Whippetgood.com

Bee-Stung Chicken Lips.

2009-06-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

[One of my recent posts/experiences with backyard urban farming. When hobbies collide!]

No, not a new Angelina Jolie beauty product, but an experience I had yesterday with my flock of Bantams.

I'm a new backyard chicken-keeper, as well as a backyard beekeeper, so needless to say I have more than an average amount of bees in my yard. On the weekends I've started letting the chicks (2 months old or so) out in the backyard to free range while supervised.

Yesterday one of my chicks (pretty sure he's a rooster) was chasing a bee, and then started dashing around wildly clawing at his beak.

I was pretty sure he'd been stung, but didn't think anything of it.

He's a chicken right?

Wrong.

Couple of minutes later I looked over and he was slowly passing out on the lawn. I rushed over and noticed his eyes were closed and he wasn't doing well. Difficulty breathing, etc.

Sure enough there was a stinger stuck to the underside of his beak. I scraped it out and picked him up.

I waited a while in disbelief, wondering if I was going to lose a chicken to a bee! before deciding to try something crazy.

No no, I didn't try mouth-to-beak.

I will admit, I did try blowing in his nostrils. Sadly this had no effect other than inflating his cheeks to comic effect.

After recently seeing what a bee sting can do to a dog (same effect actually, with vomiting) and also having learned giving a dog Benadryl is OK (helps prevent allergic reactions, anaphylactic shock, etc.), my fiance' decided we should try this with the chick.

We took some Benadryl, crushed it up, added some water, pried open his beak, and spoon fed him a couple slurps of pink Benadryl paste.

Within seconds his eyes were open! About 10-15 minutes later he was looking better and was able to stand on his own 2 feet? Talons? Claws? Scratching implements? Something.

After 30 minutes or so he was back to walking around, albeit with not as much confidence and a little wary look in his eyes towards anything buzzing nearby.

CakeInPants.com

2009-06-10T11:50:00.001-07:00

CakeInPants.com

Pictures.

2009-06-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

It's only been some years, but I've finally decided to start digging up all of those pictures lying dormant in my camera.

Look for multiple albums from "back in the day" to start making their way to the surface. You can also find all of my other albums here.

Caveat: This new found ethic will only last as long as it takes me to get lazy again.

Project Mayhem

New Zealand Getaway 2008

The Skink

Tortoise.

2009-06-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend was spent in Carmel Valley hanging with Cousin Russ and Kyra in their new home. Felt like the perfect bed/breakfast getaway from the hurley burly of the suburbs.

We also managed to pick up an African Sulcata tortoise along the way, while shopping at the Hacienda Feed store.

Yea, you heard me. We picked up a pet who will likely live longer than us, weigh over 100lbs, and loves to pick fights with other tortoises by knocking them over. Apparently they make good lawn mowers, so we've got that going for us. Which is nice.

The upside of hanging at the feed store was seeing what a Bantam-sized chicken actually looks like...and whadya know? They're actually miniaturized chickens! Crazy.

It's like Nature's version of "Honey I Shrunk the Chickens But Not By Much". Another upside is after doing some comparisons it looks like I might only have 1 rooster instead of 3. Still can't be certain, but as in all things, time will tell.

Or should that be Time?

Pictures of all of our pets will, hopefully, be posted soon. As soon as someone develops a camera that auto-posts to the web, instead of just letting the pictures languish in obscurity on my SD card. Got some great pix on those SD cards! Just...can't...make...time...to...post...ugh.

Name This Hen.

2009-05-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

Chilling with my peep poolside. Out of my 5 chickens, bantams all, I'm pretty sure 3 of them are going to be roosters. This lovely lady is quite happy to chill on my lap clucking contentedly.

Damn fine way to wrap up a busy weekend.

Music and Renewal.

