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Cinko had been doing his homework on how high up we would be while visiting Crater Lake State Park and with the added chance of snow still lying on high ground he decided that it would be best if he packed his jacket (just in case).
Little did he know that his jacket would become such a massive talking piece as tourists galore stood and watched as Cinko's new friend Chipper helped demonstrate to the crowd that Cinko's jacket was truly the jacket of choice for any outdoor enthusiasts.
(I'm completely drained after a very long day which saw me drive 4 and 1/2 hours South to Crater Lake, explore for around 6 hours and then another 4 and 1/2 hour drive back, but I couldn't head to bed without sharing this shot before I did so. More to come from Cinko and Chipper tomorrow once I get some sleep.)
Saturday 31 July 2010
Uglyworld #685 - Cinko & Chipper (213-365)
Friday 30 July 2010
Uglyworld #684 - Chocolate Satin Cake
In order to make space for Trunko being able to go on this weekends trips it meant one of the other guys having to stay behind.
Thankfully Babo offered to stay in the hotel this weekend, but on one condition - that I took him to Marie Callendars this evening for dinner.
He wolfed down a plate of Spaghetti and Meatballs and then came the real reason for him choosing to eat there tonight - a big walloping slice of Chocolate Satin Cake which he posed for briefly before taking a nosedive into!
He's going to need to take a shower before he heads for bed later as he's now covered head to toe in chocolate and whipped cream.
Uglyworld #683 - Off Powerwalking Around The City (212-365)
Uglyworld #683 - Off Powerwalking Around The City (212-365), originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.
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Trunko wasn't too impressed at not getting to come with me and the other guys to Mount St Helens last weekend, so I promised him that he could come on the adventures Turtle had planned for us this weekend (he promised me I'll find out on Saturday morning what those plans will be).
To get himself warmed up for the weekend, Trunko then decided to go off powerwalking around the city like he was completely possessed, as he flew past me at some serious speed I could hear him muttering to himself, "Musts get fits, walks and explores, needs to keeps up with everyones else" over and over.
I don't think he realises that most of our trips involve taking it at least a little easy and enjoying the sights that we visit along the way, he'll find out soon enough (and at least his power walk will help tire him out ready for a good sleep tonight too).
Thursday 29 July 2010
Uglyworld #682 - "Threes, Twos, Ones........Jumps!!!" (211-365)
Uglyworld #682 - "Threes, Twos, Ones........Jumps!!!" (211-365), originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.
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Here you have the reason for Turtle's fit of the giggles, Cinko decided to gather together everyone he could find and had them all stand on the bed beside him.
Once everyone was in place he shouted, "Threes, Twos, Ones.......Jumps!!!" at which point the whole gang started springing up and down on the bed, and immediately I could see what had Turtle almost in stomach cramps due to his laughter.
Rolf seemed a little perplexed as to why everyone was jumping up and down, and kept his eye firmly focused on Cinko as he was the one doing all of the shouting while bouncing up and down. Babo's giggling caused him to fall over every so often whereas Ox's decision to be so close to Big Toe didn't seem such a good idea as he ended up doing a headplant!
Life's never dull with these guys around to entertain me (and Turtle).
Uglyworld #681 - A Fit Of The Giggles
This evening I was trying to get on with some work on the laptop when I could hear Turtle giggling away from the bedroom, now had it been Ox or Babo giggling it would have been normal.
Turtle however, I don't think I have ever heard the little guy giggle or laugh for that matter before, so this had me intrigued.
I found him lying on his side on the bed in a mad fit of hysteria at what was going on around him (all will be revealed shortly).
Wednesday 28 July 2010
Uglyworld #680 - Theory Explanation (210-365)
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Big Toe thankfully understood Babo's explanation of how the time difference worked between where we were 3 weeks ago and where we were now, so tonight he decided to try and show off his new found knowledge by explaining it to Rolf.
The plan seemed to backfire somewhat as the second Rolf saw the photograph of Babo on the screen he let out yelps of "Raaaaaroooo, raaaaaaaaaroooo" before lying down in somewhat of a sad heap on the floor.
It would appear the little guy is missing his friends back home in Aachen too, but thankfully I've a bag of cookies handy to cheer him up again!
Tuesday 27 July 2010
Uglyworld #679 - Daily Supplement (209-365)
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Being away from home always affects people in different ways, some get through the daily drag in far off lands by burying themselves inside the work that they're there to do, others need constant contact with their loved ones back home, and in the case of Rolf it's been quite hard for him to get to grips with this trip to the USA.
