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We have the former primary residence of David Crisp scheduled to be on our Caravan. The Bakersfield Association of Realtors has been having a Caravan where we view up to 15 available homes, each Thursday we focus on a different area. On November 1^st we will be in SouthWest Bakersfield, West of Gosford, South of Kern River, but North of Houghton. We are going to look at 13 homes ranging from $280,000 to $995,000.

The former house of Crisp is located at 1805 Grimshaw St. It was in the news recently as it was going to be auctioned, but then it ended up back in the bank’s clutches, an REO (Real Estate Owned, is what it stands for. It means the bank owns it). At one time it was listed for over a million, but now it is listed for considerably less. It is an ostentatious place, brash, perhaps even a bit impertinent. It is 3,659 square feet, but it is not the highest priced property on the Caravan. Still, it will be interesting to read the Grimshaw *scrimshaw.

I am blogging about this, not as a thinly veiled advertisement, but rather as a newsworthy item, as there is a lot of interest in David Crisp, the ongoing FBI investigation, possible mortgage fraud, and so forth.

Furthermore, it is listed by Dennis Fox, who is one of the top agents when it comes to REOs and foreclosures. He recently joined McKinzie Nielsen, and brought over 70 listings with him. We also have other REO foreclosure properties listed by Ron Sullivan and Linda Banales. I guess you could say that McKinzie Nielsen is now the REO Speedwagon of Bakersfield Real Estate!  

* Scrim – shaw   Pronunciation: Skrim-shaw

noun

1. a carved or engraved article, esp. of whale ivory, whalebone, walrus tusks, or the like, made by whalers as a leisure occupation. 
2. such articles or work collectively. 
3. the art or technique of carving or engraving whale ivory, whalebone, walrus tusks, etc.  –verb (used without object)
4. to produce scrimshaw.  –verb (used with object)
5. to carve or engrave (whale ivory or whalebone) into scrimshaw. 

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[Origin: 1860–65; of obscure orig.]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

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I heard about an amazing lecture by Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, an expert on Virtual Reality, and computer/human interactions. He is also dying of pancreatic cancer, and has just a short time to live. There is a tradition at Carnegie Mellon that professors will give a “last lecture” the premise being, what would they say if this was the last lecture they could give before dying. Sadly, in this case, this probably will be his last.

It is easy to find it on the web if you google “Randy Pausch.” Or even easier, just go right to www.RandyPausch.com

Here is the link to the video of the lecture, that is about 1 and a half hours, but time well spent. Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture”

Over a million people have watched it already. Randy Pausch was recently a guest on Oprah, and wives who watch Oprah told their husbands who never watch Oprah to catch it on the Oprah rerun. Kayole Bradford, an agent at McKinzie Commercial Real Estate, is not the kind of person you would expect to watch anyone on Oprah, so I am doubly impressed that he told me about this.  

So, I hope you are inspired by this. Thanks for listening.

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I am taking 5 dogs to PetSmart this evening to have their pictures taken in Halloween costumes. It is an annual event, and it should be fun, though I can just imagine the chaos. I have three dogs: Miles Long, Dusty Rhodes, and Delilah.

Miles was a stray who was found at South High. I looked into his eyes, and he reminded me of Miles Davis. He had that tough exterior, but you could see an artistic, sensitive nature within. Like Miles Davis. I was trying to find a home for Miles, but soon realized that I had already grown attached to him. I made flyers, but never even put them up. He would follow me around, and look at me with those Miles Davis eyes. He is a good dog, but still a puppy, and so far he has eaten not only my homework, but my shoes, the garden hose, and a substantial chunk of my bankroll. But one look in his eyes and all is forgiven.

Dusty is a stray that came from Wasco Animal Shelter, and they bring animals for adoption to PetSmart on Ming every Weekend. He had been placed in a home, but sent back for bad behavior. I think he barked too much, and that is the reason he was rejected. He was a sensitive guy, too, and would sometimes signal that he wanted to be petted by putting his nose under my hand and nudging. He did bark a lot, and was also quite a jumper. He protected my yard like a sentry, and was especially guarded against his arch nemesis, the mailman. He could spot the mail truck at 100 yards. One of his tricks was standing up on two legs when offered a snack. He was already named Dusty when I got him, but I gave him the last name Rhodes, because he is such a scholarly canine.

Finally, there is Delilah, who was found wandering near Mohawk St by a friendly family who already had a few dogs and children. I saw her on a flyer in the Kroll Dog Park, and thought she would make a good companion for Dusty. I have already blogged enough about her, but just would like to say that the kids who found her named her Lilah, but I changed it slightly to Delilah. It really fit her better, also there was a bit of poetic alliteration with Dusty. I don’t have a Samson, but that would have made a good pairing also, but I do have a kitten that I named Samantha.

My friend’s dogs are Lester and William J. Shakespeare. Lester is named after the tenor sax player Lester Young, and William is named after both Shakespeare and my cousin, William J. Craddock, who published his first novel before he turned 21.

The whole crew will be at PetSmart on Ming tonight from 6 to 8 PM, getting our portraits at Howl-O-Ween.

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My boss, Karen McKinzie, came in to our office this morning and said she was glad to see me. She showed me the obituary page in the Bakerfield Californian, and I was in it. Luckily (for me), it is another Christopher Craddock, who lived in Wofford Heights; but I felt like the old guy in the joke who read the obituaries first thing every morning. If he wasn't in it, he figured it was going to be a good day.

I could finally use the Mark Twain quote that “Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated.”

Did Mark Twain actually say that? I checked it out at www.twainquotes.com, and found there were many versions of that, but the first and foremost was in a note that Twain wrote in May of 1897:

“James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago, in London; but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness, this report of my death was an exaggeration.”

The most common quote that is attributed to him, but hasn’t been authenticated is “The coldest winter I ever spent was one summer in San Francisco.” He did say something similar, but it was about Paris, France. Anyway, twainquotes is a great place to check quotes from Samuel Clemens, alias Mark Twain.

Anyway, I am glad to be alive. I feel like I have cheated death, and been given a second chance.

Here’s a few more jokes I found:

Lena called the newspaper to place an obituary when Ole died.

The receptionist asked “What would you like his obituary to say?”, to which Lena answered, “Ole died.”

The receptionist then asked, “Lena, you get five full words for free. Isn’t there anything more you'd like to say?”

A long pause followed. Finally, Lena answered: “Ole died. Chevy for sale.”

Elegy to Pop ‘N Fresh

Veteran Pillsbury spokes model Pop 'N Fresh died yesterday of a severe yeast infection. He was 71. Fresh was buried in one of the largest funeral ceremonies in recent years. Dozens of celebrities turned out including Mrs. Butter worth, the California Raisins, Hungry Jack , Betty Crocker, and the Hostess Twinkies. The grave side was piled high with flours as a long time friend, Aunt Jemima, delivered the eulogy, describing Fresh as a man who never knew how much he was Kneaded. Fresh rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with many turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half backed schemes. Still, even as a crusty old man, he was a roll model for millions. Fresh is survived by his second wife. They have two children and another in the oven. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.