This is our Hyundai Elantra two and a half years after we bought it. Today it has 92,330 miles (149,500km) on it and the warranty will run out at 100,000 miles. The car has been a gem, perfect every day we’ve driven it. The brakes are still factory brakes, we changed the battery, the tires, and windshield wipers along with the oil on a regular basis. On average we got 29.4 mpg, But now it is time to retire this car for another. Tomorrow’s photo of the day will be that of our new putt-putt.
Nirvana Pictures
These four screen captures are from a video Caroline and I shot back on November 18, 1989, at Club Ku-Ba in Hanau, Germany of the band Nirvana. Kurt Cobain was nice about giving us permission to tape the show, it only required a small trade. Two years after this event the band would be world-famous. I promised Nirvana that I wouldn’t bootleg the recording and so far have honored my word – not that I wouldn’t like to. I’ve asked the label who said do what I want with the images as I own them, but the music is owned by their publisher and I can’t do a thing with that. A silent video? Oh well. I’m posting this old image as some guys at a Nirvana Forum have asked for more screenshots. Don’t forget to click the image to see a larger version. By the way, that’s me down in the bottom right.
Another Year
On April 14th last year I posted a similar photo. The same cactus as featured today gave us three blooms last year. This cactus had fallen over in a wind storm recently but it keeps ongoing. Another of our cacti fell off our rear balcony last month and is now three new cacti. A large chunk of cactus we found in a parking lot last year is doing ok, we weren’t sure how well until Caroline transplanted it last week and found the entire bottom of the pot filled with roots. You may never appreciate how beautiful cacti are until you have lived in the desert and taken the time to familiarize yourself with how unique these plants are.
Peking Acrobats
This evening Caroline and I drove over to the Scottsdale Center of the Arts to see a performance of the Peking Acrobats. The show was great, but, unbelievably, it wasn’t sold out. Here in Arizona they only did one show; when we lived in Frankfurt, Germany, the show would have its own tent and would go on for an entire month. If you look closely at the photo you might notice that the girl center top and just below the dragon head is actually riding a unicycle on top of an umbrella supported by one of the male acrobats.
Snake! Badger Badger Badger
“Get in the truck!” “Yikes, not with that fat old sidewinder poised and ready to strike!” After I shot this picture I tackled the little vermin, grabbing him (I verified it was a him) I wrestled it into submission. Without anything else in frame for reference it might be hard to tell, but this rattler was more than 20 feet long and was fatter than a pot-bellied pig. After pinning it, I whipped out my Bowie knife (I typically have one strapped to my calf) and cut off the rattler, and skinned this critter right there in the street. Tomorrow I’ll show you the swell belt I’ll be making from its liberated skin, but tonight we’ll be eaten fried rattler – tastes like Tofurkey.