Green Thursday: No more plastic water bottles

Skip the bottled water. The oil used to make plastic water bottles in America is enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year!

We're not very good about recycling them, either. Only 1 in 6 makes the green bin in the garage. I cringe at the overflowing garbage cans at summer festivals, peppered with empties.

Do the green thing, and drink tap water out of a glass. Blind taste tests show we can't taste the difference, and tap is better because it contains flouride to keep your teeth from falling out of your head. And at $2, $3, even $4 a bottle, think of the money you'll save.

Every Green Thursday, we post information vital to the environment.

Bye, Bye Sunflowers

Remember the sunflowers back in July? Our tall friends, following the sun from East to West are past their prime and starting to die. Time to say goodbye to Helianthus annuus.

Here we are using the garden fork to dig out the sunflowers.

They have a substantial rootball just under the surface.

This pile will be tied up, then put out for yard waste next month.

There's quite an empty spot left by our 'happy face' plants. It won't be long until everything is out of the LipsYard garden. Kind of reminds me of how the White House is getting rid of all the happy faced 'Yes-men.'

I can't wait until it's time to plow the whole place under and start fresh.

Oh What A Beautiful Morning (Glory)

The vines have been growing for most of the summer, finally we see some color from the Morning Glory (Ipomoea tricolor.) This one is called 'Heavenly Blue.'

The Morning Glory flowers open the widest in the morning, and are a perfect way to greet the day. Its seeds are the source of a hallucinogen with LSD-like properties (so I read on the internet, but never tried,) mostly used in Central and Southern Mexico.

Morning Glory was also the title of a 1933 movie starring Katharine Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. She won the best actress oscar for her roll:

Eva Lovelace, would-be actress trying to crash the New York stage, is a wildly optimistic chatterbox full of theatrical mannerisms. Her looks, more than her talent, attract the interest of a paternal actor, a philandering producer, and an earnest playwright. Is she destined for stardom or the "casting couch"? Will she fade after the brief blooming of a "morning glory"?

Also making his annual fall appearance at the United Nations, America's Morning Glory, President George W. Bush.

Life's Disappointment Turned Around

When asked what my biggest dissappointment in life is, I always reply: "The failure of Burlington, WI to put up signs reading "Boyhood Home of Lips LaBelle."

Kim Nelson has turned that around for me. We've met as team owners in the Matthew Blades in the Morning Fantasy Football League. Kim, being from Burlington, as am I, wanted to beat AJ of the Morning Show this past weekend. To that end, and to Jill's dismay (another team owner,) I traded her my best running back for the weekend and a bowl of fruit. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, but we tried!

Now if Kim could do something about the Bush Administration, that would be swell.

Attention small bugs, come here

The buggy-ness in the LipsYard continues. These dewy mornings are great to see the webs built by spiders in the yews (Taxus X media Densiformis.)

They look like little satellite dishes aimed at the sky. I'm guessing now that these photos are up, the NSA will be looking for a way of tapping into their data stream, searching for terrorists and all.

Green Thursday: Everglades de-listed

Why have Florida's Everglades National Park been taken off a U.N. list of World Heritage sites considered "in danger?"

Politics.

The Bush Administration, embarassed by the inclusion on the list (the only one in the United States, but don't worry, with their ignoring global warming, I'm sure we'll have plenty to add to the list, soon,) had Todd Willens, a deputy assistant secretary at the Interior Department, persuade the World Heritage Committee at a July meeting in New Zealand to take the Everglades off the list, despite recommendations to the contrary by the National Park Service and the committee's science advisers. Smells of Karl Rove to me.

Is the list of politicized departments doing "the people's business" endless.

Every Green Thursday, we post information vital to the environment.

Kale, Kale, the gangs all here

Another fall plant turning a nice purple is Kale (Brassica oleracea.) We've always seen it in other plantings, but this is the first year we've tried it in the LipsYard beds.

Not enough Senate Republicans turned color today to do the sensible thing by supporting the Webb Dwell Time Amendment. It didn't get enough votes to pass, again.

It requires our troops have a 1:1 deployment-to-dwell ratio for active units and members. The Department of Defense's historic policy and current goal is a ratio of 1:2. Currently, Army units are deployed for 15 months with 12 months at home. It is not unusual for Marines also to have less time at home than the length of their last deployment.

This amendment is vital to the continued morale and effectiveness of our Armed Forces, which are breaking under the strain of unprecedented long deployments in combat zones.

