The International Human Powered Vehicles Site
-Sorry this site link is DEAD, so removed!
Self explanatory.
There’s a TV show that comes out of Canada all about DIY comedy. Red Green is a fellow who hangs at a northwoods lodge with his buddies. Together they know better than anyone else. Why buy something when you can make it yourself? The solution to most fix-it problems is obvious. Just takes a little elbow grease…and a sledge hammer…and a pry bar…and some WD-40. Of course you know what the sacred icon for this show is, right? –Duct tape. (The graphic borders for RG sketches often include artistic uses of this godlike substance.) Chainsaw soundtrack.
The ‘Just Folk’ Page from Epicurious
-Sorry the site link is DEAD, so removed!
Here’s a nifty page and a nice forum within that page. It’s all about Plain Food. Simple, nice eateries. Ask here and someone will help you. –Where the Sterns lurk and play.
Otter’s Home Page
-Sorry this site link is DEAD, so removed!
About a dog. Feller recently got himself a German Wirehair Pointer pup (known online as a GWP) and is training him the versatile way. At the risk of stating the obvious for all you savvy browsers, there’s an entire but little-known dog breed category called The Versatiles. You know, like Sporting Breeds, Working Breeds, etc. It was news to me. Doesn’t Versatile have an OYB sound to it? Nice writing and nice photos of a very sweet doggy here.
Versatiles can do anything. They got a bad rap some years back when a surge of popularity had a stout backlash: it turned out that the dogs were smarter than their owners. Look in your dog breed guide: GWP/GSPs will have twice as many ‘talent’ icons beside their listing as other dogs. They point, flush, fetch, swim, trail, track on fur and feather of all types, pull wagons, sleds and skiers, guard, are good with kids. Got the picture? I guess they’re bred to be a bit demanding and assertive. They want to know everything. If you let them run the house, they will.
Oops, I forgot to mention that Martha and I have one now, too. Daisy! I just read that GSPs are the most favored breed in ski jor racing! Hey! —That’s where a dog pulls a sled with a skier. It said they have two speeds ultrafast and almost dead. Our Daisy is rubbery and bouncy as a rubber band. She flows across the yard like water. I can hardly wait til she’s trained enough for some freedom. But I love how she flops into a heap of fur at my keyboarding feet once we’re in the house.
This page will point you to other cool Versatile pages. One more thing: one nice Versatile breed is the Spinone -Sorry this site link is DEAD, so removed!
Ever hear of it? Me neither! Only 1500 in the US. It’s a blonde Italian griffon, I’d say. Apparently a superior tracker and much calmer than GW/SPs. Very pretty.
Dog Breed Rescue Contacts
Dang, I lost their URL, but I learned about these outfits while surfing. In fact, that’s how we got Daisy! You don’t have to go to the pound for your pooch. Most breeds have a rescue program where if one of their dogs needs a new home for any reason, they’ll put you in touch with the family/dog in need. These usually purebred dogs are free, of course, to good homes. (Did you know a mutt is irreproducible? They’re all one-of-a-kinds. Only a breed will give you the same thing again. So as much as we love Skeeter, even if we hadn’t had him neutered before learning that some of our friends wanted copies, it’s unlikely that his like would be seen again. But anyone woulda been happy even to come close!
The Elk Creek Family Band
-Sorry this site link is DEAD, so removed!
Jim Haizlett, an old friend of mine, and his wife and four kids have an oldtime string band. They play rocksolid traditional American tunes, both classic and original, around the Pennsylvania area. Lots of songs about workin, ramblin, trains and bandits. They’ll come to your school or fair! Nice diverse homepage with sound samples. First album out. This is a standup family. (The kids build dangerous treeforts and make their own bows and listen while grownups sit around chatting.)
WFMU Radio Catalog of Exotic Pop Culture
I just got some stuff from these folks. A good resource for the strange. Buy The Shaggs CD for something truly fresh, good and weird. (Shades of OYB vibe again?) Hard-to-find nonmainstream art stuff. Selftaught musicians and artists. Unapproved. But nothing puerile or pandering. Affordable, too, and most proceeds go to the radio station. (Mini NPR Rant: I’ve heard that the NPR Blues Show that comes with the pricey NPR Program Package has caused the cancellation of dozens of fine local volunteer blues shows. Stations figure that since they’re paying for it already, they might as well use it. Plus, the HUGE package cost is what makes stations have to beg so much.)
Link courtesy of pal Scott
Link courtesy of pal Scott. A Utne Reader magazine resource. UR is a digest mag of issues of interest to therapy-oriented intellectuals. –If you’re into issues, you might appreciate its diversity, health and balance. UR says it’s “the best of the alternative press” or something. —If Esquire, Rolling Stone and Christian Science Monitor are ‘alt’, I’m a goose. You need to be an approved expert or someone chic and trendy to get in here. Financed by a billionaire I heard. UR is in the neighborhood of Whole Earth Review (but less scientific), Mother Jones (but less political), and Harpers (but less creative). Very few zines are reviewed in their underground media column—mostly it’s the latest bad stuff from universities and activist confabs. (Ouch!) I’m harshing on them, but I did get one great phrase from a cover of theirs that’s stuck with me forever: “Fit for what?” –About the fitness boom. Maybe you’ll like it! It has its place. I sub’ed for awhile years ago.
Email Lists
HPV — hpv-info@ihpva.org– Polite, friendly chat about all things hpv.
Alt.Bike.Culture — internet-bob-info@netcom.com– Appreciation of all things bike at higher level than the usegroups. Used to be the Bridgestone appreciation Club, but has since widened…and has always been wider than you’d think.
Steve Roberts “Technomads” Etc. — wordy@ucsd.edu — Keep up with the trials and travels of SR and his million-dollar Behemoth recumbent and Microship. The ship is his new baby. Selfcontained info vessel plying the waters of the west coast for now.
Bikin America Wired Newsletter — usa.cyclists@genie.com — A couple is riding mt-bikes across the country, stopping off at all the races and events along the way. They keep us posted as they wake up from camping out. Laptop, payphone modem, I think.
