New from Maine - Spud booze

Mainers hope to turn potatoes into vodka
By David Sharp, Associated Press Writer September 20, 2004
FREEPORT, Maine -- A farmer looking to add value to his low-priced potato crop has launched a business partnership in hopes of turning humble Maine spuds into high-priced premium vodka.

Black and White subway photographer

This guy needs to get out more. Interesting pics though...

Ocktoberfest starts in Munich

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - International squads of beer drinkers, leather-clad Bavarians and devotees of excess young and old converged in Munich on Saturday for the start of the planet's biggest beer festival, the Oktoberfest.

Milinocket based artist

If you've been to our house, you've seen some of her work.

Congrats guys....where you gonna put that trophy ? 

Members Only

Grey day in Waltham.

Just rode down an elevator with a guy wearing a Members Only jacket....didn't think there were still members out there.

Vitamin B works for me

Vitamin B
During World War II, soldiers were shipped off to battle with vitamin packets along with their rations. Researchers argued that workers taking vitamin B seemed calmer and were less likely to go on strike.

You know, I think they're right. It's just not the same day without my multi vitamin...

Cree makes LEDs in North Carolina

This is one of my clients...they make tiny silicon based lights called LEDs. Kind of like the thing that lights up on the front of your remote control, but 1,000 times brighter.

Someday, they say, these little wonders will make the everday lightbulb obsolete....

Today, they are the things that make your cell phone light up, the flash on your camera phone and the video screens at the Patriots games.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Nice catch ! 

Are you ready for some football ??!!!

Go Pats !!

No ! Try it...

The Power of No
It's an unanticipated legacy of the affluent '90s: parents who can't, or won't, set limits. Now a growing number of psychologists are warning of the dangers of overindulgence and teaching how—and where—to draw the line

Happy Birthday Alan !!

IF SEPTEMBER 9 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: . . . you have recently begun a new project that is likely to pay off by the end of the year, but the cosmos should shower you with opportunities and allow you to take giant leaps forward in February and March, too. Expect to enter a more romantic phase next April, May and June when important people could enter your life. A fresh outlook will restore your youthful vitality, and you have a promise that the coming year will be free of worries.

Nothing Doing

Sept 2nd Red Sox vs Anaheim

What a great night we had a Sox game on Thursday night !!

D-Lowe had his stuff working, we had great seats and the weather was
fantastic for watching the game!! It's amazing how fast the money goes when
you get there, though. Five bucks for a hot dog, six bucks for a beer,
five bucks for WATER...after "spending" $300 on tickets (alright, we got
these ones for free, but still...) you'd think they give everyone a free
ball or something. Lowell Spinners (or Portland Sea Dogs) here we come !!

Wind for sale

Wind from hurricane for sale on eBay
By Rachel La Corte, Associated Press Writer September 7, 2004

MIAMI -- For anyone who didn't get enough of Hurricane Frances as it blew through Florida, remnants of the storm are for sale. More than 170 items were listed on eBay's Internet auction site Monday, a day after the eye of the Category 2 storm came ashore.

The starting bid for Tupperware filled with wind was a penny. Photos showed Broward County residents running around with the containers "catching" the wind. Surprisingly, someone had already bid $10 for one of the four containers.

Work

"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." - Theodore Roosevelt

SmarTraveller

Don't leave home without it. *1 on Verizon Wireless cell phone.

Gibbet Hill Grill

Mmmmm....angus !

Indians Rout Yankees 22-0 in Epic Defeat

It's a beautiful thing !! "It wasn't just a rout, it was an epic defeat, the most one-sided in the 101-year history of the New York Yankees."

Stoneworks

I've heard from a very reliable source that this is the place to go for all things shiny.

Farmers Almanac predicts wild winter

Let's see what The Old Farmers Alamanac has to say later this year...Mr. Franklins' version has been around 214 years.

Pictures of picture takers

Interesting perspective. Other galleries too...

Golden Age Cartoons

For those of us who refuse to grow up.

Classic print ads

"When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer."

And, you're probably out of a job too.

For all those times when you *really* need to haul a 35ft camper 90mph

Diesel Performance Products introduces the Powershot 2000® propane injection system for turbo diesel owners who are looking for more power for towing increased mileage and throttle responsiveness out of their vehicles.

Pencil thoughts

What is it about writing in pencil that appeals to me so much ? Is it the sound it makes marking up the paper? The opportunity it affords to stop and sharpen your thoughts while you do the same to the instrument? Or, is it for the ability to go back and update or correct past mistakes ? Whatever the reason, I connect more with my writing and my thoughts to paper with a real wood, round #2.

Joke

One day a lawyer was riding in his limousine when he saw a guy eating grass.

