Hala Kahiki Holiday Rum Run

Hala Kahiki Holiday Rum Run

Tuesday night December 22 @ 7pm!

Who's interested?

NaNoWriMo Winner!

Well, in the wee hours of the morning, on November 30th, I passed the 50,000 word mark., with a total right now of 50, 079 words. I figure any where from another 10,000 to 15,000 more words should finish the story.

The last week was a bit harsh on my writing, I got behind by almost 8,500 words, and in the 12 hours leading up to my qualifying tally, I wrote over 6,000 words.

Some things I have figured out in relation to writing; that getting started can be the hard part, even if it's just continuing writing the next day, but once I get going, about fifteen minutes in, the words are rolling, and I find my groove. I also noticed that when I'm going, and writing for a few hours at a time, I seem to average about 1,000 words an hour, which gives me a point from which to start when I'm trying to plan out how much writing I'm going to do.

I have really enjoyed the experience, and do look forward to trying this again next year.

Character Identification FAIL

Saw this on my iGoogle home page...

**Update**

I now have this up over at 'Fail Blog', please vote for it! Click here.

A view to enjoy while writing.

Writing Today!

I wandered about today, looking for some new shoes to get me through the winter at work. I haven't found what I'm looking for yet.

I have now parked myself at the Arboretum to write for the day, and the next, with any luck, the day after that too. I will need to work on the house and fix our computers[I have new hard drives arriving Wednesday, April's died completely], and to do so also means not writing as much.

I am having fun writing so far, it's not a burden, rather freeing, I am also only 3 days in. I might feel some guilt over not doing some things I could be doing, like today, working on the house. April seems to understand that I really want to do this, it helps a lot. It isn't always that I need motivation or time, just a sense that I have everything else taken care of that I need to do. Which lately has been many things at once.

So I have taken a slight pause to post this, and as I finish this thought, back to writing I go!

NaNoWriMo!

NaNoWriMo

Getting my notes together for National Novel Writing Month.

I can write a book. I can write a book. I can write a book.

I have a story concept, a few characters, a fun location, and I think a few good twists. I'm shooting for a detective rag, with spins of sci-fi like Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently, I'm not sure if I'll be a whimsical though. I came up with the cover a while back as I was playing with some images and filters in Photoshop. I figured I'd get to the actual story some time later, well, later is now. So, in 12 hours and 31 minutes, it's time to start writing!

Taking Pictures!

Crew taking pictures of Crew.

National Novel Writing Month

I've signed up, let's see what happens...

I've signed up under the user name 'buckar007' if you'd like to be a novel writing buddy!

Slow To Post Recently

I have to admit, other social sites are getting much more of my attention. They tend to be so much quicker, I post information much more often, several time a day mostly. Where as this blog is lucky lately to get a post one or twice a month.

I do find that while I try to work on the house, my posts drop off for both, which is good. I'm getting needed work done. A house more ready to be lived in, I like that, and so does April. I did spend this week's days tending to her though, which has put me a bit farther behind than I wanted to be. I've only one more three day run next week and back to 5 day weeks again. I had worked out four 10 hour days a week for October, allowing me a bit more time to work on the house. It hasn't been as smooth as I would have hoped. It's interesting when you have time off, you've planned things to do, but so many other things would rather fill your time instead, things you need to attend to.

Flu Season

Well, April is fighting the flu. I guess that means I'm fighting it too. So far, I'm fine. House work is slow at the moment between illness & work. The goals are there, time only in short bursts.

Zombieland!

Yes, it's time for another midnight showing. This week's movie of choice is Zombieland! Though my sister and & were the first to arrive, 6 more people showed up just a bit later. Any moment now, two more folks I know should be here, bringing the grand total in the theater thus far to 10! I expect the final count at show time to be closer to 25.

I think this may well be one of those movies that finds itself in the right place at the right time. With the current rash of zombie games being played, and the amount of zombie merchandise available, Zombieland is poised to hit the market at exactly the right time. Should be interesting to see how it fairs in the demographic it's aimed at.

More to follow...

Circus Elephants!

Working At The House Has Slowed Down

Well, worked at the house yesterday. Progress is much slower when I am working at my job too. With Garrett's help, we got a lot of the networking done at the patch panel, I've got a bunch of patch cables to make now, they are easy to make, but hard on the hands.

