Laissez les bons temps souffler

Yesterday was a really miserable day. Cloudy, windy as heck, damp, bone-chillingly cold. If I hadn't had multiple dogs in the car on my way to meet up with Cuz at the dog park, I would've stopped to get better photos of this poor schmoe selling Mardi Gras beads on the street corner. (Yes, I would've bought some beads, too.)

Look at the beads blowing friggin' sideways. (The banner was hard to make out, too, being not well-anchored.) I hope that jester's hat was warm.

What were they thinking?

Was the use of "CRS" deliberate? A not-so-inside joke? Or ignorance of idiom?

Where I come from, CRS stands for Can't Remember Shit Squat.

Which here appears to be the point. But still ...

The Enforcers!

A while back I posted the cover of a prison visitors guide with such an incongruous illustration it just made me laugh and laugh. Here's another governmental illustration that also makes me laugh. You can just see the artist thinking to emself, "Hmmm ... how can I draw an angry mob, but in a friendly, nonthreatening way?"If only there were torches in the kidlets' hands, it would be perfect.

What I'm reading:"Theatre of Fish" by John Gimlette

I recently enjoyed John Gimlette's book about Paraguay, "At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig," so when I spotted this one, about Newfoundland, I snatched it up.

Gimlette likes to mix history with his travels, which worked well in the Paraguay book, but in this case it's hard to get a clear sense of the arc of time in Newfoundland. There are a lot of snippets of different developments and political wranglings. I think it's not the best place to start for Newfoundland history But if you love the place and know some of the history already, you'll enjoy that aspect more.

I prefer the bits where he's talking about his own travels and the people he meets. A diverse group, and he is brutally honest about their flaws and charms.

I'm calling him Redd

To see any photo larger, just click on it.

The neighbor dog alerted me this time that Mr. Foxx was visiting. She has a particular "Intruder! Intruder!" bark that prompts me to investigate.

Redd decided there was too much commotion and trotted off.

Drive-by bark

More dog park photos on Flickr. Click here.

Lucy and Jackson went home tonight and it seems awfully quiet now. They don't make a lot of noise, but they love to wrestle, which gets Leo riled up, and he's got some lungs on him.

I love this photo of him. His owner's photography teacher told her you should focus on a dog's nose, because that's the center of a dog's world. This photo has a slightly different focus.

House of Poodles

Note to Mom: The next dog I own will not be allowed on the next couch I own.

Mmmmm...minty

Racine's does a nice mojito. It doesn't pack a super-punch like Cuba Cuba's, but the flavor's good and they use a lot of mint.

I wanted a second one, but our server disappeared for 40 minutes and another staffer also failed to track her down, and then it was time to go. Oh well. More money for mojitos elsewhere!

I dunno, what do you think it is?

More photos on Flickr. Click here.

Ow!

I agreed to dogsit Lucy and Jackson over the weekend. They arrived today.

I forgot I promised many months ago to dogsit Lannie and Leo for a week. They arrive Saturday.

There's an overlap of three days. Three days, five dogs.

Can you say "House of Poodles!" ?

Nose, bones

Icecapades

Who knew these things could pop wheelies?

Brief jaunts

The weekend was pretty low-key, what with crud I managed to pick up. (They're dropping like flies at the office.) I did enjoy a trip to the Denver Art Museum, which has a new wing designed by Daniel Libeskind.
There's a temporary exhibit going on right now called RADAR: Selections from the Collection of Vicki & Kent Logan, which features modern art, much of it by Chinese artists.
Foolishly, I have not taken notes on my favorites either time I've been there. The bronze trash bag is one. (Oh, did find it online after much searching. It's by Gavin Turk.)


Another is a dawnscape of a city that is spare in its detail but gives a perfect feeling of expanse.

Also, Quantum Cloud XXXIII by Antony Gormley. It's all welded rods.

Guess I'll have to go back!

The other jaunt was to scenic Fort Morgan, Colorado, to visit the gravesite of author Phillip K. Dick, whose novels have been very popular as movies, including "Blade Runner," "Total Recall," "Minority Report." The latest was "Scanner Darkly." I haven't seen that one yet.

We had to dig out the headstone to see the name. It was heavily iced and snowed over.
Dick died shortly before "Blade Runner" came out, so he never got to enjoy the subsequent fame and cash. He never actually lived in Fort Morgan, but his twin sister, Jane, had died there when they were young, so his aunt had him buried next to her.

We also stopped in at the Fort Morgan Museum, which was very gung-ho about Glenn Miller, and not at all about Dick. Then we stopped at Cafe Lotus to get coffee and happened to meet a young man who was very gung-ho about Dick and not at all about Glenn Miller.

He was hoping to get some kind of PKD festival going in the town, and did have a good point, that while Dick hadn't lived there, he was still the longest in residence among famed Fort Morganites, having now occupied the cemetery for 20 years.

On the way back I had to stop and get some snaps of the A-Frame Lounge & JFJ Cafe. The A-frame part still functions as a cafe and gas station. The sign is just terrific.

And look! The lounge is for lease! Just think of the fun you could have, running this beauty.

Finally, the weekend wrapped up with a whimper, as the crud tightened its phlegmy grip upon our throats, sinuses and lungs. The final jaunt was only as far as the nearest place for pho.
Not feeling so hot, we dosed heavily with sriracha to warm things up and keep those airways open. All in vain, alas. But it was still a good meal.

And a good weekend.

Super-foxy

Look who's back! And here I am with a better camera, and a clear shot through screenless windows.
It's tough to be an urban fox, what with all the paparazzi and other stalkers ...
After a brief staring contest, the neighbor's cat decided discretion was the better part of valor, and Foxy went back to the land of zzzzzzzz's.

Tastes great, more filling

Dimly lit restaurants do not make for great food photos (I need to figure out how to tone down the flash).
But we did have a couple of very nice meals this weekend, featuring, clockwise from top left: Diver scallops wrapped in pancetta, smoked duck breast with pomegranate seeds and pistachios, Moroccan chicken, and a venison chop. We ate at Cafe Star and Potager. I would have to say I liked Potager better, and would try to go back there on a weeknight when it is not so crowded (they don't take reservations, so we had a bit of a sardine-like wait by the bar). It is also very noisy. But the food tasted better. We were also impressed with how quickly they could clear and set up a table. Super-efficient. Desserts this weekend included, clockwise from top left, Key lime tart, chocolate-chile pot de creme, apple tarte Tatin, chocolate ganache galette.