Bozeman Clean-Up Day - 4/21

Bozeman Clean-Up day is Saturday 4/21, 8:30 - 12. The main staging point is Bogert Park. However, if you want to walk thru ditches with Big Mike, meet at the eastern terminus of Cascade Street.

Update: A big success - over 20 folks showed up from my neighborhood. They picked up lots of trash. And one volunteer found a dollar bill in the ditch east of Ferguson.

F.O.E.

F.O.E.

Springtime in Bozeman

There were a couple of ring neck pheasants sheltering under the pussy willow this morning.

Pics bloggered

Well, my recent photos have been bloggered - they look fine in "preview" but are chopped of when published. It's frustrating - I'd like to be able to recommend Blogger to newbies, but things like this don't help ;-(

You can (almost) always click on the photo & see the original in Flickr.

F.O.E.

The alley-side view of the Fraternal Order of Eagles building, in downtown Bozeman. I've never had occasion to go inside this building.

Review: The Lighthouse restaurant

The Lighthouse restaurant, located on Tai Lane near MSU, serves a $10 lunch buffet. Today, I had chicken tikka masala, rice, and kheer. Pretty good - I'll dine there again.

Awards: "Hottest Hostess"

Review: Cateye Cafe

The Cateye Cafe is an "all-meals diner" in downtown Bozeman. I had pancakes there this morning - pretty good, but they were the first pancakes I'd had in many months, so who knows. The restaurant is bit more upscale/bohemian (????) than Mainstreet Overeasy or the Western Cafe.

The Cateye Cafe has a weird schedule, so be sure to check their website before visiting.

Horrific events at Virginia Tech

When I was an undergrad at Texas A&M, it was not uncommon for jerks to call in bomb threats to get out of an exam. When I was a grad student at Georgia Tech, we received a memo on how to avoid being a victim of the Unabomber. When I taught at the University of Arkansas, a fellow professor (in a different department) was killed by a former graduate student. I know a couple of engineering faculty at Virginia Tech - no word yet on whether they are among the dead.

I had a "business breakfast" this morning with a visitor from Virginia Tech. What a horrific day VT had.

Do you ever get the feeling that no place is safe?

Review: The Garage restaurant

The Garage is located on the corner of Church and Main in downtown Bozeman. The restaurant is located in a former automobile service facility, hence the name.

I had an excellent hamburger (with swiss cheese and a kaiser roll bun) on Saturday. In fact, I hereby award the Best Buns in Bozeman award to The Garage.

(As a bachelor, I eat out a lot, and like to think I know about great buns.)

Happy Sunday

Review: Western Cafe

I had breakfast here last Friday - eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, and toast. The sausage patty was ginormous - the size of a small steak. I was so full I had to skip getting a sweetroll for dessert.

I liked the Western Cafe a bit better than Mainstreet Overeasy. I won't be eating at either one very frequently, though - I want to avoid a heart attack ;-)

Got Broccoli?

Awwwww.

Review: Mainstreet Overeasy restaurant

Main Street Overeasy is a popular breakfast eatery in downtown Bozeman (on the north side of Main St.). The restaurant gets very busy after 7:45am, so your best bet is to get there when it opens at 7 am. Don't be surprised to see movers & shakers -- I saw MSU president Geoff Gamble there this morning.

I had eggs & sausage -- good, but not great. I want to go back and try the pancakes, though.

--
In coming days, I hope to review breakfast at the Western Cafe and at the Stockyard Cafe (is it still in operation?).

Bozeman tourist guide

Frommer's online guide to Bozeman

Review: Boodles restaurant

Boodles is a fine dining establishment located in downtown Bozeman. I recommend their New York strip steak (~ $30). Next time I visit, I'll skip the apple dessert, though. Overall, I think it would be a good place to entertain a business client or a date (as long as your guest has good table manners ;-)

Review: Best-Remembered Poems

Best-remembered Poems (edited by Martin Gardner) presents well-known 19th and 20th century British and American poems. The poems range from classics to nonsense to doggerel. I enjoyed Gardner's introduction to each poem.

The book is published by Dover, which produces inexpensive high-quality paperbacks. In Bozeman, Hastings has a small selection of Dover books.

Beer Fest report

My favorite was a wheat beer, of all things: Mandarin Orange Hefeweizen (Lang Creek Brewery). The brewery is located in Marion, Montana. (Any bloggers from Marion?)

