Monthly Archives: January 2008

Happy Kansas Day!

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On January 29, 1861, the great state of Kansas was admitted to the Union. It has become a tradition for me to make note of that date on this old blog, to express some of the love I have for Kansas, and sometimes pine for the day that I can go back there to live.

In conversation with non-Kansans, they sometimes mention how they “drove through Kansas” once, and man, was it boring. It usually turns out that they drove (or more likely, barreled) through the Sunflower State on Interstate 70. Now, there are some fine towns and great people along I-70. I guess, though, when your goal is to get through a place, that one gas station, convenience store, or nationally franchised fast-food place looks pretty much the same as another.

So here’s some advice; get off the interstate, go on the two-lane highways, the gravel and dirt roads, and see what you can find. You may come across a scene similar to this picture. Imagine that you’ve found a hill overlooking this field1. The wind blows a bit practically all the time, and this green wheat would reveal colors from light green, to chartreuse, to deep forest green, as the grain waves in the wind. It reminds me of ocean waves, and it’s breathtaking.

As the fields ripen, the colors go to more colors of gold than I have descriptions for; again, I always think of the ocean when I see it.

So, Happy Birthday, Kansas. Maybe I’ll be back there before you are 148.

-k-
Photo Credit: Prairie Pathways
Picture posted with “Click to Embiggen.”
[stags]Kansas, Kansas Day[/stags]
[tags]Kansas, Kansas Day[/tags]

1 Kansas isn’t flat; we do have hills.

Breakfast at the White House

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From my Brown City MI interweb jokester:

Dick Cheney and George W. Bush were having breakfast at the White House. The attractive waitress asks Cheney what he would like, and he replies, “I’d like a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit.”

“And what can I get for you, Mr. President?” George W., looking up from his menu, replies with his trademark wink and a grin, “How about a quickie this morning?’

”Why, Mr. President!“ the waitress exclaims ”How rude! You’re starting to act like Mr. Clinton!“

As the waitress storms away, Cheney leans over to Bush and whispers …”It’s pronounced, ‘Quiche’“.

-k-
[stags]Humor[/stags]

The Original Yak Shaving Song

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There’s a Hole in the Bucket
Traditional

(Boys)
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

(Girls)
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?

With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.

But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.

So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it!

With what should I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

Use the hatchet, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the hatchet, dear Henry, the hatchet.

But the hatchet’s too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The hatchet’s too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

So, sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So sharpen it dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it!

With what should I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I sharpen, dear Liza, with what?

Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, the stone.

But the stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

So wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So wet it dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what should I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.

With what should I carry it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I carry it dear Liza, with what?

Use the bucket dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, the bucket!

There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Cleaning out our storage area, to make room for additional claptrap, brings this to mind.

-k-
[stags]Life[/stags]

New Header Graphic

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As a Kansas expatriate, I love this one. It’s titled “Field of Sunflowers”, in western Kansas. I’ll bet I’ve driven past that very spot multiple times.

While we’re on the subject of headers, there’s a headers tab up-top there, which shows all the headers that have graced this old blog, since its upgrade to the Shades of Gray theme. And there’s a Credits link in the right sidebar, which serves as the credit for the currently running header graphic. People willing to share their work should be recognized, and given credit. At least here, they will be. Thanks to all.

-k-
[stags]blog, tbbs, Kansas[/stags]

Hits from Far and Near

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I’ve  had a Sitemeter counter on this old blog for a few months now.  I  installed it out of idle curiosity, and only use the free plan.  I don’t plan on having any big billboard on here, telling how many visitors I’ve had.  Frankly, it will never take a billboard of any size to count my visitors. I know my commenters, but I was curious about the passersby, where they came from, and how they got here.

It amazes me, that in the short time I’ve had the reports turned on, that I’ve had visitors from every continent except Antarctica.  My little old waste of pixels blog. Visited by people around the globe.

That is all fine, but in checking tonight’s report, I see that I had a visitor from Norton KS, a place near and dear to my heart.  When I lived there, I occasionally wore a t-shirt that said:

Norton Kansas isn’t the end of the world, but you can see it from there.

That sentiment is one to which I no longer subscribe. Youthful whip the world exuberance has given way to pleasant reflections that my upbringing in Norton KS was one of the greatest blessings I have.

So, Nortonites, don’t be strangers.

-k-
[stags]blog, Kansas[/stags]
[tags]sitemeter, nortonks[/tags]

Congratulations, General

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THe best college coach to ever tread the hardwoods coached his 900th winning game last night. Bob Knight’s Texas Tech Red Raiders were victorious over Texas A&M, 68-53.

It was fitting that the victory was over a nationally ranked team, and happened on Texas Tech’s home court.

Coach Knight had this to say about the win:

“You folks being here, seats being full for a change, really made a difference tonight,” Knight told the crowd before leaving the court.

Congratulations, Coach. Now on to 1000!

-k-
[stags]Sports, NCAA, BobKnight, basketball[/stags]

[tags], [/tags]

Back to the Blog

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While not abandoning Twitter, I’ve decided to be more attentive to the tbbs-land blog garden tending. I have about 1/3 the number of tweets as I have blog posts; not that any of them are all that memorable.

I suffer from BTI1 syndrome at times; sometimes my tweets want to exceed 140 characters, while conversely, my blog posts want to be more terse than that.

I gotta get things straightened out. Proper tool for the job, and all that.

-k-
[stags]Twitter[/stags]

[tags][/tags]

1 Blog/Twitter Inversion

Not A Daily Happening

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It isn’t every day that one awakens, goes to his computer, and is presented with a headline like this:

Talent Scout Ken Nelson Dies at 96.

I made a half-assed tweet1 about the event early today. I don’t mean to make light of Mr. Nelson’s death in any way. I was taken aback at the headline, and on reading Mr. Nelson’s obituary, discovered that:

Ken Nelson, a longtime talent scout at Capitol Records who produced dozens of No. 1 country music hits and helped push Buck Owens and Merle Haggard to country stardom in the 1960s, has died.

Buck Owens and mighty Merle Haggard; two country legends I’ve loved through the years. And then, this:

Nelson is credited with helping to define the country genre’s twangy “Bakersfield sound,” after he showcased the country singers working in and around Bakersfield in the 1950s.

Once again, music after my own heart. And he was ahead of the times, as witness this:

Nelson was praised for letting artists use their own bands in recording sessions instead of using studio musicians, something that led to a diversity of sounds.

Buck Owens, a singer and guitar player originally produced by Nelson, once described Nelson as “one of the smartest men in the music business. He found artists who wrote their own songs, had their own bands and knew what they wanted to do.”

He was years ahead of his time. He was alt.country when there was no alt in country, because there was no need for the alt. I’m sorry that I hadn’t heard of him and his accomplishments until now.

RIP, Ken Nelson.

-k-
[stags]music, country music[/stags]

[tags][/tags]

1 Tweets have their place. So do blog posts.

Orange Bowl

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Watching pre-game hype on Fox. In spite of the fact that Bob Dole spoke for the Jayhawks in the overview of the two schools, I’m rooting for Kansas anyhow.

I was a KU student the last time they went to the Orange Bowl, and hope this year’s outcome is more favorable.

Rock Chalk!

-k-
[stags]Football, NCAA, Kansas Jayhawks[/stags]

Pigskinless

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Flipped over to the Missouri-Arkansas football game a little while ago. Mizzou leads convincingly. Then back to the real New Year’s attraction: a Beverly Hillbillies marathon on TVLand. Whee, doggies!

Happy New Year!
-k-
[stags]TV[/stags]