That dude looks just like NightWriter…..

What a nice break from the program they’re  involved with over in Spain.

Hope to get a little of this in, and maybe a little pogo-stick squirrel hunting, over the next few days.

Fishermen sit atop stilts embedded into an inlet in Koggala, south of Galle, July 5, 2009. The fishermen climb up onto the stilts when the tide is best to wait for fish to swim into the inlet. Stilt fishing is a traditional means of earning a livelihood in the area and each stilt is a prized possession handed down from generation to generation

We had to change plans around a bit, I was suppose to be off all week, but just went with 3 days instead.  I have one more day of work; then, tomorrow morning we’re heading up to a friends remote cabin over in Wisconsin.  We plan to do a little fishing, a little .22 shooting, a little relaxing.  I might post once more before we leave, but if not, I’ll be back on Saturday with the rundown and pics.

Maybe I’ll spend the next few days making a traditional fishing stilt to hand down to JR.  We could become the first family of stilt fishing in MN.

What can’t you see in this picture?

That’s right, Tiger Lilly off to the left of this scene, hot on the heels of the bull.  She’s been in Spain for less than a week, and she’s already creating havoc with the ninja bovines over there.

To be, or not to be; make up your freakin mind already

I love reading fantasy fiction—Eddings, Feist, Salvatore, they’re some of my favorites.  Right now I’m reading Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy.  I finished The Way of Shadows, and I’m about 1/3 through the second, Shadow’s Edge.  They’re not bad, but he is doing the one thing that I truly hate in a storyline:  a hero with a perpetual identity crisis.

It gets really old, really fast.   I’m into the second book and Kylar still pisses and moans and whines every other stinking page about whether he truly wants to be the Night Angel, and whether he wants to be like his master/father figure who taught him how to be the best assassin in the world and pulled him out of the gutter life that he endured as a child.  Now he’s trying to giving up the life for the woman he loves; but he can’t and he feels guilty yada, yada, yada.  Meanwhile, he’s letting bad guys walk all over and kill his friends and countrymen because he’s a messed up puss.  Enough already.  

I don’t mind a little self-introspection and turmoil, but get that out of the hero’s system in the first few chapters, or at least the first book;  then, cut him loose and let him accept his destiny to open a can of whoop-ass on the bad guys.  If you’re gonna have a love interest, at least make her open enough to accept the fact that he’s Chuck Norris with a sword, and that his main job is to save the world from evil.  

I’m in too deep now, so I have to finish the trilogy; but, I can’t wait to get it done so I can move on to some other story where the hero isn’t somebody with the talents of an extreme, kickass, super ninja, but the mindset of modern day liberal nimrod.

The matriarchs and patriarchs

Our kids have been blessed to have opportunities to get to know their grandparents.   Many kids never do get that chance.  (and in too many cases out there, the blessing is probably that they don’t)  

Mocha-momma’s parents made what might be their last visit north.  They’ve lived Mission TX for the last 7 or 8 years now; but, health issues make it hard for them to travel.  We were fortunate that MM and the kids were able to see them a number of times while they were here the last few weeks of June.

My parents live south as well; but just an hour south, not 25 hours.  It sometimes seems like they may as well be that far.  Life in general just flows by, and before we know it, it’s been months since we’ve been down there.  Today we had a nice visit though.

See Gino, this is the real grandpa.  The guy you see them with in all the other photo’s may be a graybeard, but at least I didn’t have them when I was in my 60’s or 70’s, ala Tony Randall or Hugh Hefner.

Ground control to Major Tom-cat

Those rotten Russians; now they’re giving away technology to the AKJ.  Let’s hope they haven’t yet achieved nuclear armed tabbies…we’ll really be in trouble.

Comic Life

Separated at birth

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s uncanny.

Dr. Jade nailed the diagnosis

Thanks Gino, for having Jade come over and do the consult on the problem with our pictures.  We stopped in at a National Camera Exchange last night, and they confirmed her diagnosis of a damaged sensor.  The news got better though.

Evidently, there was a recall on Canon’s because of this problem, and when they didn’t advertise that very well, somebody filed a class action lawsuit, which made them extend the recall.  So, they’re sending us a shipping label, and we get to send in the camera to have it fixed, even though it’s probably 7-8 years old.  It’s a PowerShot A95.

We did look at new cameras as well though; and I think we found a new one that we will get as soon as we can scrounge up some dinero.  Taking pictures is definitely part of our lifestyle.

Could have been worse…at least she didn’t find Rosie O’Donnell in her pool

Pig that survived crash surfaces in swimming pool

 

An 800-pound hog that survived on its own for a week after a truck flipped while on its way to a slaughterhouse has surfaced in a swimming pool at a home near the crash site. LeAnn Baldy, whose house is only yards from Interstate 430, said Monday she noticed her pool was suddenly overflowing and then saw the immersed pig, which was having a drink in the pool.

 

If it had been Rosie, the pool wouldn’t have just been overflowing, it would have been a tsunami.  Why doesn’t neat stuff like this ever happen in our backyard?  

