Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Independence Day Sasquatch Video

90% of you do not believe in the existence of Sasquatch.  I was one of you until last year.  Since that time, from evidence Pam and I have found in both Bleecker and here in Florida, we've come full circle.

I thought that "Bigfoot" was a myth conjured up in the minds of drunks and crazy people.  Now, after spending many months obsessing over this, I've come to learn that there are over 10,000 reported sightings, over one million tracks cast, and many audio recordings of vocalizations.  But what is missing is clear evidence.   Notice I used the word evidence, and not proof.  The only proof would be a killed or captured Sasquatch.  People who have seen one, armed and ready to shoot, could not.  They appear more human-like than ape-like.

The best evidence to date was the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film.  The authenticity and veracity of that has been debated ad nauseum.  Many claim it was a man in an ape suit.  Several have claimed to be the person in the suit.  But no one has produced the suit, and modern computer technology and anthropological analysis of the creature's movements indicate that it was certainly no man in a suit.

Yesterday, I learned of another such film, dubbed the "Independence Day" Sasquatch video.  It was filmed on the 4th of July.  What year, I'm not sure.  It seems that whomever recorded it went underground.  I think perhaps 2011.   But what it is, is a female Sasquatch running to fetch her baby from behind a rock, and then running off with it.  


Analysis of this video by experts arrived at the same conclusion as the Patterson-Gimlin film.  While people could dress up in monkey suits and attempt to hoax this, the knee thrusts, which are the angles of the thighs and lower legs, are not the same of those as humans and next to impossible to hoax.  This is what separates possibly real video from hoaxes.

This is a fascinating subject for me, as you all can tell, I'm sure.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Bleecker Mountain Atomic Hotsauce

By now most everyone knows of my Bleecker Mountain Atomic Horseradish.    If you can get a fresh root, it is sooooo good.  I just made a batch a couple of days ago.  I use only horseradish root and vinegar.  No sugar, no salt.  

I thought I'd try my hand at something new.  Hotsauce.

21 Serrano peppers chopped up into thin slices.

1 1/2 tablespoons of minced garlic.

3/4s of a cup of thinly sliced onion, 3/4 teaspoon of salt (yes, I used it for my first batch), and one teaspoon of vegetable oil.  I put this all into a sauce pan to saute it.   I then googled "saute", got out a fry pan and dumped it all in there.  Saute for three minutes, and then add two cups of water.  


Saute for 20 minutes until almost all the water is gone, and then let it sit to warm up to room temperature.   Chop everything up in a food processor, the same one I use for my horseradish.  Add a cup of distilled white vinegar.   When you realize the small food processor is too small, get a bigger one and dump everything into it.  Add the vinegar that wouldn't fit in the small one.  Puree' it.

Dump it into a sieve with a large capacity vessel underneath.  We don't want spillage of atomic hotsauce.   When you realize your Mason jars are too small, get the oldest bottle of salad dressing out of the refrigerator and dump it out.  Wash it real good.   


After filling the salad dressing bottle, mark a date two weeks into the future.  That's when you can use it, and it is good for six months.

Pam tasted a dab of it off her finger.  "HOLY COW DAVID!", she said, only she didn't use the word cow.  Hey, this is a family friendly blog.

A new star is born.  Bleecker Mountain Atomic Hotsauce.

UPDATE - I chickened out and put the hotsauce in glass Mason jars to ferment for two weeks.  In the meantime, I'll look for an appropriate glass bottle.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

The St. John's River, in Photos

Yesterday, the folks who Pam works for, who have become friends, invited us to go for a ride on the St. John's River on their pontoon "boat".  We haven't been on the water much since selling Drift Away, and so leapt at the chance.


Captain John.

Lots of fishermen on the St. Johns.  He's wearing a life jacket for a reason.


This is the reason.  People who don't understand wakes.

Another friggin' pelican.

A no wake Manatee zone.  No wake.  As in sloooooow dooooown.

More fishermen.  Imagine a wake hitting them?

More friggin' pelicans.


Sloooow dooooown.

A 73 footer.


I love palm trees.  They feel so... tropical, and not anything like snow and freezing rain.

