The Cubs...3 and out.

Sometimes I wish my parents wouldn't have had cable TV when I was a kid...because I would be like most South Dakota kids and like a normal and successful baseball team like the Twins, Red Sox or the Yankees.

You see my love/hate affair with the Cubbies started one summer when I was 10 or so. I was free most afternoons at that age and so were the Cubs games on TV. WGN-TV is to blame for my love of the Cubs. Harey Carey, Steve Stone doing the broadcast...although I don't remember what year Stoney came on, that was one of the best tag teams ever for baseball. Even when Harey was drunk.

I have followed the Cubs all the while, from the Dawson Years, to the Bartman Incident...to this year's run for the World Series, I even plan my afternoon workout around the Cubs schedule so I can watch them while I'm on the treadmill or lifting.

But the Cubs can kill a person, they worked their tail off the 2nd half of the season to make the playoffs, only to go 3 and out to that storied franchise from Arizona.

I guess it is part of being a Cubs fan, you just know that it's not gonna work out...I really thought this was going to be the year of the Cubbies, 2007...it's too bad it didn't work out.

Like any Cubs fan has said, "There is always next year."

The Spill Canvas

One band that my wife and I can agree on during road trips is a group of Sioux Falls guys called The Spill Canvas.

I think at one point their first CD "Sunsets and Car Crashes" stayed in our Yukon for at least 8 or 9 months. They are talented and I love the fact that they are from S.D. They released a new CD yesterday...you can read about it here.

Their MySpace page is here if you want to listen to a few tracks.

Part of me wants them to make it big, and part of me wants them to stay that pure indy band from Sioux Falls not so much the corporate music machine. I guess I can always say, "Yeah, I liked these guys way back in 2004."

Anyway...good music, unless your in your 60's.

Flute Loop.

On Sunday afternoon, the family was hanging around the house, and I started playing the drums on Maxim's tummy.

I asked him what instrument he was going to play when he grows up, and without missing a beat he says, "The flute!"

Now this will make Aunt Sally (who's birthday is Friday) very happy, as she was like the state champion flute player one month in Canada, but for a dad who wants his son to grow up to be a man, this is rough.

I instantly think of rock band Jethro Tull's lead singer/flute player Ian Anderson. You might remember the song "Aqualung".

Also the hip hop group Jurassic 5 has a song called "JAYOU -Flute Loop" which is on heavy rotation on my MP3 player...so I decided the flute can be pretty rockin'. I'm good with my older, creative, artistic son playing the flute...it's cool.

Then I ran across this video...the Knight Rider theme song played with a flute, and the guy is beatboxing while he is playing the flute.

The first time I watched this video I thought the other guy was doing the beatbox, but it is the flute player...super cool.

Aunt Sally we may need to borrow your flute.

Happy Birthday Living on Liquid!

I'm back, thanks for the break.

Ironically during the break I noticed that the Living On Liquid blog has been around for exactly a year!

I have posted 200+ articles to the site, which impressed me.

So to celebrate our 1 year birthday here, I wanted to take it back to the roots, what I originally started the LOL Blog for...to communicate with Grandma and Grandpa D and show them pictures of the kids and the house.
I took a bunch of pictures last week and the pictures of us grouting the tile were boring so I elected to show off our boys.

Enjoy.

But first if you are into artists like Jack Johnson, Ben Folds, Donovan Frankenreiter, Dave Matthews, Matt Costa or Ben Kweller then check out Timmy Curran. My buddy Dave hooked me up here...good stuff. Kudos to Dave, you win the Reader of the Month award.

Blog to shut down for the rest of the week...

It might be sparse around here for a few days.

I am taking some much needed time off from work to hang with the family, work on the house, and get a couple of end of the season wakeboard sessions in.

Oh yeah, and the big news, the Denver Broncos have hired me to steal play calling signals from Jacksonville this weekend.

This guy is my cousin...

It dawned on me the other day that if it wasn't for my cousin Eric, I probably wouldn't live on a lake, wouldn't know how to water ski, wouldn't know how to slalom, wouldn't know how to wakeboard, and wouldn't own a boat.

Thanks to Erkel and his dad for taking me skiing when we were kids, and causing me to be addicted to the lake...it's supposed to be 80 all weekend.

Here is tribute to the Legend of Lake Byron...the head lifeguard and coastguard of Lake Byron and the only guy I know with Bad Company, The Eagles, MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice loaded on his MP3 player...here's to keeping it old school...

Another Birthday...

It just dawned on me on my drive to the office, that my dad's birthday...which is today...is only 2 days after his older brothers.

Beadle County January nights in the '40's must have been a bit romantic???

Happy Birthday to my Pa...he's a couple years younger than his brother today. For his birthday he is taking his chuckwagon, that he restored a few years ago, his .45 and quick draw holster and $150 in groceries and heading to Spirit of The West Festival in Sioux Falls for a couple days.

I don't understand why mom doesn't go with, she must not have any vacation left.

He sleeps on the ground or in the chuck wagon, cooks over an open fire, shoots in quick draw competitions and makes friends with other people that wish they would have been born 150 years earlier.

I wonder if people who actually lived in the Old West had Spirit of The Spartans Festivals or Roman Army reenactors?

Anyway, Happy Birthday Dad, and have fun traveling back in time this weekend, say hi to Marty McFly and Doc Brown for me if you run into them...does your chuck wagon go 88 MPH?.

I'll be taking out docks at the lake this weekend...I'm afraid summer is over.

When I'm 66?

I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride
Doing the garden, digging the weeds
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me,
will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four?

"When I'm 64." The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

My reference to a very obscure Beatles song this morning has everything to do with one of the greatest "reply comment posters" of this website.

Yes, somebody in the Living On Liquid Nation has a birthday and he will be 66 this week...UNCLE SKIPPER!

I am fighting myself on how I should wordsmith today...do I completely rip him with old jokes, and stories of his past, and say how his beautiful bride should actually be getting the presents for his birthday, because she puts up with him...or should I brag on how cool, hip and not as old as his old age he seems.

UM...upon further review, we will make fun of him...that's what he would want anyway.

I helped this uncle move one time...I didn't realize how old he was until I found a stage coach ticket in one of is dresser drawers.

Skipper told me once he was afraid nobody would remember him when he is gone...I can think of several reasons he'll be remembered...albeit, none of those would be good reasons to remember someone.

In most people the left side of the brain does one thing and the right side does others....however in Skippers case, neither side seems to do a whole lot.

But, what do you expect from a guy that was born in the front seat of an Edsel?

Skipper has never been known to take his work home with him...but how could he, he never takes his work to work!

Most of you don't know how Skipper's children came to live with him...it happened the first time he went to a theatre. He read the sign..."Adults $5.00,children $2.50. So Skipper whipped out a $5 and said, "Give me 1 boy and 1 girl."

Skipper is in shape for someone as advanced in years as he is, but there was a time when he put on a lot of weight, but was pretty much in denial about the spare tire he was hauling around...he would go into clothing stores and ask if they had a shirt he liked in extra, extra medium.

