Hint of Spring

Compost
Daffodils
Snowdrops

Huntie Says Hi

I am home from the hospital or Disneyland, my pain pills prevent me from remembering which one. I am doing well and wanted to thank you all for the outpouring of support you have provided my family and me.

Jim

Grounds for Sculpture

My friend Sandy and I went to " Grounds for Sculpture " in Hamilton, NJ last Wed. Its really an amazing place and great for all ages. I've been when the trees are full and flowers everywhere, but winter is very cool too as its stark and the various pieces stand out. There are two large buildings where the exhibitions change, and then there are paths and gardens throughout the grounds integrating with the artwork outside. If you get a chance, go! Oh yes, theres a great restaurant on the property called RATS. The waiter viewed us with a semi-jaundiced eye as he said "you can't fit that all on the table at once". So we made two courses, the first was a beautiful smoked salmon with capers and a salad of frisee ( or "hair" lettuce as Jim calls it) with horseradish dressing, and a large plate of perfectly cooked french fries, salty with skins on. Then we had a cesear salad with a cheese platter of blue chedder, brie, and a extremely funky yak nicely garnished with cashews,pistachios, currents, and apricots. There were marinated tomatoes (yellow&red), and hot whole-wheat rolls. Needed a little sweet to end the meal so we shared a slice of pink grapefruit meringue pie. Sandy and I have been friends for over 50 years and she is one of my favorite dining companions and I hers. We used to stand in front of our refrigerator and pick at leftover eggplant parmesan when we were 10 years old, but I digress. Hope everyone will try out this place if you can.

Big Fat Liar

The Lies of George W Bush by David Corn

The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq by Christopher Scheer

Big Bush Lies: The 20 Most Telling Lies of President George W Bush by Jerry Politex Barrett

Fraud: The Strategy Behind the Bush Lies and Why the Media Didn't Tell You by Paul Waldman

Bush Lies in State by Malachy McCourt

Aliens and Cowboys: Bush's Legacy of Lies by Jefferson Lang

Secrets and Lies; The Planning, Conduct and Aftermath of Blairs and Bush's War by Dilip Hiro

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al Franken

Yes, I suppose all presidents lie, Democrats about all the sex they've had and Republicans about wars, illegal arms deals, break-ins, wire-taps,etc. Still, it seems rather telling that there are SO MANY books with Bush and Lie in the title. There are even more than this but you get the picture, hes truth challenged.

Tang at Rest: rerax peeper, iter or gonna be orlight...

gggrrrrrrr!!!!!

anonymous, i'm coming to eat you, you fascist pansy!

In response to 30 minutes

I've read Lewis Lapham's article in Harpers and figured my response should be made on a fresh blog entry. Not because of anything earthshaking I have to say but because I feel strongly that this issue is critical to our country's future. Now I know that's a rather melodramatic come-on but I'm quite serious.
Lapham's article traces in detail the history of the Bush administration's involvement in Iraq. Most of us have heard the story and have probably forgotten most of it.
The key paragraph for me is this. After this Bush quote - "We're at war.....we must protect the country's secrets," Lapham says,

"No, the country isn't at war, and it's not America's secrets that the President seeks to protect. The country is threatened by free-booting terrorists unaligned with a foreign government or an enemy army; the secrets are those of the Bush administration, chief among them its determination to replace a democratic republic with something more safely totalitarian. The fiction of permanent war allows it to seize, in the name of national security, the instruments of tyranny." (my italics)

Pretty radical, eh? I'm not so sure.
Now I'm no card carrying republican, but I've always felt more akin to their philosophy than that of the democrats.
And I've always been willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt. I sometimes feel like his chief apologist in these debates.
But I wasn't real sure about this good ol' boy right from the get-go. The smirk was the first thing. And then his military record. For Viet vet such as me his behavior is really unforgivable - and Cheney's ain't much better.

But this whole deal with Iraq is out of control.

Other than my wife and my brothers and their wives, I don't know how the rest of you out in blogland feel about it. Maybe you don't feel much at all. (did i push your button?)
Some might say this isn't the proper forum but where better than here?
This bum has to be stopped and I think that talk, talk, and more talk keeps the ball rolling.

For those of you who get this Harpers issue, please note the ACLU ad on the page following the article. The White House phone number is given in hopes that you'll express your displeasure with illegal spying. The fact that I'm scared to call the number is very telling in itself.

Jim, not Marg

It's mighty cold this morning, again - around 10 or so I guess. Just as a reminder that this condition will change, I offer photos of the 2nd annual (and final) Simpson & Brown Day at the Races. It was 110F. The little latinos who drive the horses almost called it a day - apparently it's their decision, believe it or not. As can be seen, the outside stands were not quite full - everyone was inside in the AC. The S&B gang was under a tent speed eating shrimp before it turned. All the kids were ornery and whining. Everyone was drenched with sweat. Skin was turning blotchy with the onset of heatstroke. Most left early.
So fear not. The heat will return.

