A Good Year for the Outlaw

When did this magazine swerve so far to the right?
As I mentioned on Bill Dennis’ blog, this month’s issue featured an article on alternative fuels. Without going into too much detail, here’s what got me from the start.
They compared several fuels, but did not use the same vehicles. The “benchmark” vehicle was a 2006 [...]

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This whole noise ordinance thing has me chuckling still.
Here’s my new idea. To heck with tickets, impounding, etc.
Whenever a police officer pulls over one of these cars with excessively loud music, he makes them take off their music of choice and change it to something they will not like.
Metal too loud? Make ‘em crank [...]

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Ah, the joys of rural driving. I ran up behind one of these bad boys today.
Actually, the one I saw was much bigger than this. At least 12 feet from ground to bottom of “cab”. A six-step ladder hangs down so the driver can climb up into it. My car would fit right underneath [...]

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I should have put this post BELOW the Sam Cassell post, so read it first, then come back up to this one.
Are ya back? Okay, good.
Friday afternoon Diane and I drove up to Greene, IA, northwest of Waterloo, to watch my son, a sophomore, run in a high school track meet. I had been thinking [...]

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In 2003-2004, Sam Cassell, a fine point guard with two NBA championship rings, went to Minnesota to help Kevin Garnett. He did just that, leading KG and the Wolves to the Western Conference Finals before being jobbed by the NBA, who wanted the Lakers in the finals (check the stats, the most passive team in [...]

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But this is really getting out of hand.
First, I’m a speeder. I drive fast. EXCEPT in two places: school zones and construction zones. Meanwhile, I run into people every night that DON’T speed UNTIL they get to the 45 MPH zones inside the construction areas of I-74. So here’s a memo to those drivers:
I [...]

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Note to 93.4% of all Illinois drivers: The turn signal lever is not a factory option. Use the damn thing. Morons.

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Driving to work the other morning on IL 78, minding my own business, cranking up a little Waylon Jennings music, I glanced at a farm to my left. There, in the yard behind the barn, was a nice little herd of cattle. Muddy, as is everything else in this state right now, but they looked [...]

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…another thing that Peoria seems to lead the free world in would be “rude dipsticks in movie theatres.”
If you can’t shut up during the movie, stay the hell home. It’s not just voices, either. Last night, Di and I were at Goodrich (only because the movie we watched wasn’t available at The Rave). We were [...]

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A poster called “Maubs” on the Bill Dennis blog brought up some excellent points about the timing of lights within Peoria.
Let me add this little pet peeve that makes me scream: There’s not a city in America with more people running red lights in left turn lanes than Peoria. It’s absolutely ridiculous. From War Memorial [...]

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Lots of folks in our area have been blogging and ranting about bad drivers. I don’t disagree with any of them, and I have my share of road rage.
Here’s my latest beef. If you happen to be lucky enough to drive in an area that is NOT under construction, why is it that invariably [...]

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Okay, they were in two movies. Okay, they weren’t actors. But they’re among the best-known characters in film history. Dave Hanson, Jeff Carlson and Steve Carlson starred as “The Hanson Brothers” in the 1977 classic “Slapshot”.
They were in town last night for an appearance at the Rivermen game to do a little on-ice schtick [...]

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Our mostly wonderful, sometimes wandering dog got out earlier today. We got a call. “We got your dog.”
I found out where, said I’d be right there. When I got there, I was told, “he bit my little sister”, I said, “show me where”. I know my dog. He doesn’t bite. Needless to say, they couldn’t [...]

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Thirty years ago, as a teen living in the country in Minnesota, we had no TV after about 12:30 AM, even on Saturdays. A new show called “Saturday Night Live” would end, followed on NBC by a news show with Lloyd Dobyns and Linda Ellerbe, and that was it. No VCR’s, no DVD’s, nothing. The [...]

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