Skipper was the only person in the history of the Kansas City mall that had to be rescued from the escalators during a power outage.

Since the move down to Garden City, Skipper thought he should learn Spanish so he could communicate with most of his neighbors...he bought a record that was supposed to teach him how to speak Spanish...he fell asleep one night with the record on, and it started to skip...now he can only stutter in Spanish.

Skipper was a big help when we did the remodel to our house, he helped with the cupboards, and also with some electricity...but there was this one light switch that he installed, and it doesn't do anything. Every so often Steph would flick it on and off just to check. Yesterday, We got a call from a woman 3 homes down. She said, "Cut it out."

Grandpa Jake took the boys and son-in-laws to the Indy 500 a few years back...Skipper's only comment was..."If those drivers would have left earlier in the day, they wouldn't have to drive that fast."

Skipper has a smart mouth sometimes, and it gets him in trouble...a cop stopped him for speeding. He said, "Why were you going so fast?" Skipper said, "See this thing my foot is on? It's called an accelerator. When you push down on it, it sends more gas to the engine. The whole car just takes right off. And see this thing? This steers it." (He got a ticket that day)

Skipper is a procrastinator. He didn't get his birthmark until he was eight years old.

I obtained a copy of Skippers application that he filled out to work at the lumber yard and on part where it said, "In Case Of Emergency Notify". He wrote "Doctor".

OK...I'm done.

Skipper...Happy 66th!

Back to the blog with some fun news.

Sometimes I get lucky.

I am in Indianapolis for a crisis communications seminar this week, and tonight I drove into downtown Indy to see the RCA Dome where the World Champion Colts play football.

I was walking around downtown and I saw where the NFL is hosting the "Opening Kickoff" concert in downtown Indy. On the big screen I see Kelly Clarkson of American Idol fame goofing off with the mic and the drummer...so I kick it 2 blocks down and get in on the pre-taping of the opening that the NFL will use in tomorrows game.

After Clarkson is done, Faith Hill comes out and sings a song, then we get to watch Indiana boy John Mellencamp playing inside the RCA Dome. Super cool night in downtown Indy.

I capped it off with dinner at the Hard Rock and some time spent in the local bookstore.

Tomorrow I am traveling north to meet my in-laws half way for the evening.

On the tube is a show I have seen previews for and it's pretty cool...Ty Murry's Celebrity Bullriding Challenge...check it out.

By the way, thanks for letting me take a break from blogging for a week or so...I have been way to busy...but I am back!

Fairs

I'm faired out...for the last 3 weeks I have done nothing but fair type expos...I'm glad in a couple weeks I don't have a thing on my schedule, except my family!

DakotaFest

I'm working in Mitchell this week at our public relations booth for the DakotaFest. It is a super big ag-based expo in the middle of an alfalfa field on the south side of Mitchell.

I understand enough about farming and ranching to be a dangerous visitor with people involved with the industry. Mostly "salt of the Earth" kind of people that could talk for 4 hours about rain and weather.

One guy came up to our booth and said..."What the heck are you guys selling here?" So being a smart alec I said, "Electricity on demand." It took me 20 minutes to explain to him what the "power company" actually did. He had no idea how power got to his farm/ranch opperation and didn't even know who he paid for the service. "The wife does that." Well, the wife showed up 5 minutes later, and she didn't know the name of the company either. Makes me wonder what kind of opperation they run. I am about as removed from bill paying as anyone could be and I even know who we pay.

Maxim's first full day of Pre-K was today. Steph had a meeting and I'm out of town so grandma dropped him off at his first day. Pretty speical for her.

I just talked to him and he is already in school-boy mode...

ME: So buddy what did you learn today?
Maxim: Nothing.
ME: What was your favorite thing?
Maxim: I don't know.

So it has officially started. The breakdown in communication between my child and me!

Got some free tickets to the bull riding event tonight...I think since I got on my last bull I have only been to about a handfull of rodeos. It used to drive me nuts that I wasn't getting on them anymore.

Should be fun to see some of the guys I used to ride with that are still going down the road.

"First day of school, first day of school"...Nemo, from "Finding Nemo"

So today Maxim went to his first day of school...he's in pre-school, but anymore that is like Kindergarten-lite. He's got a cool teacher, very in tune with child development and things of the sort.

They just had orientation and did a book reading and some art...he made a cool painting, I think he's got some Grandpa Roger artistic ability in him. I'll post a picture of him going to school on Wednesday...that's his first real day, with recess and everything.

So Steph and I felt a bit old the other day...since I have been so busy, we were planning some sort of getaway for the 23-26th...climbing in the Black Hills, the Zoo and family in Omaha or to MLPS...just a quicky.

Then it dawned on Steph, that we couldn't leave that early...it would be Maxim's 2nd full day of school...we have become parents of school aged children.

Now our plans will revolve around the school year...not sure how much I like that.

Youth Pastor

You might have seen this video on the web...of a youth pastor that gets a little toungue tied...if not watch it...then watch the next video.

Same Pastor gets punked by the "FCC".

Youth Pastor FCC Prank - Watch more free videos

Cell service in the middle of the LAB!

I'm in Idaho...some of it is pretty, very rugged...but last night I had to drive to Arco, Idaho. That stretch from Idaho Falls to Arco is WASTELAND. The Idaho National Laboratory is the only thing on this 65 miles of nothing...and the INL is nothing to look at.

So I did my usual habit when I'm driving and bored...I called people...buddies I don't talk to on a regular basis, mostly my hockey buddies, teammates from college and guys I ref with in the winter.

So after the meeting, I get ready for a boring drive back to Idaho Falls, which by the way reminds me a ton of Sioux Falls, and I give Steph a call. I talk to Maxim and Steph for at least 20 minutes...then it dawns on me, I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, no buildings, no population centers within 65 miles, mountains surrounding a lot of the area...and I have a perfect signal.

Most likely this good coverage is government issued and due to the crazy amount of people that commute from Idaho Falls out to the INL for work, but it ticked me off. I live 15 minutes from a city, on a lake that has a lot of recreational visitors, and a very densely populated area...for South Dakota...and I have to stand in the driveway on one foot, wearing my tinfoil hat and a 6 iron in one hand to get one bar for 30 seconds.

Oh well, sometimes no cell service is a good thing sometimes.

Paddle 2 Work Day!

I have a friend, some of you might know from his blog the Minus Car Project, who has all but given up his car. He bikes to work, to get grocery, and to take his children to different activities...I admire him and his dedication to reducing his carbon footprint.

On a few occasions I have biked to work...about 18 miles one way! Lately I have enjoyed biking around the lake, it is about a 12 mile loop the way I take it. This morning was exceptional, the sunrise, the deer, the calf that snuck under a fence and was munching on the thick ditch grass, and the sweet smell of cut wheat..it was an intoxicating morning.

My day is always better when started with exercise, and I know several people who feel the same way...my dad ran most mornings for almost 20 years, I think. Toward the end it was more of a limp-run because of his knee...but I now know why he ran, sure the exercise is great, but the feeling you get for the rest of the day because you started it out with a run or a bike or a weight training session is empowering.

