From a KC Librarian

Just an average guy trying to make sense of his life in the library and beyond.....

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Back From Iowa

It was a short trip this time...only two days. I decided to return to KC Saturday night instead of spending an extra night in a hotel. Besides, I needed the extra money to cover the price of gas.

The driving went without incident. I arrived in Dubuque, IA at roughly 2 PM Friday. After checking into the hotel, I drove into Galena, IL to browse the shops for three hours. I then returned to Dubuque, grabbed dinner, and, afterwards, decided to check out the tram-elevator that overlooks downtown Dubuque and the Mississippi River. Click on the image below for a brief slide show


After the tram excursion, I roamed the downtown area and came upon a free-to-the-public concert at the town square. I listened to a couple of songs as I wormed my way through the crowd. People of all ages were there having a good time drinking beer and eating the food that was offered from the vendors. I returned to the hotel after deciding that I was not energetic enough to listen to any more songs (or perhaps the music itself was not compelling enough for me to stay).

I should mention that I had an interesting conversation with the tram operator. He's lived in Dubuque for most of his life so he was full of stories of the town's history and culture. But I really became attentive when he mentioned the movie Field of Dreams. In particular, parts of Dubuque and Galena, IL were used as shooting locations for particular scenes. For Dubuque, a city block was used as an exterior Boston shot when Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is trying to locate Terrance Mann (James Earl Jones). And Galena is used as the setting for Chisolm, MN, the place where Doctor Graham (Moonlight Graham) lives. I may have to pop Field of Dreams into my VCR and see if I can recognize any Dubuque or Galena landmarks....

Saturday morning, I woke up early, checked out of the hotel, and immediately started driving to the Amana Colonies. After getting a late breakfast in Cedar Rapids, I arrived at the colonies at about 11 AM. This time, though, Amana did NOT capture my fancy like it did last year. I spent three and a half hours browsing the stores, test-tasting the wines, and then grabbing a roast beef sandwich and a root beer at one of the bakeries. As I was completing the third hour, I made the decision not to spend the night in the hotel room but, instead, I decided to drive home to KC thinking I could make it home before darkness. So, after making the decision, I loaded my car with my wine, beer, and root beer purchases, got fuel, and drove non-stop to North KC.

I guess I arrived at the conclusion that the Amanas are a nice place to visit....just not on a year-to-year basis.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Dubuque, IA and Amana Colonies Here I come

I have a three-day weekend coming up. So I decided to leave KC and treat myself to a driving trip up to Iowa. I will not provide sound this time because Audioblogger is out of business and I have yet to find another free service on the Internet.

Besides, I think this trip is a perfect way to reward myself after my doctor's visit this morning. I've lost 26 pounds and received a hearty congrats from my doctor.

I think I'll drive to one on those German restaurants in Iowa this weekend and gain it all back again. ;)

While out walking last night....

I came upon a five foot black snake resting on the warm concrete sidewalk.

I made a change of direction when I saw the snake. ;)

The Clove of Trees by Barry School

DT told me that the clearing of trees by Barry School and 152 Highway was done for the purpose of a health facility made possible by a donation by Trent Green, soon-to-be-former Kansas City Chief.

I'm grateful it's not going to be a shopping area.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Random Notes


  1. It looks like we're inching closer to the start of the construction on Schlitterbahn. My evidence: while driving westbound on Paralell, I saw a traffic camera. No signal, just a traffic camera. This tells me that most of the construction traffic will come in north of the proposed site. I may have to rethink my driving route into work.



  2. When I got home tonight, I saw a sticky note on my door. It was from a company that deals with home sales. I wonder if they have any association with the business ilk who are creating the business sprawl around here. You know, I would be very angry if these people are wanting to buy the homes on the south side of 84 Terrace for the purpose of creating more strip malls or shops along Barry Road. I need to talk to my neighbors to see if they received the same solicitation.



  3. I'm a little late, but I've finally planted some impatiens around the yard: red ones in the flower bed under my living room window and a combination of fuchsia and salmon impatiens around the tree closest to the shed. Here's hoping we have the right combination of rain and sunshine. I may go to a place in south KC to shop for perrenials this coming Saturday.



  4. I see the doctor next Tuesday. I'll find out if my walking regiment (which I've been doing for two months now) has had any affect on my health.



  5. This week's Unshelved really strikes home because of our library's computer lab adventures. The above is a sample clip.

Friday, May 04, 2007

CGI Remake of a Classic Commercial

An example where advertisers are lacking orginality.....


Thursday, May 03, 2007

Along Came a Spider(Man 3)

First of all, I want to thank the person responsible for hooking me up with free passes to the SpiderMan viewing in Overland Park. I was somewhat tired after the movie having to drive the 45 miles to the NorthLand KC. I didn't get home until 10PM.

Anyway, SpiderMan 3 is a good movie with good writing but it also fits in the typical trilogy stereotype where the third movie of a series pales in comparison to its predecessors. Spidey 2 was a work of perfection so it was probably wrong of me to expect something similar in Spidey 3.

Still, SpiderMan 3 is comic book fun at its best. In this movie, we have four characters with superhuman powers. And I thought the key for Sam Raimi was that he kept the pacing of the movie with these characters steady. Raimi maintains a balance between character development, storyline, and the action. And, like in Spidey 2, Peter Parker undergoes another challenge to his integrity with some scenes hilarious and some scenes dramatic.

I will be adding this movie to my DVD collection.