One Off

This is a one-off, using a technique called open bottle pour.

3 colors on black base: blue, metallic copper, metallic silver.

It's a one-off because I'm more into semi-abstract than total abstract,

so won't be using that technique again.

It's okay, kinda interesting, went ahead and hung it up.

Added 3 days later.

The painting reminded me of something, just figured it out: the small intestine.

You Bug Me!

Doggone bugs just have to get into the act, third time it's happened.

I recently completed two 12 x 24 acrylic pour paintings, using the swipe technique.  Several colors of paint are placed on the canvas, and then a damp paper towel or cloth is slowly dragged over the surface. 

On this one I layered the paints horizontally, used warm colors with dabs of black and white.  See that question mark-shaped line on the left, about 1/3 from the top?  That's the bug track: it landed and then crawled around awhile.  Trying to remove the bug and the track would have screwed up the whole painting so the hell with it.  Mr Bug now lies in state, covered with 3 layers of clear coat gloss.  His family and friends can fly by anytime to pay their respects.

The colors were spread vertically on the one below.

I like them both but think the one above is more interesting.

Snuffy Smith

Snuffy Smith, a cartoon character, first appeared in the Barney Google comic strip in 1934.  Barney himself first appeared in 1919, 100 years ago.  The strip evolved over the years, had various names, is still being published.  Snuffy is from Hootin Holler, somewhere in Appalachia.  The name of his home state was never specified, but I'm convinced it was West Virginia.

Snuffy is your stereotyped  hillbilly.  He makes his own 'corn likker', is always close to getting busted by the sheriff, scares off strangers with a shotgun.  It's doubtful he takes a bath more than once a year, if that.  That's background for those who've never seen the comic strip.  Now, here's a true story about my run in with Snuffy.

In 1966, while in my senior year in college, I volunteered to join the army and go through officer training.  The Vietnam war was in full swing and I figured I'd be drafted within a year or two of landing my first job.  I opted not to wait for the draft notice, boogied on down to the recruiter and signed up.  I was thinking my business degree would guarantee me a nice, cushy desk job - well out of harms way.  What a dumb shit!  How naive can you be?

Basic training was at Fort Dix, NJ.  I was one of 200 basic trainees in the company, the majority of which were college grads headed for Officer Candidate School like me.  There were also a couple dozen draftees in the mix, including one from West Virginia, who I quickly dubbed Snuffy.  Snuffy was a true hillbilly.  Talked the talk, walked the walk, had a set (partial set, actually) of rotten teeth that had never seen a toothbrush, much less a dentist.

I was a platoon leader, in charge of four 12-man squads, each with its own squad leader.  I assume I was given the assignment because I held several leadership positions in college organizations and was a Forest Service crew chief, a summer job.

We were in a 2-story barracks, 2 squads on each floor.  My bunk was on the first floor.  Three weeks into training, one of my 2nd story squad leaders approached me and complained about a member of his squad.  Snuffy.  He said Snuffy hadn't showered since day one, smelled like a pig.  I went upstairs to take a look.

H-h-holy shit!  The stench hit me when I was 20 feet away.  At 'ground zero', right beside his bunk and foot locker, I nearly barfed, beat a hasty retreat.  Smelled like a pig?  We had hogs on the farm where I grew up.  They never smelled as bad as Snuffy.  Not even close.

I pulled the squad leader aside and told him to throw a 'blanket party' for Snuffy.  I said, "Brief your squad and schedule a time.  Throw a blanket over Snuffy, haul his sorry ass to the shower room, pour soap all over him and scrub him down with stiff brushes.  Haul his foot locker and bunk to the shower, too.  Dump his footlocker and hose everything down, bedding, too."  The 'party' took place the following day and Snuffy finally got the message: shower daily and use the laundry.

You may think the blanket party was an overly severe solution.  It was not.  The squad leader had told Snuffy to clean up his act several times, with no result.  It may be that poor old Snuffy had never even seen a shower, maybe didn't even have running water in his Appalachian shack, was used to smelling like a goat.  Regardless, when you live in close quarters with a bunch of physically active men, you have 2 choices: keep yourself clean or suffer the consequences.

Still, I felt sorry for the guy.  Obviously, his family was poverty stricken.  Don't know how far Snuffy went in school, probably dropped out early on.

After the blanket party, Snuffy became something of a company pet.  He got a lot of good-natured ribbing but took it well.  We'd cheer him on as he completed various training segments.  He'd grin (had his teeth pulled and replaced with choppers, so seeing his teeth didn't turn your stomach) and shyly acknowledge our tribute.

