No-wax, easy maintenance, bacteriostatic, and anti-slip.
I’m waiting for a phone call. The phone was supposed to ring three weeks ago, then two weeks ago. Now I hope that the email I sent a week ago will encourage a particular caller to call with good news this week.
What sort of good news? I’m glad you asked!
Your pal,
– bob
Forty-three years ago, I got to stay up late to watch Uncle Walter Cronkite and Captain Wally Schirra hold their breath while the Apollo XI mission landed on the moon. They spoke in a nervous staccato to cover over the tension that July evening, but when word came that the landing was successful and they wiped the tears from their eyes, even a three year old could figure out that this was a very big deal.
Here’s a spliced-together version of footage of the landing from multiple sources that’s pretty great…
Apollo 11 Lunar Landing from Spacecraft Films on Vimeo.
…but click here to see what CBS News was actually able to send out that night, complete with models on sticks and dioramas recreating what they thought was happening. The embedded video above shows that events were much more dangerous than anybody let on at the time, but they were too busy not crashing to explain it to the rest of us at the moment.
There’s been a little gap between our first exploration of the moon and getting the base constructed there, as you know. After all, we’re going to need a jumping-off point to Mars and you can’t beat the neighborhood. Is it because they’re still looking for a really good architect?
– bob
The Damp Dog Lodge is a deceptively large place and can accommodate throngs of guests. With the July 4th holiday falling on a Wednesday this year, the onslaught was more of a trickle, dribbling in all week. It started with a visit from a beautiful girl the weekend before last, my parents stopping by in the middle of the week for a parade, then my sister’s family arrived to cap off the week. In the past, I haven’t dealt well with crowds in my solitary and very secret Alpine hideaway, but over time it seems natural—almost organic, to have a pile of people here laughing together and generally enjoying the place. I almost feel robbed by the randomness of the calendar this year, but there’s plenty more summer left to get people together for happy funtimes. Let’s get on this right away.
While you all are making your travel plans, let’s get on with the picture show!
Here’s another scene from the parade. In this photo, you will see Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe towing the Ghostbusters down North Circle Drive. I had a creepy feeling that the Ecto-1 needed service. Call it a hunch.
You may think we didn’t have bands in the parade, but that’s because you limited your definition of “band” to groups who are marching. We’re here to smash your preconceived notions. Also, thanks cheap oil!
“Vee are from Chermany!” she shouted as she trained her expensive video camera rig at the unwashed yokels gawking at her driver’s preposterous tricycle. She’ll have footage to show her European friends that Americans are weird and perpetually astonished. We now have a picture of her dopey ride to show them exactly why we were astonished.
Robert’s Jalapeño Creme sauce is, if this banner is to be believed, what we always wanted. When he tapes Tums to the jars, I’ll be convinced. I don’t think my esophagus has truly recovered.
These guys make my Mom cry. And by “my Mom” I mean everybody.
I’m going to go ahead and call this a parade float. It was unsponsored showmanship just for the sake of it, which I applaud. I’m going to also go out on a limb and call their display really nutty.
Unflinchingly patriotic, but wow. Just wow.
The Quilting Club had an entry in this year’s parade, as they have for many past parades. This year, however, they quilted their pickup. I don’t know if I’m the first to say this, but I’m kinda digging their winch cozy and I see opportunities here. Hello, Kickstarter!
They at least did a better job of replicating a mid-80s Chevrolet C20 fender than the cheap knock-offs at a cut-rate body shop. (Look, these are the jokes, folks. I will gladly refund the purchase price if you’re not fully entertained.)
This scene is from last weekend, where my niece recreates the historic moment when Teddy Roosevelt threw a saddle on a brown bear and charged up San Juan Hill. As you do.
And this scene suggests my nephew’s adoration of Philippe Petit. Amazing.
One of the sections of the climbing wall at the new playground is called Suicide Rock. In this reenactment, my niece attempts to convince my brother-in-law that all hope is not lost.
And in this picture, I end the post. Thanks for stopping by.
Your pal,
– bob
Friends,
Well, where did we leave off? Oh yeah, I had half a job, my teensy racecar was overheating, and my family was itching to descend on the Damp Dog Lodge for the Fourth of July festivities here in America’s Cleanest Forest. How’d all that turn out? I might as well tell you about that stuff, but I’m saving the big announcement for tomorrow. It’s as close as you can get to exciting without crossing over that line. Think of it like having home made strawberry ice cream, only to find out that the chunks of fruit had frozen into blocks of ice. Let’s go!
The radiator problem in the tiny racecar was solved by installing a new one, but not just any one would do. Oh no. I had to get a shiny new extra capacity Koyo aluminum radiator from the good people at Good-Win Racing. While much more expensive than a stock replacement, it holds more coolant and is much shinier. It’s kinda neat to be able to run the air conditioning down in the desert without the thing boiling over. Trust me on this. It’s also shinier.
I was concerned, given the now proven to be wildly inaccurate weather predictions, that it’d be an unreasonably hot weekend for my guests so I bought an inflatable kiddie pool and water guns so that they could cool down a bit. I needn’t have worried since monsoonal cloud cover rolled in and made Sunday and Monday an absolute treat.
The only times tempers really flared was when somebody achieved more treats than somebody else. Minor slights, easily handled by bringing out more treats. The kitchen overflowed this weekend, presumably because my siblings thought that we all might go hungry and brought bags and boxes and coolers full of provisions.
Naturally, we all went to the Idyllwild Fourth of July Parade. It’s a tradition, an event and a spectacle all rolled up into one.
Some of us came for that spectacle. Some were excited about the entrants in the parade flinging candy at the crowd. Some just came to have a good time.
Some came to see men with dogs in their trousers riding motorcycles.
There are those of us who don’t think it’s a proper parade unless the UC Riverside Pipe and Drum Band passes by. They stopped in front of us to finish the song they’d started 100-feet away and it was a real treat. There’s video of some of their performance, but it’s on Facebook and I don’t know if you’ll be able to see it. Let me know and I’ll see if I can get it somewhere else.
Then there was a Jeepster, which are as rare as hen’s teeth. Then another.
At the very end of the parade, the party fire truck. These folks were tearing all over the hill with sirens blaring, bells clanging and what sounded like wasted co-eds whooping all weekend. My folks were annoyed. I was entertained. If you had an antique fire truck with seating for twenty, what you you do?
I thought so.
Big announcement tomorrow! I hope you can still get to sleep.
Your pal,
– bob
The old man of our doggie universe, Bruno the monkey-brained boy, will be summering at the Damp Dog Lodge this year and I have to say that I’m thrilled. He’s not feeling so hot lately and is having some fairly serious neurological problems, but I’ve gotta say that I hope he’ll really enjoy the next month or so up here in the pines. The fresh air, the critters scampering about, the birds to stare at…
Will he actually manage to live through the month? We can hope.
At least he’ll have a lovely time.
– bob