Cleaning out the collapsing shed...

Spent the last two days cleaning out the old shed in the yard, found some really old license plates.( 1920's or so.) Also a lot of garbage, consisting mostly of old car parts, paint cans, wooden window frames, glass, and tools made by cro-magnon men. (Ok, not really on the last one.) Also it seems a squirrel has been storing his food in there, pine cones, some acorns, (not a lot of them in this area) We would estimate about 40 lbs of pine cones and various edible dry goods. From what we've been reading, this is excessive for a two, three, ...okay maybe five pound "critter". Hazarding a guess, the squirrel in question should weigh about 180 lbs. We have decided to arm ourselves ( shovels, torches, pitchforks, weed beaters...it IS the 21st century!!) should it return and be peeved about it's stash. If it does return we would like to invite our friends over for some bonfire rotisserie. We'll let you know. Anyway, that's about it for now. Everybody keep an eye out for those killer squirrels. Ciao.

Cinnamon Rolls rule...

Having our morning coffee and a cinnamon roll that Wolfie made for us this weekend. A good start to what will be a busy day. The list of things we need to do around here is endless, fortunately for us many of them require money and therefore have to be put off for a while, (first time being poor felt like a boon.) The sun is shining outside and luckily for us a few of the jobs require us to work out there. Of course there is the problem of our latent laziness to deal with. Oh yes, we are lazy, we admit it freely and without guilt. (Ok, a little bit of guilt, after all we all had mothers.) But we have agreed to help each other overcome our laziness and get to work. (Picture us in the garden singing "We shall overcome." in strident yet discordant voices.) But spending our time together joining in the fight against entropy (Ohhh that evil entropy!) sounds like a good time to us anyway. So if you happen to drive or walk by the house and see two aging hippie like folks toiling in the sun cheer us on but don't get in our way, work makes us cranky. Ciao for now.

Icky icky gooey sicky......

Another one of those nights, the sandman is in hiding, woke up at 4:30 AM, after going to sleep at about midnight. Rude awakening number one was stepping in a huge pile of cat vomit while going into the kitchen to get some water for coffee. (We swear two or three cats must have taken turns vomiting in the same pile to make it that big.) So after hopping across the kitchen to the paper towel rack (all the while flinging foul flecks of vomitous flak across the room and swearing like a drunken sailor with tourettes .) and then cleaning foot and floor and furniture. Finally managed to get the coffee brewing and sit down for the morning news. And was a little disappointed to find that South Park has succumbed to pressure from an Islamic organization called Revolution Muslim. It seems the organization was offended by Matt and Trey's portrayal of Muhammad on the show. (They had Muhammad speaking while hidden inside a U-Haul trailer so as not to make his image appear, they later showed Muhammad but wearing a bear suit, which eventually was revealed to be Santa Claus pretending to be Muhammad, or so the news story says.) But we will never know for sure because the episode won't be shown again. It is also not going to be placed for streaming on Comedy Centrals website. Ok gotta say not pleased about that, we did on image search on Google for Muhammad and found over a million hits with images of Muhammad. Here is our opinion. We think every newspaper and online web site in America should post a drawing of Muhammad (A respectful one please.) If the radical Muslims want to kill us all anyway might as well give em a reason. One thing we should not do however is succumb to threats. And clearly the South Park creators were threatened, (the Revolution Muslim organization called it a warning, claiming they were not threatening the South Park creators but just pointing out what 'probably' would happen to them if they ran the show again.) From what we have read of Matt and Trey they probably would have run the show anyway if Comedy Central had let them. And that is as it should be, America has a free press, and it should remain free. We have seen many things in the news that have offended us, but will not and can not abide someone telling a newspaper or online magazine what they can or can not print. Case in point... we are not allowed to post an image of Muhammad in this blog. The penalty for doing so would be the immediate cancellation of our blog. Can anyone recommend a blog posting site that will allow it?
Oh and one more important point, you will notice above that we state RADICAL Muslims are threatening to kill people over images of Muhammad. And that is true, but most Muslims in America while being offended by an image of Muhammad would simply cease support of any organization or magazine that printed the image. In other words if you are offended by a magazine or newspaper you are reading you can simply stop reading it. (Much as we at the Crazy have stopped listening to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, and Fox news.) For example we were recently offended by a Garfield cartoon that we felt was too cruel to Poor Odie, but we have not started a fatwa on Jim Davis, although a Jihad is not out of the question. Just our opinion, we could be wrong. Ciao for now.

And back to the mundane...

