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I have sinned. If you were my Mom, it wouldn’t surprise you, but you’re not. My transgression happened last year when I wrote an article about property taxes. It contained some derogatory comments about the state’s revenue department and local appraisers. Here’s an example:

“As far as I know, the appraisers never looked inside a home. They might drive by, but most likely calculate values in their offices while playing computer games …”

So the other day, when I opened my official “guess what you owe” appraisal form, my property value made a quantum leap (we don’t know exactly how much yet as the planets aren’t in the correct position). The local office, in a revengeful tone, said we’d finished our house. Working on the house for five years now– if it were finished, believe me I’d know. I did install a toilet paper dispenser during the year. Still, in our house we never use the f-word. (more…)

If you missed the 70^th National Folk Festival held last weekend in Butte, well … you silly person. It’s the oldest multi-cultural traditional arts celebration in the nation and for the first time since the mid-1960s was held west of the Mississippi. If that wasn’t enough, it was FREE!

What a fantabulous event. Live music all day long on seven different stages, great food, crafts, workshops, and glorious weather — but I don’t mean to rub it in.

The event brought to center stage all the cultural diversity that makes this nation great.

What really impressed me was the mass of humanity, flowing like waves of Texas fire ants looking for small animals to sting with their abdomen, injecting a toxic venom until … oops, I’m a little off topic. Uptown Butte was engulfed with a culturally rich homo sapiens aggregate as far as the eye could see – scurrying around with one thing in common — personal hygiene. (more…)

I set my brother, Walt, on fire when I was three. Seven years later, I swiped his buffalo-head nickel collection, blowing it on candy and RC colas. In college, I sent a drill bit into his thumb, requiring an emergency room trip. After 50 years of my shenanigans, you’d wonder why he still speaks to me. I know I do. But then, my IQ verges on the temperature of a frozen hard-boiled egg.

Back in 2001, Walt’s foot kept going numb; then the vision in one eye started to blur – the diagnosis was Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MS is a chronic, often disabling disease attacking the central nervous system. The symptoms for most MS victims come and go, forcing them to adjust while trying to get on with life — desperately hoping for a cure.

To help raise money for MS, Walt started riding in the two-day Colorado MS 150-mile bicycling event. Each year I’d try to remember to send him a donation. Hey, I was a busy guy. But this year the egg started to thaw as I realized more action was the only way to get my name off the “human fungus” list. So, on a June 29th overcast morning, two of my sons and I showed up in Westminster Colorado to ride. (more…)

The Hill County 2008 Great Northern Fair quickly approaches and Krista Corner’s July 1^st Havre Daily News front-page article identifies some great ways to get involved. So, if you have a hobby, are a culinary wizard, or want your child to chase after boots possessed by aliens during the Carter administration, there’re plenty of options for ditching that “couch-potato” attitude.

As I dutifully helped my wife make the bed this morning, it dawned on me what an incredible Great Northern Fair event this would make. Set up the bed right next to the Home Arts quilts. Gal and guy teams could compete in a timed bedding frenzy, promoting tranquility and that essential element to any male/female relationship — groveling.

I know quite a bit about groveling and the fact that world peace only slightly overshadows a properly made bed. Tight sheets rank right up there with the direction the toilet paper rolls off the roll. My wife assures me these things are important; a fact that’s taken me 30 years to even partially grasp. (more…)

UM Grizzly football fans don’t have long to wait. The 2008 season starts on September 9^th against Cal Poly. Being patient is an admirable attribute. Look how dragging out a crazy idea has performed for George W. and the Iraq war.

But if you can’t wait for the season opener and, you’ve a hankering for some hard-hitting action by professional athletes, in professional jerseys, with professional athletic supporters, and professional promotional plastic footballs, hold back no more. Next week starts the 2008 Arena Football League (AFL) playoffs. Don’t miss this professional sport played on a field the size of a convenience store parking lot where testosterone-charged players try to avoid hitting one of the 23-team mascots (more…)