The Clay is Making Me High...

As some of you know the owl is ready for launch again! Woo hoo!! Back out and about into the wilds of the U.S. of A. again, but..... I decided, before leaving my perch, I would start yet another sculpture. Trouble is, I can't get all the sides of my personality to agree on which sculpture to start from my vast list of ideas.
So, I took some time to play with clay. This helps to unwind the mind, also good for the hands, and builds my strength for giving awesome massages!! The problem is, that the clay I work with has a strange mixed sulphur base. It has a funny smell to it that isn't all that unpleasant..but yet strangely annoying. In fact one of my friends thought that it was a perfume I was using. erckk..but okay. (Sometimes you find things like that about the people you know...you start wondering why you know them! lol) Still playing with clay I started to feel sick...maybe it's all the smoke that is still lingering in the air, in fact, some days the smoke is worse than when all the fires started in the first place! So I have the smell of a strange sulphur based odor, with thick smoke, and then an unusual smell, something cooking from the neighbor's house. Whatever he was cooking....it didn't go with the rest of the palate of odors... it was like drinking a white wine with beef.....errrcchhkk.. Upon getting sicker I figured I'd open a window. Fresher, but smoky, air has to be a bit better right? Wrong...because as the wind picks up the smell of fresh cut marigolds (flowers) wafts across my table. Did you know that fresh cut marigolds smell like cat piss?..... errrccchhkkk...
I wish I could bottle the smell right now because it would be the best weight loss diet plan a person could have. No one is hungry when you smell burnt,sulphur,bad beef cassarole, cat-piss all rolled into one nauseating fragrance. Perhaps I should get the patent....
Need a name for it... LOL

The President is in Town....Yabba, Dabba, Doooo...

Well, Air Force One just landed in Redding.....actually more like a fat helicopter full of useless politicians. So what does this mean for the Shasta, Butte, Tehama, Trinity, Glenn counties? It means that 2,000 fires wiped out quite a bit of forestry land and buildings, not to mention wildlife, and has left some confused, sickened, homeless residents...and these turkeys get a look at it on the taxpayer's buck. The politicians, including Diane Feinstein and Govenor Schwarzenegger get to hug on the tarmac, make kissy noises, and shake hands. Who are they shaking hands with?? ... most of our area law enforcement who should be out in the city making sure crime is in check, traffic is moving smoothly. What a perfect time to rob a bank...there isn't anyone around to care.
Amazing to watch the entourage. All that money in trucks, vans, planes, cargo planes, fuel, military, secret service, secretaries, press people, etc. etc.. not to mention that traffic is backed up, the airport is shut down, and now there will be nothing to watch on tv for the next 24 hours as we have to hash, hash, and rehash the "event." Doesn't the President have an exclusive residence in Virginia known as the White House?? Doesn't he have access to satellite photos, video, email ??? He has to spend a million dollars to come out here, have a look-see, and back up traffic?
LOL... and our local news report.... "Let's listen as Air Force One takes off"... what.. never heard a plane take off before? WOW... what awesome news reporting! Extremely exciting as our news team describes the landing gear being retracted. Pulitzer prize material there! Of course our local BLONDE newswoman said that Air Force One is a very, very, very big plane. Really....it is a "Very, Very, Very big plane"....not just.... very? Someone give the blonde a brain...please.

Do I mean to be so cynical and sarcastic? Not really. It is just tiring to see that every major disaster only invites politicians to advance their career by looking like they care, they spend taxpayer money to come to the "event'' and have fun with big dinner fund raisers in their tuxedos. If the government wasn't so busy mismanaging funds in the first place, then we as a nation wouldn't have problems paying firefighters, police, teachers...etc.

May we have no more disasters, simply to ease government spending to go see the disasters.

The Magicians Owl

Mankind's Kindness Can Be Cruel

People never cease to amaze and astonish me! Sometimes that can be a gratifying feeling especially if one thinks of all the wonderful discoveries and inventions that have come about in just a few short years. Somehow though, through all the "evolutionary" developements mankind has made, .....the stupidity gene is still being passed down with some regularity.

The other day I saw a woman carrying a small Doxie into the Home Depot. (Doxie in this case being a Dachshund, not a harem slave girl or a concubine.) The dog was dressed in a little suit, with a tie, and little shoes. It was only about 102 F that day, so dressing a dog in a suit seemed the perfect thing to do! I shook my head wondering how the panting dog felt until I turn around and saw a lady with a small Chihuahua in her shopping cart. The Chihuahua was dressed in sunglasses, a dress, and a little bonnet. Did anyone tell these people that dogs already come with fur coats???? When the women reached the check out, the one woman recognized the other and ... "OH how CUTE he looks, OHHH, how darling!!!" yadda yadda. Conversation continues like two schoolgirls over the high school quarterback until the Doxie lady sticks the Doxie into the Chihuahua's face. A fight breaks out between the two dogs, of course, because dogs are dogs, not babies in suits and dresses with bonnets. So Doxie lady grabs the Doxie and smacks it in the face, hard. I just had to roll my eyes and think how cruel. One, it's cruel to completely deny a creature's nature and turn it into a toy, but two, set up a situation you know is going to get a reaction then slap it upside the head for being what it is! On miniature dogs, one can seriously hurt them slapping them upside the head like that, plus....it won't learn anything. Your emotional reaction doesn't mean anything to the dog that is defending its space from another strange dog. It seems to me, that people need the obedience school and the training,.. not the dog!

Please spare animals from being emotional surrogates! No one would appreciate it if I walked up to you and started treating you like, say, a monkey, or a bird. You'd want to be treated like a human being, because you are one right? So try to respect an animal for what it is! It will be better for your pet...and better for you!

The Magicians Owl

Genius at the Wheel

LOL.... my Aunt sent me these pictures and I just had to share! The story goes that the driver had only been in the USA a couple of months. This is near Billings, Montana. The driver missed his turn and decided to make a new road for himself. He didn't realize that there were rails at the top of the hill (wouldn't have mattered anyway, he still would have beached the trailer.) You can see where the trailer pinched the drives and practically pulled the fifth wheel assembly out. According to the owner of the truck, the driver must have been going at least 55 mph to climb the steep grade in the ice covered grass.

There are some great drivers out there, people who take the road seriously and can be considered professional. LOL But then you have to realize, there are those who haven't a clue like this guy!!! Makes you feel better knowing that just anyone can get a license to drive a 40 ton vehicle down the road!

The Magicians Owl

Happy B-Day America!!!!!!!!!!!!

So to all who are reading this.. HAPPY 4TH of JULY !!!!!!!!!!!

I just got in to my hotel room in Arcata, CA (that's on the coast). I'm fleeing the smoke so I can actually see the fireworks! WOW is the ocean beautiful, the weather is outstanding, and I had forgotten what blue sky actually looked like!!! :)

Can't wait to be on the water when the fireworks begin!!!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th celebration!

The Magicians Owl