I am CuTRis

I hiked the Mazomani Trail at Louisville Swamp today. I saw many things, but most of the animals didn't "wait around" to get their pictures taken. I saw a Bald eagle, assorted hawks, two Great Horned owls, an osprey, six Turkey vultures and more! The bridge across the creek has been removed since about two or three years ago. I crossed anyway through knee-deep water. Here's a peek...

Does the bathroom steam up when God showers?

To Favre or Not to Favre? That is the question. Former Green Bay Packer quarterback, Brett Favre retired. Then he unretired. Then he played for the New York Jets. Then he retired again. Then he was coming to the Minnesota Vikings. Then he wasn't. Then he was. Then he wasn't. Then he was. Then he wasn't. Then he was. Then he wasn't. Then he was. Then he wasn't. Then he was. Then he wasn't. Now apparently he did. Too bad for Vikings quarterbacks Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels. The winners here are the owners of the team. Vikings ticket sales have spiked since Favre arrived. Personally, I might upchuck when I see him in purple. The Vikings have tried recycled quarterbacks before, such as Jim McMahon and Warren Moon. Now they cling to the hope that a probably "washed-up" Brett Favre will be the ticket to a Superbowl victory. I hope so, but I've had my hopes dashed by this team for... forever...

The television is filled with commercials about suing people and telling you to ask your doctor about the kind of drugs you you think that you should be prescribed. Wait... isn't that your doctor's job??? How can these (people and) companies feel good about themselves when they are pushing drugs ? In fact, they are putting the local drug dealers... the "mom and pop" sellers out of business! And it's legal!!! Meanwhile, people "sit in the dark" and take it... -Advertisement-

Do I really need to explain? The pictures say it all...

Today I will make wine from (tart) wild grapes and honey. This is a picture of some of the actual wild grapes I'm using!

Today I picked wild grapes (for wine) and moved furniture...

You might remember my previous post about Publish America lowering the price of my book. Well, they raised it again! They are really stupid and that is why I can't use them again! My email to them... Publish America, A week or two ago I noticed my book was $6.99. Finally!!! I've been telling you that I couldn't market because my book is priced too high! Now, the paperback is back to $19.95. Newsflash, this is a hardcover price! This is why I can't use PA for my second novel. Go ahead now, give me the "corporate response." Sincerely, Kevin J. Curtis

Of course this is “juvenile” humor, but I think “Johnson Parkway” is funny! You may (or may not) remember that Cutris crossed the Pacific with his Johnson . I got a nice email from Dave in Australia, congratulating me for this feat! Later, I showed the practical side of having Johnson Controls . Finally, who could forget the building named Big Wood ? What else would you call a building where you could buy bail bonds and a sub sandwich?

Whenever I drive by the airport, I see these signs. I started wondering... what is threat level orange? . I thought perhaps since a red alert is bad, and a yellow alert is not as bad, and since the color orange is made from mixing yellow and red, that orange is somewhere in between. It turns out this was right! It seems from now on, we are on high alert. The real information is on the other sign. "If I see suspicious activity... who do I call... Ghost Busters? No. Pizza Palace??? No... Oh yeah! That sign said to call 9-1-1!"

U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were released from North Korea , and are back with their families thanks to the efforts of many people—including former President Bill Clinton. This development is great news for the families of the two journalists, and gives hope to U.S. hikers who decide to stray too close to foreign powers that are in disagreement with the United States. The release of Ling and Lee reinforces Bill Clinton’s commitment to good domestic and foreign relations . Whenever good-looking, young women are being held against their will, we can all feel secure in the knowledge that Bill will be there for them.

