Triumph of the squirrels

Triumph of the squirrels: Squirrels EAT a large DOG? "These are the behaviors that create a sputtering Donald Duck-like frenzy in people as they reach for their shotguns. But they should stop. They need a license ($20), they need to wait for the season opener (Sept. 15) and they need to remember that it's illegal in most cities to fire a gun. (Satisfy all the requirements, however, and Squirrels in Cream Sauce and other fine recipes are at (www.startribune.com/lifestyle.)"

That may be best. If these cute, smart-aleck, determined little rodents ever get organized, it could be our worst nightmare. According to a 2005 BBC report, a stray dog in the Russian village of Lazo was barking at squirrels in a tree when a number of them suddenly descended and attacked, killing the dog. The squirrels ran off, some toting pieces of flesh, the report said. The reason the squirrels snapped was the dearth of pine cones that year. They were hungry.

Squirrels take over the world in 2050!!!

Hey big spender, $210,000 drinks bill | Oddly Enough | Reuters

Hey big spender, $210,000 drinks bill | Oddly Enough | Reuters: "LONDON (Reuters) - A Middle Eastern businessman spent over $210,000 in a five-hour, champagne- and vodka-fuelled spending spree in a London nightclub at the weekend.

Fraser Donaldson, a representative of Crystal, a club favored by Prince Harry, said in 20 years working in the industry it was the biggest bill he'd seen from one customer.

The unnamed big spender entered Crystal at midnight on Saturday with friends -- nine women and eight men -- and ordered a $50 bottle of white wine, a spokesman for the club said.

But before long he was ordering magnums of Dom Perignon at $1,400 each and then called for a Methuselah -- eight bottles in one -- of Cristal Champagne at $60,000 and the party spread.

The festivities ended with a 'night cap' consisting of a Methuselah of Belvedere vodka, which cost $2,800. 'He basically just said, 'keep the drinks flowing,'' the club spokesman said.

When the party left at 5 a.m., the bill was 81,471.50 pounds, which with tax and service added amounted to 105,805.28 pounds -- $218,000. It included the cost of six Coca-Colas.

Car chase ends, but not after suspect stops for cigs | LOCAL NEWS | Phoenix News| azfamily - KTVK| News for Phoenix, Arizona

Car chase ends, but not after suspect stops for cigs | LOCAL NEWS | Phoenix News| azfamily - KTVK| News for Phoenix, Arizona: "One guy was in a hurry today, dangerously weaving through traffic all over north central Phoenix. He really wanted to get away from police, but apparently he wanted a cigarette even more.

Your foot is not the best way to stop a truck but then again the alleged robber was in a hurry.

Jessi Singh was behind the counter when this still unidentified man came running into his store. He was running because police say he used a note to rob a Bank of America at 44th Street and Thomas at about 10 a.m.

Police followed the truck to an address on the 2100 block of East Yale, but before they could move in the suspect took off at high speed. Marked police units backed off and let the helicopter take over the pursuit and that's when the suspect did something very curious. He ran into an AM/PM for his nicotine fix.

“Pack of cigarettes, pack of cigarettes,” the alleged suspect said. “Quick, pack of cigarettes. Here here's 20 bucks. Give me a pack of cigarettes. Please, matches need some matches. Keep the change. Come on. Thank you.”

He was in there for only about 20seconds and took off with a squeal of the tires.

“Then I saw a helicopter and police cars an"

The suspect then returned to the area where police first spotted him and officers were able to knock out a tire with stop sticks.

That's when the suspect gave up and police arrested him, finding cash and an unopened pack of cigarettes inside the truck.

After all that he didn't even get to smoke a cig!

Rolling Stone : The Worst President in History?

Rolling Stone : The Worst President in History?: "George W. Bush is in serious contention for the title of worst ever. In early 2004, an informal survey of 415 historians conducted by the nonpartisan History News Network found that eighty-one percent considered the Bush administration a 'failure.' Among those who called Bush a success, many gave the president high marks only for his ability to mobilize public support and get Congress to go along with what one historian called the administration's 'pursuit of disastrous policies.' In fact, roughly one in ten of those who called Bush a success was being facetious, rating him only as the best president since Bill Clinton -- a category in which Bush is the only contestant."

