I DON'T BLAME YA THERE. IS IT BADLY DINGED ???
THE RESALE VALUE OF A CAR DROPS CONSIDERABLY WITH HAIL DAMAGE.
AND ITS DAMN EXPENSIVE TO REPAIR ON YOUR OWN.

I GOT STUCK IN ONE A FEW YEARS BACK AND I PULLED RIGHT UP ONTO SOMEBODIES LAWN TO GET UNDER A TREE.
THEY WEREN'T HOME THANK GOODNESS AND I DIDN'T LEAVE ANY MARKS ON THEIR LAWN.
AT LEAST I SAVED MY BOSS'S CAR FROM ANY DAMAGE.

Well it looks like my insurance will pay for all damages and supply a rental car during the repairs. My deductible is three hundred so not bad considering the amount of damage. Glad I was paying for the comprehensive insurance. Had I not taken that option I wouldn't of been covered. I'll let ya know what the final bill comes out to be.

MOST EXCELLENT PAWLY !
300 ENDS UP BEING A PRETTY SWEET DEAL.

OH YA, DON'T FORGET TO DRIVE THAT RENTAL LIKE A RENTAL !

YEEHAAA !!!
WELL COWTOWN IS GETTING REAL CROWDED WITH STAMPEDE ON FOR 10 DAYS. HORSES AND THE SMELL OF THEIR DROPPED HOCKEY PUCKS IS EVERYWHERE NEAR DOWNTOWN. WHICH MAKES BIKE RIDING A BIT MORE CHALLENGING.
SLICKER THAN SNOT ON TEFLON. I NEAR WIPED OUT TODAY ON A STEAMY ONE. I GREW UP ON A FARM SO THATS NOT A BIG DEAL REALLY.
AS YOU CAN TELL I'M NOT REAL FOND OF STAMPEDE TIME. WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE AND WAY TOO MANY WANNA BE COWBOYS. ITS ALWAYS A BIT AMUSING TO SEE ALL THE DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES DRESSED UP IN COWBOY GEAR. I WON'T NAME MY FAVORITES FOR FEAR OF OFFENDING SOMEONE.
AT LEAST I GET A NIGHTLY FIREWORKS SHOW FOR 10 DAYS LOOKING STRAIT OUT MY LIVING ROOM WINDOW. IT GETS PRETTY LOUD TOO.
THERE IS A LARGE BUNCH OF BALLOONS FOR THE BIG PARADE TOMORROW MORNING. THOSE BALLOONS ARE GETTING BLOWN UP RIGHT NOW IN THE DANCE HALL AT MY WORK. I THINK I HEARD 10,000 WITH THE AMOUNT OF HELIUM THEY HAD BUT MAYBE DOUBLE THAT IF THE HELIUM IS ON TIME. THEY WILL BE GOING AT IT TILL AFTER 8 AM. THEN THEY HAVE TO TRANSPORT ALL THOSE INFLATED BALLOONS DOWNTOWN IN TIME FOR THE PARADE AT 10;30 I THINK.
OH WELL , ITS PART OF WHAT MAKES THIS TOWN GO ROUND. IT SURE BRINGS A LOT OF MONEY TO THE CITY.
SO LIKE I SAID, YEEHAAA AND PLEASE SPEND LOTS OF MONEY.

WELL NOT ONLY DO I GET A NIGHTLY FIREWORKS SHOW, I JUST GOT TREATED TO A HALF HOUR OF
CANADA'S OWN SNOWBIRDS. THE WORLDS FINEST PRECISION FLYING TEAM.
THEY PUT ON THEIR SHOW RIGHT ABOVE THE STAMPEDE GROUNDS AND DOWNTOWN.
THEY REALLY DO PUT ON A GOOD SHOW.
I'M NOT SURE BUT THIS MIGHT BE THE FIRST TIME FOR THEM TO OPEN THE STAMPEDE.
431 SQUADRON

All outside yer widow, eh? SWEET!! Someday I'll make it out there for the Big Show.

Don Marco was born in Northern Minnesota in the late 1920's. His interest in art was evident even before starting school. As a young adult in the Army Air Corp, he began his life's career in Air Traffic Control, which continued until his retirement from Honolulu International Airport in 1973. Much of his spare time was spent as a professional artist. Before retirement, Don started developing a technique to create fine art using Crayola Crayons. Shortly after retiring he published his first print. Living in Southern California, his work was in demand including commissions from Burt Reynolds and a one-man show at his Dinner Theater in F lorida .
Remember this is all done with CRAYONS !!!!!

What a great talent just to have it washed away but what a neat conversation piece.


