Cankuhn's Lagoon: May 2007

Quality Dexter Time

This vacation has been awesome because we've really been able to see many friends and family, as well as do some of our favorite things. We've golfed, bowled, done the "tourist thing," and just spent some nice relaxing time together.

Today was Dexter's day (not that he hasn't been spoiled all week with more mommy and daddy time than he could have ever hoped for!) He loved the ride over (one of his favorite parts of the big canine adventure). I don't think he's that different than most pooches!

We took Dex to Carrollwood's own Lake Park and met up with the locals. As always, he was quite popular.

After some serious running around, panting and much exploring, it was time to reward the magnificent mutt.

How about a feast of champions - a Burger King cheeseburger - plain, of course - washed down with a fine vintage of Zephyrhills bottled water?

Aah, the good life.

Adventures in Homasassa

Yep, it was time for another Kuhn adventure, this time at the tucked-away nature lover's paradise that is Homasassa Springs. So we packed up the love-bug coated silver Matrix, picked up Mom and Dad in Spring Hill along the way and headed north on US 19.

We pulled up to the visitor center which closely resembled an Elks lodge (worrying me quite a bit), but once inside we were already enticed to step closer by an oddity of nature. The two-headed turtle?

That's it. I'm sold. Let's check it out.

What did we see? What didn't we? Okay, the boat ride wasn't in order since...well, we haven't had any rain to keep the waterways high enough to run without hitting bottom. So we took the little tram through the woods to the West entrance and once there, embarked on our first adventure - the Hippopotamus and Alligator feeding encounter.

We then ventured through Nature's Walkway, an elevated boardwalk winding through the trees.

And we got a chance to get up close and personal with several caged or not-so-caged but rehabilitating birds, otters, panthers, foxes - you name it!

And one enthusiastic cinematographer was capturing it all on film... Larry Kuhn Spielberg!

Look at this mighty patriotic chap. He had a buddy in the cage with him but he was either real camera shy or didn't particularly like getting too close to his roomie.

Okay, we missed the Manatee feeding event, but we did get a fleeting encounter. See the gray floating blob?

There you go, nature in motion.

Wait...time for a quick memento! Snap!

We did step down into the underwater observatory, affectionately called "Nature's Fishbowl."

These pictures are pretty representative of the action down there. The fish really were this stagnant. Or sleepy. Or dead. Not sure which. There just wasn't much happening.

Except this guy below. There's always one who has to swim his own way, isn't there?

We had a ball...walking around, meeting new buddies and enjoying the unusually breezy and gentle almost-summertime weather.

Okay, everybody - time to hit the tram. Say CHEESE!

Setting Sail On A New Course

Okay, it's been a while since we ventured onto new fairways, new bunkers (and you know we always end up there!) and new greens. So today we added another golf course to the Kuhn playlist: Sherman Hills in Brooksville, Florida.

Interesting course... first half is dusty, hilly and challenging, though not in the traditional sense. No water, few standard sand traps or wooded areas of any kind. Instead, the front nine supposedly resembles the links in Scotland - high teeboxes, frequent elevation changes, dusty valleys. Very bizarre.

Oh look. The big rock sandy mountain!

It almost looks like I know what I'm doing. You didn't see where it landed though. It was not pretty.

The back nine had a little water, though not as much as promised due to our lovely little drought. Still, there were enough trees to hit and some remaining water to help Lar and I lose at least one penalty stroke each during that half.

This hole, for instance.

Yeah, the ball went in that large watery substance at the right.

But we had a great time as always and best of all, we set the bar low enough for our return visit, and that's worth something, right?

Why are these people smiling? They're on vacation, dummy. Now who wouldn't be happy about that?

Gewurz Is Good Enough For Me

We had company over tonight.

Well, it was supposed to be nine of us in all. I planned the food -- many new recipes to try. We figured out the drinks needed. Have to make sure we've got a good selection of different beers, coolers, wine, pop. We determined our lanai setup. We'll have the little putting green in this corner, the chaise lounges over there - better make room for seats near the food and clear away the area by the electronic darts.

Then, two bowed out...

Okay, maybe we'll just make these dishes. We have most of the beer we need. We'll just get a few extra coolers and setup the seating and games outside.

Then, two more bowed out.

You know, maybe we don't need to make those feta potato cakes I'd planned. Let's just go with the Southwest Vegetable Bake, the deviled eggs, dips, veggies, etc. Oh, and some subs. We'll make some mini-subs. Beer? Do we really need to buy more of those? Are we really setting up that putting green? Only three of us golf anyway.

Then, one more called to say he couldn't make it.

No, we don't need anymore beer. Just setup the food. Don't worry if the cheese gets spongy, the potato chips get floppy or the dips lose their chill. Forget the putting green. Just set up a few chairs.

The time arrived.

Put out everything. They might be here soon. Can you open up the bottle of Gewurtztraminer for me? I'm going to have a glass now.

Thirty minutes passed.

I don't care if they're not here yet. I'm eating. And maybe I feel like playing a practice game of 301, okay? Hand me that bottle. I'm having another glass of the Gewurtz.

But they arrived and it was fun. Yep, the final two and they didn't call or cancel. Good food, good drink and good times were had by all.

And four dart games (including two personal victories!), three plates of food and a bottle of Covey Run later...

zzzzzz

Rosie Takes On...Her Co-host?

I must admit. I find this whole Rosie vs. Elisabeth feud simply fascinating.

