Storm Watch 07

I took these on the way to work this morning. I'm pretty damn shocked at the extent of the damage the storms have caused the last few days.

When Goats Attack

I just want to warn everybody about this dire threat facing patrons of petting zoos. They my look docile, but really, they're vicious.

I'm talking about goats.

Fair waring, the pictures you are about to see may shock you.

They start out nice. They'll let you pet them or brush them. You'll snap pictures like this that should bring back fond memories of a day at the zoo:



But then, BAM!! They're trying to eat your pants. Citizen Nick Word center managed to get this attack on camera:

Here's a close-up of this little monster in action:

Terrible. Luckily, the victim of this attack got away with her life. Unfortunately, the pants were covered in goat saliva:

You have been warned.

I'm not dead, yet

I've been a blogging bum lately and for that, I apologize. We're entering bike touring season so I'll have a lot to talk about since that's one of the main topics of this blog.

Anyway, as more evidence of my bum-i-ness, here are some pictures that I uploaded around memorial day weekend. They've of our new neighborhood grocery store, Strack and Van Til (Which I shall refer to as Strack and Van Tils in the Chicago fashion).

I know he opening of a grocery store isn't hip enough for blogging, but if you live in Logan Square, you know what a pain in the ass it is since Cub (or again, Cubs) closed down.

So far it seems like this Indiana-based grocery chain has their act together. My biggest complaint is that they don't seem to ever have heavy whipping cream, an essential ingredient to our homemade ice cream. The store is is a lot more pleasant to be in that Cubs was. Cubs had more of a sterile warehouse aesthetic compared to Van Tils' homey Hoosier charm.

You new friendly GIGANTIC neighborhood market.


This picture is skewed because Clare was overwhelmed with value while she took it.


Clare shopping in Hoosier charm.

Milwaukee on by....

I'm embarrassed to say that I missed the anniversary of this blog without any kind of celebration. I'm trying really, really hard to not write one of those "I'm sorry I haven't written but work has been busy" posts. I mean, I just don't want to go there.

Anyway, Clare and I recently took another trip to Milwaukee and this time I actually took a ton of pictures.

Much like St. Louis, Milwaukee is ruled by beer-baron overlords! In Milwaukee, it's Miller Time all the time.




Of course we had to go on the tour. This is the can filler. It fills cans.


Clare and I taking a moment to enjoy our free beer courtesy of Miller brewing. I have to say, the tour wasn't spectacular, but the free beer pub at the end was very nice, as was the free beer.



This is the Brumder Mansion Bed and Breakfast, where we stayed one night. We found out the morning after that the place is haunted. I didn't know that at the time I took this picture, but when i opened it later on my computer, I noticed this mysterious spectral shape in one of the upper-level windows. Oh, Wait. That's a plastic bag.


To earn some extra money for the trip home, I performed some street magic a la David Blaine. Here, I made the bottom of this paper box disappear.

It's a shame to see how the nation's obesity crisis has affected out country's mail boxes.



As usual, I have a lot more to say than I have time for. Just be happy you got this, you slobs.

Fox River Rollin'

I've actually kept one of my vague blogging promises and posted these Fox River Bike Trail picture. The above show is one of the many post-industrialist landscapes you'd get to see on the Fox River Trail.

Seriously, though, the trail is pretty beautiful. I had taken it earlier this year but had gone south to Plano from Aurora. I had done the trail North from Aurora to Crystal lake the Summer of 2005, and I was surprised this time around how little I remembered it. The trail had a lot of variety. There are some nice forest preserves and woods but also a few very nice small downtowns.

Here are some pictorial highlights:


One of the stranger sights along the way. I don't think this grinds anything now besides the tortured souls of lost bikers!


A very Art-Deco inspired building in St. Charles. Note the chevrons.



Clare and I enjoying some reading in the Christianity themed Raggamuffin Cafe/ Bookstore. I think these came out of the Christian Porn Section. I'm reading "Unveiling Mary Magdalene" while Clare enjoys "Really Bad Girls of the Bible."
Sexy.

Happy New Blogger!

Happy New Year to you, too!

I had a bunch of pictures from our latest bike trip down the Fox River Trail, but for some reason the "new" Blogger (or Beta or whatever) ate them.

I.O.U. - Pictures of the Fox River.

Anyway, Christmas was pretty good. Busy, but good.

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There are many joys to parenting. Buying and playing with your son's Star Wars Action Figures is just one of them:

What Power is Invading Where?

This is a Church we passed while biking around Denver. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about religious rhetoric, but I have no idea what these people are going for.

Biking Denver

Probably one of the best things we did on our Denver trip was rent bikes. We found a great shop called Paul's Cyclery that rented us the Bianchis you see in the above photo. It was a very nice shop and the bikes were great.

I have to say, Denver is a very bike-friendly city. There bike trails everywhere. No Bike lanes, but full-on bike-only trails. Many of these trails follow streams and rivers so they are below grade level. This means you can ride a long way without ever having to cross a street. Clare's Aunt who we stayed with lives just outside of Denver in a town called Highlands Ranch. We were able to ride from there to the heart of downtown Denver (about a 30 mile ride) and had to cross only one street.

Clare liked her Bianchi a lot. Maybe too much.

We did have some trouble in downtown Denver as evidence by this tag that was left on our bikes. Note to the 16 st. Mall ambassador: We have this thing in the civilized world called signs. You might what to hang a couple up sometime.

The madness that is the Denver art Museum. I don't care who's post-modern; form still follows function people.


We thought the prairie dogs we saw along the way were cute, but apparently everyone in Colorado hates them. Oh, and they carry bubonic plague. I guess I shouldn't have pet this one.


This picture was taken by a dwarf we met on the path.



Also bike related but not about Denver: Clare and I attended the Chicagoland Bike Federation volunteer party this Monday. In the raffle I won a package deal with free tickets to the Farnsworth House, a free hotel night at some boutique hotel in Wisconsin and a $50 gift certificate to a bed and breakfast in Wisconsin. Thanks CBF!

Denver or Photographic Paralysis

I spent My Thanksgiving Holiday in Denver again this year. I know, You're probably like, "Dude, that was weeks ago. You're just posting now?!"

I'm sorry, Dude. Eh-hem, I mean, my loyal readers.

This is the thing. A few months back I bought a digital camera. It's a nice digital camera but come with almost no memory. It made things easy because I would go on an activity, take about 10 pictures and then I was done. I would post half of those pictures with funny captions and move on.

Before I went to Denver, however, I bought a 1 gigabyte memory chip. Now I can take as many pictures as I damn well please.

Unfortunately, the result of this new found freedom is that now I can't decide which pictures I should post of the plethora that I took. I should just get a Flicker or Photobucket account, but I'm slow when it comes to adapting to new technology.

Anyway, here's the first batch of what will likely be a ton of pictures from Denver...

Majestic mountains which don't see quite as majestic in this photo as they did in real life.

I'm sure some people who either have a lot of skiing experience will laugh at the fact that I took a picture of the ski lift, but from a boy who grew up in flat-as-a-pancake Illinois, this is pretty damn cool.


Clare in her protective ski gear. I took this picture because I thought she looked like a jet fighter pilot with the helmet and goggles, which I have to admit, kinda turns me on.



Anyway, I have to sift through dozens more of these photos to bring my readers the best of the best. Until next time...