Monday, March 30, 2009

Audio of Iditarod Finishers Banquet

The power of the fans! It looked like there was no place to listen to the Iditarod finishers banquet this year, but one of my "Idita-buddies" named Sam, who lives in Unalakleet, Alaska, recorded the banquet from the radio, mailed me the tape, and my hubby made an mp3 recording and put it on-line. You can listen to it by left-clicking on the links. You can download it by right-clicking on the links and clicking on "Save Target as" or "Save Link as." Enjoy:

http://www.oakviewresources.com/misc/IditarodBanquetPart1.mp3
http://www.oakviewresources.com/misc/IditarodBanquetPart2.mp3

NOTE: If you use Explorer, it may take a while for the audio to load. Firefox usually loads faster.

Click here to return to the main blog page.

Riddle #47: Shoe Shops

Here's the latest riddle:

In a small town there are four shoe shops of about the same size, each carrying pretty much the same line in shoes. Each shop is open the same hours. Each shop displays only one of each kind of shoe (not pairs) and keeps all the pairs of shoes in the back room. Yet one shop loses three times as many shoes to theft as each of the other shops. Why?

NOTE: The correct answer has been guessed. To read it, see the comments section.

Click here to return to the main blog page.

Lateral Thinking Puzzlers by Paul Sloane has lots of classic riddles, clues and answers. Click here to order it.

Monday, March 23, 2009

No riddle this week

Sorry, the riddle is on vacation this week. I was too busy last night vicariously attending the Nome finishers banquet in a chat room and frantically typing what I read. (It's hard work being a fan.) Visit this forum thread to read a transcript: http://mushing.bssd.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=994

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Sixteen Dogs

This year I didn't get inspired to write many poems or songs for the Iditarod. But I did write one song: "Sixteen Dogs," a parody on Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons." We even made a family recording, featuring the two girls on vocals and myself on piano. Then my husband added bass guitar and percussion tracks, using the Cakewalk recording studio. Click on the link below to hear the song. If it doesn't work in Explorer, you may need to use Firefox. NOTE: It may talk a while to download the link. (You may also download the mp3, if you wish, by right clicking on the link and clicking on "Save target as" or "save link as.")


http://www.oakviewresources.com/misc/16Dogs.mp3

Here are the lyrics:

Sixteen DogsSome people say a dog is man’s best friend
Well, a husky is made to race to the end
Race to the end and relish the cold.
A back that’s strong and a heart of gold.

CHORUS: You run 16 dogs and what do you get?
A journey through paradise you’ll never forget.
St. Peter don’t you call me, I don’t want to go home.
Till I get to the arch on Front Street in Nome.

He was born one morning when the sun didn’t rise
And the Northern Lights shone high in the skies
He gathered the team and hitched up the sled
And into the darkness together they sped

He was born one morning, it was blizzarding snow
With ice on his lashes and a frostbitten toe
He was raised in the wilderness, far off the grid
He was mushing as a baby with a pint-sized sled.

So if you see ‘em coming you’d really better go‘
Cause a husky knows “hike” but he doesn’t know “whoa.”
The front paws are lightning and the back paws are steel,
And they’ll never stop running till the end of the trail.


Click here to return to the main blog page.

Spring!



It's always encouraging when we see the first signs of spring. Yesterday the temps got up to 70 degrees, so I headed to the nearby arboretum. Here are snowdrops, usually the first sign of spring.


These tiny yellow crocuses are cool.

These purple crocuses are in my yard. I didn't even know they were there until I looked.

I also saw several robins. Now I'm just waiting for the screech owls.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Riddle #46: The Bragger

Here's the next riddle. I predict that this one will be easy:

You're at a party, and you hear a man bragging about his recent trip to Africa. He was hunting rhinos, he said. He described in detail several wild animals he saw while exploring Africa, including hippos, tigers, elephants and giraffes. He talked about drinking camel's milk and picking coconuts. He also described how he finally got his rhino. "Well, that man is obviously lying," you tell your friend. How do you know?