PS: Regular readers already know this.  For those who stumbled onto this blog: I was commissioned as an infantry officer, first assignment was XO of a Basic Combat Training company.  Second assignment was on the DMZ in Vietnam, advisor to a company of ARVN, the army of South Vietnam.  Upon my return to the States, I was promoted to captain and finally got that cushy desk job - my last assignment.

Acrylic Paint Devices

I've tried 10 different acrylic paint pour techniques so far.  3 of the ones shown below are techniques I've not tried before.  I'm trending away from the Jackson Pollack look of totally random blotches of paint, prefer the end product doesn't resemble dog barf.

Paint poured over a plastic bottle bottom in layers.

Paint poured into a sink strainer in layers.

Heavy cotton string soaked in paint, one crimson, one silver.  

String is laid on canvas in a swirl, then pulled slowly off the canvas.

Beaded chain pull.  

3 paint colors daubed onto the chain.  

The chain is laid on the canvas in zigzag pattern, then pulled off the bottom.  

This is my favorite of this bunch.

Tribes

I used to think of native Americans groups when I heard the word 'tribes'.  Most likely, that's because I first heard the word in that context, "The Apache tribe was fierce."  Now, tribe has a much expanded meaning, at least to me.  In my view, all humans are in tribes of one kind or another - and most of us are in several.

Exclusive clubs, gangs, ethnic groups, fraternal organizations, religions, countries, political parties, schools, families - all are tribes of sorts.  And, of course, we pretty much all think that our tribes are the best.  Yeah, all those other tribes are definitely inferior, don't hold a candle to my tribe.

And, therein may be the seeds of our demise.  Add to that, common human tendencies towards greed, power, and violence and what have you got?  One helluva a nasty stew!  Tribal conflicts are often bloody affairs.  Consider the Crusades, world wars, ethnic cleansing.  It was bad enough back in cave man days, when the weapons were clubs and rocks.  Now, we have 'weapons of mass destruction'.  In truth - weapons of annihilation.  Yippee!  Aren't we a species to be proud of?

Ever hear the song National Brotherhood Week, by Tom Lehrer?  The song is clever, sarcastic, funny - and right on the money as regards tribes.  Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIlJ8ZCs4jY

So why am I writing this?  Is this blog post gonna be instrumental in changing human nature?  Not in my wildest dreams.  It may however, give my readers a different perspective.  May make them realize the dangers of being excessively tribal, overly zealous, fanatical.

And I'm the king of Romania (with a nod to Dorothy Parker). 

Parker

The latest addition to our family is a mini-poodle named Parker.  She's 3 months old, very cute, very much the little rascal - into anything and everything the minute your back is turned.  Think 2-year child.  Favorite trick: dumping the water dish, water all over the place, running off with the dish.

Will chew on anything but is especially attracted to the shoes I'm wearing.  Doesn't matter which shoes, seems they all smell great and taste even better.

Hasn't had her first haircut yet, so looks more bear than poodle.  Her coat looks redder in sunlight.  Undercoat is lighter, closer to tan, first grooming will reveal long term color.

She'll be bigger than Artie when she's fully grown but about the same size now.    Has really long ears, maybe a basset hound sneaked into the family tree.

She and Artie get along great, wrestle and chase each other around until they're both exhausted.  Parker's aggressive, constantly pouncing on Artie, biting his ears, tail, whatever.  Artie gives her the what for now and then, but endures her harassment much better than I could.

Acetone, Paper and Car Wax

Ever had a nice Acetone cocktail?



Ever eat toilet paper (unused, preferably) or the New York Times?

How about a delicious carnauba wax dip with your tortilla chips?

No?  I'm betting you've consumed all three.

If you eat food supplements like vitamins, you definitely have.

Vitamin A is made from Acetone.  Cellulose (plant fiber-based things like paper) is contained in several kinds of pills - as is carnauba wax.

Curious about other stuff in your food supplements?  Here you go:
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Vitamin.html

Bounty Hunter!

Did my Dad ever hear of the word 'allowance'?  Maybe.  Didn't mean anything if he did, never mentioned  it or suggested giving one to the kids.  He had total control of the $.  Everyone else had to beg for it and justify the proposed usage thereof.  I HATED having to ask for money!