For those of you entirely clueless to the View Venom being spewed this week, a courtesy recap and a link to the episode if you really want to watch this whole wacky battle for yourself.

On Wednesday, Rosie accuses Elisabeth of being a coward for not defending Rosie at recent Republican gigs that bashed the outspoken co-host.
Elisabeth rubs Rosie's nose in her past Trump troubles and insists on a commercial break after much heated debate.
Producers of The View rub their hands with glee as they split screen the fuming hotheads going head to head and watch their ratings go through the roof (and the added evening exposure on Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Inside Edition, etc. raise interest in the show).
On Thursday, Rosie hangs with the Mrs. instead of heading to work and writes cryptic haikus at her Web site, raising questions about her likelihood to finish off her contract which expires June 22.
It's official. ABC announces on Friday that Rosie and The View have parted ways. Now, that sweeps is over. How convenient.

Now, I am not a fan of Rosie O' Donnell. Okay, I'm even less of an Elisabeth Hasselbeck fan. While I like Joy Behar, I'm of the opinion that the show lost its heart once Meredith Viera escaped (and good for her). But I give Rosie some credit. She says what she thinks. Sometimes she doesn't always weigh the consequences of speaking her mind or evaluate the proper delivery of the message beforehand, but I often agree with the message. Just not necessarily its messenger.

I'm not a fan of a display like this on American television though. This is precisely the kind of interaction between two women that perpetuates the stereotype of women's cattiness toward each other. The conversation didn't stay focused on the facts but strayed to the "you hurt my feelings" matters that really were not appropriate for all of us to hear discussed. These two needed to have a private conversation and work out clearly bottled up emotions, instead of laying it all out on weekday morning TV.

The incident did get people talking. All season, Rosie definitely got people talking about The View, and it would have been fairly easy to ignore the show once Viera and Star Jones, the two most talked-about co-hosts left.

But now we're left with two co-hosts, two open spots and a stammering Barbara Walters always having to make excuses for her team.

Rosie, take five.

Elisabeth, shut up.

Barbara Walters, retire soon.

Joy, get out while you can!

Need A Good Laugh?

This was featured on LAST week's Saturday Night Live and absolutely had me rolling on the floor. I'd been waiting for some You Tuber to post the sketch.

I love Molly Shannon's witty characterizations and as guest host, she revived one of my particular favorites Sally O'Malley. She's fifty! Fifty years old...and always love to share this information with the folks she meets. Only this time, she's trying out for the notorious strip club on The Sopranos and meets up with those cuddly hooligans we all know and love.

So I present to you... Sally O'Malley Shows Us Her Bada Bing.

Larry, you missed this the first time around, so this one's for you.

Enjoy!

Elvis Interview Link Available

If you fell asleep early (as I did) last night, you missed Elvis Costello on the Late Show With David Letterman. Here he is from earlier this week in a behind-the-scenes interview before the webcast in all of his spectactular coolness.

I'm still looking for a link to last night's CBS performance and Monday's webcast itself. Come on, You Tubers...don't let me down.

If anyone sees anything, let me know. Thanks!

Heroes All Weekend?

Holy cow! I just learned about this today. NBC is allowing Sci-Fi Channel to air a HEROES marathon this weekend of the show's first season.

And it starts at 9 a.m. Saturday morning! Woo-hoo! Enjoy, my fellow hero buddies...

Farewell, Falwell

Well, this was an unexpected departure. Perhaps now you will finally get a meeting with the big man in charge.

Or not.

Wisdom In The Most Unexpected Place

I am not a religious person. Never have been. And I don't really subscribe to the theory of being given a sign or signal. But I have experienced a lot of coincidence and irony in my life.

When I am struggling with decisions to make or moves to take, I'm a thinker. I am much more conservative in my actions than in my ideology. I am willing to take risks but only after seriously examining the pros and cons, the return on that risk and the sacrifices made to accommodate it.

And no, I don't normally put stock in fortune cookie rhetoric. But just recently, I was enjoying a nice lunch with my hubby, and at the end of much conversation about my latest employment situation, my next course of action became clear to me. Crystal clear.

All because of a fortune cookie that articulated precisely what I was feeling.

"You cannot discover new oceans unless you are willing to lose sight of the shore."

Yep, that about sums it up.

It's time to put on the flippers and head out into unchartered territory.

How Cool Is This?

NBC is going to launch a new behind-the-scenes Heroes eight-part series online.

Check it out!

Elvis Is In The Building

I heard about this and wanted to pass it along to anyone else who's a big Elvis Costello fan. I just became one last year but better late than never!

He will be one of the musical guests next week on Late Night with David Letterman (Friday, May 18, actually). But on Monday, May 14, he'll be doing an exclusive Web cast straight from the Ed Sullivan Theater. Sounds like a Brilliant Mistake to me! Enjoy...

Are You A Rufus Fan, Too?

No, not Chaka Khan's former soulmates. I mean Rufus Wainwright III.

I heard VH1 is streaming his new album "Release the Stars" online at my favorite pop culture Web site, Pop Candy. If you're interested, check it out.

He has such a nice, crisp, mellow sound that just captures my attention and cheers me up, and given so many speedbumps in the road of life lately, I could use a little mellow vibe or two these days. After hearing the first cut, I'm not sure how much smiling I'll do, but it's definitely attention-getting.

Enjoy!

Fun With Chalk...And The Family

We had some visitors today. It was an early get-together for Larry's birthday (which is Tuesday) and it was great to see everyone, especially little Deacon.