Yes, it can be a scary place, but my interests are many and varied. On this page, I present some pictures, links and documents that touch on a few things that grab my attention.

 

Hot Peppers

Most people that have come to our shop here at Northend Rental have seen my pepper plants. The jalapeño plants are 7-9 years old and continue to produce like champs during the growing season. (I bring them inside during the winter!) They produce many more peppers than I can possibly use so there is often a box on our counter with the overflow. Anything in it is free for the taking. Now, on this side of the mountains, we certainly do not get ideal growing conditions, so my peppers tend to be a bit smaller than you see in other places - but they can still light you up! Along with jalapeños, I have grown several other varieties over the years, including serranos (2 of them are still going strong!), chocolate habeñero, Thai chilies (HUGE producer!), Hungarian yellow wax, large red cayenne and even a naga bhut jolokia (ghost pepper - although, that has taken 2 years to figure out what conditions it liked.) I have an extra-hot selection slated for this year, including: Tasmanian red, black pearl, purple cayenne, scotch bonnet and another round with the naga bhut jolokias! Should be fun! Coming soon: I will put up some pictures and thoughts about the various peppers as I go.

 

 

Cooking

I enjoy cooking, but I like to do... not exotic, but maybe - uncommon things. I like to make stuff that some people might consider a little more difficult than mac & cheese (although good mac & cheese does take a little touch!) I occasionally get caught up in the cooking show America's Test Kitchen. They do some fabulous things and they really go about perfecting their recipes in the way I would if I had more time, space, patience and money! Below, there are links to some of my favorite recipes, including my salsa recipe, which took about 8 batches to fine tune to the way I like it - hot and limey! The Roast Pork Loin in Horseradish Crust was actually found and done repeatedly by my wife, Jennifer. It is tasty!

 

Recipes

Dogs - Brittanys!

These are my four furry girls! Not all of them are still walking the shop floors in body, but they are there in spirit!

Delilah

Born: August 25th 2003

Gidget

Born: December 27th 2000

Tazzy

Born: March13th 1995

Died: June 12th 2009

Babe

Born: August 5th 1992

Died: October 30th 2000

 

OK, fine - we've got a couple of cats too...

Maggie

Born: July 14th 2010

Gus

Born: April 18th 2007

Died: July 19th 2011

 

Here are a some great doggie-type links:

I also like these:

 

Ferns

Yeah, ferns. Is that a problem? I have had up to 130 different varieties of ferns growing in my yard a one point in time. However, the past several winters have really taken their toll. Some ferns I thought were tough have died off, and some that I thought were a bit delicate still poke their heads up each year. Go figure. Sooner or later, I will add a page showing all the ferns I've tried at on point or another and how they've faired. Probably picture too.

 

Here are a some links to some great organizations:

Athyrium anagustum forma 'Rubellum'

Lady In Red Fern

 

Woodworking

Cabinetry, furniture and just generally building stuff! Seriously. I love it. Once again, sooner or later, I'll get some pictures of some of my projects posted...

Livio de Marchi

Genius wood carver from Venice Italy

 

Music

Queensrÿche! (Well, duh! Are there any other bands? ...aside from Journey?)

Here's the link to the Queensrÿche fan club.

Progressive rock? Whatever. All I know is these guys have been doing it at a high level for a bunch of years! They have a sound for every mood and lyrics that can engage your brain. Plus, they put on a helluva show!

 

Queensrÿche are:

Geoff Tate: lead vocals, keyboards, saxophone

1981-present

Michael 'Whip' Wilton: lead, rhythm & acoustic guitar, vocals

1981-present

Eddie Jackson: bass, vocals

1981-present

Scott Rockenfield: drums, percussion, keyboards

1981-present

 

Parker Lundgren, guitar, vocals

2009-present

* I do not think that Parker is considered a full member of the band - perhaps he is an associate member?

