Christmas has gone to the Goats!!!

Merry Christmas everyone...

My annual Christmas question

OK, here we are approaching Christmas again and again I ask this question:

Does anyone know of or heard of anyone that bought a car, based on a Christmas commercial?

You should have noticed by now that there are LOTS of commercials on TV for cars at this time of the year. I ask this question because, so far the answer has always been no or no response. So, why the heck do the auto manufactures waste their money, forcing us to watch them when they don't sell any.

Gratitude HD

A friend just sent me a link to this video. It has such a wonderful message that I had to post it. Watch in HD and full screen if you can.

Today is the end of an era!!!

Do you realize that today is the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the year two thousand and twelve? That's 12/12/12, shorthand.

A friend of mine told me about this and I kind of pooh-pohed it as nothing special. But if you think about it... This is the last time that there will ever be a date like this. Once today passes to the thirteenth it stops!!

You see, there is no thirteenth month (at least in "our" normal calendar). So there can't ever be a 13/13/13!

Cool huh???

A Hi-Def tour of Machu Picchu

Below is a stunning and educational video on the taking of an HD image of Machu Picchuin Peru. View the video at 1080p and full screen.

Here is a link to the actual image of Machu Picchu itself.

The Holiday Spirit

So do you have the Holiday Spirit yet? I don't quite yet, but this sure kick started me a bit. Thanks to Uncle Ron.

This is a definite Full Screen with the sound UP!!!

Behold, the mighty Pencil

In flight refueling

Thanks to Uncle Ron for sending this to me. Beautiful. Watch at 1080p and full screen if you can.

Move over James Bond!

Want some ice cream?

Haloween is over, BUT!!!

Quick trip north

So yesterday, I took a quick trip to VT to visit my son. On the way there, while driving down this country road.

I saw this sign and thought it must be some sort of a joke. At the very least, I was very confused over it's meaning.

Then as I drove along, I saw this sign and it all made perfect sense to me.

Political Advertisment :-(

Last night we were watching a video that I had previously recorded, of an issue of a TV show that we've been watching. The show is called Castle and we think it's great. Anyway while watching it, a Political Advertisement came on and I was half way through it and the thought came to me; wait a minute the elections have already been held!. Obviously I had been so attuned to those stupid things being on that I just sort of accepted it. Needless to say, the FAST FORWARD button was quickly depressed.. :-)

Ever hear of Thorium?

I saw this on Eolake's Blog this morning and decided to copy it here. Wow, if this is true, think of what it means. Here is a quote from the article. "'There's enough Thorium here to power the United States for 500 years,' Williams said." There's also a video from a news broadcast on it.

And the bridge wins again!

Now this 8 year old CAN dance!

How to make your video surge!!

Gee, could this be true? Make you really think, doesn't it? :-)

The Electorial College explained

The Lone Ranger "rides" again

This just in on Halloween!!!

Halloween candy trading guide

Seriously now!!

Ever wonder who has the fastest computer

Take a look at this and also watch the videos on the Supercomputer.

Animusic HD - Starship Groove (1080p)

Watch this one at 1080p and full screen..

Finally a look inside Google

Ever wonder what their data center looks like. Simply click on:

Finally, We Can See What Google's Brain Looks Like.

Now this is an R/C road race!!!

Is Halloween here again?

Time vs. Creativitity

Very interesting indeed!!!

Can you carve a pumpkin?

Come "fly" with me

And now - "The Great Flydini"

Let's just take it slow today....

Our Government didn't tell them!

I've posted StoryCorps stories here before, but here's one that is simply heartbreaking. If there is a hell on earth, it's got to be that.”

Ever wondered what a Hexaflexagon is?

Jimmy Fallon does Theme Songs

Did they do your favorite? Mine is the theme from Cheers, which they did a great job on...

Enjoy

How to take Close-Up pictures

Popinator

Now, ladies and gentleman, this is one for the books and maybe one of those must have items. :-)

Sons toy train goes into space

This is SO cool..

