Peaceful scenic landscape of the sun setting next to the Rocky Mountains and colorful sky reflections in the lake waters and bank of McIntosh lake, Longmont Colorado, Boulder County.

Colorado Fine art nature landscape photography poster prints, decorative canvas prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, corporate artwork, greeting cards and stock images by James Bo Insogna (C) – All Rights Reserved. *PLEASE NOTE, WATERMARKS WILL NOT BE ON THE PURCHASE PRINTS* – Click on the photo for the fine art photography gallery.

{Free People shorts, Loft t-shirt, vintage scarf, Target sunglasses, Gee WaaWaa platforms, I purchased the purse at a small boutique in Seattle, & my Aunt made my beaded bracelets}

We have been on our bikes a lot lately, and it’s quite wonderful.  We rode to Old Town yesterday for a mid day coffee and pie date, stopping along the way to take pictures and enjoy the sunshine.  These shorts I got a while back from Free People, make hopping on a bike a cinch, I really don’t like having to worry about adjusting what I’m wearing while I’m riding.  I love   pairing them with a bright colored tank or T, the combo is super comfortable, and easy to mix up. Oh how I adore summer styling, and getting around on my bike. 

Things you’ll need:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 egg — OR if you’re missing an egg: 1 1/2 tblsp water, 1 1/2 tblsp veg oil, 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
• 1 small yellow or white onion, diced up
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 tblsp flour
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tblsp minced onion (optional)
• 3/4 cups water
• 3/4 cup pineapple juice (if you don’t have any, just replace with water)
• 3 tblsp ketchup
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 3 tblsp soy sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Other things you’ll need:

• 1 small bowl
• 1 large bowl
• Whisk
• Large skillet

Do this: 1. Make your “egg”.  Put the water, veg oil and baking powder in a bowl.

Whisk it all together.  Let it sit for 3-4 min. 2. Gather everything else.  Dice your onion. 3. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, diced and minced onion, “egg” or “real” egg, cornstarch, bread crumbs, garlic powder, ketchup. 4. Using your hands — mix up the ingredients.  You’ll need to spend 4-5 min to make sure everything is mixed really well.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 5. Take big spoonfuls of meat mix, form into meatballs.  Place on skillet on med-low.  Brown up the meatballs (be very careful when turning these little guys over.  I prefer to use tongs, and lifting the meatball from the bottom to flip over, opposed to a sideways flip).  Set aside once the meatballs are browned.   6. In the same (or another) large skillet, mix up your sauce: brown sugar, water, white vinegar, soy sauce.  mix well.   Put on medium low. 7. Whisk in your flour.  There should be no flour “lumps” in the sauce. 8. Add meatballs to sauce. 9. Cook for about 30 min on low, continually pouring sauce over meatballs.  Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.  YUM! 10. Want to get fancy?  Add grilled pineapple on top!

US Highway 550, near Durango and Silverton, Colorado, is called the Million Dollar Highway

because it was paved with  low grade gold ore in the road bed.

Scenic country landscape an hour before sunset out in the north eastern plains of Boulder County and Weld County farm lands, CO crazy stormy skies with a old classic farm turbo tractor.

Colorado Fine art nature landscape photography poster prints, decorative canvas prints, acrylic prints, metal prints, corporate artwork, greeting cards and stock images by James Bo Insogna (C) – All Rights Reserved. *PLEASE NOTE, WATERMARKS WILL NOT BE ON THE PURCHASE PRINTS* – Click on the image for the fine art photography gallery.

“All of these songs are about a paucity of truth. At first they may seem to be about other things, but that is just a reflection of how much dishonesty we have accepted in our daily lives. We are raised from birth to believe things that cannot be proven or that are plainly not true…. The fact is, we are terrified of the truth.” – Todd Rundgren, from the liner notes of Liars, 2004

Fast forward 9 years to 2013. Back to the future… and Todd’s new album STATE, the first set of new songs from Todd since 2006′s Arena.

The word “state” can have a number of connotations, as both noun and verb, as in “state your name,” “state your case, your truth,” “state of mind, being” “state of the nation, world,” “state of the music industry,” and perhaps most ominously, THE State. The ambiguous, open-ended title gives a clue as to what Todd’s going to be delving into and he covers all bases here.

STATE  is definitely a headphone album, so…. “you’ll want to get ‘em out and get ‘em cranked up, ’cause they’re really gonna help you on this one.”