I went alone, but recognized several folks. I would swear I saw Patia Stephens, except I was trying on some beer googles at the time. She had a posse, so I was unable to verify. A former student gave me a token for a free beer - can't complain about that! And, I recognized a fellow ski volunteer (which is actually an accomplishment because I had never see her except bundled up in ski gear).

There was a good honky tonk band: TenFoot Tall and 50 Proof. Made me feel like I was back in Texas.

Montana Beer Fest - this Friday!

Montana Beer Festival - Friday at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds in Bozeman. I went to a beer fest in Portland some years ago and had a really good time. So, I'll try this beer fest, too.

Bozeman blogs

When I moved over to the new Blogger, my blogroll got bloggered.

Here's an updated list of Bozeman blogs:

The Best of the Bozeman Chronicle Police Reports
Biggie's Bugs and Ramblings
The Big Sikorski
Bike Kitchen
bozeman boy
bozeman-mt
Bozeman Engineers
The Bozeman Fix
bozeman-mt
Bouncer Blog
Cascade Neighbors
A chicken is not pillage
Chrismukkah
collected nothingness
Cooking with Gosita
The Dude Abides
Easy and tasty recipes
Featherdust and Dewdrops
Geocaching in Bozeman, Montana
Inside Out
In all her infinite wisdom...
In the Mind of a Gangsta
Jule in Bozeman
kevin.lexblog.com
Lemon Curry?
Liberal Wacko
Life, by Tree
logistica-design
Looking Glass Eyes
merciless.org
missing60b
The Monkey Cage
Montana Diva
Montana News & Real (Estate) Report
MSU - bobcat blogs
MSU News Service
My World
NewWest - Bozeman
Oronaut
Pikestaff
Planet Aug
powderfin
Revolving Duck
Ron's Montana Musings
She Ruminates
Soylentfoo
Speedkill
Strong Copy Builds Brands
A thought over coffee
travelblog.org: Bozeman
The vulgar ravings of a drunken, Irish Catwoman
Yahoo!360 - Bozeman
72ppi

--
Rather than listing all these blogs in the sidebar, I'll just point to this post. In the sidebar, I'll just list Montana blogs I regularly visit.

National Poetry Month

If I were clever I'd write a haiku or limerick in recognition of National Poetry Month.

My library has more poetry then I knew -- 12 books.

Pop music

Sometimes we get Butte's KOPR 94 in Bozeman, and get to listen to such songs as:


I enjoyed this video back in the day, but the song seems pretty sucky in retrospect - Madonna and the backup singers are grating (to my ear). The costumer did a good job in keeping the dress from falling off, though.

Bonus: Here's a rock critic dissin' the Beatles, (I was more of a Stones and CCR fan, as I recall, but still.)

Blades of Glory

I thought it was pretty funny. WIll Ferrell shirtless is kinda scary though.

Crazy

Near downtown Bozeman.

M/ F ?

Here's a program that guesses your sex (male or female) based on a sample of your writing:
The Gender Genie.

I tried it on a recent blog post, and it guessed correctly. A completely random guess would be correct 50% of the time, but there is apparently some research to back up this web tool.

Graffiti: Love

Just north of downtown Bozeman.

Fugly fence

This Bozeman house was extensive renovated in 2006. I think the house itself is fine, but the chainlink fence is ugly-ugly-ugly.

Free wood & pallets

A bargain at twice the price.

Cartoon

"Intelligence" and "Inanity of Statements" as a function of "Human Proximity to Cats": xkcd webcomic.

Review: Brush up your poetry!

Brush up your poetry! covers English-language poetry from Chaucer to T.S. Eliot. The premise is that readers can "brush up" their poetry by reading the poetical origins of common phrases. For instance, we learn that "to stand bolt upright" has a surprisingly ribald origin in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

The book contains many excerpts of poems, which is both good and bad. It allows coverage of a lot of poems and phrase origins, but frequently leaves one thirsting for more. I like that the book author actively gives his opinions about the quality of the various poems and poets.

Hip Hop Fu

[link fixed!]

Food

I think I'll skip the Bacon-Cheese-Beer Dog. (There's food I'd pay a dollar to eat; but this falls into the category of food I'd pay a dollar not to eat!)

The labyrinthine brownies look pretty good, though.

Barn

I'm always amazed to see that this barn (near MSU) is still standing.

"Biblioteca de Bozeman"

The narration is in Spanish, but easy to follow:

Parapente

This looks like fun. The video was taped in the Bridger Mountains.

Sing, Muse

In the past three weeks, I have purchased three volumes of poetry. Reviews as I finish 'em.

