A Spectators Guide To Competition Barbecue

Katie's dad is highly entertaining.

He doesn't do anything half way, so when he got into competition barbecue a few years back, nothing was going to stop him from winning everything he could.  He even wrote a book called "The Spectator's Guide to Competition Barbecue" which is now in its third printing (I think) which really illuminates this strange world to the non-Southerner newcomer who is not accustomed to this kind of pastime.  He even sent me down to Texas last June to pick up a shiny new "rig" (which is composed of the "pit" where the meat is cooked and the trailer which it is mounted on) built by the best in the business, Jamie Greer of Jambo Pits.

He'll be cooking on our side of the hill at the Loveland Loves Barbecue competition in July.

Not really sure where I was heading with this post, but I just saw the video on the KCBS website and had to share it.

Oh, he's also a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and a magician.

Happy Birthday, Mustang!

I know I'm a day late on the draw here on the blog, but I was on time on Twitter, so I shouldn't be accused of just being unaware.  Anyways...

Happy Birthday to the Ford Mustang!


First released on April 17, 1964, and still going strong 46 years later, the Mustang was a true game changer for Ford Motor Company and for the American auto industry as a whole.  Ford single handedly proved that you could offer one car that appealed to both housewives and teenagers, and do it affordable and successfully. 



The Mustang was a wild success from the very beginning, selling 22,000 units on the first day alone.  Now over eight million Mustangs have been sold, and in 2005, it was even named the Canadian Car Of The Year.

I've driven several Mustangs over the years, from the first generation models up to my 2008 GT, and I can definitely see why they draw people like moths to a flame.  The classic proportions, accessibility, comfort, performance, and aura of cool that just oozes from every body panel make these a true American classic.  And for 2011, it looks like Ford is prepared to hit another home run with the return of the "5.0" badge to the front fender. The competition had better watch out!  Autoblog calls it A Game Changer, and for $20,000 less money, Jalopnik speculates that it might be better than a BMW M3.  The entire 2010 line has even been recently recalled for being too cool. 

So anyway, happy birthday, Mustang, and good work, Ford.  Here's to another 46 years.  I wonder what a 2056 Mustang would look like?  I suppose it depends on who is in charge of the EPA.

Songs about rain

After threatening all day yesterday, the weather finally got its act together and actually rained for a little while today here in FoCo!  I love the rain (when I don't have to work in it, that is), and this was just a nice, steady, gentle shower that is really going to help get the grass and plants going!  Not to mention rinse some of the infernal dust and pollen out of the air for at least a little while!!!  Sheesh, my allergies are killing me this year!

Driving home through the nice little rain shower got me thinking, there's a lot of good songs about rain, and I should make a playlist / compilation of them!  I started to make a list, so let me know what you think, if you want to email me any mp3s, and if I missed anything!

• I Love A Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbitt
• Rockin' With The Rhythm Of The Rain - The Judds
• Raindrops keep fallin' on my head - B.J. Thoma
• I'm Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage
• Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again - The Fortunes
• Kentucky Rain - Elvis Presley
• Here Comes The Rain Again - The Eurythmics
• (It Must Be) Raindrops - David Cassidy
• Have You Ever Seen The Rain/Who'll Stop The Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Fire And Rain - James Taylor
• It Never Rains In Southern California - Albert Hammond
• Rainy Days And Mondays - The Carpenters
• Laughter In The Rain - Neil Sedaka
• Never Liked the Rain - Clint Black
• Rain In My Heart - Frank Sinatra
• (Somewhere) Over The Rainbow - Judy Garland
• Rainbow Connection - Kermit The Frog
• Singin' In The Rain - Gene Kelly
• Box of Rain - Grateful Dead
• Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain - Willie Nelson

Once I get the list finalized, whittled down to a reasonable number, and find all the songs, I'll try to figure out a way to share my new list with a few people.  Like I need another project...

Just needing to bitch a little

So, it's five 'til seven, and I really should be getting out of this coffee shop, getting something to eat (even though I'm not really hungry) and heading to swing dance practice. But I don't want to. I just want to sit here, with the sun streaming in through the old window panes, listen to the murmur of the random conversations surrounding me, and just be. Be lazy, I suppose would be more specific, but I'm not gonna get picky here.

I did my taxes last night and realized that my taxable income was below the poverty level. I also had to pay self employment taxes on the little bit of money I made from teaching and gigging swing dances. Lame. Yet somehow I still have my condo, even though it literally takes all of my money to do so. Interest rates are still good, but you can't refinance without a decent job. (Which is kinda ironic - you'd think they would like to give poor folks who are still making their payments the chance to lower that payment and increase their chances of *not* going into foreclosure or walking away, but that's not the way it works.)

I can't seem to better my situation lately, and it's really discouraging, but I guess I'd better keep trying. I've got a cover letter to write for a project engineer position at another nameless company that I found on Craigslist, but based on the last x number of cover letters I've written, this one will be another waste of time.

Oh well, I guess I'll get back to that cover letter and head to practice now. Just needed to bitch a little.

Creating Some Content

I was thinking earlier today about content creation versus content consumption and the hardware needed best able to do each - specifically that the horribly named iPad is really just a large, awkward device to consume the content that Apple wants you to - and I came to the conclusion that I need to be a better content creator. I know I say this pretty much every time I let my poor old blog languish for a few months without a post, but this time I'm thinking in a more general sense.

But, as it's been nearly four months since I've last created any content over 14o characters long and doesn't say "Jumpin' JiveCats" on it, I figured a quick update was in order.

Thanksgiving was good. Christmas was good. I crocheted this cool and extremely warm Santa hat that somehow sheds white fuzz like a cat.
I also learned how to make this amazingly good and super simple artisan bread.
The only problem is that whenever I make a loaf, I eat half of it within a couple of hours and then there isn't enough left to share. I suppose I should just make two loaves at once.

I also took this fun picture of myself drinking a homemade latte out of this sweet mug that I won playing bingo at Everyday Joe's a couple of years ago.
Since I am still out of work and don't really have much better to do with my Fridays, I have been volunteering as a barista at there since October. Needless to say, this has not tempered my coffee habit one bit. In fact, it has increased my level of coffee geekdom to the point that I worked - er, volunteered - at the Mountain Regional Barista Competition over Valentine's weekend as a machine maintainer and a technical judge.
And I suppose that it goes without saying, but I am still totally over-committed to my swing dance troupe, the Jumpin' JiveCats and spend way too much time being co-director, PR person, social media guru, email answerer, teacher, and performer with them.

Well, that's about it. I've officially created some content. Hopefully this content won't be to contentious. ;)

Now I'm off to pick up some Girl Scout cookies I forgot I ordered and find somewhere to make a gigantic print of this picture that I took this morning.