Brickyard Fence

Brickyard Fence
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

I've found the exact spot Tony Stewart will climb the fence Sunday at the Brickyard 400 after his win. Nice stepping stones.

French Security Level Reset

The AP and UPI reported that the French Government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from Run to Hide. The only two higher levels in France are Surrender and Collaborate.

The rise in the level was precipitated by a recent fire which destroyed France's white flag

factory, effectively disabling their military.

DL

Andrew passed his driving test today, and will get his license Thursday. Went to revenue office to get DL, and of course didn't have what we needed. Will get his birth cert. from his mother Wed. night and he'll get his license Thursday. He said he wants a tag on the front that reads: Warning: Me at the Wheel.

Maybe he won't turn his English class into a drive-through.

Allman Brothers Band Toyota

Allman Brothers Band Toyota
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

I guess I'm a new Todd Bodine fan. Didn't watch the Craftsman race last week, but check out the hood of his truck. I'll watch this week to see if the paint scheme stays the same.

Sunset

sunset
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

Sunset on the prairie Wednesday evening.

Bastrop/IP

Damn, Bastrop's gonna be in bad shape in six months if IP (under an announced restructure Tuesday) closes its mill there.

Sunday starts a two-week temporary shutdown, with many already laid off.

It's got approximately 660 employees, and about 440 are employed in service-related areas. That's 1,000 people out of work if it happens, and it probably will. One-third of the Morehouse Parish economy centered around the mill. Lord, please don't let it get any closer to our area.

Like somebody said, Bastrop could soon look like Lake Providence.

Scotty Beamed Up

beammeupa
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP)--James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died early Wednesday. He was 85.
Doohan died at 5:30 a.m. (1330 GMT) at his Redmond, Washington, home with his wife of 28 years, Wende, at his side, Los Angeles agent and longtime friend Steve Stevens said. The cause of death was pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease, he said.
The Canadian-born Doohan fought in World War II and was wounded during the D-Day invasion, according to the StarTrek.com Web site. He was enjoying a busy career as a character actor when he auditioned for a role as an engineer in a new space adventure on NBC in 1966. A master of dialects from his early years in radio, he tried seven different accents.
"The producers asked me which one I preferred," Doohan recalled 30 years later. "I believed the Scot voice was the most commanding. So I told them, 'If this character is going to be an engineer, you'd better make him a Scotsman.' "
The series, which starred William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as the enigmatic Mr. Spock, attracted an enthusiastic following of science fiction fans, especially among teenagers and children, but not enough ratings power. NBC canceled it after three seasons.
When the series ended in 1969, Doohan found himself typecast as Montgomery Scott, the canny engineer with a burr in his voice. In 1973, he complained to his dentist, who advised him: "Jimmy, you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd go with the flow."
"I took his advice," said Doohan, "and since then everything's been just lovely."

Duane Pix

If you want to see "Duane Allman Photo of the Day" posts with most excellent pictures, click on the new link, A Southern Woman on the Net.

John Hammond and Duane Allman

duanehammond1970b
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

John Hammond, Duane Allman Muscle Shoals 1970. Maybe Dickey Betts in the mirror? The other photo I posted a few weeks ago of Duane by himself was apparently taken at the same time, just of him. Pretty cool to find out who he was picking with.

Tony

Originally uploaded by sanscript.

On the fence after the race, but not during the race.

Another Win, Another Climb

Okay, for all you whiney babies out there, three wins out of the last four races, and top-10 finishes in the last 11 races, is not, repeat, NOT a "run of good luck."

It says a lot when your driver finally gets his first win of the season (last week) and you don't post to brag about it. That's when you know it's luck, and you can't justify it by calling it a "win."

The only lucky thing about Sunday's race is that Tony did not fall off the fence and bust his ass.

Too many backward flips for Carl Edwards and he might break his back. Too many fence climbs and Tony might splatter the hood of the No. 20 car. The fans love it, but go back to doing burnouts and doughnuts, except when you win at Talladega in October.

flower
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

Flower on the square.

blackberries1
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

We found more blackberries Sunday, July 10, this time near our deer stand. (Cell phone pic)

blackberries2
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

Andrew picks blackberries Sunday. Yes, that's the photographer's finger in the picture. (Cell phone pic)

B.B. King

B.B. King
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

XM'd Friday, July 8. My two favorite B. B. King songs--The Thrill is Gone and To Know You is to Love You.

Showoff

monkey
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

Andrew had a good time showing off at the zoo.

Bengal Tiger

tiger
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

Always my favorite.

Zoo Birds

eagles
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

Took this at the Little Rock Zoo Friday morning. Beautiful sight. Andrew had check-up with ENT at Children's Hospital. Doc was very pleased with what he saw and heard. Week after next, pulminologist may release him, and possibly won't be on Albuterol for asthma anymore.
Took him and his friend to zoo and Wild River Country Friday. Had a good day.
I was stupid and wore glasses and shades down the water rides. Did okay (of course) until the last time. Lost shades and glasses. Recovered shades. No glasses.
Got to truck and a tire was flat. No problem though. Had a good day with the kid and even losing glasses and a flat couldn't f*** it up.

Wall Cloud

clouds
Originally uploaded by sanscript.

I took this north of Portland Tuesday afternoon. Actually, it's two pix stiched together to see the whole thing.

Dylan

Dylan (left) from cell phone camera.

Somewhere Where I'm Not

1, 2, 3.

1, 2 and 3 at Daytona. Tony again at Chicagoland.

Dylan, Willie

The concert was amazing.

Willie looked a little frail when he walked out on stage, but then again he is 72. But he wasn't slowed down at all. It was typical Willie enthusiasm throughout his show.

Was my first time to see Dylan. What surprised me was that he was actually animated, and totally appeared to be into his show big-time. He danced around a little behind his keyboard, bobbed and weaved his head while wearing a cowboy hat, and even knocked his knees together a couple of times!

He opened with Maggie's Farm, and absolutely rocked the entire time he was on stage. I don't know if he messed up the words in the first song or not, but he looked over at the guitar player next to him and laughed about something. No Desolation Row, and even no Rolling Stone. No matter. He wound up with All Along the Watchtower.

Knew I wouldn't be able to take big camera in, so all I had was cell phone camera. Was about 50 feet from the stage, so they won't be very good. Am now waiting for pic to arrive in email. Sent it about 15 minutes ago.

Anyway, it was possibly the concert of a lifetime for me, even after seeing Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker Band and Charlie Daniels in New Orleans, and Foghat, Lynyrd Skynyrd (before the plane crash) and Clapton in Memphis. I think to have seen Dylan was to see THE person in music. Amazing.