I'm trying to convince April that if I stayed at the house, I'd get more done, as opposed to sleeping at the apartment, and getting up late knowing that I would have to then go to the house, and then to work. Where as if I go straight to the house, I may actually get something done before I go to bed. No tv, no computer, no games, yeah, I might actually be more productive.

Bored

Okay, I'm back to work(taking a break right now), and I'm bored. Very bored. I'm back to organizing the rest of the crew's messes. Doing the work others seem unable to do that they may achieve a good day. There really is little left at my job that pulls me in, engages me. The same, over again, a change would be nice, which leaves my choices limited in finding a way to keep my income somewhat the same. So I am bored. I feel I'm missing something...

House Is Keeping Me Busy

Well, I've been busy the past 2 weeks, been working on our new house. My wife and I have also been ti MI to see her grandmother and take care of her house.

I'm finding out a lot about the house we bought. It will keep me from being idle, as there seem to be an indefinite number of things to accomplish. The largest task of replacing the aluminum wiring I will be leaving to a professional electrician, as for the rest of the tasks... Well, I seem up to them, though there may be many, they are a series of little fixes, things I've done before or am able to do.

Come on over, and we'll show you around!

Scrap Guy

So, I go inside for a drink, taking a short break after finishing taking down the little bit of drywall that was left from yesterday, and I have a guy out front eyeing the aluminium & iron scrap from yesterday! Hooray! Less I have to load in the dumpster!

Cicada At The New House

Lots of these buggers around!

First BBQ!

I'm grilling for the first time at the new house, angus burgers, buffalo burgers and hot dogs!

Who's hungry?

District 9

I'm settling in to watch, I'm actually looking forward to this. The sci-fi genre could use a boost after the disasters that were 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' & 'Transformers 2'.

I'll update this blog with my take after the show.

*Update*

Wow. District 9 will probably be a film piece to measure up to for a few years to come. The film was not afraid to blow people up. The story did a great job of keeping the viewer guessing, with plenty of good turns. I would like to see it again to analyze the details better.

Worth a view, keep in mind the 'R' rating.

Streaming Videos

Okay, the work has begun on the house, if you follow the Qik link at the bottom of the blog, you may catch a live feed from the scene of destruction. I will try and stream at least once, hopefully twice a day to show the progress. You should be able to post comments to me in real time if I happen to be streaming "live", just use the comment section in the link!

See you there...

Time For A Haircut!

New Home Owners!

April & I are home owners!

Let the repairs begin!

Trolley Cars

If you ever have been a fan of Railway rolling stock. Now would be a time to support your local railway museum. The collection of trolleys in Cleveland, which were intended to become a tourist line down town after the demise of Trolleyville, are up for sale. By contributing to your local museum, like the Illinois Railway Museum for me, you will make it possible for running trolleys to be acquired by institutions that can operate and maintain them for public enjoyment. These trolleys have survived this long, it would be a shame for them to become scrap now. Many of the pieces are irreplaceable.

For more on this, checkout, http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2009/08/help-buy-trolleyville-cars.html.

Stacked To High

Rebecca demonstrates that these boxes of bars might be stacked too high...

Structural Engineer

So, termites do a bit of damage, not like molds or other things, but repairs will be needed. Preliminary indicators suggest a few 2x4s will need to be replaced, so far only vertical support. Test holes in the celing of the garage look as though the termites haven't went much beyond the wall so far. In looking in the wall today, only found 1 live termite, my thoughts are if we get this now, the house should be free of them pretty quick. Taking a few other prevetative measures should keep the home termite free.

Here's to owning a home tomorrow!

How To Spot A Gamer

I was in geek awe.

Mitsuwa Obon Festival & Other Updates

We(April, Ellen, & myself), are heading to Mitsuwa to hear a crew member I worked with downtown. Been trying for a while, she usually provided rather short notice, but I got more than a month this time.

On the house front things are progressing. I will try to sum up as best I can, the details get muddled.