He told the driver to stop. He got out and asked him, "Why are you eating grass?"

The man replied, "I'm so poor, I can't afford a thing to eat." So the lawyer said, "Poor guy, come back to my house." The guys then said, "But I have a wife and three kids." The lawyer told him to bring them along too.

When they were all in the car, the poor man said, "Thanks for taking us back to your house, it is so kind of you."

The lawyer said, "You're going to love it there, the grass is a foot tall."

Vision. You either have it, or you don't. 

Perspective 

Clear blue outside

The summer that never was looks to be quickly coming to an end. It's starting to get darker out sooner now. Maybe it will make it easier to get the boys to sleep before 9:00pm now !! The clear and cool nights make for great sleeping weather and most of the mosquitoes have come and gone. These are the days to breathe and enjoy. Until our days are filled with meaningful thoughts and more meaningful actions, the air, the sky and the promise of a better tomorrow will have to suffice.

Aluminum bottles keep beer colder

"About 40 percent of all beer consumed comes out of cans, 43 percent from bottles, and 8 percent from the tap, according to the Beer Institute, which tracks industry trends."

Swiss Army Knife with a hard drive !!

Finally, a keychain device that will let you open a can, cut a piece of string, file your nails, write a note AND store the latest copy of your resume !!

Wish

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
        -Pink Floyd

Hungry ?

The International Federation of Competitive Eating, Inc. supervises and regulates eating contests in their various forms throughout the world.

All about the name...Boudreaux's Butt Paste Sells Itself

"Would you be talking to me if it was called George's Diaper Cream?" Boudreaux recently asked a reporter.

WAF - (Wife Acceptance Factor)

As far as I can tell, this trend has not caught on in Maine yet. God bless them...

Mangia Media - Pizza box advertising

"In their hands. In their homes"

In their expanding waistlines ?

Pretty cool idea. As long as the pizza isn't cold, overpriced or greasy...

Tangled

So now I'm goin' back again,
I got to get to her somehow.
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now.
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter's wives.
Don't know how it all got started,
I don't know what they're doin' with their lives.
But me, I'm still on the road
Headin' for another joint
We always did feel the same,
We just saw it from a different point of view,
Tangled up in blue.
-Bob Dylan

CVS launches one time use digital camera

"The CVS Digital One-Time-Use Camera with Picture Preview is the first to combine the most popular features of the fast-growing digital camera market with the wildly popular disposable format."

After you buy more than 4 of these ($19.99) you should just buy your own "real" digital camera. I guess this is good for people who don't like to commit. Not sure how this is going to fare...is it positioned as a cheap digital camera or an expensive disposable ?

You double your chances of getting crushed when you stand in the middle of the road.

If the shoe fits, buy the other one, too.

Ocean hurling rocks at England

No injuries have been reported, yet...also be on the lookout for Large Wooden Badgers hurling over the fortress wall.

It's better than looking at grafitti

Headline: Wall of subway tunnel is turned into a billboard for cruise line

Hmmm...how long before we hear of people getting seasick on the train ?

Dad's keys

My father had one of these on his keychain for as long as I can remember. The sound it makes clinking next to a set of keys still makes me think of him. This is a picture of a new one. The one that I have now is worn around the edges from years of use. I wonder how many carburetors were adjusted, screws loosened or beer cans opened with this small piece of metal ? It won't see nearly as much use now that it is mine, but I will treasure it just the same.

Phone camera art show

Hang ten !  

Captivate...there's no escape !

Captivate is a leading news and entertainment network broadcast to a highly desirable audience in a distraction-free viewing environment, in the elevators of premier office towers across North America.

Stamp yourself !!

An Original Way to Go Postal By Daniel Terdiman

Every year, the U.S. Postal Service receives 40,000 submissions for new stamp images and releases about 35 of them. But now, thanks to PhotoStamps, a trial service from Stamps.com formally announced Tuesday, the number of new stamps hitting envelopes nationwide could become nearly infinite.

The Amish are online !

...although they probably don't know it since they don't use electricity !

Doh!

Rolling Stone review of Electric Ladyland...yes it's THAT Stevie Winwood !

"....Then a live cut, which sounds as though it was recorded late at night in a small club, at one of the jamming sessions Hendrix is known for. It features Stevie Winwood on organ and Jack Casady on bass, and is called "Voodoo Chile." It begins with a very John Lee Hooker-like guitar intro, and keeps a blues feeling all the way through, although Hendrix's lyrics ("My arrows are made of desire/From as far away as Jupiter's sulphur mines") are a far cry from "Rolling Stone" (the Muddy Waters song that's an ancestor to this track, as well as a lot of other things). After some feedback screech, a listener says "Turn that damn guitar down!" and the track ends with Hendrix and a chick discovering that the bar in the club is closed. "The bar is closed?" she says unbelievingly." TONY GLOVER - Rolling Stone

J Wheeles...Swiss liaison visits Munich

I swear, I only had 2 beers officer...

