New Stuff at Cafe Press

We've added Scottish Deerhound and Italian Greyhound to the bumper sticker assortment. Here's the "tongue in cheek" IG version.. You get it, right?
Right now we've only got the IG in the bumper sticker, but we've got the deerhound in stickers and apparel items. Check 'em out!!

Not With a Bang, but a Whimper

Brian at MGoBlog has all the detailed analysis anyone could possibly need on the Pryor commitment earlier today.

Just as a side note... We're pretty sure we know where he's going, but are we really sure he knows where he's going... in his loaner Corvette?

"If everyone's here," he said, "University of Ohio State."

That's a MAC school, isn't it?

Well.... if he takes too long to figure out the name of the school, they'll just take the 'vette away and give it back to Maurice Clarett.

Jambalaya and the Crawfish Pie and the Filé Gumbo...

...And lure coursing at DebMar Farms near Bush, Lousiana. Nice field, huh? When we were here pre-Katrina, you couldn't see across this field. 14 double-trailer logging trucks, and innumerable bonfires later.. you have a pretty good lure coursing field.

We arrived on Thursday, and Friday morning drove to New Orleans for brunch at the Court of the Two Sisters. We stuffed ourselves at the buffet and the egg station (tip: creole seafood omelet.. excellent) to the extent that we didn't get back to the car in time and collected a pretty, orange parking ticket. $20. Expensive parking. Cheaper than a seat belt violation in New Mexico, however.

Saturday broke warm, windy, and humid. A tad uncomfortable, but a far cry from the snows of a week before in Edgewood.

We were visited by Matt Mullenix and family. Matt is a contributor at the Querencia blog, is an avid falconer, and owns a whippet, Rina, from our hosts this weekend, the Bahms. You can see Matt's take on the blogger "meet-up" here. And here they are:

Unfortunately, Matt and family had plans for the evening, so missed the crawfish boil, and the live band- which had its act cut short by a visit from the local authorities who said they could hear them "five miles away". All in all, a fun evening. A fun weekend. And here's a wildlife pic from the weekend:

Not the rare, Ivory Billed Woodpecker, but its relative, the Pileated Woodpecker. Caught it flying overhead on Saturday morning; undoubtedly looking for all those pines that used to be here.

Today, we went to Louisiana Veterinary Referral Clinic to have Rally checked out. She didn't check out well. The fixator was loose, and she had a lot of swelling around the tibia. She's sporting a new $500 look. Pics as soon as I take 'em.

Forward.. Into the Past.

Let me digress briefly. Yes... of course the WalMart gas station with the refueling alien was Roswell. We spent that night in Tatum, NM. The town has free full hookups behind the community center. A nice touch. Last time we stayed there.. a couple years ago.. it was Thanksgiving week. We got invited into the center for the town's annual potluck Thanksgiving dinner! We have a soft spot for Tatum.

The next night, we stayed here:

Where is it? Nearest major city will do. (Todd can't play).

Quickie.

Let's just say I was wrong about Louisiana... about having a good signal and getting caught up, I mean. So much to cover.... after so much gumbo, jambalaya, red beans & rice, bananas Foster, etc, etc All will now have to wait until we're back in Texas. I know Matt Mullenix is sitting on pins and needles waiting to see his "family portrait". ;-)

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

We hit the road yesterday morning, and drove the Express out of New Mexico for the first time in 2 months. Signal's been spotty, so not much new added here. When we get to Louisiana, I'll have time to catch up. Meanwhile, here's an easy little geo-quiz to keep you occupied. Where is this? Post your answers to "comments".

UPDATE: Had a correct answer already... took about 2 minutes, but I did say it was easy. I'll hold publishing comments for a few days, so others can post their- correct- responses.

Leave it to the Finns & Russians...

...to do Southern Rock right! Todd, this is for you ;-P



HT Steve Bodio, and/or whoever sent it to him, with info on the band at the link.

OK. Not Funny Any More.

This started about 7 last night. Just light flurries now, but the winter storm warning continues until 6PM tonight, with another 1-4 expected. And I have to drive in to the airport to get Margaret at 4. In one of those meteorological mysteries, there's virtually no snow in Albuquerque, just 30 miles away. The problem will be getting there.

All In the Family

It was damn cold when I got up this morning, but by the time we got up to Moriarty and got the dogs out of the vehicles, it was damn perfect weather. This would be the only chance we'd have for a -truncated- family shot. Maya (that loooong dog from a previous post) on the left, Zuni in the middle, and well, what readers of this blog don't recognize Sandia? The people? It matters? Okay, Steve Garth, and Chris Mason (without whom, neither Steve or I would have these fabulous Spanish Greyhounds).

I would be an irresponsible owner if I didn't post at least one picture of the group chasing a jack, with Sandia prominently in the lead...

... and a solo shot of Sandia's backside, showing some pretty decent muscling..