We bid on a house almost two months ago, the owner accepted. It was then a matter of time for the owner's mortgage company to approve. About a month in we found out there was a second mortgage, and the two companies were ever so slowly coming to an accord on who owed who how much. At the same time the home was about to go to a sheriff's sale as part of the home being a short sale, we got an extension and things progressed. It is in every one's best interest for the home to get purchased rather than the sheriff sale, for if it does go to sheriff sale, both real estate agents and both mortgage companies loose out. Once the price had been worked out, a home inspection was in order, we had held off until we knew we were actually going to be allowed to get the house. The inspection turned up things I had already observed, no real surprises. There was an assessor at the house at the same time. After they both finished up we waited to hear about our getting the house. The assessor turned up a few things to fix, which the owner is unable to fix as she is broke. So after a legal document giving me permission to make the repairs (Totaling about $43), I got to work. The repairs took a couple of hours, as I got to one last one in the garage, I stumbled on evidence of termites in the wall. This has been a busy week sorting this out. The loan can't be released now until there is proof of treatment. With a pending sheriff sale again next week, I haven't seen all of the people involved move so fast to get the house treated and all of the paper work sorted out. If everyone had communicated this well over the previous 2 months, we'd have been in the house already.

As a side note, both the listing agent and our agent(With around 30 years experience) have never had a house with termites.

April and I are keeping our fingers crossed that everything will be sorted out in the next week.

Comments on this would be very welcome!

Been A Bit Under The Weather

Been fighting a cold the past few days, April has been fighting it for almost a week. I'm feeling better with a the prospect of being almost "Buckaroo" normal by tomorrow night.

Been sleeping a lot, and playing a bunch of on-line flash games, the demolition one has been the most played.

Bristol was this past weekend, a fun time was has by all. I should have some images to post soon.

Finding A Course

With the imminent purchase of a home looming, I find myself looking to new opportunities to increase the cash flow. My wife asks me to think of things, anything, that will help. The conundrum of that is that she doesn't mean 'anything'. For I have suggested many things I would be willing to do, she doesn't like how little she would see me if I did them.

I work at home on the things that interest me before and after I work the job that provides health insurance, the question I get, "How much later are you going to stay up?"

I get lost in the things I like to do, and race home to work on them, I think about the stories, the images, the drawings while I work at the job that pays the bills. I get to work out the details in my head 8 - 10 hours a day, and get maybe 2 to actually work on them.

With the purchase of the house, I will have many more things to work on, making the time I find to work on a dream a precious thing.

The next day awaits, may I use it wisely.

Interesting Minivan

You don't see many of these...

CTA Series 6101-6102, In Motion!

So if you hadn't figured out that I was taking pictures of interurbans over the weekend, please take a look at my Sunday post. With all of that picture taking, I've come up with the following image, granted there are many more, but I will share this one for starters. Enjoy.

Picnic By Interurban - Chicago Aurora & Elgin Style

So What Does This Look Like To You?

The imagery leaves a lot to the imagination...

What Brad Looks Like With Cake On His Face

Public Enemies

Well, just saw the movie. I'll have to say the story was engaging, well told.

I found some of the filming techniques distracting. I'm not sure, but I'd say it was filmed using film and digital equipment. There were several sequences where there was a digital color separation, with a magenta and turquoise highlights on bright spots. I think digital filming was also used on several of the low light sequences, for the capture rate seemed oddly different for the flashing of the guns, low light noise in the frame seemed more digital than film grain in origin as well. The print I saw also had some bad high hiss audio at several spots that was very distracting.

New Distracting Link

Worth the view

http://thereifixedit.com/

A varied weather day

So it was a comfortable night last night, a warm morning, and a great sunny day that let you sweat just enough. The breeze has shifted, and the thunder storm is whisking over the horizon at us. What a night we shall have!!

Sorting The Jumbled Box Of Cat 5

This is what happens when Buckaroo gets his hands on cables, they must be orginized. 25 bundles of various lenghts, 16 inches to 50 feet. I think $6 was quite worth it.

Cat 5 Cable Find

Okay, I don't usually swing into garage sales, but as I was driving to my mom's townhouse today, I noticed a sign for one in Eola(A very small railroad town). Granted, if I'd had a bit more cash, I would have a generator too, but I got a box of cat 5 for $6, too cool!

Orphan Works is Back - Oh No!

