*num*num* King ringworm-free Hartman here filling in for the human. *num*num*Just polished off a big Whopper with cheese *num*num*.
The human is going out of town in a few minutes for...whatever it is the human does with the big camera thing. So I am going to judge the winner of the 'Name That Baby! and While You're at it, Name That Dog!' contest. I have carefully reviewed the 52 million entries we have received. Yes, it's true, we got more votes than American Idol. I have narrowed it down to 3 finalists:
Anonymous: Baby Angela, Dog Tiny
bluedog photog: Baby Seven, Dog Snowball
ftojrlst: Baby Danny, Dog Slick

This is your final 3, folks. Who will name a baby human and a puppy? Find out after these messages!

Tivo: budoop, budoop, budoop! FFWD. Beedoop.

And we're back. Anonymous, I like your style. Kissing up to who you thought would be the judge by naming the human after MY human. Guess what buddy, SHE ISN'T JUDGING, I AM! I meant it when I said I admire your smarts with the whole 'Angela thing'. Problem is, I'm a bit self conscious about my size. I, too, am tiny. I am opposed to the name Tiny-- therefore you--are going home tonight.

Now we have two, left. ftojrlst, I'm have news for you. I'M A BIG FAN OF SEINFELD! CONGRATS BLUEDOG PHOTOG! Aaron and Kim's baby will be named "Seven" and the dog is "Snowball"! You win:

uhm.... nothing really. you can have my BK french fries. I don't likem.

I've just returned from my week long vacation in beautiful:

Frontenac, KS! My hometown!

It's truely the best vacation spot on the planet. So relaxing to just chill in a town so small there isn't even a Starbucks---

Hey! Oh Frontenac, how you've changed. Well, okay, that's actually in Pittsburg. But close enough!
The swingset my cousins, brother and I used to play on at my Uncle's old house is still here. It's a little rusty now.



It has also been moved near the ditch (above) that is filled with volcanic lava! I know from this angle the ditch does not appear to be so menacing... it may also appear to be filled with dead leaves and a big green ball. But I clearly remember in the early 80s, my cousins and I placing a wooden plank across a dangerous river of molten lava that we absolutely HAD to cross.

People in Frontenac always say the town never changes. I suppose the change is too gradual to appreciate when you live there. I moved away when I was 22. Now, I'm---

--as of April 12th-- 31 years old! Note to self: coming home on your birthday was a GREAT idea! You got all sorts of cool gifts and--

lot's of attention from the fam! Sweet! :)

Mom's still using her old film camera. :)

My brothers girlfriend was also celebrating a birthday! I couldn't resist buying her this classy t-shirt!

While home, I also caught up my old highschool friend, Seth. It was great fun catching up with him. Though I am afraid our highschool antics are not suitable for publication on my blog. Soon I'm going to dig out our old videos we made in college and putting them on the internet when I find time (and the old videos!). He's doing well living in KC and is soon to be heading out to sea working on a cruise ship in Europe.

I also shared the traditional Bamboo Dragon meal with friends Aaron and Kim! Best chinese food in the country! Dave calls it 'KFC with sauce', but I think it's delicious! Aaron and Kim are expecting child number 3 next month. Oddly, I think I spent our entire lunch together trying to get the name of their new little one out of them. I had no luck. Therefore, I will be naming their child whatever I wish on this blog. So there! :)

We saw Malissa, my best friend from highschool, and her husband, Don, in KC. When M and I were kids we would always talk about how we were going to have a black refrigerator someday. Black fridges were AWESOME. We even took it a step further and often went to a local store to simply look at and admire the black refrigerators. Hey, don't make fun until you spend 20 some years in a town so small there isn't even a Starbucks! Well, now the final step has been taken: Malissa and Don OWN a black refrigerator! I'm so jealous! ;)
They also own a very large and slobbery dog. Gwen was very friendly!
We spent the afternoon with Grandma. That's my Aunt Shellie and Uncle Don's new doggie! They haven't named her yet, therefore I will also be naming it on my blog as well. You know what, let's make this interactive. How about my loyal readers (i know you must number in the millions!) name the dog and the baby. Just leave your entries in the comments section. I will announce the winner next week if there are actually entries to judge! ;)
Another highlight of the trip had to be cheering on my brother at his bowling tournament! I'm sure he was not the least bit embarrassed!
Now it's time to get to work on editing our old super 8 films from the 70s and early 80s. We shot them on mini-dv, and now I am going to put together a nice dvd for the family!

On Wednesday, Dave and I did a story on bees. We went with an exterminator to shoot him...well...exterminating! We watched as the bees busily worked on their hive during their final moments. How strange that the bees entire life's work amounted to:

A honey filled snack for me to blog about! WOW was this tasty! The honey was all warm and soooo sweet! Dave and I ate the whole hive! Well, okay, we ate a lot of it anyway! And don't think for a second that the bees sacrifice was for just ONE story to blog about:

You see, the bees made thier home in somebody's attic. Let's call the owner of this home, "Buzzy". So Dave, Buzzy and I were standing near the hive when one of the bees got real upset at Dave. It flew right in his face! Being that he had a pissed off bee in his face, and he had 2 legs, he ran from it:

Dave: "Whoa! haha!"

Buzzy: "Uh! Don't run, GOD! Just act NORMAL! That's the best thing you can do. Just ignore it! *muttering* Jesus. *eyes roll*

Yeah, Buzzy was a bit of a character. He had a certain arrogance about him. He probably couldn't wait to tell his friends about the tv crew who ran from a silly bee. Truely, Dave's jog was not spectacular. I would have long forgotten it and it certainly wouldn't be worth a blog entry... that is, until a bee paid Buzzy a little visit. I was shooting some more b-roll when I suddenly heard a YELP and a what sounded like a mix of a screaming hyena and a frightened 5 year old watching a horror flick! I turned around to see Buzzy frantically running and screaming and jumping and slapping at his head! The exterminator was cracking up! He asked me, right in front of Buzzy, if I had rolled on that. Don't worry, Buzzy, I'm not out to make you look silly on TV. Just on my blog. ;P

Yay! For the 2nd time since we've moved into our new place in January, taking a shower has cause water to spew out from the seams of our toilet! (and yes, that is a baday next to our john) Not only flooding our bathroom--


---but also our bedroom! Yay for wet moldy bedrooms! Oh but it gets even better: We can't use EITHER bathroom because when you flush our guest bathroom toilet it sends--ahem--stuff--spewing out of our bathtub drain causing a mess in the tub. Oh, but it gets even better:
Shortly after the great flood of '06, the vet called and said Hartman has ringworms and needs a medicated shampoo bath. I guess a certain someone will no longer be able to go outside! She did NOT enjoy the bath! Her eyes say "I hate you", but her bandana says "take pictures of me because I'm soooo cute!". Great news for you little Hart, you get up to 4 more medicated shampoo baths in the coming month!

There's a new tv news drama on the WB premiering right now. I've only watched half of the show, but so far Pepper Dennis, the reporter for whom the show is named for, has thrown a newspaper at an old lady--tripping her--so she could get an exclusive interview with her, loaned a station news camera to her sister, dropped the f-bomb live on the air to which the news director brought her flowers and she's still employed. It's so bad, it funny! :)