California Dog

When the sun comes out, and the patio stones warm up, this former beach dog from Southern California knows what to do.

Bread Making 101

Cousin Sue asked last month if I wanted to take a bread making class. Sure, why not? It's especially nice when they have everything laid out and premeasured for you.







We came home with a delicious loaf of buttermilk white bread and a loaf of whole wheat honey nut bread. Yum! Yum!

Biking Paradise

Some bicyclists like tackling the hills. I prefer the flats. The topography of Saint Charles County affords one a bit of both.

The large expanse of flat land between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers is a flat-landers paradise:

I recently rode a 30 mile circuit without back-tracking on myself and there was nary a variation in elevation readings on my GPS. With a tailwind, one can move quickly on these lightly traveled backroads.

The riding is best on clear days with low humidity and wind. On those days, you're pretty happy you pulled away from the easy chair and hit the open roads which seem to stretch to the horizon.

We've Been Here Before

Certain members of Congress are fixated on symbolic actions rather than addressing the problem. The latest misdirection has been "stopping tax breaks for corporate jet owners". Changing this writeoff, first inroduced by the same people complaining about it now, would address 1/5000th of the budget gap.

Go ahead and cut the corporate jet tax break. Quit talking about it. Throw in all the other businesses the government should stop funding - radio stations, TV stations, abortion clinics, unproductive farm land, etc. In the end, however, there will still be a gap to be addressed.

But we've solved this problem before ...

In 1982, a corporate and personal tax cut created 15 million new jobs! We've spent over a trillion dollars, and have made zero progress toward a fairly modest objective of 3 million new jobs. In a global economy, jobs will grow where business conditions are best.

Think of the additional revenue 15 million new wage earners would pay into government coffers. It is possible to cut taxes and raise revenues. Yes, if the cuts are designed to improve business conditions and not redistribute wealth. We've done it before.

The Biz

A long weekend in LA provided an opportunity to check-in on baby Olivia and the movie-making activities of the up and coming Rennier brothers.

Olivia was cute and healthy as expected with Chris and Sunny doing a great job ...

... but the staggering number of tasks required to shoot a feature film surprised me.

There was casting, auditions, offers and negotiations, contracts, location-hunting, more negotiations, more contracts, artwork, props, crew formation, permits, readings, script changes, adjustments, endless calls, payroll services, catering services, budgets, meetings. endless calls, and financing for it all.

It looks like they have everything on track to meet their shooting schedule, including an impressive cast and crew. In "the biz", nothing is guaranteed, but their project - entitled "Lionhead" - looks very promising.

Album Rituals

With today's online access to music via iTunes, certain rites of the past are fading quickly. In my high school days, the acquisition of new music was a near-religious ritual. I'm talking, of course, of the purchase of a bonafide wrapped-in-the-plastic freshly-stamped vinyl album. The golden age.

Albums generally were a themed creation as opposed to a collection of songs, with each side having a personality of its' own. In addition to the music, the artwork and contents of an album were of tremendous interest.

The "ritual" of acquiring a new album usually followed this general pattern:


1 - Flip through the stacks in the store to find the object of your hunt.

2 - Read every word on the outsie of the cover to affirm your willingness to buy.

3 - Pay (with cash) and be careful to avoid direct sunlight while driving directly home.


4 - Flip on the receiver and turntable, and find your very large Koss headphones.

5 - Carefully remove the plastic covering as if you're going to save it forever. Then discard it.

6 - Remove the album sleeve with the album still in it.


7 - With minimal touching (and only on the edge and center) remove and inspect the record.

8 - Gently lower it onto the turntable, and with the hands of a brain surgeon, lower the needle onto the space just before Side One, Track One.

9 - Play the recording loudly via headphones, and as it plays, inspect every detail of the cover and inside material.

10 - After listening to every track, silently prepare your review of the album, return it to its' jacket and cover, and file appropriately. Later, you'll copy the album, or maybe just certain tracks, to 8-track media for listening in your car.

iTunes is cool, but to me, the ritual of the album is hard to beat.

Dogwood Canyon Animals - Part 2

For some reason these pictures didn't show up on the previous animal posting. Hopefully this time blogger will work! As you can tell there were also buffalo at Dogwood Canyon. They had a couple of babies with them.




This steer wanted to sneak back in and get some more food, but the buffalo thought he was after their babies. They will not allow any animals to get between themselves and the little ones. The last pic is for my dad and daddy-in-law.