Motorcycle tank urns are hot right now. Black seems to be the preferred choice, followed by silver.

This is the third riding buddy my client has lost in the last few years. Not from bike wrecks, but cancer or some other ailment. He bought the silver urn for his bud who’s dying from cancer and going down fast.  He plans to let friends take a sharpie and sign off on the tank.

The client even called back to tell thank us for the speedy service and how pleased he was with the beauty of the tank.

Thank you for letting us serve you.

“The white deer is a mutation. It does not belong in the wild. It should be shot.” Günter Giese, the president of the Saxony Hunting Federation, Germany.

There’s a whole lot of killin’ goin on around here. It’s deer season and this past week I’ve heard several tales of the mighty hunters bagging 10 pointers.

Several weeks ago I asked an experienced hunter if he’d ever seen an albino deer. He had. In Northern Michigan years ago. The reason for my question was an excerpt I’d read from Vance Randolph’s account of albino deer in this area.

Bad Joo-Joo?

It is very generally believed that the appearance of an albino deer is a bad sign; some hillfolk think it has something to do with witches’ work, others that it is an indication of disease among the deer, and that venison will be unwholesome for seven years. In 1939 a white deer was seen in Taney county, Missouri,and many natives were pretty much upset about it.

It was said that if early settlers saw a white buck in the woods, nobody would shoot it for fear of bad luck.

Last weekend, one of the fearless hillfolk here heard about an albino deer sighting nearby and started stalking his prey. He found it in some thick woods, and shot it from about 125 feet away. He plans to have it stuffed, “marveling at the rarity.”

Cloisonne Deer Urn

Spotted at the gym:

Jack Lalanne

In order to offset the grim business of death and dying, I like to mix it up a couple of days with fitness in the morning, funeral in the afternoon. The fitness police job starts very early, and there’s a narrow window where there’s no trained medical personnel on staff*. Usually, on those days I’m operating on 3-4 hours of sleep, and I’ve had a premonition that with this early bird crowd, the “Door Rattlers”, that one of my silver foxes would over exert themselves.

Today it happened a little after 6 AM. One of the regulars strolled in half asleep and starting gettin’ sweaty on the stepmill. I saw him fall backward and heard his head thud. Luckily, we had a doctor in the house who also happened to be working out and took control.

The doctor revived him, our patient walked out on his own two feets and admitted he was straight out of bed, no food, no liquids. No good.

Today’s Fitness Tip: Avoid consuming cabbage and fried food before strenuous exercise.

*I am CPR certified and can shock your heart as well as fire a taser.

Picture courtesy of the Warren Family archives

Barbara Warren, one of the world’s elite endurance athletes in her age group has died after breaking her neck in a bike crash at the Santa Barbara Triathlon. She was 65.

Warren crashed her bike on a downhill road about halfway through the 34-mile cycling section of the race on Saturday.

Warren was paralyzed from the neck down and was breathing with the aid of the ventilator.

Drake said her sister told the family by blinking and nodding that she wanted to die.

“I talked to her and she nodded over and over and over again. She wanted to leave,” Drake said. “No athlete would like to have a life with only their eyes talking.”

Warren won her age group in the 2003 Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii. She competed in the race, the world’s top triathlon, 13 times and finished in the top five in her age group eight times.

Remarkable!

Read more.

Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

BEIJING (Reuters) – Misty May-Treanor had one worry when she came through customs on her way to the Beijing Olympics: what if they confiscated her mother’s ashes?

American May-Treanor sprinkled some of her mother Barbara’s ashes on the beach volleyball court in Athens when she and Kerri Walsh won the semi-final and the final and she was determined to do the same in Beijing.

After winning the semi on Tuesday, and finals last night, May-Treanor pulled out a camera film canister and sprinkled some more of the ashes on to the sand in the Chaoyang Park stadium.

“My Dad packed it for me and I was like ‘What if they take it in customs as I go in?’ but it was all fine,” May-Treanor said after the match. “We can’t leave her home alone.”

(Reporting by Jane Barrett)

Meet Mr. Owen Hilton.

WWII Military Vet.

Purple Heart.

84.

Works out everyday Monday-Friday. He usually starts shooting baskets about 5:30 in the am.

Takes NO medication, except for: A Baby Aspirin Daily.

Nothing else.

Mr. Hilton is the only 84 year old gent that I know that doesn’t’ take a zillion pills.
He’s a fine Physical Specimen and a nice guy too.

Motorcycles are a passion in the garden. And we’ve been thinking about the riders in our lives that have went down this past year.

Evel. Candace has a great perspective on this.

Sweet James who recently died from injuries sustained in a crash.

Dan Feather who died on his dream bike two weeks after he got it.

Keane Moss,17 and James De Anda, 19 on their dirt bikes. The helmet pictured below was used at the memorial.

Kevin Umlauf, trials and enduro rider. I remember when we were kids, Kevin was doing a wheelie on asphalt, lost control and completely scrapped the hide off his back and legs.

And then a guy I met a couple of weeks ago, Ronnie, who was hit on his bike in Branson on his way home from work on a Monday night during the first week in November. Driver was on her cell phone. Ronnie was invisible. He lost his leg, but not his life.

He looks pretty good, but is pretty pissed off. He worked a server in a Branson restaurant. His insurance has already dropped him and he’s trying to secure disability. And build his upper body so he can learn to walk.

Have a great week!

Goodbye Evel, you will be missed by the kids that grew up on your stunts, collected the action figures and even pretended to be you in female form on our bikes…..”Stacy and Tracy Knievel Stunt Riders” was a favorite game. Wild World of Sports featuring the latest jump (and crash) was must see t.v.

On Evel’s site, there is a picture of Evel and another one of our heros….Joey Chitwood. Our deepest sympathies to the Knievel family.

James Rogers
December 27, 1957-November 9, 2007

James N. Rogers passed away peacefully at St. John’s Hospital after an illness with his family and friends by his side November 9, 2007. He was born in Springfield, Missouri.

James graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1976 and worked for Paul Mueller’s and Watson Brothers Drywall. He was united in marriage to Debbie Watson December 21, 1982, and to this union one child was born, Sarah Marie, on July 4, 1983.

James loved spending his time playing softball, watching his favorite NASCAR driver, Jeff Gordon, or just soaking up the sun at the lake, but most of all he loved to spend time with his two granddaughters, Amirah and Angel, and his two grandsons, Joseph and Dominic.

Survivors include his wife, Debbie; daughter Sarah and Joe; granddaughters, Amirah and Angel; grandsons, Joseph and Dominic; brothers, John and his wife, Jean, and Tim and his wife, Gerri; sisters, Judy O’Bannon and husband, Bill, and Becky Hilmes and husband, Scott; father and mother-in-law, Ernie and Dixie Watson; brother-in-law Mike Watson; grandmothers, Opal Watson and Fern Neer; nephews, Mike and Chris O’Bannon, Travis and Shad Rogers; nieces, Kathy O’Bannon-Kincannon, Lori Rogers-Wheelis and Whitney Rogers; great-nephews, Sean and Kyle O’Bannon and L.T. Kincannon; great-nieces, Erin O’Bannon and Kasey Kincannon and a multitude of friends and co-workers.

The family would like to thank the staff of St. John’s for the care and support of James, especially Dr. Evans, Cris, Jessica and Amanda. We appreciate your kindness during James’ last stay.

Visitation will be Monday, November 12, 2007, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the funeral home. Funeral services will be Tuesday, November 13, 2007, at 10 a.m. in Klingner-Cope Family Funeral Home at Midtown. Interment will be private.