Shane's Babblings

Today Dennis and I went for a quick sprint up around Right Hand Fork in the Logan Canyon. We go up to the Horse turn around and start from that point when the cattle aren't being dumped or picked up. Liz, my wife, wanted to come and hang out at the car so she wasn't home alone after her little surgery on Tuesday.

We went up and passed Maughn Hollow and continue past Rick's Canyon up towards willow creek. Dennis was talking and chattering the whole way. We came accross a family of 3 on horseback and let me tell ya, if he could have he'd a taken one of the horses. Dennis is doing well in the Wanderer pack by Kelty we got about a month back or so. He loves it and lets me go further and further. I wasn't able to make it up to the rock kitchen but I was about 10 - 15 minutes shy of it. We got ont he trail around 11:18 and got back to the car at ~ 12:3 0. Dennis has learned a new way to cue me while in the pack that he is thristy. He scratches the back of my neck. he drops his pacifier and sticks out his hand waiting for his water source. He did really well, and I snapped a few pictures with my motorola Razr V3 phone. I'll include those below.

On our way back tot he car, two kind gentlemen on horseback let Dennis come up and pet their horses on the front of the noses. He was soooo stoked although he was also pretty worn out. All in all it was a great morning adventure. More to come.

Cheers....

Dennis coming back heading uplooking back the area I wanted to get to Where's Dennis?

Ca fait trop de temps depuis qui j'ecris des choses en francais. je suis desole de toutes mes fautes en grammaire mais j'en ai eu besoin de fair des ecrites. Ca fait plus que onze ans depuis ma dernier sejour en france. Quandmeme j'ai garder toujours la langue francaise dans mon coeur. Je peut toujours parler courrement, je peut ecrit pas mal dans les methodes literaire, de commerces et divers moyennes. Ma femme a eu l'occasion d'avoir de chirugerie pendant l'apres-midi Lundi. Depuis ce temps j'ai le grand occasion et plaisir de prenrde toute la responsibilite de notre petit fils. Il n 'aime pas trop le fait qu'il ne peut pas jouer encore avec elle, mais on peut bien voir comment il aime son temps avec son papa.

Nous habitons en Utah en ce moment et je traivaille pour une universite en tant que Assistant Registrar. Ca fait presque deaux ans que j'ai tenue cette responsibilite. Je fait plein pour cete boulou et elle veut que je fais encore plus sans le compensation correct. J'aime ce que je fait trop de la quitter mais je suis en train de chercher ailleur aussi s'il ya des autres affaires qui sont encore mieux.

Je suis amuser par le noveau president de la france, Comme presque tout la pays, j'en ai eu marre de mr. Chirac, mais je ne suis pas encore certain comment le mr Sarkovsky(orto?) va changer des affiaires dans un pays ou tout le monde se trouve en marre de presque toutes choses. Surtout comment il aime les effets de mon pays (les Etats Unis) surtout pendant cette epoque ou notre president fait pleins des betises soi-meme. Ce serait interessant comment ces relation va barrer des autres mouvements qu'il faut se passer en ce moment en france. Je me trouve toujours interesser dans les mauvaise situations de l'immigrations et des affaires qui a ete imposer sur les bonnes gens a cause des mauvaise gens qui ont bien penser qu'ils peuvent imposer des choses sur les autres humaines.

Mais je me trouve en train de parlker de n'importe quoi, donce je me laisse ici. Encore, je m'excuse de toutes mes fautes de grammaire, et je vais essayer a fair un blog en francais par mois ou semaine si je peut.

A Plus.

I gave the little one his first major haircut. Pictures coming soon. Tony Hawk would be soooo proud. Reminds me of the cut from Gleaming the cube. It's funny. He took the clippers and wanted to do it himself. I guess I should watch out. I was so into my hair fashions and was soooo clueless growing up. Dennis is a little charmer, and yes he's named after Dennis Dannell from Social Distortion. I am a bit obsessed and in fact I'd be stoked if they head to SLC on this tour. No dates scheduled yet. It's been awhile since my wife and I stood outside of the mangy little club once known as Bricks.

Liz, my wife, bless her heart has been really struggling with being a mom with the spawn of our genes. She does a wonderful job and I wish I could convince her more of that.

I have the coolest little family and wouldn't trade my wife our little monster for anything in the world. Not even for a one on one interview with Mike Ness, the little monster's little name. Dennis Michel, named after members in a rock band. At least we didn't have to offend family memebrs by choosing the wrong person to name him after. We definitely thought outside the box on this one.

Work has been rough. i have been pursuing changing things incrementally as I am over the Student Records System in all facets technologically. I am further convinced people trust my judgment in critical decisions as it affects the University at large. I'm tired of being overly aware of how young I am and how astute I am in discovering things that need to be changed. What? Like no one else at work is trying like I am. Sometimes I wonder. Higher Ed sucks my soul but I love the work. I'm defintely a Sick Boy living in Another State of Mind.

THings are good, just feel up to my utters in others dung.

Cheers......

Original Date of Post: Saturday, March 04, 2006

Social Distortion When: 8 p.m. Dec. 26-27 and Jan. 27 and 28 Where: House of Blues San Diego, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego Tickets: $27-$30 (December shows are sold out) Info: (619) 299-2583 Web: www.socialdistortion.com

By: Sean Moeller - For the North County Times

Charlie Quintana ruminates on his band's West Coast swing of upcoming winter dates without the faintest undercurrent of pomposity. There's something of an invisible, disbelieving head shake to his words, but there's a firm simultaneous knowledge to them that reinforces the fact that nothing about legendary Orange County punk band Social Distortion's nearly complete string of sellouts is fluky, especially not when it's become a SoCal winter tradition in its fifth year: Social D at a House of Blues (usually) near you.

