Jonas Poster? Jonas book?

All things yellow...

1968 The Beatles' Yellow Submarine LP - $7







My 1975 Dodge Dart Swinger - $1,000









Bob Huggins' dressing like a Twinkie in last night's game - priceless!

Urbane Planning - "Agri-vation"

What is the cash crop of the suburban fringe farmer? Corn? Soy? Tobacco? One could argue that it’s houses! That’s right; good old single-family subdivisions. If water and sewer are in close proximity, how can a farmer resist the temptation to become a multi-millionaire by walking away from it all? I can certainly see how easy it would be to sell the land to a developer for a chance to move to Boca Raton and fish the days away. Or golf all year around in Tempe. Wouldn’t have to twist my arm. Or, if farming is your gig in life, then you could simply take the money from the sale of your farm and buy another farm further out away from suburbia. I’m guessing you’d have plenty of money left over... Either way, you bloat your checking account in a world where a farmer’s wallet has increasingly been taking more and more hits. The dilemma comes in when you consider all the blood, sweat, and tears that have fallen on that hallowed soil that your family has tended to since 1886. There’s the family cemetery that you will be leaving behind with the hope that it will be able to co-exist with integrity in the middle of a typical suburban subdivision. Suddenly all the memories of kin long since gone come rushing back. All the good years. All the victories when things looked bleak. Overcoming the odds that were stacked against you during war, drought, flood, disease, pestilence, etc. This farm is the epitome of a ‘victory’ garden. Some things are very hard to walk away from even if there are seven figures attached. Agriculture on the suburban fringe: cash crop indeed; agri-vation as well.

Lego tower

The other day Katie Grace decided to build her own "Tower Of Babel" out of Legos...well, actually she was just trying to see how tall of a tower she could construct without it falling. With John's help she managed to make one as tall as the living room ceiling! It was quite the scene when it came tumbling down! Leggo my Legos!

Spitting Image - The Threetles

Remember that British show from the 80's and 90's called "Spitting Image"? It featured puppets that caricatured popular figures in politics and entertainment. They were hilarious representations with profusely exaggerated features. Well, I stumbled across a photo of a set of puppets they designed in the late 90's featuring the (at the time) three surviving Beatles. The aging Threetles were dressed in their 1963 collarless suits recreating a famous photo (Lennon's glasses can be seen on the table behind Ringo). I can't stop looking at it. Click on the photo to make it bigger. The youthful rockers are not so youthful anymore, eh?

Early morning moon

It's cold outside and in between a few morning snow showers we were treated to a morning moon.

Hi & Lois

click on the comic to enlarge

FLASHBACK OF THE WEEK: January 1982

Just got done watching the AFC Champion-ship Game between the Patriots and Chargers and since it was pretty cold there in New England it reminded me of the time the Chargers came to Cincinnati after the 1981 season to play the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game. It was cccccooooooolllld!!! I think the game time temp was 9 above zero with 40 mile-per-hour winds creating a 59-below zero wind chill factor! It was so cold out that I remember stepping outside (after bundling up) just so I could spit on the front porch because I heard that your spit was freezing and it did almost instantly upon hitting the ground. Back inside I witnessed the Bengals defeat the Chargers 27-7. Some of the Bengal offensive linemen came out with just short sleeves on! They were trying to intimidate the Charger defense... They are lucky they didn't lose their arms. The celebration was short lived however as the Bengals lost the Super Bowl to the 49ers 2 weeks later. That was another fridged day with a lot of snow. The game was being played in Detroit in their domed stadium but it was a nightmare for fans and players to get to the stadium that snowy, freezing day. Today's games have brought back all those memories both good and bad. Patriots are in. I'm gonna go watch and root on the Packers now.

Is evolution science?

from "Answers Weekly" - Jan. 18, 2008
When most people hear the word science, they think in terms of all the wonderful technology we have today: computers, jet planes, cell phones, and so on. And certainly, scientists have accumulated much knowledge about this world and the laws which govern the universe. This has enabled us to build the wonderful technology we use today—the technology that sent you this email.

But when most people hear the word evolution, they think in terms of Darwin’s ideas concerning the supposed evolution of animals and man. Darwinian evolution teaches that life evolved from non-life millions of years ago and that over millions of years, one kind of animal changed into another. Finally, man arose from some ape-like ancestor.

Studying evolution is very different from studying present-day processes that have led to many amazing technologies. Molecules-to-man evolution is a belief concerning what supposedly happened in the past, but no one was there to see it happen. Thus, evolutionists are free to postulate stories about abiogenesis (non-living chemicals evolving into life), stellar evolution, or ape-men without direct observation. Such scenarios are merely belief statements.

