File Under: Supreme Court to hear case involving Maine and internet tobacco sales

A Boston Herald article about Maine's efforts to have it's law, designed to prevent tobacco products ordered over the internet from being delivered to minors, reinstated. Why am I not surprised that Bush sided with the corporate interests.

File Under: Photos Finally Flickr'd

I finally had some time and/or pulled my thumb out of my @$$ and uploaded photos to Flickr. Check em out if you like.

File Under: Maine does something right, again.

First a net neutrality act and now a groundwater extraction act. I don't know what is going on in Augusta, but two good ideas executed in the same year is just unheard of.

File Under: I gotta have more cow bell

This past weekend Ellyn and I went to the Cape to see a couple of Taylor Hicks shows courtesy of Mum and Dad. Both shows were tight. Mom got Taylor a "More Cowbell" shirt, which he wore out for autographs after Sunday's show. Mom was tickled and I ribbed him "You know what those songs need?"

"What?" queried Taylor.

"More cow bell."

In case you don't know what the deal is with the cow bell watch this.

File Under: YAY! CRAP!

This WCSH6 story states that Maine has ranked 5th in the nation for our health care system. At first I was like "Yay, MAINE!" Then I was like "Crap, the rest of them must really suck."

File Under: What idiot put lead in a child's toy?

As you may have heard on the news, there is a recall on Thomas and Friends toys. Here is the info directly from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

File Under: A boy and his Yak

Holy crap am I tired. This evening I paid my $5 for the shuttle service to Washburn, for me and my kayak, so we could paddle the Aroostook River. What a beautiful day for it. Lots of sun and a breeze to keep the bugs off. The water was warm enough that one could comfortably declare, "Summer is here!" In fact one of the guys kept ditching out of his boat to play in the water. The amazing part was the way he could get back in with out tipping it.

I managed to get caught up in the shallows a few times, but only had to walk the boat to deeper water once. At Rum Rapids Leo and I played in the eddies and surfed the standing waves. It was so freakin fun. I greatly enjoyed the handling and stability of my Pungo through all of this.

We later, paddled through some channels that cut through a large island. As it turns out, the island used to be a quarry, and that quarry is where the Broken Bridge, on Parsons Road, used to go. Anyhow, we saw a whole bunch of geese. Mothers with their goslings and fathers trying to draw us off. Toward the end we also turned upstream and watched the sun setting. Looked like a flippin LL Bean catalog. I can't wait to go again.

File Under: My Weakness

So, last Friday I went to the local Perception dealer, Perception of Aroostook, to take a look around. It turns out, they also sells Wilderness Systems. I fell in love with a sexy red Pungo 120, which would be a big upgrade over the Heritage. I know, you're thinking, "Didn't you just buy a kayak, 2 weeks ago?" Yes, yes, I did. Today, I was weak and now I can take Ellyn with me, or one of my friends. I took the Pungo out right after I bought it, much faster for the same effort; even though it's narrower it feels quite stable. I am so happy.

I can't wait until tomorrow. Leo (Perception of Aroostook) has a shuttle service to Washburn so we can paddle back to our cars. At $5 per boat, not a bad deal at all. Wheeeee!!!

File Under: He's mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore.

WoW player sues gold farmer IGE.

File Under: Umm, Okay.

L.L. Bean To Build Outdoor Education Theme Park In Maine

File Under: Awesome Paddle

Scott and I went down to the Presque Isle Stream for a little evening paddle. As we headed up stream we passed some other kayakers, (sans PFD's, tsk tsk) and some fisherman. We got to yaking and ended up farther upstream than our usual paddle time allows us. We rounded a corner and saw a wide inlet from a tributary. I made a bee line for it, excited to see how far up we could go.

Jackpot! I told Scott that this must be the waterway from Arnold Brook Lake's dam. I checked the aerial view on MapQuest when we got back, I was correct (note that on your calendars folks). As we followed the twists and turns we noticed that there was a nice channel up through all the wetlands. There were moose prints all over the muddy banks and beaver lodges on almost every corner.

At one point we passed through a beaver dam made of mud and sticks as tall as a sixth grader. It appeared as though someone had punched the hole through to let the water pass (as the waterway is part of a flood control system, not a bad idea). We continued on until we came to a small beaver damn blocking the way entirely. If we had more time we would have portaged over, but alas, dark was on its way.

On the return trip, about half way back, on the main stream, I managed to paddle up within 15 feet or so of a beaver, before it slipped under the water. I really need to buy some waterproof disposable cameras.

All around a great paddle, minus the bugs, it would have been perfect.

File Under: Sugar Beets, Flax and now Potato Plastic?

This WCSH6 story is about a possible plan to make bio-plastics (currently made with corn) out of Maine potatoes. If they actually built this facility and actually operated it, that would be a great boon to Aroostook County. The beauty of bio-plastics, is that they bio-degrade in land fills unlike the regular petroleum based plastics. I just hope it doesn't end up like the other two great saviours of our economy, sugar beets and flax.