I ran across this article today...this guy has it down. I think if I bike to the James River, kayak to the 3rd street dam, then run to work! Triathlon to the core. I might have to leave the house at 4am, and in the winter I would have to skate the James River...sounds like a plan.

Summer of Mediocre Movies.

Remember how over the last few years there was always one or 2 movies that caught your attention and were really big blockbuster types...this summer has not been like that at all. Spiderman 3 was OK, Fantastic 4 was 2 hours of my life I will never get back, and Ratatouille was the worst film Pixar has ever made.

With that said, I haven't seen Transformers, Into The Wild or Oceans 13 yet...most likely NetFlix will deliver them this winter...what else is there to do in S.D.? This summer I just haven't been interested at all in the "big movies" that came out.

Now that "summer" is almost over...for some reason since last Thursday a bunch of movies that I want to see have been released or will tonight...like the Simpson, Bourne Ultimatium, Chuck and Larry, and this movie...Hot Rod.




Looks like my type of humor...oh yeah, the DVD version of 300 came out last night. If you are a guy, see this movie...with the surround sound cranked on the biggest TV you can find. I saw this movie one rainy evening in Missoula, MT and they had the place crankin'. Great movie, great action, pretty raw, and BASED on a true event.

This is all I have today...it made me smile, but I'm his dad.

Monday Morning Weekend Wrap.

TOUR DE FRANCE NEWS

What a great weekend...the Tour wrapped up, Discovery team won the overall, the youngster Contador won the tour and Leipheimer ended up in 3rd only :31 second behind his Discovery Teammate.

The picture says it all, with Levi just watching Alberto kiss the cup...maybe next year Levi!

LAKE LIVING NEWS

My wife is super cool...every Sunday we plan a quiet afternoon with a couple people invited to the lake for the afternoon and supper or something...but then I get my party-mode on and I can't stop.

By noon I had invited half of Beadle county to the house. It was a great day! We have some friends that have 3 beautiful girls...I think Maxim is a bit smitten with the one that is his age. Yesterday I busted he and his "girlfriend" throwing rocks in the dog kennel together...Maxim knows he is not to throw rocks in the kennel...it's funny what kind of trouble girls can get you into...even at 5 years old! (His chores today include feeding the dogs, cleaning the kennel and picking up all the rocks they had thrown inside)

I pulled a few people on the wakeboard, which was humbling to say the least. I rode for almost a half a summer before I really tried any decent "tricks", but last night the 3 girls that rode (all of them with less than 10 rides combined) were pulling tricks that usually you can't do for about a year!

Granted 2 of those girls come from the Marc K. School of Watersports! I think he had both of them skiing before they were in school...we do miss the daughter that is in Africa...she is handy as well...do they wakeboard in Africa?

We capped the night with Marc K. barefooting...in jeans, with his signature baseball cap on, when I'm 50 I could only hope to still be as athletic as him! I only rode one time yesterday, but I discovered something new...I now ride at 24mph...3 more than I used to. We had a loaded boat and the wake was big and fun at that speed!

More riding tonight...I pay our babysitters in boat gas...and they ride better than I do. It's a good exchange, and Krissy leaves for K-State on Wednesday, so we have a lot of riding to do in the next 2 days!

Levi is now in 3rd.

Michael Rasmussen, the current Tour de France yellow-jerseyed leader did not start today's stage. He was removed by his Rabobank team. ESPN story here...Yahoo story here.

So currently Leipheimer is only 2:49 behind race leader and teammate Alberto Contador the 25 year old standout of the Discovery Channel Team.

I guess with all of the doping scandal aside, this has been a very interesting Tour, however, overshadowed by all of the off-bike news.

I guess you can put Vino and Rasmussen right up their with the other sports criminals of the week...Mike Vick, Tim Donaghy (NBA Ref), Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield...it gives ESPN something to talk about since football hasen't started yet.

Tour De Dope

I'm a casual fan of cycling, meaning I pay attention to the sport when it is convenient and when the Tour de France is in session. I have followed a little bit more since I have frequented Levi Leipheimer's family bike shop in Butte, MT on almost every trip I make to MT. I feel a sort of loyalty to him since I saw him one day and I have met his brother and mom...and since Lance is riding with 70 year olds in RAGBRI in Iowa now, Levi is the only real American hope!

Levi is 4th overall in the tour through Stage 15...he's some 5 minutes behind yellow jersey wearing Michael Rasmussen, who by the way was booed by fans at today's start of Stage 16.

It seems Rasmussen decided to pull a Barry Bonds and forgot to show up for a drug test, may be he didn't study for it, but still that is no reason to skip...FYI Mr. Rasmussen, if you skip a drug test it makes you look real guilty!

So the 2007 Tour has been your typical race, doping allegations, protests by cyclist before the start...etc. Only one team has been sent home for failing the drug test...as Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive.

At least he has a sense of humor...even though his career is facing ruin, Vinokourov managed to joke about his situation. "I heard that I made a transfusion with my father's blood," Vinokourov said. "That's absurd, I can tell you that with his blood, I would have tested positive for vodka."

Ty.

We have some friends from Lake Preston, and to say they are a remarkable family would be a gross understatement.

I can not even begin to type the words that would describe the love, respect, work ethic, care, understanding, humility, and sacrifice that this family has for each other, their family, community and friends.

The ranch/farm family made up of Jeff, Jody and 4 life-loving boys has gone through a lot since Ty was diagnosed with leukemia 4 or so years ago. Ty and the family fought through the treatment, he graduated with honors and is now a sophomore at SDSU.

We had a party at our house yesterday, with Ty and his family, and a bunch from our family. God took care of the weather and we had a great day with the boys on the water.

We didn't put the boats away until the sun went down and then we all gathered around the TV to cap the night off with a story on KELO-tv about Ty's journey to China to an alternative medicine clinic to help him deal with the pain he has now from AVN, basically his major joints are deteriorating, kind of like severe arthritis I guess. Click HERE to watch and read the story.

Ty and his brothers love the water, and they are all good skiers and fun to be around.

Right before Ty was diagnosed the first time around, he had bought a brand new wakeboard...that board has never been wet...the battle against cancer has taken it's toll on his young body. I pray, and I believe one day I will get to pull Ty behind my boat on his new wakeboard.

That will be the most fun I will ever have burning a tank of gas on one person in my life.

The whole family is an inspiration to be around...my life is better for knowing the Eschenbaum's....and the world is better because of Ty.

I'm blogging about Harry Potter.

(Disclaimer: I have not read any of the Harry Potter books, and have only watched one of the movies, on a computer owned by a 40ish year old businesswoman who sat next to me during a flight from Denver to Houston.)

"The Harry Potter franchise is going to be one of the downfalls of modern Christianity." That quote was taken from a self-proclaimed "spiritual and visionary leader in American Christianity"...(Note: The Christ I strive to follow is Jewish, and never lived in America while he was on Earth, so I'm not quite sure what American Christianity is.)

I am sorry, but I disagree strongly with the "religious right" on this issue, sorry Dr. Dobson.

