Geez.  Almost two weeks since my last post.  I guess there just isn’t anything all that exciting going on in my life.

State Fair began today.  That means this Mister is going to be playing Carnie starting tomorrow night.  I’ll be flippin’ burgers and fryin’ up Chislic.  Be sure to stop by and visit if you happen to be in the neighborhood.

And now for a truly fantastic picture.  As I may have mentioned, Special Someone is building a pond in his back yard.  This picture pretty much says it all.

And THOSE, Viewtiful_Justin and Masecam, would be some of the “whole lotta rock” that I’ve been moving.  Feel free to crush them and snort them at will.

Yep.  Another one.  I’m off to the big city (Well…Sioux Falls, anyhoo) for the weekend.  And just what do we have planned?

You guessed it.  A dinner party on Saturday.  I’ve got some loverly lamb chops that need grilling.

And a whole lot of rock to unload.  Special Someone’s pond project is coming along nicely.

Now y’all behave yourselves and maybe I’ll bring you a doggy bag.

Just a little bash I threw for the birthdays of two of my favorite girls.

Zippy checks out the groceries.

“Missing Hell.  They ain’t missin’ nothin’!”

“This damned receipt is as long as I am!”

“You paid WHAT for steak for this shin-dig?”

“And all these shrimp…”

“…and all I get is DRY CATFOOD!”

“Won’t be much of a party.  I don’t see catnip on the list.”

Mound of meat.

The scene is set.

A Cook’s work is never done…

Let the People arrive…

That’s B-day girl Barb in pink.

And the other B-day girl Ros supervises.  I never did get around to putting shoes on.

Brian prepares to grill corn on the cob Indian style.  That would be grilled corn with lime squeezed on and then rolled in a combination of salt and Indian chili powder.

Brian advertises one of the products they carry at their store.

For some reason Special  Someone finds this brew particularly pleasing.

This is what happens when you sit too close to a smoking lantern.

Me with the B-day girls.

Let the eating commence!  The menu was grilled ribeye, tequila-lime marinated grilled shrimp, BBQ pasta salad, Long Beach cole slaw and grilled corn.

Special Someone models his new shirt.  The lanterns, by-the-way, are filled with citronella oil.  A decorative approach to providing a relatively bug-free environment.

Don’t look now, but Tommy’s doing dishes!

Just a few photos from Sioux Falls Pride.

Scott and Kevin hosted a back yard BBQ before the evening Pride festivities.

Bois relaxing before heading off to the park.

The girls kept the hot tub guarded.  No nude hot-tubbing until AFTER dark.

Brian and I kept on the Sunny side.

Note the boy in the plaid shirt.  Him cute.

Becky giving her gruff “Step Away from the Tub” look.

Scott satisfies his oral fixation.

And again.  Him cute. (Note: Special Someone took these pictures so apparently he thought Mr. Plaid was cute as well.)

I was a little worried when the karaoke machine appeared.

The pond.  It was the first time I’d seen it.

This is Straight Bob.  He’s into killing bugs.  Seriously.

And the very not straight Ross.  He’s into killing reputations.  Seriously.

And then…it was off to the evening Drag Show.

This is Brittney.  She and Special Someone were roommates back in the days.  Gotta love that red leatherette outfit.  But…admire fast because…

It didn’t stay on for long.  Ms. Brittney got no concerns about showin’ skin.

Very kid-friendly though.

This is Brittney’s Other Half.  He was all over video taping.

Terrace Park made a nice setting for the show.

This one was Ugly from a distance and Way Ugly up close.

Apparently they brought this Queen Bee of the Sioux Falls Drag scene out of retirement.

These three are competing in the Gay Ms. Iowa competition.  Brittney wore that outfit for the rest of the evening.  Dig those Mock Goat leg warmers.   I asked her if she had to climb the mountain to get those and she told me she definitely MOUNTED something.

Toppers is the Sioux Falls gay bar.

Not a huge crowd but a definite improvement over last year.

I’m up to my earlobes getting ready for a little Birthday Bash for two of my favorite Girls tomorrow.  I’m grilling steaks and shrimp for 18, so it’ll be a hot time around the old grill.  Luckily the temperature is only supposed to be in the mid 70s.