Todd Rundgren’s new album, “STATE”

The opening track, “Imagination,” kicks off with an ethereal, skittering synth line – pleasant, reassuring enough and then it changes key and starts to wobble a bit…. something’s wrong here…  And then in come the thunderous drums followed by an ominous chord progression on bass, keys, and guitar. “I am what I am and that’s all that I am, I tell myself,” Todd sings – things are all right again.  The individual states his case in a world where “nothing’s ever right or wrong,” and all he has to do is “just go along and get along.”

The response? The musical furies are unleashed and ask “what is hell?” That “same old smell” and the “same old situation.” He has “no imagination.” The song features a wicked guitar solo and its call and answer interplay between the individual and the forces arrayed around/against him - to remind him where he is and to not think foolishly or naively that things “will just work out” - is brilliant. Cautionary tale indeed.

Like “Truth,” the opening track from Liars, “Imagination” grabs your attention immediately and sets the tone for the rest of the album. What’s different here: it’s not the search for truth or meaning anymore in the glaring lack of it. Instead we get reality, or “Sir Reality” (wonderful play on words there) in the glaring lack of real critical thinking, free-thinking, and… imagination. Blissful unawareness and mental laziness ain’t gonna cut it in this brave new world. It’s a brave new world because only the brave will be able to inhabit (and inherit) it.

For this album, Todd “reinvented” himself into “DJ Odd” and recorded the songs in the same way that many electronica/EDM (Electronic Dance Music) artists do now, using just a laptop, keyboard controller, and guitar. He also said in interviews that he did some research into the genre by listening to Skrillex, among others.

That infleuence seems most evident in the songs “Serious,” “Collide-A-Scope,” and the appropriately titled, “Party Liquor.” But it’s not as dubsteppy as it sounds or in the way one might think. Todd injects his own prodigious melodic sense and ways with a ‘toon’ into these ten songs and into a genre that, more often than not, is badly in need of it. Having adopted EDM’s prevailing M.O., he remakes the genre as his own (interesting to note that in the month-and-a-half since STATE was released, the album has charted on Billboard… in the electronica/EDM category).

“Serious” treads similar lyrical ground as “Mad” from Arena (“Clear!”). ”Ping Me” explores the tenuous nature of relationships in general in the age of social media – “just let me know that I have crossed your mind.” It’s a similar sentiment as you would find in his signature song, ”Hello, It’s Me” – “I take for granted that you just don’t care”…. so [in 2013] “ping me.” “Smoke” and “Something From Nothing” are both gorgeous songs, full of textural, rhythmic synths, either of which would have been right at home on Liars. Todd’s vocals are in fine form throughout.

For as open-ended and subject to interpretation as the lyrics tend to be here, there are some that definitely are not, but the intent always seems to be one of getting the listener to question the things they see and hear in their life or habitually think (as in many of Todd’s songs). He tosses out clues in the lyrics, particularly where they have to do with cultural assumptions, e.g. “money brings you joy” and “the rich deserve to be” (“Sir Reality”). They are far weightier than one might think upon first listening. And sometimes they’re not (a big LOL for the line “and the TV’s blaring ’cause they can’t find the clicker” from “Party Liquor”). She’s an “Angry Bird”…  and she’s also an app on your android.

STATE feels like a companion piece to Liars – a check-in 9 years later to see what conditions the “paucity of truth” might have led to and where things stand because the future IS now. It’s hard to call STATE  futuristic, at least not in the same way Liars  sounded futuristic when it came out in 2004, but that’s sort of the point: it’s an accurate reflection of the state of various elements of societal life, social interactions and our cultural diversions in 2013 with 9 more years of computer-based recording under our belts. As that relates to the music one might hear (especially on mainstream radio geared towards a younger audience), it’s how it sounds, how it looks, and how it gets made, keeping in mind that computer-based recording has pretty much become the standard in the industry now, particularly for certain genres. Todd is simply holding up a mirror to all of this.

Artwork by Rose Wassel.

Since my co-worker and office-mate, Brian, does listen to Skrillex – though he will tell you he prefers Tech N9ne, Bassnectar, and Pretty Lights – this set the stage for an interesting experiment…

“We’ve secretly replaced Brian’s stash of techno/electronica with STATE…. Let’s watch what happens”…..

Which brings us to “Sir Reality”…. it’s a bookend to “Imagination.” The keyboard crescendos and guitar on this are particularly effective as Todd serves up a litany of questionable truisms  (“girls are girls and boys are boys” references “Happy Anniversary” from Liars). No Imagination = Your Reality…. if you go along and believe things that are “plainly not true.” And in the next line he tells you “The truth is plain to see…” if you but have the eyes – and the mind – to see (it is telling that in all the pictures on STATE, Todd is wearing goggles…. hmmm…).