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS' PARTNERSHIP

Orphan Works: Back Again 6.17.09 In Orphan Works Land, no news has been good news, but that's about to change: http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/06/11/copyright-holders-acknowledge-losing-battle-for-public-consciousness-at-world-copyright-summit/ US Copyright Register Marybeth Peters told Intellectual Property Watch that orphan works legislation is expected to be introduced within the next 10 days. It is her understanding there may still be some issues in the House version to be resolved, and there are some stakeholders - such as illustrators and other artists - "who are probably going to lobby pretty hard against it." Peters said this issue is important to her, and the fact it came so close to passing last year is almost bittersweet. "What I hope it isn't ... is it's one magic moment you get" to finally get it passed, then it doesn't happen, she said. We don't mean to disparage the Register's comments. She's had a long and distinguished career at the Copyright Office. But her statement deserves a reality check. Illustrators are not opposed to an orphan works bill. We're opposed to this bill. We're opposed because its scope far exceeds the needs of responsible orphan works legislation. Moreover, illustrators and artists are not the only stakeholders who oppose it. At last count, more than 83 creators organizations are on record against it, representing artists, photographers, writers, songwriters, musicians and countless small businesses. Last year, we proposed amendments to the Orphan Works Act that would have made it a true orphan works bill. The amendments were drafted by the attorney who was chief legal counsel to the House Judiciary Committee in drafting the 1976 Copyright Act. The amendments were co-sponsored by the Artists Rights Society and the Advertising Photographers of America. They can be found here: http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/2008/07/hr-5889-amendments.html On July 11, 2008, we submitted those amendments to both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. In our preamble we wrote this: As rights holders, we can summarize our hopes for the Orphan Works Act simply: to see that it becomes a true orphan works bill, with no unnecessary spillover effect to damage the everyday commercial activities of working artists. We'd be happy to work with Congress to accomplish this. No legislation regarding the use of private property should be considered without the active participation of those whose property is at stake. Last year more than 180,000 letters were sent to lawmakers from our Capwiz site. These letters did not come from obstructionists. They came from citizens whose property is at stake. They may lack the resources of big Internet companies and the access of high powered lobbyists, but last year they spoke. They asked only one thing: that Congress respect their personal property rights and amend this bill to make it nothing more than what its sponsors say they want it to be - a bill that would affect only true orphaned work. We urge this Congress to listen. - Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner for the Board of the Illustrators' Partnership ______________________________________________________________ For news and information, and an archive of these messages: Illustrators' Partnership Orphan Works Blog: http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/ Over 83 organizations opposed the last Orphan Works bills, representing over half a million creators. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, songwriters, musicians, and countless licensing firms all believe this bill will harm their small businesses. If you received our mail as a forwarded message and wish to subscribe to the IPA mailing alerts, click on the link below, "Join Our Mailing List" and follow the simple directions on the webpage.

Please post or forward this message to any interested party.

Hala Kahiki - Zombie Drink

Lorinda poses with a Zombie Drink!

Train Spotting

Ahhhhhh.......

Bassett Training In Downers Grove

It's time to get the all important training about alcohol sales, as provided by the town I work in, Downers Grove, IL. Why I hadn't actually received a more summary education on this until now, baffles me, as I have been employed by Trader Joe's for more than 6 1/2 years now...

Crystal Head Vodka Expedition Was A Success

The many month quest to find Crysal Head vodka has been fruitful in its yield. Behold...

New Photo Gallery

I've been tinkering around with Adobe's Lightroom, and put together a web gallery. This is my first attempt, so comments are very welcome!

http://buckar007.com/PhotoGallery2009-June/

Serpentine Belt

Changed the Serpentine belt today. Needed an extra set of hands to hold the tensioner while the belt got put on though. At least it's done, another 60,000 miles before the next one, barring some sort of failure of course.

And So It Begins

The engine is cool, it's time to start...

Truck Maintenace

Well, it's time to change the spark plugs in the truck again. It's a process that I look forward to and dread. I like having new plugs, but access to 4 out of the 8 is quite a challenge. The older the truck gets, the more likely I may need to fix something else along the way. 

I would like to take some time and fix many of the small things on the truck that need repairing, but find it difficult to squeeze the time in to do them when I have to run the truck around to someone's garage to do the fix. I can't wait to have a proper garage to work in. 

