Existing In BFE

THE MOTORCYCLIST by Martin Eden It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen. --Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. I HAD JUST ORDERED A CUP of steaming coffee at the counter inside the old roadhouse, a relic from the stagecoach days, and had sauntered up to pair of riders conversing near two machines parked not far from my own. The two bikes couldn't have been more different. One was a brand new sports-bike, gleaming lazily in the pale early morning sun. The machine was fairly dazzling, its sleek, rakish lines and arresting colors clearly betraying its purpose. The other was patently nondescript. It may have been black I can't clearly recall now. It was certainly European: BMW and Moto Guzzi come to mind. It might have been an early Harley-Davidson or Indian, though, now that I think back; or perhaps an Excelsior, or Brough-Superior. The actual brand was of no consequence regardless of the marque, it exuded the classic and unmistakable aura of t

Brendan was appointed the Night Manager's position at Three Bird's Tavern yesterday. More money, more responsibility and maybe he can hire his old man to wash dishes.

There is an open air restaurant here in St. Pete that specializes in barbecue. They have old car cruise-ins Fridays and bike shows on Wednesdays and its a neat, car-oriented place. Lots of food, good and reasonably priced.

This will be one the easiest and fastest meals you'll ever run across. Juicy, delicious salmon on a bed of asparagus tips and only takes 6 minutes to cook. here is the recipe. What is needed: 1. One nice salmon steak 2. A bunch of asparagus 3. butter or margarine 4. 1 lemon 5. Parchment paper Cut your asparagus to make tips about an inch and a half long. Place on parchment paper about and foot and a half long. Place the salmon (silver side down) on the asparagus tips. Put a pat of butter on the paper at 2 or 3 places at the edge of the salmon. Cut the lemon in half and with one half squeeze all the juice onto the salmon, then cut 2 or three slices of the other half and place on the steak. Salt and pepper and then fold the paper and crimp. Place in the microwave for 6 minutes on high. Serve and think of me.

www.johnson4regsupt.com (The above is the website.) My boss at Knox County Academy is running for Superintendent of Schools. She is a great educator and I sure wish her well. She would make a great RSS and, oh, yes, I wrote and endorsement for her. I mean every word of it. The fellow in the lower right hand side in this commercial also worked with me at KCA, and who is the former Mayor of Galesburg, Bob Sheehan. We were the two best lunch ladies that school ever had.

Click on picture to enlarge. This bizarre but compelling figure, displayed in the Saint-Étienne church in the city Bar-le-Duc in France, once held the heart of its subject-- René de Chalon, Prince of Orange--in its raised hand, like a reliquary. The prince died at age 25 in battle following which his widow requested that Chalon portray him in his tomb figure as "not a standard figure but a life-size skeleton with strips of dried skin flapping over a hollow carcass", whose right hand clutches at the empty rib cage while the left hand holds high his heart as if giving it to God. Apparenlty, the sculpture no longer contains Chalon's heart; it is rumored to have gone missing sometime around the French revolution. It is also somewhat noteworthy that even in death, René still had the need for modesty.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=a0b35750e86e14eefd8275a1917e2db2&/topic,213971.0/topicseen.html FROM WIKIPEDIA: In the 1920s the Armstead Snow Motor was developed. When this was used to convert a Fordson tractor into a screw-propelled vehicle with a single pair of cylinders, the combination became known as the Fordson Snow Devil. A film was made to show the capabilities of the vehicle as well as a Chevrolet car fitted with an Armstead Snow Motor.[6] The film clearly shows that the vehicle copes well in snow. Steering was effected by having each cylinder receive power from a separate clutch which, depending on the position of the steering gear, engages and disengages; this results in a vehicle that is relatively maneuverable. The promotional film shows the Armstead snow motor hauling 20 tons of logs. In January 1926, Time magazine reported: “ Having used the motor car for almost every other conceivable purpose, leading Detroit automobile makers have now organized a

Secret Jesus Bible Codes on U.S. Military Weapons In talking to Brendan about this controversy, he acknowledged he had the ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight)scope. He explained its abilities and admired its function. He also said, "....I didn't (expletive deleted) care if it had "Allah Akbar" on it, as long as it helped me do my work." Amen

••• Dear Pat Robertson, I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll

You know how its done: copy and paste. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/628a8500-ff1c-11de-a677-00144feab49a.html

Sorry I'm Late from Tomas Mankovsky on Vimeo . This is all stop action from a camera looking down on a gym floor. Imagine the time, effort and choreography necessary to pull it off.

I especially liked the israeli kid at the 2:27 mark. That kid has soul.

This is a very poorly shot video of a plane taking off. I was amazed at how it vanished. I was standing in the parking area forever waiting for a plane take off, and then as I give up and head to the car, here comes the plane. A plane landing last Friday at Tampa International. Still a fun thing to witness. I used to go to Stapleton International airport in Denver when I was in grad school to see the planes land and take off. It was great entertainment and except for the gas, it was free. A kid from a town of 250 was and still is amazed by it all. We took Brendan to the airport in Tampa so he could head over to England for a 10 day trip to see Karen. Karen informed us the next day the kid had a bit of a hassle upon arriving. Seems they had some questions regarding why he was back so soon, why he didn't have a job, and other things. After an hour interrogation the authorities let him go and, we hope, is having a great time.

