Yard art

IIRC, these windmills have South Dakota license plates.

City right-of-way

This strip of land will be dug up later this Summer so that a sewer line can be installed.

(My house is 4 blocks north at the very end of the photo.)

Canoe

If my neighbor let me borrow his canoe and then snapped a picture, this is what I'd look like.

No longer leaning

My neighbors had a Bobcat for some patio construction, so they used it to straighten this tree.

New apartments

I thought they were going to tear down the red brick house in the background, but apparently they'll convert into a duplex instead.

(SW corner of Babcock and Fowler.)

Photo for blogger profile

This photo should show up whenever I make a comment on a blogspot blog.

Funny tattoo

Heh.

Barn on stilts

You can see this barn on I-90, between 19th and 7th.

A close shave

You ask for "a little off the top" and look what the barber does!

(My neighbors' cat is friendly, but won't sit still for a photo.)

190 BPM

I reached a pulse of 190 BPM today after 30 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym. For some reason I didn't feel so good afterwards ;-) (not sick, but definitely worn out)

In related news, my weight seems to have stabilized at 240 lbs (all hard-packed muscle - well most of it, anyway ;-). The least I've ever weighed as a full-grown adult: 195 lbs; the most I've ever weighed: 265 lbs.

Shoe

Can you find the lost shoe beside the I-90 frontage road?

My piebald lawn

Should improve now that I've started watering it.

Big Mike

I would tone down the reflection off my head if I knew how to use photo-editing software ;-) At least my contact lenses aren't reflecting.

Video chat - connection trouble

Anyone out there have video chat set up on their computer? I'm trying to debug my video connection so I can v-chat with my sister down in Texas. If I could verify that my video chat worked with someone else, that would help.

My .mac name also functions as an AIM name: mhcole@mac.com

Jazz

allaboutjazz.com - free downloads, etc.

Meta: Blogroll updates

Here are some blogs I'll add to the blogroll (at somepoint):

collected nothingness

WDAMA (What Dreams Are Made Of)

Shawn

Meg's Schemes

Heather

K*U*R*T (actually a Belgrade blog)

Montana Diva (actually a Belgrade blog)


I'll delete the following blog:
Montana Man has moved back to Norway (?)

X-Men

I just saw the new X-Men movie and really liked it. If you go, stay 'til the very end 'cause there's an important "credit cookie."

Wine: Pascual Toso Sparkling Brut Mendoza

It's been a long time since I had sparkling wine. This $9 Argentine wine was very tasty with grilled pork shoulder steak.

(I'm finishing this bottle alone, but bought two champagne flutes because it'd be a shame not to be prepared for any eventuality ;-)

rose

All of my roses came back! This one was the straggler.

Polygyny

I watched Horsefeathers earlier this night. In the last scene, Groucho, Chico, and Harpo all marry the same woman. (I'm not sure what happened to Zeppo.) Seems kinda daring for the time period. Anyway, checking the local blogs, life imitates art. I'm glad we live in a free country where people can live their lives like they want.

Yoga

I went to yoga class at Gold's Gym today (the second time, ever). I'm the least flexible person in the class, but I try ;-)

Washarama

Washarama by The Judy's - this band was popular in the Houston area back when I was in high school

Aggie ring - size 12

When I bought this ring, it was the right size for my middle finger. Now it's too small for that finger, and just a bit too big for my pinky finger.

Motivating a racehorse

News from Preakness:

Hemingway's Key was a major bust this season until he rallied for third in the Preakness.

Zito admitted the colt, owned by George Steinbrenner, was a puzzle he could not solve. Zito suggested the horse might be gelded if he didn't perform better.

Hemingway's Key, a 29-1 shot, fended off that drastic action with a strong run through the lane for his first in-the-money finish in five races this season.

Havre

Much of the action in this hard-boiled crime novel takes place in Havre, Montana.

Here's a description of one of the security guards:
"[she] was Net crazy, lurking in chat rooms all her waking hours, adding her address to more and more monster mailing lists, receiving endless dumb jokes or chain letters through the ether and dutifully passing them on."

My home office

Here's my new iMac 20". Everything works OK, except that I had to swap out the wireless keyboard ;-(

The creature from Flanders Mill Road

I saw a big (about 20" long) ratlike creature crossing Flanders Mill Road the other day. It was moving from one irrigation ditch to another. I did some research..... it was...... a common Norway rat. I didn't know they grew that big. I'd hate to see one that size in my house.

Opera kid

The boy has pipes.

My vegetable garden

I just planted a "Better Boy" tomato plant.

The green plastic around the plant is filled with water and acts as a mini-greenhouse.

Hungarian partridges

The two birds near the fence are Hungarian partridges, according to the local bird expert.

(Click on the photo to see the flickr notes.)

Surface area

Fun (?) fact:
I have a surface area of 2.43 square meters according to http://members.nuvox.net/~on.jwclymer/bmi.html.

Pop art

I received my new iMac today! As you can see, it has a built-in camera.

I also downloaded a tool that integrates flickr uploads with iPhoto. Very convenient for us Mac users.

Mike's law of movie multiplication

I saw Mission: Impossible III at the matinee yesterday. I was disappointed that the movie's music was not in 10/8 time like the TV show's music.

Did I ever explain "Mike's Law of Movie Multiplication"? It works as follows. Going to a movie alone costs X dollars and gives Y units of pleasure. Going to a movie with a date costs 2X dollars and gives 2Y units of pleasure. Since the single-o can attend twice as many movies, the total amount of pleasure is the same.

This Law doesn't hold if each person pays for their own ticket, though. Or if the other person pays for both tickets. Or...

Cinco de Mayo

A festive Cinco de Mayo to everyone. I think I'll drink a couple of Coronas tonight in celebration. Or maybe a Negro Modelo. Maybe some Dos Equis for old time's sake - I drank that back when I was an undergrad at Texas A&M - always in moderation, of course.

20" iMac

I ordered a 20" Apple iMac yesterday. It should arrive this Friday...

The perils of a being Big

It seems that "big" men are a major source of ethical conundrums, at least according to this BBC article.

(h/t Crooked Timber)

I teach a course in Engineering Ethics, but never get to cover extreme cases like those discussed in the BBC article.