New Song--post-apocalyptic folk: "Ash to ash"

Here's one of my post-apocalyptic folk songs. It's called, "Ash to ash," and it's written and performed by me.

Ash-to-ash2.mp3

New song: "Nebraska"

Here's a new song called "Nebraska." It's written and performed by me, Chris Merrill.

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Adventures in Babel Fish

Out of curiosity, I copied part of the chorus from one of my post-apocalyptic folk songs, (my favorite genre) and ran it through the Yahoo! Babel Fish translator.

Here’s the original verse:

Escapes are made in pickup trucks,
with duffel bags and fifty bucks.
A half-mad doctor in a barn
sews you up with a yard of yarn.

My discoveries...

For a Shakespearian-Miltonian-type effect, try English to Spanish, and then back to English:

The escapes become in light trucks pickup,
with the wool fabric purses it is enough and fifty dollars.
An half-angry doctor in a barn sews to him
for above with one yard of spinning.

Milton at the age of 19

For a kind of Cormac McCarthy/Dr. Seuss blend, try English to Chinese-traditional, and then back to English:

The escape is made in the truck,
with duffel bag and 50 bucks.
A half-crazy doctor sutures you
and a yard yarn in the barn.

For a David-Lynch-like-dream-riddle effect, try English to French, and then back to English:

Escapes are made in truck record player,
with bags of duffel and fifty males.
An half-insane doctor in a barn upwards
sews you with a thread court.

For an early-American Amish flare, try English to Spanish, Spanish to French, French to Dutch, and Dutch back to English:

Express in establishment carriages pickup,
with the grants of fabric of harsh wool
and fifty dollars are done.
Doctor half geërgerdu in a barn
sews it in top with a court of filage.

And, of course, if you want Chaucerian-Gypsy try English to Portuguese, Portuguese to French, French to German, and then back to English:

Those swore in one with bags of duffel
and of fifty fanfarons are made pickupnützlichkeit.
A doctor metade louco in a sewsspeicher
above with a yard of the thread.

Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, Book II

...And for extra credit...

Can you spot this song lyric?


I these that I weet, love the Jesus,
because the bible m' explains thus.


Click here for the Answer.

Solution to crossword 2

Here's the solution to crossword 2:

02 Solution

Crossword 2: Environmentalist wacko?

Here's crossword puzzle two... plus the solution to the previous puzzle, below. This one is much easier than the first. (Just click on "More," and then print.)

Publish at Scribd

The solution to the last puzzle:

Publish at Scribd

Crossword 1: Hearing Voices

My first attempt at cruciverbalism. Print it out and give it a shot...



(Click on "More" and hit "Print")

Advise, produce

If you're picking
strawberries



and your mangoes
bananas,





tell him he butternut squash
the fruit.

Seeing Red

Rebecca and I took Gus on a hike yesterday in Red Canyon, about 10 miles southeast of Lander.

No other human or canine souls -- just some horses and birds on a clear, calm day.

Red Canyon Hike (click picture)

If you're looking for this extraordinary place, you can find it here:

Wyoming (click picture)

Snow Dingleberries

Our dog, Gus, goes gaga over snow.

But every once in a while it has a certain, sticky quality and it gathers in his nether regions. It's the only drawback he's yet to discover:


Gus plays in the snow with his lady, Rebecca. See the quite regal, snow dingleberries in the bottom-center photo (click this link).


It doesn't seem to dampen his spirits, however. Perhaps because it adds a kind of regal quality to his procession?

'Upon your execution...' -- Enviro reporter bites the dust

I was axed by the Casper Star-Tribune on a Tuesday afternoon.

It was my first day back to work after a vacation visiting my folks.

Two editors and an H.R. guy from Lee Enterprises Inc. (the corporation that owns the paper) gave me the news in an unannounced conference call.

They told me how much they liked working with me, how good my performance had been, what a true professional I am -- and that my termination was effective immediately.

I was just one of 15 employees canned that day.

As one of the editors said in a subsequent phone call: "That sucked."

But that's print journalism these days.


enviro reporter before his termination

The corporate press release that accompanied the layoffs cited the sour economy as the reason for the move. (But others who have been paying attention might also blame Lee's choice two years earlier to buy a declining Pulitzer Inc. for $1.5 billion, without any real plan to make money on the Internet. The Web, that is. The place where most people get their news these days. Lee stock was trading at 38 cents a share as of this posting.)

The "termination" call came at 3:30 p.m. My office was in Lander, WY, not in the Casper newsroom. I was writing a deadline story for the next day's paper. I was expecting an email from one of my sources -- with information I was going to include in the report -- but I was locked out of my account before I could retrieve it.

I filed the story from my personal email account.

One of my favorite sentences from the severance contract which came via FedEx the next day, began this way: "Upon your execution of the termination of employment agreement..."

Enviro reporter bites the dust. Does not enjoy flavor.