Annie and I have been experimenting with a “virtual office” since she will be moving to Corvallis this spring. While Sam and I are at the Dallas Expo, we’ll see how well it works between Dallas and Oregon. John Silveira will also tutor Sam in math from Oregon through the same virtual office setup. Our virtual office is simply Skype with a better quality “after market” camera we’ll be able to move around more easily.

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Looking forward to the Dallas Self Reliance Expo, which is actually in Mesquite, a suburb of Dallas. The books and magazines have been sent, and Sam is working hard to get ahead on his homework since he’ll miss a couple of days of school.

The tendons in my right foot are healing fast. For exercise, I’ve been using my stationary bike an hour a day, splitting wood, and hitting golf balls off my back deck into the woods. I can’t retrieve the golf balls from the woods since the uneven ground is too hazardous for my unstable foot, but Sam got a bunch for me today. His young back and dexterity will be needed at the show.

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Don’t forget the BHM Radio Show tonight (Friday, Feb. 3) at 6 pm Pacific Time (9 pm Eastern Standard Time). Patrice Lewis, one of BHM’s favorite writers, will be the guest. She and her husband, Don, run a home craft business selling wooden tankards and they homeschool their kids. You can find some of her articles by clicking here. Their tankards are superb, a combination of functionality and works of art. I’ve had a half dozen of them for years. Here’s their website.

Click this link to tune in to the show.

Torn ligaments, not broken foot

Turns out I have torn ligaments rather than a broken foot. I can’t play golf for a while (2-3 months heal time, the doc says), but I can cut wood to stay in shape. I wish I had as good a form playing golf as I do cutting wood.

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My right foot has been acting up for a couple of weeks, making it impossible for me to walk the golf course, but I’ve been playing golf anyway with the help of a golf cart. Today Toby Stanley, the high school golf coach, and I had a “match play” game with Dewey Powers, owner of Spinners restaurant in Gold Beach, and my dentist, Dr. Tom Westfall. At the start of the match I asked Tom for the name of a podiatrist he had mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago. I knew it was time to solve this foot problem.

Turns out I had to call the podiatrist sooner than I figured. Toby and I were ahead by three holes by Hole 7 when I hit my second shot over the green into some trees. While looking for it, I stepped on a root with my bad foot and felt a pop. Golf match over for me, although I road the cart while the other three finished out the front 9 holes. Tom called his podiatrist friend on his cell phone and I have an appointment Monday for what I suspect is a broken bone right above the ball of the foot.

Oh well! While I’m waiting for this to heal I can work on a short book I’ve been trying to complete for three years. I’m determined to go to the Dallas Self Reliance Expo, broken foot or not.

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BHM Senior Editor John Silveira was at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah today and got a round of applause from 1800 film critics after they were told he was the author of the Backwoods Home Magazine classified advertisement that led to the creation of the much anticipated film, Safety Not Guaranteed. John texted me just a little while ago and said he felt like a celebrity, with Hollywood-types asking to have their photo taken with him.

The new film is one of many taking part in the Sundance competition, which goes from January 19-29 in the cities of Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah. John was the guest of Colin Trevorrow, director of the film. The film premiered Sunday night, and here’s part of a story that appeared in the Seattle Times by reporter Christy Karras:

“The audience at Sunday night’s premiere screening of “Safety Not Guaranteed” broke into spontaneous applause and cheers before the movie even hit its final scene.
That was one of a few good signs for the Seattle-based film, chosen as part of the Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Another good sign: the number of potential buyers lining up for tickets to the screening, so many that even some people involved in making the film couldn’t get in. After the screening, some of Hollywood’s best negotiators buckled down to work on a distribution deal that will likely come before the festival ends . . .”

MTV.com’s Kevin P. Sullivan rates the film as “one of the ten most anticipated films” at the Festival.

You can click here to see a YouTube video of Director Colin Trevorrow discussing the film.

