PIG ROAST

THE EAST POINT GENTLEMAN'S TASTING CLUB HAD THEIR ANNUAL PIG ROAST FRIDAY NIGHT. HERE ARE A FEW PHOTOS.

PIG HEAD DELIGHT

Watch this video and then meet me in Mobile at Mardi Gras to help execute it.
http://www.gourmet.com/food/video/2008/09/cosentino_pigshead

MY OWN PRIVATE FARM, ALMOST

Watch this video about Truly Living Well Farm.

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/21204457/index.html

The farm is East Point, where we live. Stacey has taken classes with Rashid and I try and shop there every Wednesday. Stacey and I will have our own small farm one day, in the mean time this will do.

Dr. John

My friend John wrote about his job as a park ranger in the Redwood National Park very nicely. I liked the way he wrote and posted 4 or 5 of his transmissions on life as a park ranger. As of late the good Doctor has returned to Ely Minn. and continues his education. As he has always been, John is restless. I asked him to write something I could post because I knew it would be a good read, insightful and honest. John always gets me to thinking.....

Missing Home

"Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore."
Did I really think it would be easy? You know - embarking on a new
career at 40 years old. I wanted to pack up the car and drive to
Atlanta last week. But I held off - a friend told me that I might want
to wait until morning. And after I had slept on it I changed my mind.
What did I take for granted when I uprooted? The support network of
good friends that I had built over 8 years. What the hell was I
thinking to take that so lightly? I felt like the walls were closing in
on me when I called my friend. A weird and awful feeling. I didn't
know what to do with myself. Is that what they mean when "you are
beside yourself?" I'm learning a new culture here. I started the
integrated biosciences grad program at University of Minnesota so that I
might be able to teach one day. These professors and colleagues of mine
in class have no idea of what its like to be outside the ivory tower.
Now I know why the liberal colleges are seen as elite. They are! They
are isolated. There is no sincerity here and things don't work on a
handshake and your word. Everyone is vying for a position - like a
horse race; who is going to get the inside rail on the homestretch? I
love my classes though. I am having no problem with the work load;
advanced organic chemistry, analysis of variance, and integrated
biosystems. The other day we had to introduce ourselves in the class
and tell everyone our background. I explained briefly that I had done
contract work with the USDA in disease eradication, had owned and managed a vet practice for 7 years, served on a city zoning board, and
that now I was pursuing academia to teach one day. One girl said that
she was a vet as well but was not changing careers. She was a Mexican
citizen and accepted into the program with a salary because she will be
teaching some undergraduate biology laboratory. Meanwhile, I have a
6300 dollar tuition bill. I asked her the next day, "Have you ever
practiced?" She said, "No, as vets in Mexico, our value is in grooming
dogs."
"You're not changing careers because you have never been in one!"
She got accepted to "diversify the student population." I don't add
diversity? I wouldn't add to the undergraduate students' learning
experience at the University of Minnesota? Really?
jd

VEGAS CHICKS

So, when in Rome do like the Romans right? So when in Vegas do like the losers?

I thought while I was in Vegas I would hire a hooker. It's practically legal there and there are ad's everywhere for "escorts". So I thought why not get a "escort" for the evening. These ad's that you see everywhere are like a menu. There will be photos of each "escort" from each business. There will be a few vital details like height, weight and specialty services each "escort" offers. There will be the amount of the flat fee listed and then you are to work out the rest of your cost with whichever "escort" you hire.

I found the girl of my dreams. Right there on page 11. Her name was Destiny. It was love at first sight. So I got on the phone and made the arrangements. That's when I learned the "escort" service was having a two for one special. I looked again and found the other girl of my dreams and told the "escort" operator to send them both. The second girl of my dreams was Candy and she was beautiful. Hell they both were two of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen in my life and for only $400 dollars they would be at my door in one hour. I knew it was a gamble, but I was in Vegas! Send them I told the nice lady at the "escort" service.

Well I didn't know what every other guy that has been to Vegas probably knows. The old bait and switch. The scheme I used to get my first wife, which went south as soon as she learned a little bit about me, but that's another story. I had no idea that Destiny and Candy would not be the girls in the photos I had picked out.

So when the "escorts" that the "escort" service sent knocked on the door I was a bit surprised. These were not the "escorts" I had ordered. These were nice, mature, clean "escorts" that reminded me of my sisters. I had to send them away, there was no way. No how. I couldn't, just couldn't. So I put the "escorts" back in the cab and sent them away. I snapped this photo with my phone just as they were pulling off, you can see one of the "escorts" was not real happy with me. Oh well.

SAVING THE DAY

So, like I said it was a good thing we had a little down time that Saturday in Vegas, the day before my Niece was to get married.

See my Mom and Dad need a little help getting around sometimes. Like when we travel to Las Vegas. My Mom has bad knees, my Dad gets his medicines mixed up and sometimes I got to take over. Good thing I was there to get them to the "church" on time. My Sister, bless her heart, really tries to help, but sometimes it just doesn't work out. Like I said good thing I was there.

My Sister was sharing a room with my Mom and Dad, I know, I know, but that's a story for another time. Since she is sharing the room with my parents we make plans for her to have them meet us in the lobby 30 minutes before the wedding. My oldest Sister, the Mother of the Bride, tells us it will be a 20 minute walk from the hotel lobby to the chapel. So I'm thinking 30 minutes is a good head start. Weelllll. My other Sister, the one still living with my parents, said she would have them in the lobby at 6:30. Perfect. Except they show up 15 minutes late. My Sister, the one still living with my parents, took my parents to the top floor instead of the 1st floor where the lobby is located. I didn't have time to ask her why she did this. We were late for a wedding and I had to take control.

First thing I did was find my Mom a wheelchair. I knew I could push her faster then she could walk. Next I had to figure out where the elevators were cause we couldn't take the wheelchair on the escalator's. Things were going pretty good until my Sister, the one who still lives with my parents, got a little behind and as we entered the elevator she rushed in at the last minute and bumped into me which made me ram my Moms feet into the elevator wall. Mom was okay after a few minutes.

It was kinda hectic for a few minutes, but I keep everything cool and calm and got us all there on time. And, I think my Sister, bless her heart, the one who still lives with my parents, shes 49 years old by the way, never had a clue.

LAS VEGAS

We had never been to Vegas before last weekend. Our niece was getting married, between her and her husband they have 7 parents, so I think going to Vegas was the best way for them to handle that situation. I was glad they decided on Vegas, I'm always up for exploring a new city. We tried like hell to get there on Saturday and for the first time in our 21 years traveling standby on Delta we could not get a seat on one damn plane. All day long, no extra seats available. Sunday was different and we got out on the first flight.

We met up with my Ma and my Pa and my sister right away and headed for the Bellagio. Once there we had a couple Bloody Marys and listened to this really strange looking man play piano. He would be playing piano, someone would be sitting on his bench talking to him and he would stare right at you and smile like a crazy man. He played the hell out of this piano, never missed a lick.

But never mind this freak, we were there to see the Richard MacDonald sculptures. This is a permanent show at the Bellagio. This artist, MacDonald, worked with some of the acrobats/contortionist of Cirque du Soleil to create these amazing sculptures. "O" is the Cirque show this group performs in. Go to this page and just see the way this guy works. He's right in the middle of his studio surrounded by a live model, a Cirque artist no doubt and his current works. He works in clay and wax to start with and cast his finished product using the traditional lost wax method. Go here to see the different sculptures.

These were extraordinary sculptures, some were full size some table top size. This was a nice start to Vegas. Good thing we had this down time before my Sister got the schedule all screwed up and we almost missed the wedding.