If you don't know anything about the J.K. Rowling book series Harry Potter, watch the news or read the paper today. The final book in the series that as a group has sold over 325 million copies will go on sale tonight at 12:01 a.m.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" will be devoured by millions of young and old Potterheads, with the main plot lines of every writing class I ever took being followed to the hilt. Hook or Subject, characters, conflict, sub-plots, climax and resolution. It is pretty simple when you think about it.

So what's the big deal??? I guess it's because Harry Potter is a spell-casting wizard, and there is a lot of young kids reading about his life in a fiction book. (Fiction means not true, for the record.)

The thought that reading the Harry Potter series, or another fiction best seller like The Da Vinci Code, is going to send millions of Christian or non-Christian children and adults out to the store to buy all of Anton LaVey's satanic works is absurd.

Will the books challenge people's beliefs, thoughts and faith? Maybe not, but I hope so.

Will it cause people to face the reality of darkness in the world, ie...in magic, wizards, demons and the occult? Maybe, and that's a good thing in my eyes...when is the last time any church had a 4 week session on demon possession? Never, but it still happens, and we sweep it under the rug.

Maybe because it is a powerful thing, and most of us are ill-equipped to deal with it's depth, mentally and spiritually. It's much like faith healing or speaking in tongues...oooooh, I stepped on some Mennonite toes there, yes I believe that God still preforms miracle healings, and I also believe Christians still speak in tongues.

I have a friend who is a youth pastor and during a church camp in the Black Hills he, the camp staff and every kid attending that camp witnessed a demon possessed person and an exorcism, first hand. You want to be scared into demon possession belief...watch "The Exorcist" on Saturday it's a horror movie based on a true story, your butt will be in church on Sunday.

Back to Harry, reading the Harry Potter books will no more make you a Wiccan Priest, than reading the Bible will make you a Christian. With that said, there does need to be leadership and direction to those that don't comprehend reality vs. make believe...children and some teenagers.

Although Rowling's novels never explicitly mention religion, they do seem to follow in the tradition of C. S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia and J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings. The books espouse a moral message and certainly contain hints of Christian allegory as they set up battles between good and evil.

Throw Star Wars in there as well, it is no different. Growing up, and still, I am a Star Wars fan, I tried to hone my Jedi powers by using mind control on my mom to give me ice cream, and pick up cars using "The Force". I loved good vs. evil, the mystical and wizardry powers of Yoda and Darth Vader...and I grew up fine...in fact, I let Maxim watch the movies, and love the fact that we enjoy them together.

The so called "Christian books" Narnia and Lord of the Rings (LOTR) are at times right on par or worse than Potter's dabbling. Read LOTR or watch the movies, then decide if you would show that or allow your child to read it without some guidance. Those 2 literary works are for sure in "Christian Librarys" where Potter was banned. But all over parents let their children read those great "Christian" classics of wizards and warlocks, but they ban Harry from the house??? I don't get it.

Rob Bell said it best in his book Velvet Elvis, "the only book that is "Christian" is the Bible, everything else is just commentary." Fiction or non-fiction.

My world-view and parenting style may differ from yours, and I may regret it later in life, but I believe you need to prepare a child to make their own decisions in faith.

Give them a base of Biblical truths and gentle nudging towards a personal relationship with Christ, in stead of requiring your beliefs on to them...which I think is a popular, but unspoke of parenting style of Christian parents. In the end that style will force your faith onto them. And then is it really their faith? And how deeply rooted is something like that.

Believe me, if you force and require Christianity on today's children, as soon as they walk out of your door they will search everywhere for truth, hopefully one day returning to Christian roots.

You might disagree, but this is my blog and this is how Steph and I roll. In our view there is no better way to talk about faith, hope, Christ-like living and moral ethics than over a good book or movie or better yet, out in the mountains, in the water or just camping in the backyard.

By the way, I have asked a co-worker to bring in the 1st Harry Potter book, so I can read it. Then, when my son is old enough, I will know what to expect when he reads the book or watches the movie. Makes me wonder how many people that "banned" their children or others from the book actually read the book.

Who knows, someday JK, JRR, and CS might all be looked at as great "Christan" authors.

It all comes down to the battle of Good vs. Evil...it sells Bibles, Western movies and Harry Potter books.

The Dakota Outdoor Radio Show

Sometimes things just fall in your lap.

The other day I was minding my own business at the electricity factory, and an old friend Mike Henriksen called me to tell me of a new venture he was setting out to do, and wondered if I wanted to help out.

Henriksen is a Sioux Falls sports radio celeb, and a year ago he purchased the franchised SportsMax show from the late Tom Maxwell's widow. The SportsMax is an hour long sports talk show syndicated on several different radio stations through out S.D.

Back to the "fall in your lap" thing. Mike calls and wonders if I would be interested in being the host of The Dakota Outdoor Radio Show. I emphatically say YES...if my current company will let me have another job...that makes 4 if you count Hockey Ref, Construction Worker (on my own home), Utility Communications Dude (which pays the bills), and now a wannabe Tony Dean.

So I checked with my boss and got the green light. The show will start this fall and it won't be your average hunt and fish show. That has been done already. The format will follow a "anything goes" as long as it involves the outdoors. I might even do a RC Airplane show, who knows. Kayaking, hunting, trap shooting, rock climbing, downhill skiing, fishing, archery, hiking, mountain biking, star gazing, 4 wheeling...whatever. I think you get the picture.

The only thing that worries me is that when I was on TV I used to help Mike and his co-hort with their radio show, he always introduced me as one of those "pretty boy TV guys". I guess I'm not pretty anymore and I have a "radio face."

Minnesotans For Global Warming.

I guess I haven't thought of the positive effects that global warming might have on our neck of the woods. Then maybe my fellow Earth-hugger Minus Car Project wouldn't have to bundle up so much when he rides his bike to work in February.

These Minnesotans 4 Global Warming guys have a good sense of humor, and they pirated a Bare Naked Ladies song to create this so they can't be that bad.

Fastest Gun...at this particular event.

I have blogged a couple times about my father's latest escapade into the world of Cowboy Quickdraw Competitions, and we have an announcement.

Last Sunday he went to a shooting event in Mitchell. It was the usual Sunday, we ate dinner at mom and dad's, he inhaled his food so he could get on the road, mom told him not to shoot himself, and he went out the door.

But it must have been mom's tasty ham, because he won the 15' event and got 2nd at the 21' event. He beat guys that travel all over the place doing this, and he was pretty pumped about the big win.

I am pretty sure he will be sponsored by Cabela's, Toyota, Colt and Wrangler by the end of the week.

He hasn't received any calls yet, but that's probably because they can't find Huron on a map...or they are calling the other B. Glanzer in the phone book.

I also received some good news from an old friend of mine, Mark O. from South Dakota television news fame, he is now a Grandpa!

Mark taught me how to golf, and how to work in the TV industry...he gave me my first break, and I am forever grateful. Congrats Grandpa O.

Papas and fishing.

I've tried...honestly, I have tried to be a fisherman, but the instant the line gets tangled or after the first 10 minutes the fish don't bite...I ask myself, "Why am I doing this?", I can buy fish at the market or at Red Lobster.