..and after Sandia had run two, I leashed him up so Maya and Zuni could get some decent photo time ;-) Sandia's run way more than his littermates at this point which, depending on my or Chris's point of view is either a good thing or a bad. Time will tell. Today was his last rabbit until next Fall at the earliest.. so I guess I could have let him chase a third one. It was a great day out with good people and promising dogs.

We headed back to Edgewood for breakfast at the East Mountain Grill... something I was looking forward to all week. The best huevos rancheros I've ever tasted.. with green chiles, of course, and good black beans. We had to wait for Steve a bit, because he was hung up in the parking lot on the phone with Jermaine Dupri. Oh, these movers and shakers I hang out with.

Heads Up

Three quick things:

Tomorrow, 3 or 4 of the Galgo littermates are going out hunting. I predict a post about that later in the day.

New slide show on the sidebar. Magdalena. People, dogs, landscapes, horses,..... and pigeons. Click on the show for the captioned version.

Last: I just chopped a buck off the price of the bumper stickers at the store. We realized there may be some price resistance to a five dollar bumper sticker... even a spectacular, vibrant, attention-getting, custom design that our Margaret sweated over for days! There's lamer stickers there for $6 and more. Be like the folks in the Netherlands: buy a bunch! (And Anke: we'll do something nice for you... kind of like price protection).

A Long Dog, But Not a Longdog.

This is Sandia's littermate, Maya, at an oval "fun run" on Saturday in Mountainair. Chris said she was long. No, I did not Photoshop in an extra section of body. She's looking good here, but lost interest about the time the lure began to turn. Sandia did pretty much the same thing, after first coming to visit the photographer :-)

Any and all dogs were welcome to run. Below is proof that 4 legs aren't required to get around the track, as long as there's plenty of heart.

Whose Ass They Gonna Kiss Now?

Sports journalism's ridiculous love affair with Green Bay Packers' quarterback, Brett Favre is finally going to end. Favre's agent has announced that the man I call the most overrated player in the history of sport, is going to retire. The media's lavish praise of the man who holds NFL records in interceptions... (yeah, touchdowns too... big deal) reminds me of the way the political media falls all over themselves to shower accolades on presidential candidate Barack Obama (all of which is warranted, by comparison.... Buckeye state: do something right for a change!). That Favre, he's no Tom Brady ;-) He wouldn't even have the one, lonely Super Bowl ring he owns if not for this former Wolverine, Heisman Trophy winner, and Super Bowl MVP...

So good bye, Brett. Go fishin', and don't let too many of your baitfish get "picked off".

Rhymes With "OH NO!!"

Morning in Edgewood, NM...

...Dogs had a good time, though.

Not like it was any big surprise.. it was predicted days ago. Took Sandia by surprise, though. He'd never seen snow before, and the driveway was quite slippery. And why isn't that rabbit running away?

10:30 AM.... it's all gone.

"You Puttin' Me On?"

Here you go. The best thing to do when you're blocking (as opposed to blogging), is to just put it aside for a couple of days, let it ferment, and suddenly it's all clear and ready to go. If my home page is any indication, there's a whole lot of blocking goin' on.... as I see nothing new for several days from Patrick at Terriermandotcom, nor Steve at Querencia, nor Christie at Dogged, nor even Brian at MGoBlog. In fact, the only new post is from Andrew at Regal Vizsla , and that's because he and his wife just returned from a most extraordinary "vacation". They're back in the Bronx, but their luggage is still somewhere in Mongolia. It'd be well worth your while to check it out.

But this post is supposed to be about my trip up to Magdalena to meet the above mentioned Steve Bodio... and the reason I was blocking, was that for two days I was trying to compose a post to impress the famous (in his fairly large circle) writer. Finally, last evening, it hit me: He's not going to try and impress me with his photography! ;-) So this post will include mostly what I do best: pictures. That first image up there isn't mine, but I'll get into that later.

I arrived in Magdalena about 9 am, and after a little searching, found Steve and Libby's house. First I met the dogs... the famous Tazis, from Kazakhstan, and Plummer, the English lurcher, (and Steve, correct me if I don't have it spelled correctly), and the little wired dachshund, whose name I forget... did I mention I'm terrible with names?... but remember that she's 13, and has her own set of steps up to the overstuffed easy chair.

UPDATE: Lily! Her name is Lily. Thanks Steve.

I've seen so many images on the Querencia blog of the interior of Steve and Libby's that it was hard to appreciate that this was my first visit. What I wasn't prepared for was the amount of art on display... pretty much on every exposed wall surface - nature and wildlife and other works. And sculpture on most horizontal surfaces. Other rooms contained books... oh so many books; but that was to be anticipated, and finally, the gun room. Steve has written extensively about vintage firearms, shotguns mostly. I was allowed to examine a late 1800's British shotgun, and it was interesting to see the fine detail work up close and not through the glass of a museum case.