Ok one last (and very funny) Harry Potter themed story. Here is the best (non)spoiler I have found... enjoy!

Harry Potter spoilers:

[From page 51 of the scanned pirate copy]

Harry and Ron stepped through the painting into the Gryffindor common room in some consternation. "I hope Hermione hasn't passed us completely," Ron said. "I can't believe she took summer classes."

"I would have if I could," Harry said, "but I didn't have the O.W.L.s to manage it. Remember, her last letter said she was going to go on to post-graduate work." They waved to familiar friends and began introducing themselves to the new students. Quite a lot of the younger students kept passing them and then looking back at Harry and stopping dead in surprise.

After eight years, Harry was used to being stared at. The dark Lord Voldemort's attack on him as a baby left him a distinctive lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, and the reputation of being the only person Voldemort couldn't kill outright did the rest, with some help from the reputation Harry had built for himself since. After discovering he was a wizard and could attend Hogwart's School of Wizardry, Harry had gotten wind of several of Voldemort's evil schemes and had thwarted them all. He had faced death, humiliation, basilisks, dragons, evil wizards, malicious spells, foul odors, the undead, and even the Inland Revenue and remained unscathed. Oddly enough, Voldemort's schemes seemed to be losing oomph, as if he could no longer pull together enough power to get a really good evil plan together. The last attempt had been to place Harry on a chain letter mailing list.

As more and more students kept staring at him, Harry began to realize that there was a different class of attention. He recognized the star-gazers, the well-wishers, the groupies, the jealous, and the envious, but he kept noticing female students looking at him in a funny way, almost as if they were hungry. One pretty blonde student even went so far as to lick her lips and use her hand to smooth out the front of her robe, although Harry hadn't noticed any wrinkles.

Ron noticed it as well. "Cor, Harry! You outta be able to get some serious schtank this year! And we're finally of legal age to learn Sex Magic, so you'll have an excuse and everything."

"But why are they staring at me? Why not both of us?" Harry asked, blushing furiously.

"Well, look at you. You've been playing tournament-class Quidditch for eight years, you're in fantastic shape, you've got the scar (chicks love scars, Harry), and Daniel Radcliffe turned out to be a hunk."

"What?"

"Look, there's Hermione!"

Hermione Granger was standing at the bottom of the steps to the girls' dormitories. Harry and Ron dashed towards her and then stopped dead. Hermione had changed over the summer. The difference was so great that Harry was forced to realize that he hadn't really been paying attention the last few years. The mass of curly brown hair was still there, but it was arranged in an artful way to frame her face and curl over her shoulders. Her face was more angular, with high cheekbones and clear milky skin. The prominent front teeth were still there, but they only served to push her lips forward in a very interesting manner, making her look as if she was always just about to eat a strawberry. Her robes had changed as well; they fit quite a bit better, for one, and the neckline seemed much more fascinating than before. She had a thin leather belt around her waist, from which hung several small silk pouches and which incidentally accentuated her lush curves. Heavily orchestrated music began playing. "Hi Harry, hi Ron!" she called, and went to hug them both.

"Um, cough, wow, Hermione, you're looking really, um, good," Ron blurted out. Harry just nodded and concentrated on trying to breathe normally.

She preened. "Thanks! I've been studying up on Sex Magic, it's dead easy. Did you get all the stuff on your list for this year?"

Both teens looked down and nodded. "Yes, " said Harry glumly. "We had to go to a different section of Dragon's Alley for it, some shop called Lord Chumley's Marital Accoutrements and Novelties for the Gentleman. I don't even know what half of this stuff does! And a couple of the items sort of look like wands, but I tried swishing them about and almost got arrested!"

"You'll see. The girls get a different list, I got everything at Victoria's Sorceries. I'll show you later, if you're good" she said, not noticing the way both Harry and Ron's eyes widened, "but you've both got to get to "Beginning Erotimancy". I'll see you after." She turned and walked up the stairs with a wiggle.

Ron looked at Harry. "We're in for it, aren't we?"