Naked Gun

Frank Drebin: It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.
Jane Spencer: Goodyear?
Frank Drebin: No, the worst.

ThermalBaden

You just haven't lived until you've spent a few hours in a giant mineral water hot tub.
Ding!

NBA - Something is fundamentally wrong here

By Peter May Boston Globe August 8, 2004
The contrast could not have been more illuminating. Moments after watching Allen Iverson's 30-foot heave swish through to beat Germany, ESPN went directly to something called (I think) the And 1 Challenge. The name of the show is unimportant. What happened on the show drove home a painful point: What is happening to basketball in the US? All we saw for 30 minutes was Showboating 101.

Keg Wrap

Those were the days...think you could daisy chain 3-4 together ?

Trio Dreams Up Idea to Keep Kegs Cold

By THOMAS J. SHEERAN, Associated Press Writer

Same facts...different stories

Productivity Posts Slowest Rise Since 2002
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON - The productivity of American workers rose at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the spring, the slowest increase since late 2002, the government reported Tuesday.


U.S. Productivity Stronger Than Expected
Reuters - Productivity of U.S. businesses rose at a swifter-than-expected pace in the second quarter but labor costs still gained at their fastest rate in two years, the government said on Tuesday.

I was rolling with laughter

Seen recently written upside down across the back window of a PT Cruiser:
If you can read this...roll me over !!

Guess you had to be there...

Go ahead...look at this picture and try NOT to smile...I dare ya !! 

Time off

We're off for a little R&R up in Maine...I'll be unplugged for a while, and
loving every minute of it !!

I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.
-Thoreau

Surf's (a little too) up !

Rouge waves more common than once thought.

Reminds me of the old saying "If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it make a sound?"

The ocean is a big place.

Fast Company looks at keeping customers coming back

It's family vacation time, and in an era of backseat DVD players and jaded youth, we asked the operators of five lower-key attractions how they've adapted to compete in the Spielbergian, conglomerate-driven entertainment universe.

Born to Run

In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream... 

Garrett feels the need for speed in the White Lightning # 50 car !! 

White Lightning racing at the Banknorth 250...We'll get them next year, guys! 

Alan and Makayla 

Snakes of Massachusetts

Just noticed a small family of these guys sunning themsleves on my rockpile. It's interesting that they have set up a home just a few feet from my Dad's old truck. He absolutely hated snakes...

This land is my land...this land is your land

Bush and Kerry do a little sing along and let us know exactly how they feel about each other.

I got this as an email on Friday, July 16th...and then saw it (played in full) on CNN three days later. Some things just strike a nerve. (or, slow news day)

Ricky Runs

"As you read this, Ricky Williams is exactly where he wants to be and doing exactly what he wants to do.
Are you?"

Parents Reconsider Technology for Kids

Here's a thought...pick up a ball.

We'll soon be a society where anyone can build a website, but no one can build a shelf for the computer to sit on.

"Welcome to Friendly Fenway, A-Rod" 

Body Mass Index Calculator

Best Quote I've read in a while...

"All persons who are obese or overweight should try not to gain additional weight."

 

Blazing Saddles...sort of

I have to admit, I was more than a little curious last night as I was flipping through the channels and saw that ABC Family channel was showing Blazing Saddles !! I caught it at a commercial and just had to see just how this could be...I mean, ABC is owned by Disney !! And, this was on the Family Channel of all places. I knew that it was going to have to be edited and I wanted to see just what they were able to keep in.

I was amazed as they came back from commercial to the scene of a group of cowboys sitting around a fire eating beans. Of course we all know what happens next. But instead of hearing the usual outcome of a bean supper, the censors had filled the space with random horse neighs and winnies. The cowboys still made faces, did the lean, etc. but to someone who may have never seen the movie before, it must of been pretty confusing when someone said "More beans Mr. Taggert?" and he replies "I'd say you boys have had enough!" while waving is hat through the air. Come on now....they really needed to cut out the fart noises??!! Maybe the editors haven't seen the Sponge Bob or even Rug Rats lately.

I could only take about 5 more minutes as complete scenes were cut out and others were just (badly) dubbed.

My confusion lies in that I can't figure out why they even bothered. Surely, they could of found something else to put on that was entertaining without going through the considerable effort of hacking this classic to death.

Nah, Nah, You can't see me...Oh, wait !!

But Daddy...I thought you said that the windows were tinted !!??

