March 20, 1978 - April 12, 2011

"How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us."
--Fred Rogers

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Texas Spitfire. Stealth Bombshell. Melanie. Lots of different names that she's been known by. Also by Mommy, Lover, Sister and Daughter. Any of us who have been around here for any amount of time know her. Then she went away. Then she sort of came back this past winter.

Sadly, she won't be coming back anymore. Stealth died last month. I only found out by stopping by her Facebook site, and read the comments of friends and family who had left them. I did a quick Google search on her full name, and there they were. Links to her obituary. The obituary is a bit sparse for my liking. There are some pics and a nicely made video. But nowhere did I find any of "us" in the comments on FB nor in the memorial page. I think I might be the first of "us" to know anything.

And I feel badly about that. It's no secret that she lived a troubled life. Much of which she brought on herself. She tried to crawl out of it. And when things started to look up for her, something else would knock her down. But never out. Sadly, when she attempted to come back to Blogger, and the HNT community, I think she didn't realize that things had changed. She'd burned a lot of bridges at one point, and people weren't inclined to forget it. Too many of us didn't take the time to bring her back into the fold. Myself included.

Stealth was a four-time Mystery Guest, and got her hands on the OsShirt a few times. She also appeared a few times over at OHNT, though was still a bit modest over there. She was well known for her late night video chats too! I think that she was a pretty decent photographer, and often surprised us with the shots she took. One area that few people knew about was her painting and other visual artistry. The girl had talent! She played the oboe in high school (and was pretty good), loved hard rock music, was actually quite grounded in her Catholic faith, but knew how to party. Health-wise, I know she'd been in the hospital within the past couple of years, but with that gap of being away from us, I'm not entirely sure what for...

I feel privileged to have met her in person. She was so excited when I told her that I was going to celebrate my 50th birthday in Dallas. She immediately took it upon herself to be my personal guide for the weekend. All of us partied hard. But on the actual night of my birthday, the two of us spent a very low-key evening in the West End of Dallas. Talking, laughing, relaxing. I don't think she did enough of that as she got older. She was able to be herself, and it was a side of her I didn't know existed before then. In spite of the massive partying, and the trip to the strip club, and the constant drinking, that night was, without question, the highlight of my trip.


But now she's gone. She's left three kids and a fiancé behind. And lots of friends. In spite of the fact that we'd fallen out of touch, I still considered her a friend. That's why I feel like I've been kicked in the gut. I wish I had done more to keep in touch. Mel, I'm gonna miss you.

Added: I urge you to check out Mark Leslie's post about Melanie's death. The guy is a writer, and expresses what I think many of us are feeling far better than I ever could...

When Blogger goes tits up...

...she goes all out! If you're reading this, then we can finally make new posts. Woohoo!

According to Blogger, they had to delete all posts that were published after about 7:30AM Wednesday. In other words, everyone's HNT posts this week... They are slowly getting them back up, but it really put a kink in everyone's day! Keep checking back to see if the "I'm up!"s have come back. I know there were a handful of people who tried to post later Thursday without success, so hopefully there will be some new ones to check out as well.

Let's just consider this weekend to be HNWE, rather than just Thursday!

HOLY COW!! I just noticed that I'm just a hair over 300 visitors short of hitting 1,000,000!! I might have to come up with a prize of some sort!

Not Quite Back to Normal HNT

Well, it's over. The opera, that is. Two of the longest weeks I've ever experienced. I expected it, but didn't expect it. I have come to understand how/why people disappear from the blogosphere. I was able to sneak online for small bits of time, but mostly just to check emails. I feel like I've totally missed out on what most of you have been doing. And I do find it difficult to really get back into the swing of things. But I'm sure I will. :-)

The highlights of the past two weeks:

• Working with actors/singers of the highest caliber. The music was never a problem, and they learned their staging after just one take. In particular, two of them were invaluable in helping out with their knowledge of the opera, this particular set, and the problems we were bound to encounter.
• Working with local volunteers who gave up far more hours than I think they signed on for as makeup artists, costume dressers and assisting with stage managing duties.
• Working with the technical designers/directors (lights, sound, stage, etc.), and melding their very diverse styles together. None of them had worked together, and there were some "moments", but everything DID meld.
• Being able to boss everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) involved with the production. The buck stopped with me, numerous times.

Other "fun" things--spending money on props, makeup and costume supplies, hardware, etc. that we hadn't budgeted for. Spending 3 times longer on building the set, since the fancy set we rented from a west coast opera company didn't come with instructions, thus causing lots of delays and 14-16 hour days. Running around trying to find Japanese-specific props that we didn't know we needed (same west coast company). Calling the lighting cues and calling the show from the booth--running the show from top to bottom. Getting asked out on a lunch date by my 17 y.o. assistant stage manager. Drinking beers with the principal singers after the first show.

