More pallets

These pallets reside in an industrial park in Belgrade, just west of Bozeman, Montana.

Pallets in the snow

Part of NE Bozeman is zoned "Industrial."

A chance to help a Bozeman coffeehouse entrepreneur

Interested in Coffee and Art? Here's your chance to provide input to Cafe Evoke, a soon-to-be Bozeman coffeehouse:

[begin forwarded message]

My name is Jason Duncan and my wife and I are hoping to opening Cafe Evoke, an art and coffee house, in the North East Neighborhood. Our art and coffee house is dedicated to building community on both a local and global scale. We are planning to serve Fair Trade and organic coffees and teas and organic foods whenever possible.

Our goal is to provide a place for people to come, sip, and talk. A place to build relationships with each other and also learn about issues that are affecting our friends in coffee producing countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Guatemala. We plan to display the work of local artist, bring in singer songwriters, writers, poets, play writes, videographers and others to share their passions.

We have been in contact with One.org who wants to host Bozeman meetings at Cafe Evoke. We plan to host Fair Trade seminars and do our best to not only serve great coffee but to educate on the passionate journey this product takes from the bean to the cup.

In an effort to be a community coffee and art house from the beginning, we want to know what the people in this community think about our ideas. We have dreams of providing a place for people to just be from 6:00 am to Midnight. We desire Cafe Evoke to be an alternative to the bar scene and think it will be a great place to "work together to create community."

It seems that we all agree: by working together, we can make a difference.

We are looking for a location in the building on Wallace and Peach and also in the new Freight Building that is going up in March. I would love to get your feedback, ideas, concerns, and suggestions. We feel the values of this community are a great match for Cafe Evoke and we want to be a voice and meeting place for all.

Please feel free to email us at info@cafeevoke.com with your thoughts, suggestions, questions, and concerns. We want to make sure all have a voice in what goes on at Cafe Evoke. You may also call me at 406.599.1628. We want to know how you feel about our hours (6:00 am to Midnight) and what things you would like to see in a community art and coffee house that is dedicated to serving the best organic and fair coffee.

Thank you for taking the time to help.

Jason Duncan
Cafe Evoke
jason@cafeevoke.com
*******
[end forwarded message]

Wiki photograph

I'm almost famous - the newly revised Wikipedia entry on Bozeman, Montana uses one of my photos. Better check it out quickly, before someone repalces it with a different photo, though ;-)

Ski: Day 4

Powderiffic. My legs are so sore I can barely move...

Ski: Day 3

Another great day at Bridger Bowl. I'm whipped - a hot shower awaits in the very near future. (Kinda unusual for me, as my showers are usually ice cold.... Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it ;-)

Anonymity: Four folks from town recogized me on the slopes.

Books I read over vacation

Besides overdosing on cable TV over Christmas break (I don't watch TV in MT - only when I'm traveling), I also read some interesting books. I can recommend any of the following:

What Went Wrong? : The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East

Salt: A World History

The Physics of Superheroes

Fuel Cells

Dr. Max Deibert (Dept of Chemical & Biological Engineering at MSU) will give a presentation on Fuel Cells this Thursday. See the information flyer for details.

Anyone can attend this luncheon meeting (as long as they pay the $10 fee). Email me if you want more details or would like to RSVP.

In upcoming months, I will announce presentations by Bozeman's City Engineer and the City Manager.

Airport art

After spending 10+ days in Texas, I went to South Carolina for a couple of days. I'm finally back home.

I liked a piece of sculpture in the Greenville-Spartanburg airport, so I read the plaque...the sculpture (of flying geese) was done by Jim Dolan of Belgrade, Montana.

holidays

I'll let you know if I find anything pertinent to Bozeman while I'm in Texas...

Wheat

The Economist has a very interesting article about wheat.

(Wheat is an important crop in Montana and states east.)

Ski: day 2

Another fun day at Bridger Bowl - until it got too warm and some of the snow turned to slush ;-(

By the end of the season, I will have MassiveThighs.

holiday spirit

ho ho

[h/t: merciless.org]

MSU: future site of Native American Student Center

This is the future site of MSU's Native American Student Center.