 

Former members:

Chris DeGarmo: lead, rhythm & acoustic guitar, vocals

1981-'98, '03, '07

 

Kelly Gray: lead, rhythm & acoustic guitar, vocals

1998-2001

 

Mike Stone: lead, rhythm & acoustic guitar, vocals

2002-2009

 

Other musicians:

 

Pamela Moore: vocals

1988-'92, 2006-'07

Ronnie James Dio: vocals

2006

 

Jason Ames: guitars, keyboards, vocals

2009

 

Anthony 'Kenny' Bender: guitars, keyboards, vocals

2009

 

AJ Fratto: vocals as "The American Soldier"

2009

Michael Kamen: composer

 

 

  

Geoff Tate wailing!                        Queensrÿche    

Queensrÿche at the 2010 Norway Rock Festival

   

Steve Perry                      Journey    

 

Queensrÿche Discography

 

Dedicated to Chaos

2011

* Images 'borrowed' from the Queensrÿche fan club website...

 

American Soldier

2009

 

Take Cover

2007

 

Sign of the Times

2007

 

Mindcrime at the Moore

2007

 

 

Operation: Mindcrime II

2006

 

Art of Live

2004

 

Tribe

2003

 

Classic Masters

2003

 

Live Evolution

2001

 

Operation: LIVECrime

2001/1991

 

Greatest Hits

2000

 

Q2K

1999

 

Hear in the Now Frontier

1997

 

Promised Land

1994

 

Empire

1990

 

Operation: Mindcrime

1988

 

Rage for Order

1986

 

The Warning

1984

 

Queensrÿche (EP)

1983

 

A couple of my other non-standard favorites are:

Jackie Evancho

After a couple of previous attempts to get on America's Got Talent, Jackie finally made it as a YouTube entry on season 5. She was 10 years old at the time, and a true singing sensation. She has since gone on to release a Christmas album followed by her first "crossover classical" (whatever that means) album, both produced by Grammy-winning producer David Foster. He also accompanies Jackie on the piano.

O Holy Night (EP)

2010

Marié Digby

Marié (mar-e-ay) was "discovered" on YouTube in 2007 covering Rihanna's "Umbrella". She has several other covers on YouTube that all showcase her talent wonderfully. I thoroughly enjoy her entire 1st album, "Unfold", but am not such a big fan of her second.

 

Regarding Marié's YouTube fame, Wikipedia says, "Digby is recognized on YouTube for her simple popular

Unfold

2009

Dream With Me

2011

Breathing Under Water

2010

 

On her album, Jackie sings duets with Susan Boyle and Barbra Streisand and has a song accompanied on the piano by Conrad Tao.

 

Jackie's voice - whatever her age - is truly amazing!

music covers, which include Linkin Park, Game, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Maroon 5, Incubus, Lady Gaga, Usher and Nelly Furtado, as well as her original compositions. She has over 290,000 subscribers and her channel has been viewed over 7 million times. Her videos have amassed over 102 million views, the most popular being a cover of Umbrella by Rihanna, which has gained over 19 million views."

Wine

Geoff Tate & Three Rivers Winery: Insania

On the side, Geoff Tate likes to dabble a bit in wine. He collaborates with  Holly Turner of the Three Rivers Winery in Walla Walla, Washington (the town so nice, they named it twice!) to make Insania wine.

Crisp, vibrant and intense. It delivers heady aromas and flavors reminiscent of pineapple, apricot, pear, star fruit and citrus.

Deep, rich, full-bodied wine noteworthy for its black cherry, cedar and blackberry aromatics and flavors. While it shows well in its youth, the underlying tannins ensure a long and happy future.

 

 

Three Rivers Winery, Walla Walla WA               Three Rivers Tasting Room             

In late December of 2010, Geoff and some of his Queensrÿche pals - past and present - played a couple of sets in the Three Rivers Winery banquet room, dubbing themselves "The Fedoras". Geoff quipped "It's not the name we wanted, but it's the name we've got." It was an intimate little party celebrating the mid-winter barrel tasting of the new Insania vintage during Walla Walla's wine festival. We spent the day rubbing elbows with Geoff, his wife Susan and his fellow band-mates, sipping wine and chatting. Then, later that night, about fifty of us enjoyed a wonderful meal followed by another performance by Geoff and 'The Fedoras'. We met some wonderful people, including a couple that drove up from California just for the evening. It was an extremely enjoyable evening that seemed to end far too soon - can't wait for next year!