For the record, I don't mind fishing out of a boat, for a few hours, with the right people, and if it is not super windy...boat fishing feels like you are doing something and the view changes, but fishing off of our dock, just doesn't suit me or my active lifestyle.

Last Tuesday, Grandpa Roger had just got back from a 2 day fishing trip to the river with some of his buddies and when he got to our house, he wanted to fish some more?!?! He and Maxim were throwing crank baits off the dock and within 5 minutes Roger caught a fish...so being the great Grandpa that he is, he let out some slack and let Maxim reel the super nice Walleye on to the dock.

The picture says it all...Roger's pride, and Maxim's "holy cow...that fish is big, and slimy, and a little scary."

He still talks about the big fish he caught.

We actually released that one back into Byron for someone else to catch. Maxim is a big nature lover. I was actually thinking about getting it mounted, then I was reminded that Maxim once told Steph and I, "Animals belong in the wild, not dead on your walls"...that is another story.

I have no idea if my Grandpa or Great Grandpa fished, I assume they didn't since neither my dad or his brother fish...so it seems a few generations of non-fishermen were the legacy of that. Now that we live on a lake, I guess that might change. Who knows instead of watching our boys compete in the World Wakeboard Association, we might be watching them on Bass Masters Tournaments!

Whatever they want to do...

I'm quoted in USA Today...today.

I got a call on Sunday from a reporter...I'm on call 24-7 for my job, anyway it's a reporter from the national paper USA Today. He is inquiring about electricity usage and other things of the sort that surround utilities during a heat wave.

Then we start small talking and he asks what we are doing to beat the heat, and I told him that we live on a lake, and spending a small fortune in boat gas...real environmentally friendly answer, I know.

He got all excited about that and asked what lake...yada, yada, yada, and as a reporter I knew that he now cared less about the great utility quotes I gave him, and he was going to use the personal quotes...here is the story...USA TODAY.

By the way, to stay hip with all the "green" folks out there...to keep my family's carbon footprint down, I am keeping my house at 78 degrees, the shades are drawn, not using the stove and I changed my filter yesterday, among other things. We also plan on going to the state park that the SD GF&P doesn't take very good care of and will pick up garbage.

Until they make a hybrid boat motor, I guess that is my one vice with wasteful fossil fuels.

Also another way you can save the earth...buy a Nalgene, I have used one for years. Also after a report I watched last night on ABC, I will use mine even more. Bottled water like Evian, Clearly H2O, Ice Mountain and any other plastic bottled watter is killing the earth. Nalgene actually has a program called Refill Not Landfill to address concerns about plastic bottle waste.

7-7-07

My little once in a lifetime holiday of 7-7-07 was a day to remember, if for nothing at all except a laid-back uber-chill day at the lake house.

After seeing over 100 guests come through our door over the last 7 days, 7-7-07 was a day to just kick it. I did get up at 7:07 a.m. Steph made coffee and we drank it on the deck watching the waves trickle in while listening to Jack Johnson sing about "Times Like These".

The boys rolled out of bed around 8:30 a.m. and the rest of the day was dedicated to our boys and taking naps (Steph took 3, Brecken and I took 2 and Maxim...Zero). We grilled BBQ Chicken for lunch, took the boys to the north side of the lake to the beach area, they played hard, we came home and had fresh walleye from the river for dinner.

Around 7:00 we took the boat off the lift and had a great wakeboard session. 4 of Steph's cousins jumped in the boat to give some added weight, to make the wake bigger. I landed 2 tricks I have never even tried before. We taught one of her cousins how to wakeboard and pulled them on the tube for a little bit.

My cousin and 2 of our friends were out in his Malibu and after their session they stopped by the house to cap off the day at 10:30 with some jalapeno poppers and some great conversation.

7-7-07 felt like the real first day we actually LIVED at a lake house...no work, no deadlines of home projects, just family, friends, water and wake.

EPIC.

The title of this post is the only way I can describe the first ever 4th of July party at the Living On Liquid headquarters (like there is any other locations).

Temps in the 90's not much wind. I estimate that in the last 6 days over 100 guests (some were return customers) spent time at our lake home.

I will post some pictures from the Glanzer Reunion as soon as AJ sends me some...but here is a little Happy 4th of July from my sister and my families.

By the way tomorrow is 7-7-07...and is kind of a quasi-holy day for me as I am obsessed with the number, as you know from previous posts. To celebrate I plan on setting the alarm for 7:07, biking around the lake in such a fashion that it will turn into 2 different 7 mile rides, I will wakeboard 7 times, complete 7 different tricks (I might have to learn a new one), I will drink 7 cups of coffee, and hanging with my kids and wife for 7 hours.

Happy 7-7-07.

Into The Wild

Jon Krakauer wrote a true-story bestseller called "Into The Wild" a while back. I think I read it in 4 or 5 days which is really good for me.

Sean Penn directed the screen version of the movie and shot some of it in Carthage, S.D. The stories subject Christopher McCandless gave up all of his earthly possessions in order to hitchhike to Alaska and live in the wilderness, during the journey he worked in Carthage for a while.

In the end McCandless' body was discovered in a junky bus at a remote campground in Alaksa.

The trailer is out now and from the looks of it I can't wait to see the movie this fall.

Guest Blog Today.

I'm going to do something new here...I'm posting a guest column. It was just too good to let slip into web-history.

As some of you know, readers can post comments at the end of the each blog entry, I think every now and then I get 2 or 3 per entry...it gives the reader a voice on this blog. So after last week's post on my "big problems" traveling United Airlines, my older and always wiser cousin Brent left this super funny post, and I couldn't let it set on a back page...so congrats Brent...you have been published on Living On Liquid...one question though - Did you put Jesse the Gov. in a headlock?

The following is Brent's post:

Tom, As I read your blog from my PC phone Thursday night, yeah Vicky told me to look it up, I was sitting on a plane in Minneapolis waiting to take off on a 3.5 hour delay trying to get to NYC.
Rain in the area and traffic congestion forced Laguradia to shut down for a few hours. Great..what else to do but surf the Internet from my phone.

As I near 1 million Northwest miles, 950,000 and change, I've had many interesting travel episodes. I've had 4 aborted landings, 3 from stray planes in the way in the runway and 1 from the landing gear not engaging. That provided an extra hour of flight time and 2 tower flybys to verify landing gear locked down.

I've endured kids screaming and crying for 10 hours of a 15 hour flight from Melbourne, Australia to LA. I was stuck in Australia 5 extra days during the 9/11 attack. I had a drunk pass out on me and wet himself..ironically, the stewardess gave me a bottle of wine for my troubles.

Don't fly Aerlingus from Dublin, Ireland to Manchester, England...you'll be sick the rest of the day. KLM from Amsterdam to Paris is a pretty good flight..until they give you little sandwiches with week old cheese with a meat like substance. And the dutch stewardess has a tooth or two missing.

I learned along time ago "stuff" happens. A few things I learned right away that sounds like you just learned...Never check your luggage, always carry on your luggage, and never fly United...and Aerlingus.

