HAHA I SO PUNNY. I heard about this place awhile back and saw it as we were pulling away from H&R Block today (durn taxes). I asked my wife to stop the car so we could check it out. She said okay.

Holy crap. I’d seen a picture of two amethyst pillars somewhere (They were still there. I just might buy ‘em), but I wasn’t prepared for what I found. The place has so much awesome stuff. I was surprised to find that a good deal of it was museum-caliber. Actually, I’m also surprised how hard it was for me to blog about them and give ‘em a well-deserved plug. This is the kind of place you want to keep a secret, hoping nobody buys that Jade carving you’re making eyes at, or that giant framed flying stick bug, or the exotic collection of butterflies, or maybe that petrified fish or trilobyte.

The place is awesome. It makes the St. Louis natural history museum’s rock shop looks like a muddy gravel pit.

We decided to buy a bamboo wind chime from Indonesia. They all sounded great and I eventually had to flip a coin to make a decision. Then, I saw the chessboard.

See, we didn’t really plan on buying anything. I just wanted to check the place out. So I see this gorgeous chess set in a velvety blue box. I asked how often they come across items like that, and he told me that this particular one was made by a man from Pakistan who owned a marble/tiling business. Unfortunately, the guy died, so for all he knew this was the last one. I had to get it. I asked my wife, since she had the money today. “Go for it.”

The pieces are hand-carved. If I were to guess, I’d say that some kind of rotating sanding tool was used to craft them. I can also make out marks from a file of sorts on the top of the non-pawn pieces. I’d imagine they were polished by hand because of the complex shape. The board and pieces are made of green and white onyx. Total price for the chimes and chess set: about $160, and well worth it. Here are some pictures:

I guess you could say I’m proud of it, heh. Anyway, the staff was great, the selection was jaw-dropping. I will definitely be back to round out my collection. Check ‘em out.

To Vonster.

I don’t agree with all he says. In fact, I agree with very little of what he says but I still check him out from time to time just to see what kind of crazy crap comes out of his mind next.

Anyway, here’s to Vonster, who is at least willing to shoot the shit knowing full well that he’s likely to become a convenient punching bag for the rest of us.

Cheers.

I had heard the name Keith Olbermann before, but have never bothered with his show on MSNBC, as I tend to prefer direct-from-the-source (CSPAN) and print media to media pundits. After discovering him and reading his stuff (then later watching him on his site), I feel bad about putting him in that category, especially since he doesn’t host a show with a “yell louder than the other guy” format.

The proprietor of the blog Grandma’s Attic and my partner-in-crime over on peoriaspeaks.com alerted me to one of his rants and, I gotta tell ya, it felt like I was listening to myself. Only a bit more elegant and experienced. Anyway, I’ve added him to my blog roll and strongly suggest checking him out and viewing his videos if you can. The fervor expressed just doesn’t translate well to print, and adds a layer of depth to what the man has to say.

I haven’t updated my blogroll since migrating to blargen.com, so I’ll throw out a few plugs that are worth the read:

http://anotherconundrumpeoria.blogspot.com/

http://katearch1978.blogpeoria.com/

http://grandmasattic.blogspot.com/

http://theussuspects.blogspot.com/

http://bjstone.blogspot.com/

http://iwillrambleon.blogspot.com/

http://savyono.livejournal.com/

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I really need to update that blogroll. If you didn’t get listed, and you think you should have, well, god dammit, let me know.