Now, I'm trying to wind down. Finished up all the equipment deliveries on Monday. In the rain that fell for two days since Sunday afternoon. Paperwork will be done by the morning. And the symphony season comes to a close. Until we start up on the summer concert in July. I'm still tired, and haven't gotten caught up on my sleep. And frankly, I'm still trying to realize that it's almost mid-May! Though the weather is finally becoming springlike! Of course, all this is a roundabout way of admitting that I have had to resort to yet another picture from the archives. But I ran it through a new photo program I found. And strangely enough it captures the essence of what I look like at this very moment! Hopefully I'll be back in the saddle for next week!

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"I'm a bitch. I'm a lover. I'm a child. I'm a mother. I'm a sinner. I'm a saint. I do not feel ashamed. I'm your hell. I'm your dream. I'm nothing in between. You know you wouldn't want it any other way. I'm a bitch. I'm a tease. I'm a goddess on my knees. When you hurt, when you suffer, I'm your angel undercover. I've been numb. I'm revived. Can't say I'm not alive. You know I wouldn't want it any other way."

Many of you should recognize who this describes! It's her birthday Thursday, so stop by and wish her a happy one! If you don't know who it is, come by tomorrow to find out!
Well, thanks to Blogger, everyone missed out on wishing the lovely Saucy Wildcat a happy birthday and a welcome back to the HNT party. And at this moment, her blog is still down. But stop by over the weekend and let her know you came by!

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A good showing over at "...the Other HNT", as usual! Stop by and leave some comments for your fellow HNTers! NSFW, as usual...

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Big week for HNT next week! The 6th Anniversary (or is it Birthday?) of HNT! Right down to the exact day, even! No themes or plans or celebrations, but if you want to do something special, it would be great! Let some of your friends know too, especially if they're former HNTers. It would be wonderful to see them jump back in for the week, don't you think?

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I might be doing this from jail next week. I got a letter from my ISP informing me that they'd been notified that I might have downloaded some copyrighted material. Specifically, the 2009 movie Star Trek. Haven't quite figured out if this was a precursor to legal action, or just a warning. I don't think I'm very concerned, since I download so little. Still...if I'm in jail next week, I'll be sure to get some really special HNT pics taken!

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My second oldest niece graduated from MSU this past Saturday. The girl is going to go far. I believe her degree is in Marketing (what do I know?). She has had more than a handful of major company presidents and execs ask her to come interview. She can pretty much write her own ticket. Not sure where she got her smarts from, but we're all pretty proud. Of course, she won't go to work right away. She just left this morning to fly to Europe for a month. If you see her over there, say hi for me!

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My siblings and I pitched in for an iPad for Mom this Mother's Day. She was shocked and amazed and flabbergasted. Unfortunately, her computer is old enough that it can't run the minimum version of iTunes to get it synced up. So now she's got a very pretty piece of computer sitting on the counter getting charged up, with no way to get started. Might have to run it through my computer, just to get it up and running. Hope I don't accidentally download the MG or OHNT pics on there for her too!

Damn, that looks impressive!

If you're at all interested in seeing what the past week and a half have been all about, go here...

One more performance to go. Another day to clean it all up. Then I'm yours again!

BTW--I could use a Mystery Guest this week...

MIA HNT

I'm not really here. I'm still hunkered down at rehearsals. Though the stress now is mental, as opposed to physical. Blood has been drawn, bruises have formed, knees have been twisted, and joints have rebelled. Unfortunately, that's all describing me. Everyone else is just peachy...

Performances are Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Then it all gets taken down Sunday night. Equipment trucks get unloaded Monday, and it will be at that point, and not a minute sooner, that I'll be able to think about taking a breath.

This is me sitting at the sound/lighting booth in the auditorium. See that "wth??" look in my face? There's been a lot of that this past week.

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Are you ready boots start walking...

It is amazing what a pair of shoes can do to a person.
They can make you feel sexy or sultry.
They can make you feel athletic and strong.

As I step into my cowgirl boots
I become tough
unbreakable...

A wild daisy that can't be broken

This week's Mystery Guest is also a birthday girl on Friday! If you know her, go send her your bday wishes! If you don't, you know you can come back later to find out who she is....

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A little low in numbers (but never quality!) at "...the Other HNT", due to my general absence this week. Be sure to stop by and check out which of your fellow HNTer's is over there! As usual, it's still NSFW!

So what's been going on...?

It's Sunday night. I'm home before 11:00PM for the first time since Tuesday night. Needless to say, coming home at that hour has prohibited me from watching much news, nor fed my desire to do any sort of web surfing in that time. So I'm trying to catch up a little tonight (sorry--still lots of HNTs I've not seen yet...). Look at what I've missed!

• Lots of storms in the south. Nasty tornadoes. Hope none of you were directly affected!
• An incredibly wet snow storm here in town on Friday night. With wind. Felt like being pelted with cold spit balls! A few inches on the ground the next morning, with absolutely NO plowing. All gone by noon.
• There apparently was some sort of wedding. (Just a note--the new princess is mighty attractive, but doesn't hold a candle to her sister!)
• Bin Laden was killed. About time. Wolf Blitzer is still the worst news anchor on TV.
• Obama was apparently born in Hawaii. Whew!