Every morning back home in Aachen he'd wake myself and Mireille by either jumping up onto the bed and deciding quickly which one of us would get their face licked that particular day, or simply knocking his little bowl around to make enough noise that one of us would eventually get up and sort out his breakfast.
When Rolf first arrived to live with us we both wondered what do Uglydogs eat for breakfast, to which the little guy replied, "Aarrrrr, ruf, ruffff, aarf". There we had everything explained to us within a couple of seconds flat - cookies, preferably heated up!
With Wage and Tray looking after Rolf he was exposed to irn-bru almost straight away and like many other uglies who taste the Scottish soft drink he ended up addicted to the stuff! Now, that's all good and well until he found himself over in America without even the scarcest hope of finding even a single bottle of can of the orange-coloured "soda".
It wasn't until this morning when I awoke to Rolf's "Roooooraaaaaaaa, rooooooorrrrraaa" that I finally realised he had managed to find a replacement for his daily supplement - Cream Soda which thankfully I had chilled to perfection in the hotel room fridge.
So there you have it, if you're a fellow Uglydog owner and find yourself in Scotland you need to have a never-ending supply of Cookies and Irn-Bru, and if you're located on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean over here in America you're going to have to stock up on Cookies and Cream Soda to keep the little guy happy.
Monday 26 July 2010
Uglyworld #678 - Differences In Time (208-365)
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It doesn't seem to matter how many times I attempt to explain the difference in time between Aachen in Germany where Big Toe normally lives and where he is staying current out in the Pacific North West of America.
"Explains it to me agains, how many hours sleeps more does Mireille and Babo has?", he asked me again this evening. "No BT (as he likes to be known at the moment, he seems to think it makes him sound like a superstar), the time difference doesn't mean you get more or less sleep than other parts of the world", I tried to explain.
"But then hows is it's that Babo is alreadies sleeping in Aachen when is only afternoons here?", I'm slowly beginning to discover that some of the little guys aren't really fully up to speed on the concept of time and how the earth rotates leaving some of it in daytime while the rest settles into night time.
Maybe I should ask Babo to come explain it in yet another of his amazing talks that he's slowly becoming famous for (that's if I can drag him away from his new book for long enough).
Sunday 25 July 2010
Uglyworld #677 - The Volcano Master (207-365)
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Cinko now refers to himself as the "Volcano Master" after spending the last 2 days exploring the land around Mount St Helens.
He wanted to have his picture taken today with 3 little pieces of rock he acquired over the weekend, I better let him explain, "Well you see's, I really likes the weekends we hads but really misses Mireille too, so I picks up one rock for her, then one is alsos really neededs for Scottish mum to adds to her collections of stones, and then one mores for German mum too, onesies, twosies, threesies, yup, I has them alls".
There you have it, I don't think I could have put it any better myself.
Uglyworld #676 - Is The Waters REALLY Colds
After leaving Johnson Ridge Observatory we stopped off at Coldwater Lake to admire the amazing scenery which surrounds the lake and to see if we could spot some fish in the crystal clear water.
Babo loved it there so much that he really didn't want to leave, and only after I took this shot and promised to send it to Mireille as soon as we got home did he come back to the car with me.
The whole time driving back towards Portland and our hotel Babo kept asking "Is the waters REALLY colds, or does they just calls it coldwater lakes for funs?"
Uglyworld #675 - I Thinks It's Erupting Again
After we had walked around 2 miles along one of the hiking trails which leads from Johnson ridge along the cliffs in the direction of Spirit Lake Ox suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, shaking like a leaf.
As quickly as he had stopped, he about turned and started running back the way he had come with his arms flailing around in the air while screaming "I thinks it's erupting again!!!".
It took quite some time to calm him down and explain that it was only dust blowing off from the edge of the crater, and not another eruption taking place!
Uglyworld #674 - Arf Arf Arf (Is There Cookies Inside The Dome)
Uglyworld #674 - Arf Arf Arf (Is There Cookies Inside The Dome), originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.
As Rolf surveyed the Mount St Helens volcano he commented, "Arf, arf, arf", which for those of you who aren't schooled in the uglydog language means "Is there cookies inside the dome?".
I did contemplate the question a little before replying "no" to Ralf, as had I said yes he'd probably have gone flying down the steep cliffside and then made a bee-line for the volcano itself.