When the dust gets thick on the back window of his Mini Cooper, Scott Wade uses it as a canvas to create temporary works of art.
Among his creations was a copy of C.M. Coolidge's 'A Friend in Need,' better known as dogs playing poker.


Wade used his finger and other implements to etch this homage to
Vincent Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' and Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa.'


Wade lives off the unpaved Roadrunner Road north of San Marcos,
which dusts the back windows of his car and gives him the canvases to create his own works of art.


A portrait of Kinky Friedman on the back of the Mazda driven by Wade's wife,
Robin Wood, was featured on the gubernatorial candidate's Web site.


A collage of wildlife decorates the Mini Cooper's window.


Wade's creations attract admirers wherever he goes.


Who needs a frost-covered window when you've got road dust to create a Christmas scene?


John Kelso was the subject of one window portrait.


Besides his finger, Wade uses traditional art tools, such as paintbrushes,
and unconventional ones, like a chewed Popsicle stick, to make his drawings.


Wade takes pride in his creations, but he knows that with one good shower, his work will just wash away.

Those are amazing!!

HEY ALL YOU IRISH FOLK!
I WAS AT A FRIENDS FUNERAL AND WAKE OVER THE WEEKEND. I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS IRISH.
BOY DO THE IRISH KNOW HOW TO PUT ON A PARTY. THE GUINNESS WAS FLOWING FREELY.
I EVEN HAD A FEW TOO MANY AND I WASN'T ALONE.
THE SELECTION OF POTLUCK FOOD WAS AMAZING.
THE ONLY SOUNDS YOU COULD HEAR ALL EVENING WAS LAUGHTER AND REALLY GREAT IRISH FOLK MUSIC PLAYED
BY WHOEVER WANTED TO PICK UP AN INSTRUMENT. THERE MUST OF BEEN A DOZEN ALL PLAYING AT ONCE A FEW TIMES.
OUT OF ABOUT 60 PEOPLE PROBABLY OVER HALF HAD HAD WAY TOO MUCH GUINNESS, BUT THERE WASN'T A FIGHT OR ARGUMENT THE WHOLE EVENING. PRETTY DAMN CIVILIZED FOR A BUNCH OF DRUNK PEOPLE.
SO I SAY HAIL TO IRISH, THEY KNOW HOW TO PARTY THE RIGHT WAY.

Thank you kind sir! Yep, we sure know how to drink & party. Unfortunately, my limit is 4 pints of the "Black Stuff".

Zappdog,can you quell my curiostity - Those Don Marco pictures (Which I think are brilliant) - Is that Tom Selleck & James Arness?

HEY SIRIUS B
YES THAT IS TOM SELLECK AS "QUIGGLY" AND JAMES ARNESS.
BEST PICTURES I'VE SEEN OF EITHER
THE OLD INDIAN IS GERONIMO

I'm pretty sure pic 2 is Sitting Bull.

Ya know ........

Recently I watched "Troy" again (The Iliad: Brad Pitt;Achilles Eric Bana;Hector Peter O'Toole;Priam) and a main theme of that movie is immortality. Who will history remember and who will it forget? Traditionally, warriors and rulers have stood the test of time but we don't revere our warriors like we once did, Generals rarely see front lines anymore. Rulers are now politicians most of whom seem more than happy to keep a low profile once elected and collect paychecks.

In a couple hundred years, will history remember Tom Selleck or Brad Pitt as "Great Men" of our time? Giving them the closest humans can get to immortality?

YEESH!!!

HHMMMM?? Gives me an idea!

SITTING BULL !!
THANKS PAWLY ! I WAS HAVING A BRAIN FART WHEN I POSTED THAT AND COULDN'T REMEMBER WHO THAT ONE WAS.
THE OLD MOUNTAIN MAN WITH THE FUR HAT IS ONE I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO REMEMBER AS WELL. ITS A DAMN FAMILIAR FACE.
I'M THINKING AN ACTOR FROM WESTERN MOVIES OF THE 50'S.
ANYBODY RECOGNIZE HIM ?

Fess Parker???

@ SIRIUS B
SORRY, GOOD TRY BUT FESS PARKER WAS DAVY CROCKETT AND DANIEL BOONE BACK THEN AND MUCH YOUNGER.
I THINK THIS OLD GUY WAS IN WESTERN MOVIES OF THE 50'S OR EARLY 60'S SO HE PROBABLY RETIRED IN THE 60'S.
SOMEONE SUGGESTED MAYBE "UNCLE FESTER" (?) FROM THE LAST GUNSMOKE SERIES WITH JAMES ARNES. DOES ANYBODY HAVE SOME OLD GUNSMOKE TO CHECK ? HE COULD BE FROM TV LAND AS WELL
ANOTHER THOUGHT WAS MAYBE FROM 'QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER'

Ken Curtis?