The two boys ran into Professor Winkledoof's class just on time. This class was all boys, for some reason, and Harry's heart fell as he spotted Draco Malfoy and his goons on the other side of the room. The professor, a short, stocky man with questionable hygiene, was busily making extremely detailed chalk drawings on the blackboard. The drawings appeared to be of some sort of intricate plumbing system, and resmebled slightly the more primitive sketchings Harry had seen in the boy's lavatory. There were several posters hanging about the walls, with mottoes like "Safe Spelling", and "Wrap It Before You Wave It". There was what appeared to be an inflatable witch, a small trampoline and a spool of thick rope over by the closet, and there was a large wooden trunk labeled "Toys" next to Professor Winkledoof's desk, which was almost invisible under the stacks of paintings and etchings. Harry and Ron looked down; at each student's place was a brass spigot maked "Lube", a soft towel, and a small parcel of square foil packages labeled "Lord Chumley's Preventatives - Ribbed". Some of the boys had apparantly already opened theirs and there was a spirited balloon fight going on in the back of the room.

Professor Winkledoof finished his drawing, turned to face the class, scratched himself, and began. "Right! Welcome to 'Beginning Erotimancy'! We'll jump right in to give you a taste, right? Wave yer wand over your goodies and say 'Phallus erectus'!"

Harry looked around to get an idea of what "goodies" was supposed to mean, and then, blushing, he followed instructions. "Phallus erectus!" he commanded. Instantly he felt a strange warmth, which turned into an abrupt and slightly painful swelling and tightening beneath his robes. At first he thought he had inadvertantly transformed part of himself into a snake, but talking to it had no effect. Next to him he could hear Ron waving his wand frantically and mumbling, "Please, dammit, c'mon, don't do this to me..." The boys around him were having varying degrees of success; Harry wasn't surprised to see Malfoy sitting tall in his chair with a smug expression.

Class ended early after an explosion came from the back of the room and Neville's high-pitched shrieks filled the air. "That explosion was a bit... premature, wasn't it Potter?" laughed Malfoy.

The next class was with Professor Snapes ("Aphrodisiacs and their Abuses") but they had more than a half-hour to spend so they went back to the Gryffindor rooms. Harry was still puzzling over what he had seen. "What were those diagrams on the board? You think he's trying to sneak into the pipes of Hogwarts to do some dastardly deed? Maybe there's underground caverns besides the Chamber of Secrets^TM, that diagram looked kind of like the opening of a hidden cavern," Harry said. Ron looked at him with an odd expression.

"You didn't get out much at the Dursley's, did you Harry?"

"No, you know that. What's that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing, nothing," Ron said hurridly, "only you might want to, you know, check out the library for some extra biology studying this term."

"Now you sound like Hermione."

"Yeah, and about Hermione. You know how she loves showing off how much she knows about magic, right? I'm thinking that..."

They said the password ("doggin bat!") and entered the common room. Hermione was sitting in one of the high-backed armchairs in front of the fire, studying an odd-looking device. "What sort of magic wand's that, then?" asked Ron.

Hermione smiled a cat smile. "A Hitachi," she said. "Why are you chaps back so early? Finish too soon?"

"No, but Neville did," Harry said. "Madam Pomfrey looked at him and shook her head, said something about cold compresses."

Ron cleared his throat. "Um, Hermione, I was wondering... I mean, it seems that Harry here is a bit, um, lacking, in certain basic instruction, and I was wondering if you could help him out. And me too, if you're not too tired." Hermione seemed delighted, and stood up with a flourish.

"I'd be happy to," she said. She looked closer at Harry, paying particular attention to the chest and arm muscles developed through years of Quidditch. "I'd be very happy to. The only person I had to study with over the summer was Colin, and he wears out too quickly." She reached into one of her pouches, grumbled, and then reached into a diferent one. "Shouldn't have been there... okay, this is the easiest one to master, it's called Attraction. With a small effort you can cast a spell on a person and make them think you're the sexiest thing they've ever seen." She threw a small handful of glittering dust in the air, waved her Hitachi through it and chanted, "Glamourus Meus!"

Suddenly, in Harry's eyes Hermione was stunning. She had already been attractive; now she was maddening. He could feel the snake tranformation in his robes again as he lurched towards her, determined to get her and... and... well, he didn't know exactly what yet, but whatever it was he was going to do it really hard. Hermione smiled at him. "See? Easy. And you turn it off with just a snap of the wand." She jerked her wand between them and down, but it had no effect. She looked at it and ducked around the back of the chair as Harry stepped forward. "Sorry, I'll try that again." She did; it didn't.