So, what's a farm kid gonna do to get some cash?  One answer: trap pocket gophers.  Pocket gophers are like moles, rarely seen above ground.  Farmers hated them because their large mounds of dirt damaged equipment and crops.  Our northern Minnesota township placed a bounty on the critters, a whopping 25 cents per.

So Trapper Mike, on summer nights after the chores were done, traipsed off into the fields to check and reset his traps.  We only had 4 traps, not much of a trap line by Hudson's Bay standards.

The traps needed to be set in active gopher tunnels, evidenced by the freshest mound of dirt.  The tunnels were about 8" deep and formed a T with the vertical hole used to haul dirt to the surface.  You had to dig down to the tunnel and set the trap so that the trigger plate was even with the tunnel floor. 

Pocket gophers don't like daylight.  If any light leaked down to the tunnel, the gopher would close the leak by packing the area full of dirt - packing it so tightly it was difficult to pull the trap out of the ground.  I used a piece of asphalt shingle to cover the hole, and piled dirt around the edges.  Despite my best efforts, the doggone critters sometimes detected light, did their thing, thereby avoiding the trap.

My trapping career ended after the third season because the township opted to discontinue the bounty.  Don't know why they did that.  Highly doubtful that the bounties they paid me were a major drain on the coffers. 

Kingsford Charcoal

We spent several days in Michigan's Upper Peninsula this summer and happened to drive through the town of Kingsford, population 5,021.  "I wonder if the town has anything to do with Kingsford charcoal." I said to Trish.  She grabbed her pocket brain and soon was reading the Kingsford charcoal story - which I found fascinating.

Would you believe Henry Ford started the grilling charcoal industry?  Yup, he sure did.  Lots of wood was needed to build the Model A and Model T Fords.  A relative, Edward Kingsford, helped Hank buy some timberland so there would be an ample supply of wood to build the cars.  After making spokes, dashboards, steering wheels, etc, there was lots of scrap wood, sawdust and stumps left over.

Hank was one shrewd dude (a genius actually), believed in the saying, 'waste not, want not'.  He developed a process for making briquettes (he shortened it to briquets) and good old Ed brokered the deal for the charcoal factory in the town named after him.  Hank promoted the product with 'picnic kits', which included a box of charcoal and a grill.  He later changed the name to Kingsford.





Charcoal sales were moderate until after WW II and the growth of suburbs.  The burbs dwellers did their grilling in their back yards instead of on picnics, and sales soared.  George Stephen, who worked at Weber Brothers Metal Works in Chicago, created the Weber kettle grill in 1952,  and charcoal sales increased even more.




My first 'grill' was a little hibachi, and sure enough, I fueled it - and several subsequent grilling devices - with Kingsford charcoal.   Kingsford now has 5 charcoal plants and commands 80% of the market.

Old Fart Values

Call me a curmudgeon if you will.  Thing is, some trends in fashion, decorum and integrity bother me.

Men in baseball caps:
1.  Wearing them backwards.  The only people who did that back in the day were baseball catchers.  Now, you see it every day, everywhere.  Looks dumb.

2.  Wearing them in upscale restaurants.  Dumber.

3.  Wearing them at my dinner table.  Dumbest.  You may eat outside.

Ink: 
As in tattoos.  OMG, it's everywhere!  I don't mind moderate, tasteful ink, like a butterfly peaking out from a shapely woman's midriff.  However, when I see a person that is obviously not well off financially wearing ink from here to breakfast, I shake my head in despair. 

What does ink cost?  I have no idea but pretty sure it's not cheap.  Are these folks clueless about saving to buy a home, pay off the auto loan, and so on?

Holes:
In body parts.  For attaching hardware, decorations and small kitchen appliances.  In ladies' ears, okay; one hole per ear.  4-8 holes per ear, not so much.  In men's ears?  Sorry, doesn't work for me.  In navels, nipples, tongues, noses, lips, other body parts I can't even imagine - either sex: what the hell have you been smoking?

Integrity:
A man's word is his bond.  Okay, I'm an idealist about some things.  Still, if a person says he/she is going to do something, and others are depending on him/her to do it, then they damned well better do it.  Recently, a guy I regarded as a friend volunteered to help with a non-profit project.  We needed to get a quote from a local vendor, maybe a 30 minute task.  I was out of town at the time so I asked my 'friend' to take care of it.  He refused, said he had too much to do at home (he's retired).  Okay, Mr Flake, do what you gotta do - but you're no friend of mine.