2009-05-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

With the close of Spring and Summer just around the corner, there's heaps of life and good vibes in the air:

My mini-flock of Bantam chickens is getting stronger and larger every day. They're still living in a brooder box in my basement like surly teenagers, but the bigger they get the quicker I can give 'em the boot out into the yard.
The garden is planted and I'm trying my hand at growing lettuce and hoping to never buy greens at the store again. Needless to say my garden is strongly tomato-centric, due to ease of growing ability, but I'm not complaining.
I pulled the trigger on a couple of solid concerts over the next couple months; Underworld, Wilco, and Phoenix (see below for what will inevitably be the album of the Summer and MGMT can suck it!).
A late July Vegas trip planned with Cousin Russ and Kyra; 4 days of insanity, wrapped in a cheap timeshare-sponsored package.
The honeybees are currently scoring 50/50 with one hive in jeopardy and the other growing strong. I've probably waited to long to put honey supers on the strong hive, but that's another story. I'm also debating moving some brood from the strong hive into the weak one. Just need to get my ass in gear.
Not writing enough as is apparent in this blog. Twittering like hell though! Micro-blogging anyone? Yuck.
Sold my bearded dragon, BD, to a friend and purchased a breeding/mated pair of new bearded dragons. Their cage almost takes up an entire wall of our living room. The word "zoo" is quite appropriate at this juncture.
Completely behind on posting pictures from the past 2 years. I've got mad gobs of pix from various vacations I keep telling myself I need to process and post. Maybe this weekend?
Need some music suggestions? Try these on for size: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Thao, Grizzly Bear, Jaydiohead (Jay Z meets Radiohead, surprisingly good!), and Dark Was The Night (compilation).

That's all for now folks.

Brief highlights from my head, because what good is a blog for anyway?

The Cynics Creed: Thoughts on a Train.

2009-04-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

We're all waiting.
Waiting for the Moment in time when life gets easier, gets perfect.
When we've arrived.
Perfect job. Love.
There exists a Moment on our heads when we're finally there.
The place of our dreams.
It might be a house. A person. A job. Not having to work?
A shit ton of money in our pockets.

All of us have a Moment in our head when it's worth all of this effort.
This stress and worry.
This pure unadulterated anxiety of living.

You get older and strangely that Moment, which you thought would draw nearer with success/accomplishment/experience in your skin living YOUR life, gets farther away.
It's more like an imaginary desert oasis and less like graduating in only 4 years time.
Like being caught in the web of grad school, being forced to revise that damned paper one more damned time.

Along the way resignation sets in.
You start medicating.
Movies. Books. Relationships. New job. More money. Drugs. Alcohol. Religion. Children.
Any thing to fool yourself you're closer to being there.
Being in your Moment.
You start to understand less about why you're actually here in this place.
Like the chimp behind bars at your local zoo, you deal.
You adjust.
You settle.

You face the facts that a vanishing horizon and your Moment are one and the same.
Then you take comfort in your cage or throw shit at the passing tourists looking in on your life.
This is living.
This is growing up.
This is the secret sadness to being an adult.
When the candy coating has faded and you're left sucking on a rock trying not to break your teeth.

Of course satisfaction and being content are the only cures for this disease called waiting.
Being happy with what you have, no matter the situation, longing...but not too strongly!...for something better.
To be better.
To do better.

All for the end purpose of someday achieving your Moment.
Winning the mother-lovin' lottery of your life and truly, soulfully, metaphysically, chemically, arriving.
Arrival.

It's Not Just About Chickens.

2009-04-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

You never really know how far you've come or how old you are, until you look back and see the distance.
You see the people standing along the path, signposts and mile markers for your life.
Memories and nostalgia flood the senses and blur the reality of the experience.
Which is likely a good thing.
The past always needs a good coat of gold to ensure it remains as halcyonic as ever.

Had a chance to catch up with Keith Joesel last night after I-don't-know-how-many years and my head was set spinning. Spinning in a good way.
I find myself strangely proud to know Keith. Not sure why really. It can't be due to his political career.
Can it? I mean, Councilmen for District 4 is great and all...

Regardless I did find myself casting back for old memories and life events from ages past, and found lots of goodness there. Stories and yarns I'll spin and weave into the fabric of my future, as I've already done with my present.
I can't count the number of times I've told the Halloween urine bag incident. Or the frequent apple-ings cars and trucks would experience on Route 242. Or Adair's Barrel of Goodies. Or Club Empire in Toronto and almost being thrown off our senior class trip.

Madness and self-perceived glory all wrapped in the shiny package of youth.
Could I use any more ridiculous analogies? Yes. I can.
But I won't.

