Yesterday I purchased a blue Stella. I was completely unaware that they were discontinuing these scooters in the US. Apparently amidst all my online research I missed that part. So, I feel lucky I got one. The only two left at the Vespa shop were pink and blue. There was a used orange one, but I wanted a new one.
So, until I have picture of my own, here is a sample.
I have much learning to do.
I just found out I can get financed for a scooter.
My first choice is the Stella, and then a Vespa. The Vespas cost more, but if I got the lowest one, I might be able to afford it.
Feast your eyes below, and let me know which you like.
I really like the red Stella, but I like the black too...
Red Stella 
Black Stella
Green Stella
Black Vespa
Plum Vespa
We have electricity again!
The irony being, today is beautiful out, in the 80s with little humidity. We are lucky, many people are still out.
Last night a pretty bad storm came through the city of the Arch. Our neighborhood got hit pretty bad. We have one large Sycamore tree behind our house that has numerous large branches broken and dangling over what remains of the power lines. The transformer boxes began exploding first and then the wind knocked a very large branch down which took the power lines down in our alley. We have no power and the wires were sparking last night, trying to ignite the tree, luckily the rain that had lashed down subdued it somewhat. When I tried to call 911, it was busy the first ten times. When I finally got a hold of an operator, they said unless the tree was on fire at that moment they'd make their way to our place when they could..the only good thing about this is that I was actually at the store at the time the storm hit - otherwise our car would be part of the branch/wire sculpture in the back yard.
So we spent a steamy night in our house and today it's supposed to get to about 102 - with heat index(humidity) it's going to feel like 115. I'm considering evacuating the animals and humans from the house to an air-conditioned haven. It's supposed to storm more tonight, so maybe it'll cool off, then...
it's just waiting for electricity to come back, which at this point with over 500,000 people out, it'll probably be a few days.
oh so fun.
It looks like a tornado hit the street next to us. Very sad, all the trees are snapped and mangled and one of the charming old buildings on the corner lost part of its top.
If anyone is interested in what's being said you can google the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, or just the storm in St. Louis. or go here: We're not even in Kansas
signing out from my thankfully air-conditioned office.
b.p.
Addendum:
We will not be getting our electric back for at least five days, they say. We will be evacuating to more temperate climes at our friends, with the whole farm in tow.
They are saying the winds that whipped through last night were clocked at 92 mph. A veritable land-hurricane we had.
THE ONE AND ONLY TOM WAITS TO HIT THE ROAD!
THE ONE AND ONLY TOM WAITS TO HIT THE ROAD IN AN UNPRECEDENTED STRING OF DATES IN THE SOUTH AND MID-WEST THROUGH CITIES HE HASN’T PLAYED IN DECADES BEGINNING AUGUST 1 IN ATLANTA
Iconoclast and reclusive touring artist TOM WAITS is making an unprecedented move by taking his always unpredictably stunning live show on the road, mostly in cities (Atlanta, Memphis, Louisville, Nashville) where he hasn’t been seen on stage since the mid-to-late ‘70s. As for Asheville, NC, Tom has never played a gig; he hasn’t performed in Akron, OH or Detroit since the ‘80s. The most recent stop on this extraordinary tour is Chicago, where Waits played the Chicago Theater for three sold out nights on his "Mule Variations" tour in ‘99.
"We need to go to Tennessee to pick up some fireworks, and someone owes me money in Kentucky," says Waits about why he’s chosen this particular time and route to tour.
When this two-time Grammy-winner last performed live in 2004, tickets sold out in hours, if not minutes. His most recent live date in London sold out in 30 minutes, with over 150,000 ticket requests received within the first hour. Waits’ three previous North American concerts (two in Vancouver, Canada and one in Seattle) were also snapped up in record time.
"His concert was a nostalgic trip through freak shows, murder ballads, and ruminations on lost love," wrote Charles R. Cross in Rolling Stone after 2004 performance at Seattle’s Paramount Theater. "He didn’t so much sing these songs as he wheezed, whistled, and shouted them, shaking his fist like a craps player on a roll. Mining his recent Real Gone - Waits created a world of haunting characters adrift in a bygone age."
In other news, Paste magazine has just issued its collector’s edition citing the "100 Best Living Songwriters,"with Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan (longtime co-writer, co-producer and wife) clocking in at #4. According to Paste, "In literature, only a handful of writers have pulled off the near impossible. In music, it happens on every Tom Waits recording."
Tour dates are as follows:
08/01
Atlanta GA Tabernacle
08/02
Asheville NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
08/04
Memphis TN Orpheum Theatre
08/05
Nashville TN Ryman Auditorium
08/07
Louisville KY Palace Theatre
08/09
Chicago IL Auditorium Theatre
08/11
Detroit MI Opera House
08/13
Akron OH Akron Civic
Look for local ads in the regional papers for on sale dates. The first show in Atlanta goes on sale July 8.
In my daily browsing of the internet I finally came across a subject that I couldn't leave unposted on.
I'm not sure how or why I've never heard of this, but I'm a bit puzzled.
Grillz?
My first reaction is, a really big WTF?
My second reaction is, this is real?
Yes, people will pay hundreds of dollars to wear jewelry on their teeth.
I had to look it up since the state of Texas is talking about banning it, along with earlobe stretching, in their schools.
I thought, ok, anything they'll ban in Texas can't be that bad, right?
Chew on this, sucker
Oh, no, it's much worse than you or I thought. Didn't anybody tell these people what they look like? Could they not afford mirrors after spending all their money on their bling. And for that matter, I never really knew that the "bling" thing was specific to shiny objects, but this is probably one of the original references.
I remember when we used to want to pretend to wear retainers and bend paper clips to fit in our mouths, sometimes we would do it with rubber bands. Once you get poked in the gums a few times you realize that it's pretty stupid, and you quit doing it.
I'm at a loss, this discovery just erased about 3 years worth of brain cells and I feel that my typing skills may be damaged.