Flying without a corporate jet and with the masses as allowed me to meet interesting people. Like the man who got on the Quantas flight from Melbourne, Australia to Adelaide, Australia and exclaimed "When this plane is in the air I will save you all from your sins". He didn't get the chance. Or the lady that let her dog out from Minneapolis to Atlanta. That woke a few people up.

I've also sat by famous people..Former Gov. Jesse Ventura, Al Neuharth, USA Today, Joe Mauer, MN Twins, Tim Johnson, John Mcain, Paul Schafer, Serena Williams, and John Thune. John and I crossed paths on 4 or 5 occasions in the Minneapolis world club on Thursday nights coming back to Sioux Falls.

So Tom, if you are stuck in a corporate jet, you may be missing out on seeing all the world has to offer and all the interesting people God created. Just be sure to carry on your luggage.

Brent

United??? More like somewhat disjointed...

I realized how much I love our corporate jet on Monday. I just show up, I get on the plane, and I don't even have to undress or wait in lines...I get a big fat leather seat to sink into, the donuts and coffee are fresh and the pilots load my luggage on the plane without forgetting it on the tarmac.

My schedule was different than the schedule the jet took this week, so I flew to Montana on my old friend United Airlines. I didn't ever really commute by plane until I took this job, so my biggest concern before was finding gas stations with good cappuccino. Now I'm in airports on a regular basis and I have become a pretty smart and good traveler...too bad United Airlines can't make the same claim, and they travel for a living.

I left Sioux Falls on Monday after a 2 hour delay, got to Denver and had another 3.5 hour delay...I didn't get to Bozeman until 2:30 a.m. Had I drove I would have been an hour behind my plane arrival in BZM...and 2 days in front of my luggage.

It seems United (aka---Disconnected Airlines) couldn't find the time in the almost 4 hours from when I arrived in Denver to throw my luggage with precision and care onto the next plane I was to get on. Usually it makes it there in the 45 minutes that the layover is scheduled to last.

So after a meeting with a "Divided Airlines" representative in Bozeman, and 3 half hour plus phone calls with Habib from customer dis-service concerning my lost...I mean "delayed" luggage, I finally got my stuff 2 days later...I only have one day of my trip left!

The crazy thing is the route my luggage took to get to the Hampton Inn in Butte. Follow if you can...

Monday: Sioux Falls to Denver (got lost somewhere here)
Tuesday: Denver back to Sioux Falls (WHY I HAVE NO IDEA)
Tuesday mid-morning: Sioux Falls back to Denver, Denver to Bozeman, Bozeman back to Denver, Denver to Salt Lake.
Wednesday: Salt Lake to Butte...then the Butte airport decided to hold on to the bag for a few hours before delivering it to my hotel.

Makes you wonder how someone hasn't gone postal on a United desk clerk.

Other names United should consider to better represent their service.

Divided Airline
Separated Airlines
Bad seats, old planes and uncaring employees...Fly Disbanded Airlines.

You are reading this saying, well fly Delta or something...I can't I already have a bunch of frequent flier miles, that I don't want to lose...and they have the quickest flights to Montana. I'm bound to their inadequacies.

Tile Shortage.

I think actual real world construction experience should be a Federally required prerequisite for being able to work in a lumber store or a flooring store.

Case in point, my Uncle Skip, a somewhat-retired handy man works for UBC in Garden City, he has taught me things, so I know he is a great asset to UBC helping weekend warriors with projects...I worked construction in the summers and at a lumber yard during college time, and so I always thought I was a good help by knowing the difference between AC and CDX plywood and so on.

Now to my story...we started to lay the tile in the kitchen last night...we are doing a "hopscotch" pattern. So there are 2 size of tile, 12"x12" and 6"x6". I told the flooring guy we needed 400 square feet of flooring, in a hopscotch pattern in this tile. When we picked it up I should have wondered, but I trusted the "expert" tile estimator.

The tile looks great, but we are only half done with the kitchen and we are out of small tile. I should charge the clown for the gas it takes to drive to Mitchell to pick up more, but I have to pick up some other things at Menard's anyway, so I'll just be kind of grumpy to him when I tell him he messed up the project time line. (Like this project has a time line anyway...I think the tile sat in his store room for 3 weeks)

Maxim's birthday is on Sunday...5 years old.

My dad has a cat.

My dad is not much of a cat person...me either for that matter, but he has a few wild cats at the horse barn to help keep the mice population down.

I think there has always been 1 or 2 cats around, but at one point this year he had a cat that had kittens. One day out of the blue he commented to me, "I think I'm gonna neuter that cat." That comment now lives in infamy in our house, because at the time he said it...nobody was talking about cats, and he just brought it up as general conversation.

Try it sometime, when a conversation goes dead during a party, during a boring meeting, or in bed just before you kiss your wife goodnight...just throw this out there, "I think I'm gonna neuter that cat." then see how many people look at you strange or just bust out laughing at your obscure Bob Barker remark.

So anyway, after laughing at him and finally with him, I ask him if he is going to take it to the vet or what...he says, "Are you crazy, I wouldn't waste money on that...I'd just shoot it." Now you have to understand this comment came from a 60 year old, native Beadle county, farm-raised boy. Pretty typical thing for a person around here to say.

For the record Webster defines neutering much differently: To render incapable of breeding by surgically removing reproductive organs--the testes in males, the ovaries and uterus in females ("spaying"). (Not by drilling it with a .45 slug)

So now that you have his background with cats...about 2 weeks ago I was in dad's garage and I hear this meowing sound. It was a couple week old kitten! This guy flopped from cat killer to kitty foster parent like Lindsay Lohan goes from sober to plastered! On top of it all...he was bottle feeding it...once every 3 hours!

So on Sunday I see the once homely orphaned kitty, is eating kitty food and lapping up milk out of a bowl, jumping, climbing and running around. She has been named "Shaky" by Maxim. She occasionally comes into the house, climbs on the screen doors, and despite mom's efforts to give her every chance to run away, the kitty lives in the garage.

Dad said after my niece Cassidy leaves he's going to get rid of it, but we will see. It will be to lazy to hunt for food on the farm, and I'm not taking it. I think it should stay in the garage. After all, I think he is attached...I kind of like the little thing as well...just not enough to be a cat person.

This Child Is Very Excited About Living!

The title of today's post is a nice way of saying, Brecken is a complete handful. Some minutes he can be a sweet little boy, but then the alter-ego kicks in and he dumps toys all over the floor, or pulls a plant and stand on to the floor then laughs like a madman about his ability to destroy that which Stephanie has made.

Last night Steph was in town, so it was me and the boys. We went swimming, which involves the tube, a 15 foot section of climbing rope tied to the dock, and all 3 of us in a tube made for 1 or maybe 2 small kids. After 30 minutes of riding the big waves Maxim and I jumped on to the dock and when I went to grab Breck, he went "rubber legs" on me and would not get out of the water. So for another half hour I pushed him out and pulled him in on the tube.