If you’d like to read the story behind the ad, John wrote about it in BHM’s Issue No. 125. It was this story that caught the eye of Colin Trevorrow who, unbeknownst to John, had been searching for the ad’s creator for several years because he wanted to make the movie. He contacted John immediately and the rest is movie history.

I’m just delighted for him.

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Just made my plane reservations to the Dallas Self Reliance Expo. My son, Sam, 15, will come with me. Sam, at six-foot, one-inch, is my tallest son.It makes a big difference when he’s at the show. Not only is he better able to carry all our books into the show to set up, but he has a better gift of gab than I do. He’s the only member of my family who is not an introvert.

Since he comes to the magazine for two periods every day as part of his high school’s “work study” program, this show will also be part of his curriculum. He’s learning more at these “work study” classes than in his regular classes. So far he’s put the magazine on Kindle and is now studying how to edit video so we can produce more videos to put on YouTube. We have several old videos on YouTube now.

I have a feeling Sam will be the one to begin accepting all those invitations we (used to) get to be interviewed on radio. Annie and I certainly won’t. The new BHM Radio Show we have begun at Preparedness Radio Network is hosted by members of the Red Shed Media Group, not BHM, but we provide them with our writers for the interviews. Jackie Clay and Massad Ayoob were interviewed for the first show, and Jeff Yago and Patrice Lewis will be next.

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Lenie just finished a three-day show in Eugene, about 4 hours from the magazine’s home office in Gold Beach. It just broke even financially, which we consider a success. As long as we can pay expenses at these shows, we’re happy because we introduce the magazine to new people and get new subscriptions.

Here’s a photo of Nolan Jett of Cox’s Creek, Kentucky. He is a subscriber who flew from Kentucky to Eugene to attend the show.

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I’m preparing to fly to Mesquite, Texas (right next to Dallas) for the Red Shed Media Self Reliance Expo February 10-11. Backwoods Home Magazine has partnered with Red Shed Media Group to help ensure these expos are a success. We are doing our new radio show in partnership with them also. I plan to attend all four of the shows they hold this year.

Big storm over, little one left

The biggest Pacific storms have passed by and we’re due for much calmer weather tomorrow. Here’s the weather forecast:

Tonight: Rain. Temperature rising to around 43 by 5am. Breezy, with a south wind between 17 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Sunday: Rain. Temperature falling to around 39 by 4pm. Windy, with a south wind between 40 and 43 mph, with gusts as high as 65 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Imagine that — only 65 mph winds!

Here’s a photo of Pistol River (also taken by Robert K. Oliver), on my road 7 miles to my north:

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Oops! With deadline for the next issue just finished and and the enormous Pacific Northwest storms that are causing flooding, mudslides, and general havoc here, I forgot to mention that the BHM Radio Show begins tonight at 8 pm Central time. Jackie Clay and Massad Ayoob will be the first two guests. Click here to listen.

The following photo was taken by Robert K. Oliver. It is the road my house is on. This slide is about six miles south of me.

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Well, the internet strike is over. Here are a couple of interesting stories on the effect the strike seems to have had:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/pipa-support-collapses-with-13-new-opponents-in-senate.ars

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/technology/web-protests-piracy-bill-and-2-key-senators-change-course.html?_r=1

Storm in Oregon

We had 80 mph plus winds today in the Gold Beach area as a huge Pacific rainstorm pounded us. Part of the roof of our building blew off but we have sustained no water damage so far. The winds are due to abate to about 60 mph tomorrow so I think we’ll be okay until the roof can be fixed early next week.

Lenie to do Oregon show

Lenie heads to Eugene, Oregon tomorrow for a three-day show beginning Friday. It’s the Good Earth Home, Garden, and Living Show at the Lane County Fairgrounds. I was supposed to go with her but I’m going to stay here to make sure the house and BHM building don’t blow away.

Lenie’s sister, Cindy Myers, will also be at the show showing her alpacas. She raises them in nearby Creswell. Alpacas are a much bigger draw at the show than the magazine.

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