Bondi Resort Blog

Come on into our Blog for a look at the wonderful world we've got to share! With over 240 hectares (600 acres) of wilderness woodlands surrounding the resort, just ten minutes from Algonquin Park, we feature over 400 metres (1200’) of waterfront and beach; boat rentals; summer hiking trails winding through fields and woods; 20 km. of groomed cross country ski trails and snowshoeing in winter; access to nearby snowmobile trails for sledders, and a toboggan hill for the young at heart.
www.bondi-village-resort.com

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Physics lessons on the Lake of Bays














Life is mathematics. Add to your income. Subtract from your weight. Divide your time. Avoid multiplying... we should all have been paying more attention back in high school. Not just to math, but to physics.

If you skipped those classes, however, there's a physics lesson underway right now out on the Lake of Bays. The ice out there is now about a foot and a half thick. With the cold nights, the lake continues to freeze. As we get into March, on cold nights, we'll hear the ice begin to "boom", a shuddering electronic noise that comes with expanding ice and non-expanding shores.

As water freezes, it expands. This in turn causes the ice to push against the shore of the lake. Said shore is granite. Pre-Cambrian Canadian Shield granite in fact. It's been where it is for millenia, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

The ice shoves on the shore -- an irresistable force. The shore just stays right there -- an immoveable object. Something's gotta give...

And it does. A pressure crack will run through the ice, taking off the strain, and shifting the ice (sort of like miniature tectonic plates deep in the earth). The ice will either buckle upward, buckle downward, or slide over itself. These can be risky if you hit them with a snowmobile, so it really matters that you not only know the lakes you are riding on, but you know where the pressure ridges are, or might be, and ride with caution. These ridges can form surprisingly fast.

Brian took a picture of this ridge just south of Bigwin Island this week.



Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Touring the Lake










We played truant today -- the weather was fantastic, and snow conditions were the same, and I hadn't been down the lake on a snowmobile in what felt like forever.

Here's the thing about winter -- it changes everything. It's a whole different world out there. If you think you know the lake, you need to see it from out on the ice.

With the leaves off the trees, you can see the bones of the land, the shapes of the hills... where there are evergreens that screen cottages from view -- a feature that protects the fragile shorelines as well as the vistas on the lake.

Other places show us where there are hardwoods that expose everything to the casual observer - and sadly some of the construction is just not that pretty, with too much clearing between buildings and lake, or monstrous boathouses. Or just places where old planning practices permitted boathouses to be packed in side by side like sardines in a tin. Hopefully the craze of 'bigger is better' has passed... the planning practices certainly have altered! and here endeth that sermon...

This vista is looking towards Dorset from the end of Bigwin Island. Come summer, it's a wall of greens... but this time of year, you can see right through the forest to the land below.

Everything looks a little different, a little magical, dressed in winter white. If you've never seen the lake this way, you really owe it to yourself to come back in the winter.




Go Fish













Brian has this 'thing' about Ice Huts. He's collecting photographs, hoping to do a book featuring Lake of Bays' unusual huts. I find the fascination of the photography and the architecture to be more interesting than the act of sitting around a hole in the ice wondering if there's a fish nearby, but to each their own!

This colourful hut is down the lake near Bigwin. You can just see the Golf Club, the beautifully restored historic building in the background. And this is one of his photographs. The others on this post, not so well composed, are mine...













There are as many styles of fish hut as their are strategies for fishing... there are the 'purists' who disdain to have a hut at all, hunkering down with their coleman stove and a snowmobile, a patch of sunshine, unbeatable view -- and about a foot of ice.














Elsewhere we've got the pop-up tent, a handy invention that folds up for ease of storage. You're really just looking for a windbreak in any event.













And then there was the award for creative engineering, with sleigh runners crafted out of bent pipes, and a shape that not only tows behind a sled, but sits into the back of a pick-up...



Whatever the style of hut - and let me tell you, there are no two alike out there! -- they are all after the elusive lake trout. And from the conversations we had when we stopped to chat, they were doing quite well, thanks very much!


39th Annual Dwight Winter Carnival




$3.00 gets you a button. That button gets you into all the Carnival Events.

The Carnival kicks off this coming Friday with Kids Capers games at the Irwin Memorial School, from 5.30 to 7. This is followed by the 3rd Annual Princess Pageant at the Community Centre, and night time shinny on the rink.

