nonamedufus

Well it's the end of the month and time to participate in P.J.'s monthly photo challenge . The prompt for August is "summer".  For the most part we've had a gorgeous summer, here, in south-western Quebec. As a result we spent lots of time out on the deck and in the pool. In August we travelled to Kelowna, British Columbia where we visited with Mrs. Dufus's mother, brother and nephew. Kelowna is a beautiful spot known primarily for it's tourism, vineyards and golf. We had a great time enjoying BBQs, my brother-in-law's pool, several games of golf, boating and visiting a couple of wineries. Here are some Kelowna summer pics... A view of Lake Okanagan and the mountains beyond from my brother-in-law's side yard. The 5th tee at the Kelowna Golf and Country Club The 10th tee at the KGCC My nephew getting a good view from his dad's boat on Lake Okanagan The vineyard at Mission Hill Winery And that wraps up this chall...

"You've got to be kidding? Not again?" "Yep," said Zippity Doo-Dah Ziva and Denver Dude MikeWJ , "again...and if you don't participate we'll tell everyone about the time you..." "I'm in, I'm in," I blurted. "Just as long as you don't tell people about the time I..." But then you'll never know. Unless I talk in my sleep. But even then you'd have to sleep with me to find out. Hey wait a minute... Although it could get a little crowded under the covers. Unless, of course, Ziva brought her whip for crowd control purposes. Again? Yes, again. Not the whip. The camera. Ziva and Mike have launched 30 Days of Photos IV on an unsuspecting group of bloggers. You remember III last October? And II last April? Well, now it's time for IV, starting September 1. Don't ask about I. That's part of what you'll never know. Nope. Not from me. Why do I do things like this? I think I enjoy self-...

As I sat down to lunch yesterday I flipped on the TV to watch while I sipped on the pea soup I had prepared. I landed on the Food Network and saw that Chopped, one of my favourite shows, was set to start in about 25 minutes. So, innately lazy that I am, I left it on the Food Network, as I couldn't work up the energy to change the channel. and started on my soup. Well, fill my pants  with hot coals, I'm now an expert in barbecuing salmon, making a sausage and veggie salad and turning the salmon into a pizza. Oh, yeah. The show was called Bobby Flay's Barbecuing Addiction and for half an hour I sat entranced, letting my soup go cold. Flay is a celebrity chef and author, notable for his stint on the show Iron Chef and his numerous self-hosted shows on the Food Network. This guy - by the way Bobby Filet would have been a better name for a chef, don't you think? - prepared and smoked the salmon, barbecued lamb sausages and prepared his own flour for a pizza cr...

Tom Thomson was one of Canada's most famous artists. Associated with the Group of Seven, he actually died before the group was formed. Nevertheless he, and his work, significantly affected art in this country. One of his most famous paintings was The Jack Pine, found at the top of this post. Well not literally. It was actually found near Grand Lake in Algonquin Park, Ontario. Thomson died in 1917 at the age of 39, drowning in Canoe Lake in his beloved Algonquin Park. The park served as an inspiration for many of his works. Now, I hear you asking, "What in heaven's name could Dufus possibly have in common with Tom Thomson?" After all, I'm not particularly artistic. Sure I enjoy art and music but from a distance...on the receiving end, as it were. And I've survived well past 39. So far so good. And, while I could never participate in a 200m butterfly, I like to think my attempts at the dog-paddle would help keep my head above water if I fell out of a can...

You know when asked on Goodreads at the start of the year just how many books I intending reading this year, I modestly (modest - that's me) indicated 30. As July came to a close I hit the 69 book mark (a bit of a pun there) with an additional 10 volumes in the seventh month of the year. I actually thought I'd fall off this month, what with the warm weather, the opportunity to golf and the fact that Mrs D started her holidays at mid-month and we spent a lot of time together. But no, I seemed to zip through these books like a house on fire. Among my reading highlights last month was The Wrecking Crew by Kent Hartman who offers a look at rock and roll recording secrets in Los Angeles in the 60s and 70s. The "wrecking crew" refers to a group of accomplished session musicians that included folks like Glen Campbell and Leon Russell. These guys were called in to lay down music tracks for groups like the Beach Boys, the Association, Union Gap and so on while the group...