Here's a playlist for you Keith.
Pop it into the tape deck of your Honda Odyssey (blue Ford Ranger), crank it up to 10, tap the ash of your cigarette into your hand, and drive in silence for a while.
Enjoy.

Wednesday Grooves.

2009-04-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the wonders of the internets I made you another playlist. This time I didn't eated it so please feel free to take a big chomp!

Some of my favorite bites are Interpol's "Slow Hands", Arcade Fire's "Rebellion (Lies)", and of course the absolutely amazing "Y Control" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Good tuneage for a Wednesday afternoon.
Hell, if you're nice I'll even let you use this playlist on Thursday. Maybe.

Back Home.

2009-03-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

Spent an amazing week in the natural paradise that is Costa Rica, or "The Rich Coast" as it's known locally; also known as "A Whales Vagina" to a few others. I might be confusing that with San Diego. It's hard to say as my German isn't as good as it used to be.

Heaps of changes at work, and lots of chaos floating around in general (earthquakes, family in hospital, dogs having nervous breakdowns, etc.) but in general things are looking up.
More to follow as I dig out of INBOX hell.

Happy St. Pats.

2009-03-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

To all you wannabe Irishmen and Irishwomen, enjoi this fatty playlist created by my fellow honorary Irishman Steg-Man.

SXSW: Lost in Austin.

2009-03-13T14:51:00.001-07:00

So funny thing about this post, I'm NOT going to be at SXSW this year. Even funnier, I've never been and I don't know why. I'm not against SXSW. I don't "hate" on it. I've just never been.

My company, however, is going to be throwing HEAPS of badass parties so if you're there you are (in)formally incited/invited to go there and get "some", as the kids are so fond of saying.

===============================
imeem and Microsoft BizSpark’s SXSW MEATUP: Monday, March 16 (5:30-7:30pm)
On Monday afternoon, imeem and Microsoft BizSpark are holding the first-ever SXSW Meatup for Startups, a meetup event with a decidedly Texas twist. There will be free barbeque from The Salt Lick, frosty beverages, and good conversations with other entrepreneurs, writers, developers, and web luminaries in Austin for SXSW Interactive. This is an invite-only event – if you’re interested in attending, please RSVP here: http://www.letsmeatupinaustin.com.

imeem's 2nd annual SMASH UP: Monday, March 16 (9pm – 2am)
The Meatup segues into our nighttime party at Beauty Bar, imeem’s SMASH UP, featuring DJ sets from Flosstradamus and Austin favorite Bird Peterson. This is a free event – no RSVP or badge required. Open bar from 9-10:30. imeem's Meatup and SMASH UP events both take place at the Beauty Bar, which is located at 617 E. 7th St. (between Red River and Sabine St.) just blocks from the Austin Convention Center.

imeem AFTER HOURS: Saturday, March 21 (12am-5am)
imeem is closing out SXSW with a bang. The imeem AFTER HOURS event will take place on Saturday night from 12am-5am, featuring performances by a secret special guest and King Khan and the Shrines, and sets from noted DJs Klever, Felix Cartal and Bird Peterson. There will be complimentary drinks all night, courtesy of Monster Energy and 3 Olives Vodka. The event takes place at The Palm Door, which is located at 401 Sabine St. (at 4th St.).
RSVP is required for this event: http://www.greenshoelace.com/sxsw/sxsw09_saturday.html.

Beeginners Bee Class.

2009-03-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

Will be tweeting and keeping some notes on the things I'm learning at today's Beginner Beekeeping Class.
====================================
The 3-6-12 rule to remember about bee life cycle
- 3 days as an egg.
- 6 days as a larvae.
- 12 days in the pupal stage.

- Bees don't like wool. No one knows why.
- Darker colors become targets. No one knows why.
- Bees target carbon dioxide; if you have a bee on your hand DO NOT blow on it or you will be stung. (Bee's don't like blow jobs?! Who knew?)
- Bees communicate thru sight, smell and vibration. When you approach the hive they already know you're coming.
- Bees release a pheromone before attacking. This pheromone smells like banana oil.
- Bees make a different noise before attacking. Normally there will be a low hum of annoyance, but when they're ready to go on full "pissed off" mode the buzzing sounds a lot different. You'll learn the difference soon enough.
- Remember this is your hobby, not theirs. You can go inspect the hive every day or once every 3 months.
- Their temperament changes during the season.

