The Perry Bible Fellowship

I don't know where my coworker Eric found the site, but this comic strip is hilarious. I guess I can't legally post the actual strips on here. If you don't have time to look at them all, here are 15 of my favorite (I know, but I couldn't break it down any further):

Lumberjack / The Golden Ticket / Scorpy the Forest Friend / A Hit for Bobby / Nunez / Doll Change / Book World / God Tree / Billy the Bunny / Nice T-shirt / Angry Hammer / Not Today Little One / Disgusting Ted / Falling Dream / Bear Boy

Which one(s) is your favorite?

Simply Brilliant

Mason, you beat me to it. I got the link to top Check Norris facts in an email last week, but you got it up on your blog first. Congratulations. Man, those are great. I think Stefan said there is a movie where Bruce Lee kicks Chuck Norris' ass... but I don't believe it.

Restaurant News:

About a year ago, I had begun to burn out on Chipotle. Although it is perhaps the greatest fast-food restaurant of all time, the excitement of trying all of the burrito/fajita options had worn off. I had gotten in a rut of the steak fajita. But then one magical evening a few weeks ago, the three wise men (Mason, Grant, and Stefan) ordered a burrito bowl and added a side of chips. I was apprehensive at first (I know, be a man!), but I finally gave in. Wow! These are hands down the greatest nachos ever: marinated steak, black beans, rice, cheese, lettuce, tomato, corn, and hot chili salsa. I feel stupid for never having thought of such a glorious fix to my fast food Mexican blues. This had rekindled my love of that fine establishment. Unfortunately, this is unhealthy. Oh well.

To continue that down note, I noticed last week that our old friend Embers on I-394 has closed. Poor thing. Rest in peace. I’ll always remember how you were with that free coffee cake if I ordered an entree. I wonder if the day they closed, a bunch of old folks banged on the door until they passed out like in that South Park episode where they locked the Country Kitchen.

Embers, I apologize that I will not avenge your death, for mighty Perkins has something you never had - the chicken tender melt.

Counting Crows

I am no music expert. I am not a musician. I have no knowledge in even basic music theory. However, I think all I need to be an expert in listening to music are ears and a heart. One rock band that affects my ears and heart greatly is Counting Crows. Yes, it is true that they were last cool when Kirby Puckett was still in the league. But all four of their studio album masterpieces are among my most cherished musical works.

The major reason that I like them so much is the vocalist - Adam Duritz. Despite his chubby and scruffy appearance, an anonymous female friend of mine has occasional sexual fantasies of him. Sad. Adam does not have a traditionally good singing voice at all – he whines; he sounds shaky and unsure. But like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, that is part of his charm. Adam is the most expressive rock singer I have heard. Counting Crows' forte is songs of love, loss, regret, and pain. Adam has a way of touching all of my emotional soft spots in a way that makes me feel the exact way that he is feeling while he is singing. I know he touches a couple of my friends in the same way.

Counting Crows’ lyrics are not Shakespeare, but they are quite poetic and effective. Symbolic words reappear on several albums and songs – angel, devil, rain, clowns, etc. People may say that means he isn’t growing as a lyricist, and they may be right, but I still love how the common imagery gives a theme to their collection. Another great technique is that he always mentions women and locations by name. This gives each passage a personal connection. Even though I don’t necessarily know those people and places in the song, similar experiences of mine replace the names in my mind and give me strong personal associations. Sad, but true, is that most of the associations are with an ex-girlfriend or girls I don’t know how to ask out. Strange that it still always makes me happy to hear the Crows. Perhaps it is affirming to hear someone singing so passionately about some frustrations similar to mine. Well, enough of this b.s., I’ll get to the music.

You can see their discography here. Here are some of my favorite passages:

Step out the front door like a ghost
into the fog where no one notices
the contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
the angels get a better view
of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
-Round Here, August and Everything After

we couldn't all be cowboys
so some of us are clowns
and some of us are dancers on the midway
we roam from town to town
I hope that everybody
can find a little flame
me, I say my prayers,
then I just light myself on fire
and I walk out on the wire once again
and I say
goodnight elisabeth
-Goodnight Elisabeth, Recovering the Satellites

We'll I'm all messed up
That's nothing new
Hey monkey, when you open up your blue eyes,
I don't know if I'm wide awake or dreaming
But all I ever need is everything
-Monkey, Recovering the Satellites

A long December
and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year
will be better than the last
I can't remember
the last thing that you said
as you were leavin'
Now the days go by so fast
...
The smell of hospitals in winter
And the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters,
but no pearls
All at once you look across a crowded room
To see the way that light attaches to a girl
-A Long December, Recovering the Satellites

All my friends got flowers in their eyes
But I got none this season
All of the last ten years blooms have gone and died
Time doesn't give a reason
-High Life, This Desert Life

On certain Sundays in November
When the weather bothers me
I empty drawers of other summers
Where my shadows used to be
And she is standing by the water
As her smile begins to curl
In this or any other summer
She is something all together different
Never just an ordinary girl
...
I put my summers back in a letter
And I hide it from the world
All the regrets you can't forget
Are somehow pressed upon a picture
In the face of such an ordinary girl
-Hard Candy, Hard Candy

