• Uncategorical Weirdness

    Remember The Mustard Seed

    August 21, 2012 - By 

    A friend of mine passed away last week, I got the word via email while we were still on the train journey from Montana to Illinois. Father Paul T. Brouilette was a fine priest, a great preacher, and a terrific musician. He played guitar, and a mean banjo – he had a Pete Seeger model, complete with "this machine kills fascists" motto. He was also an avid runner before being diagnosed with liver disease almost 2 years ago. It’s been a long, slow fight, and we had some hope when he was approved for a transplant. But then the match…

  • Twitter

    Weekly Tweets 2012-08-19

    August 19, 2012 - By 

    Glacier National Park is incredibly beautiful. Congress needs to fund NPS better. # Whitefish is a fun town and a good base for exploring the area. Also, GREAT BEER. #fb # We saw a bear by the road yesterday. A BEAR, people. Munchin berries and ignoring us. #fb # We've also seen 2 Gee-whiz cars on park roads. Like Pringlemobiles for bears: self driving snack cans. #fb # Glacier National Park won't have any glaciers by 2020 at current melt rates. #climatechange http://t.co/YXdO2Vwb # Mosque shooter: does this mug shot make me look crazy? http://t.co/ZmMz4bu3 http://t.co/GkFdCCkF # Future travel: book…

  • Uncategorical Weirdness

    Sunflowers Somewhere in North Dakota

    August 17, 2012 - By 

    Actually slept last night and a bit this morning. It’s a pretty rough ride, though the people are nice. And heck, the steward just brought us mimosas. Doesnt help the people who’ll miss their connections in Chicago, but it’s pleasant to drink and watch the morning roll by. I saw where @RuthieGledhill (UK religion journalist) was complaining about a "foul, noisy" train between Chester and Euston and pronounced herself glad that Virgin Trains had lost the rights to run an entire area of the UK’s British Rail system. Wonder what she’d make of Amtrak and BNSF? It sure seems that…

  • Uncategorical Weirdness

    Good Night, Good Bye Mountains

    August 16, 2012 - By 

    Somewhere west of Harlem, MT — Stopped again on a siding, probably waiting for another freight train with higher priority to go by. These are probably the Bear Paw Mountains, or maybe the Little Rockies, according to my Roadside Geology Montana book. Soon the sleeping car attendants will start making the rooms up for what passes for sleep on the train. We’re currently delayed at least 6 hours. No telling how much of the time I’ll be wakeful or snoreful. Or whether I’ll have cell service (David’s been able to get some stuff done, though). Good night! Via: Flickr Title:…

  • Mini-Posts

    Heh. Kismet or Karma?

    August 16, 2012 - By 

    Floyd Corkins, the 28-year-old Virginia man who allegedly shot a security guard in the Family Research Council headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday because of the group’s opposition to gay marriage, could be prosecuted under a hate crimes statute. The FRC would rather he wasn’t. While the FRC has specifically opposed expanding hate crimes protections to individuals targeted for violent attacks because of their sexual orientation or gender identity because they believe it “sends the false message that deviant sexual behaviors are somehow equivalent to other categories of protection such as race or sex,” the group also opposes any hate…

  • Traveling Along, We're Adventurers

    Scribefire Next Borked, Scribefire Classic Still Works Sort Of

    August 16, 2012 - By 

    While on a 26+ train journey I needed to be able to blog offline – the newest version of Scribefire will not complete, says it can’t get information on either of my most active blogs. Yet the old version, when reinstalled, remembers how to connect to all my blogs, even the inactive ones. Oh, well! Backward into the future-past! Expect some posts about the journey, and the rest of our vacation since arriving in Whitefish and exploring Glacier National Park. ScribeFire is a full-featured blog editor that integrates with your browser and lets you easily post to your blog. You…

  • Traveling Along, We're Adventurers

    Going-to-the-Sun Road Information and Transit System – Glacier National Park

    August 15, 2012 - By 

    It’s an amazing drive – but congested and slow during reconstruction of a section damaged by a mudslide last month. The transit system is excellent and efficient; we should also have considered taking a Red Bus tour but they were booked up. Book a few days in advance (or more) during peak season. One of the most amazing highlights of Glacier National Park is a drive on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. This engineering marvel spans 50 miles through the park’s wild interior, winding around mountainsides and treating visitors to some of the best sights in northwest Montana. via Going-to-the-Sun Road Information…