The ideas Darwin espoused were his beliefs concerning the past. They are not science in the sense of scientists being able to observe these things actually happening.

However, we do not have to depend on mere guesses about the origin of the universe and life. We can thankfully refer back to the eye-witness account—the Bible.

For more information see Evolution Is Religion.

Squirrel

The local squirrel we call 'Scamp' recently visited the bird feeder...raided it actually! From the looks of the photo to the left he appears to have eaten a bit too much and is suffering from a belly ache. Scamp then made a run for the telephone pole and probably went home to sleep it off...

Snowy, cold, frozen tundra

It's been cold, windy, and a bit snowy here so far in 2008. Beautiful to see everything painted in white hiding the brown of Winter. Soon the Spring will find everything a new color! Always enjoy the moment and environment that comes with each of the 4 seasons. And if you don't like it; don't worry. It too shall pass.

FLASHBACK OF THE WEEK: Fall 1998

John had just turned 3 years old when we moved into our house. Here is a blast from the past as John plays out back shortly after we moved in. The old swing set is long gone, having been replaced by a new one. Our pool (and the neighbor's pool) is gone now. I can still remember John playing on that rickety old splinter of a swing set as the dog behind us, "Charlie" would bark at him profusely. Even to the point that John didn't like to swing anymore. Charlie was a nice dog; just not smart. Wanted to be pet or else he'd bark at 1,000 decibels!

Quote of the day...

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." -Winston Churchill

A pretty, snowy Monday morning

Nothing prettier than a flurry...especially considering that if it were a few degrees warmer it would be nothing more than gloomy drizzle. I have learned to enjoy snow as a nice alternative to rain. Makes the colder temperature much easier to put up with.

Gettin' off the bus

Recently had some old slides shown at our 20-year reunion scanned into the computer and some were pretty cool! Here are a few of the busses coming into high school and letting off students back in the 1986-87 school year. Fortunately for me I was driving to school by that time in my groovy canary yellow '75 Dodge Dart Swinger but up until that time I too was a bus rider so these photos bring back wonderful (and not so wonderful) memories.

Silly Soap Beard!

Katie Grace has had a ball playing with silly soap that she got from Grandma this Christmas. It's in an aerosol can and sprays out like a foam snake. Very cool. Comes in green or pink. As you can see, she chose a green beard this evening!

Spring-like January!

Wow! The upper 60s again today. I walked to work yesterday (Monday). What a nice change of pace considering it was in the single-digits only a few days ago! I enjoy the 13-minute foot commute to work (2 minutes if I take the car). I often see turkey, deer, geese, and ducks along my .8 mile walk that passes by a pond and over a creek. I take it as I can get it because as Cincinnati weather goes, it will be totally different in a day or two.

Remember Burger Chef (and Jeff)?

Remember Burger Chef? And his little minion Jeff? That was a great hamburger joint! It was the pioneer to the kid-friendly burger chains that litter the highways and byways today. They were the first to come up with a meal aimed directly at kids complete with toy surprises! The Funmeal was great. You'd get their hamburger, fries, drink, and a toy of some kind. I recall pulling mini-Frisbees, tops, plastic cars, and other items from the boxes over the course of the years I would get them as a kid. Then, McDonald's followed up with their Happy Meal and the game was on. Burger Chef was bought out some years later by Hardee's and that was the end of that. Hardee's was bad. Real bad. Their burgers tasted lifeless and void of any crave-inducing value. The next time you get your kids a Happy Meal think of Burger Chef and his little buddy Jeff who adorned the boxes of the original kiddie meal.

Boone County Bandits 2008

Well the new year is here and Spring is just around the corner. I am typing this with snow on the ground outside but John's baseball coach called last night and is planning on the first practice of the year this weekend. Never too early for baseball. John loves playing for the Bandits. Last week the team got together at a local restaurant so that the coach could give them some presents. They got hoodies, hats, and t-shirts with their team logo on it. Coach Bill is eternally excited about baseball and would play it in the snow if possible. He also asked if I'd join his coaching staff which I was honored to accept. Looks like I will be putting some time in as first base coach. That means that Melinda will have to take over as the team photographer! Should be a blessing to be part of the team John is on. My dad also served as a coach for a few years while I was growing up playing ball. He was the quiet, encouraging type; much like our manager Mr. Scarbro. I plan on being that type as well. I can't see the point in blowing up and carrying on like a fool but it goes on all over the place unfortunately. Baseball is a game and games are supposed to be fun. Play hard, do your best, and win or lose, you will have fun.