Sixteen hour days continue on Monday. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

No Time HNT

OK, I didn't realize how busy I was going to be this week. I'm cheating--reposting a pick from a little over a year ago. I'm sure it was taken while I was busy with a symphony performance, but I can guarantee that I wasn't as busy as I am this week. I'm drafting this during the mid-afternoon on Tuesday, which is unheard of from me. Online time on Wednesday won't be possible, and it'll be pretty difficult on Thursday as well.

So carry on without me. Hopefully I can stop by over the weekend. In the meantime, I'll be busy building sets, inventorying props and costumes, focusing and aiming lights, writing light cues, setting up the orchestra, meeting and greeting the principal performers, running around buying make-up, and maybe getting to sit down on occasion. It's times like this when I wish I had a wife waiting for me at home to do my laundry...

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"I do my own thing when the phone rings
Maybe I'll answer, maybe I'm busy
I want some next sh*t
I got connections
Only speak to people I wanna speak to
Sophisticated, fokken larney
Nutella on my sarmie
Fokken dik gesmeer, bra

Wasn't always a rich bitch
Used to be a poor girl
Ag, shame, die arme meisie
Ek wassie wysie

To all my means sir
In a tart situation
Getting closer to god
Do you hear that?
I flow from the heart
F*ck the upperclass
Versigtig, ek's nog steeds fokken giftig
Yo, f*ck a rich bitch"
Blurb from the song: "Rich Bitch" by Die Antwoord

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Had to get "...the Other HNT" up earlier than usual too, but people were good at getting pics to me. Go say hi, leave some comments, and go ogle your fellow HNTers! NSFW, as usual.

I survived!

Some thoughts and observations...

• Do you think that I'd get the male nurse? Nope. The matronly, experienced nurse? Nope. I get the 20-something hottie that I'm sure starts her day at the gym at 5:00AM, and is cheery, perky and gorgeous by 8:00AM every day.
• And you know what? It didn't bother me in the least. As BFD eloquently observed, I was "just another old man and his butt..."
• They ought to give you a teddy bear, or something else to squeeze. There's nothing to do with your arms when you're in the "position". If phones would have been allowed, I would have live-texted some of you!
  
• A little foreplay would have gone a long ways. All I got was, "I'm going to touch you now", and wham, bam, he's in. Girls, you agree, right?
• Much to my mother's relief, her boy is definitely not gay boy material.
• I have a new-found awe for those of you who enjoy anal sex, or putting larger things up there. This probe was about the width of the doctor's little finger, but it felt like a bowling ball. I'm not sure how you people do it!
• I'll spare you the details of the preparation for the 18 hours beforehand, but honestly, that was worse than the procedure itself.

So what came of all this? I got a clean bill of health (as well as a clean colon!). Nothing stared back at him, and even better, nothing on the walls that needed to be plucked and sampled! No need for the claw! Colon cancer does not seem to be interested in me at this time!

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Happy Earth Day!

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Happy Easter! We're doing the family Easter/birthday thing this Sunday. Brunch in the morning, and dinner at Mom's. Maybe sleigh rides this year, too!

Cartman HNT

"Have you had a screening for colon cancer?" I could have gone the rest of the day without hearing that phrase. That was about six weeks ago. Sadly, the time has arrived. I'm going to be the recipient of a flexible sigmoidoscopy. I can't help but conjure visions of Cartman and the aliens.

I didn't get to schedule when this would happen. I was sort of at the mercy of the doctor's office, and when they could do it. Because the sterilization/cleaning solution is tremendously costly, and this isn't a procedure that they do on a routine basis, I had to wait until there was a group of us ready. Oh, boy! It'll be like our own little club! This thrills me to no end, as you can imagine. Though I did find some reassurance in the fact that: 1)--they sterilize/clean the equipment between patients, and 2)--they only do one patient/day.

I should probably be thankful that this is something that I'm getting taken care of now, rather than at a point where it's a necessity. What they'll be doing is looking for any polyps or other growths or damage. They'll be inserting something that looks like this thing on the right up my wazoo to "take samples" of anything that looks out of the ordinary. Hopefully they won't find any clumps of gerbil hair or things like that. Of course I have to fast and cleanse and prepare ahead of time so that it's clear sailing for them when they go looking around in there. I'm all sorts of excited about that...

