Mexican Birthdays and Frigid Winds

Last weekend, which I have neglected to talk to you about, was quite a busy one. Monkey was in NYC, Uncle Joe turned 30, Favorite Berry had a Christmas party, and the Outlaw Birders (whom we've heard tell of) violated all manner of civic ordinance to discover the Tiny Jesus Calvary Fields of Central Standard. Whew!

Monkey's trip began in the aftermath of a Central Standard snow, and, unfortunately, she was flying right back into it as it visited upon the denizens of Gotham. She was delayed at the KC airport for about eight hours. For those of you who do not know, KCI is nowhere to spend an hour, let alone eight. I can only imagine the boredom she endured. But, she eventually made it safely to her destination (having lost a whole day of museum-hopping).

In the meantime, Friday evening brought many of the regular cast of Central Standard characters to La Tolteca for quesadillas, burritos, cerveza and margaritas. A fine time was had by all. Enjoyed spending time at dinner with several new and old folks, including Coach and Mrs. B, the Reverend and Mrs. Wayne Coomers, and Boring Election (formerly known as The Kopster). I was relieved to be told at dinner that a Big and Rich/Gretchen Wilson concert was going on at the nearby Arena. I thought that the girls on the short bus in front of me, swilling beer and throwing cigarette butts out the window, were members of a college volleyball team! The highlights of the evening: Uncle Joe in a 400-pound embroidered sombrero as he was serenaded by the wait staff (accompanied by a random little girl); the waiter's acoustic guitar and vocals on "Hang on Sloopy," as we exited into the freezing night; and naked baby pictures of Uncle Joe at the 'rents where we retired for lip-smacking sheet cake and Keystone Light. A special thank you to the Uncle Joe clan for ponying up for dinner and for the cake.

As it turned out, no one made it to the Black Neil Diamond show. Have I mentioned that before?

The next evening found me in some apartment complex with a crew of mostly random folks, enjoying the hospitality of Favorite Berry and the company of Suh-Weet (formerly known as Robmeister) and Queen of Spades (formerly known as K-Dogg). The food was great, the entertainment was quality, and the conversation was (as promised) stimulating. And I walked away with the muzak version of several Celine Dion favorites on CD, so, now I have a new coaster.

Developments this week have included a new computer (at which I am happily working), a film to discuss, a drunken game night, and a bone-chilling birding trip. Follow along.

The new computer arrived on Tuesday and was operational (after file transfers and such) by Friday. I haven't loaded the software for the camera yet, so I apologize for the lack of photos (I have taken a couple of good ones). I will include them soon. It is definitely an upgrade over the old behemoth. This one is streamlined in look and way faster in operation. Very diggable technological development.

Saw Walk the Line on Friday. It was excellent. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix gave beautiful and real performances, and (as Monkey keeps marvelling at) they do their own singing. I don't know much about Johnny Cash, so I don't know how true the film's story is, but that has little bearing on the fact that this is a high-quality film. The ending is a bit too "upbeat" for me, but other than that, it's all good.

Last night's drunken game night at Suh-Weet and Queen of Spade's led to a slow-moving morning birding trip with the (newly tattooed) Osculator. We headed to a nearby lake, looking for ducks and geese. It was snowing at 7 am, and it kept snowing all morning. There was little accumulation, but the wind accompanying the snow was strong and from-the-north cold. We spent about a half an hour (nearly losing our noses in the process) scoping the birds in the distant open water, and only found a few canada geese, some mallards, and a couple of gulls. As we headed back into town we did spot and stop to scope out a barred owl. We watched it for a few minutes, then it dropped from its branch to pounce on a small mammal in the tall grass. It was pretty exciting!

At another stop on our morning freeze, we watched a short eared owl being chased by some smaller birds. Two owls in one day is a pretty good birding day. All in all, our stiff joints and frozen cheeks were worth the two owls.

Monkey and I spent the rest of the day braving the crowds, doing some Christmas shopping. I can not believe how soon the holiday is coming up! A week? No way.

My dad and I speculate that Brett Favre will throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns and the Green Bay running back, Sam Gado, will run for 200 yards and two scores, when they face the Ravens tomorrow night. We also hope that we are wrong. Go Ravens!

Finished a few books lately. I'll tell you about those, later.