The Bawdy Cloister

The search for Denver Jackson is over. I spoke with him this evening. Thanks to everyone who helped in the effort.


The elusive Denver Jackson, recent photo sent by the man himself!

UPS never did deliver my computer the other day. The online tracker told me it was out for delivery, and the folks on the phone said they delivered "into the evening," an ambiguous term that I was later told meant "until 9 or 9:30." So at 10pm I hopped into my trusty Computer Rescuemobile and raced to the UPS truck dispatch myself and got the goods.

So I was up much later than I wanted to be connecting, registering, troubleshooting and all so I could use it at work the next day. Never even had time to play with the fun stuff till last night...fun stuff meaning hooking up the sound card to my super pimp 7.1 speaker system. Finally today I completed the last of the hookups, I had to get a splitter and an extra cable cord, so now the digital TV recorder is working too. Yeah me.

The new computer should be arriving today.

It's already 6 o'clock....grumble grumble.

I was in elementary school in the early 1980s when Nickelodeon, "The First Channel for Kids," made its debut on cable television. Needless to say, I was a ready and willing target audience.
In those early years, Nick aired many foreign television shows. One program I remember well was The Third Eye . This show featured different science fiction/fantasy series from the UK and New Zealand. Over the years I've tried to track down copies of these shows, but without much luck....

Until now! A friend of mine came across copies of one Third Eye series, Into the Labyrinth and let me borrow it. It took a week, but I finished watching all seven episodes last night. What a blast, watching something like that after some 20+ years!

My wife insists that our cat, Koubo (left), looks like Tim Duncan (right.) So much so that as we're watching the NBA finals she'll cheer for "Koubo!" out loud...this doesn't seem to effect Tim Duncan's game, but it confuses the hell out of my cat.

UPDATE:

The wife did not like my choice of pictures...she says these better show the resemblance....

This is reassuring...

Your IQ Is 110

Your Logical Intelligence is Above Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional Your Mathematical Intelligence is Above Average Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

Not bad considering it's 2:30 in the morning and I just stumbled in from an Arlo Guthrie concert.

P.S. Arlo rocks.

P.P.S. Quiz thanks to Shannon...a girl who can appreciate Burger Chef.

P.P.P.S. I read somewhere that Arlo recorded Burger Chef radio commercials back in the day. I couldn't ask him tonight, he didn't stick around after the show, but if anyone out there can confirm this I'd like to know.

Happy happy day...just ordered my new laptop so I'll finally be able to blog on the road. Don't hold your breath though, delivery is still several weeks away. This is what I got...this is what I had.

My old laptop served me well. We've spent many years together. (Not just a few years, many years, like seven!) It served its purpose, as a word processor mostly. I had it online back in the day of dial-up. Oh, the memories...

I'll never forget the month in Japan we racked up a $450 phone bill together. Back then you paid by the minute to connect to your local phone line, and I spent plenty of minutes waiting for StickDeath.com animations to load. Today they load almost instantly, but back in 1999 it took a while, long enough to drink a beer and build anticipation. It would finally load, my friends and I would gather around the screen to watch, get a laugh, get another beer, and repeat. Those too were happy days.

I just finished watching Waking Up in Reno and all I can say is "Wow!"

I discovered the film last week after returning from Amarillo, Texas and learning that our driver, Hody, had a bit part in the film.

But more on him in a minute....

Part of the film takes place in Amarillo, Texas. There Billy Bob Thorton's character undertakes the Free 72 oz. Steak Challenge at The Big Texan. I too visited The Big Texan, but did not attempt the challenge--I had a four hour horseback ride scheduled for the next afternoon and I simply wanted to avoid a catastrophe. So I did the next best thing, I had the wife take a picture of me acting like I was taking the challenge...



Anyway...as if I couldn't relate to the film enough already, the director included Pabst Blue Ribbon in almost every scene. For those of you who know me, that's my beer of choice...and the key to my heart. Further, Charlize Theron's character had an uncanny fascination with midgets that I found quite endearing.

But it's Hody's acting skill that truly makes this film a classic. His is perhaps the most underrated performance out of Hollywood since David Letterman portrayed the Old Salt in Fishing Village in Cabin Boy.

All hail Johnny the Horse...he came closest to guessing where I went on vacation last weekend and wins a link on my sidebar. So where did I go?

Answer:

The Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. And I must say, it was worth every minute of the eight-hour drive it took to get there.

Additionally, Mrs. T and I visited a few other points of interest along the way.

We stopped at the Buddy Holly statue in Lubbock, Texas and his grave. I learned he dropped the "e" in his last name after it was misspelled on his recording contract.


On Sunday morning, we woke up early and met Hody... who drove us to breakfast...


Then it was off to Palo Duro Canyon where the wife and I hiked for six miles roundtrip to see this rock formation...

In 1874, the United States Cavalry cornered a mess of Indians in the canyon and shot dead 1,000 of their horses. Today, shooting horses in the canyon is discouraged.

This weekend Mrs. T and I took full advantage of our three-day weekend and left town on vacation. Can you guess where?
Hint #1:


Hint #2:

The first person to guess correctly wins a conspicuous link on my sidebar.