LG Washer Explodes

As I've posted before, we have had problems with an LG/Kenmore refrigerator. Well, today I just happened to be at local the Sears store buying a TV (NOT LG) and was speaking with one of the managers that was helping me. Somehow LG came up and I told her of my experience, to which she replied that I should go to YouTube and enter a search for "Exploding LG Washer". She even said that the store has a "do not sell" order from Sears on this. WOW, there is no was that I'm getting anything made by LG. Below are two videos on YouTube for your enjoyment.

9/11 – Is that an Elephant in the Room?

I was away on September 11th this year, but I was thinking about it and have decided to look at it again. You see, back in 2004, I bought and read a book The New Pearl Harbor, which was written by David Ray Griffin. I was absolutely shocked and blown away at the theme of it. It presents a lot of information on the events of 911. It does not try to lead the reader in any specific direction, but lays out the facts for you to decide what you will. I’m actually reading it again right now.

It goes into details such as why all of our military systems failed, resulting in the planes not being intercepted. Also discussed; are the temperatures required to weaken the steel enough for a collapse, which could not have been high enough with Jet Fuel (fancy Kerosene). Oh, and that 757 airliner that went into the Pentagon. No way! The hole wasn’t big enough as well as there were no remains of the plane found there. So we’re supposed to believe that the plane was totally encased within the building and turned into dust on impact, but at the same time they were able to identify people from fingerprinting the remains. You can’t have it both ways! There is just so much of this. It’s really mind boggling.

Actually, I have just discovered that he has revised the book with all sorts of new information. The title of this book is The New Pearl Harbor Revisited.

The above titles are links to these books on Amazon.com.

I honestly feel that this information should be put into the category of a “must read” for everyone. I would hope that you would at least look into this, so that you can make an educated decision of how this country should proceed.

Here is another link to a web site Freedonfiles.org that will allow you to read as well as watch videos on the day’s events.

I'd be interested in your comments on this one.

Kenya video

This is a really nice video taken in Kenya. If you can, watch it at 1080p and full screen. It's stunning.

The Tommy plan on taxes

You know, there’s an old saying; “there are only two things in life that are true, you have to pay taxes and you die”

Well, I’m not sure what we can do about the second of those. We start our lives knowing, but not believing, that we’re going to die. No matter what you do, this is true!

Now, taxes, on the other hand are another story. While it is true that we all need to pay taxes in order to support our government. The rules that determine what is paid, is a totally different story. As I’ve said before, I’m sort of a simple person and therefore try to adhere to the K.I.S.S. theorem, which is Keep It Simple Stupid.

There’s another saying that I believe also; there are two ends to every stick. On one end of the tax stick is our current tax system as administered by the Internal Revenue Service. On the other end is or should be a system based on that K.I.S.S. theorem.

Now I know that this is going to initially sound pretty silly, maybe a little stupid. But, let it sink in for a few minutes and see what comes out.

I think that we should simply throw the current system into the fireplace and let it keep us warm for a few days. In its place, the Tommy plan..

The first premise is that there are some pretty smart people in this country when it comes to finance and the economy. These people need to come up with a percentage of a dollar that each and every citizen needs to pay. Just for arguments sake, let’s say that they decide that to support our governments we all need to give 10%. Now, ALL and I mean ALL deductions, Credits, etc. are out the window. For every $1.00 that you earn $0.10 goes for taxes. Now, that’s GROSS income, because there is no longer net income when it comes to taxes. Someone that has an income of $40,000 would pay $4,000. Someone making $1,000,000 would pay $100,000 in taxes. Of course, there needs to be a sliding scale on this percentage if your annual income is at or below a preset level (aka. the poverty level).

I’m not a financial person, so I would have NO way of guessing what this percentage would actually be. But, with the Tommy plan, everyone pays their share. This 1% and 99% situation would begin to be flattened out a bit.

Oh and I haven’t thought this one through a lot, but those Corporations receiving all that money from our Government. Forget it! If a company can’t make a profit without the help of the Government tough, you’re in the wrong line of work so get out.

So, I’m curious what are your thoughts on this one..

Holly whale blubber!!!!

Do you read eBooks?

If you do, you should read this article "States reach $69 million ebook pricing settlement with publishers" and see if you're possibly entitled to a rebate. I have a Kindle by Amazon and they're mentioned in the article.

If you like Spock, you'll find this Fascinating!

