3/30/2012

Hook a sister up?

MargaretMargaret
Filed under: @ 5:15 pm

I’m doing training walks. I’m not walking very far at this point. My usual loop is three miles — about an hour — but that will be increasing as weather and daylight start to improve.

I suit up, lace up my shoes (breaking one pair in, a second pair will need to start to be broken around May or June), and stuff my ear buds in my ears so I can shut my brain off and walk.
Books on tape (as it were) are great, but there’s no beat and no impetus to really push myself to keep going at a fast pace. When I listen to books on tape I tend to meander instead of walk and if I’m going to get myself shaped up for this so that I hopefully don’t damage myself walking again, I need to walk. That is, WALK. Meandering doesn’t do it.

I’ve got a couple of hours worth of music pulled from my own music library and arranged in no particular order (I think I’m going to Hell for sandwiching the 1812 Overture in between Abba and Aretha Franklin) that has a significant enough beat to keep me going.
The only problem is that it’s music that I’m desperately familiar with. I mean, I like listening to my walking music, but I’ve listened to it so many times that it’s predictable. I can anticipate the pace that I’ll need to be putting out which gets a little humdrum after a while. And, I understand, it’s a better cardiovascular workout if you switch things around a bit.

So this is where you guys come in.

How long has it been since you made someone a mix tape? Well dust off thpse skills, I’d like one.
Actually I’d like several.
And to make it fun, you can put them on disc and send them to me anonymously and I’ll try to guess who provided which music.

That said I do have some basic rules. I need up beat 4/4 time music. Neither artist, genre, nor epoch matter. Weirdly, disco music makes great walking music. Something like this, or this, or even this. Okay, so I know I’m going to Hell for including that last link in a sentence about disco music, but my grammar was never entirely correct.

Anyway, you get the picture.
Snail mail me a disc, e-mail me a play list (I promise to ask Andrew how to suck it into my i-tunes library so it doesn’t just sit in my “IN” box for the next 18 months), send the band to my door by camel train. Whatever floats your boat.

But can y’all help me out?

3/26/2012

More Birdiegazoo

Uncle AndrewUncle Andrew
Filed under: @ 2:26 pm

Margaret and I have been watching a sparrow family as they’re sprucing up the birdhouse in our back yard in preparation for baby season. The entrance is a little svelte for the male, and watching him get in and out of the thing with a beak full of nesting material can be a laff riot. Here’s a bit we captured on video this Saturday.

[flv width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.uncle-andrew.net/blog/movies/Birdhouse_Fattie.flv[/flv]

3/16/2012

A new species?

MargaretMargaret
Filed under: @ 10:07 am

Witness the rare and elusive Western Washington Featherbrained Nimnode.

Actually what he is is a Golden Crowned Kinglet.

A *horny* Golden Crowned Kinglet.

How do we know he’s horny, you ask?
Simple.
The featherbrained little idiot has spent most of the last three days banging the bejeezus out of himself against the window box in our kitchen trying to chase off the rival, or, as the rest of the world sees it, his own reflection in the window. When we (temporarily) cooled his ardor by putting things in the window box that would block his reflection he switched his attentions to his reflection in our sliding glass door.

While he’s very amusing to the cats I find him more than a little annoying because the window box is now covered in bird poop. Or, as Andrew pointed out, if he’s that horny we at least hope it’s bird poop.

What is that horrible old saw about women that don’t fit the societal definition of beauty? “She’s got a great personality?” Right. Well at least in this kid’s case it’s a good thing he’s cute because if he started out with the brains of a gnat he sure doesn’t have them now.

3/14/2012

Pretty Much the Ultimate in Food Fright

Uncle AndrewUncle Andrew
Filed under: @ 4:30 pm

My buddy Shawn sent this my way this morning. Ye Gods and severed digits!

Welcome to The Morgue Bakery

As Shawn himself suggested: PTSD much? Still, you can’t deny the craftsmanship. I’d really like to check the place out (next time I’m on one of my many trips to Thailand), but I’m not sure I could actually bring myself to sample the wares. 😯

3/12/2012

Lend a Hand (In a Sparkly Glove)

Uncle AndrewUncle Andrew
Filed under: @ 10:32 am

Keith Knight, author of such comix as The Knight Life, K Chronicles and (Th)Ink, has started a Kickstarter campaign to support his planned graphic novel, “I Was a Teenage Michael Jackson Impersonator”. Keef is a comic genius and an all-around good egg, so please consider kicking something in.


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