 

Just what does an 800 pound pig on the lam eat?   Probably whatever it wants.

 

I love potluck picnics…of course, there may be exceptions:

I might attend this if they had a 55 gallon drum of hand sanitizer available.  Also, I don’t know that I’d eat anything brought by someone who looked like this:

This may save a lot of marriages…I think this issue ranks #3 as a cause of divorce in the U.S.

Check it out HERE to see if it will help you.

It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world:

Video Shows Police Questioning Woman With Squirrel In Shirt

For maybe the first time in my life, I actually feel sorry for a squirrel.

Washed-up cow poses dilemma for city

I’m not even going to pull out tidbits from this story; because, if you read the whole thing, you’ll notice there are just too many rabbit trails of nonsense we could follow.  

The first and foremost—are all public servants this incompetent or incapable that they can’t just make a decision to send out a bobcat and a truck and get the stupid cow off the beach before it actually does turn into health risk, or at least an extreme nuisance to people’s olfactory senses.

Some others:  who in their right mind would mistake a cow for a horse; was the cow involved in smuggling drugs, and got dumped over the side in a drug deal gone bad;  exactly how much money are they eventually going to waste in trying to come up with a plan on how to deal with livestock washing up dead on beaches;  is this just an indictment of Canadian yahoos in positions of authority, or would most American local governments act as inept.

Too many questions.

Man Injured After Using Nail Clippers to Circumcise Himself

You don’t even have to read this one.  Just shudder and move on.

Eel, pie and mash shops under threat

Jellied eels – cooked and sold cold in their own stock – could soon join the ranks of haslet, stotty cake and bara birth as a dish that is only found in rare pockets of Britain.

Ben and Faith invited the bridal party over this Sunday; oh lord I hope they didn’t bring any of this stuff back with them.  I have no idea what the heck ‘bara birth’ is; but I’m gagging just thinking about it.

And finally, the story that proves there are lunatics all around us who are capable of doing the most insane things that prove to us on a daily basis that it is indeed a mad, mad, mad, mad world out there:

Franken Declared Winner of Minnesota Senate Election, Giving Dems Filibuster-Proof Majority

How you can identify an Al Franken supporter….#1,452

She turned me into a newt.

I got better.

The mighty hunter, Milo, came home with this dangling out his mouth last night.  Luckily for the newt, he survived and was let go to live another day, or until such time as it gets eaten by some other critter.

Our bozo the cat—the other day we saw him on the roof of our neighbors house.  Here he is starring in Escape from Alcatraz.

He’s a good kitty, though still a mischievous one.  

(p.s.  can anyone tell me what the reason might be for the purplish tints appearing on the edges of our pictures….is it the camera itself, the memory card, what?)

It’s a fine line: individualism vs insanity

I hope they’ve registered with the Men In Black.

These two definitely voted for Obama; but, I think the Tron guy on top might just vote republican.  At least the looney on top looks like he’s wearing a NuttyBuddy.  The Asparagus Twins actually scare me.

Check this out….Willie Nelson’s stretch limo

Not sure if I should credit him with integrity or idiocy….

It’s 7:30 this morning in Mayberry, at least according to Gino’s perception; actually Rockford.  I’m on my way to the high school to start doing setup for our church service; but, on the way I’m going to stop at the Holiday Station and get some coffee.  They’re just off the main road that enters town, MN Hwy. 55, and right there is the first stop light coming in to town.

As I’m pulling up to the light to get in to the left turn lane, even while still a distance away, I noticed a guy on a bicycle in the middle of the road.  As I draw up and pull to a stop to wait for the left arrow, I realize he’s in the left turn lane exactly opposite me, waiting for his left turn arrow.  I had not noticed any other cars on the road.  The sensors picked me up, and the arrow for me came on within a few seconds.  He just waited there.  I pulled in to the station, and he was still waiting there as another car came from my direction and got an arrow to make a left turn.

The guy finally just took off and made the left turn, even though his arrow was still red.  The sensor obviously could not make out his bike and change to a green arrow automatically.  I’m not sure how long he sat there, following the rule in it’s strictest sense about bicycles needing to obey traffic laws.  For crying out loud, there’s no cars on the road at the edge of our small town in east central MN.  Did he really think he needed an invitation to just continue on his way and make a left turn against the light when there was nobody else on the road?

Oh well.  I guess everyone will have their own opinion.  When I told MM about it, she simply said, “how stupid.” Bike Bubba might be able to relate to the guy.  (or he might think it was stupid as well)

Taken right out of the squirrels’ playbook

Transformer Taken Down by Parrot

 

The parrot was thrown from the transformer onto a nearby car. Shawn McGinnis, the owner of the car, found the bird and called animal control. The parrot had survived the blast, but its green feathers had been badly singed by the electricity. As McGinnis and others tended to the injured bird, about a dozen other parrots screeched on the wires above until animal control arrived to take the bird away.

