POST O.O.O.

(One oh onE)

Yeah, believe it or not, our last post was numero ciento.
On to a new year that promises no end of surprises.
There are things on the horizon that we can hardly imagine.
How's your imagination ?

Note Re: Post 100---
The "Whoosh" jet-propelled glider had a
soft nosecone made of yellow foam.
It was never aimed at anyone,...we made sure of that.
To the best of my recollection,
playing with this particular toy was an injury-free experience,
for Carter brothers and innocent bystanders alike.

Late for Festivus, early for Christmas

No airing of grievances,
No pinning tonight,
Just remembering a toy
That I sent into flight.

It appeared in a Wishbook
From Sears, doncha know
And it got on the list
To the man from the snow

The kid must have been nice
Or I guess he slid by
Cause that glider showed up
And it took to the sky*!



(*and subsequently landed on rooftops, in trees, and over schoolyard fences into various back yards)

Scary Santa

From December 2008

Watch out, Santa! Sleighing won't be much fun with broken elbows!

DINGED UP AT THE DRIVE-UPS

Here we see the sites of two incidents separated by 162 hours. In the first photo, we see the parking lot in front of the Post Office on Parkmoor Avenue.

From December 2008

This is where The Grasshopper found himself perambulating last weekend. His mission: to deposit a Netflix envelope into the mailbox noted by letter "A".
A simple task, you might think. You would think wrong.

Never let it be said that I do things the simple way. Instead of using the drive-up port, I decided to use the pull-down slot in the back of the mailbox. I then turned and started walking, immediately tripping over the cement parking block designated by the letter "B". The resulting FOOSH (fall onto out-stretched hands) was rather painful, and resulted in a small fracture of my left elbow.

***************************************

The limited range of motion of said elbow set up the second incident, which occurred just a few hours ago.

Below, you see the drive-up mailboxes at the USPS facility on Meridian Avenue, and a mailbox designated "C". This time, the hapless blogger attempted using the "traditional" method...but he couldn't quite extend his arm fully, and the envelope dropped onto the ground. In a pique of frustration, The Grasshopper opened the car door and SMACKED IT INTO THE MAILBOX. So now, I have a little door ding to go with my fractured elbow.

From December 2008

Ghost Bussers

In this (mostly) un-retouched image*, we see a couple of free spirits swapping ectoplasm. In the afterlife, they're indifferent to corporal common decency standards.

*okay, okay...it's the reflection of some car windows against the side of a building.

Wish They All Could Be California Gulls

An egg McMuffin, a cuppa Joe,
the Surfin' Bird is ready to hit the waves.

Cowabunga, dudes!

Seen at Refugio State Beach

North of Santa Barbara
Image pinched for artistic effect

Sparks coming out of my TV

Due to technical difficulties, the clip stutters at the beginning. No adjustment of your set is necessary.

Wholiday in La La Land

Sitting in my hotel, hiding from the dramas of this great big world,

Seven* stories high, looking at the world go by-y.
Sitting in my hotel room, thinking about the countryside and sunny days in June.
-Ray Davies

*Eight, actually.

Grasshopper in residence Room 803

Answers to your questions

Firstly, re: Space Angel--google is your friend.

Secondly: I didn't mean to suggest that anything related to Salinas was heavenly. As I'm sure you already realize, heaven to me is the open road.

Now, a placeholder image, transmogrified from an earlier post: My fake Warhol-esque Birdman Squadron:

Bridge to Nowhere? Not really.

From OCT 12 2008

No, here we have the Lockwood-San Luis Road span over the Salinas River. Behind us lies Jolon Rd, Arroyo Seco Rd, Carmel Valley Road, and tire tracks back to Chez le Hop. Ahead of us is CA 198 and 25, and the road back home. All in all, a 5-hour drive mostly on two-lane open roads. In other words: Heaven.

My First (animated) TV Crush

CRYSTAL
character from "Space Angel"...

Space Angel was the code name of Scott McCloud, an agent for the Earth Bureau of Investigation. Devoted to the security and welfare of the solar system, McCloud and his crew roamed the universe in the super-spaceship, Starduster. The crew, who made up the bureau's Interplanetary Space Force, included Taurus, an expert pilot and mechanic; Crystal, a specialist in electronics and astro-navigation; and Crystal's father, Professor Mace, head of base station Evening Star.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!! Time's up.

Never thought I'd be able to milk a single location for three posts.