The lack of truth is still with us in 2013, the lies just as blatant much of the time, more pervasive, but worse – we’ve gotten that much more used to them and they’re simply accepted as ”normal.” What we get is “surreality” – a deeply uncertain time when the theme becomes one of discernment – realize where you are, think for yourself and figure things out (question), and don’t blindly go along – don’t be dumb, lest you find yourself in a “less than ideal” state.

Sound unsettling?… bleak? Perhaps… but these are unsettling times and Todd has captured that perfectly on STATE. Maybe “unsparing” would be a better word, but it all sounds great and it’s a strong album. First and foremost, it is a ‘Todd album’ that fits in well and takes its place comfortably in his overall body of work. It’s an album that grows stronger – and whose lyrics more fully reveal their meanings – with repeated listenings.

STATE may well be the most important album released so far in 2013. The techno/electronica generation is listening and yeah, you can dance to it.

The 2nd disc is Todd performing with the Metropole Orchestra live at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in 2012. Spend the few extra bucks and spring for the Deluxe Edition of STATE, if you haven’t bought it already, because the live performances here are truly superb. You get fully orchestrated versions of Todd classics – “Hello, It’s Me,” “Can We Still Be Friends,” and “We Gotta Get You a Woman” – alongside lesser-known songs (“Frogs,” “Fascist Christ”), with some Utopia thrown in (“Another Life”). “Pretending to Care” (from A Capella) in particular benefits from a full orchestra and Todd’s voice has never sounded better on it. Other standouts include “If I Have to Be Alone,” “Mammon,” and the closer, “Fade Away.” The 2nd disc rounds out the listening experience and is definitely must-have.

The Official STATE Tour is currently underway and coming to a venue near you. Check tour dates at http://www.toddstore.com/. I look forward to seeing it in July.

‘Til next time….

“Another Day in Paradox” – 2013

“Another Day in Paradox,” the third and new album from Nights on Venus will be released officially on June 18th and available on CD and as digital download (MP3) on CDBaby, iTunes, Bandcamp, Amazon,  and other fine online retailers and also on the NoV website.

Follow Craig and NoV on Twitter (@xlntsky) and Facebook.

At a time when there is extremely limited housing inventory in Lone Tree and the metro Denver area for my buyers to choose from, it’s exciting to see a major new development get underway. RidgeGate in Lone Tree is a 3,500-acre master-planned residential and commercial area.

There will be great opportunities for buyers to build brand new homes in the desirable Lone Tree. And, of course, that commercial element could be huge for the area.

I’ve written recently about several new jobs announcements and news of businesses moving to our beautiful South Denver area and Douglas County. But last week’s ground-breaking could be pretty significant for Lone Tree.

Charles R. Schwab, the founder and chairman of the internationally-known financial firm based in San Francisco, joined Governor John Hickenlooper in dedicating the RidgeGate community.

There are not a lot of development groundbreakings that attract that kind of star power. But this one was worthy. Schwab is building a $200 million campus on 40 acres in Lone Tree. The 467,000-square-foot facility will ultimately employ 1,800 people.

Construction should be finished by the end of 2014 and employees will begin moving in in phases.

Of course, those of us who know Lone Tree, have no trouble understanding why Schwab chose the area for its regional headquarters. It will be exciting to see what the investment brings to our community.

And with fewer homes on the market now than at any other time in Denver’s recorded real estate history, a new eco-conscious housing development in Lone Tree is welcome.

All of this growth in our beautiful area will mean more people looking for homes in the area. And if you haven’t heard yet, the market has shifted. Real estate values in the metro Denver area have nearly rebounded to their 2007 peaks and more demand than supply is likely to continue driving prices higher.

That means this summer could be a good time to sell.

4. KHALSA GREENHOUSES INTERN PROGRAM (ESPAÑOLA, NM):  Room and board. Come live in a vegetarian, tobacco and drug free environment where you will share a large spacious household near a Sikh/kundalini yoga community. A beginning $200 monthly stipend for a six month to one year participant working 4 hours a day six days a week, including farmers markets, with the opportunity to earn more. An opportunity to work on a year round producing farm – primarily focused on fall and winter production Khalsa Greenhouses is getting ready to expand into spring and summer field and permaculture agriculture

We are looking for the right mature young adult(s). Please send your resume and cover letter to Gurujiwan S. Khalsa in care of khalsaenterprises@hotmail.com or letter to Gurujiwan S Khalsa, 11 Walnut Drive, Espanola, NM 87532. You can also check us out on Facebook at Khalsa Greenhouses.  A couple of things to address in your cover letter:   What are some of the things you would like to learn and can share? What motivates you and what are your core values? Why do you want to be a part of the family farm movement? Where would you like to be in five years?  Would you be willing to participate in shared meal prep? When are you available?

