Oh, deer..... DEER!

I know I don't have to be a renowned soothsayer with advanced capabilities to predict that one day in the near future, a deer is going to kick the crap out of one of our dogs in their own back yard!


The subdivision that we live in is just 3 miles from the St. Louis Galleris Mall, and only 8 miles from the center of St. Louis city.  Our neighborhood is completely and immediately surrounded  by some of the largest thoroughfares in the St. Louis area.

I present, for your consideration, a visual aid:


(The white box in the middle of this pic is my back yard. )
The sound barrier for Interstate 40 / 60 is the back fence to our yard, Lindbergh Blvd. is just 3 blocks west, Clayton Road is just a few feet from our home, and Warson Rd. is 3 blocks east.  


Our back yard is completely fenced in with chain link fence, with no ungated openings.  The clincher is that the entire fence line is thick with the tree / bush type of Honeysuckle.  That honeysuckle is so thick in several places in back yards in our area that I know a human hasn't been in that area of their yards in probably decades.  It would be impossible to navigate through that honeysuckle.


My questions are, "How the Hell does a deer survive crossing I-270, I-40, Lindbergh, Clayton Rd. or Warson Road - to climb over a bush-laden fence, to get in OUR yard, with 3 large dogs that love a good challenge, and a little mouthy dog that will encourage them?"

We have also had a large number of wild turkeys in our back yard.  They are notoriously bad flyers, and they prefer to walk / run, rather than fly, but they will fly for short distances if they are forced to do so.   Do you know what's on the other side of that barrier that is in the back of our yard?  200,000 cars a day moving at 60+ MPH!

Can you imagine the mess that they make when they jump that fence, only to be taken by surprise by 8 lanes of traffic?

The general (human) population needs to stop encroaching on these animals natural habitats, so they won't be forced to kick in Amanda's skull!  Amanda is our 13 year old Yellow Lab / Chow mix.   After that deer ran head-on into the chain link fence, she fell down, and Amanda moved in.  I saw that doe get in one good kick before she jumped back on her feet, and headed in the other direction.  THEN....  She ran into the other chain link fence, and fell, once again.  Amanda was standing across the yard, wondering what the Hell just thumped her skull, so Denver, our Black Lab / Sher Pei mix picked up the chase.   When she hit the dirt again, Denver moved in, and he, too, got his head smacked.  I didn't phase him one bit.  He has a thick skull!  At that point, both dogs chased the doe into the back corner of the yard.  I think she found a small spot through the honeysuckle, and jumped into the neighbor's yard.  I hope she did, anyway.  If she jumped the sound barrier, somebody has a dead deer sitting in their lap, as they were driving down I-40!

 I swear to you: I scan the back yard before I let the dogs out, but we have a heavily wooded 1 acre back yard.  I often don't see wildlife out there until it is too late: The chase is on!

- Michael

World's Longest Piano (built by an untrained teenager in New Zealand!)

...and a pipe organ built by a man with no formal pipe organ-building training.

First up:


When he was 16 years old and despite having no formal training, Adrian Mann of New Zealand decided that he was going to build a piano. Not just any piano – but the world’s largest and longest grand piano, built from scratch entirely by hand. Four years later, he completed his masterpiece …


The World's longest piano....  18 ft. 9 inches long.

A couple videos:

(The quality of this video leaves much to be desired, but it will get the job done.)

The Making of the World's Longest Piano (did I mention that this was accomplished by an untrained TEENAGER? )  :)

The bass that these long strings must produce would have to be a treat not only for the ears, but it will also get in touch with your entire body - the vibration!

This is a link to Adrian Mann's YouTube channel, with more videos and more information:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlexanderpiano?feature=watch#p/u/2/6PI8RYIeypM

Second:

A 5 rank home-built pipe organ.  Granted:  This man, Raphi Giangiulio, comes from a musical family, but trust me when I tell you that these skills are not obtained through genetics, but are available through hard work, curiosity and determination!

He had no formal previous pipe organ building experience.  In fact, he has a BSME, a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and worked for Texas Instruments.
His website, with lots of audio and video samples, as well as a lot of information re: building a pipe organ:

http://www.rwgiangiulio.com/

An organ recital on this particular pipe organ (in his home):

You can learn more about Raphi Giangiulio by Googling him, or searching for him on YouTube.  Since he built this organ, he has built a couple continuo's - smaller, self-contained organs:

Raphi Gianguilio has since taken a job with an organ builder in Tacoma, WA.  Where can I get it?  There is nothing comparable to doing something that you absolutely love to do - and you get paid to do it.

These are just 2 examples of people who are self-taught, and have had no formal training.

Personally, I have taught myself how to read music and I am a self-taught, advanced-level knitter.  Please don't misunderstand me.  Learning to read music or knitting it by no means comparable to building flawless, breathing instruments, both from scratch and with no formal training..... however......  The intent of this blog is this:

"You can learn anything you want to learn, and the best way to finish any task is to BEGIN."

I heard someone once say that "The love of money is the root of all evil."  I challenge the author of that statement to take just ONE look at 'laziness'.  In the league of 'evilness', Laziness trumps Money all day long!  :)

GET BUSY AND DO IT!

(And congratulations to these 2 gentlemen, and many more that I have not listed, for their hard work, determination, attention to detail, and for your passion.  The world sorely needs less physically and mentally lazy people, and more people like you!)

- Michael