Answer to the question posited in our most recent posts:

DONNER LAKE STATE HISTORIC PARK

Of course, we at The Shouting Grasshopper realize that our readers have more important things to do than decipher arcane/silly hints to meaningless questions.

OTOH, consider the internet backwaters that we are floating in.

THX,
-dc-

I'll pass on this party (aka: obscure hints to obscure puzzle)

Hey, dad, can I go play with the Blitzen kids? If we ever get to Cali Forknee, I'm going to start a family. Who knows, maybe my great great grandson will grow up and direct a Super movie!

Guess the California State Park Contest

Adblock

And you thought we here at TSG had reached the limits of bizarre obscurity? Well, friends, you were mistaken. If anyone can come up with the name of the park where these photos were taken, we promise a wonderful prize.

Hints available on request.

air band behold bound bumpass butterflies california city conversion country doesn't editing equipment fisheye full further gas gypsy heavenly hell heritage image jesus lbnm leave minute moment pano park people picture-perfect popular posted prefer previously road stretch thanks top tortoise trail treatment tube vacation video view visit volcanic wait yeah

You figure it out.

The Green way to Airstream

Gas is $4/gallon, but you can get a tube of Flexall 454 for $6...
...wait a minute, that doesn't seem right....

Thanks to the Museum of American Heritage

Category: Things you might see in camp

If you were me.
Top: Crescent City Redwoods KOA (Fisheye treatment)
Bottom: Mazama Campground (Shrinkwrap Treatment)

The Grasshopper goes to HELL!!!!

Adblock

"Bumpass Hell", that is.
(A popular trail at Lassen Volcanic National Park)
***********

And it was a good day in Hell, too. There was a huge hatch of California Tortoise Shell Butterflies the week of our visit, and the air was full of them. Alas, they were too small to capture with the low-end video equipment at our disposal. Take it from me, though, it was a sight to behold; hundreds of thousands of butterflies filling the air, sweeping across roads and trails in the high country of Northern California on a picture-perfect day. Pretty friggin' amazing.

View from Wizard Island

I prefer this to the previously posted image,
"LBNM: Stretch view of Mushpot Cave".
However, the pano conversion of this image isn't all that hot,
and it doesn't upload to this application too well either.

Further editing may be called for, but I have other things to do at the moment.

On Vacation, returning early August.

On the road again
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends
Insisting that the world be turnin' our way
And our way
Is on the road again

Keep me moving
Over fifty
Keep me groovin'
Just a hippie gypsy
Come on move now
Movin'
Keep me movin' yeah

Goin' to the country and leavin' right away
No time to talk I got to make a getaway
Gonna leave the city it's a crime and a shame
People in the city are goin' insane

Don't need to wait for an invitation
You gotta live like you're on vacation

Sail on home to jesus wont you good girls and boys
Im all in pieces, you can have your own choice
But I can hear a heavenly band full of angels
And theyre coming to set me free
I dont know nothing bout the why or when
But I can tell that its bound to be
Because I could feel it, child, yeah
On a country road

Tuesday Afternoooooon @ Chez Le Hopp'

I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way.
It doesn't matter to me, chasing the clouds away.
Something, calls to me,
The trees are drawing me near, I've got to find out why?
Those gentle voices I hear, explain it all with a sigh.

Explain it all with a sigh, indeed.

'dave's dish o' the day

aka: FLIPPER IN A BREAD BOWL

Note: unlike Iranian missile photos, no cloning tools
were used to create this image.

Jose, San -- You See, by the after-noon light...

Happy Birthday USA!

The Grasshopper is amused to note that this date is bookended by

• Disobedience Day -- July 3rd
  
• X Day (Church of the Subgenius) -- July 5th

Also, worthy of note is that the annual Hot Dog Eating Championship
has been won for the 2nd year in a row by San Josean Joey Chestnut.

Way to go, Joe!!!

Note: what may appear to be a horrible paint job on
the exterior of the building is,in reality a
mediocre photoshop job on the original image.

Return Of An Old Friend

Back in the day, when tennis was a regular thing for the ol' 'hopperoo, the Vilas Top Spin was my shoe. As Guillermo faded, Boris took up the endorsement duties. Since then, Puma has gone on to (IMHO) lesser things, chasing style over substance. Imagine my surprise to see my nineteen-eighties footware of choice become available once again. Hurrah! I love (ha ha) it!

Friday The 13th: Spooky, Smoky Sunset Scene Seen

Courtesy(?) of the "Indians" Fire and high-level winds, this rather eerie pall hung over the Santa Clara Valley last week.

