teddy! we hardly knew you

My favorite bit of Ted Kennedyísm is where he confronts then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and asks for his resignation. Few would have the gumption to do that. One forgets the influence of the Senator until reminded during the numerous tributes that have run this week. Some of them have been quite moving such as his helping of the littlest refusnik and her family or his work with a family to provide better armor for vehicles in Iraq, work that has saved hundreds of lives and thousands of wounded. Kennedy was a powerful man and he used that power, at times to help people in ways that few others could.

We do wonder though if any of those who talk about the Kennedy penchant for helping those less fortunate ever ponder the fact that no one can attain great wealth without taking advantage of others in some way(s). And even if your wealth, as in the case of Ted Kennedy, has largely been handed to you, the maintenance of such wealth has consequences for others, some of whom are less fortunate. I raise this only as an ethical question that we must all address, where should our wealth end and that of others begin?

Tim whitmer trio: visual reviews of aural entertainment

Tim Whitmer Trio, the Cafe @ Briarcliff, KCMO, attendance ~15

cats in trees

m.o.i has always had a fondness for quirky folk who live at the edges of society. This may be due, in part, to fortunate circumstances that allow us to live somewhere in the middle realm, but one has to admit that often the self-trained artist is more interesting than the one more finely trained.

We say this in defense of Bob, whose performance piece Cats in Trees had a brief run as part of an ongoing street theatre project that Bob maintains. The premise of Cats in Trees is quite simple. First Bob, having created a Device for Placing Cats in Trees, must befriend feral cats that roam the neighborhood (no easy task in itself). Once Bob earns the trust of the cat to where he can pick them up and hold them without fear of cat-scratch fever or blindness, he gently places the cat in the Device for Placing Cats in Trees, lifts the device into the upper branches of a nearby tree, and gently shakes the basket until the cat removes itself from the basket and into the tree. Bob finds the phrase, "Ima a shaking it boss" if repeated long enough will usually drive the cat into the tree although I've also seen Bob resort to barking, growling, and reading the poems of Mary Oliver--all of which seemed to work.

Now, I'm certain that some of my animial rights loving friends might find this practice to verge on animal endangerment or even a violation of cat's rights, but hear this first about Bob before you render final judgement.

Bob's day job is to field test shopping carts by pushing them around on city streets until they surrender to the rigors of urban life. Poorly designed shopping carts can fail and endanger shoppers, their children, and are costly to replace. Bob suggests that one day on the street with him and the cart has undergone the equivalent of one year in a parking lot. As with Cats-in-Trees, the field testing of shopping carts is a public service the Bob provides with no expectation of financial reward.

Avian lovers might also object to Cats-in-Trees but to them Bob has a ready response.

"These aren't domestic cats I'm placing in trees. These are feral cats. A tree to a wild cat is a natural place. Now I can see that you might be opposed to cats eating birds but that's a natural thing for a cat. And besides, cats don't catch birds while in trees, it's too dangerous for the cat. Watch them hunt. They mostly catch birds on the ground or in low-lying shrubs. Only cats without claws are afraid of trees. My project just helps the cats realize the heights of their potential."

So there you have it. From Bob. Cats in Trees. Not the best art you've seen this week, not the worst. But maybe, just maybe, the most different. Purr on it.

test drive: the kruger sea wind

What happened to the dog days of yore? It was August and I was wearing long-sleeves, not to keep from a massive sunburn, but to stay warm; the sandals on my feet, normally a summer knock around imperative, had my toes curling to maintain proper blood flow to the extremities. It certainly made for a wonderful day with autumnal hints but it was strange not having sweat oozing from every pore of your body in the middle of August.

We took the opportunity of this most welcome respite from a more typical Missouri August day to test drive a Kruger canoe, considered by many to be the best canoe ever made. After meeting the legendary Norm Miller, who paddled some 3,600 miles upstream the entire length of the Missouri River and then on to the ocean, I've been coveting one of these boats. Designed by Verlon Kruger, who went through 40 iterations to find this design, these are expedition craft. After Verlon finished his design he paddled more than 25,000 miles in the boat to prove it's worthiness.

And it's true, these are beautifully designed boats. Looking at one closely and seeing the inside of one you can feel the hand-crafted nature of these boats. To say they are roomy is an understatement. You can sleep in one of these boats and many do. No more of the kayaker's tendency to have to store things in every little nook and cranny, in a Kruger, there's room to hand things close at hand. And the boat's stability eliminates any of worries about capsizing and losing everything.

After paddling a sleeker kayak for several years now the Kruger fell a little sluggish going upriver. The thing is incredibly stable though, tough as nails, and turns on a dime. It's durability (10 layers of carbon fiber) make for a heavy boat (62 lbs) and it's rounded hull design makes lifting it a little awkward until you realize the easy way is to get completely underneath the boat. The seat reverses into an ingenious shoulder yoke that makes portaging a snap. Except for the 600 lbs of gear you can stow inside one of them; that you'll have to carry separately. However, the crazy thing about this boat is that you could, if you had sufficient Popeye arms, just drag the thing, gear and all, and not seriously damage the boat.

If an expedition or hunting trip is in your future the Kruger might just be the boat for you. Although a number of folks use these on ultra marathon races, personally I would opt for a sleeker craft, unless the river was near flood stage and then you'd be safe, high, and dry.

I have often felt that Krugers were over-priced by about a thousand dollars. One of Vern's protege's, Scott B. Smith, has starting building his own expedition craft, the Superior Expedition. It's almost the exact boat as a Kruger with a slightly modified bow design and this boat is forcing me to reassess my opinion of Krugers. It could be that they're over-priced by two grand, instead of one.

prawns ate my hard drive

Apparently some of the black blood must have contaminated my Junior Mints because within an hour of visiting District 9 my hard drive was consumed by aliens.

Warrior Ant Press will remain on backup power for the next few days while we await the relocation of the offending party.

aliens invade warrior ant press

Warrior Ant Press is experiencing technical difficulties. It could be fallout from the recent alien invasion, proof of which is offered by the ring of mushrooms recently photographed at the Unity Headquarters (who knew aliens preferred a lite-brand of Jesus?).

WAP is working on a fix. It may require throttling a Russian, flame-throwing an alien, or hiring a geek, but we'll figure it out.

Or, we won't.

michael jackson was murdered!

Priorities please. The US needs to enact real health care reform and the public plan is the least expensive option. We already have the private option; that's the problem.