garage and count the days till March (while I am also counting the days till March).

Despite the chill, it was nice to get in a longer ride than I have been getting just commuting. But, it also filled me with the desire to just hit the road. Keeping my wanderlust suppressed was also not helped by this (linked by Scott a few weeks ago, and just noticed by me yesterday). There are some great stories and photos from this guy's cross country trip. I liked the numbers from his journal:

30 days
9,910 miles
221 gallons of gas
2 rear tires
1 front tire
1 big scary bear

While not as ambitious as Emilio Scotto's ten year ride twice around the globe on his 1980 Gold Wing, or even Obi Wan's Ewan's Long Way Round, it is still a big trip, and I cannot think of a better way to see the country. I'm thinking pack the bike, bring some Kerouac to read, head northwest out of Minneapolis and follow Pirsig. Hmmmm, I wonder if my brother ever figured out a way to attach a child seat to the handlebars... Er, I guess it may have to wait a couple of years. I'd need a better saddle for a long trip anyway. What I would love to do though is this. The lower 48 I could solo, but for Alaska, some support might be nice.

Damn, is it spring yet?

Expansion...

There has been a bit of it since this was taken.

This was taken last week.


And this was on November 1.

Pines?

I think I know what what the person who performed this search was looking for, and I am pretty sure it wasn't found here.

Come and Get Your Meat...

A while back I worked on a documentary short about meat raffles with M. A. Rosko, Jon Murphy and Paul Dame. Today M.A. called to tell me that it will be airing on Twin Cities Public Television as part of a presentation of several shorts. It will first air this Sunday, November 14 at 11:00 p.m. on TPT 2, and next Saturday, November 20 at 10:00 p.m. on TPT 17

This is by no means an exhaustive look into the phenomenon, or why people are compelled to gamble for meat, but more a slice of life. But it is a fun look into what goes on in the bars of Nordeast Minneapolis, and VFW and Legion halls of out-state Minnesota. My role was small (I shot some footage that never made it in due to me not getting the footage to M.A. as she was writing it, and I helped M.A. edit) but my name is in the credits (with a typo?), so set your VCRs (or TiVo).

Rollin' With My Homies...

My man MC of Hammers Mark was in town this weekend, and we were able to hang out for a few hours on Friday night. We grabbed some grub then hit the patio for a fire and talk. Many topics were discussed, but few of the threads of conversation were seen all the way through. Mark and I both seem quite capable of striking off on tangents, never to return to the starting point. Oh well, it makes thinks more interesting, I think.

Even though we haven't seen each other for four or five years (and that was just a few moments at a Wartburg homecoming; let's keep the next span a bit shorter with a Twins game eh?)Friday seemed less like catching up than just getting together. A great thing, this internet...

Dude, WTF!?!

So, for Halloween I take it the Vikings decided to show up in Buffalo as the Bills (I'm sorry, the ShiBills), and the Bills in Minneapolis as the Vikings? As has been the case in the past when the Vikings are playing poorly, it looked as if they realized about four minutes into the fourth quarter that the game had begun. I hope this does not portend a repeat of last year's season, and I don't think it will. Daunte seems better able to shake it off and move on than he has in the past, and hopefully he will bring the others with him. And despite allowing 34 points the defense seems to be generally improving, and is without a doubt better than last year.

iPod, u(2)Pod...

With the release of the U2 Special Edition iPod, some are wondering what some of the rejected special edition iPods were. Method shop lists a few. Considering my OS preference (obsession?), as well as what my Win-Tel box at work did to me several times when I really needed it to cooperate, I quite liked the iMSFT edition. And if you've seen this, or this, you might enjoy the Steve Ballmer iPod.

Dateline Miami...

Florida on November 2?

(link via Matt)

As Soon as You're Born You Start Dying,
So You Might as Well Have a Good Time...

And a good time was indeed had. I caught CAKE at First Ave. last night and they were excellent. It was a high energy, amazingly tight, all around great show. If you like CAKE's music you have no excuse not to catch a show if you have the chance.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Direct Your Attention to the Jumbotron...

Well, if you happen to be at the Vikings game on Sunday you may catch some of my handiwork. Watch for a 30 second spot promoting the Pride Fridays Ticket Giveaway. It is set to U2's new single "Vertigo," and features clips of last years winners with Rusty, as well as Vikings highlights.