DVDs to watch next week

Here's a list of Christmas-related DVDs I'll watch next week: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Bad Santa, Lethal Weapon, and the Robot Santa episodes of Futurama.

That covers Monday-Thursday. Any suggestions for Friday?

more movies

I saw King Kong on Friday - excellent, "one of the year's best films.". It's long, so buy some extra popcorn.

I'll admit to being a bit misty-eyed at the end of the movie. Many years ago, the Georgia Tech student center showed Disney's version of The Beauy and the Beast. Based on my observations back then, I'm not the only engineer who occasionally wells up with emotion at the movies ;-)

Apropos an earlier post, I went to the movie by myself. However, even if I only enjoy each movie half as much, it balances out because I can afford to see twice as many movies.

Does rubbing a bald man's head bring good luck?

Several years ago, I was standing in line for the movies and an 8 year old African-American girl asked to rub my bald head. Of course I let her do it. Maybe it brought her good luck.

This series of photographs indicates that George W. Bush believes the same supersition.

Single in Bozeman

Kellyn Brown over at Bozeman's Beaten Path notes that the odds are stacked against single men looking for romance in Bozeman. For the 25+ age bracket, there are 150 single men for every 100 single women.

It's not all roses for the women, though. They counter that, for them, "the odds are good, but the goods are odd."

Bozeman blogs

[UPDATE 12/17: I corrected some blog titles, and found some additional blogs...]

I developed a simplistic scheme to classify Bozeman blogs.

Personal blogs present the blogger's daily life (most blogs are at least somewhat personal).

Adventure blogs detail the blogger's quest to achieve some goal (such as a college degree).

Place blogs cover a particular geographic location (in this case: Bozeman).

Politics blogs discuss politics.

Idea blogs present critical thought about various issues (broader than politics).

Humor blogs present jokes, wit, etc.

Expert blogs cover the blogger's particular area of expertise. They are typically non-personal and do not cover Montana topics.

Here are the blogs in pseudo-random order...

bozeman-mt (place, personal) - "A journal about life in Bozeman, Montana"

Geocaching in Bozeman, Montana (place, adventure)

Bozemania (expert) - about folks with the name Bozeman

Bouncer Blog (personal, place) - "Musings, drunkenness, and inane commentary by 2 bouncers from Bozeman's classiest dance club."

You all should know better (personal)

Rambling Thoughts (personal)

The Best of the Bozeman Chronicle Police Reports (place)

Life in Bozeman Montana (place, personal)

merciless.org (place, adventure)

Rose Colored Cynicism (politics, personal)

A thought over coffee (adventure, place)

Inside Out (place)

The vulgar ravings of a drunken, Irish Catwoman (personal)

The Monkey Cage (humor)

Gothy and the Least (humor)

Lemon Curry? (personal)

A chicken is not pillage (politics, personal)

Revolving Duck (personal, adventure, place)

Speedkill (ideas, adventure)

Easy and tasty recipes (expert)

logistica-design (expert) Logistics systems design

lexblog (expert) - "Building blogs for lawyers."

12/17 additions:

Jesse Newland (personal)

In the Mind of a Gangsta (personal)

Montana Ramblings and My Thoughts Here (personal)

Theresa (Steel Tears) (personal)

Bozeman's Beaten Path (adventure)

liftedlorax (personal)

this be my shiny page (personal)

jesse_james (personal)

A new Bozeman blog

Please welcome the newest Bozeman-based blog: Inside Out.

By my count, that makes five active Bozeman blogs that cover Montana-related topics: Inside Out, bozeman-mt, Wulfgar!, Revolving Duck, and Bozeman Bouncers. Am I missing any?

FYI, The Big Sky Blog, Wulfgar, and the Billings Gazette all have extensive lists of blogs based in Montana.

@ the movies

I saw the Narnia movie recently. I enjoyed it, not least because it corrected my pronunciation of "Pevensie."

I went to the 10 pm show. Apparently that is when college students attend movies, too. One of them (a few rows ahead of me) just about finished a 1/2 gallon jug of wine during the movie.