For a full list of events, check out the schedule on the website












Be sure to take your appetite -- from the Pancake Breakfast to the Moose Tongues (also, in Ottawa, called Beaver Tails -- perhaps President Obama will drop by to try the real McCoy -- moose tongues provided by James Jones from Big Ass Garlic, Baysville -- at the Carnival?)

Sugar Dog Adventure Co. is there providing dog sled rides, there's story time for the kids, hot air baloon rides and so much more.

Don't miss this WinterActive experience!!!


Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Andrews Oxen -- living history, on the hoof














When the Bobcaygeon Road worked its torturous way north to Dorset, and then on to Dwight and beyond, it was not a smooth bit of pavement. In fact, much of the road where it crossed wet areas was corduroy. That, for those who haven't had to build bush roads lately, means that trees were felled and laid across the road to create a (bumpy) surface that would support wagons.

And those wagons were, more often than not, pulled not by horses, but by Oxen.

We've got Oxen pulling sleighs and wagons still, in the Lake of Bays. Just up the Limberlost Road, in fact. Andrews' Oxen will take you out for a sleigh ride with attitude, behind Spark and Star. Lovely, patient beasts they are, too, and willing to shift a wagon load of folks in the summer or a sleigh full or revellers come winter.

They are, in fact, a little piece of living history.

Lots of people have gone for sleigh rides (and great fun they are, too) with teams of horses, often the big blonde Belgians, strutting their stuff and looking very fine. Less folks have had the Life Experience of meeting, greeting, and riding behind oxen. It's worth going.

Doors Open Lake of Bays, on June 13th, will be inviting people up the Limberlost Road to see certain unusual and historic buildings -- perhaps on your way, you might like to drop by to see the Oxen... At the very least, consider what the trip would be like, not in a modern automobile, but with your luggage and food piled high on a wagon, over a corduroy road... The car simply wouldn't be able to cope. Star and Spark, on the other hand... well, those chaps would just soldier on.








Dorset On Line



Congratulations to the Algonquin Cooperative Development Corporation (ACDC) on the launch of their great new Website, The Dorset Dispatch.

This site is choc-a-block with information about events in and around Dorset, links to road conditions, and even to Hydro for those who suffer frequent outages but still keep their computers running...

It's a fun, clean site, and should be on your favourites page. Along with this Blog, but of course...


More Carnival Fun



If today's hectic pace leaves you feeling busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, you need to step out for a bit. Take in the local Winter Carnivals. Breathe the air.

And spare a thought for the talented lads from Junkyard Symphony -- Junkyard Jonny and Speedy Spence are fixtures at many local events. And after you've taken in their wonderful show specializing in junk/percussion/comedy and circus, it's easy to see why. They reuse old ordinary objects -- like milk cartons to balance on, and old water jugs to juggle, and make beautiful music on pots and pans and pipe fittings and all kinds of things the less talented would consider to be 'just junk'.

The lads were at Snowball... and chances are excellent that they're going to be at just about every winter carnival this winter -- like the Dwight Winter Carnival coming up this weekend.

If you miss them, and think they'd be a great hit for a show at the cottage, you can find them at their website, Junkyard Symphony




Saturday, February 21, 2009

Calling the Wild


If you only make it to one Winter Carnival a year, the Dorset Snowball should certainly be high up on your list. You never know exactly what you're going to find wandering along the Dorset main street on Snowball Day -- this year, the Nordic Inn owners brought two of their llamas (one of them a 1 1/2 week old baby, who was a great hit with the kids!)


Sleigh rides behind Anderson's huge patient team of Belgians made travel from end to end of town just plain fun.


And by the rink, you could meet with a Wildlife Caller at the top of his game. Steve Morrin hails from Powassan. And he's on a friendly chatting basis with darn near every critter living in these parts. With an audience of youngsters hanging on every sound he made, Steve walked the audience through everything from loon calls to angry bears, tossed in turkeys, wood-ducks and lovesick moose. And then he got the kids into the act.

Did you know that a saw-whet owl gets its name because it sounds like a saw being sharpened (whetted)?

When he's at home, Steve sells footwear for people who don't spend much time on pavement, and teaches everything for the great outdoors from pleasure craft operation to correct gun handling. You can check out his site at Brushey's








The Need for Speed


Dave and Meg were headed down the lake, hoping to catch (as spectators) some of the action at Dorset on Saturday. On the way, they stopped to say Hi to Nancy, and picked up a hitch-hiker. Achmed the Cat has a well developed need for speed. He likes to ride on golf carts, the roof of cars... but he did find the sled a little too noisy when push came to shove.

