Exploring Palm Springs: An Early Morning Downtown

Early mornings in the desert are my favorite time of day. Sheldon woke us up earlier than usual and we decided to head downtown to Ruby's Diner for breakfast. Ruby's is at Mercado Plaza, which has a pleasant center square with a fountain and a statue of former mayor and Congressman Sonny Bono. (It you look to the right of the photo you can see Sonny's back.) There was only one other couple sitting outside on the patio having breakfast, it was so nice and quiet, being so early.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, an action-packed video of the plaza!

below: This is a view of the Mercado Plaza, looking back toward Ruby's restaurant. You can see the statue of Sonny Bono on the left now.

Sheldon seeks shade...

above: we brought Sheldon to Ruby's to join us for breakfast. He was a good boy and sat quietly under the chair and took in all the sights while we ate breakfast.

above: Sheldon sitting on friend Dick Van Patten's star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars. I think it might be fun to take a series of photos of Sheldon in this same position as he grows into an adult full sized standard poodle. Thanks for coming with me to explore downtown Palm Springs in the wee hours...I hope you got a sense for how relaxing it is by the video.

-Rick Rockhill

Sunday Art Review: Burgers in Perspective

With the July 4th holiday just around the corner, it seemed appropriate to chose a quintessential American icon as this week's inspiration for Sunday Art Review: Burgers in Perspective. The concept of hamburgers came from the Germans, in the city of Hamburg (not surprisingly). The great American Hamburger first appeared on menus as early as 1836, but the cheeseburger wasn't born until 1924 in Pasadena California. I can't say that I eat many cheeseburgers anymore, although in my younger days it was a favorite. Nowadays if I want a burger, I'll usually make a turkey burger on the grill with all the fixin's. So whether you eat hamburgers, cheeseburgers, veggieburgers or none at all, I hope you enjoy today's Sunday Art Review.

above: Cat and Burger

above: "Burger Board"

above: "Burgers n' Smokes"

above: "Cow Burger"

above" Retro Burgers"

above: "Cheeseburger Madness"
Maybe some other week I can feature "fries"...
-Rick Rockhill

The Saturday Seven: Funny License Plates

Driving back between Palm Springs and San Diego I have plenty of time on the road, often as a passenger to observe cars zipping along the highway. One of my favorite past times is to look for funny license plates on cars. The other day I saw one that read "CRZYFOOL" which made me chuckle. That was this week's inspiration for another scintillating edition of
The Saturday Seven: Funny License Plates.
I should confess that I found all these license plates on the Internet, but they amused me...

#1 I Farted, New Hampshire

#2 "Hi Officer", Nevada

#3 "I Hate Work", Nevada

#4 "I'll Sue You" , California

#5 "Sneezy" , Michigan

#6 "Vasectomy", Alberta, Canada

#7 "Oh My God, What The Fudge" , California (this is a family-friendly blog you know)

Have you seen any funny license plates out there? Go Ahead, leave a comment, it's FREE!

-Rick Rockhill

Say It Ain't So!

The Internet is buzzing with rumors of reported plans for mega-star pop legend Madonna to end her marriage to film director Guy Ritchie.

Apparently Madge is seeking advice from a London divorce attorney who handled Paul McCartney's divorce from the one-legged model Heather Mills and also Prince Charles from Diana, Princess of Wales. Supposedly Madonna did not have a prenuptial agreement, which means her husband could get half of her assets, rumored to be at $600 million. Personally I saw this divorce coming when I read the lyrics to one of the songs called "Miles Away" on her newest hit "Hard Candy" album. When I first heard the song and then read the lyrics, I felt Madonna was writing about her relationship with her husband. They are often apart from each other, one in London, and the other in the US, and the lyrics make sense. The rumors of their divorce are not due to a fight but more that they have just grown apart. Check out these lyrics, and see if you pick it up too...