In Conclusion:
Yeah, a curmudgeon and a dinosaur.  In a long line of dinosaurs.  No doubt my parents looked at my generation with equal dismay, thought the world was going to hell in a handbasket.  I've never understood that saying, seems an odd way to travel, regardless of destination - very cramped.

2019 Summary

1.  5900:  Miles towed.  Too many.

2.  38: Campgrounds where we stopped.  Waaaaaay too many.

3.  8:  Places I played pickleball.  Not many enough.
In order:
Woodland Park, CO (9600' elevation)
Rochester, MN
Aitkin, MN
Kapispell, MT
Usk, WA
Missoula, MT
Bozeman, MT
Woods Cross, UT

4.  2:  Failed holding tank valves.  Yup, too many.

5. Sault Ste Marie, MI:  Best stop.  Watched ships cruising by our campground, did the locks tour which was excellent.

6.  Copper Canyon, MI:  Worst stop.  Highly touted but - shitty roads.  'Fantastic views', my ass.

7.  Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, MI: Most interesting museum and video.

8.  12: Stops where we visited family and/or friends.

Jackson, WY

We spent 3 nights in Grand Teton N P.  Scratch one item off of Trish's bucket list: cycle the trail from Jackson to the Park Headquarters.

There are several of these antler arches in Jackson, each containing about 2,000 shed antlers.

Sculptures outside the visitor's center.  Trish started her bike ride here, and I went to play pickleball.

The view from the top of the gondola ride at Jackson Hole Resort.  Trish is standing at the gondola waiting area, admiring the view. 

The only dining at the top is a waffle place.  T had waffles, I had Fritos and an IPA, sat at picnic table across from Ms Carolina Motormouth, 2019.  Yack,, yack, yack.  Good grief!

The gondola cables go through these huge wheels.  Viewed from the waiting area at the top.

Museum of the Rockies II

The upper level of the Museum has a Yellowstone-themed area for kids.  The creative critters below are part of the setting.  First 2 pix below are front and rear views of a life-sized buff.

This guy is obviously into music.  I can envision it on the cover of a Buffalo Springfield album.  For you younger folks, Buffalo Springfield was a rock group in the mid 60s, included Neil Young and Stephen Stills.

The ties that bind.

Meow.

Beats me.  Looks tired, though.

Museum of the Rockies

It's large and impressive.  Not humongous like the British Museum or the Louvre, but for a small city in Montana (Bozeman) it's outstanding.

The largest exhibit is Genghis Khan, vicious warlord, empire builder, statesman with democratic foresight and tolerance.

Triple crossbow with 10' arrow.  Not sure how this weapon was used, maybe line up 5 enemy soldiers and impale them?  Skewer and elephant?

Parts of the Great Yasa, laws set down by the Khan.  Although some of the penalties are severe, and I can't endorse the clothing policy, the tolerance for religious beliefs, etc is awesome.  Our politicians and religious zealots would do well to follow the Khan's advice.

The Khan had 4 sons that didn't get along at all.  They split up the empire, let it fall apart.

Computer Museum, Bozeman, MT

The wall mounted wooden phone on the left is the one I grew up with in rural Minnesota
My first paying job (75 cents an hour!) was operating the college PBX switchboard after business hours. It was like the one on the right, but smaller.  I also operated the PBX at a general hospital in Fargo, ND when I was 18, and was the graveyard admitting clerk, 11 PM to 7 AM.     

The Enigma was the devilishly clever coding device used by the Germans in WW II.  Alan Turing, a Brit, cracked the code and in doing so, shortened the war and saved thousands of lives.  Sad end for a hero: Turing was prosecuted for being gay and committed suicide.

Springhill Pavilion

My niece, Laura, got married here about 15 years ago.  I attended the wedding, wanted to show it to Trish.  It's a 1/2 hour drive north of Bozeman, MT.


The 'new addition' was built in 1907; the original structure dates back to the 1870s.

Inside the pavilion.  Scenes from The Horse Whisperer were filmed here.  It's heated by two wood stoves.  It was cold on wedding day, had my shoes off and feet against the stove for awhile - and a large glass of Moose Drool in my hand.

Artie on stage at the other end of the pavilion.  The guys (Bret (groom), Matt (Laura's brother) and a couple others did the Village People song, YMCA, on this stage.  The song had some special meaning to the newlyweds I think.

Chum, the 80ish owner, and his dog, Zeus.  Chum is a delightful guy, very welcoming, told us lots about area history - with a generous helping of BS thrown in.

Inside the men's 'restroom'.  It's a 2-holer, as is the ladies' facility.