 

 

Three Rivers Winery

5641 Old Hwy 12

Walla Walla, WA 99362

(509 )526-9463

 

Tasting room is open daily 10am-5pm

Closed major holidays, no appointment needed!

 

Friday night music series, 2011

On select Fridays, May through September...

See their website for more information.

 

 

Geoff Tate & Holly Turner

 

Everett Studio

Anya

Renzo

Tanya

Dani

Jason

Jerry

Bethany

Lance

Sarah

Mishka

 

Shoreline Studio

Sam

Juliana

Leroy

Levi

Dancing!

OK. So if you'd told me a year ago that I would be able to dance - let alone actually enjoy dancing - I'd have thought you were nuts. Or drunk. Or something. Fast-forward to today. Jennifer and I go to the Arthur Murray Dance Center, Everett Studio pretty much every weeknight. We take 3 or 4 private lessons per month, 8 group classes per week and attend a 'New Student Practice Party' every Tuesday and a 'Dance Party' every Friday. That doesn't count seminars, events, and the occasional Saturday class. I even own dance shoes. I'm pretty sure the world is coming to an end. (Unlike some people though, I don't want to name a specific date!)

 

The Everett studio, along with the Shoreline studio, is owned by husband and wife Sam and Anya - two fabulous dancers in their own rights! The studio manager, Renzo, and Anya travel to participate in national competitions where they perform quite well. Tanya, our teacher, is a bottomless fount of enthusiasm and positive energy - not to mention patience. When Jen and I are dragging, we are able to get recharged by just seeing the smile on her face! The other instructors are just as wonderful: There's UW Husky alum Dani-O, with her 'Vampyre Tango'... (mwoo-ha-ha...) Jason, with his duct tape for things that move and shouldn't; and WD-40 for things that should move but don't... Jerry, the Argentine Tango master... And you can't forget Bethany! (Seriously - I've tried. It can't be done.) Plus, the occasional appearance by the fabulous Juliana! (Now the manager at the Shoreline studio.) Then, of course, there is the glue that holds it all together, Sarah, Administrative Goddess. (I'm fairly certain that was her title...) They all make the process of learning to dance - which does not come naturally to me - fun and, if not easy, at least doable. They are all like family - except much more cheerful... and we pay to see them... So really, they're all kinda like rented family!

 

Jennifer and I currently have 6 dances in our program: Tango, Waltz, Rumba, Cha-cha-cha, Salsa and Swing. We are adding Foxtrot too. On Wednesdays, we take the open-level Argentine Tango class, usually taught by Jerry. Jen and I both really enjoy the challenge. Some of the other dances we have been exposed to in group classes include: West Coast Swing, Samba, Merengue, Hustle, Country-Western Two-Step - even a Quickstep.

 

There are are four main levels in the Arthur Murray program: Foundation, Bronze, Silver and Gold. Bronze is further broken down into four more levels: Bronze I, Bronze II, Bronze III & Bronze IV. I believe that Silver is also broken down into sub-levels, but do not know for sure. And Gold??? Jennifer and I have recently graduated from Bronze I into Bronze II. It took us about six months of work, but it was well worth the effort and gave us a pretty great feeling of accomplishment! Look out Bronze III - here we come!

 

Second Life

What to say about Second Life (SL)? Well, it is a free to play, 3-D virtual world created in 1999 by Linden Labs out of San Francisco, CA. In SL, the term 'sim' or 'simulator' refers to a section of virtual land that is 256m x 256m x 4096m. You can either buy your own sim, or, you can rent a portion from someone else. SL has literally tens of thousands of sims representing almost anything or any setting you can imagine - from companies to universities all over the world. In a typical 60 day period, there are 1 to 1½ million people that log on to the SL grid. You can actually take classes from many universities in SL. It is also an excellent place to socialize; especially if you have trouble getting around in the real world (RL). Age, race, creed color; there are no limitations in SL except what you choose to put on yourself.