The crowd let out cheer during the trailers. The main character of Hoot is a boy who moves from Montana to Florida and becomes an eco-activist.

Snow tracks

I think the neighbors' cats and dogs are the ones tracking out my yard, but who knows for sure?

Bumper sticker on a Ford pickup

I used to drive a Chevy Malibu, so I don't completely agree with these sentiments - still pretty funny, though.

MSU: duck pond

The duck pond at MSU is about one-half frozen over. It's spring-fed, so I doubt it ever freezes over completely.

These ducks really liked the Bible Bread I fed them.

Breakfast in Bozeman

Bozeman, Montana is a pretty good breakfast town, to my mind.

I usually get a bagel and Coke at Bagelworks. Their staff is almost all female, and they have my name and order memorized. They also have two free newspapers: the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and the Wall Street Journal.

For a more traditional approach, downtown has two great spots: the Western Cafe and Main Street Over Easy (which apparently does not have a WWW presence).

On ski days, I usually get a quick bite at McDonalds.

When I first moved here, Denny's had just opened a restaurant on 19th. It closed a couple of years ago, though. I recently read that IHOP will build at Oak and 19th. I hope they don't put one of those ugly blue roofs on it.

Rot in Peace

Caitlin DeSilvey (who lives in Montana) has an interesting photo-essay in Slate - Rot in Peace: Putting old buildings and settlements to rest.

Bozeman Engineers meeting

Bozeman-area engineers will meet this Thursday (12/8) to hear a presentation on "The impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on today's transportation facilities."

Everyone is welcome to attend this $10 lunch meeting. For more details, see the flyer.

Ski report: Day 1

Bridger Bowl was powderiffic yesterday. But I'm too sore to go skiing today...

Making music

If you hear a loud moaning, groaning, droning sound while traveling in Bozeman, Montana, don't be alarmed. It's probably my new didgeridoo.

I wonder if the sweet music will entice some Minnesota kangaroos to visit Montana?

Brrrr

When the temp drops into the single digits, it's a good time to completely close your bedroom windows...

Textbooks

Brad DeLong discusses professors selling desk copies of textbooks. I do the reverse: I recently misplaced a desk copy had to buy a replacement.

(I bought plenty of textbooks back in the day, but I had hoped those days were behind me.)

Tuesday kitchen blogging: Empty cabinet

My sister scowled when she saw I wasn't using all of my cabinet space. Well, I've only lived here for three years...

Smoothie advice

Just add blackberries to the the mix to make your smoothies slimy ;-)

(Blackberry smoothies are tasty, but the mouthfeel is not so great.)

Hot springs at Sleeping Buffalo Resort

Last year I co-supervised a senior design project at the Sleeping Buffalo Resort (Saco, Montana).

The photo shows me and a Nehrir (a EE prof.) in front of the resort's hot springs well.

Cows on the MOOOOOON

Montana has cows. Texas has cows. The cow jumped over the moon. The cow landed on the moon. The cow was memorialized by a statue in the Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.

Crazy catalog

I retrieved this catalog from the "catalog bin" at The UPS Store.

24 hours in Bozeman

A time-lapse video of downtown Bozeman, by
the folks at F-11 Photographic Supplies.

Snow on Sweetgass Ave.

This pic looks north along Sweetgrass Avenue in Bozeman. I fired up my snowblower for the first time this season in order to move this 6" of wet, heavy snow.

(The bright white blobs are snowflakes reflecting the flash.)

Dry Fly Saloon

Where did I eat Thanksgiving dinner, you ask? Why, at the Dry Fly Saloon.

Okay, okay - I did the buffet thing at the Holiday Inn. Their bar was closer to the buffet than was their restaurant.

Banff, Canada

I fell in love with the northern Rockies when visiting Banff, Canada in July 2000.

I moved to Bozeman, Montana a few years later.

Jack

Jacks looks a bit peaked three weeks after Halloween.

Derelict tennis court

Quite possibly the only derelict tennis court in Bozeman, Montana. This court is located south of Babcock and north of Main.

Montana State University: bike locks

The bike racks at MSU have lots of abandoned (?) bike locks. These two locks seem to like each other.