With any luck, I can get 4-6 six replaced tomorrow, and the remaining 2 on Wednesday. Did I mention some of the plugs are hard to get to. 

Should I post some pictures of the process? Or even how dirty I get? What would you like top see a picture of?

Museum of Science & Industry

April and I took a trip down to MSI today to see the Harry Potter exhibit. The car you see here is the only prop out for photographing, a Ford Anglia, one of 16 used in the films. Just to hazard a guess, I'd say before the Whomping Willow scene.

Overall we quite enjoyed the experience. We also rented an audio tour device that gives extra narration of the exhibit. Most of the information was rather nonspecific, leaving gaping holes in our curiosity. I'd say only 3 of the many item codes gave any really interesting information.

As it turned out, April new someone working in the exhibit who provided some much more interesting information. Thanks Katie!

If you are a Harry Potter fan, it is worth the trip!

Been busy

So things are being very busy and very slow at the same time. How is that possible you ask? Easy I say. April and I are gearing up for our first home purchase, which we put a bid on two weeks ago, that was accepted by the owner, which means we're getting a lot of paper work in order, making lists of items we will need, how quickly we can afford them, but we are also still waiting from the lenders that actually hold the mortgages on the house. This is the part that really slows things down. 

So as we wait, I find more things to do. 

I am taking photos this weekend for two children at their Church. My second gig as a photographer, the first with my camera[I love my Nikon D90]. I'm looking forward to making their parents quite happy. 

Wednesday next week, April and I will be checking out the "Harry Potter" exhibit at the Museum of Science & Industry. I'll post what I can, I'm sure that photos inside the exhibit a not allowed. Of course I can get a picture of us in front of the entrance. I'm looking forward to the day trip, and hope April will enjoy it as much. 

I've been rapidly learning Adobe's Lightroom, in an effort to better process so many of the photos that I do take. It streamlines the ability to take the photos right from the camera to the web for sharing with clients. I hope to put that to use here pretty quick. 

I hope that all of you that check this page out have gotten out to enjoy the weather the past few days, I know that it's been wonderful just about everywhere here in the Midwest.

Eola Yard Crossing

The BNSF has decided to close the McClure Rd crossing at the Eola yard. This really isn't a huge surprise, as it was frequently blocked by yard switching traffic. It also allows more control of people access at the west end of the yard. With the large number of METRA trains, and increased rail interchange traffic with the EJ&E, now Canadian Northern, fewer grade crossings are a good thing. For rail fans, it takes away a quick cut-through that provided a great place to view trains. We just have to be more picky about our vantage points.

Time For a New Lock

So last week I went to get under the hard top on my truck bed, it wouldn't pop. Now usually I would put the key in, turn it 180 and press down to unlock it. Such was not the case the other day. As the picture will tell, the key had a bit of wear. I have a new lock now, should be good for at least another ten to eleven years.

Computer News

So... It's up and running. With some help from my friend Garrett, he managed to recover data on a drive that didn't want to read. Things are running smoothly. I've transfered a lot of data from a nearly full drive onto the new 3 drive array. About half way thru copying the data, I get a system crash, no blue screen, just black, followed by a reboot. As the server manager comes up, I inspect the status of the hard drives, one of the three drives has failed redundancy. I just can't seem to win.

So I ponder the next solution.

I can't wait for solid state drives to come down in price!

Rebuilding My Hard Drives

So here I am again, rebuilding my hard drives. The RAID array failed, I scrambled to save data, it's up and running again, but the drives holding the data, well, they don't seem to want to read now. 

I'm a bit worried about losing about 440GBG of data. Wouldn't you be? Most [Probably about 98%] of that information is backed up on other older stored hard drives or CD/DVD ROMs. But it is a bit unnerving thinking about getting it all back into order again. 

Anyone have any worthwhile suggestions[Aside from not having a computer or going Mac]?

The View From The Suite!

We have arrived at our room, what a view!

2nd Anniversary

Two years already, how the old cliche still holds true. Time does fly. 

Getting ready to head out for the weekend. Do some hiking, check into the Baker Suite, have a fine dinner, stroll the river, and relax in the room's jacuzzi while enjoying the view. Should be a lot of fun. I may post a picture or two later, we'll see.

