Treasured Valley

Archive for the ‘Life’ Category

...just got 'em 5 minutes ago.

Have you received your 2010 census forms yet? Have you already sent them packing? Are you going to fill them out? If you’re not, why?

So, tonight my wife and I will probably end up finishing the last disc of the last season of The Sopranos. It’s been a fun ride with Tony, his charismatic/sociopath-ish crew and dysfunctional family, but as with all good things, it must come to an end. With that final glass of Sangiovese from the old country, it’s time to settle down on another TV series that we can watch at our own leisurely pace, one of the prime reasons why I love Netflix.

Now I ask you, TREASURED VALLEY readers, what TV series would you recommend we put at the top of the ole Netflix cue queue after we polish off The Sopranos? And why do I ask? Well, a while back I quarried the Twitterverse for a TV series suggestion (thanks @dorritos and @repressd) and we ended up watching Six Feet Under, which turned out to be one of the best TV series I’ve ever seen — so, ya know, asking has its benefits.

What do you recommend?

Bonus challenge: the series has to be OVER – la fin. Nothing worse than getting involved with a series on DVD while it’s still on the tube — I’m lookin’ at you Weeds and Dexter.

It’s been a while old friend.

It almost make you want to go out to the garage, take the tarp off of the lawn mower, check the oil, fill the tank with gas, don the sunglasses and mow the winter growth from your yard.

…I did say almost.

Of course you need to enjoy it while you can cause in the not-too-distant future it’s gonna cool down and get a nice and rainy-like.

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Haiti was devastated by a earthquake last night and reports say that the death toll could exceed 100,000. Jill Kuraitis of New West Boise has compiled a list of ways that you can help the citizens of Haiti, check it out here.

Reading this post from Tom at Fort Boise, about a ’65 Volkswagen Van made me think of my first car, a ’71 Volkswagen Squareback — purchased for $500 or $800 (can’t remember which) back in ’96.

My first car.

And heck, I wasn’t the only one with a VW fetish in high school, my wife owned  ’71 Super Beetle and ’73 Beetle, the ’71 she ended up selling to my best friend who subsequently ended up with a VW tattoo. One of my other good friends had a ’72 Super Beetle and also ended up with a cherry red & white ’64 Beetle Cabriolet that he picked up for like $1200 (I’m pretty sure his family still has it).

I still remember simultaneously pushing our 3 VWs down the street as to not awake my sleeping parents so we could wander the weekend party circuit of those now idyllic summer evenings. We even used our micro fleet of VWs to shoot our first movie about a traveling band of misfits who played in a rock band and beat up purse snatchers. Often adorned with stickers of my favorite bands and filled with amps and guitars it was the perfect car for a wannabe hippy burdened by the “man”, the “man” being high school.

While I ended up selling off my Volkswagen to make way for a more practical (and faster) method of transportation there are a few things that can be said for Volkswagens — 1. they are the best 1st car a kid could ask for, and 2. no car is more fun to drive in the snow.

Now, I hope that someday I’ll be able to have a classic Volkswagen again, a car to cruise the Snake River Valley Wine Region on the weekends or to trek out to a private camping spot while people in their SUVs pass by in a hurry to get no where (of which I’m equally guilty of). Volkswagens, the only car where people will give you a pass for climbing Horseshoe Bend hill at 30mph — a car where people passing you are more likely to toss you a smile than the bird.

What was your first car?

My wife being a vegan we don’t keep milk products in the house, we tend to stick with soy and the intermittent container or either almond or rice milk. While almond and rice milk are actually really good, they are more on the watery side, if you catch my drift — they lack the creaminess of cow’s milk or soy. So when I saw flavored coconut milk at the store yesterday I figured I’d give it a whirl.

It was like taking a swig of coffee and then putting an open AA battery in your mouth — acidic and vile. The cream of the coconut milk formed little gelatinous blobs that floated around the coffee like the hundreds of thousands of little jellyfish in that swim around Jellyfish Lake in Palau.

…the search continues.

I don’t think it’s time to dig out the old snow shovel, but that time of the year is definitely here.

Looks like it is going to be a great season for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival! The 2010 lineup includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bat Boy: The Musical, An Ideal Husband, Othello and The Woman in Black.

Looks like we’re gonna need the 5 play package next year.

Check out a synopsis of all of the plays on the Idaho Shakespeare Festival website.

Bat Boy: The Musical?! One word: AWESOME.