Category Archives: Friends

The Notorious J.E.F. (Jeff McVey)

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Jeff McVey is the son of long-time friends Terry and Nancy McVey. Like many young men his age, Jeff has kicked around and tried a few things. His latest is studying martial arts in China. From his MySpace page:

Deborah and I got into China on May 12. … We’ve found our new home at a martial arts academy in a remote mountain village. I’m pretty sure it used to be some sort of industrial complex, and to call our accomidations meager would be a huge understatement. However, we do have a place to live and good food to eat. We live here with about a dozen other students from all over the world.  There are people from America, England, Germany, Indonesia, Scotland, New Zealand, and other countries (I haven’t quite met everyone).  Fortunately, all the students I have met speak English, which makes a nice little oasis in a land where I can’t comunicate with anyone.  So, we’ve been treated quite well, and we start our training tomorrow.  Everything seems a little daunting right now, but at the same time more than a little exciting.

His mom says this is something he has always wanted to do…and he’s doing it. Now, the person I want to meet is his wife, Deborah.

Jeff: “You know, I’ve always wanted to study martial arts in a remote mountain village in China. Whadya say?”

Deborah: “Cool. I’ll go pack.”

First AppleJAC meeting

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Mac adAttended my first meeting of the local Mac User Group last night. Met some nice people and saw a couple of good demos. George Kopp showed us how Boot Camp makes it possible to run the Mac OS and Windows XP on the Mac. Very handy. And George speculated that the next Mac OS will make it even easier. Saw a fascinating demonstration of SketchUp, a 3D landscape design application. And we started off the evening playing the new Mac TV ads that started airing this week. I’m the guy on the left but I want to be the guy on the right. These are great ads that tap directly into the Mac Lust I posted on several weeks back.

Before leaving the subject of Macs… a thought on the age-old Mac vs. PC debate. I’m too new to Mac and too technically ignorant to have an opinion of which might be the superior computing experience. But after only a couple of weeks, I have a theory. Macs are more fun than PC’s. A person who knows what they’re doing can probably get the job down with either Mac or PC but I suspect the Mac user will have more fun getting it done. If that matters to you.

Last MacNugget: Scheduled to try out the iChat thing tomorrow night with Bass. If there’s a way to record the video chat, I’ll post some here.

Found in Bob Priddy’s desk

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  • Christopher Garbacz (Professor of Economics @ Mizzou) business card
  • 15 yards of Butler dental floss
  • Iodized salt packet
  • Free medium drink coupon from Hardees (Expiration date Sept. 1996)
  • Cut-up American Express card
  • 3-cent postage stamp
  • Children’s Miracle Network pledge card (dated June 1989)
  • Unused “I voted” sticker
  • Illinois & Baltic Ave stickers from McDonald’s Monopoly game

A) Worst-case survival game pieces; B) Things McGyver needs to make a bomb; C) Things found in Bob Priddy’s desk after he cleaned it out.

This is an inside joke that means zip unless you know Bob Priddy and have seen his desk. Thanks to Andy Rawlings.

Bob Priddy replies:

Any good archaeologist is able to take disparate remains of a culture and weave them into a coherent description of the people who once inhabited an area. The archaeologist is able to determine the approximate age of the inhabitant, the diet, the religious beliefs, and the society of his time. You did not include paper clips, which also were found in abundance and which are a valuable clue. The number of artifacts is also important, but since the site as been disturbed and the paper clips have been removed, an important piece of information will forever be open to speculation. I shall give you a few clews, however, about the person who lived there.

He was a carnivore who did not like bland diets but who took excellent care of his incisors so he could properly tear at the meat that was part of his diet. The latest artifact located is dated September, 1996, indicating that he moved from the area or perhaps died shortly after that (did you check for burial sites?). He loved children, worshipped the God John Maynard Keynes, and felt plastic was Satan’s tool for a corrupt society. Now, you may build the story from there, based on the evidence you have found.

Reduce stress, promote healing

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Image of Leaf

If you only know Henry Domke from smays.com, he’s just my podcasting doctor buddy with whom I goof around each week. His passion for healing is matched by his passion for digital photography and he specializes in images from nature. I’ve linked to his work before and some of his pieces grace the walls of our home. A lot of his work winds up in hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices where –like Henry– they calm and heal. From the comments section of Henry’s website (scroll down a bit):

“One of our patients told me how much inspiration she received from one of your framed pictures. She told me that while she waited for her name to be called to go back for chemotherapy, she would gaze at the picture. She said the way the sun shone from behind the tree made her think that the Lord was going to walk out from behind the tree.”

Tell me, how gratifying is that for a photographer? Henry recently added some amazing new images that make you want to spritz on the Deep Woods Off and grab your Nikon.

Bootheel Tornado

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Thanks (once again) to Charles Jolliff for the local 411 on the tornadoe(s) that hit the Bootheel (and western Tennessee). Some really good images on the blog of a local TV weather guy. Not sure who took the photo above (Stephens Gin off Hwy 412). It was sent to me by several people.