The fun part of all this? They don't put you under for this particular procedure. I'll be wide awake to experience the full humiliation and embarrassment. Of course, women have been subjecting themselves to this sort of thing since they were teens, so I doubt I'll get any sort of sympathy there... Anyway, depending upon where you are and when you're stopping by here, I'll be in various phases of things. If you're one of the early posters from Australia, I'll be in the tummy-rumbling phase, as the stool softeners do their thing and start kicking my ass. If you're one of the Wednesday night posters, I'll most likely be in the bathroom when you stop by. I plan to just bring a small table for the laptop in there and camp out. If you're one of the Europeans posting first thing in your morning, I'll still be there. East Coasters posting when you get up in the morning, I'll be up too, giving myself one of two enemas to flush things out. The rest of you who post later on Thursday--I'll be at home, recuperating. Probably curled up in a ball. Under a blanket. In the dark...

So to end this, I should probably post a picture. I'll bet you can't imagine what it will be....



















Surprise! This is the scratch on my face that I awoke to on Monday morning. No idea how I got it, or when. Try to ignore the stray hair--obviously I can't shave over that area, but I had no idea that it was sticking out like that until I took the picture. I hope I've somehow taken your mind off the image that I'm getting probed. I just hope I remember to wear clean underwear!

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No Mystery Guest this week. No one lined up, and I am too far neck-deep in opera stuff to go recruiting. It's going to be the same story for the next couple of weeks, so if you're interested in being the MG, get in touch with me, K?

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Another fine week over at "...the Other HNT". Be sure to see your fellow HNTers in their glory. The guys stepped it up this week, too! NSFW, as usual!

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As mentioned, the opera stuff is keeping me busy. The good news--nothing really bad has cropped up, but we're a little behind where I'd like to be. The bad news--there's still plenty of time for things to get hinky. But all in all, things are running somewhat smoothly at the moment. Next week is when all the pieces start falling into place for real, so we'll see how that goes...

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An update on Rachel and the custody fight over her grandson. His mother (her daughter) and father are going to be in mediation soon. The attorney that she's retained is pretty confident that she'll be able to get full custody. A half dozen family battery complaints against him over the past couple of years will most likely be his downfall. She didn't divulge exactly how many of you helped, or to what degree, but she said she was blown away by the support. You guys are alright!

Quick Check-In

Just popping on here to say that I won't be popping on much over the next 3 weeks. At least not nearly as much as I'd like. Maybe I'll pick some old posts and recycle them.

The good news is that the opera is coming along fairly well, in spite of some definite questions. But gosh, my free time has totally dried up! And if that wasn't bad enough, my "procedure" is scheduled for Thursday, which means Wednesday afternoon/evening will be spent "preparing". I'm so excited.

I might be making a quick road trip to Salt Lake City next week to pick up some costumes, primarily to save on shipping costs. Though, with the cost of gas these days, that might not really be as cost effective as we'd like it to be. All in all, though, things seem to be working well.

Other than that...oh--thank you to all of you for your birthday wishes! Especially to those of you who went the extra bit to do it as a post! I love birthday HNTs!

As for my birthday date--it was lovely! A nice dinner, great conversation (politics, even!), shared dessert (huckleberry cheesecake). I also got a nice gift, too! Best part--she paid for everything. After all, it was MY birthday! I LOVE going out to dinner with Mom!

Go buy Sadie's book!

Go check out the latest adventures of the OsShirt!

A Year Older HNT

I turn 54 on Friday.
What's happened since my last birthday?

The Deepwater Horizon oil well exploded in Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 people, and spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf for weeks.

Spain wins the World Cup.

Researchers trap 38 antihydrogen atoms for 1/6 of a second, marking the first time humans have trapped antimatter.

Gary Coleman died.

General upscaling of unrest in Middle East.

Phain's apartment burned to the ground.

My "neighborhood" McDonald's was torn down. Rebuilt and open within 2 months.

Thirty-three Chilean miners rescued after 69 days trapped underground.

My BIL Ray died.

Joined a new band.

The old band had its second gig in 3 years.

My car died.

Bought a new car.

Saw lots of old faces at my 35-year HS reunion.

Shattered the touchscreen on my Droid.

My diabetes stayed pretty much in check.

Moose stayed with me for a few days (forcing me to powerclean my apartment).

Met up with fellow bloggers in NY, as well as meeting two here at home, and driving to Missoula to meet Her Gucciness!

The OsShirt headed across the big pond.

MTV announces plans for new episodes of "Beavis and Butt-head"!

My dad died.

The Griz broke my heart, both by losing to the Bobkittens, and by not making the playoffs for the first time in almost two decades.

The Fighting Saints won their 6th NAIA National Championship in 10 years.

Bought new 42" HDTV.

Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters all strike Japan. Godzilla was nowhere to be found.

Celebrated 6 years of blogging.

Bought new 13" MacBook Pro.

Looking at this picture, I can tell that I've aged in the past year. I wonder what the next 12 months have in store for me...

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"You have a right to experiment with your life. You will make mistakes. And they are right too." ~Anais Nin

Today's mystery guest just released an eBook about her open marriage. This week marks the end of her participation in HNT. She bids you all a sweet and sexie adieu.