I been thinking I'd like to see
Your eyes open up real wide
The minute that you see me
But if you don't come through
I wouldn't wait for you
I understand that everyone goes disappearing
Into the greater grey that covers over everyday
And hovers in the distance...
I've been up all night
I might sleep all day
Get your dreams just right
Then let 'em slip away
-Up All Night, Hard Candy

Genesis

One of the reasons that I started this blog is to share some of the nature photos I have taken. It seems like a less invasive way to show them then continuously bugging my friends and family. A big inspiration was this site. I am no photography expert my any means. I just got a digital camera in 2004, which is a modest $150 Fuji FinePix A330. I probably will never go hardcore with a $500+, n-MB camera with tripod and stuff, but I think digital nature photography is a great hobby. It allows me to feel creative without actually creating anything (or doing much work). Natural scenery is already there, you just have to try to capture it. Digital cameras allow you to take duplicate shots, choose the betters ones, and delete the bad ones without wasting memory card space or film. Using the LCD makes it much easier to get better shots (especially with gridlines on), plus lets you see them immediately. Looking at the photos with a large, brightly backlit monitor with the ability to zoom, run a slideshow, or edit/crop (which I really am against in principle and rarely do) is no contest versus tiny 4x6 prints. I love taking pictures and hope to continually improve at it over time.

Here are some of my favorite shots from around Minnesota in 2004 (click on a photo to enlarge it):

Lone Lake. Minnetonka, MN, Aug 28, 2004

Downtown. Minneapolis, MN, Sep 6, 2004



Plymouth Creek Park. Plymouth, MN, Oct 11, 2004



Lake Okabena. Worthington, MN, Dec 17, 2004

Sunny California

For my first real entry I will review my recent trip to SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

My brother BEN earned a free airline ticket to any of 30+ U.S. destinations that he had to use before March or so. He convinced me to join him for a three-night vacation since I cannot see him very often now and we both really like to travel. Oh, where to fly in January? Since I live in MINNESOTA, I wanted to visit and photograph those foreign things called oceans or mountains, as well as those foreign winter things called warmth and greenery. Neither of us skis, so Colorado was out. Ben lives in Florida, so all of the warm beaches there were out too. California seemed like the next best option. We had both been to NORTHERN CALIFORNIA before on a family road trip (highly recommended by the way), plus it is cool there in the winter, so southern California won. The only California airport the free ticket would allow was LAX. We decided to get a rental car, drive down the coast, and stay in the little beach town of SAN CLEMENTE.

Once we both arrived at the airport in the morning of Saturday, January 14, we decided against taking the quick interstate route to San Clemente. Instead we took the scenic Pacific Coast Highway the entire way. The road was an adventure throughout the 60-mile stretch, from the infamous LOS ANGELES GHETTOS to sooty INDUSTRIAL WASTELANDS to storied ORANGE COUNTY BEACH COMMUNITIES, while closely following the ocean for most of the journey. The couple of beaches we stopped at along the way could not remind me any more of THE BEACH BOYS. And thanks to the magic of iPOD, I could hear them too.

We stayed at the COMFORT SUITES in San Clemente. I thought it was a good place to stay, but then again hotels easily satisfy me. It was right next to the Interstate, but on the other hand only about a mile from the beach. My brother and I are both hotel pool junkies, and this place had a nice little outdoor pool and hot tub. My only real complaint was the nighttime temperatures made it too cool to use the pool alone and they could not get the heat in the hot tub to work until the last night we were there.

On Sunday morning we explored the beach in San Clemente. For lunch we ate fresh fish outside at a restaurant on the pier as the waves crashed under our feet.

In the afternoon we drove up into the mountains to PALOMAR MOUNTAIN STATE PARK. I wanted to take pictures from a great observation point in the park, but when got up that high (over 5000 feet) I was disappointed that we were standing in creepy dark cold foggy clouds from the end of a storm. We could not see more than a couple hundred feet when we got to the point, and in a couple spots could not see more than about ten feet. I was surprised to see my breath in southern California, and we even saw remnants of snow on the ground. However, we also saw giant pines and cedars and two mule deer on the ridge, so it was still great to have gone up there.


We were heading down the mountain around sunset when we found a turnoff and clearing for me to take pictures. I got some good shots of the sun setting on the ocean past the hills and the mountains, but the photos do the breathtakingly majestic experience no justice. We warmed up and unwound on the way back by taking in a steak and shrimp buffet at an INDIAN CASINO.

On Monday we spent most of the day at SAN CLEMENTE STATE BEACH. It was a perfect sunny day in the 60s. The picturesque beach has a commuter rail line between the contrasting glistening ocean and desert bluffs. We found a nice overlook on the bluffs to watch the sunset and of course take photos.

When it was all over, we put 400 miles on the rental car and I got the relaxation and scenic photo ops that I desired. I was very pleased with the trip and I now definitely understand the drawing power of Southern California.

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