Montana State University: lamppost

At the front entrance of Roberts Hall.

Tuesday kitchen blogging: "Sometimes you feel like a nut"

I love my pecans.
My mother ensures I get about 20 pounds a year of good fresh Pawnee pecans.

Me, dressed as a Renaissance lord

I attended a wedding at the Texas Renaissance Festival last weekend. I wore a nice costume - it is blurred here to prevent upsetting the babies or exciting the ladies.

Federal income taxes

I kinda like the proposal to treat mortgage interest with a 15% tax credit for all homeowners rather than a 100% deduction just for those who itemize (even though I'm an itemizer).

I do not like the proposal to make local & state taxes non-deductible (I just got my property tax bill: $1763).

The absent-minded professor

I didn't realize that Friday was a holiday until my students told me that they wouldn't be attending lab that day.

MSU: snow fence

They put up this snow fence every winter. It keeps snow from blowing off the practice fields onto 7th.

MSU: snowy day

Ullr be praised! We finally got some snow.

This photo looks south towards the Madison Range. Do you see MSU's "burnt macaroni on a stick"?

Feline rivalry

What happens when a mountain lion and a house cat tussle in Bozeman? Read the sad tale here.

Phone books

Bozeman, Montana (and the surrounding Gallatin County) has four competing phone books. Seems like a lot, considering the county population is only 73,243.

I'll be careful next time I visit Taco Bell

Man Killed After Dropping Coins At Drive-Through

Anonymity

One of the trick-or-treaters tonight recognized me from last ski season - "Omigod, I see you all the time at Bridger Bowl!". Of course, I had no memory of ever seeing this girl before. One of those things that remind you Bozeman is still a small place, I guess. And that I have a memorable appearance ;-)

The other day, I got to the counter at Mackenzie River Pizza, and the guy already had my order put in and my drink waiting. What was spooky was that I didn't even begin to recognize the guy. (I have a much better memory for female waitstaff.)

Of course, sometimes I'm misrecognized. The other day, a girl at Burger King mistook me for the MSU football coach. And I have the same name as the high school basketball coach, which sometimes causes confusion.

Lewis & Clark Motel

Looks like they're adding on to the restaurant/casino.

(FYI, the Lewis & Clark Motel serves a pretty good Thanksgiving dinner.)

Bridger view from Baxter Rd.

The Bridgers are showing a bit of snow again (the previous snowcover melted around 10/25).

This photo was taken about 50 yards west of the Kelly Morgan roadside memorial (see previous blog entry).

Memorial to Kelly Morgan

I don't know who Kelly Morgan was, but I did notice this roadside arrangement in her memory. It is located along west Baxter Rd., northwest of Bozeman.

11/1 Update: Kelly was a he, not a she. His untimely death was covered in this newspaper article.

Well-protected flock

Can you spot the donkey and llama protecting this flock of sheep?

(For help, double-click on the photo and look for the "notes" at Flickr.)

Malcolm Story

This statue is located in front of the old Willson School on West Main St. in Bozeman, Montana.

Bozeman Scuba

If Houston has ski shops, why shouldn't Bozeman have a scuba shop?

Jack

Here is Jack just before I released him into the wild.

Tuesday kitchen blogging: Halloween candy

I might have to do some "quality control testing"...

Update (Wed.) - the miniature Hershey bars are top-quality.

Update (Thu.) - the 3 Musketeer bars are pretty good, too.

Is it possible...

to put too much feta cheese on a salad? Yes. Hard, but possible.

Moose on the loose

Some nice yard art down the street from me.

Cooling real estate market?

This house in Bozeman was on the market for about six weeks, but apparently never sold.

Mountains and trampoline

A view of the Bridger Range from the northern end of Sweetgrass Ave., Bozeman, Montana.

(Where's the snow ?????)

No outlet

This is the eastern terminus of Cascade St. I think the basketball hoop is an "orphan" - I've never seen anyone use it in the past three years.

Leaning tree

This lovely tree has a pronounced lean.

Jumbo cat

My neighbor's cat wasn't especially excited about me holding him, but he tolerated it longer enough to have a picture taken.