She'll be revealed Thursday afternoon, so you can stop by her place and buy her book (15% cheaper than Amazon!). Of course, you could go to that right now if you know already!
Of course, this week's MG is Sexie Sadie! Click on the link, and buy her ebook. Not available on Amazon yet, and 15% cheaper than it will be when it is! We're gonna miss her around here...

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We continue to get great submissions for "...the Other HNT". Go see what your fellow HNTers are up to, and leave them some comment lovin'! Quite NSFW this week.

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The latest adventure of the OsShirt was posted earlier this week. Go check up on the luckiest shirt on earth!

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Opera update -- As anticipated, the amount of work needing to be accomplished increases as the amount of time to do it in decreases. Stress levels aren't on overload yet, and some of the production stuff is actually coming together quite nicely. Of course, if money weren't a concern, things would fall into place much more easily. It's the final little pieces that need to come together that are a bit of a concern. But we're not terribly worried...

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In case anyone missed it at the top...Friday is my birthday! And I have a date!

Masters 'n Stuff

Remember how your mom always told you how important it was to always wear clean underwear, because you never know when you might be in an accident? Sorta the same thing at the Masters--you never know when the tournament leader might duck hook a tee shot 50 yards off course and land between you and the neighbor's place!

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I have to admit, I felt sorry for Rory McIlroy after that shot. Not because 98% of the world's golfers have done the exact same thing, but because none of us have had millions of people across the globe watching it as it happens!

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I was actually glad to see Tiger make a run of it on Friday. Just as happy to see him botch it up over the weekend. He really could have (should have?) won it again...

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"Delta Force" is on at the moment on Encore. It's like an addiction or something. Gotta watch it!

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I was doing some housecleaning on this site over the weekend, and spent a great deal of time on the blogpage I made up for the 3rd anniversary of HNT. I had forgotten how well it turned out, then dawned on me that many of you have probably never been over there to take a look. You should go do that now. See what/who got this whole thing started in the early days. There might even be a name or two in the sidebar that still HNT/OHNT on occasion! I certainly miss those people!

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Opera stuff really cranks up this week. Lots of phone calls and emails to deal with, schedules to confirm, problems to resolve. I hope I can get some sleep at night!

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Still haven't seen a great deal of Spring around here yet. Snow's all gone, and the temps are s l o w l y rising, but we haven't seen a real sunny day yet. But it feels like it might be just around the corner...

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In case you missed the hints in last week's HNT, Friday is my birthday. Just sayin'...

The Masters HNT

As mentioned at the first of the week...it's Masters week! Unless you're a golfer, you probably can't appreciate the magic that is found at Augusta National Golf Course. The history. The tradition. The unparalleled beauty that is found on no other course in the world.

If you've been around this site for any length of time, you know that golf has always been a major force in the family. Everyone in the family plays. From my grandparents all the way down to my nieces and nephew. Even the BILs all play. My dad's father was a pro; his uncles were state amateur champions. BIL2 was a teaching pro at the country club. Mom's parents built the only residence on that same course. It's in our blood.

Some portion of the Masters is generally played on my birthday, meaning that we'd do the family bday thing, and sit around the TV to watch the final round. Didn't matter who was in contention. Didn't matter what the weather was like outside. All available TVs were tuned in on the beauty and spectacle of the tournament. And we were all there. Until something happened in the early-90s...

One of the things that makes the Masters special is that most people will never be able to set foot on the course. There is a very small membership at the course, and while membership costs are kept private, you can bet that they are well into the 5-digit, if not 6-digit dollar figure. There are no tickets available to watch this tournament available to the public. It's got a waiting list that has been full since 1971 to get daily passes. They are coveted more than life itself. Corporations and sponsors get an allotment, but those are spoken for years in advance. There is a lottery for tickets to the practice rounds, but there are thousands upon thousands of entries for a very limited number of tickets, so chances are slim to none of ever getting one.

As mentioned above, BIL2 was the teaching pro at the country club here. Meaning he possessed a Class A PGA card. He caught wind of the fact that any PGA member with a Class A card simply has to walk up to the front gate, show their card and ID, and walk in. No tickets, no reservations, no advance warning--nothing! Park your car and walk in. That's it. Once he found out about this, our family ritual of watching the Masters together went out the window. He would meet up with other golf pro friends and spend the weekend (or longer) walking amongst the hills and pines and dogwoods and azaleas. We caught him on TV a couple of times over the years, and he always would call on Sunday, knowing we were all watching. I always told him that if he respected me as a BIL, he'd find a way to take me one year for my birthday present. The best I could ever get out of him was a new golf towel from the pro shop.

This year, Ray won't be with us to watch the Masters, but for different reasons. And I won't be getting a new towel for my birthday. But we'll get together and watch, and we'll tell stories about seeing him behind the 16th tee that one year, and we'll all get the winter blues shaken out and get excited about playing golf up here once again. It's going to be bittersweet. The least I could do is get out on the balcony and start working on my putting game again. It's the one part of my game that I think I outshined him...