Hermione looked up with resigned good humor and held her arms out. Oh, well, something went wrong, and now she had to deal with a lust-crazed Harry Potter. No worries, she had hoped for that anyway, just on somewhat more equal terms. Maybe this way they could get the awkwardness out of the way and then they could... Behind Harry's quivering body she could hear that all the conversation in the room had stopped, and low moans could be heard. She stood up and peeked over the back of the chair.

Everyone in the room was looking at her like a starving dog looking at a steak, and they were all walking stiffly towards the chair. Even some of the figures in the paintings seemed to be trying to climb out of the frames. The fat woman painting slid aside and more boys (and a few girls) from the other Houses came in, followed by several professors. Through the window she could hear Hagrid's great booming voice, "Aragh! I've gone and raised the biggest beast of them all! C'mon, me lad, let's put you to good use!" Even the male owls in the room seemed alert and ready to swoop, and Ron's owl Pidwigeon was scrabbling at the bottom of her robes, trying to find a way in.

Frantically she tore through her pouches, only to find that all of her other powders had been replaced with sugar packets. Someone had sabotaged her spell! And now it looked as though she was going to suffer for it, unless her summer lessons could help her triumph over 65 males (and a few females). She took a deep breath, snapped her head to the side to crack her neck, and stepped forward...

Digg - Harry Potter Leaker Forgets to Remove EXIF Data from Photos. [PIC]: "Harry Potter Leaker Forgets to Remove EXIF Data from Photos. [PIC]

The guy who took pictures of the stolen harry potter book and put them on the net forgot to remove the EXIF data which contains the serial number of his Canon camera which means he can be traced back."

Anyone want to buy a camera real cheap?

So folks are these the last pages of Deathly Hallows (Last Harry Potter Book)?? I don't know but there are photos and more but then again there are dozens of people who say they have gotten hold of copies in advance, and they all contradict each other, go figure!

If you want the spoilers from the same source they are here!

Harry potter...

A new report analyses the measures taken by UK Potter publisher Bloomsbury to keep Deathly Hallows unspoiled.

It is from Tuesday, however, when copies begin to be sent out to retailers, that the most crucial part of the security operation will come into effect.

The trucks Bloomsbury will use are fitted with satellite tracking systems costing up to £1,000 pounds, which will reveal whether any of the vehicles deviate from their intended route. The books are on sealed pallets fitted with alarms to prevent tampering.

A spokesman for Bloomsbury said: “we have a litigation specialist poised 24 hours a day, seven days a week to deal with any breaches. It is our intention to enforce the embargo vigorously and seek an immediate injunction if required.” While experts put the cost of all this at £10 million, the lengths to which publishers have gone are not surprising.

Went and saw the latest movie last night, I like it a lot. It was darker but not as dark as some have made it out to be. Now I enjoy Harry Potter but I have never read one of the books and I'm thinking that maybe I should read Half Blood Prince just so I'll know what the hell everyone is talking about when the rampage over Deathly Hallows happens. My Spoiler prediction is that Harry will not die, but will sacrifice his magic to defeat V... (he who should not be named because I don't know how to spell it and really don't care to look it up!) becoming a Muggle of sort?

Oregon man flies 193 miles on a lawn chair and 105 balloons

Oregon man flies 193 miles on a lawn chair and 105 balloons: "Oregon man flies 193 miles on a lawn chair and 105 balloons"

I'm thinking this will not catch on as a way to beat the airlines!

Happy 4th of July!

Our cabin and some of the fun things we did. Late night campfires, late night antics in the woods and an encounter with the headless horse woman!

Several pic's from a day hike up to Deer Mt. Carrie and I left out with a group of twelve or so but did not make the summit. Being from Minneapolis where the elevation is around 800ft a climb in high elevation to 13,700 proved to much on only the second day. Carrie came down with some altitude sickness and that was the end of our climb... we headed down and waited for the rest of the group.

These pic's where taken on a drive through the mountains/Rockie National Park at about the tree line or above.

Ok I've told you we went on a trip and promised some pic's well here is the start... this one is just so you know where er were. Estes Colorado, YMCA of the Rockies to be precise. I know you may not think of the YMCA as a resort but this one can be. It provides a ton of things to do and in the most beautiful settings! So enjoy the pic's