Uglyworld #673 - Turtle at Johnson Ridge Observatory
Turtle was most impressed by the difference a 5 mile change in position to the North West made from Windy Ridge Viewpoint yesterday to todays viewpoint from Johnson Ridge Observatory, as he was now able to see into the North side of the mountain which had been blown out in the eruption and earthquakes in 1980.
Saturday 24 July 2010
Uglyworld #672 - Whats The Hell Happened
On our way back down Interstate 5 South to our hotel, Babo asked for us to stop and find somewhere for some "scrumptious dinner, but it musts be at a cools old local restaurants place!", so when I saw the sign pop up for Mrs Beesley's Diner I suggested that be our place to stop for a munch, to which Babo agreed.
As we pulled up to the diner, Babo motioned that I shoot drive a little further along the road while he had a very puzzled look on his face. It soon became apparent why he sported that look - he pointed towards two truck cabs which were sitting high in the air as somewhat of a makeshift advertising display for one of the local businesses nearby.
"Whats the hell happened?", he asked while pointing to the two truck cabs which were balanced on top of a huge pile of wooden pallets, I explained to him that this was a local advertisement to which he put an abrupt end to the conversation with, "advertising, schmadvertising - that is justs mentals, anyhow's, I is hungries, so lets go gets dinners!".
Uglyworld #671 - Turtle at Windy Ridge Viewpoint
If the view of Mount St Helens volcano from the carpark at Windy Ridge Viewpoint wasn't already stunning enough you can climb up the several hundred steps which take you to the top of one of the hills surroundint the viewpoint, from which you have stunning views of Mount St Helens, Mount Hood, Mount Adams and Mount Rainier.
Any one of these mountains on their own is breathtaking, but being able to spin yourself around and take in all 4 of these plus the amazing landscapes inbetween is simply spectacular, so needless to say that was another photo opportunity that Turtle couldn't miss out on.
Uglyworld #670 - Hello From Spirit Lake (206-365)
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At the end of the road we had been driving to reach Spirit Lake you find yourself standing at the Windy Ridge carpark and face to face with Mount St Helens volcano itself, but also you're surrounded by evidence of the sheer distructive force that was exerted on the surrounding land 20 years ago when the volcano erupted, blowing out the North wall of the volcano and dessimating the area towards Spirit Lake.
Babo said that Spirit Lake was "Fulls of magic and mysteries, as it's nots every lake which gets to haves forces from a volcano pressured on it", I immediately got what Babo meant and with Cinko and Turtle gathered around I helped to explain Babo's theory to them about how the lake was changed on that fateful day, and the part it plays in present day as life begins to flourish again on what has been completely scorched landscape for many years since the volcano erupted.
Uglyworld #669 - Waterfall Bokeh
As we made our way closer and closer to Mount St Helens Turtle asked if we could take a quick stop as he had spotted a nice little waterfall out of the car window which he said would make a great addition to his ever growing selection of photographs from cool places around the world.
Incase you're new to my photographs of the little guys, Turtle is quite a celebrity back on Uglyworld, having been on the cover of Turtle Time magazine only a few months ago too!
Uglyworld #668 - Look, I Can See The Crater
After leaving Lava Canyon behind we made the long trip around the East side of Mount St Helens and eventually to the North as we drove onwards in the direction of Spirit Lake and the famous Windy Ridge viewpoint.
Cinko screamed at me to stop the car suddenly for no apparent reason, of course I did so to which he jumped out of the car and ran over to the edge of the cliff before screaming at me to come quickly.
"Looks Baz, we can see's the insides of the crater from heres, wowzers!", he quickly blurted out, "Cans this day gets any betters?". I reminded him that it would have been so much better had Mireille been here with us too, to which he replied, "This is mosts true, she always remembereds to brings cookies for us to eats!".
Ooops, I knew I forgot to pack something this morning!
Uglyworld #667 - Turtle at Lava Canyon
Back above ground we made our way Northward along one of the state park's trail roads and eventually arrived at Lava Canyon, which was originally formed thousands of years ago when Mount St Helens erupted and left the canyon as a sign of it's brutal force.
As the centuries passed the canyon was covered over by trees, grass etc, but then 20 years ago when Mount St Helens erupted again it once again destroyed the trees in this area and revealed the canyon which had been hiding below all that time.
Turtle was extremely impressed as he was able to see for himself just how violent a force the flow of hot steam and magma was to create such an amazing canyon.
Uglyworld #666 - Underground Exploration
As we reached the end of the Southward end of the lava tube the tunnel suddenly went from being around 15 metres tall to 2 metres tall and then down to nothing more than a crawl space.
