Miscellany

Phil Vischer's redone his website, to be more blog-like. Unfortunately, his eleven-part story about the fall of Big Idea has gone missing. I'm sure they'll bring it back sooner or later. He needs to update it anyway, since he ends it not long after the bankruptcy and sale, and a lot has happened afterwards.

But anyways, Phil's big news was that Big Idea and VeggieTales are going to be on the Saturday morning lineup on NBC, starting September 9. For some reason that's been keeping him busy.

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The Kansas City Renaissance Festival starts this weekend. Hard to believe it's that time of year again. J's going to be in it at least four Saturdays and one Sunday this year, leaving two weekends free. Of course, that could change at any time, folks might not be able to make it, want to trade, etc. J's getting enough comp tickets for all of us to go one weekend he's off. We haven't made outfits for the rest of us for a few years, and there'd be no way the kids would fit in theirs anymore.

Other than J's group, I'd say that my favorite performer is Lady Nancy and the Silly Songs of the Selkie (who for once has updated her website fairly recently). She always acts like she's enjoying herself, and even more importantly, like she enjoys the children. Not necessarily after the last show of a particularly hot weekend, but most of the rest of the time. She's gotten so she recognizes us every year, though if she would do so out of context, or without the kids.

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For as well as our garden started out this year, it sure didn't stay that way. Most of our corn germinated, but only got up about a foot high and stopped. Not enough rain at the right time and all that. Our cherry and grape tomatoes are coming in faster than we can eat them, but the big tomatoes didn't really do anything. From all our vines, we got one watermelon. I think the onions and potatoes may have done well, but we haven't dug them us yet to see.

All in all, what seems to have grown the best was the cucumber plant C brought home from school last spring. It's taken up the back sidewalk, and many large cucumbers have come off of it, and it's still flowering.