AFTER LOOKING UP KEN CURTIS, I CAN SEE ITS NOT HIM EITHER.
I DO REMEMBER HIS CHARACTER THOUGH.
KEEP THE SUGGESTIONS COMING. WE'RE BOUND TO HIT IT YET.

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
George Carlin

MORE FOOD ART

HEY YOU ALL
JUST GOT BACK FROM GROCERY SHOPPING. WE DO OUR SHOPPING ABOUT ONCE A MONTH, ONE BIG ONE.
I HAVE NOTICED THE PRICES CLIMBING PRETTY STEADY. OUR SHOPPING LIST IS REALLY CONSISTENT EVERY MONTH.
WE BUY ALL THE SAME BASICS. MY EXPERIENCE AS A CHEF HELPS WITH THE FOOD COST.

I WOULD BE VERY CURIOUS ABOUT FOOD PRICES ELSEWHERE ACROSS CANADA AND ACROSS THE POND.
IT COSTS US ABOUT $280 A MONTH FOR 2 PEOPLE. THIS HAS CLIMBED FROM ABOUT 200 IN THE LAST YEAR.
SO $140 PER PERSON PER MONTH. SOME PEOPLE AROUND HERE ARE AMAZED THAT WE CAN DO IT THAT CHEAP.

WHAT'S IT COSTING YOU THESE DAYS PER PERSON ON AN AVERAGE ???

That's similar to ours Zappdog. Ours used to be around £130 ($260) per month & now its £173 ($346) per month. What I have noticed is the steep climb in the cost of Sugar & Milk over the past several weeks.

Sugar used to be £1.35 per Kilo & now it's £1.63. Milk was £1.23 for 2 litres & now it's £1.53. I think the large supermarkets here are being too greedy.

Definitely more expensive in the last year than previous - especially fresh fruits and vegetables. I don't keep track of exact numbers, but he one big that gets me riled up is apples - they used to be 60-90 cents a pound and now it's closer to $1.70-2.00. That's an insane jump in only a year! I actually flat out refuse to buy apples unless they are on "sale" closer to $1/pound.

How to be Spontaneous - Lesson One

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/05/german-children-elope-mika-annabel



German lovers – aged six and five – try to elope to Africa
Mika and his girlfriend Anna-Bell found on way to airport with lilo, swimming trunks and a witness for the wedding in tow
Guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 January 2009 17.40 GMT

It is a dream that has been shared by lovers across the centuries – the chance to elope to exotic lands. But few would have been as bold and spontaneous as six-year-old Mika and his five-year-old sweetheart Anna-Bell who, after mulling over their options in secret, packed their suitcases on New Year's Eve and set off from the German city of Hanover to tie the knot under the heat of the African sun.

The children left their homes at dawn while their unwitting parents were apparently sleeping, and took along Mika's seven-year-old sister, Anna-Lena, as a witness to the wedding.

Donning sunglasses, swimming armbands and dragging a pink blow-up lilo and suitcases on wheels packed with summer clothes, cuddly toys and a few provisions, they walked a kilometre up the road, boarded a tram to Hanover train station and got as far as the express train that would take them to the airport before a suspicious station guard alerted police.

"What struck us was that the little ones were completely on their own and that they had lots of swimming gear with them," said Holger Jureczko, a police spokesman. He described Mika and Anna-Bell as "sweethearts" who had "decided to get married in Africa where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Mika's sister".

Anna-Bell told the German television station RTL: "We wanted to get married and so we just thought: 'Let's go there.' "

Mika said: "We wanted to take the train to the airport, then we wanted to get on a plane and when we arrived we wanted to unpack the summer things and then we wanted to go for a bit of a stroll in the sun."

Mika and Anna-Lena's mother, who was not identified, said she had known nothing of her children's plan. "I'm still in a state of shock. I thought 'I'm playing a part in a bad movie.' When we realised the kids were missing we went looking for them." But only when the police called did they realise what had happened.

Asked why they failed to let their parents know, the children said they thought they would not be gone for long.

Mika told police he instigated the plan having been inspired by a winter holiday with his family in Italy. "Based on this the children began to make plans for the future," Jureczko said.

To allay their disappointment at being caught, Hanover police gave them a tour of the police headquarters. Jureczko said: "They'll have the chance to put their plan into action at a later date".

So maybe posting this in the Artwork section went under the radar. lol



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