Another case of - The 1 percent vs. the rest of us

Links to this Post

Hey, does anyone know how to get the "Links to this Post", just to the right of the number of comments posted, onto a blogger blog (aka. this one). I just can't seem to find anything in the "settings" that turns this on. Thanks.

I say, the sky is blue!

I’ve been following another blog in which there was a posting titled " I Give Up!", which is written by a Mari Meehan. I have not been a poster on that blog yet, but I may become one.

I, for years, have been trying to follow the news (TV and newspaper) to stay up with what’s going on in the world. Well, several years ago an interesting thing happened to me. I got so upset at the world situation that I stopped watching the news. This lasted for several weeks, but I fell back and started again and then it happened again. This is happening more often as time goes on and I’m upset about it. I mean I’m just a normal guy and would like to stay informed. But, when I do I just get more and more upset while watching. My wife in-turn gets mad at me for getting mad at the world. The upcoming Presidential Election really gets my goat!

From my perspective it just seems that there is so much wrong with the current state of affairs that it’s kind of impossible to know where to start. I mean, the Government, the Environment, Corporations, everywhere you look it just seems like We The People are losing the battle Big Time. A good friend of mine has recommended that at our age, it’s just too late and we need to focus more on our personal circle of friends, events, and environment. Kind of, control what you can and leave the rest alone and enjoy life.

While on one hand that sounds good, it’s kind hard for a person that is interested in the world around us. So how do I accomplish inner peace while paying attention? Good question.

So I’ve been thinking about this lately and have decided to post one single issue or thought I’ve been having. Maybe over time I’ll put more here, but for starters… The Sky is Blue.

For the most part, this is a true statement. Of course there are the northern lights, the red/orange sunsets, but the sky itself tends to be blue, because of its water content. This is a fact and is verifiable. That is the crux of this post, fact and verifiable.

Our press, be it TV, newspaper, Internet or whatever media you choose, was given the challenge by our countries founders to be the balance to check what our Government is saying and doing. Hence, our Governmental check and balance; which has been the way for decades. One of the best examples of this is the downfall of Richard Nixon as a result the Watergate Scandal. Two “investigative reporters” for the Washington Post were at the heart of those events. I put that term ‘investigative reporters’ in quotes because this type of reporting seems to have become a thing of the past. If the press had the clout that it use to have, the world situation and our own country would be a whole different place.

But, that was yesterday so let’s look at today in contrast. When was the last time that you heard a politician say something as if it’s the truth and then following that, have the press verify it as being a true statement or not. It seems to me that if our politicians knew that their statements were going to be verified that a lot more truths would come out of their mouths. You see, if they were to speak an untruth this news could be made public. Guess who would lose the battle?

I know this might sound like a simplistic approach, but hey it's a start.

But, it seems that our politicians can say just about anything they want and never be called on it. And to make this worse, if they say the same thing enough times the general public will begin to believe it and therefore it becomes the truth.

By the way, this goes for any political party out there. These statements are NOT meant to be construed as being in favor or against any party or person. I think they’re all guilty!!

Any thoughts?

Now here's a crazy stunt!!

Here now is the new iPhone 5...

This might just change my mind on getting an iPhone...

What will you do for a box of chips?

Just when we thought crime was down in Canada

I'm back

I'm sure that you noticed that I haven't been posting for a while. I'm sure my public is just waiting to find out where I have been. :-) YA RIGHT, NOT!!!

Anyway, we just returned from a wonderful week on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. I mention the state for those that don't know where the Cape is.. :-) Below are a couple of shots taken out in P-Town...

We went with two very good friends of ours Kelly and Tim and had a great relaxing, joking around time. Having good friends like this is really great, as we don't have to put on airs or try and entertain them. We can just be ourselves.

While we were there I was also able to reconnect with some friends that I hadn't seen in about 30 years or so. Ken and Carolyn are lots of fun and had moved to the Cape about 3 years ago. We met at my favorite restaurant on the Cape, Seafood Sam's. For me, they have the best sea scallops there are. :-)

Ken is a photographer and has some great shots of the Cape and the surrounding area. You can see some of his work on iStockphoto.

A blind painter

All I can say is, WOW!!

Will this be your next car?

Come Fly with Me...

