Don't Feed the Giant Bunny

My family has left me and gone to Mexico. Evenings this week you can find me on Adams Street sipping on assorted beers, bottled waters and flat sodas, pacing around the backyard, tossing Frisbees and listlessly lighting tiki-torches.

I shouldn't complain, though. I did get to do some serious travels last weekend. Jennifer and I went to Big Brutus, the 11-million pound steam shovel and the second largest electric shovel in the world, located in the quaint hamlet of West Mineral, Kansas (I'm pretty sure there's a bitter rivalry with East Mineral, but I didn't spend long enough in Cherokee County to confirm this).

Big Brutus is indeed big. In fact, it's enormous. Unfortunately, you can no longer climb out on the 150-foot-long boom, where people with mullets used to get married, according to the short informational video shown in the museum. Brutus, in case you were wondering, did not dig coal. The bucket removed dirt and rocks covering coal seams and was operated from 1962 to 1973, when the thing was finally retired due to the drop in coal prices and a monthly electric bill of over 27,000 dollars. You can learn more about Brutus and buy some nifty souvenirs at www.bigbrutus.org.

These are a couple of our close friends playing in the dipper...

Actually I don't even know those kids -- some lady named Rosemary posted this picture on her blog and I thought it was so sweet I'd reproduce it here. Rosemary also took this picture of the Webb City Praying Hands monument. I got lost here one time. Also, there is absolutely no sledding allowed at Praying Hands, especially in the summer.



Praying hands are not the only oversized thing you'll find in this part of the world, however. While skirting the Oklahoma border we came across this former parachute shop that is the home to a bunch of run-down cars, statues and a giant bunny rabbit. More pictures here.



If you'd rather check out footage of more remote and mountainous territory, the New York Times' "Frugal Traveler" has posted a video of his hikes through the Harz region of Germany, which my friends know I am semi-obsessed with even though I have never been there. The part where Frugal Traveler encounters a guy in the middle of nowhere clearing fields so he can shoot wild boars from a lookout tower is pretty special.

While I'm linking, I'd like to encourage you to check out this viral video posted and analyzed by reporter/raconteur J. "Scoop" Tucker. I thought the "Crazy Titch vs. Dizzee Rascal" battle was intense, but that's nothing compared to Eli Porter vs. Envy.

On top of my playlist lately are a pair of Scandinavians and two bands from San Francisco. For tunes by Pugh, Lau Nau, The Ohsees, visit the lukebox. To hear some stuff by the Sic Alps, who I saw this week at the Pistol, check out www.sicalps.com. This is a band I can heartily endorse, not just because I like experimental psychedelic rock from the Bay area, but also because they deleted their MySpace page -- perhaps the last act of rebellious negation that exists for today's rock and roller.

More soon.

LW