Mustaches

In an effort to maintain our sanity here in Maine we're growing hair on our upper lips and wearing funny hats while dancing to Brooklyn Funk Esstentials. Baby it's cold outside!

30 minutes

whilst watching yoko ono (now, oddly, a short track olympic speed skater with an odd bit of facial hair on her chin) go for the gold, i happened to read in the March issue of Harper's an article entitled The Case for Impeachment. i urge one and all to take 30 minutes (the average time it takes a simpson male to poop) and read this article. if you give even a teenie weenie little shit about the power and the politics in the good old US of A herein lies some very interesting stuff. and definitely do not miss the footnotes.

president's day is monday. this might be an excellent day to peruse this short essay.

good nite & good luck.

Greatest Wedding Ever

A recent entry in the G.W.E. category, the nuptials of Kelly Lawrence, daughter of the battling Beth and Bennie machine. It had it all, romance, drama, Floridians in fur coats, a gazebo by the sea, and this pineapple tree thingee. Who can beat this?

The Blogmeister

The Blogmeister, suffering terribly in Vacationbland this weekend from Typing Hand-in-Mouth Disease needs our great good wishes. i send along these (slightly blurry) photos from The Greatest Wedding Ever to boost his sagging spirits.

In photo one you'll note the blogmeister looks gloomy. this is due to the fact that he has just received the bill for his eldest daughter's nuptials.



Now look at that smile in photo two. this was snapped just minutes later after the blogmeister sipped a nip or two from the friendly bottles in the background.



sorry about the plethora of posts lately but by bride is glued to the o-limp-ics and, well, i just can't take no mo dicky button or rich white kids riding down the mountain on snowboards.

Some of the gang

This picture recently appeared on our Post Office wall with other wanted suspects and personae non grata. Don't know if it was the obscene nipple lights hanging from the ceiling or if perhaps one of you had refused to go out hunting with the V.P. Anyway, thank you CRS for plugging me back in to the blog from cyberloop hell.
Can anyone identify all these good-looking individuals?

weddin

my daughter loves to sit in front of the computer and look at pictures and name everyone she knows from me telling her over and over who they are. she can even hit the button now to move to the next pic. a regular freakin einstein. all that aside, this morning, after some prompting from pappy, she said "HUNTIE!" when jim and Liz popped up. and a few seconds later she said "PA!" when WB & his smiling bride took over the screen. just thought i'd share these milestones.

Feb. 14, 2006

Nice to have some snow around. Brey's Hill Preserve (at the end of our road) is a good place to go for x-country ski. Jim and I went on Sun, during the tail end of the storm. Yesterday I went again, you could see where others had come in. The hay at the top of the hill makes an interesting monolith.

giorno dei valentine felici!

perchè questa ragazza sta sorridendo?

è con il bambino!

500

elizabeth mary shaffer simpson is 500 days old today. she celebrated by taking a ride in the 2001 space odyssey space craft here in gladstone, nj

20 + inches

last sunday 60 degrees and a 30 mile bike ride. this sunday:

More Kids of Casa Guat

A few more shots of Maia's kids taken last week on the Rio Dulce:

Second set of Honeymoon Photos

Here are a few more photos from the tropics.

Please note, snorkeling is much more enjoying when you have a continuous seal between the mask and your face. If you have a mustache, shave it off before you check out Buck Island reef. The images here show me before and after the shave.

A few more photos of the beaches and Christiansted.

Love ya

Dave and Sara

Honeymooning in St. Croix

Hello All,

Sara and I are back from the tropics and are "bracing" for the supposed nor'easter coming our way later today. Anywho, I wanted to share some photos from our recent trip to the Caribbean. Special thanks to Jim and Marg!!! Is it me or can we only post 5 pics at a time? If thats the case, I'll do 2 posts.

We had a great time, some of the photos you see are of downtown Christainsted, Dorsch Beach, a view from the condo, couple of views from Point Udall (the eastern most point in the U.S.).

Many days were spend on the beach, soaking up the rays, swimming, snorkeling, eating, a few cocktails here and there, eating, and eating.

Hope all is well

Dave

Gazpacho Hope

Hope stayed overnight last night. Shes quite a pleasant little houseguest for the most part. She ate dinner with Jim and I, rice and black beans and shrimp but also a chicken leg, some nachos, then strawberries and pound cake. She has the proverbial hollow leg. This morning after cereal and another 8 oz. of strawberries she wanted to make something in the mortar and pestle. She likes to smash stuff around in there, but she is interested in all things food, has a good memory, and is a willing student. Ask her about garnishes next time you see her.

Geriatrics Do Soupy Bowl XL

On my way home from Guatemala my flight was diverted to Detroit due to a freak snowstorm near Miami. I was able to deplane for several hours and grab a cab over to Ford Field to catch the Superbowl halftime show. Fotos are a little grainy due to poor lighting, but I was up close enough to catch the old farts doing their usual schtick.