Another week come and gone. We here at the crazy are gearing up for a working weekend, we hope for good weather. (The weather report says no rain until later saturday.) But the weather report didn't predict the snow we got earlier in the week either so we guess it's just a scattershot type of forecast. Brother Dan and me have been clearing out behind the garage, and in the shed which is due for demolition. (Too bad the city of Ishpeming doesn't allow us to use dynamite, KABOOM!! Shed gone, job done.) We noticed that the DNR is issuing burning permits for Marquette county, so it's just possible we will get to burn some of the brush and such that we collected behind the garage over the years. A few weekends ago we had some friends over and we watched an Ermine come into the yard and kill one of the chipmunks that lives under our garage. (You should have heard the little chipmunk screams!....... Aaaaalviiin!!!) The Ermine is probably a weasel by now, but we haven't seen it since, and we still have some chipmunks. The hunting range for Ermines/Weasels is over 40 acres so it's possible we may never see that one again. But still, looking forward to a weekend with the family, nothing better than that. Spring is here, summer is roaring down on us like a runaway Mack truck, so a lot of work to be done, followed by copious bundles of play. We'll let you know how the weekend goes. Everybody give yourselves a hug and a kiss on the head. (Stand on a chair if you have to.) Ciao for now.

Earthday is her birthday....

Just a quick note to point out that the light of my and Connal's life is having her birthday today.
Lisa is at once childlike and wise, she loves us unconditionally yet demands that we better ourselves as people. It always surprises me when she sees a new flower in our garden and makes a childlike expulsion of joy and amazement, and finds so much joy in such a simple thing. Somehow when she bounces out into the garden or the yard you can still see the little girl she once was as she stoops to pick a flower or stops to look at an interesting bug. We feel lucky to have her with us, and hope we get to spend a long and eventful life together. So when you read this hon, we love you. And hope you have a beautiful birthday.

A non smokers point of view....

On May 1st the state of Michigan is putting a new anti-smoking law into effect. The law states that smoking is banned in all public places including restaurants, bars, offices, retail businesses, basically all public places except casinos, (but only in some casinos, which seems kind of shady to us.) Actually the only real difference between current smoking laws and the new one is there is no smoking in bars. We have been hearing a lot of people complaining about not being allowed to smoke on public streets. THAT IS NOT TRUE. Smoking will not be allowed in Al fresco areas of restaurants, or in Bars. But smokers can still walk down a public street and smoke. Do we agree with the new smoking ban, not entirely, but it should be pointed out that many years ago most states made it illegal to drink alcohol on public streets, and there is no such thing as a second hand drunk. We at the crazy think that a private business owner should be allowed to do with their properties as they see fit. And believe that someone with the money and the courage to do so could effectively fight this law in court. Also we would like to point out that the fine for smoking is less than $100 dollars the first time someone is caught doing it. All that being said, it's going to be nice to walk into a bar (on the rare occasion that we do) and not be exposed to second hand smoke. We at the crazy believe that if someone wants to smoke there should be places around that they are allowed to do so. (Private clubs such as Augusta National have gotten around the law (concerning not allowing women to join) by proclaiming they are a private organization. If a bar owner closed his bar to the public and then allowed people to join what is then a private club (with a nominal fee of say 5 dollars a month.) and then gave out membership cards to it's patrons they may be able to circumvent the law. (The state however would try to pull their liquor license) If there are any lawyers reading this could you email me and let me know if this would be an effective way around the law. Just a thought, we'll be seeing you smokers on the streets. You non-smokers, we'll meet you at the bar. (Just kidding folks) Oh the main point of this article is that not allowing smoking in public buildings may not be particularly fair, but it really isn't taking away the freedom to smoke, just the freedom of where to smoke.
And just as we are not allowed to drink a beer on a public street, you are not allowed to smoke in a public building. And we are offended by this, drinkers of the world unite, let's change the archaic and meaningless law about public intoxication. (Again, just kidding folks.) What is the long term effect of not allowing smoking in bars going to be, only time will tell. Although in other states where these laws have been passed bar patronage temporarily dropped off and then picked back up again, with some owners reporting increased customer bases. And some bars closed their doors. Good luck to all you bar and restaurant owners. Ciao for now.

Beyond the moon.....

In a recent speech President Obama put forth our nations plans for future space exploration. Canceling the recent plans by the Bush administration to go back to the moon. We at the crazy couldn't agree more. Although the manned moon missions were wonderfully successful. Both in achieving the goals set down and in developing new technologies for humankind. (Womankind? Mankind? Don't want to offend anyone here.) (By the way, if you are one of those people who believe we never went to the moon, we have to ask how can you possibly be reading this post as obviously you are an ignoramus?) (Ok, there are some people we don't mind offending.) So kudos to President Obama and N.A.S.A. for putting us on the path to deep space exploration. We now have a reason to develop faster spacecraft, more advanced oxygen generation, and communication technologies. If we are ever to leave this planet and explore beyond our solar system this is the first step. (Actually the moon landing was the first step, a small staggery stumble of a first step, but a first step just the same.) We at the crazy find it amazing how many people think that space program is a waste of money all the while benefiting from the advances in Avionics, Telecommunications, Computers and Engineering that the moon missions provided.
So here we are on the edge of mans next step into space, let's make it a big one. Just our opinion, ciao for now.