Had Achmed made it to Dorset, during the Snowball Carnival action, he'd have seen some of the Big Guns running the open water under the bridge.

The trick to this, I am told, is to be sure the speed is high enough that the skiis stay on TOP of the water. And to have the kind of track that will throw the water out behind you. And not to change your mind...

The aficionados at Dorset know that this is Small Water -- as the river starts to really open up, some of these intrepid sledders will run water at least twice as long as it is right now.

You can watch the Puddle Jumpers most weekends at Dorset now that the lakes are in good shape and the trails marked out. Drop by Zachary's for a bite of lunch, or Fiery Grill for a meal, and of course there is no visit to Dorset ever complete without a wander through Robinsons General Store.

The Puddle Jumpers are just the icing on the cake.






Thinking out of the Box



Norm and Marilyn have been bringing a group from the Seniors for Nature Club to Bondi for several years now -- every year there are more of them signing up for the trip (and don't we love THAT!!)


When they have spent the requisite amount of time in the great outdoors, they gather in the big Lodge for fun, food, and brain games. The group kindly invited all of us for dinner -- and a games challenge! Here's Brian, Norm and friends sorting out some of the puzzles.

They weren't all visual puns -- we figured out some of the number challenges:
these are things like
27 = Letters of the Alphabet

We were doing well, but we slowed down with some of them...
3 = B.M. (S.H.T.R.)
9 = P.i.t.S.S.


there were more. Lots more. Great little things, to get you thinking sideways, and inside out. All of which is good stuff... if you don't go crazy trying to figure them out!






Friday, February 20, 2009

Flying Low...















Brian cheerfully returned wtih his new snomobile (well, new to him...) and yes, he has to share it with David, and also yes, it was purchased because it is a more efficient machine with which to groom the ski trails. And all of that said, it is still fast.

He reports that out on the lake, where the snow lies flat, with a nice dust of powder on top of enough ice to hold up an ice-road trucker, it winds out to 140 kph.

Ears pinned back, no doubt. Crouched behind the windscreen. One could point out, however, that while he has no idea where he's going at that speed, he's making darn good time getting there...

It's not all about speed,however (unless you are taking part in a snowmobile club Radar Run). It's also about comfort. And the ability to just get out there, and see the great outdoors. For some people, snowmobiles are the only way they're going to be able to do that. Snowshoeing and skiing are not for everybody's knees and hips.

The picture with this post is Rosemary Tapley, in 1961, with one of the very first snowmobiles ever to chunter off the assembly lines. It was called an Eski-Motor.
Not, perhaps the pinnacle of design for winter vehicles, it towed the engine behind it (where it would short out when enough snow landed on it) 140 kph was a forlorn dream for this little sled, but we remember it with great fondness, tootling about the property and the lake. We had a ton of fun with it, before it gave way to better designs.







Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Crossing it off the List













Every winter, at Dorset, the Puddlejumpers show up to run their sleds across the open water under the bridge. This can be a LLLLLOOOOONNNNGGGG distance, depending on how the river is running, and speed is of the essence.

It works like this: the boys and their toys gather on the lake, throttles revving, waiting for the testosterone to reach critical mass. When that happens, one breaks from the pack, kicks it into high gear, and heads for the open water. They tell me it's a thrill...

I note the Dive Recovery truck strategically parked just off the bridge, and pause to consider that snowmobiles aren't designed to float.

Our snowmobiles aren't nearly powerful enough for a long stretch of open water, and we don't have a dive recovery truck... but we do have a little bit of open water off the end of the main dock. And yes, you guessed it, over the years this has proven to be irresistable to Brian... and this year for the first time, David ran the water. (not in his good, new snowmobile, however, just in case!!! This is his Dad's... a much older workhorse version)

He came back to inform us he had crossed this off his list of life's ambitions... he also said if felt really weird, that the sled slows and drops as it hits the water, then picks up again... And yes, he did admit it was a thrill...

We can't truly condone this behaviour. On the other hand, at the Dorset Snowball, and every weekend now through into mid-March, we'll probably be joining the throng on the Dorset bridge at least once to watch the Puddlejumpers run...



Saturday, February 14, 2009

Achmed's Angels


















Very fluffly cats have no trouble finding Valentines.
Achmed found his version of "Charlie's Angels" on a lovely sunny Valentine's Day -- Isobel, her friend 'Mads' who is here from Christchurch, New Zealand, and Rebecca made sure the cat was 'feeling the love!'



