Bernheim Forest

I need to visit Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, in Clermont, Ky. more often. About an hour away, the facility is well worth the drive.

With two lakes, two ponds, an Education Center, a Visitor Center, a Research Center, a 14,000-acre forest and more than 15 hiking routes (and one mountain bike trail) boasting some 35 miles of trails, the nonprofit preserve offers outstanding opportunities to view wildlife, exercise, read, write and just relax outdoors. There's also a firetower that, if you're up to the hike and climb, offers 30-miles views in every direction. Well worth the trip.

Today I spent about four hours out there (view the photos on Flickr). I packed the family and a cooler full of sundried tomato bowtie pasta, corn salsa, pimento cheese sandwiches and a few slices of chocolate devil's food cake from Queen of Tarts. What a perfect way to pass a Friday afternoon.

Banned Books Week

So it's Banned Books Week. What are you doing to recognize the occasion?

I reviewed the most challenged books list, and while I think many of the titles shouldn't be read by children not yet old enough to understand some of the subjects covered, I don't support the banning of any book.

That said, should tax dollars be spent to purchase these books for public school libraries? Personally, I don't have a problem with it. We need to do all we can to encourage more people, kids in particular, to read. I just hope children of too young an age aren't being required to read subject matter for which they're not really prepared.

Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers

There's a phenomena occurring, apparently, that I've been missing. I've always enjoyed feeding birds and learning what I can to identify the American Goldfinch, Bluejays, Cardinals, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers and Hummingbirds that populate the area. But I wasn't aware of all the fuss, and debate, occurring over the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker down in Louisiana.

Once thought extinct by ornithologists, bayou natives and others have been claiming sightings all along. How did the research community respond? By labeling those who claimed Ivory-Billed sightings as crackpots. It appears, at least to me, sour grapes and petty jealousy.

It's easy to understand how an ornithologist, who's given his/her life to studying birds and other wildlife, could feel incredulous or even slighted when hearing of a layman's spotting the revered woodpecker. And surely, many of the so-called Ivory-Billed Woodpecker sightings were merely mistaken glimpses of the Pileated Woodpecker. But I suspect many of the claims are legitimate.

For the curious, I recommend checking out Tim Gallagher's The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. I picked it up about a week ago, and I've found it entertaining and educational, a seemingly rare combination these days.

Here's to a Lazarus species.

What's With NCAA 06 Football?

So I dropped $50 for a copy of EA Sports' NCAA 06 Football. I've read EA Sports is having trouble, but goodness. The game can be impossible. I played 12 games or so, and I was just about blown out in all of them. That was before I figured out the secret. It dawned on me that most of my lopsided losses were when playing the Longhorns. This was true regardless of which team I fielded, either Louisville, Michigan or even USC.

This is my new plan. Take Texas. Run a normal I-formation. Select the option play, then watch the score roll up. If I want a change, I can go with the normal Shotgun formation. Same deal.

I just finished a game in which both myself and my combatant played realistically. In other words, no onsides kicks, no going for it from our own 20 on fourth down, etc. In the end, more than 110 points were scored. Crazy.

EA's programmers must have gone to the same Institute Of Offense favored by John L. Smith and Bobby Petrino. Oh well. These guys could learn a thing or to from Marvin Lewis (let's just hope that continues to be the case). After all, how else does one explain losing by 30-something points to an unranked South Florida team?

Goodness. But that's embarrassing.

Current Netflix Rentals

1. The Office (American version with Steve Carell).
2. Fever Pitch (the American one; although I think I'll like the British version best, here).
3. The Corporation.

What Would Jesus Drive?

What Would Jesus Do? WWJD. You've seen the bracelets, and you've probably seen a few stray headlines inquiring, in the wake of tightened fuel supplies, what would Jesus drive?

I see Him in a silver, or maybe white, Jeep Wrangler. He'd have the Dana 44s, of course, and He'd likely leave the top down and forego the doors. With the factory seven-speaker sound system, I suspect you could expect to hear him cranking Third Day, or maybe even Alanis's That I Would Be Good, when He cruised by.

An article in the new issue of Dirt Rag, by the way, suggests that, if Buddha were with us today, he would ride a bicycle. Of course, if he lived on the Pacific Rim, that might very well prove true.

For argument sake, say Christ rode a bicycle. What would he ride? My vote is for an Ellsworth Truth. Have other thoughts? I'd enjoy hearing them.

Bengals Dismantle The Vikings

And I was there. Tone-Loc and I traveled to Cincy. We got there early enough to down a few Warsteiners. The mood was celebratory, even before the game began. It only got better.

We made friends with a few Vikings fans seated around us. I was surprised. There were quite a few Vikings fans present, and they weren't shy about their allegiance. Throughout the crowd of 68,000 were sprinkled blonde braids, Viking horns and Culpepper and Moss jerseys (even though Moss is now playing on the West Coast for the Raiders). Bengals fans proved deafening regardless, even before kickoff. The Bengals were introduced, and four F-16s performed a fly-over, which sent the place into a tizzy. Then, when the Bengals broke a 70-yard touchdown on the game's second play, Paul Brown Stadium was bedlam.

Everyone was pretty cordial with one another, though, despite the pounding. Even when the Bengals blew the game open, which was early, fans remained friendly.

I took a small camera to the Vikings game, which wasn't anywhere as near as the final 37-8 score made it seem. In fact, Palmer overthrew two open receivers in the end zone, an 80-yard rushing touchdown was called back on an offensive penalty, and the Bengals ran out the last two minutes of the clock kneeling on the ball on the Vikings 10.

While the pictures aren't as good as the images I shot at Kentucky Motor Speedway, I managed to capture a few photos. Then again, I had better access for the IRL race.

Hopefully the Bengals can keep the win streak going against the Bears (in Chicago). It'd be nice to three-and-oh going into the Texans game. That would almost justify another visit to StubHub.com and another trip up I-71.