Pool Party

There is no better way to spend the fourth of July weekend then at the pool surrounded by friends.

We decided to try out a new backyard party game: Battle shots. For the first time playing I just drew a grid on a folding table with washable chalk. This way if the game stunk we could wash the table with no harm no foul. The table was 30 inches wide so a used a ten by ten grid (top row was letters, right side column numbers) which allowed for a nine by nine playing grid. Again as we were going for trial round I just taped up a piece of cardboard to create the screen between the players. Then each player placed cups with beer (soda would be appropriate for the younger players) in place of ships. Then it played just like battle ship. Every time the ship was hit the player had to drink. Well I think the game was a keeper even though I lost horribly. Meg sunk every one of my ships and I only sunk one of hers. Also coincidently we set up our boards almost identical with our ships in the same positions separated by maybe a row. Yeah points for being twins! Since the game was a keeper I am working on making the table a more permanent playing space. Oh and we kept the chalk which was handy for marking grids already called. Meg wants to buy it (apparently someone has already merchandised it) but I think it will be more fun to create my own table.

Once it got dark we were treated to a fire work show and spent the night talking and relaxing. Perfect!

Schultzy got a treat for the party.

We took some dog toys and put them in a plastic container and then put that in the freezer. Schultz loves ice so this seemed a no brainer. The result was a very happy dog: notice the giant smile.

And on a final note ... my blog has over 1000 views! I'm impressed.

The Pod Worked!

Update on the pod: it was 200lbs over but obviously they took it anyway!

A couple of weeks ago I drove down to TN with Meghan and my dog, Schultzy. On the drive down we saw this pickup truck pulled over on the highway:

Maybe this guy should have gotten a pod! Seriously I am sure he thought it was a good idea when he started his drive but.  ... I wouldn't want to be behind that truck and trailer.

We timed the drive so that we would arrive in TN around 12-2 in the afternoon (depending on how many times we stopped to nap/walk the dog). I figured that way we could grab a nap and then unload the pod in the evening when it wouldn't be so hot. When the driver got there he started telling us this charming story about how one of the drivers flipped a pod last week while unloading it from his truck ... not what I wanted to hear at all! But it's ok he was a professional and there was no flipping of the pod. He had us open it before he left, something I very much planned on doing whether he wanted us to or not. When I say 'not a thing shifted' I mean "not a single thing shifted!!!!!!!!!" Also we had it unpacked in just a couple of hours, due in large part to one of our favorite neighbors.

That night sitting on my second floor porch Meg tried her hand at capturing star trails. It's something we couldn't hope for here unless we went out to Montauk and even then the light pollution maybe to bright.  As we were sitting there in a cool breeze with the silence of nature around us we just watched the stars appearing ... actually appearing! We also saw what we could only call UFOs. I was watching what I thought was a star. it was staying still as they should for several minutes at-least and then it just started moving to the right. It wasn't a plane because I had been watching it for a long time. I realize now it was most likely a satellite. But at the time UFO was definitely an apt term.

Catching star trails was an experiment a very slow experiment. We tried the first picture at 30 minutes and learned that we had to much light pollution in the shot so Meg angled the camera up higher. The next shot was also 30 minutes. We had no light pollution in that shot but also didn't get a trail. So we tried another on and hour exposure. Here is what we got:

The picture showed light pollution on the bottom which is why it is red. We did however catch a bit of the trail of the stars. We will have plenty of time when we are down there to experiment and learn more about Meg's next frontier deep space photography.

Friday morning we ran some errands and then went into Nashville for the night. We tried a new place called Paradise Park Trailer Resort. It is on Broadway across the street from our normal haunt, The Stage. I really liked it! I tried a shot of fireball whiskey and let me tell you it held up to it's name! The thing that impressed me the most was that in the bathroom was a matron. When you came out of the stall she turned the water on, gave you soap, and then gave you a paper towel which made the trailer park probably the cleanest honky tonk in town. Anyway, the band was real good and the singer was funny and talented. Since I only come to Nashville a few times right now there are some songs you just gotta hear at a honky tonk when you get a chance. So I requested David Allan Coe's You Never Even Call Me by My Name AKA the perfect country and western song. The story goes that Steve Goodman wrote and recorded the song and then sent a copy to David Allan Coe saying that he may have written the "perfect country and western song." Coe being a true smart ass wrote him back saying "No, because he didn't say anything about Momma, or trains, or trucks, or prison, or getting drunk." So Steve Goodman being an equal if not superior smart ass wrote another verse to the song:

Well I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison

And I went to pick her up in the rain

But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck

She got runned over by a damn old train. 

The singer whispered something to the band and the steel guitarist said "somebody out there hates us." I turned to Meg and said our song is up next ... and sure enough it was!

All in all it was a good trip and a big successful step in the move.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Part 1

Sunday marked the end of an era for the Met. Starting in 1971 the Met started giving out metal tags as admission tickets. Now they are switching back to paper stickers. Apparently the metal tags cost 3 cents and the paper tickets will only cost a penny . . .times 6 million visitors a year and I guess it adds up. but is it really worth the loss?

Sometimes the best souvenirs are free.  :-)

This painting by Caravaggio The Musicians is one of my favorites. The second player from the right is a self portrait if the artist. Caravaggio was known for his use of light and dark to build depth in the painting. His painting of Saint Jerome is a wonderful example of this technique.

This is by Johannes Vermeer called Young woman with pitcher. As soon as I saw this picture I remembered it from studying art in my sophomore year of college. Vermeer often focused on domestic scenes and most of his paintings are set in two rooms in his house. One of his greatest works is Girl with a Pearl Earring, on display in the Hague. The painting inspired a book and then in turn a play and movie.

Giovanni Pannini is a genius . . . . Can't decide which modern Roman monument to paint? Paint all of them as if they were paintings in a gallery! In this picture are many famous works including Michelangelo's Moses, Bernini's statue of Constantine, David, and Apollo and Daphne. Apparently Pannini also included his own version of the Spanish steps (not the final design used).