This represents the more enjoyable aspect of my job; I get to be creative. And this promo is unique in that I was completely on my own to produce it. I was told what was wanted, and that was it. I usually am granted quite a bit of latitude with Rusty (I usually get a script that serves as an outline, but am free to tweak it), but this time it was me and me alone, so that was kind of fun. It is also kind of cool that it is not only on our air, but will be featured at the Dome.

Mac Tat

So I am a total geek for thinking that this tattoo is hot?

You Look Like a Monkey, and You Smell Like One Too.

Happy Birthday to Jaq, who turns 33 today. I don't think I can wait until my birthday rolls around again to get what his wife gave him (get your minds out of the gutter), so I may just have to make the purchase myself.

I'd Rather Play a Tele Than Watch the Telly...

What guitar are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Like my man Mark who it turns out is an SG, but has never owned one, I have never owned a Telecaster. But have kinda wanted one for a while. I can't justify buying one, but maybe someday. As it turns out my first guitar was almost bought from Mark (I think it was a Yamaha acoustic), but that wasn't to be. I still own my first guitar, a Seagull s6, and imagine I always will. The next guitar was an Epiphone Les Paul LP100 (black, not any of the current finishes). It was a decent guitar for the price (I got a REALLY good deal on it), and when you consider that I sold it for about $20 less than I paid, well, that may be the best value I have ever gotten on anything. Next came the Epiphone El Diablo, which I still own. It really sounds pretty good through a PA, but I don't make much use of it lately. When I sold the LP100 I bought my current electric, an Epiphone Sheraton II.

If you peruse Mark's list of his current guitars, you will see that he owns one as well.

I also own a Mexican Fender Fretless Jazz Bass, and a Fluke Ukulele.

I Hope He Wasn't Wearing a Helmet and Armor...

This jackass seems to have set the record for the biggest speeding ticket in the state of Minnesota. He was pulled over Saturday on Highway 61 near Wabasha, which is a great motorcycle road, after being clocked at 205mph. He was riding a Honda liter-bike. I am doubtful that Tilley had the skills necessary to even exceed 75mph, let alone 205. Even if he did, there are other factors beyond the control of the motorcyclist. Wildlife, other drives, road hazards and other unexpected obstacles can pop up before you can react at that speed. What makes Highway 61 a great motorcycling road (apart form the wonderful views of the Mississippi) is that it is twisty and hilly. At 205mph Tilley was without a doubt out running his line of sight. Even a stationary obstacle becomes nearly unavoidable when you only have a couple of seconds to react.

I was actually on the other side of the river on Saturday and the small towns were packed with your prototypical "bikers." These are the people who are more interested in parking their bikes for people to look, and letting loose with the obscenely loud rumble of their pipes. Which is fine with me. It isn't my thing, but hey, if they want to spend thousands of dollars on their bikes just for curb candy who am I? What does annoy me is that when they do hit the road, very few of them wear helmets, and they occupy the other end of the speed continuum from Mr. Tilley. Especially in the turns, which is, as I said, what makes riding along the Mississippi great.

I think it was George Carlin that said "Anyone going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a moron."

Here are a few links to follow for safe motorcycling.

Motorcycle Safety Foundation
Motorcycle Cruiser's Street Survival columns
Minnesota Motorcycle and Motorized Bicycle Manual

Speaking of biking...

Last Sunday was the St. Paul Classic Bike Tour. 30 miles of (mostly) traffic-free biking. As always it was a good time.



Left to right: Kristen, Jon, your's truly, Lee, Shawn, Tim, my sister Amanda, and the pregnant woman who lives with me.

Suicidal Squirrels

While biking the past couple of weeks or so, I've noticed that the squirrels around here have gone nuts! Sorry about that... Anyway, usually I don't have to worry too much about them running across my path, but it seems that lately they have all decided that they should at all costs try and get under my front tire. What's the deal? Are they all so preoccupied with the collective task of storing food that they aren't noticing me until the last second? Hitting a squirrel at 20+ mph is not something I want to experience...

Class Arachnida, Order Araneae

Krista isn't too fond on our new tenant, but I kind of like him (her?).
It was a windy day when I took these, so this next one is a little blurry.



Can anyone identify what kind of spider this is?