Z-A Monday ............... Z

Xavier gently fingered the zoetrope, carefully lifting it from the package, holding it steady, spinning it, watching the moving figures through the whirring slots. A remnant from those carefree, bygone days, he thought.

It was amazing what one could find up in Aunt Zelda's attic. A veritable zoo of stuffed animals, the good kind, with little Steiff tags stapled to their ears.

Xavier looked down at the zany floorboards, noting the zigzag pattern, reminiscent of some stage floor from the Ziegfield Follies. As he stared at the pattern and fell prey to its hypnotic effects, he wished he could zoom ahead a week, to a time when Wendy would leave her home in Zanesville, drive to his little town, and he would finally get the chance to pop that question.

Would she give him the affirmative? Would he be a hero, he pondered, or a zero? For now, he was just tired. He needed to zonk out. He extinguished the attic light and descended the stairs.

to be continued...

watch some zoetrope action by clicking here

I got got got no time!

...In the words of Burton Cummings, or whoever sang it, this weekend is the time for our Relay of Life, and I am about to pull my annual all-nighter for our team there, accompanied by Linda (until she tuckers out) and Number One Son (who will attempt to win the 3-4 a.m. poker run for the third year in a row). So...no weird object for this Friday. Gotta pack up a couple things and head out. More on this event later. Our team nearly raised our goal before the actual relay actually commenced!

A-Z: We have reached Zee End!

ZOWIE WOWIE!!!!

We've made it through from A to Z!

The results'll go down in history!

We've covered things domestic and foreign

With writing and pictures that sure weren't borin'

To all who've contributed, I give a salute

And a big ol' July Fourth rooty-toot-toot!

It's been a long road, half of a year

And now our Director has plans, I fear!

'Cause now we will travel back - Z to A

And arrive safely around Christmas day

And though I will keep on, I have no doubt,

I think my poor brain is quite “poemed out”!

Sunday Photo

I drove the church van in the parade again this year, ahead of the float publicizing the Vacation Bible School programs of both the Methodist and Presbyterian churches in town (same curriculum, different weeks), and behind a float publicizing a Bible museum. I had a van full of passengers this year, including the new Pastor's wife riding shotgun (he walked the route - kudos to him! So did my wife -kudos to her!)

One could agree that the mission of just about any Christian denomination is to "follow Jesus" - and as this picture I took from the windshield while driving (kids - don't do this at home! - I was only going 3 mph!) clearly illustrates, I think we were doing just that for the entire parade route!

Another comment on parades in general. Do you see how the kids now line up along the edge of the street proper, plastic bags in hand? When did the Fourth of July become Halloween, Jr.?

Happy Birthday, America

We have survived the parade (Linda and I were in it again, with me driving the church van with supplies and various people; Linda passing out bottles of water; the kids went and watched) and a cookout with the kids before they dispersed. William to Columbus to see a Columbus Crew soccer game (as he put it, "What's more American than watching a soccer match on the 4th??") and Em to an in-law's cookout. Later, since our town is one of those that scrounged enough money to put some explosives in the sky, we will head for the Fairgrounds for the annual 20 minute fireworks show, followed by the 60 minute traffic jam. (A friend who engineers a nearby town's fireworks extravaganza says current thinking is the public wants about a 17-20 minute show, with lots of stuff going off simultaneously.)

Meanwhile, the grandpuggle enjoyed some corn on the cob. Hope you are enjoying whatever your Independence Day traditions, old and new, are!

W.O.F. 65 Weird and Unwanted

We took two little girls (our daughter's nieces) and two dogs to the reservoir today to play, frolic, etc. This guy rode along, thankfully on the OUTSIDE. Our city usually sprays for mosquitoes, but in a cost-saving move this year, they are foregoing the spray, which is ultimately probably a good thing for the environs anyhow. I say just build a bunch of bat houses and the bats and birds will take care of the skeeters.

NEARfest 2009

Two weekends ago, a friend and I made the annual pilgrimmage to Bethlehem PA, and the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University, to attend what is arguably the USA's premier progressive music festival. We eat this stuff up. This year we went for three days - which I think we decided is too much music for almost anyone. But it was a great time, and we also had time to tour Bethlehem, which we think is a pretty neat town despite the local economy (in its heyday, it was home to Bethlehem Steel Corporation - the steel works now sit empty, and are the site of a new casino, which is not exactly as promising to a local economy as, say, steel production once was.)

Friday night kicked off with a band that has been around since 1970 or so. Ever hear of Van der Graaf Generator? I didn't think so. They are a pretty intense bunch of guys; their sax player split a couple years ago, but they are fully capable of a full sound with the threesome. The organ player, Hugh Banton, builds organs for churches and such as a day job (very few of these bands can support their members without some alternative source of income). Van der Graaf was followed by Steve Hillage, guitarist for Saturday's headliner band, Gong, and his band.

the inimitable VdGG - a great show

Saturday kicked off with Cabezas de Cera, three young Mexican lads who played a mix of traditional sounding and avant garde music. The guitar player went through five different instruments, some quite exotic, during the course of the show.

Cabezas' multi-instrumentalist Mauricio Sotelo

Next up, Oblivion Sun, an outgrowth of '70s band Happy the Man, was in great form, and they even busted out a grand piano for a brand new suite.

Oblivion Sun

I admit it: I lust after those classic Mini-Moogs!

Italian jazz-rock band DFA ("duty free area") hit the stage and played their second NEARFest.

DFA

Saturday closed with Gong, a band of aging hippies and such from Britain, led by 71-year-old Daevid Allen. He would be the one in the wizard get-up.

