10,000!

It took three years and three months- more or less- but this here "Hare-Brained Express Tour" blog-deely-bob has just had its 10,000th visitor.. I know, I know the SiteMeter counter says 7767, but that's because when I switched to that counter from the old unlamented PastaPronto counter, we already had 2233 in the books.

So congratulations to the 7:51AM ET visitor from Quebec, Canada whose ISP is Look Communications. I think I know who you are, but post a comment and let the world know! Maybe there'll be a prize!

10,000. Next milestone: 25,000. At the current rate of growth that could happen this year!

No Country for the Old Locations.

The Oscars just ended. Early. That's unheard of, and I wondered what they would do with the extra 15 minutes. As it happens, they just went right to the local news, who made much of the fact that the night's big winner, No Country for Old Men, was filmed mostly right here around Las Vegas, New Mexico. Not Hollywood. Or anywhere else in California... or Arizona. Nor Utah or Nevada. You get the idea.

Being a big fan of the Coen brothers since their first major release, Blood Simple, I've put this Best Picture winner at the top of our Netflix Queue, so I'm ready for its March 11 DVD release.

You Want Fries With That?

How about a feather and a barf bag... You can't beat this meat. Hope they make it... Detroit needs some favorable press =)

Honey... Where's the Piggy Bank?

We're gonna be rich!

The Doors Are Open. A Crack.

It will be a while before we have a "Grand Opening", but the Shot On Site store is now open at Cafe Press. The storefront needs some work, but the page you all will be interested in is the linked page.

We're starting with a bumper sticker,

an old favorite in fact, but updated. Eventually there will be so much more. Apparel, ceramics, totes, notecards, etc, etc, etc.

All images on the work are by Dan, and all the designs spring from Margaret's fertile imagination.

Currently we have the bumper stickers in Salukis, Longdogs, Galgos, Greyhounds, Borzois, Whippets, Ridgebacks, and Basenjis, with more to come. Each is available in several color schemes as well. We're looking forward to seeing them on a lot of cars in the coming months' trials. Enjoy!! And Pass it on!!!

(The copyright watermark will not be on the product you buy).

UPDATE: We've added the storefront link to the linklist on the sidebar.

Return With Us Now to Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear...

Among the many reasons we love this part of the country.. the jacks, the green chiles, the dust.. we have to include these vestiges of the Wild, Wild West . Would this happen in Ann Arbor? Not on your life. (Watch the video if for no other reason than to check out news anchor, Nicole Brady. Hot!)

Super Tuesday "Humor"

Just a sidenote... the only part of me that would touch Ann Coulter's ass is the part at the end of my leg. No, the other end!

Unsafe in Any Decade.

Noooooooo!! No! A thousand times NO! Hasn't this asshole screwed up enough elections for two lifetimes? Please someone, put me out of my misery.. better yet, put him... wait, does he have Secret Service protection yet? I better let you all finish that particular sentence.
Not again.
Sob!

Milestone: The Best Ever.

I don't care if you don't agree with me. The greatest baseball radio play-by-play man- ever- turned 90 today. Don't believe me? Rent One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. What other baseball announcer could inspire a column like this one from the author of Tuesdays With Morrie?

Eight More Years!

This week's Onion story, plays on your sense of nostalgia. If this weren't deliberate satire, it would make a great true story. Dammit.

Might As Well Get a Greeter Job at WalMart.

It's bad enough these days, when anybody with a couple hundred bucks in their pockets can get a fair-to-decent digital SLR camera, and set up business as a "Pro-fesh-uh-nul Photographer". My advantage, of course is experience. Having the technology and camera speed and knowing how to use the technology and that speed are two different things. 9 times out of 10 I'm still going to get the better shot than the other guy. Or girl.

Fer example, I get communiques like this:

Dan
Are you going to shoot any ASFA trials in places where I tend to show up? J ___ ran pretty well at ___ over ___ _____, but the photographer's work was not very good. __ has a poor sense of timing, and ___ focus is sloppy. I want a good picture of J___ for her breeder
(Edited to avoid embarrassing anyone)

So, what me worry?, right?
But, as "the Coach" on ESPN's College Game Day is wont to say: "Not so fast, my friend". Casio is about to tilt the field of play way out of whack. Beginning in March, any granny, or cuzzin Bruce with a thousand bucks laying around can get the perfect shot, (s'long as they can aim the damned thing, that is). The magic machine they will do this with is below:




See what it says on the lens barrel? If you want to see what kind of resolution you can get at that kind of speed, check out the samples here. Pretty impressive. So impressive I might as well retire to a life of leisure and panhandling in Deming, New Mexico.