Guiness record for the Hokey Pokey

As performed on the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, NY.

And now the 5 day forecast

With a slight hint of humor. :-)

Countries to visit

Got this in an email this morning and don't know it's source, but thought that you might relate or at least enjoy it.

I have been in many places but I've never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity any more.

I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.

I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.

One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what country I was in. It's an age thing.

Wind fires rage in the west.

Uncle Ron sent this series of pictures to me today and I thought that it would be something for us all to see. I simply can't imagine being in the middle of it all. And loosing soo much, property, animals, human life, it's just overwhelming.

Here is a link to the Denver Post Blogs.

Thanks Ron.

Sun Flower

This is a picture of a Sun Flower that I took this morning. The interesting part is that we didn't plant it, it kind of got there from the bird feeder that hangs above that spot. Sometimes those darn birds can be so messy, just throwing seeds around without a care in the world.

Sometimes it would be nice to be able to send them the bill for the birdseed :-)

I certainly know that the bee on it is having a great time.

Goodby to an old friend

Well, the engine finally starting getting tired and it was time to go. Sort of like having your dog put to sleep (well, in some strange way anyway). I just didn't want it to be scrapped though, because with some TLC, it could be revived and put back to work. I'm just not mechanical enough to do that sort of thing though :-(

So I went onto the web to Free Cycle.Org. If you've never heard of it, it's for people that have something that they don't have a use for anymore and just want to give it to a good home. We have a local chapter of it and we've used it often. As for the tractor, we definitely found a great home for it. A small local farmer, that can work on it, is giving it a new life. His kids are also enjoying riding in the trailer behind it around the yard.

Please do NOT get distracted while driving!!

A Musical Flashmob

Do you want to get away from it all?

Where is Matt?

These are great fun, enjoy.

And who remembers Matt back in 2008?

And this is how he did it!

Singing Bird Pistols

Wow, you've got the check these pistols out. While they certainly do not shoot bullets or anything like that, they are absolutely mechanical marvels. I understand that they sold for 5.8M at Christies.

The Only Pair of Matching Singing Bird Pistols

Train plowing snow - WOW

How does the Internet work?

You might find this interesting..

Can someone help me understand, drivers

I wonder if someone out there can help me understand something that our society is doing. First let me explain that you should picture a four lane road, two lanes going north and two lanes going south. Of course there is some sort of divider between, but these quite honestly can be a simple stretch of grass or a cement barrier.

In days of old, drivers would stay to the right. Whereas today, there is a tendency to move into the left lane and stay there. This is where I just don’t get it!

Here are my points:

1) The general rules of the road state, that you should travel in the right lane(s) and to pass on the left.

2) Traveling in the left lane, causes traffic to become congested. It is NOT up to anyone to control the flow of traffic and must move to the right so that others can pass them. Instead drivers are tending to just ride right along side of another vehicle traveling at the same speed. This of course, in our two lane example, totally blocks the road. Or you have drivers weaving in and out of lanes trying to get around, thus causing dangerous situations.

3) Let’s assume that you are traveling at 50 MPH, as is a car coming in the opposite direction. If one of you, for any number of reasons, moves into the others path, they will have a head on collision of about 100 MPH force. Personally, I’d rather drive as far away from oncoming traffic as possible!

So, can someone please explain that this is all about? I just don’t understand why people do this and of course it causes road rage as well.

Computers, where did they come from

I actually built (my own design sort of) a computer like the Altair. Unfortunately over the years it has gone to computer heaven as many old things do. But, somewhere I still have that copy of Popular Electronics magazine that they reference in this video. Enjoy this walk down memory lane.

Part 2

Sears/LG strikes it's final blow

If you remember some time ago, I posted a story about our Sears Kenmore refrigerator.

Well, several days ago I noticed that the display had bad message on it. Err and then a temperature setting of FF didn't look quite right to me and the inside was warmer than normal, as in NOT cooling. Well, I unplugged it, and replugged it in thinking that maybe it just needed to be reset. And it worked for about an hour, when it happened again and then again..

In my original story, they had delivered several of the circuit boards that were replaced. So, thinking that maybe the replaced one was defective, I replaced both of them with those that I had received. This time it worked for about 15 minutes!!!!