He threw a huge fit when it was time to get out. After the swim in the lake, we hit the swing set and trampoline, finishing the night off with grape freeze pops. I gave him a bottle and sent him to bed at 8:30...I was pretty proud of myself, thinking I was super dad, and that this kid was not the little tornado we sometimes make him out to be.

1:30 a.m. Brecken had been crying for at least a half hour (I was waiting for Steph to hear him...she sleeps super heavy). By 2 a.m. we are all awake watching TV and Brecken is playing like it is the middle of the day???

Just when you think you have your children figured out, they throw the off-speed pitch and catch you sleeping. I think we all went to bed around 3:00 a.m. Somehow during all of this Maxim ended up sleeping in our bed while Brecken was voicing his opinion very loudly...he was still there when I left for work this morning.

Fun Stuff Always Happens Around Boats.

I posted this video because stuff is always funnier when it happens to other people...but ironically I have fallen out of a boat, ran over a friend at a very slow speed with a jet ski, seen a pair of boardshorts get ripped off by a boat cleat, caused a friend to rack himself on a boat dock, while on a jet ski I saved a sailboat crew of 5 from the shark...I mean CARP...infested waters of Lewis & Clark resivour...also towed in the sailboat, on the same day watched an 18 foot boat go under the water in like :30 seconds, ...and finally was the 2nd to last person to abandon ship when my cousin's Malibu sank due to some crazy high winds last year.

That being said...I really love being around the water.

Memorial Day Pictures.

The weather for Memorial Day weekend sucked so not much time was spent in the water. Dave and Travis were huge in helping get the docks back in the water and rebuilding the section of dock that the neighbor's pontoon tore apart.

Here are some pictures...most don't need any explanation.

Steven Wright

My dad and I love this guy.

Happy Birthday to the good doctor.

Most of us have childhood friends that we spent tons of time with, I was lucky enough to have cousins that doubled as friends. Our extended family unit is a close one, and we always do stuff together. My dad's sister has 3 boys and they lived a few minutes on a bike away from our house so, it seems like, every day I would ride to their house.

Brent is the oldest and kind of the voice of reason. He still is, now that I think of it. Jon and I would be dead or in jail if we would have done everything we wanted to back then, he kept us safe. Aaron was the little one that was along for the ride, whatever the day brought.

I'm not sure how old we were, but I pretty sure parents these days don't trust their kids or society enough to let them be home alone like we were back then...but we had Brent as our summer guide!

Our dads worked at the same bank, and our moms at the same clinic so there was enough communication between all parties to understand what the boys were doing that day, or what they thought the boys were doing...and who knows my aunt might have been home all the times I was over there, but the years have clouded the memories.

Jon and I were the closest in age, so we were natural playmates. From climbing on the roof to epic baseball games in the backyard trying not to get caught climbing the fences to retrieve the ball from the neighbor's yards, games of fumble-bumble (a football game we made up), knee hockey in the basement, and street hockey games at all hours of the night. I am pretty sure we always made Aaron be the goalie...sorry about that, AJ! Fishing trips with Uncle Lynn to the river...who could forget the frogs we caught and named them all "Joe Heckburg". I have fond memories of their house on MacDonald Drive. The crawl space, the tree in the back yard that was 3rd base, climbing the trees in the front yard and listening to Michael Jackson's Thriller album on the record player in the living room.

It's been a few years, but those memories are still as fresh as ever.

Rick Springfield of 1980's pop music fame had a song called "Me and Johnny"...every once in a while it finds it's way to my MP3 player's now playing when I hit shuffle. Here are some lyrics...

Lookin' back I'd say we broke a few rules
Left one or two hearts in a ruin
Spent all that precious time doin'
Things we figured that Presley might have done

Stole a few cars, never got caught
Started some fights in the scrimmage
We got caught up in the image
Of playing young rebels by the handbook
Looking back I guess we had some attitude
We were gonna be hard and tough

Me and Johnny
We're gonna play tonight
It's gonna be alright
We're gonna shine

I think of the Doctor when I hear that song...and 1000's of times in between those times.

May 29 is his birthday...out of all my friends and cousins, that's the only person's birthday I have memorized.

Happy Birthday, Dr. S.

I'm a son of a gun...fighter.

If you know my dad, you know he was born 150 years to late.

He would ride a horse to work if they had a hitchin' post at the bank. In fact, when he retires he is going to ride his horse across South Dakota.

He still ropes some calves and team ropes now and then, but during the winter that season slows down, so this winter he started participating in Cowboy Fast Draw Competitions. He built a target and backstop in the garage and shoots his .45 Ruger as shown in the picture to the right with cousin Scott. He has only shot himself in the leg once...just a flesh wound. Gunfighters are a tough breed.

This video shows some guys doing this at some big thing in Idaho. Not the greatest video, but they are shooting at 2' diameter circles with a light that tells them when to draw.



So anyway last Sunday my dad had a shoot in Mitchell and he did really well. All of his draws were under a half a second, which is really good. He ended up getting 3rd place...which means he's the 3rd Fastest Gun In The Mitchell Region, or it means in a gun fight he would have been the 2nd to last guy to die!

We joke about his new hobby quite a bit, when we wrestle in the living room (yeah we still wrestle like we did when I was a kid) he always says, "Hey, easy that's my shooting arm!".

So to give my dad something to strive for I post the below video as something to aspire to. This guy takes out 5 targets in the time it would take me draw and shoot once! I think it's cool, my wife thinks my dad is crazy...look what she has to look forward to!

A Little Vacation From Typing.

Sorry, that was a long pause between posts, and apparently it didn't go unnoticed...Verlie the Great ran me down on Sunday, almost in tears, asking why I wasn't writing anymore. So I promised him the blog would go on.

We have been very busy getting things ready for "opening day" weekend. Memorial is the true kick off for most northern lake dwelling folks (so we are told), and we have 13 people coming to the house on Wednesday. Bad new is...the weather according to KELO-LAME is supposed to be rotten, oh well.

The boat house looks super, new paint, mom's old kitchen cabinets, and some scrubbing...it's a place I like to hang out...it's like a screened in porch on the water.

I'm ready for summer...you can just feel the fun of summer getting ready to explode...especially when you talk to people who have kids in school or teach school. The last week is like a formality to satisfy G.W. Bush's master plan...so that no child is left behind.

I remember how end of the year field trips rocked, but I saw the most pointless field trip yesterday...the teacher took them to Wal-Mart...like...OH...we might have this problem with American kids not knowing how a retail store works. Those might be the children that are left behind.

I think we should just cancel the last week of school, the teachers don't want to be there, the kids don't want to be there...just end school a week earlier. But then again the new last week of school would be just like the current last week of school. Catch 22.

Noah's Update 2.0

So it's not going to be as bad as the Governor first told us on Saturday night...I almost cancelled my trip to Montana because of the gloom and doom he was forecasting. The scientist at the USGS calmed he and his staff, by saying that the James River had crested at 17.9 feet. The picture to the left shows the river at it's highest point. The 3rd Street Dam is somewhere under about 8 feet of water.

Then again as I say "not going to be as bad"...I think...tell that to the folks in Aberdeen.