 

 

There are a couple of different ways you can connect to the SL grid. You can use the standard Linden Labs viewer, which can be downloaded for free from here. Or, you can use any of several 3rd party viewers. Jen and I use one called 'Phoenix', although it looks like we will be transitioning to the next generation viewer called 'Firestorm' soon. Phoenix can be downloaded, also for free, here.

 

In SL, you can buy or make anything you can imagine. From clothes to flowers to spaceships to pirate ships. Imagination is the limit. There are tons of places to shop for just about

anything and that, in turn,  drives a real economy. I saw a show on the History Channel about video games. It was a five part series and they discussed the current trend of MMUs (Massively Multi-User), like SL,  in the last show. What really grabbed my attention was that not only was SL free to play, but a person had pulled out one million dollars in real money from SL. She bought, sold and rented out land and she made clothes. Virtual clothes. The unit of currency in SL is the Linden or L$. You can buy approximately 250L$ for one US$. Then you can spend it how ever you like. Or, if you sell products, you can accumulate L$ and exchange them back into US$ whenever you like - about 270L$ will buy you one US$. If you get the right product, you can really make a serious amount of money.

 

Jennifer and I have made several great friends in SL. People that we now see in RL once or twice each year - a couple of them, even more. These are people that we associate with us because we have the same attitudes about the things that are important to us. And neither age nor background are of any importance. We hang out because we have fun.

 

There are lots of things to do in SL, lots of games within the game that you can play. Card games, dice games, board games and others that are unique to SL or have a distinctly SL flair to them. There are two main sub-games that Jen and I play regularly, one is a pyramid-type game called Tiny Empires, the other is a fishing game produced by Neo-Realms.

 

 

Tiny Empires

Tiny Empires (TE) is a HUD-based (heads-up display) game created by Ultralite Soleil. You belong to a Kingdom (or Queendom) - or have your own, if you can make it far enough - and you try to get subjects below you or below your subjects and so on... You can have up to 10 direct subjects. You benefit from everyone you can get below you. The goal is to gather acres of land, up to 2000, and gold up to about 2 billion. This is not necessarily difficult, but it does take a while. QUITE a while.

 

The Queendom Jennifer and I belong to is called Camelot. It was the second Queendom established, although it is the oldest remaining. The last time I checked (and snatched the graphic below) there were 207 major Kingdoms. A kingdom is considered major when it has at least 20,000 acres. Camelot has spawned 7 or 8 other Kingdoms  directly - probably more that I'm not thinking of - and still remains ranked in the top 5 in total acres. This is amazing when you consider that each time a new Kingdom splits off, it costs Camelot a minimum of 20,000 acres. There are at least 15 other people, including both Jennifer and I, that could start their own Kingdoms if they chose, but do not want to leave Camelot or our Queen, FoxyKim Keegan. She is simply that fabulous. Jennifer and I would not even consider leaving her or Camelot. We have met her in RL and she is every bit as fabulous there - maybe even more! If you are interested in trying TE, drop Jennifer (Buckeye Buscaylet) or me (Zedicious Zerbino) an IM and we can get you going with a free trial HUD!

Tiny Empires Links

TE Standings

 

 

Queendom of Camelot!

 

Neo-Realms Fishing

One of the other things we like to do in SL is fishing. Now, SL fishing is very different than RL fishing... First of all, you don't need to be near water of any sort. The fishing system we use is made by Neo-Realms:

 

 

 

 

 

 

University of

Washington Huskies

Go Dawgs!

Washington Huskies Athletics

Washington Husky Hall of Fame

University of Washington

UW Huskies Facebook

Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks Facebook

Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners Facebook

Snohomish Boys & Girls Club

Flag-Football Jets

Undefeated Champions

Spring 2011

My Favorite Teams

 

Dan Jr.'s Brain