Just kidding.

Oregon: The New Georgia.

I didn't think it was possible to be this drunk without being dead. As the story notes, this is the second time in recent months in Oregon for record level plastered women. Gotta be all that rain and snow.

And That's Why They Call it "Jerky".

I was sure this story was going to take place somewhere in the South.

Crazy Horse Lives!

image ©Crazy Horse Memorial Fnd.

The Memorial, that is. With the help of a $5 million matching donation, from a South Dakota billionaire banker, the memorial, which promises much more drama than a bunch of dead presidents or Confederate generals, will probably be completed. Hopefully in our lifetime.

A Problem.

The return flight's not until the following Friday!

Shades of "Donald & Lydia". So much for doing our part for world peace.

The Bachelor

That's me. Took Margaret to Houston Intercontinental Airport.. (yeah, yeah, I know.. think Washington National.. or Idlewild).. to fly to spend Christmas with "the Georgia Reiniches". (Congratulations reader Cynthia!). Ordinarily, we'd both go, but with no events to attend in Georgia it made no sense to make the 900 mile trip there when we were going to be back here in Texas for year end.

So here I sit, at the Escapees Rainbow's End RV park in Livingston, TX. Just me, 5 dogs, and a cat. There's a big ham dinner on Christmas at the Activity Center, and maybe one of the single RV geezer ladies will hit on me. You never know.

Anyway, there's plenty to do around here. The Big Thicket National Preserve is not far, and Lake Livingston offers much to explore as well. I'll survive.

Oh! One more thing: We never got around to getting a Christmas card done this year. So don't be running breathlessly to your mailboxes every day. I should come up with something before the holiday.

If not, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody!

Wow! It's Like Christmas in.. in.. December!

Yes, that's brand spankin' new University of Michigan football coach, Rich Rodriguez... Godfather of the spread offense. And believe you me, boys and girls there's going to be some changes made... not just at Michigan, but the whole Big Ten; if they want to keep up, that is. This will represent a sea change, a paradigm shift, a... a... oh, I don't know- pick a superlative- in the conference. This might just be the guy to drag the Big Ten, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century. And I couldn't be more excited. We will soon be playing a very un-Big Ten brand of football!

When the rumors first surfaced last Friday, I thought it would be a great hire, but didn't think it would have a prayer. We talked about it at the lure trial this weekend, but no one thought, given the ridiculous way the coaching search had progressed over the last month, that Michigan would accomplish anything more than getting Rodriguez a healthy raise from West Virginia U. When I was told yesterday that Michigan actually pulled it off, I was ecstatic.

The same can't be said for the poor residents and students in West Virginia. For the second time in less than a year, Michigan has grabbed a high profile coach from West Virginia University. Last spring it was John Belein, the basketball coach. They're feeling abused down there, but it's been going on for over a hundred years. As it happens, Michigan's first great football coach, the legendary Fielding H. "Hurry Up" Yost, known best for his "point a minute" teams at the turn of the last century was born in Fairview, West Virginia in 1871, only a handful of miles away from Rodriguez' home town. Wow.

I even got an email from a well known veterinary orthopedic surgeon who operates out of Wheeling, WV and is a WVU grad, voicing his disappointment in Coach Rod, and wondering how he could leave the team in the lurch and not even coach the Fiesta Bowl game. But this is just how the game is played in the big time, like it or not.

And speaking of playing the game... if West Virginia had done it's part, and not gotten upset by the lowly Pittsburgh Panthers in the last game of the year, then "Coach Rod" doesn't have his secret meeting with the Michigan search team in Toledo, Ohio, and Les Miles is assembling his new coaching staff in Ann Arbor, and not preparing to put a whoopin' on Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game. Funny how things work out.

For now, we'll just have to remember, if we have to take a dog to WV for treatment, we'd better remove our "M" sticker from the rear window, and the "Big House Football" frame from around the license plate.

Just like I can't wait to get to New Mexico to run the dogs on jackrabbits, I can't wait for next Fall!

Eye Candy

Just ignore the message.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, with reports of wild turkey attacks, and wild turkey overpopulation, it's hard to believe that at one time they were nearly extinct in America.

Patrick gives us a comprehensive background, as usual, on how at least one big government program worked. Maybe too well.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey.

Wake Up America.

I don't live in California, and I don't ever intend to visit there again if this piece of excrement bill passes. Thanks to George Bell for creating this film, and HT to Margory Cohen for alerting us to its existence.