Diversify!





Our most favourite group of snowmobilers rolled into the parking lot at the beginning of the week. While we'd enjoyed near perfect trail conditions for weeks, their arrival was heralded by a quick rain, which made the trails hard and icy.

Nothing daunted, they still found good conditions, and enjoyed time out on the trails. But they didn't stop there!

There was as much fun going on INDOORS -- where the card games were fast and furious. Some abandoned the sleds to take up cross country skiis, and more of them decided to take a little walk on the water, hiking out across the bay. The snow conditions on the lake were excellent for sleds -- but equally excellent for walking.


Looking back, there were deer along the shoreline -- not to mention the one checking out the snowmobile trailers one of our parking lots!



Winter Sky



When it comes to taking pictures of our sunsets, Brian is the photographer who gets the most 'cirrus' about our 'nimbostratus'. So to speak.

This is one of his photos, taken from the Office, looking towards the lake, with some pretty darn dramatic clouds and shadows.




Demonstration Sport, Vancouver 2010












Ski, snowshoe, toboggan, snowmobile, sleigh ride, dog sleds, snow forts... and now --

SNOW VOLLEYBALL

All you need is a line strung from light pole to trees, and a crowd of enthusiastic people, and the next demonstration sport for the Winter Olympics makes its debut!

Which all just goes to show,if you can't figure out how to have fun in the great Canadian winter, you're just not trying.






Friday, February 13, 2009

Still Open


Most regretably, there is an on-going dispute between certain landowners and the District Municipality of Muskoka centered on the Draft of a new tree-cutting by-law. The by-law is designed to protect the forests and ensure their sustainability, it's well intentioned and speaks strongly to conservation, but some of the loggers and landowners feel it goes too far. It's a draft... and the District is trying to get back to the table with the landowners to work on it.

Sadly, in the midst of this, the spin-off has been the closure of some of the Algonquin Snowmobile Region trails, notably in the Bracebridge, Bala, Muskoka Lakes area. NOT ALL trails are closed -- the MSR is posting all their trails as 'limited' and are recommending that sledders please check the MSR website for updates.

The trails around Lake of Bays, including Baysville, Dorset and into Haliburton (Algonquin Highlands)are OPEN. Being outside of Muskoka, the Algonquin Highlands trails running from Dorset are not affected.

We think the whole issue is badly timed and serves no-one, and we really hope that both sides will come together to continue discussions and work it all out.

The snowmobile trails just got caught up in it, as a pawn, and that's most unfortunate. The Snowmobile club works incredibly hard to provide some of the best trails in the entire province, and they don't deserve to be in the middle of something like this. Nor do you, the recreational riders.

BUT we want you to know that there is still plenty of room to ride up here in North Muskoka, and plenty of winter left for it.




BONDI as Muse


Artists love it here. Most of the cottages are graced with examples of artwork that has been created over the years by our guests, and we're always adding more.

Gail Vanderzee was here on the weekend, with a group from the Old Salts Canoe and Outing Club. Gail's been coming to stay with us for years. When she's not visiting Bondi, she's hiking. Used to be nothing at all to knock off 100 km/week, and she's hiked a whole lot of this planet. All the time, she has her eyes open for the muse, and her camera ready to help catch what's offered.

Recently, she exhibited with the Kitchener Waterloo Society of Artists , a vibrant group of nearly 70 people who's art runs a wide gamut. In the picture, Gail is standing with two of her paintings. On the left, burned by the sun, is a painting she did recently in Tuscany.

But on the right, cool and calm, is a picture she found out on Bondi's ski trails. We think it's lovely, and we'd be glad to give it a wall anytime!

There was a mild spell while the Old Salts were here, and that produced some mist. Which in turn let Gail capture some very interesting images. Who knows where the next inspiration for a painting will come from?

Could it be Clare, skiing in the mist under the dark branches of the huge spruce? Or the old School House, one of the first in the township, sleeping away its retirement on the Lumina Hill. This is the schoolhouse where our father Paul started his studies. As the oldest -- and closest -- boy it fell to him to get to school early and light the fire with corncobs so it would be warm when the teacher and the students arrived. He would arrive by skiis or snowshoes. A single room, one entire wall was windows to allow the light to fall onto the chalkboards on the other side.