Babo was the only one brave enough to travel into the crawl space, as around 30 visitors to the cave all stood waiting to hear what he found. As he returned to the start of the crawl space everyone held their breath waiting on his words of wisdom, to which Babo stood up (as you see here) and stated, "Sorries everyone, there is no cookies there!".
Uglyworld #665 - Just Takes The Photo Please
Turtle had specially asked if it would be possible for us to visit the marvel that is Ape Cave, which for those in the dark (you'll get the joke shortly, I promise) is a huge lava tube which runs underground in the area to the South of Mount St Helens.
Of course I agreed to include it on our itinerary for today, after all who doesn't want to travel over a mile underground with only the torch in your hand to light the way???
The darkness didn't stop Turtle wanting a photograph to remember the visit by, even though it just looks like he's in some REALLY, REALLY dark place, he is REALLY around half a mile underground at this spot!
Uglyworld #664 - Cinko Visits Mount St Helens Volcano
Wow, wow, wow - this is without a doubt one of my favourite shots of any I've taken of the Uglies when they come with me on my travels to far off lands and places.
Cinko absolutely loved our trip today to visit Mount St Helens, the volcano located about 50 miles or so North of Portland in Washington State. I've so many awesome shots from today but I just HAD to get this shot online tonight before I head to bed as I love it to bits (and really want to share that awesome cute little smile of Cinko with you all).
The best part is tomorrow we do part 2 of our Mount St Helens adventure, so as you can imagine the little guys are all stoked at what else they will see tomorrow!
Friday 23 July 2010
Uglyworld #663 - Pink Uglies Can't Jump (205-365)
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Cinko being the young guy of the bunch can sometimes shoot his mouth off without even realise he's doing it, for instance this evening he discovered that there's a basketball court on the grounds of our hotel, so he immediately starting giving Ox some abuse with lines such as "pink uglies can't jump" etc.
It didn't take long for Ox to rise to the challenge, "Okies, I has hads enoughs, you betters be ables to puts your skills where yours mouth is" and headed out of the room in the direction of the court.
Cinko seemeed a little stunned at how quickly Ox left the room with his challenge waiting to be answered, so he waited a minute or two incase Ox was only joking, and after realising that Ox was already shooting some practice hoops waiting on him, he headed on over too for the showdown.
Ox pretty much pumelled Cinko into the ground, winning easily by a score of 20 baskets to 4, I think Cinko has learned his lesson that it doesn't matter if someone's small and pink - they can still have game!
Thursday 22 July 2010
Uglyworld #662 - Guard Dogs (204-365)
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Like almost every ugly, Cinko finds the smell of freshly baked cookies impossible to resist, so when he realised that he was catching a whiff of freshly baked super duper double choco chippo's he set off to help himself to some of them.
When he laid eyes on the cookies he also noticed that he was not alone, as standing beside the plate of warm cookies were Rolf and Ralf, who Cinko surmised for some reason were immune to the intoxicating smell that lured him forward.
As he got within 10 or so steps Rolf puffed out his chest and roared an ear-shattering bark in Cinko's direction, with Ralf standing tall and silent but ready to pounce within a split second if need be.
Cinko for the first time since I've known him looked totally confused, one half of him wanted to just swandive into those delicious looking cookies and the other half was trembling with fear at the pair of guard dogs which blocked his way forward. He's just standing there, rooted to the spot, occasionally turning towards the cookies and then spinning away from them at a snarl or bark from Rolf.
It would appear we have a standoff going on...
Uglyworld #661 - Special Agent Babo
Babo has been really interested in the book I've been reading in the last week since I left Aachen, so much so that he's had me wondering just what was grabbing his attention each night, as he keeps asking for an update on what happened in the pages I've read before I go to sleep.
The book in question is "who dares wins" by Chris Ryan and it's centred around 2 brothers who are both members of the British special forces, namely the SAS.
When I asked Babo why he was so interested things got interesting, he immediately ran to the door, opened it a little and looked outside in all directions, then closed it again and turned the lock. As if that wasn't already strange enough he then switched off the lights and after checking sneakily out of the windows he came over to the bed with his opening statement, "Listens very carefullys, I shouldn't be tellings you this".
"I was a secrets agent back on Uglyworld, but I didn't agrees with everythings they tolds me to do, so I leaved". I must have looked completely bemused as I really wasn't expecting such a conversation to EVER happen, never mind right here, right now. Babo continued, "They wanted me to steals a huge delivery truck fulls of cookies, and me and my teams was ready to does this, but then we finded out that they was for a centre which looks after homeless uglies, so I went against the orders of my captains and aborteds the mision".