This Dwell Time Amendment provides a safety net under our troops. However long a servicemember has been deployed, they deserve at least that much time at home. It is a very simple, common sense amendment.

After 4 1/2 years of occupation in Iraq, it is time for the availability of troops to dictate the operational tempo, not the other way around. Hopefully the Democrats will hit the campaign trail next year and tell voters that they need to send more Democrats to Congress and put a Democrat in the White House to end this madness.

Sedum and weep

Even though its 80 today, Fall is still all around us, expecially in some trees starting to turn, and in the Sedum (Sedum spectabile ) in the LipsYard front beds. The border varieties of Stonecrop are a dependable choice for the late summer and fall garden, offering foliage interest earlier in the season, then a colorful display of flowers in the fall. Autumn Joy is by far the most popular of these, a familiar sight when it begins to produce green broccoli-like buds in mid-summer, which gradually open into enormous dusty-pink flower heads, finally deepening to rich bronzy-red. Even the dead flower heads have good winter effect.

The Sedum are alive with bees, too. Can you find Mr. Bumble Bee? He's uncovering lots of hidden pollen, just like Congress is uncovering lots of Bush Administration scandals. The latest involves the State Department, and their Inspector General not looking into fraud and wasteful spending in Iraq, where they've spent over $3 billion, including $600 million for our biggest foreign embassy ever.

Here's the story

1170 photos of different kinds of Sedum


There's even a Sedum Society

Annual physical day

Every year we head to Dr. King's office for our annual poking and prodding to see how the body is doing. In honor of that, here's 10 things you might not have known about your body.

1. The average human body comprises enough fat to make seven bars of soap, enough iron to make a medium sized nail, enough potassium to explode a toy cannon, enough lime to whitewash a small chicken coop, enough sugar to fill a jam jar, and enough sulfur to rid a dog of fleas.
2. A complete skeleton is worth between $5,000 and $7,500 to a medical student your skull alone would fetch only about $450.
3. Your mouth produces about one quart of saliva per day.
4. Demodex folliculorum has eight stumpy legs and a tail, is about a third of a millimeter long, and loves nothing more than to recline in the warm, oily pits of your hair follicles. Most adults have this mite, usually on the head, but especially in eyelashes. And often, they’re in nipples.
5. You have approximately 4,000 wax glands in each ear.
6. The average adult stool weighs about 4 ounces. And half of the bulk of your feces comprises the dead bodies of bacteria that live inside your intestines.
7. The average male foot exudes half a pint of sweat each day.
8. If it weren’t for the slimy mucous that clings to and lines the walls of your gut, your stomach would readily digest itself.
9. The average person will pass about 11,000 gallons of urine in a lifetime.
10. A man weighing 200 lbs. would provide enough meat to feed 100 cannibals in one sitting.

from "5 People Who Died During Sex (and 100 Other Terribly Tasteless Lists)" by Karl Shaw

Hey, look at MY BUG!

The ups-manship in the LipsYard neighborhood continues. First there was Rex's Cecropia caterpillar, then Penny's Cicadas, now Dick is in on the act with the Praying Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina.)

He found it in some shrubs and put it in a jar for show and tell. (Thanks to neighbor Peggy for taking the photos.) Dick thought that an ant would make a tasty meal, but the Praying Mantis eats mealworms, grasshoppers, roaches, and crickets. The female usually eats the male after mating. Ouch!

Green Thursday: Bug Off

All that rain a while back has really driven up the number of mosquitoes (Diptera Culicidae) in the LipsYard. Not only are they obnoxious when trying to work in the garden picking raspberries and such, but also dangerous, with the threat of West Nile Virus.

We've always looked for repellents that contain DEET, but that can irritate eyes and can cause blisters and rashes on some users. Fortunately, you no longer need to rely on chemical repellants, since natural, plant-based oils work just as well.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found repellants containing oil of lemon eucalyptus, such as Repel are as effective as low-dosage DEET products.

Bite Blocker a soybean, coconut and geranium-oil concoction is another option, and quite a few outdoor magazines have given high marks to BugBands, rubber bracelets treated with geraniol, an essential oil derived from a variety of plants including roses, lemons and carrots. The bracelets can be worn on wrists or ankles and used for up to 120 hours ($4.95 each.)

Way Out Wax's Garden Peace collection, which uses hemp, citronella, lavender and geranium oils to repel mosquitos with 100% soy wax candles in garden-party-suitable 2-lb. tubs ($20) and water-based sprays ($6.)

Hawkmoon Soaps Bug Off Lotion is natural ,DEET free and smells great!

