If you go out in the woods today, You're sure of a big surprise.

The Colorado State Department of Fish and Wildlife is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen, and golfers to take extra precautions and be on the alert for bears while in the Dillon, Breckenridge, and Keystone area.

They advise people to wear noise-producing devices such as little bells on their clothing to alert but not startle the bears unexpectedly.

They also advise you to carry pepper spray in case of an encounter with a bear. It is also a good idea to watch for signs of bear activity.

People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings.

Black bear droppings are smaller and contain berries and possibly squirrel fur.

Grizzly bear droppings have bells in them and smell like pepper spray.

Me, Music & My Nephew

My oldest nephew is 9 years old, he seems to have hit his teen years early. Teen age angst has come early; Green Day seems to be the cause; they are what he listens to, along with a slew of other groups aided by his father. Sometimes I just laugh at him and remind him that he IS only 9 and not to worry about what the world does or doesn't think about him. He just looks at me and goes on with his mood.

I am trying to get him and my other nephew, 7 years old, to listen to other music, although the little guy does listen to Crazy Frog and other music on that cd. I am trying to introduce them to world music. (have alook at www.putumayo.com) Its been a bit of a task to get them to even listen, nevermind like the music.

This past weekend I bought myself the Curious George soundtrack by Jack Johnson because I wanted 1 song; Upside Down. Well, my older nephew is a fan of jack Johnson too!! I finally found something we have in common without either of us forcing anything. Of course I made him a copy of the cd (don't tell anyone, ok) I am looking forward to listening to the cd while we read the lyrics together.

The cd is mostly easy for parents and children to listen to together.

Faced with the task of giving a voice to a central character that does not speak, Universal Pictures turned to Jack Johnson to craft songs that could provide a voice for Curious George.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but listening to and reading the lyrics give me the same impression.

Upside down seems to describe the world from the perspective of Crious George, the monkey, confused but sure he can do or try whatever he wants.

Who’s to say I can’t do everything
Well I can try, and as I roll along I begin to find
Things aren’t always just what they seem

What would it take to make the children we're around feel the same way? Feel that even though things are not always easy, thay can and should try whatever thay want.

Think about it.

Anti-Sex-Ed Scares

This is from the Montreal Hour magazine
Scroll down to the second part of the column

More on the "lets treat teenagers like idiots and resort to filling them with misinformation to try and scare them out of having sex" file.

I was having lunch today and reading one of the city's alternative weekly newspapers. I usually skim through most of the paper, but this caught my eye.

... an "expert" on a TV panel about teen sex who claimed that girls can get pregnant through anal sex...

...in Sex Ed, the teacher refers to sex as "Russian Roulette" because you will either "get pregnant or sick from it."...

..."two teens are touching each other and grinding bodies (with no penetration) and the girl gets some semen near her vagina and 'flash!' she's pregnant."...

There is also a link to an interesting video about New Mexico's "sex ed" program Abstinence Comes to Albuquerque
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6125514476868719421&q=abstinence+albuquerque

Talk about a disservice to our children