Again I must just have looked stunned to the little guy who was poured out his soul to me, "I arranges some transports for me and my uglies to travels to earth, and you see's thats what brings us here!". "We knows that we is safe with you here as you can protects us if needs be, but I don't thinks they will evers come looking for us".
After the tension dropped a little the lights went back on, the tv was fired up and everything went back to normal with Babo munching some cookies with the other guys...I'm not quite sure if I've heard the end of this or not, but if Babo wants to tell me more it's his call.
Wednesday 21 July 2010
Uglyworld #660 - Full Of POEtential (203-365)
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This evening I was just settling into my hotel room when there came a feint tap at the door, half expecting it to be one of my work colleagues with a question about the system we're working on I wandered over and opened the door.
As I opened it there was no-one to be seen, and just as I was preparing to close the door again I heard a voice from down at my feet, "Why good sir, excuse me, my name is Poe and I've heard rumour in the neighbourhood that my german cousin Cinko is in town visiting, is there perchance a possibility for me to pop in and say hello?".
Bearing in mind that the little guys that live with myself and Mireiile back home have a funny way of talking, Poe had me somewhat stunned with his perfect vocabulary so I had to usher him inside to where Cinko was sitting on the couch watching TV.
The pair are catching up on all the stories since they last met, and I'm secretly hoping that American Poe's language skills will rub off on Cinko while we're over here.
Tuesday 20 July 2010
Uglyworld #659 - Chilly Cinko (202-365)
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With the weather in Oregon getting up into the 80's today Cinko was beginning to feel the heat, so tonight I promised him that we would go find him some ice-cream.
Being a massive "sorbet" ice-cream fan myself I suggested that Cinko should try a different flavour from his normal mint choc chip which has pretty much dominated his ice-cream munching thus far.
The second he tasted this Sherbet Orange Cream from Dreyers he was sold, "wowzers, baz cans we buys a big tubs of this, is awesomes, reallys, makes my tongue tingles too!".
Right now he's lying on the bed tucking into the tub, but I have warned him that he needs to make it last until the end of the week as it is quite a large tub!
Uglyworld #658 - Choco Chippo's (201-365)
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When I asked the little guys if any of them wanted anything from the supermarket I should have already expected the reply which came from Babo, "Super duper choco chippo cookies".
I wasn't even sure that the supermarket would stock this particular style of cookies, so I suggested to Babo that maybe it would be best for him to come with me - do you think he agreed, hell yeah!
When we reached the supermarket I can best explain the next 5 minutes by letting you think of how a police dog can sniff out drugs, I tried my best to stay a metre or two behind Babo as he went scurrying around so fast that one old woman asked if he was feeling ok. Babo turned (without stopping his search) and said, "Yes, I is cookie searching".
The speed of Babo was really hard to deal with and he managed to get away from me, so it left me to search each of the isles one by one until I found him sitting on the floor pointing up onto a high shelf where the cookies lay.
I initially picked up a small packet of them to which Babo commented, "Haaaaaaaay!" so I put it back on the shelf and took the biggest one to "Betters!" from Babo. Once back in the hotel I had to make him promise not to eat them all before I could shoot a photograph of him with them (I had to tell him it was to show Wage back home in Aachen in order for him not to munch them straight away).
Monday 19 July 2010
Uglyworld #657 - Cinko at Battery Russell
Cinko decided that we should go and visit the old buildings of Battery Russel which used to protect the Pacific coastline of Oregon against invaders during the first and second world war.
He stood and asked loads of questions to the park ranger who came along to talk about the history of the battery, and even found out that the huge guns which used to be located here were actually sent to England once they were decommissioned.
Uglyworld #656 - Shipwrecked
Turtle had been seaching through Flickr's explore map function to find cool things to visit while we were out on the Pacific Coastline for out "Cannon Beach Daytrip", and he got extremely excited when he found photos from people of the remains of the ship called Peter Iredale.
Here you can see him (with his excited grin on his face) standing on the beach in front of the carcass of this very ship.
Uglyworld #655 - Where's The Rest Of The Crab Hidings?
Ox was a little concerned when he first spotted this crab claw lying on the sand, his first instinct was to be very wary incase it was perhaps a trap that was laid to lure unsuspecting uglies into a crab's dinner party.