Another option would be the mosquito predator: put up a Purple Martin (Progne subis) house, or even a Bat House (just so they don't take up residence in your attic!)

Buzz-Off Clothing has Permethrin, a man-made form of a natural insect repellent found in the Chrysanthemum bonded into the fabric.

Every Green Thursday, LipsYard will deal with an issue vital to our global environment.

The Return of Lunch with Lips

After a brief summer vacation, Lunch with Lips is back!

Every Wednesday, Debbie Lazaga and I pickup Cousin's Subs, Chips, and Chocolate Chip Cookies to take to a WKTI listener's business. Seen above is the friendly staff at Cousins, Hy. 100 and Oklahoma.

We play Office Olympics (like a baby shower from hell,) Swag it forward (delivering promotional chochkies from the last winning office,) and eat like pigs!

Today's winner is Peg Bradley at her Luggage Store on South Loomis. You could be the next! Just grab a piece of company letterhead, jot down your best reason(s) for winning, and fax it to Lunch with Lips 414-967-5266. We announce a new winner every Friday afternoon at 4:40pm.

There are just a few simple rules:

1. Your business can only win once

2. We can feed up to 20 people

3. You provide plates and beverages, we bring the rest.

Six Years Later

why do they hate us?

Bush said it is our freedom

do we have any left?

a 9/11 haiku by Mark Rabinowitz

Web spinning

Remember our little lady spider friend from an earlier blog? READ HERE. The Black and Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia) is doing well in the Day Lillies (Hemerocallis) ...

...and recently layed this egg sack, now attached to the garage siding.

With the recent outbreak of mosquitos (Diptera Culicidae,) its nice to see one caught in the web.

Speaking of caught in the web, here's a shot of General David Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, testifying in the first of three hearings this week on the future course of the unpopular 4-year-old Iraq war.

A recent New York Times/CBS News Poll found that Americans trust military commanders far more than the Bush administration or Congress to bring the war in Iraq to a successful end. Five percent of Americans said they most trust the Bush administration to resolve the war, the poll found; 21 percent said they would most trust Congress; and 68 percent expressed the most trust in military commanders.

A separate poll shows that an overwhelming numbers of Iraqis say the U.S. troop buildup has worsened security and the prospects for economic and political progress in their country. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed in a poll conducted by ABC News, Britain's BBC, and Japan's public broadcaster NHK said they want American forces and their coalition allies to leave the country immediately. This was 12 percent more people than harbored those views in a March poll, just as the troop increase was beginning.

Mukwonago Muppets in print

Here's a sneak peek at Larry Hanson's column from next week's Mukwonago Chief.

His football fantasy involves Muppets

Lips LaBelle is not your typical fantasy football player.

He is not really your typical football fan, either.

But, there he was during his usual 2 to 7 p.m. shift on WKTI (94.5 FM) last week discussing the Mukwonago Muppets, his entry in the station’s fantasy football league. Between spins of the ubiquitous Delilah song (it’s actually about a real person), the rock star song by Nickelback, the going home song from Doughtry and Gwen Stefani looking for her sweet escape, there was discussion of fantasy football. And I hadn’t even switched the station to the sports-talk outfit on the AM dial.

Nothing unusual there. Many, many Americans discuss their fantasy teams at work, with strangers and with loved ones who probably couldn’t care less.

However, LaBelle, who has lived in Mukwonago for the last 18 years, had to have traffic reporter Debbie Lazaga explain to him what a bye week is. To most hard-core fantasy players, a team’s bye week is vital information, along the lines of the third-string long snapper.
For Labelle, it’s a confounding mystery that made him question why he needed another quarterback when he already had Jake Delhomme.

He is the exact opposite of a fantasy football guru.

“I have no interest in it,” LaBelle said.

Instead, he was given a team to amuse his co-workers. “Let’s get the guy who doesn’t have the sports gene play in our league.”

Of course, that has already potentially hampered his squad, which LaBelle said will open the season with five straight road games (“We’re hoping to get the stadium sound system revamped by the time of our first home game.”). He traded Larry Fitzgerald to a co-worker for Mark Clayton and a lug (24 to 30) of peaches. While LaBelle may have gotten less talent back in the trade, he may have also gotten the last laugh. The peaches he asked for cost approximately $39 a lug.

Growing up in Burlington, LaBelle was a member of the school’s pep band. It would have seemed a natural for him to end up with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who also graduated from Burlington High School. That wasn’t why LaBelle wanted him on the Muppets, however.