We have now replaced that piece of CRAP refrigerator with the Kenmore name on it, but manufactured by LG. Four years old and Sears doesn't want to hear anything about it. That's the last of those that we'll be buying.

Good luck if you own one.

So, can you play basketball?

Massachusetts teen convicted of homicide in texting-while-driving case

It's emotional story, but I feel that this must be stopped. Everyone should watch this and take heed. Watch the CNN video of the teen that has been convicted of murder due to texting while driving.

And then there is nothing

And then there is nothing… I was listening to a book review recently on the radio. The interview was with the author (sort of) and the subject was the Titanic. It seems that the gentleman’s grandfather, through no fault on his part, became a survivor and was rescued and then continued on to New York. While traveling to New York, he wrote of his experiences of this disaster. His writings are within the book that was being reviewed, hence my “sort of” comment. The book was finished and published by the grandson.

Anyway, during the interview the gentleman stated that if his grandfather had not made the decisions that he had that night, he in fact would not be here today. I heard that and started thinking about it, ‘not be here today’. I mean his thoughts, expressions, physical body would not exist, and there would be nothing. It’s like when someone dies, there is nothing. Some people might argue that point, be that as it may. Also, to extend this thought a bit, if that gentleman had died that night, any potential descendants would just not exist as well. I wonder, moving into future generations, how many more would not exist. It could be hundreds, or thousands. The impact could not be known. There would be hundreds and thousands of nothing. It’s unimaginable.

Now we can move forward a little bit in time and my wife and I are sitting having dinner with some good friends at their home and somehow the subject of the Titanic comes up. We were told the story of his grandmother and the Titanic. It seems that she had tickets and was going to sail aboard the Titanic, but for a personal reason had to delay her trip. She sold the tickets to someone on the dock prior to sailing. Our friend stated that he wouldn’t be here if she had taken that ship.

Now, this is getting close to home as we would not have our very good friends. It’s amazing the ramification of our decisions that we make. Because she sold that ticket, we have good friends.

It is really mind boggling if you sit and think about this, isn’t it? The only difference between someone dying and someone not ever being born is that after dying there was someone there. In the other case the person that was never there would be only there in your mind if you just happened to think about someone that never existed. Strange.

Memorial day thought

Memorial day has come and gone. During that time I was emailing information to friends that I had received in recognition of the day. My friend Mel responded with the following, which is extremely accurate these days. With his permission, I share it with you.

"THOSE WILL HAVE TO SUFFICE AS GOOD OLD DAYS, WHEN WARS COULD BE WON, NOT MERLY FOUGHT. 67 YEARS AGO, THE LINES BETWEEN GOOD AND BAD WERE CLEARLY DRAWN, AND THE WORD VICTORY COULD STILL BE IN THE VOCABULARY."

How true.

The case of the spinning egg in milk

Now here's another thing to ponder on a nice day like today. Yes the weather is actually nice today, not hot and humid, not raining, not snowing, just nice and sunny (so far anyway)..

Enjoy your Memorial Day everyone

Copenhagen Metro Flash Mob. Take a break from whatever you're doing and enjoy... And here's some more. Enjoy everyone.

Do you hate needles for a shot?

This is amazing!

Been away

Well folks, you've probably noticed that I haven't been posting much of late.. :-( But, the good side of this is that you didn't have to put up with my ramblings and we were enjoying a cruise to the Western Caribbean. Before we went we really weren't sure if we'd like the experience or not and even felt the same way after the first day. But we realize that we did really enjoy it, because it gave us a change to see a glimpse of destinations that we may want to return to. We visited Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman. We spent the daytime on shore so that we could get a taste of what it's like. This is the ship that we were on.

It's absolutely amazing what a well oiled machine it was. We were out from Saturday to Saturday (returning in the AM). In the same afternoon it leaves again with another 3,000(about) people for another week. We took a tour of the internal workings on board and found it VERY interesting. We saw the engine control room, the kitchen, the laundry, crews quarters, behind the scenes of the stage show and the bridge. I was very impressed. And they know how to make an absolutely wonderful Grey Goose Martini. :-)

The flying fish (well sort of)

Now this looks like fun. Do you want one?

