Happy last night of Hanukkah

From all of us at Butterknife Estates.

Baptism!

Butterknife Estates hero Clint Chelak was baptized on Sunday.

Muscva

LeBron is dead. Long live LeBron.

(Clint tried to get us to make the mouse a pet and he named it LeBron.)

Playing dolly

Jared came up to film a movie that later got canceled in production. This is Sam doing some of the prop design. The doll need a haircut to play the part of "newborn."

Flood!

I woke up to the sight of flooded basements. Just missed us at butterknife estates.

BkE Jeopardy!

Category: Words that start with the letter "O"

Answer: To play a repeated rhythmic bass accompaniment.

Garden 2.0

This season, Butterknife Estates is trying something new. Or rather, it's trying the same thing, just better. This years garden is much improved over last years model. This year sports a variety of fruit bearing plants as well as vegetable and tuberific plants. The tally comes to 3 rows of walla-walla onions, 3 early girl, 3 cherry, and 3 roma tomato plants, 6 bell peppers, 3 anaheim, 3 jalapeno, 4 cantaloupe, 3 cucumber, 2 rows of carrots, 2-3 rows of lettuce, a slew of potatoes and a raspberry bush. This represents a few returning champions from last year and some new faces. At the very least, it is packed in there better, with more land being used.

Significant improvements were made this year with planning ahead, knowing what we now know from last year. First, the plants were all started from seed over a month ago. Last year, I don't think we got anything into the ground before June came around. Second, the dripping pipe system is now glued together and won't spontaneously burst. That means I can't pack it into the garage over the winter, but hey, I'm moving out in August. Third, the tomatoes have cages this year. Last year, they got all bushy until we tied them up. Not so good. Fourth, and this is the most important: WE DIDN'T PLANT A SINGLE SQUASH RELATED PLANT. Thank goodness. I, myself, subsisted off of steamed, baked, and microwaved zucchini for the better part of two months and all the spagetti squash spoiled in the garage.

To update all on BkE news, the final Lost party will be held next week, May 27, 2010. All are invited, Lost fans or no, to enjoy cake(s), confectionary, treats, and whatever else we can whip up. And 2 1/2 hours of Lost. Can't forget that.

Also, the BkE has two new heroes: Jake and J.J. They moved in 3 weeks ago. It is anticipated that hero Harrison and his brother, Clint, will also be taking up residence in July.

Thad's projectoritis finally came back in full force, causing him to stop working for a cure. We rearranged the basement theater to look like this.

Sweepstakes!

• Do you LOVE Butterknife Estates?
• Are you FULLY SATISFIED with your present home entertainment technologies?
• Do you want IMMORTALITY?

If you answered "yes" to many of these questions, then we invite you to participate in the following contest:

Butterknife Estates Home Theater Naming Sweepstakes!

Prize: The new BkE theater named after YOU!

We will hold a banquet in your honor, a christening ceremony, and present a plaque with your name on it to be prominently displayed in the theater. You will also be given privileged status in deciding what to watch WHENEVER you are here!

Forever be immortalized in these hallowed halls!

How to enter:

1. Go to this website
2. Fill out the information
3. Come back here and comment that you did it.

If you are selected by Epson, you win! Simply donate the Epson projector to Butterknife Estates, and the sweepstakes will be yours!

*No purchase necessary. Sweepstakes may be won by any functioning home theater projector donation. Must be a resident of the United States and at least 18 years old. Void where prohibited.

Butterknife Estates Fine Arts Gallery

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are pleased to bring you a recap of Butterknife Estates Fine Arts Gallery's successful living-room display:

The desserts proved to be culinary masterpieces worthy of their own show.
"Vase"

Ben Francisco

Ceramic - Carbon Trap Shiro, Reduction fired
"Thinking Cap #4"

Samuel J. Cook

Sculpture
"Contemplation"

Samuel J. Cook

Clay
"Cutting Board"

Nick Christensen, Little Sapling Toys

Maple, cherry, and purpleheart wood
"To the Third Degree"

Bret Spencer

Acrylic
"Art Lesson"

Jennie R. Seely

Acrylic
"Thermostat"

Thad D. Gillespie

Mixed media

"Throne #4"

Jethro Gillespie

Mixed media
"Ketchup & Mustard"

Anna Gaines

Finger Paints $50.00
"Venetian Waterways"

Anna Gaines

Finger paints $25.00
"Usually"

Thad D. Gillespie

Acrylic
"Deer"

Kendra Hall - age 8

Oil
"Desert Scene"

Kendra Hall - age 9

Oil
"Sea of Insanity"

Amanda E. Hall

Acrylic
"Glamification"

Michelle Banks

Acrylic
"Bug Picture"

Bugs

Bugs
"Titled"

Thad D. Gillespie

Colored pencil
"I am a Chicken"

Jethro Gillespie

Acrylic
"Garden Pleasures"

Kendra Hall

Video
"Metric Clock"

Bret Spencer

Wood sculpture
"The Grand Tetons"

Laurie Goulding

Photo
"Norman Mailer"

Thad D. Gillespie

Pencil
"Not Quite Christmas"

Toni Gaines

Mixed cotton
"Eva's Turkey"

Jan and Eva Francisco

Acrylic
"Clark's Turkey"

Jan and Clark Francisco

Acrylic
"Washington D.C. Temple"

Norma Jean Gile

Pencil sketch
"108 in Bird Series"

Ashley Mae Christensen

Watercolor
"Untitled"

Norma Jean Gile

Calligraphy
"West End Sunset"

Norma Jean Gile

Photo
"Sunburned Mormon"

Jethro Gillespie

Oil
"Landscape"

Thad D. Gillespie

Oil
"Burning instead of Beauty" or "Stay Away from the Pretty Girls"

Jan Francisco

Mixed media
"Fish Hook"

Thad D. Gillespie

Pencil

"Stupid Fog"
Jennie Seely
Photo

"Tutankhamen Expands His Empire"
Julie Johns
Acrylic

"Rocking Horse"

Pam Hall

Bobbin Lace

Split-Second

I recently discovered Split-Second, a game show from the 1970s in which three competitors vie for a chance to answer three questions related to one another. The first player to buzz-in chooses any of the three questions to answer, the second player gets next choice, and the slowest buzzer has to answer the last one. If all three answer correctly, they each get $5, two correct answers nets them each $10 and if only one answers right, he or she earns $25.

Let's play a round, so you can get the feel for the game.

Take a look at the board:

Each of these things is a civil right ensured by the Bill of Rights amended to the U.S. Constitution. Tell me what number amendment guarantees each right.

Remember: answer only one of the questions, and don't look it up. Your chance to buzz in is now.