And on a hopefully brighter note--the Masters has announced this week that a very limited number of daily passes to the Masters 2012 will be made available to the general public by lottery. Needless to say, I've already applied for a pair. Hopefully Ray has made nice with the golf gods and can send some luck my way. It would be so much cooler to walk in and buy my own towel from the pro shop!

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“We start to realize that there are anodynes in life that help us through the day. I don't care if it's a walk in the park, a look out the window, a good bubble bath - whatever. Even a meal you like, or a friend you want to call. That helps us solve all this stuff in our head.”

-Al Pacino

Stop by on Thursday to see who our Mystery bubbly babe is!
This week's bubbly butt belongs to suburbanslut. Go check out her pinkness!

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A good selection of HNTers over at "...the Other HNT", as usual! NSFW, but stop by when you get a chance and leave some comments!

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This month is going to kick my butt. Somewhat anticipated, but not to the degree that it's already happening. I'm the production manager of this upcoming opera, and I'm finding that many balls have been dropped. In some cases, not even picked up yet. Which means that I now get to be the hard ass. Kicking butt, chewing ass, cracking the whip. For some of you, that probably sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday night. For me, however...I've got my work cut out for me. I have no doubt that things will be fine, but more work than it needs to be at the moment. I'm sure I'll have all sorts of stories to tell!

In the style of Mr. Goldberg...

Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for a series of popular cartoons he created depicting complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways—now known as Rube Goldberg machines. In the spirit of Mr. Goldberg, take a look at this video. Some people just have WAY too much time on their hands! (by the way--I saw this on One Cool Thing a Day. A site that you really need to check out on a daily basis!)

Gosh, it's April!

It's Master's Week here in America. To me, this is the real beginning of Spring. The dogwood and azaleas are in bloom, and the most highly worshiped golf course in the world looks her best. Photos can never do her justice, but I love this one. The 18th fairway, coming up to the clubhouse. Not a view that is often seen, but still gives a glimpse of what the rest of the course has to offer. Hopefully I'll be able to get other pictures up this week. After a long, long winter, I'm now almost in Heaven!

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I saw the latest commercial for Foster Grant sunglasses (and now reading glasses!) featuring Raquel Welch. Good lord, the woman is 70 years old! Seventy! To compare...so are Al Pacino, Alex Trebek, Bobby Goldsboro (!!!), Faye Dunaway, Herbie Hancock (really?), James Brolin, Joan Baez, Mariette Hartley, Nancy Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Nick Nolte, Patrick Stewart, Pelé, Ringo Starr, Sam Waterston, Tom Jones, Valerie Harper and Wilson Pickett (only 70??). With the possible exceptions of James Brolin and Patrick Stewart, none of them has held up as well as Raquel!! This picture is from less than 6 months ago!

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I lamented the demise of Limewire a few months ago. A couple of you mentioned using BitTorrent or similar software. I'd known about BT, but was primarily disappointed in the sites that required some sort of membership--some paid, some free. A few days ago, I decided to investigate a little more. Should have done this long, long ago! Best of all, I found that there's plenty of free stuff out there! While I still prefer the way that Limewire allowed you to search for a single song/file, I've gone nuts with downloading gigabytes worth of full catalogs of a variety of things. My big scores so far: Chicago 22 - Stone of Sisyphus (an unreleased album by Chicago from the early 90s. Oh, hell. Just read that it was finally released in 2008 and I didn't know about it!), and 19GB of audio and video of the top DCI corps, going back as far as the mid-70s! Truly a geeky thing, thank you. Still a bit top-heavy and overkill for some things, but at the moment, I'm happy to put up with it!

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For the second time since the first of the year, I have to comment about the current political follies in the MT state legislature. Before I continue, let me just say that there's no way I could be a legislator. Or Congressman. Or even a city councilman. You just can't please everyone. But some of these people can't please anyone! The circus is thankfully winding down, though.

I generally don't consider myself as a member of either political party, but I have to say, the Republicans have wasted this entire session. Even Gucci would shake her head at what they've been trying to do! They claim that the "mandate of the people" was to create jobs and cut spending. With new-found majorities in both houses, they spent most of the first half of the session trying to pass ridiculous bills, trying to repeal the will of the people (medical marijuana) and make wholesale cuts to education, social services and state employees. They've been spouting off their "anti-federal" stance, rejecting a number of federal grants and programs not on their merits, but simply because they don't want the federal government intruding on what they perceive as "state's rights".

Then I read in today's paper that some of the same Montana lawmakers who deride government spending and voted to reject millions of dollars in federal money have received thousands of dollars of federal agricultural subsidies for their farm and ranch operations. And many of those lawmakers have voted to cut funding for programs that help the poorest Montanans, including food, prescription drug and energy bill assistance. The top five recipients accepted more than $600,000 in agricultural subsidies from 1995 to 2009, the report said. That’s more than the $564,000 an average Montana household earned through the same period, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. I'll be the first to admit that I know virtually nothing on how farm subsidies work, but they've been important in the past, and there's certainly misuse of it, like any other program. But it seems highly hypocritical that they can reject federal funds on one hand, while personally grabbing for more with the other. Can't wait to see how this plays out!