Bad Astronomy blogger visits MOR

The blogger behind the Bad Astronomy Blog visited the Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman, Montana) on October 13. Sounds like he had a good time.

I keep meaning to buy a museum membership, but haven't actually done it yet...

I write letters

From the October 18, 2005 Bozeman Daily Chronicle (warning: somewhat snarky):

An excellent parody of creationist ignorance

Jason Kimm (Oct. 8 letter) writes an excellent parody of creationist ignorance. But, would any creationist really hold his beliefs up to mockery by willfully misinterpreting and ignoring the facts available to any schoolboy?

Michael Cole
Bozeman

Tuesday kitchen blogging: Basmati rice

I like the image of the mahout and his elephant.

Looks like a good DIY project

brokenshelves. (via BoingBoing.net).

Deep-fried

I can feel my arteries hardening just looking at this treat from the 2005 North Carolina State Fair. (via BoingBoing.net).

Clearing brush

A man thinks he's in shape - goes to the gym, etc. But a half-day of clearing brush tells the true story. I'm bushed.

Tuesday kitchen blogging: outdoor edition

I love to grill (at least moreso than cooking inside ;-)

The grilling season will end soon - probably around Halloween (?) Until then, there are plenty of steaks and pork chops to cook.

Brush pile

There's a strip of city-owned land behind the houses on my street. This brush pile is uglifying that strip of land. I plan to demolish it this weekend.

House demolition

Compare to this previous photo.

Rainy day birds

It's a rainy day here in Bozeman, Montana. Not much to do except grade papers, watch DVDs, wash laundry, and blog photos.

I recently put in bird feeder. It's quite popular with finches and sparrows, even in the rain.

MSU: Roberts Hall

My office is on the third floor of this nice old building.

Mostly perennials

My front garden.

Wallace & Gromit

I just saw Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Highly recommended if you like clever animation and animation in-jokes. For instance, Gromit listens to "Bright Eyes" on the radio ("Bright Eyes" was the theme song for the animated Watership Down).

Meta: blog search

I recently had occasion to search for a particular Montana blog (I had seen a posting that just cried out for a comment comprising an unusual word I just happen to know). Google was completely unsuccessful. I eventually found the blog by trial & error via the Big Sky Blog blogroll.

I did a keyword search for bozeman-mt.blogspot.com. "Google: bozeman montana blog" currently returns this blog as the first hit, via my listing at globeofblogs.com. Google Blogsearch currently returns this site as its second hit. My tentative conclusion: if I use the words "Bozeman", "Montana", and "blog" in the occasional post, I will stay near the top of Google's searches.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing, or not ;-)

Yoga

I've been doing a very simplified version of the yoga sun salutation twice a day for the past couple of years. I highly recommend it.

They say yoga's a great way to meet flexible women, but it hasn't worked out that way for me. Maybe because I only do it at home, alone?

Citizen outcry gets results

Compare to this previous photo.

Meta: blogrolling

I use the Big Sky Blog's blogroll of Montana bloggers (http://bigskyblog.com/index.php?p=199/) rather than maintain my own blogroll.

My favorite feature: blogs are marked by an asterisk if they have recently added content.

(I asked them about the order of the blogs - the blogroll is shuffled randomly every time one accesses the page.)

Tuesday kitchen blogging: Pink countertops

Kinda pink with a light purple tone. I've never seen any other kitchen with countertops this color. I like it OK (very relaxing), but I don't know why the builders selected this color.

Autumn foliage

Near the Deer Park Chalet at Bridger Bowl.

Snowflake Lift

I bought my season pass yesterday at Bridger Bowl. The photo shows the Snowflake Lift sans chairs. Looks kinda naked.

Kestrel

This sparrow hawk was an "ambassador" at the 2005 Bridger Raptor Festival.

A working dog

Get your dishes "Montana clean": www.sfolife.net.

View from my bedroom window

The first snow of the season! Woo-hoo!

(I bought a ski pass and ski boots yesterday...)

Another old shed

This old shed is located along the Babcock Meadows Trail in northwest Bozeman, Montana.