Times have certainly changed -- he used to take his rifle with him, because on the way there and back, there was always a chance he'd spot a grouse for the stew pot.

We're sure Gail will have no trouble finding inspiration from her photos, and we thank her very much for sharing them with us.

Oh, and Sarah Banbury, from KWSA, if you're reading this, here's a huge HELLO!




Thursday, February 12, 2009

An Egg for Every Appetite



A short spell of meltweather arrived early this week, and with it, the chickens (all named Bob) literally burst out of the stable to revel in the greater world.

Any tiny patch of grass would do for them. Chickens are thrilled with the small things in life. The more intrepid trekked all the way down to Nancy's house to partake of the birdseed with the bluejays.

The mild temperatures, and the little bit longer days, inspired at least one of them to great lengths in egg production as well, with 22 chickens providing 23 eggs on Wednesday.

An egg, in fact, for every size of appetite. Such is the fun of free-range chickens!

And yes, Syl, before you ask, Green Back Bob is still going strong (at nearly four years of age) but the paint job is wearing thin.


Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Be My Valentine -- with Style and Song




Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and maybe you're looking for something a little different to light up your Valentine's day.

The Muskoka Music Men have been providing that something special for someone special for years, with a very special gift.

What's so special? On Thursday Feb. 12, Friday Feb. 13, and of course on Valentine's Saturday the 14th, the love of your life can be entertained with one of the Muskoka Men quartets -- dressed in formal attire -- who will go down on one knee and deliver two love songs, a beautiful red rose, chocolates, heart shaped scented soap and a photograph of the occasion.

All this for just $40.00. You can't buy love, but for $40.00, you can certainly make the day shine with it!

Availability is limited, so you must book in advance, by calling Roy (705 788 0225); Gord (705 789 0333) to make the arrangements.


We'd suggest you don't wait. For the past several summers the Music Men have graced the Clam Race here at Bondi with their music and joie de vie. (We usually get a VLQ here for the occasion: a very LARGE Quartet, of five gentlemen) We think they're awesome, and are happy to promote all their endeavors. Proceeds raised by the Music Men go towards speech therapy for area children, and their motto is "we sing so they may speak." So, yeah, yeah, it's all worthwhile... but more than that, these guys are just so darn romantic...

By the way, we still have a few vacancies here for that weekend. You could snap your sweetie away from the city for a cosy weekend here, and sweep her (or him) off her (or his) feet when the Music Men arrive at the door.

We say, go for it...





Envirocredits and the land we love


With 600 acres of land including hardwoods, spruce bogs, wetlands, small lakes, big lake shorelines, hemlock stands and open fields, we've always been keenly interested in preserving the environment around us. We are actively partnered with Forest Management and Wildlife Management programs, and over the years have received awards for land stewardship.

One of my favourite 'secret places' is to walk in to the Hidden Lake, a black spruce bog -- the trail is littered with sundews, pitcher plants, Indian pipe and high bush blueberrries. The trees drip old lichen, and there are always some birds to be found. There's no official trail to this site -- we go in along a deer path, and several times a summer we take an escorted Nature Hike in to the lake. There's reason behind this: quite simply, it limits the number of people who will tramp through the delicate environment, and it elimiates people who will pick the rare plants.









The lake is just the focal point of a large, sprawling wetland. In the winter, one of our ski trails cuts through the black spruce and the bog (it's not passable come summer) and it is a haven for rabbits, mice, grouse and wild turkeys. Fox tracks, wolf tracks and the tiny pointed toes of deer criss cross the snow, and for fourteen yers we had a Gray Jay living in this forest. Gray jays are being hard pressed by global warming: nesting in the winter, they rely on their hidden stacks of food to get them through the cold months, and if the temperature is too warm, the stashed food can mold and become unusable.

But this isn't a post about Gray Jays -- that deserves a separate post all to itself. Nor is it about our Hidden Lake bog.

It's about Envirocredits, and how you, too, can help steward the land. The Muskoka Watershed Council in partnership with Muskoka Heritage and Westwind Forest Management is offering a program of Enviromental Credit, where your donations will go towards reforestation and wetland preservation (among other programs) It's a nice way to offset your personal carbon emissions, and help to ensure that there will still be black spruce forests for gray jays -- and weather that will keep their food stashes cold -- for future generations. Forests and wetlands are often underestimated for their value, or overestimated for their 'harvest potential'. We prefer to see our wetland left alone to look after itself, and all its inhabitants, the way it was intended to do.