Yet another yellowed newspaper clipping

TV TRIVIA: What do Johnny Quest and Animal House have in common?

From the Archives*: April 10, 1975

ISSUE 184, PAGE 5

Rolling Stone's cover story back then:
"Tommy: What's Deaf Dumb & Blind and costs 3 1/2 million?"
The cover featured a well-known portrait of Roger astride a giant pinball.
In keeping with Grasshopper tradition, this drawing is somewhat more obscure.

*AKA: Box of stuff in the closet

WORD' on THE STREET'*

"Create Beauty In Outer Space"

A special holiday post? Well, not really. A flash of inspiration? Well, sort of. After exhausting my Netflix queue ("The Flock", "The Chronicles of Narnia","The Mosquito Coast"), I uploaded some pics from my ramble earlier today (see previous post). These two bits of found prose, mashed together, not only form an admonition to citizens of the cosmos, they also fit in perfectly with the Grasshopper's curiously idiosyncratic (ahem) style.

*yet another new series?

Flying (?) Monkees [sic]?

AKA: Embed, The Sequel: "Mission NOT Accomplished". Due to more technical difficulties, the version I WANTED to embed won't play. Damn you, blogger.com! To see the much more interesting version(that shows the strobe effect), you'll have to follow this link:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v474/-dc-/?action=view&current=FlyingMonkeys003-1.flv

Giving credit where it's due, this installation by Peter Hudson is entitled "Homouroboros". It made it's debut at last year's Burning Man, and is part of this year's 01SJ Art Festival. The Grasshopper video crew will endeavour to re-visit the zoetrope after sunset, as the effect is more interesting with the colored, drum-fired lighting and stroboscopic effects going off against the darkness.

Worth embedding: (turn it up to 11, please)

===>NOTE AND APOLOGIES TO OUR READER(s):<===

Due to technical difficulties, we are unable to embed this week's featured video clip. Support staff is researching the problem and hopes to have a solution soon. But don't count on it.

For the impatient, follow this [Willard Biscuit-approved] link to view an animated version of WGFA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--2c9pegcpM&feature=related

Not Otis Redding*...

Seen along the waterfront, May 4, 2008.

*For various reasons, including the fact that this photo was not taken anywhere near Lake Monona

SYNERGY AT PRNS

PHOTO 1: TAKEN AT BEAR VALLEY VISITOR CENTER, 0845 HRS

PHOTO 2: TAKEN ON DRAKE'S HEAD TRAIL,
1108 HRS

Hey kala ho kala ho la jai

CELTIC ROCK?

Nope:
Castle Rock
--California, that is.
(Not to be confused
with Castle Rock, Co.
--site of the Parmelee
Memorial Drag Strip)

UPDATE ON OUR LAST POST:
Our roving reporter has uncovered additional details
on the mysterious video trove. Who would have suspected
that a dead person named Dave would be involved? Turns
out that Hermitage Arms' recently-departed manager
had acquired the blue VHS shipping cases as spoils of an
eviction. The tenant had been a deadbeat from day one,
leaving behind various items of dubious provenance.
A neighbor had gone to clean out the late Mr. Whitver's
storage unit, and decided to leave the the VHS suitcases out rather
than throw them directly into the dumpsters.
So now you know part of the rest of the story.

Dumpster Diving Drive-In

The Grasshopper didn't actually dive for this treasure (?) trove of VHS titles*, but I did find three of these shipping cases right next to the dumpsters this afternoon.

Apparently, they are remnants of a apparently-now-defunct VHS-based "On Command" hotel pay-per-view library. My particular case was addressed to The Carmel Highlands Inn , with a "Deliver By" date of 6/29/05.

How did these videos manage to end up at the Hermitage Arms Apartments? Did someone steal them and subsequently realize that they were worthless? Were they discarded by my now-ex neighbor who (along with her yappy little rat dog) moved out this weekend? Or, had they been sitting in someone's closet and gotten tossed in a fit of Spring cleaning?

The truth is out there. Way out there, most likely.

*Hitch,The Boogeyman, The L Word, Sin City, Sahara, Alexander, Sex and the City, Are We There Yet, Hostage, Kingdom of Heaven, XXX State of the Union, Million Dollar Baby, Miss Congeniality II, The Pacifier, Madagascar, The Interpreter, Star Wars III, Ice Princess, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Fever Pitch, etc.