Slow down!!!

My honey back at the helm.


Turkey vulture.

Nope.  No idea.  Apparently, this Austin-Healy Sprite was turned into the helm station of a pontoon boat.

I just love friggin' pelicans...

and turtles...

and big ol' alligators.

And then this imbecile came roaring around the bend in the river, throwing up a monster wake.  Pam tried quartering it, but the huge vertical wall of water crashed against the bow of the "boat" and rammed the bow's door open, and we had a three foot wall of water pouring into the boat.  The bow dove under water!  We were going  down, and going quickly!  "Quick!  Everyone to the stern!" I hollered, while wondering if I had time to swap out my 300mm zoom lens for my kit lens to take photos.   Nope.  I watched as my camera bag floated to the top of the bow rail, ready to go overboard.  We were about 20 feet from that alligator.  Should we jump ship?  Nope.

The bow slowly rose above the waterline, and the hundreds of gallons of water rolled back towards the stern.

"Everyone, to the middle of the boat!".

Pam started bailing with an ice chest after dumping out our Bud Lites without so much of a does-anyone-want-a-beer-before-I-dump-these-out?

Since when do boats not have scuppers to discharge green water?  Since when do pontoon boats exclude themselves from needing scuppers?   

Well, I took this pic after all the excitement was over, with my zoom lens.  My kit lens was soaking wet after almost floating off the "boat".


No one died, and the only casualty was possibly my kit lens, which is sitting in a bowl of rice to absorb all the moisture.  But if it is history, I have this jerk's registration number.


I swear to Gawd, I have NEVER seen so many people without a clue of what they're doing on the water.  They go flying through no wake Manatee zones, past docks and other boats throwing up gigantic wakes, completely oblivious to the damage and destruction they cause.  And you all know me.  If my kit lens is history, I will be like a pitbull on this guy.  I will find out who he is, and he will be buying me a new one.

Cripe, we could have all been swimming with that alligator.  Without my kit lens to photograph him slipping off that log and coming our way, I'd have been very angry.


Friday, March 20, 2015

An Ormond Beach Day

Its been beautiful here in north Central Florida.  Sunny and upper 80s every day.  I usually bail out of the RV around 1 PM or so.  It gets too hot in there.  I'm usually in the garage for the rest of the afternoon doing physical therapy (shooting pool).

Today it was forecast to be partly cloudy and 89 degrees here, so we decided to drive over to Ormond Beach, about a hour and a half to the east.  When we arrived, it was beautiful.  And apparently it is spring break time because young people were everywhere.


About an hour later, a fog rolled in off the ocean.  A damp and cold fog.  Everything changed.  



Pam and Judi went from sunbathing to bundling up.


So, for all of my northern followers.... hey, things are tough all over.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Forever Young

I have decided that this will be my theme song.  Pamela must play it at my celebration of life party when I croak.


The story behind it is fascinating to this old music buff...


Written by Bob Dylan, played by Seeger and kids.  Ain't life grand?


Sunday, March 15, 2015

the Caravan in Photos

Taken Friday, March 13th, at Grand Oaks Resort in Florida.  Friday was registration and orientation to the Caravan.




The rest of the photos were taken on Saturday.  This is the start of the caravan's last day.

Pam's newly painted trailer, complete with opening panels on the back door.



And she's off...


Look  at the size of this arena at Grand Oaks.   You can rent it for $650... an hour.


The finish line!
They'll be coming down that driveway waaay in the distance.

The folks filming the Caravan.   Look for it late this year.

Here they come!

They had a police escort.

The sheriff's mounted unit.























This little guy made the whole trip.  He  had to go twice as far.  :)




















A service horse!

This big Friesian wonders what it is...

Time for the closing ceremonies.



Meet Mike Miur.  Mike has had MS since he was 15.  He made the entire trip using a wheelchair accessible wagon.

Bud and Weiser, the clydesdales.  Bud and Weiser... Budweiser.... get it?   

Gerard Paagman, one of the organizers.




Yes.  Gerard and his entire family wear wooden shoes.



Before the people ate, the horses were given a banquet of hay, apples, and pears.

All of the participants were given wooden shoes.