Lake Byron looks so big right now because of the added water volume, it's pretty impressive.

The lake went down 4 inches overnight...it's down about 6 from it's highest point, but not enough to use this picinic bench.

Finally today I leave you with another successful parenting moment. We only wanted boys so we would have someone to mow the lawn. Last night the 2 little weasels started on the lawn...Brecken would pull the grass out of the ground and give it to Maxim, then he would put it into the bag while making engine sounds. At this rate the yard should be done by the time I get back from Montana.

It is a beautiful day in the mountains today...to bad I have to work. I wonder if United Airlines will let me "carry on" my mountain bike next time?

Noah's Report

Would anyone know the number of a good canoe builder? I might have to load Steph, the boys and our dogs, 2 by 2, on to the thing if we get any more rain.

Since Friday night there are reports of up to a foot of rain in some places along the James River Valley in South Dakota.

We got about 7" on Friday night at Lake Byron. People all over the area are cleaning basements out, and buying every Shop-Vac in a 8 county region.

The lake, which is up 2.5 feet since we moved in back in August, came up another foot early Saturday morning...along with a day of 30 mph winds our permanent dock got a great wash off, and we were pretty happy with how things were going.

Then Sunday morning, when we woke up we heard this constant, bong, bong, bong, bong...so I walked out on the deck and looked down at the water, and behold, we inherited a pontoon boat. The bad news was that the waves were throwing the boat on top of our dock and breaking it apart. (the pictures above shows the damage, and our neighbor and his kid looking at the "wacked up boards" as his son Cody put it) In 10 minutes 3 neighbors had identified the pontoon as a neighbors from the south side of the lake.

We jumped in, found the keys in the glove box (only in South Dakota) and waited for some waves and a couple of pushes off the dock and our piers by the deckhands, and the boat was freed.

So me and the neighbor went for a 7Am pontoon ride on Sunday morning, to help the lost boat find it's way home. The owner met us at his house, and we ended up loading the pontoon and his boat on the trailers. He said, "enjoy your new dock that my insurance company will put in for you." Ahh, insurance companies, I love working with them, or getting worked by them.

Sunday night we took a tour of the area to see the water levels...here are some pictures.

This is the boat launch on the south side...if you click on the picture you will be able to see the mooring posts that hold the dock in place...right now the dock is about 2 foot under water.

This is the Dave Gross' farm. The house was dry, but the feedlot looked more like a swimming pool. Dave also has a place on the lake, and his dock suffered a little damage as well.

This was the scene in the back of the Expedition during the tour of the country side...Maxim was completely excited about driving around looking at the water, as you can tell. Brecken, as usual, just happy to be along.

This is "Hog's Back" on the east side of the lake, if you are familiar with the lake, you probably don't recognize it at all...funny how some water changes the look of the land.

Over all we were pretty fortunate, no tornadoes, no flooding, yet. Just some busted up dock and a bunch of drifting garbage that found it's way to our dock and boat lift. Oh yeah...if you look closely at the picture of our dock you can see a 40 foot utility pole...that will be brought up to the front parking area of our house and will serve as our "parking bumper". So I guess we did get some good things out of the storm. Maxim was also excited about the dead bullhead that washed up on our dock. Living on Liquid is soooooo exciting.

And just think about a week ago I was running out of things to blog about, and was thinking about shutting down the blog for a while, or forever...like anyone beside Skipper, Verlie and Grandpa Roger would know. Last thing, becuase of the rain, Steph's dishwasher is hooked up and running, and the fridge is plugged into it's own outlet, not by an extension cord running to the bathroom.

Progress, little by little.

Montana Tourisim Council

A buddy of mine from Missoula sent me this today.

Montana life long residents love their state to death, and hate...let me spell that...H-A-T-E...the fact that people in California and other West Coast states come into town and buy up land, houses and resorts for top dollar because they need a break from the smog and the big city.

So when they see another article in National Geographic Adventure, Transworld Snowboarding, Outside Magazine or any other publication they cringe a little bit. They fear Clark Griswold will pack up the family RV and crowd their town for a glimpse of mountain, river and wildlife majesty.

They are a bit jealous about sharing their state, kind of like when you see Minnesota or Missouri license plates on another yellow H2 parked in front of field in the middle of South Dakota during the opening week of pheasant season.

I am sure Montana Gov. Brian "Bolo Tie" Schweitzer would not approve of the "campaign", but most of the Montana locals I work with feel at times like putting up a fence around the boarders...at least on the west and south side of the state.

I am headed back to Montana next Wednesday...in fact in the next 3 months I will spend about 40 days in Montana and Idaho...I think that gets me an "honorary citizen" pass for 2007 anyway.

If you want more reason to head to the mountain state, check out some pictures from an acquaintance of mine through work and pheasant hunting.

I have a "man crush" on Tony's abilities with a camera, and his overall job for that matter. He gets to travel all over taking pictures of active lifestyle stuff....my kind of gig. You will realize why Montana citizens want the whole state to themselves after drooling over some of his pictures.

Learn To Play The Drums With Your Fingers.

You never know what you will get from the Living On Liquid blog site.

Today's post is a video that came to me from a friend who shares my love of playing the drums and congas.

At first I was like you have to be kidding me, this is ridiculous...then he busts out this crazy rudiment, that I couldn't play with 4 arms and 6 legs!



If I only I had a Creative Keyboard..."THIS IS ROCK AND ROLL".

The Butter Effect.

2 years ago BFY Productions put out a wakeboard film called The Butter Effect. In the world of skiing and wakeboarding "butter" is also known as "glass". When the conditions are perfect...no winds, no crowds...it is some of the most fun you can have on a wakeboard no matter how good or bad you are.

To snow skiers, it's 8 inches of fresh powder, to surfers it's a clean double overhead, to walleye fishermen I'm told it's a nice little chop in the water, to a hockey player it is freshly Zambonied ice...those perfect days and conditions for doing what you love.

Well, yesterday was a typical Monday, too much work to be done in too little time...in fact, while walking through the hallway I actually thought about pulling a fire alarm so I could bail. I actually get that temptation almost every time I see a pull-type fire alarm, but that is another story, and my therapist won't allow me to blog about it yet.

So around 4:50 my wife says, "Hey babe when are you coming home? Just wanted to let you know I looked at the lake and it's butter."

This is where the Butter Effect kicks in...I forget all my worries and stresses of the job, and I find new life on a Monday. I got home in 15 minutes and was on the lake 7 minutes later. After a nice session in some pretty cold water the rest of the day was spent in the yard watching the boys play on the swing set, trampoline and riding bikes...pretty easy to forget about the Monday with a life like this.

It made me think, so many people don't have a "Butter Effect". That's probably why we have so much crap going on in the world.

What gets you off the couch, out of the cage you call an office and enjoying "God's Playground" as a great friend of ours would call it...is it golf, biking, walks, fishing, hunting, grand kids messing up your house and eating all your cookies?

Teva sport sandals has a slogan to help sell sandals to people with a mind like Steph and mine...

GO. DO. BE.