Brain Excercise

Spice it up a little...you'll be smarter in the end. At the very least, hold the remote in the opposite hand once in a while.

"Neurobic exercise is one that involves the use of one or more or your senses in a novel way, engages your attention, and adds an unexpected element to a routine activity."

Real-Life Indicators

This headline seems so ironic now. There is no such thing as an indicator of what real life will bring your way.
 

Original Walden writings on display

As in the glassy pond itself on a still morning, you can look into Thoreau and see a reflection of the person you might like to be. Henley put it well when he said, "Thoreau was everyman, and he chose Walden to be his everyplace."

Fun with ads

http://parody.organique.com/contents.html

Not exactly Clubber Lang's prediction

There are only two kinds of pain, the pain of discipline and the pain of regret.

Free Walden...at Walden. Not so fast

"I asked myself what Thoreau would have done."
 
So this guy gets the bright idea to give away free copies of Henry's book in the parking lot of the park. Not so fast...what about book sales at the gift shop ??!! Is it the words, the packaging or the ideas that are really important for a visitor to take away from Walden.
 
Henry would have surely enjoyed the irony but without the added publicity that permeates all of life today. Let's see if he heads North to give away copies "The Maine Woods"....that truly will show his commitment to the cause since his actions will definitely cause less of a reaction up there. (If he sees anyone at all!)
 
Part of me agrees with his principle but I'd hate to risk any of the money that helps keep Walden special.

Little ditty...

Hold on to sixteen as long as you can.
Changes come around real soon
Make us women and men.
Jack & Diane- John Cougar Mellencamp

WonderQuest on USAToday

Does earth get heavier because the human population keeps increasing and the number of living things on earth keeps getting larger?

White Lightning Racing

Racin' in Maine !! Good luck Alan, Jeff and the rest of the team at the 250 on Sunday !!

cool old tractors

http://www.simpletractors.com/Main/simplicity.htm

Tim Bedore from NPR

http://www.vaguebuttrue.com/

Q. Why don't blind people like to sky dive?
A. Because it scares the hell out of the dog.

Successful hills are here to stay, everything must be this way.
Gentle streets where people play, welcome to the soft parade.
All our lives we sweat and save, building for a shallow grave.
Must be something else we say, somehow to defend this place.
Everything must be this way, everything must be this way.
        Jim Morrison- The Soft Parade

Nothing like Spring fly-fishing in Maine when its 40 degrees with 30mph winds !!  

A nice place to get hitched

http://www.queenofpeaceboothbay.org/

What are you worth ?

http://www.salary.com

Who's making what....it's anyones guess as to why.

Rumble Bee

Rumble, young man rumble. Aaagghhh!

I'm a little tired of the ".... on Steroids." ad campaigns. With 30 years of Bee history to pull from, you think they'd come up with (or recycle) something a little more creative.

I survived !!

http://www.storylandnh.com

Story Land's location in the White Mountains means that green space, trees, and scenic views are important features of the park, which sits on 35 acres of hilly terrain. The rides and attractions are built into the natural features of the landscape.

Freedom Ship

http://www.freedomship.com

It's big, it's boxy, it's slow....perfect for people with no place to go and all day to do it in. Why do I get the sense that this would be one giant shuffleboard/bingo tournament ?

They laughed at Howard Hughes too...

Compaq Big Band

Local music...local talent.

http://www.compaqbigband.com/about.html

Python on Broadway

It's yet to be determined if coconuts, swallows (laden and unladen), Sir not appearing in the film, Tim the Enchanter, the Knights who say Ni or large wooden badgers will also be making an appearance on Broadway next year.

I see a road trip in my future !!

Five years of hard work finally pays off !  

Irish pub customers light up anyway

We drank, we smoked, we died....and we liked it. There's just no stopping the will of the masses sometimes.

"It is part and parcel of Irish tradition, a pint and a smoke, and please God may it continue."

Baseball memorial in Whitman

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time." Terence Mann - Field of Dreams

Michael Moore Blog

What do get when you combine P.T. Barnum, Eliot Ness and Oliver Stone ?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/05/fahrenheit.tm/

See bull run

Stop, look, listen

Pushing forward as we move through life, we must also pull ourselves up to see what life we are living.

Funny Farm

Got to thinkin about this movie the other day....just couldn't get the thought of "Andy" paying off his neighbors to act normal so he can sell the house.

"When Andy and Elizabeth buy a farm in Vermont, they can't imagine the trouble that awaits them. Andy has quit his job as a sports journalist and is planning to use the peace and quiet of the country to write the Great American Novel. From the moment the movers' truck gets lost with their furniture, though, there's little peace and less quiet. From a manical mailman to a dead body buried in the garden, Andy is distracted by the town and its wacky inhabitants."