Hala Kahiki!

Greetings from Hala Kahiki! The day is wrapping up in the best Tiki bar in Chicago! Tiki Terrace was a blast. For those who could not join us, you were missed.

*Update* Videos streamed to the web by Mike, a.k.a. Zombified Projectionist, can be found here http://www.qik.com/olpin8er

Tiki Terrace!

We have arrived at Tiki Terrace, ordered our drinks & food, and are awaiting the show!

Trader Vic's

The group has arrived at Trader Vic's! The Mai Tais have been ordered!

Lunch at Chef Shangri-La

We have a table, and my drink has arrived! Soon, the rest of the bunch will be here, and then the fun really begins...

Hulafest!

Well, today will be spent hopping from one Tiki destination to the next. Organized by a fellow fan of Tiki Bar TV, it's been christened "Hulafest" by it creator, one 'Hulahoney'.  I am planning on posting many pictures as we go, with actual words describing the fun. I will also try to post to my blog over at Tiki Bar TV.

To safe travels, new friends, and a great time!

Viewing more homes.

So, off on another round of home viewing. My fingers are crossed knowing that the home we are looking for is only a few more thresholds away. With what I hope is the worst behind us, this should be a lot more fun now. Our agent is helping us find our perfect home, we just need to get out and find it!

A Beautiful Day!

What a great day to be outside,if only for lunch.

Smile everybody!

Home Inspection

So, a home inspection is a real treat. That is to say, if you like finding out how much less one should offer on a home with so many needed repairs that a bank/lender holding the vacant home is unwilling to fix. But in my humble opinion, if you are going to even TRY to sell a house, you may want to consider fixing any burst pipes. Especially if it is so close to the meter that having any water in the pipes to test the home's fixtures is impossible.

Bring on the SNOW!

So it should start sometime this afternoon... Can't wait! This is why i have a 4x4!

Anyone care to guess where this is?

Really? Come on. You must have an idea. Look at my previous post, put two and two together and...

I'm sure I'll have some interesting comments...

I 90 At 5:00am In Wisconsin

So I'm driving to Baraboo. Any guesses as to why? Leave your answer in the comments.

I won't see April till Thursday, she's going to Springfield for meetings, as well as 'schmoozing". I hope she has lots of fun!

Spring in Flux

Spring seems to be having a bit of trepidation about actually being here. We've even got a good chance for some snow this weekend.

I've got some time next week, I'm hoping to be creatively productive.

Race To Witch Mountain

Okay, just saw "Race To Witch Mountain". I was very impressed.  Having seem both of the original films as a kid, it was fun to see what Disney did with the concept.  The film was packed with subtle UFO enthusiast information, and the appearance of the actors who played the kids in the first two films back in the seventies.  As an adult, there was a lot to be had if you looked around what was happening in the film. The story, if you had seen the trailer, was rather self explanatory. 

Worth a view.

A Conundrum

I sit in the Morton Arboretum, eating a Chicago style hot dog, as I sprinkle some salt on my fries I realize...

That the salt is NOT Morton salt!

How odd.

Bartonville Asylum

Well, Friday was quite interesting. After spending the day up at the Volo Auto Museum, My wife and I sat back in the rental car, and took a drive down to Peoria, or rather Bartonville, just to the South.  We arrived about 10:30pm. A friend of mine was performing with his band that night, IN the former asylum, which closed in 1973. 

After catching a glimpse of them playing, I took a tour of the building, starting in the basement. Keep in mind, at one time, the asylum sprawled out over 300 acres, and had many buildings, only a handful of which are still standing. And to get from building to building, tunnels were the way to go. There were by my count, three different tunnel exits from the main building alone[The Bowen, click the title of this post to follow a link to their site]. Some of the tunnels ARE NOT  traversable due to cave ins, at least for living people that is.  

All in all, I would recommend the tour to anyone interesting in some good history, an old building, and a great case of 'the chills'.  

Volo Auto Museum

This is my idea of a great ride! Now I just need a bit more cash, and a garage!

Rental Car!

Looks like I'll be doing a bit of driving in style. I haven't driven a car like this since the Crown Victoria, remember that one Val? Should be fun going to Volo & Peoria in this tomorrow.