“I wanted to get him so we could get Carrie Underwood (who Romo has been linked to romantically) to sing at the games,” LaBelle said. “In Little League tryouts, I was the last kid in the throw and catch line and I didn’t get drafted.”

That kind of soured him on team sports.

Nowadays, his recreational pursuits include downhill skiing and racquetball (because he doesn’t have to chase the ball when he misses it.)

He describes his participation in the league as sort of the control portion of a science experiment, seeing if he can do better than the people who are “obsessed” with fantasy football.

His draft strategy was to not actually have a strategy. His league had an auto-draft, where the computer picks players based on a fantasy player’s rankings before the draft, or lack thereof.
“It’s a lot like how I do my lottery tickets, a quick pick,” LaBelle said.

He figured once the computer was done picking his players, he would be done with this silly whim by his co-workers. He has no clue what he is in for.

After the draft, he asked one of his co-workers if he had won. They had to explain to him that the season goes for 17 weeks.

“How do they keep up with all of this?” LaBelle said. “I think I’ve scratched the underbelly of some secret cabal. People at work used to smoke.”

Now, it looks like the Muppets might be the ones who get smoked.

Let’s hope not. Come on, Mukwonago, get behind your team. Well your other team. I know the Indians are still No. 1 in this community, but there is nothing that says there isn’t room in your hearts for the Muppets.

Green Thursday: Paving the way

On the 2007 Parade of Homes we saw a new driveway paved with what looked like concrete cocoa-puffs. It's the latest rage: Eco Creto. It's claim to fame is water can pass through it into the ground below. This makes for less run-off, and in large installations, like parking lots, it eliminates the need for those big mosquito-breeding retention ponds. Its a way to make a difference on the environment without sacrificing function.

Concours Motors used it for display pads for their cars.

They say it'll handle the freezing and thawing we have, and because it's installed on a deep bed of stone, it won't heave.

Every Green Thursday, LipsYard will deal with an issue vital to our global environment.

The Molt is on

What is it with the LipsYard neighbors and bugs? Penny found these cicada (Auchenorrhyncha Cicadoidea) carcassas on her Red Maple tree. They've been waiting underground for 13 or even 17 years to climb up the trunk, molt, and find a shady leaf to make their noise on.

The empty shells kind of remind me all the folks who've bailed on the Bush White House lately.

Click HERE to see a cicada emerging from one of these.



There's even more movies and sounds of cicadas HERE.

This female, after a little bug bliss, is depositing eggs in the stem. When they hatch, they'll drop to the ground, and stay there for another 13 or 17 years.

Crawling towards Fall

Look what our neighbor, Rex, found in his shed. It's the caterpillar of the cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia.)
With a wingspan of 5 to 6 inches, the cecropia moth is the largest North American moth. Although common enough, you don't often see them because they fly only at night. (I hope they don't run into our homeless bats!)

This crawly guy's life started last May or June, when one of over 100 eggs layed by the female moth on the underside of a leaf, hatched.

The newly hatched caterpillars, or larvae, are black and the size of a mosquito. Cecropia larva have many enemies. A newly hatched caterpillar can be the victim of even a tiny spider. Unlike some other moths, cecropias have so many enemies they never become a pest.

Before the caterpillar is ready to spin a cocoon, it will molt several times. The stages of a caterpillar's life between molts are referred to as instars. The cecropia caterpillar's colors change from its original black coloration to a green-orange color as we saw today. Those yellow and orange balls on the black spines are called tubercles.

The cecropia caterpillars feed mainly on cherry, plum, apple, elderberry, box elder, maple, birch and willow, but will also feed on linden, elm, sassafras and lilac.

Very soon he'll spend several days spinning a tough, brown, weather-resistant home. Inside the cocoon the caterpillar will pupate and prepare itself for winter and the miraculous metamorphosis in the coming spring. In their cocoons, they can survive temperatures less than thirty degrees below zero Fahrenheit! It remains protected, waiting for a beautiful spring day.

The cecropia moths emerge in late May or early June. Late at night, the female emits a scent called a pheromone that will attract a male moth. The male senses the pheromone with his sensitive antennae. He is so attracted to the scent, he can find a female from a distance of a mile away! (The attraction is very similar to a member of Congress and the scent of lobbyist's money.) The mated pair will remain together throughout the following day.

Cecropia moths do not live long (about two weeks) because the adult cecropia cannot eat. In fact, they don't even have a mouth! The only purpose of the adult stage is to mate and lay eggs.