Grinders Island

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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Event Boundary / Pabst and The Kurth

Posted on 6:01 AM by Unknown
Seriously - this JUST happened to me!
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Ever have something in your mind to do and you walk into a different room and immediately forget what you are there for? You are not alone and it happens to EVERYBODY.  It's not that you are losing your short term memory.  In fact it's the opposite.  Your brain is too efficient.

There was a study done about this and there was a HUGE difference between a control group who had to exchange objects but stay in the same room and a group that had to go into a different room to exchange objects, same distance away.

It's called The Event Boundary. Passing through a door is an event boundary. Your brain separates episodes of activity and files them away, it's a trick it uses to keep things organized.

If you are in a room all activity is stored and when you walk through into a new room, your brain is SO efficient it starts a new "activity". It sticks the old thoughts into the old file and moves on! So when you "forget" and walk back into the old room you remember right?  Your brain has opened that "activity" and you remember!! 

Recalling the decision or activity that was made in a different room is difficult because it has been compartmentalized.

How awesome is that!! 
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And then there is McRib - WHAT the hell is that made out of!! Want to know? REALLY?? Do you?? Hot Dogs are no longer made of bad things like the old days but McRib??  McRib is the new hot dog.

Can you say "restructured meat product"? Pig bits like tripe, heart, and scalded stomach and let's not forget azodicarbonamide, a flour-bleaching agent most commonly used in the manufacturing of foamed plastics like gym mats and the soles of shoes - I guess it sort of holds it all together.

It's unnutritious mush no bones about it (pun intended).
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And finally the Australian government has banned all adult pornography that features woman with small breasts! Seriously!
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I was walking to a burger dive in Madison for lunch yesterday and for some odd reason the Inn on the Park was looking mighty fine.  No I did not have my beer goggles on.  So on a spur of the moment, without looking to see if any beer trucks were around I took a shot.


At least the beer truck was Pabst Blue Ribbon which is now based in Los Angeles. and formally known as Best Select and then Pabst Select.

OH - Pabst NEVER won any blue ribbons (sorry balderdash). The one it CLAIMS to have won was in 1893 at the World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago. But many beer vendors say that the Expo never gave out a Blue Ribbon.

Sales of Pabst peaked in 1977, when they reached 18 million barrels.

BTW - the Kurth Breweries high point was 36,200 barrels a year in 1914 making it Americas largest Brewery.  at the same time the Kurth also had Americas largest malting operation with a capacity of nearly three million bushels of barley.  

I REALLY need to get a shot of The Kurth!!  Perhaps tonight!

Cheers
Rod  
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Omar Man + Packers vs. the Fort Atkinson Blackhawks

Posted on 7:23 AM by Unknown
First I must mention that there is a Star Trek documentary on the Science Network tonight called Star Trek Nation and talks about how Star Trek not only changed TV but society as a whole. It was created by Rod Roddenberry Gene's son.  Might be good . . . or not!
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Farmers Almanac forecast for 28th - 30th for Great Lakes - Considerable cloudiness; increasingly windy with scattered rain and snow showers. WOW - going out on a limb there aren't they.

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Hydro Street Brewing update. WELL - I could not see what the big problem with putting a range hood up, I mean come on - I put mine in (or had someone else actually), in an hour!!!

WHO KNEW the hood would weigh 700 pounds!! Today is the day from what I hear.  Too bad I'm working.  TENTATIVE plans are opening December7th in a quite celebration.

While I was in town I noticed a cool old truck parked on West James.  I had instant memory of The Omar Man.  I did a quick google and it seems The Omar Man was in more towns then Fort Atkinson.  The Omar Man was a door-to-door delivery man of fresh breads and other baked goods from Omar’s Bakery .

  “I’m the Omar man, knocking at your door, if you taste my bread (mmmm boy), your gonna want more.” 

ANYWAY - there was this truck parked and I went up to it and sure enough it was made in the late 50's.  As I approached it I saw a sing on the side that read "Gram pas Bus Service".  OH NOO!!  this is the bus service that Columbus got??

A guy was inside and I started talking to him and it seems HIS bus service was going to be for Badger games and so forth.  He had purchased some seats from an Antique store and was installing them.  I felt the need for photos. 


International Metro

The truck is an International Metro, one of the first step vans

For more photos go to my photo blog

http://melottephotoimagery.blogspot.com/
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OH - looks like we are in the prime time of the month to castrate farm animals!! SWEET!!!! Looks like it's get'r done night!

BTW - did you know the Green Bay Packers played the Fort Atkinson Blackhawks in 1934?



have a gray day!
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Monday, November 28, 2011

Selective memories - Columbus Auditoruim.