I’m a little fuzzy on this but I think these pix were taken by Charles, who provided the following descriptions:

One of the images is from the theatre downtown (Kennett), looking southward down Slicer street. It’s a very dark shot. Tornado was on the ground behind the neighborhood that is beside McDaniel funeral home. One of my moms neighbors (she has house in that neighborhood) told me they watched the tornado on the ground for a long time. It actually was just north of Scobeyville down old 25 highway and then headed east crossing Johnson Island road before hitting Braggadocia (1 woman dead there) then hitting Deering, then Caruthersville before crossing the river into Dyer county Tennessee.

The neighbor of my moms told me that it was two tornados that were dancing back and forth that they saw, till it combined and got bigger. Marmaduke, Arkansas got hit hard. Over half the homes destroyed or badly damaged, according to news reports. I drove through (Highway 49 was closed till noon today to clear the road of debris) late this evening but could not stop, traffic was incredible. I suppose a lot of folks were sight-seeing or looky-looing. I had the camera and just guessed on the shots in my album link. All taken from a rolling/driving truck by a guy not looking.

While all this was going on in this area, another violent storm hit Wynne Ar, and destroyed several homes including 3 that belonged to some of my racing friends. Totalled their race cars as well. All in all, everyone in Kennett is very lucky, if this thing had come up a mile and a half, it would have gone thru this little town like the proverbial hot knife thru butter.

This brings back vivid memories of crouching in a dark, dank “storm cellar,” just like the one in Wizard of Oz.

Deep thoughts on dog shit

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We live on a three-acre, mostly wooded, lot. And I challenge you to walk 50 yards without stepping in a pile of Golden Retreiver poop. As he so often does, Dave offers fresh insight on this endless and thankless task. A couple of my favorites:

You shouldn’t use kitchen utensils to pick up canis crap. My neighbor uses a large soup spoon, and I just can’t endorse that. Nothing I would ever put into my mouth will be used to pick up fecal matter, because I’m fairly aloof, and often deep in thought. What if I got confused? The tool you use says a lot about your personality. A scoop indicates a straight-forward person who attacks a job quickly and efficiently. A dustpan-type tool is a sign of creativity, the user approaching the job with a flair for the dramatic. In my case, I use this thing that resembles a piece of earth-moving equipment. It indicates power, control, and a penchant toward genius.

www.JaneYouIgnorantSlut.com

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Older readers will remember the “Point/Counterpoint” segment on 60 Minutes. The liberal Shana Alexander would sqauare off against the conservative James J. Kilpatrick (they tried it again in 2003 with Clinton and Dole but it sucked).

My pals Darin, John and Scott are talking about doing a podcast based (loosely) on this idea. Darin is somewhere out in William F. Buckley land and John sort of neo-sixties liberal. I think Scott will serve as moderator. I’m trying to be supportive but… I don’t know. We’ve heard so much polticial talk in recent years, it feels like it’s all been said. Which suggests a different approach.

The lads make a list of the 25 most important issues facing the country. They each go into a studio and record 2 minute rants on each topic and plug the audio files into an online database (at “JaneYouIgnorantSlut.com”).

Visitors select a news story from one of the top five of the day (“George Bush visits Afghanistan and Pakistan”)…click a button…the website generates ten questions and randomly selects 10 rants from each pundit…and strings it altogether. Instant podcast!

The guys won’t have to sweat over a hot microphone every week and no one will ever know.

Positive thoughts for Sheryl Crow

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Sheryl Crow had surgery for breast cancer a few days ago. According to her website, she underwent successful surgery on Wednesday and described the procedure as “minimally invasive.” Doctors said her prognosis was excellent and she would have radiation treatments as a precaution.

“I am joining the more than 200,000 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year,” Crow said. “We are a testament to the importance of early detection and new treatments … I am inspired by the brave women who have faced this battle before me and grateful for the support of family and friends.”

Local ink for LHP

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News TribuneThe local newspaper did a nice feature story on The Living Healthy Podcast, complete with some nice pix of Dr. Domke and his Faithful Indian Companion. The sub-head (“Domke joins growing number of doctors who offer advice via podcast”) seemed like a bit of a stretch. I’m unaware of any physicians in mid-Missouri who are podcasting. In fact, if you know of any podcasting docs anywhere in the state, send me a link.

The reporter who wrote the piece, Natalie Fieleke, was trying to find something of a trend here and had to reach a bit to find any medical podcasts (Johns Hopkins, Arizona Heart Institute, Mayo Clinic, etc). But that’s okay. I think Henry is just early to the dance on this. As of this posting, it doesn’t appear the article is on the News Tribune website. If I find it, I’ll add a link.

The goal of our little podcast is to provide information to Dr. Domke’s patients (and others) and a little MSM pub can’t hurt. Thank you, Natalie.

Got milk?

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Sounds like SC and LA have lifted the black-out on the breakup: Lance used his satellite radio program to talk about the breakup, saying lots of nice things about his former love. And Sheryl was talking with Ellen DeGeneres. The 44-year-old rocker thanked fans for their support and noted that — despite the heartache — she is free and single again. “‘All my friends say I have to get right back on the bike,” Crow quipped, “‘and I keep saying, ‘Maybe not a bike.'”