A sense of obligation

The following poem is the only S. Crane I've read. (At some point I'll get around to reading The Red Badge of Courage...)

A Man Said to the Universe

A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."

-- Stephen Crane

Girth Matters

I believe that big tree in the foreground to be the "girthiest" tree in Bozeman.

(I'm 38" around the middle myself, so I know a few things about girthiness.)

Moose Manor Antiques

MMA cleared out a few months ago. I know they were under pressure to leave due to zoning violations, but don't know if that was the final reason.

Trance music from 2000

Back in the previous millennium (1990-1995 to be exact), I listened to a lot of techno.

Chicane's Behind the Sun is not exactly techno, but similar (it's trance).

Anyway, as a St. Patrick's weekend bonus, I just discovered that one of the songs has Irish (Gaelic) lyrics:

Poop deck

Based on extensive research, I think this scat came from a small mule deer.

Headaches

I suffered from headaches this week, but I figured out the cure this morning: make sure each contact lens is in the correct eye. (Once one lens is the correct eye, it's easy to ensure to the next lens goes in the correct eye, but vice versa, too.)

Luckily, I resolved this before seeing the witch doctor:

Irishmen and Irishwomen

IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom...

1916 Easter Proclamation

My (Irish and English) ancestors came to America long before 1916, but the words are still stirring.

Uh-oh

MSNBC:
Activity discovered at Yellowstone supervolcano.

I hope I'm looking that direction when it blows.

Future site of Rosauers Supermarket

Rosauers Supermarket will be the first store in the "Bozeman Gateway" 'lifestyle center' development SE of Main and Fowler.

Honey-hungry

These hungry bears are located in front of Western Plumbing & Heating.

sign

I think that's a Raven design, but it's hard to be sure.

A laconic movie review

The movie 300 is very loud.

--
OK, a few more details:

It's faithful to its source material, a graphic novel (comic book) by Frank Miller. The most arresting images in the movie are directly taken from the Miller art - so, you could save some $ by simply browsing at your local bookstore.

300's relationship to real-life history is a bit tenuous.

Quotation

He was visibly drunk now, but only if you knew where to look. The eyes had a glaze on them, and there was a matching glaze on his whole manner. He was holding up his end of a typical alcoholic conversation, wherein two drunks take polite turns talking aloud to their own selves.

Matt Scudder speaking as narrator in Eight million ways to die (Lawrence Block)

Getting older

Here's an ad that I saw at the movie theater last weekend:
Dove pro-age.

Food for thought as I approach the 42-year mark.

$12.80

Finally, a reasonable credit card bill.

Double feature

I've never had gruel, so don't know if I'd like it or not. I do like pancakes:

Pink champagne on ice

Even if you hate the ******* Eagles, you might like this:



(I recently purchased a Gipsy Kings album - it's another fun sing-along album.)

Who's on First?

Classic cartoons

From The New Yorker. Myself, I'm going to bark and blog.

Oh, and here's another classic, including a "reality check."

Look both ways

The only time I was ever afraid to cross the street was in Shanghai:



(This is not my video - I'll see if I can find some of my photos. Quite a contrast to Bozeman.)

Black Irish

According to my Mother, I am part Black Irish. Back when I had hair on my head, it was black (and then gray, and then gone).

Sturgeon's Law

All this help for writers, and yet Sturgeon's Revelation still holds.

I've been everywhere

Not really. Still, it's a cool Hank Snow song. Here are the lyrics.

I read a story about a motorcycle competiton to visit every one of the locations mentioned. Sounds like it would take a whole summer.

Hunting

I recently learned that the atlatl is actually a pretty sophisticated device. When does atlatl hunting season start?

Triple feature - rapture

1. For non-believers: The Event
2. An evangelical Christian skewers Left Behind
3. Blondie (Live, 2004)

Annette Bening

I just realized that I have four of her movies on DVD. I thought she looked familiar.

Gong see fai chai

"Best wishes for a prosperous Chinese New Year"

We are entering the Year of the Pig - oink, oink, squeal (;-)

Piano

One of the advantages of cats is that they don't make a lot noise. Unless they play piano. All the same - If I had a cat, she could play my piano, if I had a piano.

Pan's Labyrinth

I liked this movie. It's in "Spanish Spanish" with English subtitles.

The funny thing about subtitles - near the end of a movie, one imagines he understands what the actors are speaking. I've seen dozens of subtitled movies (French, Spanish, German, Mandarin, Cantonese, even Swedish) - I always feel bilingual at the end.

