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Post by billhammond on Sept 3, 2024 18:17:04 GMT -5
I am suddenly giggling over the memory of a long-ago caption send-up from a Navy buddy who in an email attached a photo of Ronald Reagan on horseback, taken from behind, that read: "President Ronald Reagan, top, ... "
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Post by billhammond on Sept 3, 2024 18:11:09 GMT -5
My wife took a photo of me and our grandson. It's your choice, Don, but if it were me, I would not flip off my new grandson.
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Post by billhammond on Sept 3, 2024 18:05:02 GMT -5
(Grandson, left)
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Post by billhammond on Sept 3, 2024 15:29:38 GMT -5
(Strib excerpt)
For the second consecutive summer, Willie Nelson has guided his compelling triple bill to western Wisconsin. At 91, Willie was mesmerizing this past May in Duluth and, though his set list pretty much remains the same, his sidemen don’t; sons Micah and Lukas are expected to be on board this time. In the penultimate slot on the Outlaw fest is Minnesota’s iconoclastic road warrior Bob Dylan, who is throwing in some covers (“Mr. Blue,” “Six Days on the Road,” “Little Queenie”) with his usual mix of more recent material and a couple of classics. Raspy-voiced heartland rocker John Mellencamp precedes his fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Famers. Some act has to open for these three American music treasures, and that will be Memphis soul-blues band Southern Avenue. Outlaw Music Festival 5:15 p.m. Fri., Somerset Amphitheater, 495 Main St., Somerset, Wis., $63-$750, ticketmaster.com
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Post by billhammond on Sept 3, 2024 10:00:49 GMT -5
We did visit the Penis Museum, though on our last day. What a dickhead.
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Post by billhammond on Sept 2, 2024 15:06:56 GMT -5
SUCH a gorgeous photo, John, well done! So much breathing space for the eye ...
On edit, that is "your" tree, right? Love how its leg kicks out to the right.
That photo encapsulates Indiana for me -- you should shop it to some regional tourism/chamber offices.
On second edit, the more I look at it, the more I love it. The distant silo, center, the little sliver of sky between the trees at the far left, the pleasing, contrasting angles of the crop rows and how they fill in the bottom of the image. Folks, I'm just a layman when it comes to photography, but is this not a fabulous composition?
p.s. The cloudage speaks for itself. It's the heart and soul of the photo.
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Post by billhammond on Sept 2, 2024 14:35:15 GMT -5
Had a nice three-hour road trip today. As I was getting started, I was surprised to see that the Great Clips shop just down the street was open, so I stopped in and got a quickie beard trim. Why would they be open on Labor Day? Doh! Back to school haircuts. The compass was pulling me north, so I motored through North St. Paul, Mahtomedi, May Township and beyond, including some gravel roads, all with very pretty scenery along the way, and tons of cyclists. I pulled into historic Scandia just in time for the opening bell at Meister's, a beloved ancient saloon/eatery, and enjoyed a Bloody Mary and a so-called Steakhouse Salad that had it all, even onion rings, for a mere $14! With steak! Good steak! And bacon! Good bacon! The appetizer list includes smelt! Thank you, Tim Walz, for creating this great state!
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Post by billhammond on Sept 2, 2024 13:37:25 GMT -5
Look, I probably wouldn't be so sensitive to these "news" story ads if: 1. They weren't the only thing I read or watch in the national press 2. there was even a hint of scrutiny of the two candidates (I would take even 1/1000th the scrutiny, skepticism, "fact-checking" and cynicism with which the press has approached the opposing candidates) 3. there hadn't been such an about-face at the head of the ticket 4. There was at least a modicum of skepticism about a "Democrat" Party who chose their candidate very UN-democratically. Yes, I know you know the loophole. I just doubt anyone believes it. 5. I'm frankly jealous of the winning team/popular kids/I'd-Like-To-Teach-The-World-To-Sing/Kumaya advertising that is every single news story about the pair of candidates....including, but not limited to adorable sneaker-wearing photos. Yes, I wish I could be one of the cool kids instead of the green gap-toothed, redneck, under-educated, neanderthal that the press makes me out to be every single night on the News, and in every article in every paper. So, yeah, "sour". You guys cheated and you won. Just as Harry Reid would have said. Good Lord, John, have you never heard of a feature story? I posted the excerpt because I didn't know Walz was a gearhead, and I found that interesting and thought it might interest forumites, especially car buffs and retired farmers. It's NOT an ad, it's a feature story (back in the day, folks called them "human interest stories") that highlights a little known side of a guy who's very much in the news these days. Not EVERYTHING is a conspiracy.