I really love searching Foodnetwork for new recipes.  Much easier than watching all those pesky cooking shows (which I enjoy but don’t have time to do).

Someone (li’l Miss Sassy) reminded me of the make-it-forward.  I’d better get busy with that.

Have a great weekend all.  Don’t eat too much watermelon!

I finally uploaded photos from the 4th of July.  Prepare yourself for a LONG picture posting.

Pig Prep started on a very gray afternoon.  That’s Scott, the Pig Farmer, in grey by the truck.

Unloading the roaster.

There was one hell of a nasty water spill as they unwrapped the piggy.

Dumping sour kraut into the body cavity.

My annual duty…stitching up the body cavity.

Scott gets the all important meat thermometer ready.

Rubbing the pig with spices.

The guy in white is Jason.  He’s a professional chef.  I was jealous.  Wrapping the pig in chicken wire to keep it off the direct flame.

I have such a fascination with rumps.

Piggy goes night night.

After all the hard work the Boys from Wisconsin and Chicago finally arrived.  From left to right, Kevin, Jon and Mark.

An appropriate response to a Markie Mark suggestion.

Yeah, right.  He may look innocent…

And Hot Mark made it as well!

De-meating the pig.  It was so tender they were essentially able to just pull it off the bones.

Scott gets the ONLY bone he’s likely to that day.

And this is what a mostly Kosher Jew does while we dismantle a pig.

Fireworks?  We don’t need no stinking fireworks.

Mortar, anyone?

I have no idea why I was making that face.

Rockets!

I got just a little sun on the boat that day.  Note our fire sources for the night.  Plumber’s torches!

A bar full of gay boys.  Not a common sight in South Dakota.

And yes…those are the same clothes he was wearing the night before.

The boys take a break for a little lawn golf.

Jon would be the only one in the group butch enough to throw.

Dr. Linda and Sebastian.

Prance! Prance! Prance!

Comparing…Stick…sizes?

We started early with the roman candles.  You know…the kid stuff.

Our host…Cap’n Andy.  It should be noted that he just got off the boat.  He DID NOT piss himself.

How many gay boys CAN you fit in a Tahoe? Apparently 8 or 9.  And we loaded up the truck and moved to…

Red’s Hill where the Big Boy fireworks are set up.

Yeah…that’s the Gay Brigade again.  A whole lot of Queens and one little Princess.

Now THAT is a Big Boy firework.

Scott was fixated with blue flame and his penis.  On fire? TMI.

And that is Li’l Pyro looking rather demonic.

The Posse heads out to light the next round of mortars.  In case you haven’t noticed…I pretty much relinqueshed my “flame” to the younger generation.

Post party…Notice Jon is just a little on the red side.  Mark as well.

Soothing balm for lobster red skin.

Mark’s Morning After look.

I hope you enjoyed this overdue stroll down memory lane.  Catch us next year for an even bigger and better 4th!

Sorry to be such a lousy blogger these days.  I’ve got some great pictures from the 4th of July Weekend but haven’t had time to sort through them.

I’m off to Indiana for the next week.  Time to visit family and friends.  I’ve decided not to take my laptop (t’ Mother doesn’t have a computer at home and there is not local signal) so I’ll be missing in action.

Everybody behave yourself in my absence.

As promised…Let there be Fireworks!

The case of the missing “i”.  In South Dakota they can sell fireworks to out of state customers several weeks before the 4th of July.  In state customers get 10 days to buy them.

This old carnival ride sits outside the shop.

As usual…we were the first customers.  A Virgin Fireworks stand!

The loot.  We didn’t actually purchase the big package on the left.  It just mugged its way into the picture.  Notice that the big black package in the middle seems to be standing on its own.

However, there was actually a Special Someone crouching down behind it.

The proud Pyro Papas.

I have a special visitor today.  You know…one of  my Special Visitors.

And I can smell him all the way down the hall.

UPDATE:

The coroner changed his mind.  No autopsy.  But the smell…it lingers.

Psssst….

Yeah…You!

C’mere.

Yeah…tha’s right…over here.

Know what this weekend is?

The 4th of July!

And that means…

Time to Light a few Fires!

(It should be noted that this picture is from 2006.  Li’l Pyro has grown a bit since then.)

Fireworks teaser photos soon to be uploaded.