Putting the Fun in Funky.

2009-03-05T12:03:00.001-08:00

In an effort to keep your ears ringing...a funky fresh playlist to you I'm bringing!
Letting players play and the haters hate...I made this quick without haste.
With rhymes in time to beats from the 80s...check out my mix called "Hey Ladies!".

Ok ok. Enough. I'm sorry. Truly sorry.
I don't even know why I wrote all that silliness.
Silly.
I'm embarrassed for even putting it down on "paper".
I do want you to listen to my playlist and enjoy what you're listening to.
I put some effort into making it for you, so why wouldn't you want to hear it?
Please just take a small moment of your day and tune your little ears into something I made.
Kthnxbai!

Location Means Relaxation.

2009-03-02T13:51:00.001-08:00

I think the only thing I'd change about my current living situation is to uproot the entire house and backyard and drop it on a beach. Preferably on a beach in a foreign country.
A warm foreign country.
With a good economy and cheap beer.
Cheap, delicious, cold beer.
And Mexican food!

Plus a good internet signal and a nearby bookstore with books in English and these same books are books I want to read.
There should also be reptiles in this country. Or really cool animals like they have in Madagascar. But no violence or rainforest destruction.
Oo! And freedom! Freedom would be nice. Democratic governmental institutions with a great big heaping pile of Freedom on top.

Did I mention the beer?

Homemade Honey.

2009-02-25T23:03:00.001-08:00

My first batch of homemade honey bottled and ready for gifting to
undeserving coworkers.

Press Me Baby One More Time.

2009-02-24T15:17:00.001-08:00

Figured I'd put up a post linking to some of the online hilarity ensuing thanks to the LA Times article, and the subsequent Today Show coverage.

My personal faves are on Digg. Loving the commentary.
You Diggsters are so naughty! Intelligent too!

1) Today Show segment.
2) LA Times article.
3) NBC article.
4) Digg post and hilarious commentary.

Anyone know how many minutes this counts for against the 15 I was promised? Anyone?

Noise Pop 2009 Lineup.

2009-02-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

Now with sexy playlist! Looks to be a good lineup with some solid tunage. Enjoi!

Didn't Get the Memo.

2009-02-19T14:17:00.001-08:00

Apparantly this building (shhh! Robot in disguise) is a little slow.

I'm Troy McClure, You May Know Me As...

2009-02-10T12:08:00.001-08:00

Although many of you may not know this, or may have forgotten this, or really just don't care, believe it or else my nickname used to be Skip.
Jason "Skip" Shugars.

All through junior high and high school, I was known as Skip. By friends, enemies, and teachers alike. Skip Shugars.
Or the many alternates such as:

The Skipmeister.
Skippie.
Skiptastic.
Baron von Skippington.
The Skipper.
Skippy Penis Butter (my personal fave).
And so on.

Now you can imagine a world where someone with the last name Shugars might actually have nicknames pertaining to the chemical element Sugar (S). If you did imagine that world you would be wrong. Oh so wrong.

I'm sure you'd snort in derision at the tomfoolery of high school students for not taking advantage of such a target rich environment like the last name "Shugars". I would. Hell, I did. I used to snort in derision all the time.
Until one fateful day in 8th grade English class when I wrote a little article for the school newspaper about something of little or no consequence where I referred to myself as "Jason 'the skip' Shugars reporting...".
From that day onward, and I mean immediately, the name Skip stuck like glue.

It didn't matter I was trying to refer to myself as "The Scoop". It didn't matter that a lowly 7th grader found it so funny he couldn't stop using it which led to it's popularity. It didn't matter that I was a lowly 8th grader and of no consequence to anyone. It simply didn't matter.

From that day forward Skip Shugars was born and wouldn't die until I left for college. Friends would call my house and ask for Skip and infuriate my mother. People I didn't know, which was hard in a school/town our size, would saunter up and high five the Skipster. Teachers would wink knowingly at Skipper, as if having a nickname somehow allowed me entrance into a secret adult club of sorts. A manhood test perhaps? Girls, nay, women! would giggle demurely as Skippie passed by them in the halls. Okay that last part's bullshit, but I liked where it was going.

