goodbye katy…friend to bikers, problembears and rebels.

May 16, 2009 in Montana

the S.O. in front of jd’s (formerly Katy’s)Wildlife Sanctuary bar in Bynum

 

by problembear

one sad note of our annual trip along the front and the hi-line was discovering that katy of the world famous katy’s wildlife sanctuary bar in bynum has passed away. may heaven be as fun and inviting as you always made your bar to us katy….on windy snowy days from pheasant hunting in october to annual spring runs to enjoy the rocky mountain front in all it’s glory, your bar was an oasis to us all. goodbye katy. so many good memories…..and no katy-we never did put in a sliding glass door so we could shoot gophers from the lazy boy. the S.O. has her limits when it comes to problembear’s redneck tendencies….we will miss you lady.

we support local montana so don’t forget the local fest in caras park this afternoon….

as a sidenote the S.O. and i always take a montana vacation in the spring but this year we  noted that many of the places we used to stop in and chat to get the local news are now boarded up or for sale….potomac bar…..(closed) Bowmans (also closed) .little pieces of montana are drying up and blowing away in this recession. our advice…take lots of gas and provisions along the hi-line and the front when you go and most of all- support the ones who are still open. if you are not hungry get a cup of coffee and leave a five near the till. we need our little places to catch up with our long distance neighbors. some bright spots still left- the cabin cafe in choteau provides real montana meals with some local flavor worth catching – the grand in chester (great halibut sandwich’s and what a fun bar to visit- very friendly.) don’t forget to visit patty and philip aaberg’s music shop while you are in town. (they have a great bed and breakfast called the great northern. steam shower and very reasonable!

if you are in big sandy some morning you want to stop by the mint and get a cup of coffee. they only charge 50 cents but we left a lot more…the conversation with local ranchers is worth more than money could repay- but help them keep the lights on folks. saw lots of sage grouse trying to tempt the ladies. we love the prairie in the spring. try it out sometime!

and don’t forget to top it off with another great montana lunch at Bob’s riverside cafe in fort benton on your way to the cm russell museum in great falls. the only way you could top that trip off is with a dairy queen  before heading back to missoula and some reverend slanky at the top hat. but wait, the week of montana vacation is not over yet. there is still the montana fiddlers gathering  to catch at the lumberjack this sunday.

a trip to costco is ok but remember to live like you live in montana once in awhile and get out and support local businesses….

baucus might be the least of our worries….

May 16, 2009 in Montana

 

by problembear

 max baucus’s inept and sorry spectacle in his handling of his finance committee’s hearings on healthcare served to galvanize supporters of single payer universal health care (the majority according to all the polls i have read). his blundering laughter and arrogant statement that “we need more police” while doctors and nurses were led away in handcuffs, who were arrested for the crime of attempting  to speak out about being ignored and denied a legitimate place at the discussion table only aroused a growing wave of resentment and disgust  against his proposals to impose forced private insurance plans upon all citizens to the utter dismay of those who want to see real health care reform enacted this year.  and then, to make matters worse, the health insurance and health care industry groups backed out of a promise they had made to obama to limit health care costs.

baucus’s idiocy has been damaging enough but, the real enemies of health care reform are only now beginning their attack ads and they have a 7 to 1 advantage in ad revenue that they can spend telling lies and creating fear about health care reform. by the use of 30 second ads they hope to foment enough angst to stall or kill any health care reform in this country.

backed by right wing sociopaths and the extremely wealthy coffers of health care insurance lobbyists (thanks to you and your empoyers increasingly burdensome premiums for less and less coverage) these snake oil salesmen and sales ladies will pull out all the stops to derail anything resembling public health care choices (leave alone the single payer option) because they fear the competition will expose them for the profit mongering, greedy and merciless vipers that they are.

so while we must fight max baucus’s unyielding and arrogant attitude toward universal single payer….let’s not forget about that snake in the grass….

A Haiku Slam Challenge

May 16, 2009 in Culture, Humor, Missoula

by jhwygirl

Morning walk with dogs
Air wafts with scent of fruit trees
Lovely day today

Various & Sundry for the Weekend

May 16, 2009 in Various & Sundry

by jhwygirl

Please consider this an open thread.

Shameful.

Tax soda pop for healthcare? I’m fine with it.

New Urbanism is really old urbanism….building walkable communities rather than strip mall highways. This video, winner of The Congress for New Urbanism CNU 17 video contest, explains it all.

The Thursday grand opening of the new Cabela’s in Billings went astoundingly well. Pics included.

Pic included with this one, too: Man bras.

Sunday morning news show junkie? David Gregory is bringing those ratings down for NBC.

Jim Hightower slams Senate Democrats.

Why should you care? Care about anything? Grandma blogger Helen Philpot of the blog Margaret and Helen explains that you should because “…change is inevitable. Children grow up. Grandparents die. Life goes on.”

I bet that woman is fun to drink with.

Have a great weekend folks. I’m a little bummed. Age has made me a bad deadhead – I knew the show – the show at the Gorge – was coming up, but I wasn’t paying attention. And so late on wednesday I realized the show was saturday, and I was ticketless. Now – a quick twitter turned up a ticket (see how useful twitter is?), but I didn’t have enough time to find appropriate lodging for one of my poochies (the one who is a real terriorist). I find some comfort in a few things: Last night I found out that Sirius will be broadcasting the thing live at 8:30 p.m. tonight; I know at least one other old fart is there goofing off and enjoying the show; and the band winded down the Mountain View show the other night with Morning Dew (so I won’t be missing a favorite).

Congratulations UM grads!