Amongst the Living Again

No, I did not die, though some may have been wondering. Through a series of events: hotels with no or bad wireless networks, hideous driving times, actual work being done, personal fun being had, and blogger’s lethargy–I have neglected A Clown in the Middle.

I have 3 things to say to the few dozen people that have stopped by almost daily for the past 2 weeks.

1. Thanks for contuing to check in; I appreciate it.
2. What the hell’s wrong with you; don’t you have better things to do?
3. Just because I have been silent doesn’t mean I’ve not been thinking.

Upcoming posts in the next couple of days:

A. My upcoming meeting with Tard Supreme Commander, DaveScot in Austin, TX.
B. A review of a really cool popular science book on information theory that I finished.
C. A band you should listen to.
D. Discussion of wine country in Washington and Idaho (yes, Idaho).
E. The niftiness of Sacramento and a possible thearical job there.

Once again, thanks for stopping by and please continue to do so.

Blipey uses the Batman Logic

A couple of weeks ago I wondered why there was a phone in my hotel bathroom. I was assured that it wasn’t just that I was in Kansas.

Well today, in Utah, I walked into my hotel bathroom and discovered a phone.

Some people may let this situation throw them. I remembered a scene from Batman (1966) and this really helped me out. My thought process:

1. Kansas starts with “K”
2. Utah starts with “U”
3. Taken in chronological order, this spells “KU”
4. KU is populated with Jayhawks
5. Jayhawkers are strange, at best
6. Phones in bathrooms are strange
7. Holy Alexander Bell, Batman, a degree from KU qualifies you to install phones in hotel bathrooms!

Where Blipey has been the last 2 weeks

That’s from the top of Loveland Pass, Colorado, elevation 11,990 ft.
I haven’t posted any photos of the tour in quite some time, so I thought I’d fix that. The last two weeks have been spent in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Below the fold are a few more of the very cool things I’ve seen.

I-70: Western Run, this game rated X, for extreme

Driving Interstate 70 in Utah between Green River and Salina is much like a video game. At any time one or more of the following may decide to spontaneously cross the roadway: deer, elk, rabbits, boulders. While driving at night, you may want to get the best view of possible “Frogger obstacles” ahead by turning on your brights. Don’t do this. The ridiculous amount of dust and/or sand in the air (you are in a desert after all) causes the brights to fuzz out all view ahead.

Just after figuring out the lights thing, and after seeing my first roadside elk, was when I noticed the cool sign: Slippery When Wet. While I was in a desert, this didn’t increase my confidence in the surface of the road. Maybe this was also because the road looked like a pretzel even though it was an interstate (Eisenhower would be saddened) and was never banked in any way.

Summing up: You can be travelling at the speed limit of 75 mph along a really curvey road, when all of a sudden you must avoid a falling boulder and 3 deer sprinting across the road. While beginning evasive manuevers, you hit a slick patch in the non-banked road, causing you to careen over the ledge onto the canyon floor 200 feet below. Wii has nothing on I-70.

If only my legislators worked so hard :(

It must be a slow legislative day in New Mexico. There is actually a bill in the house chamber that seeks to restore Pluto to planet status. This would only be binding in the State of New Mexico. Oh, and what the hell? Does the legislature of New Mexico have nothing better to do? Are there no homeless people there? Does everyone have decent health care? How’s the unemployment rate?

“WHEREAS, New Mexico state university and Dona Ana county were the longtime home of Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto; and WHEREAS, Pluto has been recognized as a planet for seventy-five years; and WHEREAS, Pluto’s average orbit is three billion six hundred ninety-five million nine hundred fifty thousand miles from the sun, and its diameter is approximately one thousand four hundred twenty-one miles; and WHEREAS, Pluto has three moons known as Charon, Nix and Hydra; and WHEREAS, a spacecraft called New Horizons was launched in January 2006 to explore Pluto in the year 2015.

Well, pass or fail, I can only hope there is no debate. It would be a shame if New Mexico becomes the first American government body to waste time on something frivolous.

One for the good guys

It is said that if someone likes a thing they’ll tell one person and if they hate the thing they’ll tell a dozen. Well, having spent my life as a bartender and/or actor, I find this to be completely true. That’s why I’m taking the time to recognize a couple places that just do things the right way.

NHL n KC on thin ice?

The on-going saga of Kansas City landing an NHL team got even less clear last night. The Pittsburgh Penguins have been having problems securing a new arena and have threatened to move if they don’t get a deal done. Team officials have visited KC and toured the New Sprint Center site (due to open early this fall). KC will be hockey ready by the start of next season, with a brand new, state-of-the-art arena. For KC, getting the Penguins, a young team with big stars including Sidney Crosby, would be ideal. Hopefully, we can land them.

The Kansas City Star’s take.

Blipey as a Slam Poet

Yes, scary as that may seem, it could be true. Poetry Alive! called today to see if I want to tour with them next year. I think I do, but am waiting to see if a couple better (read: non-touring) jobs pan out.

Now, Poetry Alive! does both domestic and international tours, so that could make my decision as well. If they want me to tour Australia or Europe or something, sign me up. I may be getting a little road weary for touring the good ol’ US of A, though.

The job would be teaching English and Communication skills through poetry performance. The tours have no sets, no costumes, no props, just actors. That would be such a great thing I can’t even describe it. It would also be cool if Sweden were involved, or Italy, or Japan….

Woke up–thought I was in LA

Seriously. Now, back in KC we have Johnson County, Kansas to hold up the strip mall cause. Those of us who live on the Missouri side often make fun of Johnson County, especially the city of Overland Park (OP), for just this reason. Overland Park is the fastest growing city in Kansas and I believe this growth is being supported entirely by the strip-mall-building-industry. There are literally miles of OP that are nothing but strip malls.

Of course, OP strip mall aspirations pale in comparison to LA. Certainly in terms of population size, but also in density. In LA, for example, they’ll put up a 3 story strip mall where a 2 story one would do.

This brings me to south metro Denver. Holy Cow! I really didn’t think anything could be LA-like in terms of strip malls. I was wrong. Littleton, Englewood, Lakewood, etc may actually outdo LA. Seriously. And I believe the only thing that breaks up the strip malls are actual, old fahioned, ginormous indoor malls. Truly incredible.

Blipey learns about bison bison!

No, that’s not a typo; bison bison is the actual scientific name for bison (the American buffalo). Kind of goofy, but bison are not goofy animals at all. They are super cool. We spent the weekend in Cheyenne, Wyoming where my dad and step-mom met up with us. This morning we went out to the Terry Bison Ranch, a real working 27,500 acre bison ranch that spans the Colorado and Wyoming border. Learn interesting things about bison below the fold.