The midnight marauder...

Ok, actually we're talking about the 5:00 am marauder, the other night our son Connal got up early in the morning, maybe about 4:30. I was awakened from a sound sleep as he came out of his bedroom shut the door to our bedroom and proceeded down the stairs. For those of you who don't know us Connal has cerebral palsy and is physically and mentally impaired, (which rarely slows him down.) He often gets up before us and usually will go downstairs and turn on the computer and find a game to play or some such thing. (We have shortcuts on the desktop to cartoon network, PBS, and a few online game sites.) I could hear him going downstairs and muttering to himself as he does. I distinctly heard him say "Dude" and "where is everybody." And then silence. No video game sounds, no movement in the living room. So assuming he was going into the kitchen I thought it best to get up and see if he was hungry before he began pouring himself some cereal and milk.
(He usually uses a little too much milk.) Came around the corner and found him standing in the middle of the kitchen with a look of mischief on his face and holding a big wooden meat mallet in his hands. Told him "I don't think you need that." and took it away from him, he said "Thanks"
Later on I asked him what it was for and he said. "Zombies." It seems we have a zombie infestation in our house. We have an old root cellar in the back yard and Connal once told us it is full of Zombie Spiders and Zombie Bears. (We are beginning to sense a theme here.) Connal has had a zombie fixation since he was old enough to say the word. Connal's favorite holiday is Halloween, and often in the middle of December will point at the large posable spider we keep above our front window all year round and say "I want more Halloween." which means he wants Halloween decorations. (Sometimes we indulge him.) Just thought I would mention it. Now besides the Sandman, The Bladder Fairy, The Hunger Gnome and Peanut Butter Akka, we have Zombies. (And not just regular zombies, zombie spiders and bears.) And thats about it. Ciao for now.

Spring is here.... again.

Strange weather for the Upper Peninsula, a very warm March, followed by a dry (so far) April.
Except for one normal snow storm we have had a lot of sunny warm days. It would be easy to blame it on Global Warming. (Or climate change if you prefer the less drastic sounding term.)
We at the crazy have done research, and more research on global warming. We have read all the articles we could find both for and against it. We have researched temperature change in the ocean. Migration pattern changes in birds. (Yes, a lot of species of birds are moving farther north earlier than ever before.) Compared winter glacier photos all over the world. And all of these things seem to point to global warming. But the thing that really tips the scales for us is the effect the weather change has had on commerce and travel. The ice road truckers of the north have had shorter and shorter seasons every year. Almost every ski resort in the country has complained that they just haven't had enough snow to open for a normal season every year. (The sale of snow makers has quadrupled in the last ten years.) So we here at the crazy believe global warming is happening, and we think it will have a negative effect on a lot of people. (although with human ingenuity being what it is there will be some people who figure out a way to profit from it.) Ok and now for the point. We don't yet believe their is enough evidence to support the idea that global warming is caused by man. (Don't get us wrong, we would love to see the reliance on fossil fuels stop. And the use of wind, water, solar, and any other renewable or recyclable energy sources be brought to the forefront.) Ok people don't grind your girdles, we don't say it's not possible man is a major contributor to global warming. Just in our opinion there is not enough evidence to support the theory yet. We will continue our research. And just want to point out that just because we aren't sure of our species effect on global climate, doesn't mean that man isn't having an effect. After all we could be wrong. Couldn't we. Ciao for now.

And the weather changes...

Yesterday here in the U.P. was cold with blowing snow, the day before was somewhat sunny and a high in the mid fifties. Now today will be sunny and a high near fifty. As they say about the weather up here, if you don't like it, wait five minutes it will change. Days like yesterday can really put a damper on our ability to get anything done. Needed to do laundry, get some dishes done, take care of some grocery shopping. (Got the shopping done, that's about it.) So how did we spend our day? Television. The shame is great. Watched our collection of the wonderful Firefly series. Then watched Dr Horrible's sing along blog. Then a recent fantasy movie the name of which escapes us at the moment. After some difficulty getting me out of the new recliner Lisa came up with a plan to allow me to avoid the chores I should have been doing, it works like this, if I can come up with three good excuses for not getting out of my chair I can avoid the chore. Ok, gotta admit I felt pretty lazy yesterday, too lazy to come up with good excuses. "It's a new chair and I gotta break it in." didn't work. How about "I'm not fat enough yet and I'm trying to attain critical mass." and finally went metaphysical. "The natural order is for things to entropy (fall into chaos) so who am I to try to fight nature." Ok, had to do some laundry yesterday, but managed to put the dishes off until today. Damn... Oh well, guess I should get to them. Ciao for now.

