kidsmoke

Always the jealous ones with their comments!

*Donald Duck voice* "What? Just trying to get my share before it's all gone!"

So hey, science-types (and others), how concerned are you about the depletion of the world's helium reserves? People generally assume that helium is somehow extracted from our air, but it is actually pumped from underground. It is created by natural radioactive decay and can't be artificially created. One of the world's primary sites of helium reserves is in an underground geological formation about 15 miles NW of Amarillo, TX. Supplies are rapidly disappearing! It is believed that there are about 11 billion cubic feet remaining at the TX facility, less than half of what was once there. The

You could play with it in photoshop & colorize it, Crow.

I hope the city will have the good sense to preserve that property.

That's a good one!

Buster got the straw and his stitches out today so he looks a bit more normal, but he still has a lot of healing to do. I was surprised they took the stitches out because the wound, while much smaller, still gapes open. The bottom wound, between his eyes, still weeps fluid a little. (They told my husband, who picked him up, that this was to be expected & we should just keep it clean.) But I think I'm going to call tomorrow and get some info on the wound highest up on his head, which is at least 1/4th-inch open at its widest. Does anybody have any experience with something like this? It see

I spoke too soon on the weather! We've had freezing temps for many nights now...I heard some visitor from DC on the news the other night, complaining that he'd visited southern CA hoping for some nice, warm weather but it was actually colder than in DC!

Oh! I knew that face looked familiar but I couldn't quite place it! Hi Deb! Actually I've seen Glenn's cousin, and he looked nothing like Ashton Kutcher. As tall as Glenn though, maybe taller.

This is great, and I spotted a VC'er in here!

Sounds like a lovely birthday, Anthony! Happy Birthday to you!

We're still working on a good nickname. A friend suggested "Big Gulp" but I think Buster's too little for that. What do y'all think of "Slurpee"? In other news, Buster got a big hunk of shaved turkey today, with an antibiotic pill tucked inside. The other dogs were like, "WTF? Where's mine?!!" My daughter Alissa was sitting with Buster this morning, as I tried to read. The following conversation ensued: Alissa: "If you look into the straw you can see between the skin layers. It's all red and stuff." Me: "Leave the poor dog alone." Alissa: "Don't blow in it though because it makes him itc

Our little dog Buster, who has the sweetest of dispositions but possibly one of the dog world's smaller brains, cannot be persuaded to leave the local wildlife alone. Yesterday he apparently had a skirmish with either a raccoon or a cornered opossum. Here's before & after: Pre-skirmish: Post-skirmish: The vet had to put in a drain to prevent infection between the layers of his skin. My daughter has taken to calling him Draino, but I prefer Frankendog. You don't even want to know what it cost to have him outfitted with a straw sticking out of his head. (We could have probably done t

I don't know about "Best Ever" but I could watch this for hours...what a great cast! Harry's attempted magic tricks in this episode are priceless...especially the one following the "money shoes" bit (9:56). "Rats!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9q_MmG4Dpk

I knew I liked you! It's a great birthdate, isn't it? Produces wonderful people. Exactly! Or even Halloween. My experience of ice fishing is almost completely limited to cartoons about it. Do you build the little icehouses over the cut hole? Sounds to me as if it would be a chilly endeavor, but I know Lotti would say that just means you haven't had enough of the schnapps. There is (are?) schnapps involved, yes? Well at least you have your friend's birthday to be happy about! PS - Diane, I'd understand if you were tempted to use the fish from NoJ's ice fishing thusly-> Fro

I don't know about the rest of the country (midwest blizzards & all) but one reason I love January is that here in southern California it brings some of the most glorious weather of the year. Today is postcard-perfect brilliant blue skies with billowing stacks of cumulus clouds, and a surprisingly warm sun that has our normally indoor dogs wanting to lie out and bask in the sun with an old rib bone. Dog heaven. Also I'm a January birthday, so I'm predisposed to like the month, which also contains my husband's birthday and those of my two sons...only my daughter missed this month...she's

I swear, with the fantastic reviews you, Dan, and Paul have provided, one need hardly even bother actually going to a concert! No, no, I keed....keedsmokes tend to do that. But I thank you both from the bottom of my heart for your richly detailed accounts of the night, since this was a show I would have really loved to attend. You both painted wonderful and complimentary pictures of the night. Sounds truly magical and memorable! Sorry to be so late with the appreciation. It was a rough Christmas season.

Welcome! I hope you'll enjoy our forum and our community. There are some great people here.

Ah, heartbreaking. Peace to you, Wilko, and thank you for all the amazing music. Time to pull out the Dr. Feelgood albums and enjoy & pay homage.

I'm loving it. Having a hard time tearing myself away from it!

I like it!

That book looks like a fun read! I've just finished this brilliant book: ...which I can't recommend highly enough. This saga of the Roman attack on the Judean refugees living in the remains of King Herod's mountaintop fortress at Masada is fiction based on what known facts there are of the attack. Of 900 living at Masada, the ancient historian Josephus tells us that only 2 women and 5 children survived...this is the imagined story of those women and how they came to be at Masada. Alice Hoffman is at her pinnacle with this book. Utterly absorbing. Now I'm on to a Tom Perotta..."The Lef

Love that album.

Thanks, Alison, and no need to apologize as you couldn't have known. Following his surgery for an intestinal adhesion, he seemed to be recovering well at first, but his kidneys began to fail as they tried to clear the sedative, and he went slowly downhill. The family all had time to say their goodbyes, which was a huge blessing that many people don't get, and in the end his passing was very peaceful. I definitely feel a little lost in the world to realize he isn't here, physically, but his spirit lives on. Thanks so much for your caring words!

You are going to have so much fun. I'll see you there!