On a saner front--the Democratic governor has already told the Legislature that he plans to veto the Republican's budget as soon as it hits his desk, unless there's some significant changes to it before then. Whew! Hopefully he'll be as logical on a number of other bills that pass in front of him!

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And since I'm waxing poetic on politics... I've mentioned in the past that I listen to Rush (no, not them...) on the way to work every day. Only for the humor I find in his rants. And now I find myself listening to other conservative radio shows for the same reason. I rarely listen to music in my car anymore! While Rush is a blowhard, he's hardly the kookiest of the bunch. That title would have to be handed to Michael Savage. Have you ever listened to this guy? An absolute nutjob! Followed closely by Rush and Laura Ingraham. They all remind me of that kid in third grade who always had to be right, and would sink their teeth into a minute part of an argument, and chew it to death, just to make themselves appear right. These guys will grasp any straw and try to make it "newsworthy". It's a laugh a minute! Especially Savage. An extreme conservative who broadcasts out of San Francisco??? That's got to be tough!

Encore HNT

OK...one more. Really the last one.
Jameson, if you're curious.

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"The bigger the picture the more it drives
Images into the front of the mind
While the back dries up from the lack of ambition
To think about sex and social position

You have to look further if you want to see more
Then think a bit harder than you ever did before
If something is wrong and it makes you think twice
You've got the incentive to act
It’s your choice"
"Point of View" - Subhumans

This week's punk-ish Mystery Guest will be revealed Thursday afternoon. Be sure to come back and find out who she is!
Our MG this week is a newbie--Pocket RockettZ! Be sure to stop by and check her out. Sorta tame this week, but she's a cutie!

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Still getting some great pictures over at "...the Other HNT"! Stop by and check out your fellow HNTers this week. Most definitely NSFW!

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It appears that my previous post got some of you far more worked up than it did me! Glad to know you have my back though! If you haven't read it, please do. It's funny!

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For those of you who are curious...last week's symphony concert was a grand success! It all went quite smoothly, but it was a long five days. A week off and I start long hours producing our opera next month. "Madame Butterfly". Two performances. Lots of rehearsals. Sets/costumes/props from professional opera companies in Salt Lake and Tacoma. Throw in a couple of birthdays and my "procedure", and April is going to be incredibly busy. Can't wait!

I'm a Male. Or a Voyeur.

During 6+ years of blogging, I have received a remarkably small number of comments that I'd consider 'negative'. Sure, there's been some that have disagreed with something I posted, but even those have been few and far between. However, I got one this morning that just made me chuckle. And I didn't want you guys to miss out on it. This appeared in last week's HNT comment box...(my comments in red)

"Some pictures are inappropriate; some aren't. This is disgusting. (a woman's rear end is disgusting?) Hell, no wonder women are often considered sluts. Those who publish such are worse. (ok...I'm worse than a slut...) Sure, her ass is lovely (wait a minute...it's disgusting, but it's lovely? how does that work?) but what is your purpose? (the purpose is to showcase a fellow HNTer, hopefully drive traffic to their site if desired, and counteract my own HNT each week) How did I mistake your blog and put you in my Favorites list? (I have no idea. curious myself, as to what brought you here in the first place...) You must be male or voyeuristic. (guilty as charged, on both counts. obviously I'm male, or did you not look at the nose? and can't I be both?)

Of course, the commenter was signed as "Anonymous", as dissenters who prefer to hide from rebuttal usually sign themselves. If I really cared, I'd check my stats to figure out where they were from, but frankly, it's not worth my time. I do have to give props for proper grammar, spelling and punctuation. A rarity among anonymous commenters! And I wonder what pictures this person didn't consider "inappropriate".

I'm really curious, though, if they hit up OHNT!

Traffic Rant

I've had this post in draft for awhile, then I saw that Lightning Bug's Butt posted a similar one last week, so I figured it was time to hit that "publish" button.

Pardon me in advance for going off on a rant, as you know I'm loathe to do it here (pfffttt...), but over the past 10 days or so, I've witnessed all sorts of traffic behavior that makes me want to go hmmmm... I've often wished that there was some sort of gun-like device that I could aim at an offending driver's car and render it immobile. Until that driver was forced to take a battery of tests that proved their competency to drive (ignoring, of course, that they supposedly took one to get their license in the first place). In no particular order, things I've seen recently:

Running a red light - I'm not talking about sneaking through at the end of a yellow. I'm talking the full-blown, talking-on-the-cellphone, oblivious-to-the-color running through the light. It's good that the guy in the pickup truck saw her, because he would have caused some major damage to her...