I need a new dentist! I've been going to Metro Dental for the past few years, and I have grown very suspicious of their billing system. I go to the Burnsville location, so I can't comment on all of them. Apparently the billing is handled within each clinic separately. Never before have I had so many problems with insurance or billing! With my previous dentist, there were no such difficulties. No matter what, I can't seem to pay off my bill. Once I do, more "mysterious" charges come in the mail. When I call about them, a person takes me round and round in a confusing circle, and eventually tells me to call my insurance company. It seems that no one there knows how much things cost, what they are charging, or how much I've already paid! One reason I have found for this, is that they continuously charge "estimated" costs. These are never correct, and then they keep laying more "real" and estimated costs on top of that. Do yourself a favor, d...

We decided to go fishing back in my "old haunts" of Sauk Centre . I spent a lot of time there some years back, and got to know the place well--though it's changed some. We had lunch at the Bear Trap , and then fished at the dam. The dam The dam flow Fishing at the dam We also fished the pier at the park, but the dam had the best fishing, even though they were mostly "rough" fish. My wife (who doesn't like to be pictured) with her giant sucker she caught on a worm. The weather changed quickly and frequently, and we had sun, rain, warm and cool weather. The rain came down heavy for a while. My wife's 27", 9lb. carp A huge yellow bullhead, just unhooked and posing, before going back in the water. We stayed at the Palms Motel and ate at Andy's Wok before leaving for home. Both were good. We also found most of the things we needed (including bait) at the Fleet Supply store. The River's Edge Dining & Lounge was excellent, and we had our ev...

Last evening as I sat with the band in Dave’s garden between practice sets, we had a number of interesting visitors. Frequently it is birds, but last night it was mostly insects. One of our visitors was a Sphingidae moth. These are also called sphinx, hawk or hummingbird moths . I got several photos, and have included one here. The bees were busily working the flowers, and a comment that Dave made really cracked me up! I asked him to make a PSA for bees to put on the blog. It is a bit of “blue” humor. Click on the video if you dare to share in the joke. White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth Bee PSA *Note: "80 billion years" may not be an accurate figure.

We went to Canterbury Park yesterday. After the thoroughbred races, they had two quarter horse races. These are short distance sprints! Click the video for a sample.

We went fishing today. The lack of rain has really lowered the level of some of the lakes and streams. We were at Louisville Swamp . After a mile hike, we found the water at the Jabs levy was really low. I mean it was a trickle. Usually the area is full of water. Sometimes it is under water after a heavy rain or snowmelt. We decided to try fishing in the "little river." Our bait minnows were dying fast in the summer heat, and I decided to try a floating Rapala . After a few casts, I had a hit and a large fish jumped. I kept at it and finally caught about a two-foot, shortnosed gar . I was planning to release it, so I didn't want to handle it much. I asked my wife to get a picture as I held it up by the leader. Just as she raised the camera, the fish began thrashing and threw the hook. It dropped onto the mud and slid into the stream. That was the end of my gar, though I had fun catching it. This is what the fish looked like... This is the actual stream where I caught the ...

Recently, I seem to have gotten close-up to a couple of large animals. The first is a young, dromedary camel I saw at the Ramsey County Fair in St. Paul. The second photo is one of the two horses at my brother's place.

My First Novel He Who Goes First now seems to have a reduced price of $6.99. Of course I was not informed, but I am happy that Publish America has finally reduced it down to an appropriate price!!! I've argued with them about this for for over four years now! It seems that it is also available in hardcover for $24.99, but the online order form was trying to include a softcover when I tried it out. While I'm happy (for the most part) with this book, I will not use this publisher again.

To many non-Minnesotans, our state is located somewhere in the permafrost zone, and we have snow and ice all year. Recently, we've had "unseasonably cool" weather for July. I had no idea just how "cool" it really was, until I saw this sign (last evening) outside of a St. Paul Walgreen's store!

Our garden has taken its time this year, but we have our first fresh beans!

We've been busy installing a new floor in the kitchen. The old ("confetti spotted") floor was pretty ugly. We love the new one, and are almost done installing it!