But I came up here to run some jackrabbits with Sandia and the Tazis, so after a breakfast at the Magdalena Cafe & Steakhouse, Steve and Libby piled their pack into their vintage Ford pickup truck, and I followed back down Highway 60, to the Lee Ranch, where they have exclusive and unlimited access to a couple thousand acres of pretty good jackrabbit habitat.

That's what they said, anyway. The ranch is on a huge, flat plain between the mountains that overlook Socorro to the East, and the Magdalenas to the West.

It certainly looked like good rabbitat. (I made that up.) So off we hiked, paralleling the fence. My first hint that this might not go as well as expected was when Steve said, "we've usually jumped a couple by the time we've gotten to this point". I should mention that it was now close to noon on the warmest day in this neck of the woods since October... if it wasn't 70, it was very close.

We changed direction, and headed north for a few hundred yards, then veered back toward the vehicles. Finally, I spotted a jack, but it had jumped over a hundred yards away, and was headed north. Sandia saw it, but I had him on a slip, and didn't release him. Steve's dogs didn't see it until it was almost out of sight. That's all they needed; away they went. I held Sandia. They came back fairly quickly, and we walked back to the cars, and the big stock tank which is a regular ritual for the Tazis, and especially Plummer, who's getting on in years and heats up pretty easily.

I finally let Sandia go so I could shoot some pictures. He wasn't much interested in the stock tank.

Back in the vehicles again, we returned to Magdalena to plan the rest of the day. I had to get back to Socorro and the rest of the herd who, as it turned out, Steve and Libby wanted to meet, so the plan was hatched. After Steve fed the pigeons, we'd go to the RV park, walk the dogs, (it's always good to have dog walk helpers!), and then we'd go to lunch at El Sombrero. That's when the day got interesting.

Steve offered to drive so we wouldn't need two vehicles. I got "shotgun", and Libby got the middle, and we headed for the restaurant at the north end of Socorro. I had noticed, when we were still in Magdalena, that Steve didn't bother with his seat belt, which is probably normal for the denizens of that little, out of the way village. He also wasn't using it as he drove to the restaurant. I didn't bother with mine either, so when the Socorro cop passed us, I wondered: do they enforce the seat belt law in Socorro? Maybe I should slip it over my shoulder anyway.

"WHOooop -WHOooop!!"

Guess enforcement's high on their list in Socorro. Be it safety or Revenue Enhancement, Steve's donating fifty bucks to the town coffers.

That little detour out of the way, and it was on to El Sombrero, or more correctly, Frank and Lupe's El Sombrero . We'd been told by a local friend that this place wasn't any good. Steve and Libby say it's the best place in Socorro for Mexican food. (The reviews at the link are, uh... equally mixed). Personally, my lunch was excellent, but if I'd read the menu description of the stuffed sopapilla completely, I'd have noticed the potatoes stuffed in there along with the excellent carne adovada. Add the rice and the refried beans, and we were a little heavy on the starch.

Lunch conversation, covered a range of topics from politics (we agreed to disagree), and food, and complaints about the Socorro police. It was probably the most fulfilling day of the entire 6+ weeks I've spent in New Mexico. I truly wish Margaret had been here, too.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Here's Steve, Libby, and the hounds in front of their casa. (That doxie's around there somewhere, too). Like I said, I'm lousy with names, but will fill them in if Steve sends them. Looking forward to his thoughts on the day.

I'll probably put up a new slideshow next door with highlights from this trip, and maybe the whole New Mexico trip.


;-)

Blocking & Tackling.

This post is not about football. Nor is it about mechanical physics. Nope, it's about my brain blocking how I want to write up the past 48 hours. Right now, I need to get ready to drive from Socorro to Edgewood, NM. So I'll tackle it when I get settled in there. In case you were wondering....

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!

Your Vote Matters. Really.

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

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.

One Last Time... With Feeling.

L-R: Romy, Ashley, Fanny, Jackrabbit, Sandia

Went out today with Dutch and Beth Anne. It's our last hunt in Deming for this year. I'll be leaving on Wednesday, and will spend an evening in Socorro. Thursday morning I'll drive up to 6000+ feet to meet writer/blogger/falconer/houndman, Steve Bodio, at his home in Magdalena. And while this picture shows the last hunt in Deming, we're far from done. We'll go out with Steve and his Tazis. Then we'll move on up to Edgewood and let Chris Mason see her "kid" for the first time since we took him away last August.... then we'll go out so he can kick his brothers' and sisters' asses ;-) Then, if I'm lucky, Margaret will decide she's had enough of Michigan Winter and I can pick her up at the Albuquerque airport Sunport (?) before the ESCA lure coursing trial. On March 10, we will finally leave New Mexico. Next up, Louisiana. Crawdads here we come.

But before I get ahead of myself, I will do a review of Deming, for all of you who like to keep up with restaurants that we visit around the country, and all that stuff. That will be in a future post. For now, enjoy the last dusty rabbit chase picture from Southern New Mexico.

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 =)