The world turns.  The sun sets and rises and sets and rises.

Each day there are tragedies and there are victories.

There are births and there are deaths.

There is happiness and sadness and emotions in between.

Every day.

Two days ago the world was aghast at the devastation and the deaths caused by the tornadoes in Oklahoma.  I felt very sad watching the news about the destruction.  I was horrified that two elementary schools were leveled.  Those poor children!

Yesterday, I called the home number of a friend to see if he and his wife were coming to our John Wayne party on Saturday, as I had not gotten a response to the e-vite that we sent to them.

The wife answered.  I cheerfully asked her, like we often do in starting a conversation, how she was doing.

The usual response is something like, “Fine.  How are you?”

She was not fine.  She told me that her husband “died last night.”

While people died in the tornado in Oklahoma, he died in Colorado, of cancer.  He had told me that he was doing chemotherapy.  A few weeks ago, in our last phone conversation, he said it would be completed in three more sessions and we could get together in May when he would have more energy.

While my wife and I prepared for a party, my friend was breathing his final breaths.

His daughter got on the phone.  She had flown in from New York City, where she is attending graduate school.  She had been with her parents for the past week, for the last week with her father.  She told me the services will be Friday.  She asked me to say a few words.  Of course, I am willing to do so.  I want to show my respect.  I want to honor her father’s memory.

I will go to the funeral on Friday, which is my birthday.

On Saturday we will have our annual John Wayne Party at the ranch.  The party that my friend attended in other years.

“There is a time to be born and a time to die…  A time to mourn and a time to dance… A time to weep and a time to laugh….”  Ecclesiastes 3.

Life goes on as we each feel different emotions in ever-changing moments when the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord, Who is with us in all those experiences.

In the movie, these words are spoken by Kevin Kline after being saved by Danny Glover from a potential fatal mugging. This scene and movie have been on my mind since Monday, when I spent a significant part of my day watching TV coverage of the devastation caused by the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. I know that the scene I am referencing has more to do with random violence, but the movie itself, as well as Monday’s destruction, have me thinking about the randomness of life.

I have lived a blessed life, relatively speaking. I was raised by a loving family, married my dreamgirl, have always had a roof over my head, and never gone to bed hungry. Yes, I have had my share of loss, not to mention recurring depression, but I have been very fortunate. I know that the world doesn’t revolve around me, but I can’t help sometimes but to get caught up in the problems and tragedies of the world. More importantly, I wonder, am I next? I’ve been lucky, but luck runs out.

The last twelve months have seen the mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado and Sandy Hook, Connecticut, as well as the East Coast demolition caused by Hurricane Sandy and the bombing attack at the Boston Marathon. Add in Monday’s natural disaster, and it’s a wonder anybody bothers to go outside.

I have no desire to be a shut-in, despite my hermit-like tendencies, but sometimes the savage reality of life is just too much to comprehend. Of course, I can’t speak too much from experience. My wife, on the other hand, can. She wishes she didn’t have to. In 1999, my Oklahoma born and bred spouse had a first hand view of a tornado that’s been frequently mentioned in the past 48 hours. I can’t even begin to describe the horror and dread that my wife found a way to live through, as her childhood home was obliterated along with most of her cherished possessions. But, she lived, and so did her parents. And Monday I watched as she suffered what I can only describe as varying stages of PTSD. It was painful and then some.

But, my wife is a survivor. She’s one of the bravest people I have ever met. As for me, I’ve never been tested. I’m not looking forward to it, but in this life it seems inevitable. I hope I can show an ounce of the heart and courage that my wife has. It’s one of the reasons I married her. Then again, if I am truly lucky, she will be brave enough for the both of us.

Maybe the answer really is in the movie Grand Canyon. Maybe it’s time, or past time, to visit the Grand Canyon. Maybe it’s my turn to take in the beauty and get laughed at by the rocks. It’s time to be humbled. Maybe that’s a plan.

Use the photos posted in this feature for writing prompts, warm-up activities, drawing templates or as part of a photo analysis.

 Click image to enlarge

(Source)

As most of you gay-mers know, today was the release of the new “next generation” version of Xbox franchise, to me honestly I think today was the announcement of Microsoft shooting themselves in the foot. I mean honestly Xbox WTF were you thinking?! You are so far the leader in console gaming and you just handed all your sales to Sony.

For people that do not know about what happened like me break it down to you.