Posted on 6:55 AM by Unknown
Obviously my Wisconsin basketball experience was traumatic since I have not blogged since the day after. . . . and there was some holiday also I guess.

The big news in Columbus, besides me missing the Holiday Parade (I did not know!!) is that there is now bus service linking Madison to Columbus and the Amtrak Station. Of course this will put Todd Frey out of bigness because he was going to offer carriage rides to and from Madison . . . a three hour ride (insert Gilligan's Island theme song - Todd would be _________________________ fill in the character).

But yes - for $14 a person you can get a ride from or to Madison.
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Did you know that Wal-Mart has extra people and almost all registers open at midnight on the 1st of the month? Seems many people living on food stamps wait outside Wal-Mart and as soon as they can confirm that their food stamps have arrived in their banks they go shopping. Wal-Mart officials say that they are quite busy at midnight on the 1st. WHO KNEW.

Then there is all of this cyber Monday broo-haha.

Just like all the people that say they were against going to war in Iraq when in reality 99% of Americans were all for attacking AT THAT TIME. I know because I was watching and told DJ to watch what happens in following years when they would all say NOOOOOO, I was against the war . . . anyway . . . .  People always say - OH - you were pro war!!  No - the thing was that EVERYBODY was so amp'd up that NOT going to war was almost viewed as anti-American.   It was only later when things started to look shady that people started to pull away and say "OH - I was anti war".

ANYWAY - Cyber Monday is 100% prefabricated. I remember the very first year when people started to order things online. IT was scary and people were all like worried. Then year two came and 30% MORE people were buying online and then all of a sudden Cyber Monday was INVENTED.

The stories you hear about how Cyber Monday came about are all bunk. It was/is a marketing ploy invented by internet retailers. Not some cyber phenomena.
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I was in Fort Atkinson this weekend and decided to do some photo taking. One thing that Fort did while I was gone was create a really really nice River Walk. Steve Sobiak the Economic Development/Energy Sustainability Director of Columbus came out with a great plan for our river that was quickly poo poo'd by the non-thinking, stubborn, dull witted people of Columbus as way outside the box.   I was at a econ meeting and a person actually, to me, insulted Steve, and his forward thinking views (although it was more in a joke form but it was an insult! . . I know "I" was insulted . . I guess it has ALWAYS stuck in my craw!).  Did you know that a "craw" is the throat of a bird?

I wish I had that plan to show you. The main thing is that Fort's river walk is wonderful. Here is one photo of Fort's River walk looking towards the Main Street Bridge. This is from the spot where Jeff Judd and 2 friends hung Elwood over the railroad bridge by his feet when we were I believe juniors in high school. (the same spot where a child and his police rescuer-er drowned a few years earlier).

Main Street Bridge from the former railroad bridge

That area on the right was all industrial when I lived in Fort and the railroad bridge is now a very much used bike bridge.

One thing I found while walking around was .  . well. a lot of empty store fronts (I would have to think a much higher percentage then Columbus) was a large iron sculpture where it looked like a couple upscale bars used to me.  Too bad they went belly up.

Catfish Alley

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I don't typically send around stuff for people to watch unless I really think it is something special.  This I believe is something very special.

It's a family in Slovenia (just above Italy) that put a video on youtube and BAM - 7,000,000 hits. I told Elwood about this 10 year old girl singing and how I was really taken by her . . . adult-ness,   and he said "geez, I feel a little uncomfortable all of a sudden". We watched the video and his first word after it was over was WOW!!!!

http://youtu.be/y8w1fHfcqqE



Solvenia was part of the Roman Empire (I just found that interesting).
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Hydro Street Brewing looks to have a TENTATIVE SECRET opening December 7th . . . if all goes well (which seems to be a problem with inspections and so forth). A grand opening will come later when everything is up and running smoothly. Sandye(sp?) and Aaron from Hydro will also help in a movement to re-energize the "let's fix the Columbus Auditorium" which seems to have gone on the back burner again WHICH I will now start bringing to the fore front again.

I would LOVE to have another chance to photogize the inside of the Auditorium (hint hint). I got some ideas.

So that's it for the time being.

Have a great Cyber Monday!
Rod
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

My basketball experience

Posted on 7:41 AM by Unknown
So it looks like the citizens of Wisconsin will not be getting what they are not paying for. The Department of Corrections can not fill vacancies because people actually get more money on unemployment then to work for State Government.

As balderdash said in his comment "From this point forward the public sector will have a very hard time competing for jobs so you will get what you pay for. I know this as I worked both as a private contract to the state as well as a state employee. I also have left public service for the private sector gold."