You can learn more about the Muskoka Envirocredits program by checking in at their website, and we encourage you to do just that!





Monday, February 9, 2009

Savour Muskoka introduces its Culinary Trail map


If you like good food (and if you don't, you have more serious issues than we can help you with) you should mark down this coming THURSDAY, at 5 p.m., and then show up at Randy Spencer's TALL TREES Restaurant in Huntsville.

Why? (other than the fact that Chef Randy's establishment is always worthy of a visit?) Well, because SAVOUR Muskoka is launching Muskoka’s premier Culinary Trail Map, and they would like you to join them for Complimentary Refreshments.

SAVOUR Muskoka will be in Gravenhurst, at Taboo Resort, Gravenhurst, Tuesday, February 10, 5pm; in Bracebridge, at Riverwalk Restaurant, Wednesday February 11, 5pm
and at the Crossroads Restaurant, Rosseau, Friday February 13, 4.30pm

SAVOUR Muskoka promotes Culinary Tourism, helping you experience the uniqueness of our culture through local food and drink. Muskoka has a long and lustrous history in food production -- Butter and Egg Road near Milford bay, for instance, celebrates a local dairy, and Muskoka spring lamb was once famous worldwide. There are still many local producers of fine food products -- from Big Ass Garlic, near Baysville to the maple syrup producers of the region and in between are the talented area chefs who create truly Muskoka flavours from locally grown produce. Look for the SAVOUR Muskoka logo at Farmer's Markets or when dining out -- this indicates the food is either grown locally or processed here.

There are plenty of events happening with this group throughout the year, and the best place of course is to drop by their website, Savour Muskoka

Whether you live here year round, or are just passing through, SAVOUR Muskoka wants to be sure your time spent here engages ALL your senses!





Big, Wide News from the Bondi R&D & Fabrication Labs


Really cold weather in January gave Brian (PEng, Queen's) and son Dave (architect wannabe, Georgian) a chance to work indoors, over at the world famous Bondi R&D labs. We can't divulge the top secret location of this -- it's like CSIS, who don't advertise where they are located, but if you can FIND them, you can apply to work there!) Now, in February, we have an announcement (firmly tongue in cheek, and cheeky to boot) from the Lab, where the boys are proud to issue the following press release:

"after months of painstaking research and development, the new "747" lawn chair has finally been rolled out of the production shops. Called the "747" because of its W I D E B O D Y design, these chairs are specifically aimed at the market of certain retired folk we know, who find that their personal dimensions tend to increase as their retirement progresses.
A full two inches wider than a standard chair, it has been wind tunnel tested for side wind loads to 110 km/hr, and will remain firmly in the back of a pick up truck. A frontal wind of 50 km/hr can be handled without tipping.

Crafted from solid cedar, with matching cedar coloured ceramic coated cedar screws, this chair is built to last.

Design provisions allow the chair to be "super sized" to a maximum extra width of 8 inches. This would hold two cute 15 year olds in bikinis, but sadly, this is not the market we had in mind)

Research was briefly 'pro-rogued' to permit the grooming of ski trails, but investigations continue for the production of the Parliament Hill "Politico" model, should the House ever sit long enough to, well, to need to sit. There are serious design challenges. The hot air enviroment on the Hill poses the possibility of self ignition for ordinary cedar, and the chances of encountering bulls*** on the ground requires extreme anti-corrosion treatment. A silicone coated chair is being tested for this environment, since it will withstand up to 500 degrees F and s*** never seems to stick. Costs with this future model are an issue, so don't hold your breath for its release.

The "747", however, is up, running, and available to order."


In fact, the first order, from Dave, down at the FBBA Inc (Fat and Bald Burlington Airlines) has already been received. Dave writes:

"I'd like to order 115 of these '747' for delivery over the next three years. We are also interested in a full review of the planned E380 model, able to accommodate two bikini clad teens. The private, Politico model is also of interest, with advancing years when 'control' may become a problem. As we are in the planning stages, cost is not part of the equation at this point. Durability and utility are our keenest points of interest."

Thanks, to both the Bondi R&D Labs, and Dave, from Burlington, for letting us share this bit of silliness with all of you.

Mind, it's not ALL fun and games. We're sure we'll see Dave checking out his own personal "747" when he's here this summer. After all, the extra body width will no doubt furnish him with room to have TWO of the grandkids on his lap at the same time!