Books - Ayn Rand

I never read any of her books (novels or philosophy). Don't know how I missed that phase, but I'm kinda glad: I can see how I would have been even more annoying if I had been a Randite ;-) Here are some interesting remarks.

Happy V-Day

Did you realize today was Valentine's Day?

I forgot to get a girlfriend ------ damn ;-)

Huh?

Found on the internets:

Double feature: synth pop

Axel F. The "F" stands for "Frog":

New Blogger

I've switched this blog over to the New Blogger, and also changed the template. It might take a few days to settle down.

Twice in one day

Falling down, that is. Hurt my wrist the first time and smacked my head the second. Still able to use the computer, though ;-)

Movies from books

My favorite YA fantasy is being made into a movie: official movie site, fan site.

In fact, I think I prefer Pullman's "young adult" series His Dark Materials to Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I used to be charmed by Tolkien's "world-building", but now, not so much.

If

I like it when the bald guy gets the babes, but this is ridiculous:

The nose knows

The nose knows when it's below zero... mucus freezes at zero degrees Fahrenheit.

Nickel - 1943 S

I received this coin in change a few weeks ago.

During part of WWII, most/all of the Ni content in 5 cent coins was replaced with Ag. Silver is much softer than Nickel, as is evident by the wear on this coin. The silver in the coin is worth about 20 cents.

Double feature: When artiodactyls attack

Arboreal abuse

I guess it's one way to prune a tree:

Lots of percussion

Pants on fire

I was mortified to discover that Bozeman actually has three McDonald's restaurants - there's one located in Wal-Mart. I hardly ever shop there since it's on the opposite side of town from me, but I guess I'll make a lunch trip to maintain my "street cred" as a restaurant critic ;-)

Interesting test for Asperger's/autism

I recently went thru volunteer training for skiing with disabled (differently-abled) folks. One of the disabilities we covered was autism.

FWIW, Wired had an interesting self-exam: AQ Test. It's built a lot better than most internet quizzes. Like all such quizzes, though: not for self-diagnosis.

Montana bluegrass

Montana Tunesmith: Life is for the Living

Shimmie

I wonder when the last "shimmie dance" was danced in Bozeman?

More theology

Oldies but goodies:

Madam in Eden, I'm Adam

Lewd I did live; evil did I dwel

Rats live on no evil star

And here's one of my own devising:

(After Fido ran onto the Indianapolis Speedway)

God no! Racecar on dog!

Yikes!

In case you didn't get your RDA of saccharine:
let's be friends, dogs in snoods.

Dog? God?

Do geese see God?

One hit wonder

I saw this on VH1's "One Hit Wonder" marathon before New Year:

3 pounds

Huh. Kinda low considering my main activity was watching TV while sitting in a recliner, eating chocolate-covered peanuts.

Garden planning

According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, we should expect some changes in Hardiness Zones.

Xmas in Montana

So what does a bachelor do when he's stuck in Montana by a Denver airport SNAFU? He goes skiing and then to the movies.

Happy New Year! - in case you over-indulge over the holidays, go here for some mental relaxation.

Hobo Gangs of Montana

Founded in Montana: FTRA

Holiday weight gain?

On the one hand, I'll be visiting family for 11 days - lots of naps, home-cooking, Christmas meal, etc. On the other hand, my hosts recently joined a gym and will take me along. We'll see. Current weight = 235 pounds.

I (heart) double features

1, Apocalypto

2. This "classic" 80s music video.


Oh, and there's this, and this.

Volunteer

I volunteered to help EagleMount in their disabled skier program at Bridger Bowl. I get new volunteer training in January -- hope we have enough snow by then!

What is Love?

Bozeman Best: Wine

Most extensive selection: CVS Pharmacy (next to Hastings)

Best Service: Wine Gallery (102 S. 19th)

Bozeman Best: French fries

"Fresh Fries" at It's Greek to Me (on Main, just east of Safeway).

Confession

I like shredded wheat, but only with fresh blueberries.

Brrrrr

So cold, she's turned blue.

North Sea

My blog has had two recent visitors from sites near the North Sea: Bergen, Norway and Hamburg, Germany.

I mention this 'cause it brings back a nice memory - many years ago I went on a dayhike along England's North Sea coast. Very pretty.

Airport security

I lost my watch at airport security a couple of week ago. Here is my desired replacement ;-)

What people will buy...

I bought some cat crap today.

No, really -- it's an antifog paste for my ski googles.