This is most of Gong - Steve Hillage on the left. The dude in the hat would be Daevid Allen

Sunday started out with Belgian band Quantum Fantay, a sort of space rock band. They were better than I had expected, and they had a good stage patter. It's always interesting to hear these folks from foreign lands with their decent command of English.

Belgium's Quantum Fantay

Two Swedish bands followed, Beardfish and Trettioariga Kriget (it means "Thirty Years War"). I don't know what it is about the Swedes, but they easily have the most good prog music makers per capita on the planet.

Beardfish - they achieve that retro B-3 and dirty guitar sound.

Trettioariga Kriget - say that fast three times!

We wrapped it up Sunday night, going on midnight, with Premiata Forneroa Marconi (PFM), an Italian band from the 70's, and probably my favorite of the festival, because, like Van der Graaf (my other fave), I remember their stuff from back in the day. They blend the rock with some nice classical sounding nylon guitar/violin sounds.

PFM's Franco Mussida (guitar since late 60's) and Gianluca Tagliavini (relative newcomer)

All in all, not in my top three overall lineups, but hey, you cannot go wrong with this stuff. They consistently sell out the Zoellner in a matter of hours every year - meaning there are at least 1,200 or so of us hard core types willing to come back year after year. And many of us were listening to the likes of Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake and Palmer, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, early pre-hit machine Genesis, and a host of other back in the "golden era" of 1969-1975 or so.

PFM (also on the blog banner above), with one of their accompanying documentary graphics

Enough of this esoteric music stuff. Just wanted to get it in the record here. I hope to do a future piece on Bethlehem, a very interesting town.

A-Z Monday - Y

YEARS

When I was young, a year went forever
But now I believe someone's jiggled the lever
To make the time fly - now a year's but a flash
And a week is but nothing, and a month is a dash

Seems we just got married, bought the house of our dreams
Now the mortgage is paid, as we burst at the seams
And where are our babies? Well, those kiddies have grown
And our son and our daughter are out on their own

I don't know how to slow it - can't slam on the brakes
If I could I just might, by whatever it takes
But the years are a-flying; shouldn't set them aside
Might as well settle in and just enjoy the ride!

WOF 64 ODD MASK

This lovely artifact was crafted by one of our children (William, I think), most likely as a school project many years ago. It has languished in our son's room for many years. We have finally unearthed it, photographed it, said farewell to it, and sent it to the sanitary landfill with last week's trash.

You have to make a dent somewhere.

A-Z "MONDAY" - XXXXXX

X E N A R T H R A

"Xenarthra" refers to a group of critters

That you wouldn't hire for baby sitters

They consist of some oddball creatures

Who're known for having distinctive features

First there's the sloth, two-toed and three

They're the laziest dudes in history

And then there is the armadillo

Who I wouldn't use for my bedtime pillow!

And third and last, the South American anteater

For gathering ants, you just can't beat 'er

It seems no trio could differ farther

And yet they all are classed “Xenarthra”

So what's the common link, you say?

An extra lumbar vertebrae!

Yes, these creatures could give you a fun day

But for me, they complete this A-Z "Monday"!

stepping away

Hey there. Hope you're in the middle of a great week. As for me, I am stepping away from the computer for a few days - to return some time next week. So I will probably miss WOF this week, and my A-Z entry will probably be a bit tardy. (Actually, this is all an elaborate hoax to try to avoid making up a poem dealing with the letter "X"!!!) Nah. Undaunted, I shall return and face that X square in the face!

For now, I leave you with some pictures of a momma woodpecker getting her "baby" (just as big as she is!) to eat on its own. I believe the lesson was a success. The momma is the more grungy looking one; the kid is somehow cleaner.

Ta ta for now...
Ben

A-Z Monday W is for

WATER

It's two parts "H" and one part "O"
Pour some out and go with the flow
Water is a life-saving drink
But spill it on wool and the sheep might shrink!
You and me, we're mostly just water
So is my son and so is my daughter
It makes a great drink; it's good for the flowers
And when we're all smelly, we use it in showers

Yes, it's great to drink water, full to the brim
But it's also a blast to jump in and swim
Coffee, tea; it's great to brew with it
It's just amazing; there's so much to do with it!

It can come down as snow; you can freeze it as ice
You can water your garden or a paddy of rice
You can fill a balloon and toss it at friends
Yes, the list of its purposes just never ends!

Sunday Photo - Nosy Neighbors

We were standing out in an apartment complex parking lot yesterday, talking to a friend. There was a squirrel running around the place. I soon noticed that the residents of three adjacent apartments were very aware of the squirrel's presence, and tracking its movements right there at their very home. (Click on the picture above to see an enlargement).

Weird Buzzard Friday

There's been talk in the blogosphere lately about buzzards, vultures, and the like. So here's one of our winged visitors from this past spring, acting a little weird up in the trees...

A-Z Monday: V IS FOR VOLUME!!!!!!!

VOLUME

I turn on some tunes, set the volume to hear it

My wife shouts it’s so loud she cannot get near it

My son says “let’s crank it!”

My wife says “please yank it!”

I have no idea how I should steer it.

I cruise in the car with the volume on ten

Then the Passenger says, “Please turn it down, Ben!”

I reduce it to eight; she goes further, to four

We compromise – six - not a decibel more!

I s’pose it’s a good thing to lower the sound

So I hear other things that are happening around

Like fire alarms, sirens, or knocks on the door

Yes, I now keep my music down to a dull roar.

(and if I want volume – that’s what headphones are for!)