Bumper repairs

It's been more than 3 months since I got rear ended by a hit and run. I got the plate, but the owner & his insurance company are playing a game of vagueness, which they are using to not pay up. Great, I still need my bumper. So I take it in tomorrow, I then get a rental for the duration of the repairs. Should be interesting to see what I get.

Mom turns 60!

In honor of Mom turning 60 this year, we're trying to get as many people as possible to turn out at Bristol to celebrate on July 18th. So mark your calendars, clip some coupons, and get your camera ready!

To stay updated of what's going to happen, follow the Birthday blog at

http://ellenturns60.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

The Watchmen

I sit in the theater waiting. A hundred or so people arond me, the IMAX a couple theaters over, sold out. Probably about 700-800 people there, plus another regular screen too. So I guess there are about 1200 people here.

If this is any indicator of the rest of the country, Zach Snyder may have a a winner...

More in 2 hours 55 minutes.

Thought for the day

This may be a bit off for the current price per barrel, but you get the idea...

Train Show

Another Great Midwest Train Show is nearly upon us. Once again, my schedule has not allowed me the opportunity to have a table there this weekend. 

I also haven't received any feedback about not attending. Which leads me to believe that I may wait a while before returning, most likely June, maybe August. Much of July is booked for me with family travels & get-togethers. 

I look forward to hearing from anyone interested in imagery, please e-mail me at info@buckaroobazaar.com

Thanks 

Catching Up

It's been an interesting week, my computer pulled a hard-drives-don't-want-to-work stunt, which took a bit to remedy. For a little while I thought I'd lost a bunch of data, thankfully, that was not to be. 

I also told a friend that I' post a bit about an upcoming performance, in of all places, and old sanitarium! To quote directly from the e-mail I received...

"Anyway, save the date, Friday March 13th.  The place is The Bowen Building a.k.a. The Peoria State Mental Hospital in lovely Bartonville, Illinois right next to, surprise, Peoria.  Dan's band, Plasmata, has recently shot a music video there and on this coming Friday the thirteenth has agreed to host a launch party for said video along with hosting some of the ghost tours that run through out the night.  Yes folks as was implied this place is old, falling down, a former insane asylum, and indeed, haunted.  It should be an interesting evening out but keep in mind this place is not heated, nor has electricity so tours are conducted in the cold and dark with a few flashlights.  Exact times for tours and general merriment along with prices(they charge to raise money for renovations)are on the Bowen building's website,  SavetheBowen.com  General info on Dan's band can be found on their myspace page under plasmataband.  Any questions, let me know and further info will be sent out as it becomes available.   "

Elgin Joliet & Eastern, the EJ&E, the "J"

The EJ&E is now the Canadian National(CN). A long time railroad of the Chicagoland area has been absorbed by another larger railroad. The potential for growth, a tempting thing, as through ways for rail in Chicagoland are few. Many improvements will need to be made to much of the right-of-way, in doing so, the possibilities for expanded commuter rail also increase. Only 5 months ago, each of the commuter rail branches serving Chicago saw double digit increases in ridership. With renewed interest in a railroad, comes the opportunity to help serve those along its route.

As I sit watching switching operations, I will remember the "J", and look forward to what the CN will do over the coming years.

Not Attending The Train Show

I have been unable to recquisition the time to attend the next Train Show. For thoses who are still interested in prints, please e-mail me, and I can get that out to you asap.  If you are after a custom image, let's talk, I can generate what you are looking for. 

As for when I will be able to attend another show, that remains to be seen. If I have requests, I can do what I can to be there, but the interest had wained in the shows, so I shifted to mainly the internet based sales.

Thanks to everyone who has purchased thus far, spread the word, that I may continue to make the art you want!

Cupid Ken!

The Captain of the store I work at has now been immortalized as Cupid for Valentine's day. When he sees it for the first time Tuesday, it may not stay up. For the record, I think it is an excellent likeness. Great job Jessica!

With help from Garrett.

With help from my good pal Garrett, my domains have been rerouted through a new provider. 3 years for the price my old provider was charging for 1. I get a little bit less storage, but gobbs more bandwidth!

Yea!

Thanks Garrett!

Tiki Bar Chat

Chatting away at The Tiki Bar!