And in the creepy department...

It seems David Carradine of Kill Bill and Kung Fu fame gave an interview to Celebrity Ghost Stories four months before he died in which he stated the deceased husband of his soon to be wife was "hanging out in the closet in their bedroom." He described how angry the ghost seemed to be and how it was breaking glass constantly in the house. He mentioned one day going into the closet and finding one of the ex husbands tie's had been turned about so he could read Grateful Dead on the label. Four months later he is found dead hanging in a closet in Thailand. (Police keep waffling between accidental death, murder, or suicide.) A very strange coincidence to say the least. But most assuredly to be placed in the WHAT THE F*** place in your memory. (If they find a Grateful Dead tie in the closet be afraid.) At any rate a thai newspaper recently released photos of his death scene and people who have seen it point out that his hands are tied, which seems to me would be unlikely if this was an auto erotic asphyxiation. Or a suicide. So I think perhaps the police in Thailand should be looking at murder. Except the Police point out that the security video of the hotel shows no one else entered his room. I guess some mysteries will never be answered. Just a thought and another journey into the world of the crazy. Ciao for now.

Oh and by the way....

Happy Easter to those readers who are of the various Christian faiths allowed in a free society, we find it humorous that some Orthodox churches actually hold a procession going outside to look for the body of Christ and when they don't find it they shout "Christ has risen." But to each his own. Our main religious celebration involves Chocolate Easter bunnies and hard boiled eggs. (You see the chocolate Easter bunny represents our belief that Christ was a black man, and when they metaphysically ate of his flesh he was filled with chocolaty goodness. The hard boiled eggs represent our belief that at the last supper Judas said "Man it's so hot in here, I could hard boil eggs in my underwear." Ok actually that's not true, both the Easter bunny and the Colored eggs are ancient symbols of fertility, celebrated for thousands of years before anyone ever heard of Christ. The name Easter seems to have been derived from Eastre, the anglo saxon name of the tuetonic goddess of spring and fertility. Early Egyptians and Persians also colored eggs during the vernal equinox. The entire Easter holiday is based upon the idea of rebirth, as in the coming of spring after the winter sleep. Ancient religions celebrated the return of Persephone from the underworld to the light of day. Is it any wonder that the Christians chose these holidays to represent the rebirth of Christ. So again, Happy Easter to our Christian friends, and to you pagans out there Rejoice spring has come. Life begins anew. Ciao for now.

Pay attention people this is important...

We at the Crazy love our country, Land of the free, home of the brave. (Sometimes home of the morally bankrupt.) but all the same we feel the old U.S. of A. is a great place to live. Someone recently told us that we are losing our freedoms in this country. Really? Which specific freedom mentioned in the Bill of Rights have we lost. Let's see, freedom of religion and freedom of speech are both mentioned in article 1 of the bill of rights, and obviously free speech isn't gone or I couldn't write that I thought Karl Rove was an asinine weasel with the mental capacity of a recently deceased yak. (We know, were being too easy on him.) Freedom of Religion, any country that lets Scientology list itself as a religion has got to be free. Let's see, the right to bear arms, a lot of states have recently passed laws to allow the carrying of hand guns in public. (Just thought we should point out that in the states where these laws are passed the crime rate seems to be going down.) Ok, next, No soldier shall be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner. (Anybody reading this have a soldier quartering in your home without your permission? It's called trespassing, call the cops.) Unreasonable search and seizure. Cops can't come into your house, (or your car for that matter.) without a search warrant or probable cause. If you are growing pot plants in your window, and driving around smoking out of a hookah chances are they have probable cause to search your vehicle or house, but otherwise you can tell them to Sod off. (Or any other sort of ---- off sentence you prefer.) but please try to have some respect for the law as they have what can be a very dangerous job. Due process of Law, we still have the right to be represented by an attorney and to face our accuser if we are arrested for a crime. (Do not mix up attacks committed as an act of war with act's of domestic terrorism. Timothy McVeigh was a domestic terrorist, the masterminds behind 9/11 committed an act of war. We at the crazy don't care if they are tried in a civilian or a military court. But try em, and fry em and lets move on. (We told you are opinions would be colored by our emotions from time to time.) Amendments 5, 6, 7, and 8, all deal with legal rights and so far are the law of the land.
(Although it is a sad fact that the richer you are, the more likely it is that you shall be acquitted of a crime, although Berny Madoff may not see it that way.) So let's see, where are our freedoms being lost.... Well... anyone.... Can't see it. So at least at this point in time it appears that none of our freedoms have been taken away from us. We at the crazy love to hear your opinions, ideas or anger induced rants. So don't hesitate to send an email to Yuuperguy@sbcglobal.net and let us know your thoughts on this. Or if you simply want to call us names that's fine too, it's a free country.