Skip I was and Skip I am.
To this day when going back to my hometown of Ellicottville, NY people still refer to me as Skip. New Mexico, San Diego, the Bay Area; these locations know nothing of my alter ego. Never have, never will.
But in a little ski town in upstate NY a skinny, hair-having, blue-eyed white kid who drives a blue Ford Ranger with a busted passenger side window with empty beer cans in the back named Skip Shugars...well, he lives on.

Rock on Skip. Rock on.

Ceremony.

2009-02-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

My ceremony for creating playlists (sorry...)

1) Create a playlist with Apple Genius.
2) Save that sh*t!
3) Pop open your imeem uploader.
4) Upload your newly created playlist.
5) Broadcast that sh*t!
6) Done and done.

Why I Stopped Reading "Guns, Germs, and Steel" or "How to Ruin a Book" by Mansi Goel.

2009-02-03T17:06:00.001-08:00

I stopped reading "Guns, Germs, and Steel" because ultimately I felt like I had already read the damned book! While on vacation in Australia and New Zealand Mansi would constantly recite all of the most interesting bits and pieces from GGS which, naturally, made me want to read the book more and more. Of course by the time she was finished and I started it, we had entered Spoiler City and there was nothing left of the book but the husk. The rind. The shell. All the juicy bits had been chewed up, swallowed, regurgitated, and fed to me through a straw. My turn at the table was entirely unnecessary.

On the other hand it meant I didn't have to plow my way through 1000 pages of natural history and I didn't even have to purchase the Cliff notes, saving both time and money. I can also toss out interesting facts at cocktail parties ("Did you know New Zealand used to have a giant bird called a Moa? Bigger than a house and deadly to the Maori's who hunted it." - "Tell us more oh wise one!" - "Oh, I will...") without actually having to do the work.
Who's the real loser in this entire travesty of high school-esque reading shenanigans? Jared Diamond.

So Jared Diamond, if you're looking to roof one of your many houses with more gold-plated shingles and find you don't have enough in your bank account to accomplish the job...well sir, you can thank Mansi P. Goel. The book ruiner.
Send over the hired goons as your leisure, I'll open the door for them.

If These 3 Songs Were to Die, I'd Silently Weep Inside.

2009-01-29T11:58:00.001-08:00

My Own Worst Enemy by Lit

Call it a crazy Summer singalong song or just my own personal fondness for coming home drunk and not remembering what the hell I did last night, but this song is definitively overplayed (how is it even still on the radio?!) and definitively a song I love.

For the record the car is in the driveway, and I am sleeping with my clothes on. Whatever that means.

Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears

What can I say? I have a fetish for blond teenage girls in plaid skirts and pigtails. Ouch. That sounds bad.

What I really mean is I like wearing plaid skirts and dressing up like a blond teenage girl.

Ok screw it. In reality I just really really really like this song. It's overplayed and horrible pop sugar, but is my "Go To" song whenever I'm kareoke-ing.

Creep by Radiohead

This is incredibly overplayed, oversung, the band actually hates this song, it's even gotten old for me, damn if I don't croon like a wannabe Sinatra whenever it's on. Definitely another "Go To" kareoke song.

Poison Oak.

2009-01-27T12:38:00.000-08:00

My First Job or How I Grew to Love Child Labor and Dirty Dishes.

2009-01-23T14:39:00.001-08:00

I first started work at a little known sweetshop called Adair's Barrel of Goodies. I was a 13 year old girl...err...boy living in the small town of Ellicottville, NY washing dishes and busing tables in Adair's, which was run by my high-school friends parents.

Adair's was the local coffee watering hole where the aged and angry came to vent their frustrations, have some delicious breakfast, and solve world hunger. The front of the shop was a magazine/candy/knick knack shop where teenage hooligans, myself included, would sneak peeps at the latest skin mags before being run off by Keith and Kent's mom.

I only made minimum wage, but being paid under the table and a percentage of tips made for some nice pocketgeld at the time.