The event lasted for a hour about you can sum it up by cable TV, sports, modified graphics, fish, and a dog… Seriously, the whole event was sports related. Which is cool in a way, I like football too- But honestly when I’m gaming I usually play RPGs, so I want to slay some mother fucking dragons… I don’t want to know about my fantasy league while I’m playing Skyrim or some shit.

So here’s my rants….

Xbox on! Xbox OFF! Fucking stop!!

So an “amazing” feature xbox now has is the voice control(which I thought already existed…) But I can totally see me getting down on some dragon slaying and here comes Curtis, “xbox off…tehehehe(runs away)”. Seriously? I can get my fat ass up and turn the fucking button off, why was this such a “unique” feature to showcase? I mean like seriously?

You can now watch cable TV through your XBOX!!!!

OMG Take my pulse cause this is so fucking amaz— wait, I watch Netflix mainly…

Better graphics?

They only showed shit that played for like intros and crap- no actually gameplay. They showed a little for CoD Ghosts but honestly looked the same… Just enhanced forest scenes… yay, we had this long time ago when Crysis came out

Hey can I borrow this game… oh wait I don’t have any cash

Don’t you hate that one friend that wont let you borrow anything. He was a complete douche nozzle and kept his stuff to himself, or said, “for a couple bucks I’ll let you borrow it…” And all you want to do is smack the shit out of him! Well Xbox is now that friend. You can now longer play used games without paying a fee… WTF?! Seriously?! Like I understand how you want to protect the developers and their games from people stealing it, but you seriously are coming neck and neck MPAA and RIAA trying to surf the net. Honestly, if you made things affordable, people will buy it. Me honestly, if a game is 15-20 bucks I’d buy that. But when they are 60.+ bucks, I want to know that my money is going to some good use.

So sadly this is was a horrible reveal, I personally WILL NOT buy a Xbox One for these reasons and be looking into getting a PS4 instead. Pro tip next time guys, don’t have a reveal unless you actually reveal something! Instead we saw hardly any gaming and all about how this is more of an entertainment device instead.

You still have time to earn FREE shells with the May Cover Your Bases Event!  Many of the free shells are retired too!  Visit my website to order now!

When you live up in the mountains and have to travel on treacherous high-altitude passes and curvy roadways, often times, it’s fellow motorists and neighbors who are the “first responders” at the scene of an accident. That was the case last Friday in southern Lake County.

A Leadville mother and daughter went off Hwy 24 into the Arkansas River Last Friday. Photo: Nathan Fisher

And if timing is everything, then timing was perfect last Friday, May 17 for a Leadville mother and her 9-year-old daughter when their SUV went off Highway 24 South between Granite and the Twin Lakes turnoff. While everyone came out ok (no serious injuries), there were a scary few minutes as the car careened down the embankment, landing – thankfully –  wheel side down in the Arkansas River.

Leadville Today spoke to local Nathan Fisher, one of the first on the scene who stopped when he saw the flicker of a vehicle out of the corner of his eye, driving home to Leadville after a day’s work down south.

The SUV eventually stopped, after getting hung up on some rocks in the Arkansas River. Photo Nathan Fisher.

“The SUV had landed about four or five feet from the river bank and traveled about another ten feet down the river, but eventually stopped, after getting hung up on some rocks,” said Fisher. By the time Fisher and co- worker Bob Espinosa had pulled over, they saw that two kayakers (“Leadville guys” stated Fisher) had already suited up to begin wading into the frigid waters to help the victims inside the SUV.

Fisher immediately called 911 and then went to assist. By the time the girl was handed out of the car to Fisher, several other motorists had stopped and formed a human chain, hand to hand, to help Fisher carry the 9-year-old girl up the embankment to the highway.  It seems the mother had a more challenging time due to an injury to her arm she had sustained in the accident. But the group’s efforts were successful and both mother and daughter were safe and wrapped in blankets as Lake County Emergency Responders arrived.

Now normally this would be a solid enough “good news” story, but for Nathan Fisher it wasn’t just any day. In fact, his assistance in this unique river rescue, might be called “good timing” by some, but others would probably call it fate. You see, May 17 was also the birthday of Nathan’s brother Matt who had passed away in a tragic accident a number of years ago.

Nathan Fisher

Certainly his brother Matt was on his mind that day, but Fisher was also getting a premonition about rescuing someone, possibly having to perform CPR on someone that day. No doubt, those feelings led to Fisher’s quick response to jump into action, along with the other local rescuers.

“It definitely brought my spirits up that day. I was feeling pretty sad and then I saw a flash from the SUV out of the side of my eye and the adrenaline kicked in,” surmised Fisher.   