Now this looks like fun. With my helmet cam and a cheapo plane, I bet we could get some really cool shots. I'm doing this!!

Frost on the roof of the apartment complex. Frost on the tops of cars. Yep, Charlotte County FL decided to close the schools for tomorrow due to weather. There has been such a drain on the power system here with people trying to keep warm that it was decided to close the schools for a day. It is supposed to get down to 28 tonight and has a good start, it's 33 now. BRRRR !!! We've been running the heat here for the past couple of days, and probably should have run it earlier, but dang it, you just don't expect freezing weather down here. It's supposed to warm up toward the end of the week for a while and then another dip the end of the month.

YouTube Direkt Everyday, Guardians are involved in amazing rescues, national security operations and drug interdictions. Whenever possible, Guardians capture those Coast Guard operations on video. The videos truly highlight the missions and stories of America’s Guardians. Sometimes you see them on the evening news, but often you don’t. For the past several years, the Coast Guard has been recognizing the top videos of the year. We’ve narrowed it down to 11 finalists (a tribute to the Coast Guard’s 11 statutory missions), but we want your help in deciding which one is the “Coast Guard Video of the Year” for 2009. The video compilation above is a first look at the 11 finalists for video of the year. Starting next Monday (December 21, 2009), the Compass blog will highlight one video per day together with audio from a member of the Coast Guard unit involved in the mission. You can then follow the link to the Coast Guard YouTube “Video of the Year 2009″ playlist to use the rating and comment

Old Gold Cigarette Dancing Funny Exclusive Ads - The top video clips of the week are here Ten years ago on the 1st I had my last puff of a cigarette . I had cut down a lot in the preceding years but had had enough and gave them all up. Cravings stopped years ago and you couldn't pay me to puff on one now, although I will have an occasional cigar. Many people I know have quit since then, many I would never have guessed could muster the will power. My impressions looking back: man I wish I could have kept the money I was throwing away, and how easy it really was to quit. Tough at times, but overall, just changing the habits is the key. Good luck to anyone with a New Year's resolution. You can do it.

As you know I love cats, so I told him to stop. You can hear my protestations.

A holiday fire at the Burgess Beer and Brat Barn has devastated patrons from Alexis Illinois to St. Petersburg Florida. News of the blaze swept Brandywine Apartments and many shocked and thirsty patrons are hoping for a new structure to be in place quickly. Apparently the conflagration was well underway prohibiting the crack Burgess Fire Department, approximately 35 feet away, from dousing the flames. Gone are many items of sentimental value, indeed, priceless. And yet, the memories remain. Here hoping the New Year gets the BBBB back better than ever.

Remember the entry I had last week of a guy who takes his two dogs for a walk everyday? And one of the dogs is in a stroller? I took this video of him this weekend. OK, now the dog in the stroller must be old or handicapped, right? Right?

This weekend closed out our Yahoo Public League Fantasy football league I started last summer. It included an eclectic group of friends and I won it with a trouncing of Justin Willet for the Championship. Third place went to Stewart Nyi. I had a season record of 10-4 and was undefeated in the playoffs. We are doing it again next year with 3 keepers. Other participants included: Dan Kolbow, my frat pledge son, Jon Boone, fellow Blick employee, Matt Warnsing, teacher from my KCA days, Tom Harrison, Grove Street neighbor, Julie and Randy Storm, MDH days, Drew Shepherd, future S-I-L, Brian McGrath, MDH buddy, and Lori Nyi, Stewart's better in all things. Thanks for a fun season, and I am the Greatest.

We went to see Avatar 3-D on Friday. It was a packed house, and I can see why. Part Independence Day, a dollop of Myst, it isn't totally original. Think Dances With Aliens. But it is one Hell of a thrill ride. I had never seen anything in 3-D before and I must say, it was one amazing thing to watch. After a brief adjustment period I readily accepted it and truly felt transformed into a another world. Great CGI and if you have the chance see it in 3-D. I was under the impression that 3-D just incorporated a few scene to give you a thrill, so Avatar was a totally new experience for me. The 3-D effect was truly remarkable. I found myself reaching out for things. I have never been a mass-market fan. Hated Star Wars when I saw it a hundred years ago. Same way with TV: top ten is usually moronic swill for the masses (except West Wing). I have always been an entertainment snob - Pan's Labyrinth is better than American Pie. You will read that Avatar is banal, simplistic, cartoonish

Vids of the trip back home after experiencing the beach on Christmas.

Enhanced pictures of the Gulf. Unbelievably loud and pounding on Christmas night. I have no idea why the camera has specks. Ghosts? It is a tradition with the family (yes, a short tradition) that one should go to the beach on Christmas. The water is a bit chilly but it is an awesome thing to experience at night. This Christmas it was a dynamic, roiling, high-tide, eerie, wave-crashing experience. Shadowed people walking along, some with others, some alone. My camera was unable to adequately record the surf-pounding except this dark video. Listen. Turn up the sound. I've never seen (or heard) it so angry.