Turn signals - Apparently some people don't quite grasp the concept. I'm not sure which is worse...not using them at all, or actually turning them on halfway through their turn. I can understand that some people don't use them at all times. I'm guilty of that myself. But when you're in traffic, and you're going to slow down to make a turn, using the turn signal could probably save your life! Or at least keep me from doing major damage to MY car! Which brings me to...

Stopping to make a right turn - What's up with that? Yes, if you're on a busy street and need to make a right hand turn, you'll need to slow down. But to come to a near stop on that busy street?? Unnecessary! Just ask the 5 or 6 cars who are backed up behind you! With luck, though, your turn signal is on. Speaking of nearly stopping...

California stops - I don't know if the rest of the country calls it this, but around here when a car slows down, but doesn't come to a "full and complete" stop at a stop sign, it's called a California stop. Just about everyone does it, especially at a non-busy intersection. But the extreme cases I've noticed a lot of recently are the ones who slow down barely enough to see if there's traffic within a half block or so. If not (or even if so) the speed through the stop sign. I'd love to plant myself on a couple of corners here in town with a video camera for a day or two...

Litter - I've ranted about this before. Where is it acceptable to toss a fast food bag out the window when you're through with it? Or a pop can? Or dumping cigarette butts from the ashtray? Sadly, the anti-littering PSAs of the 60s/70s only lasted one generation...

Lane changing - I sort of like this one. I love having some punk kid driving too fast, changing lanes constantly, thinking that it'll get him to his destination quicker somehow. If he's fortunate enough to be seen in my rear view mirror, I'm more than happy to keep him boxed in. I'm not above slowing down just ahead of the slow granny, being sure that there's not enough room for him to switch lanes. Or just ahead of the trucker who's more than happy to play the game too! And if I'm lucky enough to time it just right, to make it through an intersection before the light turns so that they're stuck at the light. It's the little things that bring a smile to my life...

Wrong way in the parking lot - If you're in a parking lot (big or small), and the parking is diagonal, and the cars are obviously parked in a manner that you couldn't possibly do, it means you're driving down the wrong way in the parking lot!! And rather than a.) avoid turning down that lane, or b.) extricating yourself as soon as possible, you decide to continue down the next lane in the same manner, just so you don't have to walk the extra 20' that a real parking spot would offer, then don't bitch at the person who backs into you because they didn't look for oncoming traffic, because YOU were driving down the lane the wrong way! I don't recall this being a huge problem in the past, but I've seen it happen maybe a dozen time since the beginning of the year. Even worse is when it happens in lots with big arrows painted on the pavement showing the flow of traffic...

Four-way stops - Another rant from the past. What is it about the concept of a four-way stop that women can't grasp??? Not all women, obviously, but I have to say that when I've come up against some sort of snafu, it is caused by at least one female driver. Literally. Every. Time. Four-way stop signs are a cost-effective way of controlling traffic in medium-traffic areas. If the drivers know what the hell to do!

Thank you for reading my rants. I feel somewhat better. Anyone have similar gripes?

The Nose HNT

Last of the series. Really wish I could have found my brandy snifter...

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DEFEATED BY LOVE

The sky was lit
by the splendor of the moon
So powerful
I fell to the ground

Your love
has made me sure

I am ready to forsake
this worldly life
and surrender to the magnificence
of your Being

- Rumi

During this week where we had a "super moon", this seemed appropriate. Our Mystery Guest is choosing not to reveal herself, however, more than she already has!

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Another good week over at "...the Other HNT" this week. Stop by and leave some lovin' for your fellow HNTers! NSFW, of course.

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Some other miscellaneous stuff...

Many of you took the quiz on the post below this one. I'm frankly surprised at some of the scores! Realistically, I figured there was maybe only on question that would have been tricky. You've proven that wrong! But what's gotten ME confused is exactly who has taken the quiz! If you look at the scoreboard, there's a couple of recognizable names, but after that...I'm thoroughly perplexed! At this moment, there's two people who have scored 8/10--Gucci (no suprise) and . .. ... (that's the "name" they entered--what can I say?). And there's E and Bubba. I have no idea who these people are, exactly. Oh, well. Still interesting to see what answers come up! If you haven't taken it yet, try your hand at it!

I haven't gotten an update regarding Rachel's grandson, Kaisey, and the custody case that's pending. I do know that she's still a bit short on the money end. If you haven't checked out the post, you should. Anything that you might be able to contribute would be appreciated!

Symphony weekend this week. Playing Mahler's 6th Symphony. A huge work (about 25% more musicians than normal), and we'll be busy from Thursday afternoon until after the concert on Saturday night. Once again, I'll be sparse around here.

My Quiz from QuizYourFriends.com

Since I've got nothing better to do, here's a quiz. It appears the last time I did something like this was about 5 years ago. Have at it...

I have to come up with a title?? 1) Color of my current vehicle? Blue Silver Maroon Red

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