Texas Coincidence AGAIN?

You just can make this stuff up:

Mayor of Hollywood Park, TX killed in apparent donkey attack

 

 

Mayor William "Bill" Bohlke (he who survived military service in Vietnam and was a decorated B-52 pilot) was taken down by his own donkey while tending his prize cow-herd.  (Why don't Republicans own elephants instead?)

 

~later, tw

 

 



I'm Not Sure...

I believe in this kind of coincidence:

Woman Aims For Skunk, Shoots Husband Instead

Fortunately for all concerned, both the wife's and the husband's story matched that of the skunk's (who showed up during police investigation to corroborate the story).

Only in Texas...

~later, tw

KC Picnic (or "catching up with photos")

This June Jenny and the boys were able to join us for the annual Knights of Columbus picnic.  It wasn't the warmest day but it was a change of venue with a new park to explore. 

The KC do a BBQ lunch with plenty of hotdogs and hamburgers to go around.  Michael was on BBQ duty.'

Of course, everyone wanted to meet our adorable little guys!

After lunch, grandpa & Jax were off to set up and try their hands at bocchi:

There was also a small playground where Shay could swing and Jax could slide and climb.

Jax made some new friends and even though they were a bit older, the girls were very patient with Jax and showed him how to ride their scooter.

She tried to show him how to ride by himself, but Jax liked it a lot better when riding together.

Girls are fine to play with but now Jax is looking forward to playing with his cousins, Mattias and Magnus, who arrive from Sweden this week!

~later, tw

You Decide...

...if the Dutch start-up company "Mars One" is looking for the best and brightest or dumb and dumber.  "Mars One" has announed that they are "dead serious" (their words) about sending four astronauts to land on Mars by 2023 (seven years ahead of NASA's projected date).  Dutch reality show to offer one-way tickets to Mars

Now to be fair to NASA, those seven years are pretty darn critical ones.  See I'm fairly confident that NASA is hoping to return their astronauts to earth and apparently those seven years are going to ensure that.  Not so much with the Dutch - theirs is a ONE WAY TRIP!

I get wanting to be first to Mars.  What I don't get is why anyone would be willing that this adventure would be their last.  Reality TV and fame aside, there must be a gazillion book deals, movies, action adventure toys from which to gain additional notoriety, to say nothing of the money to be made by someone willing to venture out into space.  Captain Kirk wouldn't have made much of a ding in our collective "space continuum" if he and the Enterprise had flamed out on their initial voyage.

I do, however, totally understand WHY "Mars One" is taking this approach.  As the mechanical engineer for the project (Bas Lansdorp) states, "Funding will be made possible through the media spectacle built around the adventure."

There's a sucker born every minute.

~attributed to (if erroneously) P. T. Barnum, American showman, businessman and scam artist

~later, tw (not going to Mars - sooner or later)

Absolutely Perfect!

There have now been TWENTY-THREE perfect games in major-league history.  And only THREE of them this year!  And I've seen TWO of them...at Safeco!  (Okay the first one, while pretty darn special, involved a loss by the "good guys" so it doesn't count nearly as much.)

On this most gorgeous afternoon I got to see Felix Hernandez, Mariner ace pitcher (and probably headed to the Yankees), throw 12 strikeouts on his way to the First Perfect Game in Mariner History!!!

So to recap my Mariner highlights, I've:

• Attended the one-game playoff that sent us to the 1995 playoffs
• Seen the 2001 incredible season of 116 wins
• Caught a foul ball
• Unfortunately watched a perfect game tossed against us (by Chicago's Philip Humber in April 2012)
• AND WITNESSED A PERFECT GAME BY FELIX HERNANDEZ ON AUGUST 15, 2012 AT SAFECO FIELD!

I'm not sure if it gets any better than this!

~later, tw

Starry, Starry Night

I was ready for bed, in my jammies and going to grab my Kindle, when I remembered hearing Brian Williams talk about the annual Perseid Meteor Shower and that tonight was going to be the best, last view for the year.  I asked Gerry if he wanted to hop in the car and get away from the bright city lights (okay as it turns out, it is actually pretty darn dark where we live - especially after midnight - and we could probably have seen them from our backyard).  Always one to indulge my whims, he said sure.

Surprisingly (actually shockingly), Chris, our resident 27-year-old "usually unmotivated and generally one to opt out of anything that remotely smacks of "family" time", said sure, he'd go to.  Everyone started grabbing things: binoculars (check), blankets? (check), snacks? (okay - definitely way past dinner but you never know how long we might enjoy this event), chairs (Gerry grabbed some old camping/stadium seating things while Chris went right for a folding chair).  And we were off (like a can of bug spray, as Gerry would say).

Now the tough part - where to go?  There were certain requirements:  1) away from the "halo" of Seattle and surrounding metropolitan area; 2) a rather open field; and 3) less than 30 miles away (since I only had ~60 miles of gas in my car).  Again, this pretty much describes our house but we were in search of an adventure.

We found a place ~15 miles away that seemed ideal.  The stars were definitely out tonight - and not a cloud to be seen (although we did have to get a bit higher since the fog was misting over the river and surrounding area).  We didn't have to wait long to see the celestial firework show begin!

We were a bit early for the "true" show (where apparently the meteors are zooming very frequently) but I think I enjoyed this better.  We had to each be searching the sky, pointing any viewing to the others, and had ample time for amiably chatting - about the stars in specific and nothing in general.  It's not something Gerry and I have really had much opportunity to do with Chris and after my initial shock that he'd agreed to come, I was aware that this was a memory not likely to be repeated any time soon and one I'm determined not to take for granted.

A magical night!

~later, tw

Puleeze!

Tonight while flipping between Olympic coverage and the Mariners game, we did something we almost never do.  We saw a commercial - in real time!  (TIVO - it's a beautiful thing!  Don't you wish you had the power to have a little instant replay in your life?)

A woman comes on - a plain ol' regular "Washington Mom" - asking if this isn't the time to have a serious conversation about the marijuana situation.  Apparently she has just discovered that it's a mega-million industry and "we get nothing from it."  She tells us that she "doesn't like it" herself but she sees this as a way out of our financial difficulties.  "We could regulate it" and "free up police to fight more serious crimes" and (this was one of my more favorite parts) "we could keep it away from gangs."

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME? 

WHO COMES UP WITH THIS CRAP? 

"Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining!" 

~Judge Judy Sheindlin

You want to legalize that joint you've been hiding, go right ahead and do so.  But don't pretend that you're doing it for our own good (because frankly if you're thinking this is the way to relieve our city, state and/or national debt, you're thinking way too small.  Don't forget that the cocaine "industry" is also ripe for picking.  You might have a just a wee bit of trouble getting tax id numbers for the various "play-ahs"  as I'm not so convinced that the gangs are going to give it up like the lady on TV seems to think, but we'll see).

[I really, REALLY can't wait until November 7th for all paid political ads and telemarketing calls to cease!]

~later, tw