Results, Poll #23, Pandas.

Not too long ago, myself and 3 others were out at dinner. The subject of pandas came up, mostly from the stories out of China that they were in trouble b/c of limited access to their favorite food, bamboo (due to the earthquake there). I wondered aloud what would change for us on a daily basis if the pandas were extinct (or any other animal). I don't even know that I've seen a panda at any zoo and certainly not in the wild. Of course, I have been to the zoo tons of times and really like them to this day (shout out to the LPZ polar bears!). Well, someone a bit wiser than me on this topic happened to say that I wasn't really looking at it the right way. A more accurate method would be to ask someone how much they would pay to keep pandas alive forever. Even if it's only $20/person, you take all that money from each of Earth's inhabitants and then keep adding each successive generations contribution... basically to infinity. You'd wind up with a good amount of money going on forever. This presumes, correctly I feel, that every other generation to come would pay money to keep pandas alive too. Of course, you have to have these funds available for all endangered animals, not just pandas (right?).


[awww, cute!!!]

In any case, from the poll, I believe that the animals are safe:
> 4 people (25%) chose that they would pay $100 to help the pandas - this is nice, make the checks payable to "Transplanted Chicagoan".
> 10 people (62%) chose that they could afford something less than the $100 for the pandas - this is the overwhelming majority (which is kind of rare on the polls) and I think speaks most accurately to what the American (world) public would be willing to spend. It would be interesting to make the poll $20 instead of $100 and see what the response is then.
> 0 people chose that the pandas aren't worth saving - good news if you're a panda (and can read) or work with pandas.
> 2 people (12%) chose that the choices didn't reflect their choice - well, I can't please everyone. But I would be interested in knowing what these two people wanted to choose - anyone?

Thanks for the voting, new poll up now. (I lifted the idea from a fellow blogger)

Things to do in MKE when you're bored.

Figuring out what to shoot next with you camera provides lots of entertainment -

Find more interesting tattoos:

If you can't figure this one out, the waitress told us it was orginally just the solid stars on her 21st bday, then got the elephant+more stars on her 22nd. Yes, it's the view of an elephant as if you were looking up from underneath. PS - people always are willing to let you shoot their tattoos... maybe too willing.

Get scared by gold bikes on the sidewalk:

Eat your heart out Racerveza!

Look at heavy machinery:

Lots of construction in the summer months, esp around the bridges in my 'hood.

And climb in:

I could not physically lift my head in the small bucket... nor do I want to encourage internet stalking by showing t.c readers what I look like.

Why no poll comments, Blogger?

I just got this in an email in regards to the "Panda Poll" that's up right now -

"PS - I can't answer your panda poll. Its too difficult of a question. I feel like I should pay the $100 dollars to save the panda but if I pay $100 for the panda then I'm shelling out thousands to save all the other animals. Where does it stop???? But I also get how important the panda is. See...too hard. Forget [.mk.] I'm just not answering."

I think it is a shame that t.c readers can't comment on the poll when it's current, only after I post the results. Maybe I need to send Blogger a note. I also think everyone should vote. This t.c reader could just have chosen the last one... maybe.

Why cyclists shave their legs.

Once someone finds out I'm in the cycling industry or that I ride more miles than most people, they will invariably ask, "Do you shave your legs?". Usually this person now has some sort of wry smirk on their face. I think it's a smirk either to prove to me I'm not a cyclist if I say "no", or to delight in the oddity if I say "yes".

Either way I respond, they always follow up the first question with a second, "(For God's sake) Why?". I've explained a bunch of times, but I defer to someone more qualified for this post.

A night on the town.

Recently, I almost had a "BuckHead" night, but closer to home. It was a small group of folks (or accomplices), including tDope, Bets, Jor, Hyde, and Rye. We started off nicely with some happy hour cocktails at a local Belgian pub, walked to dinner, sampled a handful of local bars and then topped it all off with fresh mini-donuts at Sil's and one more bar, just to take it way over the top. Oy.

The local establishment list goes like this - Cafe Brucke, Beans&Barley (dinner), Vitucci's, Paddy's, Eastsider, Sil's (donuts), and Y-Not (x3). We didn't see anyone dance with a barstool or fall down on their friend, but there was a dufus-in-low-pants altercation that almost resulted in me defending a woman's honor with my fists - luckily, that didn't fully escalate (esp lucky if you've seen my fists).

Again, pics might be the best illustrative tool for the job:


This is NOT a joke - waitress at B&B with her very own WI tattoo. Why not green and gold though?! Perhaps not a true Packer fan.


Drink it in!!! Literally, you'll be drinking at Vitucci's when you see it live. And if you can't quite see it, the small caption reads "wanna brat?"... aww, how romantic.


This is a reverse-mullet couch. "How?", you ask. Well, it's got the party in the front, on the couch. And...

... the business in the back. I'm not sure if you've seen one of these before, but it's a real-life motorized couch. They guy relaxing on it drove it to the bar. Street legal - probably in WI, yes.


Finally, a lovely painting of William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk. How could an evening in WI be complete without some Shatner impressions?

Results, Poll #22, Broken Bones.

I don't know about you, but I always had a small part of me wishing I could have a cast as a kid. You know, people would ask you what happened (and it would have been an epic story, no doubt), you'd get to wear a big (heavy) cast, and people would fill it with signatures and get-well wishes.

Well, if you didn't know, I (finally) broke a bone at my first job out of college, on a work event. It was a good crash, interesting story about the aftermath, and then it had to be re-broken to set it properly about a week later. The two different casts were quite heavy and cumbersome (and did not take signatures), so that lost its luster quickly. All the hype was probably just that, hype, but then again, I'm glad I've broken one just the same. It adds something to the palette of injuries I've had... but hopefully my total stays at one (knock on wood).

Here's what t.c readers responded:
> 2 people (15%) chose 1 broken bone - myself and I think a brother.
> 0 people (uh, 0%) chose all the other positive choices - no t.c reader has broken over 1 bone. This is a good thing and maybe those that have learn our lesson. I'm also not sure what I was thinking by putting "8+" as a choice. I don't think anyone in the Knievil family reads this blog.
> 2 people (15%) chose they haven't broke any, but kind of always wanted to break one - I'm going to guess these are both males, but I could be wrong. I also know the feeling, but having done it, I'm not sure I'd encourage this choice (esp if you're over 25 or so).
> 9 people (69%), the overwhelming majority, chose they haven't broken any bones, and they'd like to keep it that way - I agree.

Thanks for voting this week, new poll up.

Bacon.

Yeah, a whole post for bacon. Many of you may have probably seen this, but no matter - you'll still laugh again. Gaffigan did 4 min on bacon... you should watch it all.