NOTE: The correct answer has been guessed. To read it, see the comments section.
Lateral Thinking Puzzlers by Paul Sloane has lots of classic riddles, clues and answers. Click here to order it.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Weird/Fame/Most/Child

This is really fun! I made it up, so please pass it on and see if it becomes “viral” and spreads all over the internet. Plus I’d love to read your answers.

Copy this into the comment section and change my answers to yours. It will be fun to read what everyone says. Then send it out to all your friends. Enjoy!

WEIRD:
What is the weirdest thing in your purse or backpack? – Toe warmers, left over from my trip to Duluth.

What is the weirdest thing in your medicine cabinet? A tranquilizer prescribed to “Sally/feline” Yep, our dear late Sally turned into a monster at the vet, so we were supposed to give her this tranquilizer before the vet visit, but it didn’t help.

What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? – Steak tar tar. Yep, that’s raw steak, and it had a raw egg on top. I didn’t realize what I was ordering and when it came, I was too embarrassed to admit that I thought I’d be getting cooked steak, so I ate it. I don’t know if it’s even legal to serve the stuff anymore.

What is the weirdest thing on your mp3 player (or what is the weirdest recording you have)? – A recording of a thunderstorm. I listen to it to relax.

What is the weirdest thing about you? – Everything, but probably that I like sled dog racing.

FAME:
Who is your most famous Facebook/MySpace or e-mail friend? – I guess it depends on who you are. If you’re a Nebraskan, then it’s probably Tom Osborne. If you’re an American Idol fan, then it’s probably either Andrew Cook (David Cook’s brother) or Chris Sligh. If you’re a sled dog fan, take your pick. I’ve got lots.

Who is the most famous person’s autograph that you have? -- Three famous sled dog mushers: Martin Buser, Jeff King, and Mitch Seavey. Now I just need Lance Mackey’s.

Who is the most famous person you have ever met? -- Stephen Lawhead, a writer. I actually was in his home when he lived in Lincoln and we talked about writing.

What is your most famous moment (your “15 minutes of fame”)? -- Our family made a radio drama, and the girls and I were interviewed on Focus on the Family weekend, a national radio program. (They also played part of the drama.)

MOST:
What is the most homeschool-y thing you’ve done (even if you’re not a homeschooler)? -- Rang a stranger’s doorbell and asked him what kind of trees he had in his yard. It turned out he worked at a nursery. The trees? Oakleaf mountainash and tricolor beech – very unusual trees indeed.

What is the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done? White water rafting – I fell out of the raft and actually thought I was going to die.

CHILD
What is your earliest memory? I remember my mother rocking me to sleep, but I couldn’t sleep, so I just pretended to sleep, not to hurt her feelings. She put me to bed and I got out of bed right away, and she was surprised. I also remember playing with a paper circle and making it bounce up and down along the wall. Then it went behind the baseboard and I couldn’t get it out and I felt such a great sense of loss.

What was your favorite toy as a child? I remember something called “Silly Sand” where you could make castles and such out of this wet sand that was in some sort of machine. When I was a little older I loved my microscope.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Riddle #45: The new addition

Here's the latest riddle. I'm thinking it may be a bit more difficult, but I may be wrong. Here goes:

A woman spends thousands of dollars to have an addition built onto her house. Yet after she addition is built, she never goes into it. Why?

NOTE: The correct answer has been guessed. To read it, see the comments section.

Lateral Thinking Puzzlers by Paul Sloane has lots of classic riddles, clues and answers. Click here to order it.

Post Modern Toilet Paper Deconstruction

As if it wasn't already hard enough to keep my house clean . . .

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Riddle #44: The dead body

This riddle is a classic. I realized that I've never posted it. Here goes:

You come across a dead body--a man lying face-down with a backpack on his back. Immediately you know how he died. How did the man die?

NOTE: The correct answer has been guessed. To read it, see the comments section.

Lateral Thinking Puzzlers by Paul Sloane has lots of classic riddles, clues and answers. Click here to order it.