Miles Away (by Madonna)

I just woke up from a fuzzy dream
You never would believe those things that I had seen
I looked in the mirror and I saw your face
You looked right through me, you were miles away
All my dreams they fade away I'll never be the same
If you could see me the way you see yourself
I can't pretend to be someone else
You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best when we're miles away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away

When no one's around then I have you here
I begin to see the picture, it becomes so clear
You always have the biggest heart,
When we're six thousand miles apart

Too much of no sound
Uncomfortable silence can be so loud
Those three words are never enough
When it's long distance love

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we’re at our best when we're miles away

So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away

I'm alright, don't be sorry, but it's true
When I'm gone you'll realize
That I'm the best thing that happened to you
You always love me more, miles away

I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best when we're miles a-a-away...

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best when we're miles away

So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away

Finally......

We closed on the house today, and now own this little castle in MPLS. That pretty much means if you live on the East Coast, and you want a tattoo, you should get a spot during any of the conventions or guest spots that I post about, since I'll be keeping it Midwest for a while.
See you all next on the East Coast for my Off the Map guest spot in MA over Thanksgiving.

Not Your Average Car Wash Joint

There are two really good places in town to get your car hand washed. I never subject any of my cars to the automated places where the machine washes your car. They never seem to do a good job and I'm always worried the rough flaps and brushes will scratch my car's paint. So when my cars need to be washed I head over to one of the two places where they wash cars by hand. One of the places is big, fancy and shiny. The other one is in a tiny old building but has lots of character. So I usually go to the old-fashioned one. Going there is an experience in itself. They have a line of old barber chairs so patrons can watch their car be washed up close.

above: a close up of the neat old barber chairs at the car wash

above: the walls and ceiling of the car wash are covered with all kinds of signs, license plates and statues that give the place a lot of character.

above: although it is a hand car wash, the car wax is sprayed on the cars by these statues of little boys peeing. I tried to take a close up to show you just where the wax is spraying form...but I think you get the idea!

above: an old "fortune scale" sits below a retro Palm Springs City Limit sign. The time flies by while waiting for your car....I usually find something new every time I'm there. I have to tear myself away when my car is ready. Any fun places like that where you live? Leave a comment with your story.

-Rick Rockhill

The Bird Flu is Everywhere.

Thanks to Lori of North Hampton Mass, for not only wearing a Bird Flu Crew shirt in a transgender pride parade, but having some hater take a picture of it, and put it up on a website. The hate blogger pointed out her and Heather (not pictured) for being tattooed women (as if that's a bad thing!), and during his mockfest typing rampage he misspelled "tattoo". Oh, you massholes!
I'd link to the site, but I don't want him getting any more hits, and thinking his message was getting out there.
I did steal his picture though!

Wisdom Wednesdays: Featuring Dr Sidney Wang

Dr Wang, our resident oracle betta fish


This week's dose of fish wisdom comes from deep within the waters of Dr Wang's fish tank, beyond The Great Bubble Wall:

"This week brings unexpected news that will surprise you but will have a positive outcome."
.

This week's quote is from Confucius:

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fall."

Thanks for reading,

-Dr Wang

IWYS V

The new I Want Your Skull is on sale here. This is one of the promo pages, showcasing the work of Todd (on the left) and I(on the right). Kevin McNutt has a piece in there as well, making it an Identity Tattoo packed issue. I'm sure there will be copies available at the shop as well, if you don't have Paypal.
Not familiar with iwantyourskull.com? Awesome site, check it out.

Cowardly Bloggers...

Cowards. The one type of person I universally loathe. Why? Oh, for lots of reasons I suppose. But for the purpose of today's post I'll focus on the "Anonymous Coward". It's a person who posts a comment without a screen name or uses a dummy name. I try to keep my blog easy to use and don't require users to be registered to leave a comment. But when someone feels compelled to express an opinion about a topic, even if it is contrary to my opinion I expect the person to leave their comment as a registered user. If someone wants to leave mean comments without using their account name, I just delete it. So easy to do and so dismissive of the cowardly blogger. So if you know any cowardly bloggers, do tell them to get some courage and start commenting with an account name and e-mail. Have you ever encountered the Anonymous Coward on your blog? Anyway that's all for now. I think I'll go play with my beautiful new poodle puppy.
-Rick Rockhill

Meet Sheldon Gryffindor Rockhill....