As he gained enough confidence to stand beside the claw he asked, "Where's the rest of the crab hidings?" to which Cinko replied, "Insides the bellies of seagulls methinks!".
Cinko is probably right on this one as the number of seagulls flying around was insane.
Uglyworld #654 - Ox at Crescent Beach
To say Ox was a little excited to stand on the cliffs to the North end of Crescent Beach is somewhat of an understatement - from here Haystack Rock is visible in the distance, sitting out in the water offshore from Canon Beach.
What's so important about Haystack Rock I hear you ask, I'll let Ox explain...
"Wowzers, this is wheres they films that awesomes film the Goonies...HEY YOOOOOOOU GUUUUYS!"
All I can add to that is loads of giggles from the other tourists who were enjoying the coastal view too.
Uglyworld #653 - Turtle at Indian Beach
After all the shouting and screaming about Babo possibly being a vampire during his recent Inception episode, Turtle decided that it was best for him to stay in the hotel today as we were visiting Indian Beach which was used to film some scenes from the film Twilight.
When Babo asked why he couldn't come Turtle replied, "You see's Babo, maybe you is or maybe you isn't a vampire, but we just can'ts take the chance, as you may ends up being possessed or somethings".
Babo sadly had to agree with Turtle's logic.
Sunday 18 July 2010
Uglyworld #652 - Keeping Warm (200-365)
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Cinko managed to befriend a few locals who had a fire lit on Hug Point Beach this evening, so that he could get some heat into his flippers too.
Uglyworld #651 - The Power Of Inception (199-365)
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This evening Babo and Cinko came with me to the local cinema to see the new film from Christopher Nolan called "Inception" featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cinko was on the edge of his seat the whole time with excitement and managed to knock over his popcorn at one stage at a scary part. Babo on the other hand was pretty quiet during the film, almost as though he was concentrating 110% on the storyline of the film.
After we returned to the hotel he decided that it was time to give it a try for himself, so he waited until I was asleep and then managed to somehow get inside my head into my dream. I argued with him that I wasn't asleep but he then said, "I can proves it, comes into the bathrooms and sees!".
This had me somewhat intrigued so of course I followed Babo into the bathroom where he explained his theory, "Okies, when you is awakes I can stands in front of the mirror and you can sees me, yes?". I nodded my head in agreement, to which he continued, "So when Babo is corrects that this is onlys a dream I can stands in fronts of the mirror and then because I plants an idea in your head that you can't sees my reflection it's then possibles for me not to makes a reflection, you agrees?". Again I nodded my head in agreement.
Babo jumped up in front of the mirror and sure enough there was no reflection of him in the mirror and I was just about to concede to his argumentation when I heard Ox screaming at the top of his voice, "Helps, helps, Babo has no reflections, he musts be's a vampire, helps us somebody".
Saturday 17 July 2010
Uglyworld #650 - Ugly Morning Alarm Call (198-365)
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After the long travel yesterday from Aaachen to Dusseldorf Airport, to Chicago Airport, to Portland Airport and then finally the drive to the city of Hillsboro the little guys (and myself) were completely shattered so we all pretty much fell into bed and were snoring within seconds.
This morning however I was awakened by lots of muffled giggles coming from the other side of the bed, and when I turned around I found Babo and Turtle on either side of Cinko and funnier still Ox standing on top of Cinko's head signalling with her hands (5....4....3....2....1). As she signaled 1, the trio starting yelling at the top of their voices at which point Cinko managed to levitate right out of the bed screaming as he did so.
If I wasn't still like a zombie myself it would probably have been funnier, so we're off now to find some breakfast and then probably get another couple of hours sleep to get us in sync with the timezone out here on the West coast.
Friday 16 July 2010
Uglyworld #649 - Ice-Bat Airlines (197-365)
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Ice-bat is making the most of our 3hr connection to Portland International by telling all the other travellers that he's going to start up his own airline called Ice-Bat Airways (quite predictably).
Thursday 15 July 2010
Uglyworld #648 - Goodies For The Journey (196-365)
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Babo has been a great help all week helping to get things organised for me heading away, and today he took charge of the case packing activities, assisted by all the other little guys who were comical as they stood in line holding various pieces of clothing for Babo to pack into the case one by one.
Cinko had been a little upset at the fact that he had to travel in my case, but Babo came to the rescue with some "goodies" for the journey, needless to say Cinko was over the moon at the Jelly Bean's Babo made sure to pack within easy reaching distance of him.