Guess that’s how it worked out for that Leadville mother and daughter last Friday, thanks to local kayakers, passerbys and a man mourning the loss of his brother, all of whom were heroes last Friday.

Lake County Mock Emergency Scheduled for June 7

Wildland Fire Training Exercise for Emergency Responders

When you were growing up, they called them fire drills. In more recent times, they were referred to as mock emergencies. You’ve probably seen them featured on the evening news as exercises for emergency responders to train with “real” victims under “real” circumstances.

Back in February 2012, LCOEM’s Mike McHargue met with the residents of Twin Lakes to review emergency preparedness procedures and concerns.

Two weeks from Friday, on June 7, starting at 10 a.m. the Leadville/Lake County emergency responders will be PRACTICING a full-scale wild land fire (exercise) near the Sugar Loafin’ Campground. This exercise will include evacuations from the neighboring homes, pet evacuation, set up & use of an evacuation center, communication processes and practice a variety of other situations that could arise in a real wildland fire. 

It’s no surprise that wildfire is at the top of the risk list for Lake County. In fact, the scheduled training exercise is notably close to the anniversary of last year’s Treasure Fire on June 24.

Firefighters at the morning briefing of the Treasure Fire on June 27, 2012. Last year’s wildfire was a stark reminder to Lake County residents to BE PREPARED!

Perhaps this anniversary will remind resident’s of the need to get that emergency evacuation kit together and have a plan in place.

Or if you’re interested in becoming more actively involved, the Lake County Office Emergency Management (LCOEM) is actively seeking volunteers to participate in the June 7 exercise. This is a great opportunity for your family to practice their emergency plan as well as familiarize themselves with evacuation procedures in the event of an emergency in Lake County.   

If you would like to participate in this exercise as a volunteer, please contact LCOEM Manager Mike McHargue at LCEM@LakeCountyEM.org  or Nicole with the Lake County’s Sheriff Office at eoc@lakecountysheriff.co  prior to Friday, May 24. 

All volunteers assisting in this exercise must get a card from the Sheriff’s office and attend at least 1 training prior to this exercise.   Evacuation volunteers going to the evacuation center do not need a card. 

This exercise will help all responders to be better prepared in the event of a real wild land fire situation in the coming months.  Remember, with the recent furloughs in the federal budget, funding of exercise like these will be drying up, so get involved and informed NOW!

If you cannot participate in the June 7 exercise, there are a few things you can do to make sure you are alerted in the case of an emergency in Lake County.

1. Like the LCOEM Facebook Page
2. Pick up a copy of the Lake County Community Preparedness Handbook, available at the Lake County Courthouse.
3. Sign up for telephone notification alerts: LINK.

The recently upgraded Lake County Emergency Dispatch Center allows responders to communication with state-of-the-art equipment.

-  54% of African Americans graduate from high school, compared to more than three quarters of white
and Asian students.

-  Nationally, African American male students in grades K-12 were nearly 2½ times as likely to be suspended from school in 2000 as white students.

-  In 2007, nearly 6.2 million young people were high school dropouts. Every student who does not complete high school costs our society an estimated $260,000 in lost earnings, taxes, and productivity.

-  On average, African American twelfth-grade students read at the same level as white eighth-grade students.

-  The twelfth-grade reading scores of African American males were significantly lower than those for men and women across every other racial and ethnic group.

-  Only 14% of African American eighth graders score at or above the proficient level. These results reveal that millions of young people cannot understand or evaluate text, provide relevant details, or support inferences about the written documents they read.

-  The majority of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails are people of color, people with mental health issues and drug addiction, people with low levels of educational attainment, and people with a history of unemployment or underemployment.

Source: PBS.org

Think Progress

In March, Colorado came close to becoming the 19th state to abolish the death penalty, but the bill failed after Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) voiced opposition and suggested a possible veto. A few months later, Colorado’s death penalty is still firmly in place, and the state is poised to complete what would be only the second execution in 45 years (the last was in 1997). Few dispute that Nathan Dunlap committed a horrific crime and murdered several people at a Chuck E. Cheese. But judges, university professors, and other prominent state leaders are urging Gov. Hickenlooper to commute Dunlap’s sentence, both because crucial errors that defined his trial may have led him to get a harsher sentence than others, and because killing anyone under the perverted state system would be a miscarriage of justice. According to letters filed with Hickenlooper’s office:

• All three people on death row are black men. In a state that is only 4.3% African American, Colorado’s death row is 100% African American.
• All three men on death are from the same one county, out of Colorado’s 64.
• All three men committed their crime when they were under the age of 21.
• Two law professors who studied Colorado’s application of the death penalty concluded it was unconstitutional, after finding that prosecutors pursue the death penalty in less than one percent of the cases where it is an option, and that the state failed to set “clear statutory standards for distinguishing between the few who are executed and the many who commit murder.”