We all know what’s going to happen next.   Bruce Springsteen and Cheryl Crow are going to do a benefit concert to raise money for this jihadist’s medical and legal expenses.  There will be protests by nutcase, left wing activists to let this jihadist free, even though he was definitely responsible for this terrorist act.  Some leftist appeals court is going to let him go free.  Then,  he’s going to go right back out and commit another terrorist act; but, this time he’ll succeed in being martyred and get his 72 virgin parrots, then the dozen other parrots who were all squawking after the first incident will hail him as a hero in the battle against the infidels, even though they’re living here in the U.S. rather than in their native country being oppressed and victimized by a some insane parrot dictator.

 

Leeve no coche behine

Can you believe some of the major news stories that broke yesterday.

Turkey lands in manure truck’s cab, causing crash

A wild turkey landed inside the cab of a manure-hauling tractor trailer, startling the driver and sending the truck rolling into a ditch off a northern New York road……Police say the turkey escaped, leaving behind some of its feathers.

Opium-eating wallabies get high, make crop circles in poppy fields: Lawyer

Wallabies snacking in Tasmania’s legally grown opium poppy fields are getting “high as a kite” and hopping around in circles, trampling the crops, a state official said.

Monkey Urinates on Zambia President During Press Conference

A monkey urinated on Zambian President Rupiah Banda Wednesday as he spoke to journalists outside his State House offices.

The president softly shouted: “You have urinated on my jacket,” and paused as he looked up to see the animal playing in a tree just above his chair.

Marmot causes ruckus at Wash. state restaurant

Diners in a central Washington state wine town got a visit from a furry and unwelcome dinner guest. A big rodent called a marmot wandered in the front door of a restaurant in Prosser on Monday and settled into a corner. Marmots, closely related to ground squirrels, are a longtime problem in Prosser. They dig through gardens, chew electrical wires and foul front porches with droppings.

The jihadists have been busy—-crop circles, toppling manure trucks, drive-by urinations, restaurant invasions—-besides that, not much else going on in the world that I’m aware of.  I heard somebody died.  

And your little dog too…..

Huge Burmese Pythons Released in South Carolina Snake Pit

The fast-growing population of snakes has been invading southern Florida’s ecosystem since 1992, when scientists speculate a bevy of Burmese pythons was released into the wild after Hurricane Andrew shattered many pet shop terrariums.

“BEVY”  Is that more or less than a shitload?  Can they put a numerical value on bevy?

Now scientists fear this invasive species is silently slithering northward.

Is it possible to ‘loudly’ slither?  I assumed that slither would connote silent; but I guess I was wrong.

A 20-foot python, if it grabbed one of us, would bite us and then within just — instantly — seconds, it would be wrapped all the way around you and squeezing the life out of you,” Gibbons said.

I dated a girl once who fit that exact description.

While pythons don’t make a habit of attacking people and most aren’t large enough to eat a person, Gibbons called the possibility a “nightmare.”

It would seem to me that most animals don’t make it a habit of attacking people; yet, I’ve been able to continually post on animal attacks during three years of blogging on the AKJ.  That’s a stupid statement to keep making.  

“What about the first kitty cat they eat? Or the first little poodle? They’d love poodles, I imagine,” he said.

So, what we need to do is start huge poodle breeding operations.  Then, we simply start releasing them out into the wild and let all the predatory animals get their fill of bite-sized, edible poodles instead of humans.  I might move to Australia and start up an operation myself.  That’s one place where the animals definitely do seem to make a habit of attacking people.

Pizzaholics; they need that fix man

From the an(n)als of the West Metro Police Blotter in the Star Tribune:

Disorderly conduct. Police responded to a report of an irate person at Domino’s Pizza, 1115 Vicksburg Lane N. The woman had called the restaurant to order a pizza and wanted every topping they had on it, according to police reports. She was advised that was not possible. She then went to the store and demanded they make the pizza, and she refused to leave, police said. The woman left after an officer spoke with her.

The fact that she would choose to try and feed her habit at a Domino’s is the equivalent of an alcoholic chugging down a bottle of Listerine to try and catch that buzz.  I posted on this before:  I myself will eat pizza, with my favorite toppings of course, from just about any source on the planet; but, I think Domino’s is the absolute worst there is.

You gotta give this woman some credit though.  If she was totally off her rocker, she would have called 911 herself and complained; instead of going there herself and having someone else call it to have the police come and get her.

It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world out there; but there are more trivial things that people wig out about than pizza toppings.

Oh home on the range, where the deer and the antelope take out motorcyclists…

Leaping Antelope Knocks Couple Off Speeding Motorcycle

In nearly 3 years of reporting on the AKJ, this is the first report of jihadist antelopes trying to take someone out.  No report on the condition of the antelope.  Thank God these people survived.  That seals it, I’m never riding a motorcycle across Wyoming.

Gives a whole new meaning to fishing hole….

Man digs 50ft hole to fish – in his kitchen

Exactly how much money did this guy fork out to the 30 villagers for 6 months work?  He must be the Donald Trump of his village.  

Once this story spreads around the fishing community in MN, we’ll be known as the “land of 10,000 holes underneath kitchens.”