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Post by billhammond on Sept 1, 2024 21:59:53 GMT -5
Geez...
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Post by billhammond on Sept 1, 2024 17:22:39 GMT -5
Bison loss at Colorado is NDSU’s most viewed football game ever
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Post by billhammond on Sept 1, 2024 13:25:58 GMT -5
Pretty hard to beat cold pizza and beer.
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Post by billhammond on Aug 31, 2024 16:52:47 GMT -5
Do you venture outside to grill the chicken? I don't grill the chicken, but Mr. H does grill it outside on the propane BBQ grill. It's not too hot to be outside, just too hot to be out there for very long. Understandable, not unlike when Minnesotans have an outdoor wedding ceremony in February in minus-30 F. weather. It's only an hour, and the reception tent has a propane heater!
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Post by billhammond on Aug 31, 2024 16:12:37 GMT -5
It will be grilled chicken thighs, zucchini, and brown rice tonight. TBD tomorrow night. Burgers on Monday. Do you venture outside to grill the chicken?
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Post by billhammond on Aug 31, 2024 14:12:19 GMT -5
About sneakers (does anybody under 60 call them that any more?): Notice the footwear on the panel segments on cable news vs that on the women doing standup segments where you can see the entire outfit. High heels are pretty much pro-level presentational wear, while the shots that cover seated panelists and commentator-guests show what they wear to actually walk around in. (I also often see coats & ties above the desk and jeans below.) Why are you looking below everyone's waists?
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Post by billhammond on Aug 31, 2024 13:59:25 GMT -5
L.A. Times ExcerptIn 2007, when Tim Walz was a freshman congressman, he told a reporter that his dream car was a 1973 Chevrolet Camaro, noting, “I’m kind of a muscle-car guy.” What he was actually driving was a more staid choice: a Dodge minivan. But a year after that interview with the Hill, the self-professed car guy bought a vehicle that is now making headlines and has come to define the vice presidential candidate’s I’m-from-a-small-town, Minnesota-dad vibe: a 1979 International Harvester Scout II. The choice impresses people like Brandon Ray, a 48-year-old fellow Scout II owner from Phoenix. As Ray tells it, he’d just gone through a divorce 15 years ago when a “bad-ass” yellow Scout II caught his eye. The SUV bore two decals: One said, “Face your fears,” the other, “Live your dream.” He bought the Scout. “It did what it said it was gonna do,” Ray said. “I faced my fears and lived some of my dreams in that truck.” News that Walz owns a 1979 Scout II came as a surprise to Ray. “I just don’t picture a blue guy driving a f— Scout,” he said, referencing Walz’s Democratic affiliation. A turquoise truck with a white top and a personalized black Minnesota license plate reading "ONE MN," seen from behind. Cars and politics have long mixed. With exhortations to “buy American,” presidents have almost always favored rides from U.S. automakers. That includes President Biden, who cherishes his 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. Amid Walz’s whirlwind journey to the national political stage, his car credentials have become part of his story. Notably, a 2018 video of Walz admonishing Ford over a low-quality headlight harness has resurfaced to the delight of gearheads. The teacher-turned-Minnesota governor wrenches on cars and goes to classic auto shows, too. But the most obvious part of his pistons-and-pushrods persona is his Scout. For years, Walz, 60, has taken to social media to share photographs of his Scout, which is painted an arresting glacier blue and sports a license plate that reads “ONE MN,” an apparent reference to his “One Minnesota” political slogan. Of the many American classics still roaming the roads, the Scout is one imbued with particular meaning. The Scout was produced in Fort Wayne, Ind., by International Harvester from 1960 to 1980 in multiple guises spread across two generations, known as I and II. It is among