“It appears that race, geography and youth largely determines who gets the death penalty in Colorado,” wrote a group of NAACP leaders in a letter urging Gov. Hickenlooper to grant clemency. They note that not a single black juror served on the panel that sentenced Dunlap to death.

In addition to the injustices that define the Colorado system, a group of former Colorado judges also point out that Dunlap’s bipolar disorder and psychotic tendencies were not even mentioned at trial. In fact, according to their letter, Dunlap’s lawyer told the jury that there was no explanation for his violence.

The judges add that “no clear evidence exists that the death penalty deters violent crime. What it does in our current system, as in this case, is to drain our judicial system of millions of dollars as mandatory appeals drag on for decades.” Studies have shown that the death penalty does not lower the homicide rate. In fact, the murder rate is lower in states without the death penalty. Hickenlooper says he continues to wrestle with the death penalty, and whether to commute Dunlap’s sentence.

Related articles

• Shooting victim’s mom to Hickenlooper: Execute Nathan Dunlap (kdvr.com)
• In Colorado, Blacks Make Up 4 Percent Of The Population And 100 Percent Of Death Row (thinkprogress.org.feedsportal.com)
• Carroll: Gov. Hickenlooper boxed in on Nathan Dunlap (denverpost.com)
• Hickenlooper set to discuss looming Dunlap execution with defense team, prosecutors (kdvr.com)
• Lethal interjections? Politics a motivating issue in clemency request for Nathan Dunlap (aurorasentinel.com)

For those who don’t know, I’ll be spending the next few months working with the Teton Science Schools, mucking around in the forest playing with birds (more details on that later). Literally mucking, or so I hear from my boss, who told us to bring rubber boots. Good thing I brought mine from home. In the part of Ohio where I’m from, not having a pair of mud boots is unheard of. Mud season lasts a good long while, and if you want to go out in the woods (which I do quite frequently) you need a pair of boots. As a result, rubber boots, like a coat (because the weather will be changing in about 5 minutes), are one of the many things I can’t leave home without. The list also includes a journal and pen, binoculars, bird book, camera, and climbing gear. You never know when the muse will overtake you, a cool bird that needs iding and photographing will be spotted, or when you’ll find a rock that needs climbing.

The car is packed, I’ve got western bird calls on my iPod, a giant jug of Bhakti Chai and a baggie of pickles. Let’s hit the open road! Wyoming, here I come!

I shall leave you with this song: I Can Breathe Again, by Baywood (which is also on the iPod, along with the bird calls).

Baywood – “I Can Breathe Again” from Consequence of Sound on Vimeo.

Lyrics (for those of you who don’t listen to the words, which I’m suprised to find is a large number of my acquaintances. I guess I’m just a wordy person, I listen to the lyrics):

VERSE 1:

One of these slow weeks when, you don’t know where the time will go
I could just give in and send my self back to this world
Don’t say don’t go
Don’t say don’t you go

CHORUS:

I lost myself to the snow and then
I found my way back home again
But I can only stay for awhile
Hey hey hey hey!

Now that I’m on my own I can
Finally I can breathe again
So I can only stay for awhile
Hey hey!

VERSE 2:

Step after step I jump in and step off the beaten path
As the long journey begins I walk the wild at last
Don’t say don’t go
Don’t say don’t you go

CHORUS:

I lost myself to the snow and then
I found my way back home again
But I can only stay for awhile
Hey hey hey hey!
Now that I’m on my own I can
Finally I can breathe again
So I can only stay for awhile
Hey hey!

In addition to having some fantastic facial hair, Baywood also have an amusing bio, which can be perused on the Kick Kick Snare webpage here:

Baywood Bio on Kick Kick Snare

The Staunton Ranch was established as a homestead at the beginning of the 20th Century by Dr. Rachel and Archibald Staunton. Under the Homestead Act of 1862 Rachel was able to acquire 160 acres, and she lived on the property in the warmer months of the year, providing medical care to those who lived nearby, including Native American families, who paid for her services with beadwork, pottery, jewelry, and rugs.

Over time the land holdings grew to 1,680 acres.