Dave's Famous Daves

#1 in a series*

More crud from the Ancient Library....er, um, the Archives.
If memory serves, these are from the
Kink's 1985 "Word of Mouth" tour at Oakland's Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium
and Rockpile's 1990 stop at San Francisco's
soon-to-be-closed (say it ain't so!) Warfield Theater.

*of one, perhaps

PLACEHOLDER?

Please enjoy this historic decal from
the golden days of Jay Ward and Co.
whilst we think of something more interesting
to post.

eNd oF An eRa(???) (!!!)

Possibly the last roll of 35mm film I will ever shoot*:

Adblock

*Due to the recent acquisition of a second DSLR and a couple of lenses

Oh, and while I'm at it, some comments on the comments from last week:

1. As to my mention of "Akinogal, et al" --Apparently, there are web crawler-bots (?) that cruise around and post links on blogs. Their posts and links try to lure unwary users into downloading bogus anti-virus software. That's the general idea, anyway. There were two such comments for the last post.
   
2. There's nothing wrong with the picture. For some reason, the mural is painted as a mirror image. And the hitchin' post is a neat example of trompe l'oeil .
   

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Not much to be said about this (hitching?) post.

You might guess that nothing is wrong with this picture...

...and you might be right.

HIPPO BIRDIE TO US!!

HERE AT THE SHOUTING GRASSHOPPER, WE'RE HAPPY TO CELEBRATE OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY.

PROUDLY, WE'VE STAYED TRUE TO OUR ORIGINAL VISION, KEPT OUR FIRST-POST PROMISE--TO PROVIDE MOSTLY ARCANE AND GENERALLY UNENLIGHTENING CONTENT TO OUR READERS.

So far, so good...

Roger, we've got your number

Both little and medium endian!

I Own Number311944MillionNumbers.com

I Own Number131944MillionNumbers.com

My new owl (or: what does my arm have in common with the moon?)

Exhibit A: What happens when you joke around with Sister Eileen. That robin hasn't shown up outside my bedroom window yet, but I'm ready for the noisy-assed worm-getter.

Exhibit B: Answer to arm/moon question: Both have had scoops taken out of them lately.
(Photo taken moments before Mr Greencheese slipped behind the clouds.)

Happy Feb. 14 From The Shouting Grasshopper

Now this is more like it.

A simple idea, well executed.

Nice, clean, candy-coated prose.

It's all laid out in the the shape of a heart.

Can you dig it?

NOT QUITE WHAT I HAD IN MIND

But it'll have to do. What started out as an attempt
at a marginal pun based upon recent posts ended up
as this pastiche. Not entirely unsatisfactory, but
as our title suggests, I was not able to realize my
initial creative vision. Come to think about it, the end
result does contain a few recent/recurring thematic
elements. So: see, everything works out in

THE END

THIS WEEK'S BEVERAGE OF CHOICE

We know that you'll love Slusho!
It's sea nectar from the deep.
Brought up by Tagruato,
From an ocean-bottom seep.

Slusho! for that special thirst
You get from runnin' 'round after dark
Drink it at a party first
Before hitting Central Park

When you're caught up in the rat race
Or just trying to cross that bridge,
You should be glad you have a case
Of Slusho! in the fridge.

SO, IT'S COME TO THIS, HAS IT?

Adopted Team vs. Home Team
For a chance to bookend the Petty Gig

GO PATS!

(Check Back Next Week For Possible Bandwagon Jump)

PS: What is blogger.com doing with my posted images?
I don't know, but it's pissing me off, and I'm not going
to go back and upload all the missing pix...that's way
too much work. Some of those posts just won't make sense
anymore. Not that they made sense in the first place.
PPS: Speaking of posted images, do not attempt to
adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission...
We will control the horizontal. We will control the
vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We
can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to
crystal clarity. Or use a lo-res image so you think
you might need glasses.
So it goes.

New Year, new trees

You won't find Ansel

Adams here, nor Galen R.
But my pix are free

Wedding shots are not
What I like -- I'd much rather
Shoot a bug or snake

Portraits aren't my bag
And as you've seen in this blog
It's all just for fun

This post inspired by cow-orker Daniel Yu.
He hinted to me today that $3K was a helluva lot
to spend on wedding photography.
"Well," I said to him, "keep looking...."
"...if you get desperate, ask me again."
Hmmm...
Maybe if he takes all my on-call duties for 2008?
I can't ask for that........................................can I?