Scanners! Gut Wrenching.

Since this metal man was photographed on the Notre Dame campus many years ago, perhaps he is bemoaning a tough Irish loss. I wonder if he's still there?

Perfectly Executed 180° Turnaround.

We had one of those runs the other day that tend to get more spectacular, the more time separates it from the actual event.

Dutch brought along "the incorrigible Bob Schulz" (Gazehounds & Coursing, pg 142), and Bob came with his truck box full of young, old, black, red, and silver staghounds. I brought the girls, Willow and Ashley. Dutch's gang included Phyllis, and Stretch (his new hotblood). We were at the big, open field that has produced some very photogenic runs already this season.

We had a couple of 30-second sprints that ended with a spectacular, diving grab by Willow that ended with her muzzle on the hare on the ground and her back legs straight up in the air in the first, and Dutch's Phyllis making the most of the second.

Now, Dutch has a bad back, which has curtailed a lot of his walking in the field over the last month or so. He generally walks with us as far from the trucks as he feels comfortable getting, then waits while the rest of us make big loops in the desert, looking for more jacks to chase. He then watches with his binoculars, and kind of acts like a de-facto "judge". It was during this "resting" period that the third jack jumped. Immediately in front of me, as it turned out, and it wasn't the most fortuitous of starts, as there were no less than two hounds right in front of him.. in his path of travel.

Somehow, the hare negotiated that obstacle, with a hard left turn that left the dogs with their jaws snapping at air.  And the race was on.

When you hear the term, "survival of the fittest"... this is the kind of critter they're usually talking about.  For nearly three minutes- more than a mile and a half- the hounds chased, and turned this jack until they ran out of our site into the draw to our south.  Even then we knew the dogs were still turning it, because we could see periodic puffs of dust arise from the horizon.  Finally the dust stopped, and we knew that either the jack had been caught, or it had made its escape into the heavy creosote bush field across the draw.  It was several more minutes before the very knackered pack of hounds made it back to the trucks. Bloodless.

Later, when we were reliving, and embellishing the tale of the third race over steak and enchiladas at The Campos' Cafe, Dutch remarked that there was one time when he saw Phyllis running right next to the hare, and was looking right at it, when it doubled back, and gained some serious separation from its pursuers.  He thought that was pretty spectacular.

When reviewing my images from the day, I was very happy to find the exact sequence that so impressed Dutch.  And so, without further ado-

We can only hope that this hare, having survived the best our hounds could throw at it, survives further attacks from coyotes, and golden eagles, and bobcats, and other predators, to procreate, and pass these amazing survival skills on so we can continue to have  exciting chases for years to come.  Here's looking at you, kid.

Scanners! Weather Ball Red....

The title of this post should be more than ample hint as to the location of this town setting from my college days in 1974. My feeling is that many, if not most of the buildings in this shot are long gone.

Scanners! After The Flood.

Don't worry, kids. I went outside the immediate family for this one. I'm thinking I need to photoshop in some water snakes.

"Tech.": Combination of Picnik for the color and "HDR" effect, and ACDSee filters for the water and "mirror" effects.

Scanners! I've Had My Moments, Too.

Was probably listening to Deep Purple..

Scanners! Before the Scourge of Pantyhose!

More 1960's reality enhanced.

I'm running out of black and white prints of  Mar .... this model. Not to worry.

You Can Now Follow This Blog On Facebook.

If you're like me, you spend an inordinate amount of time on Facebook, making it difficult to surf around and read the blogs you enjoy. I've now established a Facebook page for Hare-Brained at Home. When I post something new here, I'll post the link on the Facebook page. If you follow the above link, and "Like" the page, you will then get updates in your Facebook news feed. It couldn't be easier.

Go there. Now.

It's Become A Holiday Tradition!

Ladies & Gentlemen, Boys & Girls, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Trans-gender- For your entertainment and amusement, presenting the undisputed Greatest Christmas Song Ever:


Enjoy the Holiday Season and be safe everybody!

Darwin's Mountaineers.

A follow up article in the local paper goes into more detail on the four "hikers" who had to be rescued from the top of the mountains last week, but it fails to make them appear any... brighter.

Take a look at this picture:

The arrow at the bottom of the mountain is the parking lot and picnic area. The arrow at the top is Florida Peak, (partially obscured by clouds in this 2009 image), some 2500' above the lot, with no trails between the two. On a day when the sun sets around 5:30, who in their right mind decides to make a climb (not a hike) at 2 O'Clock? They may be in college, but they're obviously not math majors.

Fencing.

One of the most important abilities a hound should have when hunting jackrabbits on rangeland, aside from the obvious talent for running at high speed, turning at said speed, and catching the damn thing, is the ability to fence. No, I'm not talking about grabbing the rapier and challenging the hare to a duel. I mean the ability to clear the barbed wire without tearing up their back, and to do it at speed so as to not lose ground to the hare.

Willow demonstrates:


Make gif

She learned the hard way. On her first crossing last winter, she tried to go through the middle strands. The technique can be trained with the simple use of bait and a leash or long rope and, of course, a fence. One without barbs would be ideal, but not necessary. Two people make it easier, too, but again it's not necessary.