So much to do, so little time (so sorry to those of you that I normally check in on here, hopefully I'll get some more time once over in America to check out your latest work!), I'm just glad I've this great bunch of uglies here to help out when there seems like a never-ending list of things to be done.
Cinko has promised that he'll not touch the jelly beans until he's been checked into the plane, but somehow I expect he'll have munched them all long before then!!!
Wednesday 14 July 2010
Uglyworld #647 - Singing In The Rain (195-365)
With the weather here in Aachen having been up in the 30-40 degree centigrade range for the last couple of weeks things started to cool down in dramatic fashion here this evening, kicking off with lots of thunder and lightning followed by some of the heaviest rain I've seen since moving out to Germany 3 years ago (and anyone who knows Aachen knows that it rains A LOT here!!!).
Jeero made full use of the downpour this evening to get himself cooled down, as he stood in the pouring rain shouting, "Come ons you guys, it's awesomes, reallys!", followed by some verses of the classic tune, "singing in the rain".
The rest of the guys were smart enough to just stand at the door and watch Jeero get absolutely soaked, as the cooling winds blew right in their faces that way without having to get wet.
Eventually Jeero marched back in and shook all the rain off and stated, "You guys don'ts know what you misses outs on, that was amazings!". It probably was Jeero, but at least we all stayed dry while still managing to cool ourselves down.
Tuesday 13 July 2010
Uglyworld #646 - A Special Treat (194-365)
Project 365 - Image 194/365
For all that Wage can sometimes be a little troublemaker he also knows when enough is enough and it's time to pitch in around the house with the daily chores.
With me trying to get everything ready for my long trip to the USA this coming Friday he decided that tonight's dinner would be a special treat for me, in a Scottish style thanks to a couple of rolls with square sausage, potato scones and fried egg stacked inside.
To say the little guy knows how to make me smile is an understatement, as after the last 2 days spent running around like a madman in work to make sure everything is arranged before I travel, and not to mention making sure all the bills are paid and everything is ship shape at home (in 30+oC heat) there's nothing I would have liked more than a big triple stacked roll. At least that's what I thought until Wage then squirted a little tomato ketchup on each roll and then came his secret weapon - a can of ice cold Irn-Bru!!!
So, for those that doubt Wage's niceness, just check out the cute little smile he pulled for this pic!!!
Monday 12 July 2010
Uglyworld #645 - I Finds An Elephant (#193-365)
Project 365 - Image 193/365
There's not too much more I could add to this picture, I'm still in amazement at what Babo found while out exporing today.
Sunday 11 July 2010
Uglyworld #644 - Falling In With The Wrong Crowd
Since the conversation I had this morning with Cinko about me heading off next Friday to work in America for the next 6 weeks he's been too hot to handle so he was sent out into the garden to cool himself down.
This seemed like a good plan until Wedgehead came running into the house screaming for me to "comes quick baz, we has troubles to deals withs". Wedgie pointed me in the direction of the swimming pool, where the problem was clear to see - two of the neighbourhood's bad kids appeared to have recruited Cinko into their shopping trolley gang.
This particular gang was renowned around the neighbourhood for throwing shopping trolleys into swimming pools and peoples gardens, and at the very moment I arrived on the scene they had Cinko all lined up to throw one into our very own pool!!!
"Cinko, what the hell do you think you're doing?" I shouted at him, to which he replied, "Why does you cares, you is goings away and not takings me withs you!". It was one of those moments where giving him more crap would have only made the situation worse so I had to counter with, "Cinko, if you REALLY, REALLY want to come with me, we can make it happen!".
Cinko's face lit up with that awesome smile he's known for and at the same time he screamed, "Takes your trolleys and shoves them where the suns don'ts shines!" and threw the shopping trolley he had been planning to submerge in the pool only a few minutes before in the direction of the two scallywags who were already high-tailing it out of our garden.
It would appear the daily panic has been overted, and Cinko's upstairs in his room sorting out which two and a half million things he wants to take with him, I think he's forgotten that there isn't much spare space in my case...
Uglyworld #643 - A Prelude To Madness (191-365)
Project 365 - Image 191/365
Why oh why did I choose today of all days to tell Cinko that I was heading back to America next Friday with work, and more importantly that I'd be away for at least the next 6 weeks!
Prior to breaking this news Cinko was out playing in the back garden, running around the grass, hopping, skipping, jumping and singing away to himself.
Now the little guy is but a shadow of his former self, he's shouting at anyone that looks in his direction, is kicking anything in his path and throwing stuff everywhere.
