World Cup

When someone mentions the World Cup to me this is what I see.

I can't help it. I'm not a fan. I will never be a fan. I watched a bit and it just isn't for me.

A Day at Silver Falls

My brother Kevin and his family are in town during his sabbatical. So today he and I took advantage of the nice weather and brought the kids to Silver Falls. This is such a beautiful place in Oregon, one to put on the must see list if you come to visit.

The kids were total troopers at first. We kept asking what they thought of the place and they would respond with words like "great" or "awesome". As the trail go longer and the stomachs emptier the words turned to "dumb" and "boring". When all is said and done, if you ask them in a day or two, they'll tell you they had a great time. I've got pictures to prove it.

I'm not going to try and waste words describing the beauty God created here, I'll just show you with some photos. Enjoy.

This is the main falls, Silver Falls, and the first you come to along the trail. As you can see you get to walk behind the falls on the trail.

This is the second falls, Lower South Falls, that we saw today. You also get to walk behind this one also.

Here I am with Brianna and Alex in front of Silver Falls.

Kevin and the kids behind the South Lower Falls.

Kevin and the kids in front of the Lower South Falls.

The kids pointing the way to the Lower South Falls.

Brianna inspecting some wildflowers on the trail to the falls.

Taking a break. Nothing like grabbing a rest on a log.

They were way up there climbing the root system of the trees on the hillside.

Father and son on the long stair climb back up from the Lower South Falls.

Dream Theater @ The Roseland

There are times when everything works out just fine.

This was one of them.

A few weeks back a friend told me that Dream Theater was making a stop in town during their tour with Iron Maiden. It was a no-brainer, we were going. I got online to buy tickets and the reserved seats in the balcony were sold out so we got general admission tickets for the floor. Being amongst the crowd on the floor was not the worst thing but your view of the magic on stage is hampered a bit. As you can see by the following picture we did not end up on the floor. With a little sweet talk that worked before the bribe came out the nice lady at the stairs let us up. The view was awesome and the music was even better.

After the show we met up with my friend Mike, who tends the upstairs bar, to see if we could meet the band. Previously we had seen him out front before the show and had asked if it was possible and he said he could see what he could do. Mike is the man. He stayed late to make the below photo possible at the sacrifice of his own sleep.

We were downstairs for a bit before Mike Portnoy, the drummer, came out to talk with some people. As they got up to get photos with him we joined in. I got to share a few words, shake hands, and take a couple pics. This was a cool moment. So here is me and Mike.

Pallet to Planter

The company I work for receives product on pallets continually. These pallets get stacked up in the back forty until the pile is too much and it needs to go. We usually end up taking the pallets to the local paper company for recycling. Most of the time there is nothing wrong with the wood so it seems kind of a waste.

For a couple of years Kathi has wanted me to build her some raised garden beds in the backyard. After pricing the wood we decided that it could wait. This past week at the outdoor market in our town on Tuesday nights I saw a guy who had a booth of garden beds. His beds were made of less expensive wood coated with a protective varnish or they could be purchased bare. This sparked the idea to use the pallets to make garden beds.

The pallets are cheap wood that gets tossed anyway. Why not give the wood a second life as a place to grow life. So this week I rounded up a number of pallets and brought them home. Today I made my first raised garden bed from a used pallet. It took about 10 minutes to put this together. The space between the slats will allow for water drainage. This bed is about 24" square and 6" deep.


The blue is not mine. The guys in the shop sometimes use the pallets to hold parts for painting. I am not going to paint, sand, or stain any of these. My plan is to make them and leave the wood as it was.

FOOD FIIIGHT!!!!

So here are two bands with different sounds, song titles of things we don't like, and videos that involve food fights. What is it about evil and hell that has to do with food fights? I've been in one and we called it High School. Not quite hell but close enough for some I guess.

I can imagine the fun that was had in the taping of these videos. I can also hear the director "throw food at that guy and try to look serious, no smiling people, this is serious business, take three hundred and forty two... ACTION!". You'd have to say that because the thought alone of throwing food at somebody makes me smile.


Menomena - Rotten Hell


Project 86 - Evil

Yurts For Sale

If you love the 80's you'll totally love my yurts. I've got rad 80's themed yurts for sale.

Are you going to join a yurt community? Then please peruse my selection of cool yurts themed from the days of feathered hair and parachute pants.

First up is the classic Hall and Oates Yurt. I know this yurt is on your list. Comes complete with a real live set of Daryl Hall and John Oates (musical instruments sold separately).

Next up on the list is a classic yurt Golden Girl style. This classic TV themed yurt comes complete with Emmy Award water features to cool you down on those hot days or just to cool those inevitable hot flashes. You can't go wrong with the Girls. Who wouldn't want Blanche, Dorothy, Rose, and Sophia to keep them company on those long agrarian days far from civilization?

Finally comes the piece de resistance... The ultimate Star Wars themed yurt complete with your own wookie. This yurt will keep you safe during those long Endorian nights and the wookie will keep you safe and warm (he doubles as a blanket - no need to cut open a ton-ton and sleep in it's guts with this set up).

You must hurry, supplies are limited.

What Can Kill You?

At dinner tonight we had a conversation about ways you can die. Don't judge me. We talk about everything in this family. Tonight's subject was morbid but it was what it was. I'm not sure exactly what started it but we started naming ways you can die and things that can kill you.

Brianna said that anything can kill you. My challenge was to start naming things and have her tell me how it could kill you. She refuted my hummingbird challenge by telling me that it could fly into your mouth and you could choke on it. Fair enough. I can't remember (because I'm old and senile) what other things were on the list except Owen D'Poodle who we should now fear because he too can kill us. Bad dog.

Lately I've been reading about pirates, both fiction and non-fiction, and in these books they talk about the ways pirates killed or were killed. I brought up one method I read about where they would lash the victim down and put food like cheese on their face and let rats eat their faces off. I thought this would shock the kids and gross them out but it didn't. "Dad, they're Cheese Pirates!" Alex burst out laughing. "They could have cheese in a can and just spray it on their faces, they'd be the Cheese Pirates!" He continued. "And there could be cheese ninjas too!"

So the morbid conversation about death, dying, and ways to kill or be killed ends with Cheese Pirates with deadly cans of Easy Cheese.