We went berry picking on Wednesday for two hours. We found a lot of mulberries and raspberries and had fun eating and picking them. I’ll be making a wine out of most of them later today… Black Raspberries Mulberries

We visited the Minnesota Raptor Center on Tuesday. Here are a couple of the most photogenic of the birds we saw. Barn Owl Peregrine Falcon

Michael Jackson died, and it has given Al Sharpton the chance to get his face on TV and pretend like he knows what he’s talking about. I’d let it go, except that I’ve been exposed to his ignorance repeatedly lately, thanks to the incessant news/media coverage of the Michael Jackson tributes, etc. Sharpton has repeatedly said that Michael Jackson is the reason that “America” (and by that he means “White” America), now accepts Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama. This is an example of “talking out of your ass.” Even if we don’t consider (among others) BB King, Aretha Franklin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bill Cosby, and my personal favorite, Jimi Hendrix, does anyone honestly believe that Oprah would not have her show or her magazine, etc. if it wasn’t for Michael Jackson??? Not only is this an insult to the “America” that Sharpton is speaking about, it completely undermines the fact that people like Tiger Woods have achieved excellence in their field! That , is why they are cele...

Cutris is High Voltage UnAssociated Press July 2, 2009 Though he is no longer running for office, Cutris continues to create scandals . This picture surfaced recently--showing Cutris apparently looking out of the window of a high voltage building. When asked about the photo, Cutris claimed he was "setup," by the paparazzi, and he didn't realize that the "empty shed" had that sign on it.

What would virtual fishing (see previous post) be without a virtual boat ride? Just click on the video and enjoy cruising across the lake (from the driver's seat)!

In case my previous post made you wish that you were fishing, here is a video so you can enjoy it from your computer.

We spent a few days in Ely, MN . We rented a nice cabin with a boat and canoe, on White Iron Lake. We also spent some time looking out over Lake Superior, and visited the North American Bear Center . We had a great time. Here are a few photos. Outside the cabin Inside the cabin White Iron Lake A little bit small... Ted, one of the Bears at the North American Bear Center The Marina in Silver Bay The Breaker in Two Harbors

Cutris Survives being Run Over by Tank! UnAssociated Press June 15, 2009 This photo emerged of Cutris being run over by a tank. Apparently Cutris was double-dog-dared to do it. Later a seemingly uninjured Cutris said that he survived the ordeal by wearing his new jeans, which were still stiff. These new pants apparently withstood the pressure of the tank and saved Cutris from serious injury. Please don't try this at home!

We went to the Military Expo at the Fort Snelling Military Museum on Saturday. Cutris with plane Big Gun Video of Tank Crushing Car

At midnight tonight, television goes from analog to digital. Will it be better? Perhaps, though I am one of those musicians who still uses an old amplifier with vacuum tubes--because (I've had it "forever" and) the sound is better than the solid-state amps. If you use an antenna, the problem of reception (still) exists, though bad reception won't be "fuzzy" anymore. Instead, the picture will "break up" and stop. If you have cable this shouldn't be a problem. Regardless, if things are running well, the resolution should be considerably better. Just remember to dispose of the old set properly.

I want to get a dog, but right now is not a good time. To practice , I've just been walking around the block carrying a little plastic bag...

We visited Historic Fort Snelling yesterday. This 1820's military outpost is now a historic site in Minneapolis, along the Mississippi River. Here are some pictures and a video of the cannon firing!

Cutris Escapes from Tiny People with Small Bananas June 5, 2009 UnAssociated Press This picture of Cutris shows him admiring the small bananas he said he took when he escaped from a land inhabited by "tiny people." Cutris claims the people were afraid of his great size when he wandered into their land, and when he accepted their hospitality, they got him drunk and tied him up. Cutris claims he broke loose from the "tiny ropes" and took the bananas for food as he escaped from his miniature captors. Aside from the bananas, there is no other proof to substantiate Cutris' story.

I found this moth on our house last night. I haven't identified it yet, though I did attempt to find it on the WWW. If you know what kind it is, let me know. I used my hand in the second photo to show the size. The coloration was gray and patterned so it would have been virtually invisible if it was on a tree trunk.

Does this really work???