the quirkiest of the vintage SUVs that have become popular in recent years. The Scout wasn’t made by a familiar automotive brand: International Harvester was a Chicago-based farm equipment company that shut down about 40 years ago. That has made the Scout less recognizable to the Instagram set — and more appealing to enthusiasts looking for a deal at a time when vintage Ford Broncos often sell for more than $100,000. The Scout, said Randy Nonnenberg, cofounder of the automotive auction platform Bring a Trailer, has “always been an underdog.” With its boxy body, chrome grille, round headlights and removable or soft top, it is practical, charming and not too flashy. “Scouts are very Midwest, which is very on-brand” for Walz, said Nonnenberg, whose company has auctioned 285 Scout IIs at an average price of about $38,000. “It’s kind of like the vehicle version of him.” Some other Scout owners agree. “Anyone who wants to maintain and keep a ’79 Scout is not your average person,” said Gary Brown, an Orange County software engineer who has restored and sold about 10 Scouts over three decades. “It takes someone with a retro or somewhat older mindset ... [who] knows how to tinker.” “I like guys like that — guys who can fix things,” he said. As for Ray, who is selling another Scout — a rare 1978 version priced at $59,999 — he didn’t want to talk politics, which he called “a tough topic.” But, in a nod to the unifying power of cars, Ray imagined a trip he and Walz might take into the wilds of the Southwest: “Maybe he and I can go out in the dunes one of these days?” Walz appears to have a genuine passion for cars, but he also seems to possess a finely calibrated understanding of how his actions may play with voters, said Matt Hardigree, publisher of the Autopian, which has written about the politician. Just take the governor’s social media posts featuring his Scout and another Scout — his dog. That, Hardigree said, “is an unhate-able image.” “It is Norman Rockwell transported 50 years into the future,” he said. Then there’s Minnesota’s right-to-repair law, one of several such measures passed by states in recent years. Signed by Walz in 2023 and called the Digital Fair Repair Act, it directs makers of electronics and other items to give consumers access to information and parts so that they can repair their own devices. Although the law doesn’t cover cars, Hardigree said it shows that Walz subscribes to a fix-it ethos that many vintage car owners can appreciate. In the case of the Scout, maintaining one is no small feat, because parts are hard to come by. Still, Hardigree, who reviewed images of Walz’s ride, approved of the politician’s upkeep: “It’s clean, but it’s clearly driven. It’s not a garage queen.”
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Post by billhammond on Aug 31, 2024 12:26:26 GMT -5
Are we looking at the same photograph? I was referring to the one in your original post. Bill make little joke about tan-suited Obama in the past, GOP being enraged.
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Post by billhammond on Aug 31, 2024 12:19:13 GMT -5
Is there any source at the paper to identify the gent in the chapeau, Bill? Tan suit = Obama, duh. Although Fox News is saying it's Walz's boyfriend. I suppose both could be true.
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Post by billhammond on Aug 31, 2024 12:17:38 GMT -5
Is there any source at the paper to identify the gent in the chapeau, Bill? Tan suit = Obama, duh.
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Post by billhammond on Aug 31, 2024 12:12:26 GMT -5
It hadn't occurred to me that the guy might be Secret Service. Forget my comment. There isn't any guy on the left in the photo. I must have been imagining things. I think he's carrying the nuclear codes. Joe has already passed them on.Plus foundation makeup, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lip gloss, lash curler, hairspray, Cliff's Notes., etc.
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Post by billhammond on Aug 30, 2024 20:34:04 GMT -5
The guy on the left must be a Republican agent. I figured Secret Service. (The one assigned to carry her purse.)
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