Well the day has finally arrived. We are the proud new parents of a standard poodle puppy that we have named Sheldon Gryffindor Rockhill. He is the son of the all-time winning champion poodle Reeba who is a beautiful mommy, who has fabulous poodle lineage. I am generally an advocate of animal rescue and adoptions, however, John has allergies and Poodles are generally non-allergenic dogs because they have hair and not fur. At any rate, we bought our poodle from an excellent breeder who really respects the breed and does an excellent job caring for and raising puppies. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend Candy who referred me to the breeder. She promised she'd find me one of the best poodle breeders in the country and she was right! Naming a pet is never easy for me. I start making lists way in advance and walk around saying the names out loud, trying to see what I like. Then once the new pet is in my home it's all about the personality and character. I can tell you that I had several other names on the list that I thought I liked more, but in the end he just seems like a Sheldon to us. I added his middle name of Gryffindor because that was my second choice.

above: at the risk of sounding like a Harry Potter nerd, here is the shield of the House of Gryffindor. I just liked the sound of it as a middle name for Sheldon.

above: you can get a sense of his size from these photos. Sheldon is 10 weeks old and weighs about 15 pounds or so.

above: Going for a stroll in the garden

Sheldon meets the other kids...

above: Koshimi was snoozing when Sheldon first burst onto the scene. Owen walked over with some trepidation.

above: The Three Amigos

above: Owen decides that Sheldon is alright and pats his new brother on the shoulder. Sheldon will be bigger than Owen in no time...

above: here you can really see Sheldon's size in comparison to Koshimi. Shimi is about 18 pounds and is an old man. Sheldon is 15 pounds at just 10 weeks old.

above: Shimi teaches his new younger brother how to go for a walk. Sheldon did fairly well for his first time on the lead.
-Rick Rockhill

Sunday Art Review: Poodles in Art

Regular readers of this blog know how much I love animals. On Saturday we welcomed a new pet to our home, a standard poodle puppy. In tomorrow's post I will introduce you to our new little guy. In honor of our new poodle, the theme of this week's Sunday Art Review is Poodles in Art.

First a few facts from our friends at Wikipedia:
* Poodles come in many colors including black, blue, white, red, apricot, silver and brown.

* The name poodle comes from the German word Pudel, which is short for Pudelhund, which means "splashing dog". This reflects the breed's use as a water dog .
* Poodles have hair instead of fur, causing them to be non-shedding and hypoallergenic
Now here is more Poodle Art for you...

above: Poodle Trio

above: Poodle Martinis

above: "Poodles on Parade"

above: "Poodle Cycle"
I hope you will stop back Monday to meet our new Poodle puppy...
-Rick Rockhill

The Saturday Seven: Things Named Sierra

I returned home from my two day business trip to the Pacific Northwest and it was quite HOT in Southern California. The high temperatures prompted me to crack open a nice cold bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale beer. So I sat with John, Koshimi and Owen and enjoyed a cold beer on a warm evening. As I sat enjoying my cold beer, I stared at the label on the bottle and started thinking about how delicious and refreshing the bottle of Sierra Nevada was. As I studied the label closely I realized for the first time that there was a drawing of what I assumed were the Sierra Nevada mountains. So I decided to do a Google search to see what came up under "Sierra". This brings me to another scintillating edition of The Saturday Seven: Things Named Sierra


#1 Sierra Mist Soda

#2 Sierra Nevada-California Yosemite Park

#3 Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in Andes Colombia

#4 Jessica Sierra

#5 Sierra Bullets

#6 The Sierra Club

#7 Sierra Denali truck

Are there any other things named Sierra that come to mind that I've missed? Care to comment on things on this list?

-Rick Rockhill