Babo has suggested that it may be best that I take him with me again, but with this trip being a long one my luggage space is heavily limited, hmmm, decisions, decisions...
Saturday 10 July 2010
Uglyworld #642 - Thumbs Up For Sunny Saturdays (190-365)
Project 365 - Image 190/365
Jeero, Babo & Wage wanted to show their appreciation for Sunny Saturdays in todays picture, and pretty much as soon as the shutter had slammed itself closed again the three of them were out of their clothes and jumping into the pool (Jeero did his signature "cookie bomb" much to the laughter of everyone else).
I did ask them why they all chose to pose in their warm wooly clothes, to which Babo replied, "The warms clothings makes us appreciates the cooling waters more, you sees?". I had to nod in agreement to Babo's answer.
Friday 9 July 2010
Uglyworld #641 - O Nemo Sushi
Say hello to my latest hand-painted custom, that I've very aptly named "O Nemo Sushi".
Thursday 8 July 2010
Uglyworld #640 - Why No Breakfasts? (189-365)
Project 365 - Image 189/365
Crocadoca and Big Toe weren't in the best of moods this morning when I made them get up and ready to leave the hotel straight away to drive to our ferry crossing at Dover.
They stood stamping their feet at the fact that they would be missing out on the "kids eat free" breakfast, even though I pointed out that I would still need to pay for mine.
Looks like there's going to be a few unhappy travellers on the drive back to Aachen today.
Uglyworld #639 - Strawberry Raid (188-365)
Project 365 - Image 188/365
After a quick visit to the local supermarket this morning to grab some goodies to take back to Germany with me, I had the job of making sure the strawberries my mum picked up went into her fridge ready for her to munch on after work.
I should have been more careful, as while I was upstairs packing my stuff away I could hear something going on downstairs in the kitchen, and when I went to investigate this is what I found!!!
Definitely some Mission Impossible strawberry raiding going on here! After giving the guys a ticking off I picked up some more strawberries and made them promise not to raid them once I left for my long drive down from Glasgow in Scotland Ashford near the South East coast of England today.
Wednesday 7 July 2010
Uglyworld #638 - Best Use For An Active Imagination
After Babo told Wedgehead earlier, "I needs some minutes to mentally prepares myself, I will be backs soon!" Wedgie stood slamming ball after ball into the net with ever increasing force in anticipation of Babo's return to the net.
As Babo walked back towards the net she didn't even glance for a split second in the direction of Wedgie, she was 110% focused on the job she had to do.
Wedgehead took 3 shots in rapid fire, the first whizzed into the back of the net, the second Babo got her fingertips to, and the third - well you can see for yourself - a magnificent diving save by Babo kept the ball out of the net much to the frustration of Wedgehead.
I asked Babo how she managed to improve so quickly to which she replied, "I calls up my friend Manuel Neuer in South Africa for some tips, and he tells me that he practices by thinking the balls is Nutella, and he suggested I imagines they is cookies, it works too!!!".
Babo said that she wished Manuel the best of luck for tonight and that if he can help Germany win she'll share some super-duper-choco-chipo cookies with him and the other players.
Babo's prediction is 2-1 to Germany, when I asked why she thought Spain would score a goal she said, "Spain will gets a lucky goal as Manuel gets distracteds by a fan eatings a roll with Nutella ons it".
Only time will tell I suppose!
Uglyworld #637 - Babo Struggles With The Goalkeeping Concept
Uglyworld #637 - Babo Struggles With The Goalkeeping Concept, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.
With Germany set to play against Spain in the 2nd Semi-Final of this years World Cup, football fever has once again taken over my photographs of the little guys.
It was almost comical to watch Babo standing in the goal while Wedgehead slammed ball after ball past her into the net behind. Babo called for a timeout to ask, "Why does you keeps hitting alls of them to me really hards?".
Wedgie explained, "Is hows footballs is playeds, I musts get more balls into your goal than you cans into mines!".
Hopefully Babo understood the concept now and gets better...we'll see as she left me with the parting comment, "I needs some minutes to mentally prepares myself, I will be backs soon!".
Uglyworld #636 - Ice-Bat's Off On A Garden Ramble
Once Ice-Bat reached the point of not being able to hold in his ever-growing mirth from Crocadoca's "hat" suggestion for the shuttlecock they had found in the garden he decided to get on with enjoying the sunshine by going for a ramble around the garden.
He kept shouting for me to come and look at the size of the daisies and buttercups he found dotted around the garden.
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