A high up suit of Family Services said "why would anybody want to work for Government, lower pay, bad working conditions and no benefits. State government will be hiring the the bottom feeders in talent to run multi million dollar systems. Hope nothing goes wrong because all of the knowledge is gone that created those systems"

You know - If I had a choice between Bush and Walker to run Wisconsin? I would take Bush in a second. I was actually pro Iraq war but anti how it was run and I thought Bush was a buffoon but at least he was not outright flamboyantly corrupt.
-----------------------

ANYWAY - I went to the Wisconsin basketball game last night and man was it exciting. At one point the game was on the line at 5 to 5 but then the Kangaroos went cold and shot 21% and Wisconsin snuck out with a 77-31 victory.

The thing that got me was just how boring the Kohl Center really is.

Kohl Center


Yea - it's sort of cool on the outside and it does have that ultra famous glass squigglier works on the walls in one area but it's basically a cement building with no real redeeming photo opportunities.

HOWEVER - after I slept on it perhaps I was just not feeling it last night.  There are some shot's I would take if I went again.

  
Perhaps it was the fact that the crowd there and the game as it was was more like watching a opera with polite applause at times.  It was so exciting that it looks to me like the most thrilling times for me to take photos was during time outs!  WHAT UP WITH THAT!!!

BTW - the shot above?  ULTRA WIDE ANGLE LENS BABY!!  
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Hydro Street Brewing - STILL having problems getting the hood up for the grill.  It's like the lynch pin, everything is waiting on that to be completed so inspections can take place. 
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I doubt anybody will read this until Monday when people go back to work.

so have a wonderful Thanks Giving.

Rod
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

My biased views

Posted on 8:08 AM by Unknown
To answer Charlotte.

First - let's agree to disagree OK?

This whole pension thing and paying in. The State pension plan is 100% paid for by government employees. No matter what you hear - Not one penny comes from the citizens of Wisconsin. Not one penny! State employees make less money because they pay more into the pension plans. Exactly like private industry but private industry get higher pay but have poorer pension plans. I made $10 less per hour as a senior programmer in State Government then the exact same job in let's say Cuna or some other large insurance company. I made a choice, make less now for a better future because I was contribution to the pension fund.

Anybody that says we were not paying our fair share is just not telling the truth. Government employees get paid less, have less vacation time and less benefits then the same equivalent jobs in private industry.  There are no Christmas parties or any parties of any kind, in 23 years I never got one year end bonus (many large companies gave out $1000 to $4000 bonuses this year). If you work 50 hours in a week you get paid for 40.  I paid $200 a month for parking, how much do most people pay for parking at their job? (but that was my choice).  

The problem is people compare Government employees to small business who have no benefits which is apples to oranges.  If you compare a company with 30,000 employees you can not compare it to a company with 30 employees.

I golf with a Vice Principle for a school and he says what Walker is doing to education is horrific to the schools budgets. Walker believes that "average" is good enough and we can save money by being average.   



And for the changes . . .what were those? I believe that Republicans are anti-change and pro failure. They don't WANT America to succeed. If America goes down the tubes they can blame our black President. His fault, he would not cave in to our demands. In the newest poll 67% of Americans believe that Obama has a better idea for creating jobs then Congress. Yet, congress blocks everyone of his ideas. 

I truly believe Walker is one of the most corrupt politicians Wisconsin has ever had.  I have no problem with Republican views.  I just do not like how they say our way or noway.  They would rather stagnate then cooperate.     



------------------------------------------------------------

Back to reality - I was watching the game last night and one thing people never talk about when comparing Favre to Rogers. 

Remember when you would watch Favre games and Driver would catch the ball and just get HAMMERED with a crushing tackle?  We would all marvel and how he would get up again? 

When was the last time you saw Rogers run someone into a head on tackle.  There are no stats for this but it shows you just how good Rogers is .
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Monday, November 21, 2011

Sign zee papers!! CAN WALKER

Posted on 6:08 AM by Unknown
Looking for a place to get rid of corrupt republicans? Go to the old Roberts Small Engine building at 315 E. James St and you can recall Walker, Kleefisch and Dr. Evil himself Scott Fitzgerald. A "Can Walker" food drive in conjunction with the petition signing. People can bring in a canned food donation for the Columbus/Fall River food pantry.

The place will be open until January.

I tell you - I really truly think Republicans IN government are stupid. I do not believe citizen republicans are that way and I actually agree with them on some issues but the ones that go into politics and sign a pledge to never EVER raise taxes no matter WHAT? Even if America goes to war or suffers a catastrophic event, they pledge to NEVER raise taxes. 90% of Republicans have signed this oath.