Frances H. Staunton, the daughter of Rachel and Archibald, lived on the property for many years, protecting and preserving the heritage and history until 1986, when the land was gifted to the State of Colorado with the understanding it would eventually become a state park. In addition to the Staunton Ranch the Staunton State Park also includes the Elk Falls Ranch, the Davis Ranch and the Chase Property.

The Elk Falls Ranch, located on the west side of Staunton State Park, was acquired in 1999 using Great Outdoor Colorado (GOCO) funds to improve conservation and provide access to the park property. The acquisition included such geological landmarks as Lions Head, Chimney Rock, and Elk Falls. Totaling 1,050 acres, the property was purchased in parcels, with the State Parks acquiring the 510-acre northern parcel and the State Land Board acquiring the southern 540-acre parcel. The southern parcel was leased back to the State Parks and Wildlife for management.

The 1,000-acre David Ranch is located on the east side of Staunton State Park, and was also acquired in 1999 with a Great Outdoors Colorado Legacy Grant.

In 2006 the current property was completed when the State Parks, working with the State Land Board, purchased the 80-acre Chase parcel with the intent of developing it by way of trail connections and future roads into the overall park. Historically, the land was once owned by Mary Coyle Chase, a Denver native and playwright known for her play “Harvey”, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945.

Currently Staunton State Park offers about 23 miles of trails, with something for almost everyone.

Bugling Elk Trail
Permitted uses: Hike, mountain bike, horseback
Total distance: 1.1 miles
Degree of difficulty: moderate
Elevation range: 8,820 – 9,200 feet above sea level.

Border Line Trail
Permitted uses: Hike, mountain bike, horseback
Total distance: 2.5 miles
Degree of difficulty: moderate
Elevation range: 9,060 feet – 9,420 feet above sea level.

Climbing Access Trail
Permitted uses: Hike, mountain bike, horseback
Total distance: 0.9 miles
Degree of difficulty: difficult
Elevation range: 8,500 – 8,800 feet above sea level.

Davis Ponds Trail
Permitted uses: Hike only
Total distance: 2.15 miles
Degree of difficulty: easy
Elevation range: 8,200 – 8,280 feet above sea level.

Lion’s Back Trail
Permitted uses: Hike, mountain bike, horseback
Total distance: 1.0 miles
Degree of difficulty: moderate
Elevation range: 8,800 – 9,120 feet above sea level.

Mason Creek Trail
Permitted uses: Hike, mountain bike, horseback
Total distance: 4.5 miles
Degree of difficulty: difficult
Elevation range: 8,180 – 9,440 feet above sea level.

Marmot Passage Trail
Permitted uses: Hike, mountain bike, horseback
Total distance: 2.5 miles
Degree of difficulty: moderate
Elevation range: 8,800 – 9,220 feet above sea level.

Old Mill Trail
Permitted uses: Hike only
Total distance: 0.9 miles
Degree of difficulty: moderate
Elevation range: 8,500 – 9,100 feet above sea level.

Scout Line Trail
Permitted uses: Hike only
Total distance: 1.5 miles
Degree of difficulty: difficult
Elevation range: 8,520 – 9,240 feet above sea level.

Staunton Ranch Trail
Permitted uses: Hike, mountain bike, horseback
Total distance: 3.3 miles
Degree of difficulty: moderate
Elevation range: 8,120 – 9,060 feet above sea level.

Cliff Palace is one of the more popular attractions at Mesa Verde National Park.

Built by ancient puebloans, it is fairly easily accessible and is open to the public. Cliff Palace is located in the largest cave in the center of the Great Mesa. It was south and southwest facing, providing greater warmth from the sun in the winter. The site had 200 rooms, including storage rooms, open courts, walkways, and 23 kivas. Dating back more than 700 years, the dwelling is constructed of sandstone, wooden beams, and mortar. Many of the rooms were brightly painted.

I liked the composition of the original image and had thought to convert it to monochrome because the colors seemed flatter than I remembered. After opening the image in Photoshop CS6, I wanted to open up the shadow areas in the ceiling of the cave. I ran the file through Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro 2 and it brought out details and color that I liked. So I left the image in color and finished off the image with Color Efex Pro 4’s Tonal Contrast, Brilliance and Warmth, and Darken/Lighten Center.

In the best light…

I missed this story.

Perrazi is a company which makes very high end, very expensive double barreled shotguns. How expensive? Well, a cheap one costs just shy of $10,000 and one of the expensive ones is close enough to half of a million dollars as to make no never-mind.

I hope that it will not come as a surprise to my Gentle Readers when I state — quite confidently — that double-barreled shotguns costing more than the average American car are NOT the weapon of choice for terrorists, much less the run-of-the-mill gang-banging critter.

LawDog