With the dog on one side of the fence, and you, with your bait (food, cookies, etc) on the other side, run the lead under the bottom strand of the fence and call the dog. Stop him if he tries to go come through any part of the fence except the bottom strand of wire. When he does it right, give him the treat and praise him. Do it a couple of times a day, without being excessive, then start doing it without the leash or rope. Soon you'll have a hound who can dive under the wire after the hare without even appearing to slow down. The best dogs at this are a wonder to observe.

Have fun, keep your dogs safe, and every day will feel like today was for us

Scanners! Margaret. And Women Who Are Not Margaret.

I have a lot... a lot... of black and white images and negatives, and recently I've begun to manipulate them using the tools available on an editing website called Picknik. I may be on to something here, which I'll call selective coloring. It's easy, but mostly it's fun! I see no reason I couldn't also manipulate color images as well, once I've converted them to black and white. I can create my own reality. In fact, the Hooters model on the Harley, below, began as a color print.

A quick note on the image above. My memory is sharp! 45 years or so after I took that picture, I still nailed the correct color of the dress! Margaret confirmed it. Is that love, or what? And the cigarette? Everybody did it then. Don't judge.

The inset is the original black and white image, which was taken with an Argus 75 and (now defunct) 620 roll film. Also, off topic but interesting, is that the clothing Margaret is wearing in this and the previous Scanners! images, were made by her, and that includes the swimsuits. She was, and is, hell on a sewing machine! Now if I could only get her to move the buttons on all my trousers.

Following are more selectively colored images of women who are not Margaret. If I can build a big enough collection, maybe we'll work on prints or notecards.

I'm A Roadrunner, Baby...!

...and I sound like this. Not like this.

He was on the front porch! I've been trying to get a picture of one of these shy suckers on the run for, like, years. Hallelujah!

Scanners! Vogue.

Living it up in high fashion Vogue-style in Millington, TN, around 1966. If my memory is correct, (and I know that it is), there was also Playboy, but alas, those are gone like so much dust in the wind, (and you wouldn't have seen them here, anyway). I still get that look, and it still drives me mad.

Men: Take Care of Your Walnut!

A PSA for PSA's.

Seriously. Eat right, exercise, and do all you can to avoid the dreaded Slide #10

One Magical Night in December, 2010

Last night was a night to stay up and enjoy (and capture) the show.

Soundtrack provided by the Paul Winter Consort and their iconic composition, "Icarus". It would not surprise me at all if the Consort was playing at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York last night, as they do most Winter Solstices.

Enjoy.

UPDATE Dec 22: I was close. I just checked the schedule, and the Winter Consort played the cathedral on the 16th, 17th, and 18th. But I also found a free music download while on the website!

Scanners Plus! O Tannenbaum.

Yes.. it's a Shoe Tree. Don't strain your eyes, the original image will appear in its full size in a future post. Meanwhile- the best to you in this holiday season!

Scanners! I Think She Named It "Danny"

Polaroid. The digital camera of the 60's.

A Holiday Message from Ricky Gervais: Why I'm An Atheist - Speakeasy - WSJ

A Holiday Message from Ricky Gervais: Why I'm An Atheist - Speakeasy - WSJ:

.... It’s when belief starts infringing on other people’s rights when it worries me. I would never deny your right to believe in a god. I would just rather you didn’t kill people who believe in a different god, say. Or stone someone to death because your rulebook says their sexuality is immoral. It’s strange that anyone who believes that an all-powerful all-knowing, omniscient power responsible for everything that happens, would also want to judge and punish people for what they are. From what I can gather, pretty much the worst type of person you can be is an atheist. The first four commandments hammer this point home. There is a god, I’m him, no one else is, you’re not as good and don’t forget it. (Don’t murder anyone, doesn’t get a mention till number 6.)...

...But what are atheists really being accused of?

The dictionary definition of God is “a supernatural creator and overseer of the universe.” Included in this definition are all deities, goddesses and supernatural beings. Since the beginning of recorded history, which is defined by the invention of writing by the Sumerians around 6,000 years ago, historians have cataloged over 3700 supernatural beings, of which 2870 can be considered deities.

So next time someone tells me they believe in God, I’ll say “Oh which one? Zeus? Hades? Jupiter? Mars? Odin? Thor? Krishna? Vishnu? Ra?…” If they say “Just God. I only believe in the one God,” I’ll point out that they are nearly as atheistic as me. I don’t believe in 2,870 gods, and they don’t believe in 2,869.

RTWT, but if you don't, the gist of the entire essay is distilled in the final two sentences: "You won’t burn in hell. But be nice anyway."

Blocked Memories

Hey, check this out! Sandia is there, (and also hangs on my office wall). Very cool stuff from Margaret's future DIL!

Darwin Award Candidates, Deming NM & Points (Far) East.

Yeah. Looks like a good place to hike when inclement weather is approaching, and you're wearing shorts and T-Shirts. Maybe you'd go up on "Lover's Leap", huh?. Then use your cell phone when you're completely out of your element and experience. Duh.