Know what happens if they go back on their word? They will no longer be in office as they will have millions of dollars pumped into their tea party opponents campaign. So basically Republicans IN GOVERNMENT can not actually think for themselves.
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Frey Carriage Company made JSOnilne last week. Congrats Todd.

I gotta laufe at some of the comments of the article  

"Since Scooter is bent on taking us all back to the dark ages with him, these guys should be real busy."

The article can be found here

Frey Carriage Co. fills demand for horse-drawn carriages

And in case some of you do not remember what a horse looks like here is a photo I took of one of those beasts!

This is a horse
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I might have to write another letter to the editor soon.  Seems the letters are all "Thank You" and so forth.  No one wants to complain. For one thing so many people want opposite side parking solution in winter in Columbus but it seems the City Counsel and the people running Columbus think the citizens are not bright enough to handle it.    This is a real problem and they really don't give a crap.  time to start making waves.

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Hydro Street Brewing is getting closer to opening.  The big stumbling block has been getting a hood installed.  The local contractor that was hired to install it just never showed up.  Guess he did not really need a job after all.   


On December 15th the Columbus Business Roundtable will take  place in Hydro Street.  I do have one thing to say about that LAST Round Table.   They advertised a "Continental Breakfast"  but there was no juice.  Doesn't a continental breakfast have to have juice?  Otherwise it's just coffee and rolls!  HEY - just keeping everyone honest here!

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Driving back from Sweep Gallery in Lake Mills I captured this sunset.



However I am now blind and am using teh keybioed on mamory! I tink im doing vell! 

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I tried to buy an iPad from Craigslist - tried three times.  Emailed as I was instructed - was told it was available, emailed back saying I'll buy it and got reply's . . . "Too Late - sold"  WTF!!!   Screw you Craiglists  . . .  list.

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Two Minnesota mechanical engineers were standing at the base of a flagpole, looking up.

A woman walks by and asks what they were doing.

"Ve're supposed to find da height of da flagpole," said Sven, "but ve don't haff a ladder."

The woman took a wrench from her purse, loosened a few bolts, and laid the pole down.

Then she took a tape measure from her pocketbook, took a measurement,

announced, "Eighteen feet, six inches," and walked away.

Ole shook his head and laughed. "Ain't dat just like a voman! Ve ask for da height and she gives us da length!"

Sven and Ole are currently serving in the United States Senate.  

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Have a great Monday!
Rod   
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Stolen from my other blog

Posted on 8:15 AM by Unknown
So this is now my secondary blog as I've been updating the photo blog daily with a new photo - this is what went up yesterday for you guys missing out!!  :-)  
 --------------------------------------------------
I've had a number of requests for Camp Randall Stadium. At art fairs it seems a lot of my images stir memories, it's what I try to do and I believe that is what modern impressionism is all about.

So when at an art fair people will look at my art and all of a sudden access that part of their brain which contains memories and at that time of day and that setting seems to be GOOD memories. I'm asked . . . do you have any paintings of Madison? . . . .yes yes, these are ALWAYS called paintings which, in a way they are.  . . anyway . . they always asked for Camp Randall.

If you have ever walked around the stadium you know it's a massive gray piece of cement.  Night, shots would be nice (put that in MY memory bank).  So I found a place for an inside shot.  This is actually NINE photos stitched together and at the moment I give this a 3 out of 5 star rating only because of it's uniqueness/coolness.

I see a number of flaws (the sky is a real problem) that can be fixed when I start all over on it again . . .. or. . . I can go back with my NEW 10-20MM ULTRA WIDE ANGLE LENS.  I had to sell my neighbors car to get it but he will never notice.


Looking it hmmmmm - yea - it's a do-over with a 5 star goal.    


Click to enlarge

I'll post the color version which might actually be better . .. hmmmm . . opinions are always welcomed.

Rods Photo Blog
----------------------------------------------------

Anybody buying Green Bay Packer Stock?  Brilliant timing on this as who would NOT want to buy stock at the moment.

I attended a class/seminar for Social Networking last week and what I got out of it was that this is ONLY the beginning.  The next 4 years you well see huge growth in Social Networking.  Did you know that many colleges do not even give out email address anymore?  Email is so old school and is on the way out.  Texting is how people communicate now.  Email is . . . . SLOW!!! 

I was surprised at how many people are afraid of Social Networking.  To many bad things can happen. What if someone says something bad about your company.  WELL!!!  They are going to ANYWAY so it's better to be online then NOT.

It was an interesting class but not very useful if a person is already online  (LIKE Melotte Photo Imagery on Facebook).

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Watched Hell on Wheels - a new western on AMC and I liked it.  Deadwood-ish,  gritty but interesting.  The star reminds me a little of the guy that plays the gun dude on Person of Interest.

Cheers
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