"I don't know how to say this without sounding cocky or ungrateful, but just about all of our shows are sellouts," he said from his apartment.

Social D is 27 years old this year but has released only two albums over the last 10 years. The staying power of a group that unproductive ---- in the face of new and quasi-punk bands releasing records rapid-fire every Tuesday morning ---- is owed to a back catalog that is overloaded with gritty passion, wayward living and a morality that usually encourages the betterment of the self.

The band found larger and larger audiences for those songs in the early '80s, combining the sounds steaming out of New York and England at the time into an original sound that became synonymous with the West Coast scene. A video for "Another State of Mind" was one of the first few punk videos to air on MTV, and the band gained a massive following largely because of the raw and honest spirit of Mike Ness, its scratchy throated, muscle-bound and tattooed frontman.

"Mike is Social Distortion. He is who he is. He's a very charismatic person," Quintana said of the singer that he's played with for the last eight years after stints as a touring musician for everyone from Bob Dylan to Joan Osborne, following his early gig as the drummer for '70s punkers the Plugs. "I think Mike has stayed true to himself and to the band through the years. I think that has a lot to do with why people keep showing up at our shows."

Ness endured and eventually overcame a serious drug problem near the end of 1985, just before the band's major breakthrough to a wider mainstream audience. Numerous hospitalizations and arrests prompted Ness to check into a drug recovery program. His self-destructive nature was corrected and Ness has been living on a new lease since.

"We were just talking about this the other day. There used to be a saying, 'Die young and leave a good-looking corpse behind,' " Quintana said of the mantra of '70s and '80s punk musicians. "But I want to live to be 100 and Mike wants to live to be 100 also. He's lucky to be alive and, damn, man, I'm lucky to be alive. Back (when we started playing), your sense of the future was, 'Where am I going to get something to eat?' Your priorities change.

"I'm very happy to say that I didn't know Mike back then. I knew who he was and he knew who I was because we played in bands, and back then, you'd get your f---- ass kicked just walking down the street, so there was safety in numbers. But he's a good guy, a good person. He hasn't changed much except for the changes for the better."

The same Mike Ness is selling out every House of Blues he walks into and still shaking hands after shows with all the die-hards, which turns show nights into old-time events in whatever city he's in that night.

"There are always people hanging around the venue when you get to sound check," Quintana said. "It's still cool, man. You could be walking around a city on an off-day, and you're shopping or you're eating and people will come up to you and say, 'Hey, we're going to be there tomorrow.' "

Original Date of Post: Saturday, March 04, 2006


found at : http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/02/catholic.town.ap/index.html

New Florida town would restrict abortion
Domino's founder building community around Catholic university


Thursday, March 2, 2006; Posted: 9:35 p.m. EST (02:35 GMT)

NAPLES, Florida (AP) -- If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in Florida will be governed according to strict Roman Catholic principles, with no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control.

The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it "God's will."

Civil libertarians say the plan is unconstitutional and are threatening to sue.

The town of Ave Maria is being constructed around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in about 40 years. Both are set to open next year about 25 miles east of Naples in southwestern Florida.

The town and the university, developed in partnership with the Barron Collier Co., an agricultural and real estate business, will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center, a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, at nearly 65 feet tall. Monaghan envisions 11,000 homes and 20,000 residents.

During a speech last year at a Catholic men's gathering in Boston, Monaghan said that in his community, stores will not sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies will not carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will have no X-rated channels.

Homebuyers in Ave Maria will own their property outright. But Monaghan and Barron Collier will control all commercial real estate in the town, meaning they could insert provisions in leases to restrict the sale of certain items.

"I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines," Monaghan, who sold Domino's Pizza in 1998 to devote himself to doing good works, said in a recent Newsweek interview.

Robert Falls, a spokesman for the project, said Tuesday that attorneys are still reviewing the legal issues and that Monaghan had no comment in the meantime.

"If they attempt to do what he apparently wants to do, the people of Naples and Collier County, Florida, are in for a whole series of legal and constitutional problems and a lot of litigation indefinitely into the future," warned Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said it will be up to the courts to decide the legalities of the plan. "The community has the right to provide a wholesome environment," he said. "If someone disagrees, they have the right to go to court and present facts before a judge."

Gov. Jeb Bush, at the site's groundbreaking earlier this month, lauded the development as a new kind of town where faith and freedom will merge to create a community of like-minded citizens. Bush, a convert to Catholicism, did not speak specifically to the proposed restrictions.

"While the governor does not personally believe in abortion or pornography, the town, and any restrictions they may place on businesses choosing to locate there, must comply with the laws and constitution of the state and federal governments," Russell Schweiss, a spokesman for the governor, said Tuesday.

Frances Kissling, president of the liberal Washington-based Catholics for a Free Choice, likened Monaghan's concept to Islamic fundamentalism.

"This is un-American," Kissling said. "I don't think in a democratic society you can have a legally organized township that will seek to have any kind of public service whatsoever and try to restrict the constitutional rights of citizens."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.