Split or Steal

I don't watch game shows, but this one has an interesting twist to it. Enjoy...

Your land of dreams

Google goes to the White House

This is another kewl think that Google is doing with street view..

Excellent underwater video

View this in hi-res mode and full screen. It's really beautiful.

The poor old dog....

This is a GREAT English Humor show. If you want more, search for Mrs Brown on YouTube. Great fun.

Are you looking for a job?

Early Christmas shopping?

Now here is something that everyone must have.. :-)

China cuts off internet access in bid to exert control

Now here's an example of a free and open society... NOT

'i've Fallen Down and I can't get Up!"

I received this from Uncle Ron today. Looks like another has bitten the dust or at least tasted it a bit..
I quote Ron's email here and please wish him well and a fast recovery.

"I'll never laugh at this commercial again!!!!!

That's what happened to me last Monday morning when I went out to water my sunflower seedlings...They were sitting on my (Move anything) trailor in Margie's driveway...The hitch which was resting on the pavement reached ourt and grabbed the leg of my PJ's and I lurched and twisted and fell on my left hip...BAM!!! It hurt...Thankfully I had my cell phone and dialed...MARGIE...

She gave me a pillow and called 911 for me...That happened at 8:30 AM...by 6:30 PM I was in and out to the Operating Room and had a 9 inch steel rod in my femur bone...and a three inch one to anchor it...

I spent 4 days at the Lexington Cty Hospital and they have sent me to "Health South" for rehabilitation...That's where I'm now...They're giving me plenty of pyshical theropy..."OUCH"...beleive me...ouch...ouch ouch...etc....

Don't send flowers...If you have time and you're not too far away...then "COME ON DOWN!!!"...No really...If you would like to visit me I would love to see you...Anyone in Canada and New York State and Georgia,and Florida...just stay where you are at...I'll understand


I have used the Bcc address catagory to send this so I hope your addresses are secure...

I may be here for a week or two...

I'll check my e-mail tomorrow to see if this one got through...

Love to all of you...

Uncle Ron"

To be a cat, oh the pain of it all

So, you want a smaller car do you?

MAC computers are not immune

For years, the IT community, including myself, has been saying that Mac computer are NOT immune from virus attach. Well, if you own a Mac you might want to read this article, titled Mac security software sales jump after Flashback infections make news.

All computers are under constent threat..

That's my final answer and I'm sticking to it.

1940 Census: 1940census.archives.gov

For those that don't know it, the 1940 Census has been released. As, I'm doing my family history, I'm very interested in this.

Amazinv video of Titanic sinking by James Cameron

An ill sad sack

A very good friend of mine went to take care of a situation at her daughter's house. They have a new puppy and her daughter recently had surgery, so Judy (my friend) went to care for her daughter as well as to watch the puppy. Well, as luck would have it Judy was out in the back yard, watching the innocent puppy, when she slipped on something and fell down. She managed to break her right arm between the elbow and her shoulder. If that were not enough, she also dislocated her shoulder.

Well now, she's stuck at her daughters, per the doctor's instructions, with her right arm taped to her body. Of course she's right handed, so I don't think she's a happy camper right now. Now both her daughter and herself needs care. But, fear not, the puppy is fine and being a puppy.

This happened a few weeks ago and I think that Judy might be getting ready to come home. We got an email from her yesterday that I know you'll enjoy and will see below. You'll notice, no capitol letters as she can only type with her left hand.
:-(

"sleep, sleep, sleep
read, read, read
eat, eat, eat
watch tv, pet the dog
sit in the sun
solitare, sleep, read, pet, sit, tv, eat, sleep, read, pet, sit in the sun, sleep, eat

get the picture

bruising starting to go....no pain if i don't move my arm

happy easter"

Britain's Got Talent 2012 audition

WOW, wait until you hear this duo.. :-)

Can you make this fly?

Now this is bizarre.

If you like Rita Hayworth

Another entry thanks to Ken.

Great song by the Bee Gees!

Fauxtographor - for what ails you (sort of)

Thanks to Ken.

Update: Well, it seems that there is such a thing as a fauxtopraphor. EO has pointed this out to me (thanks big guy). So according to the Urban Dictionary, and I quote here:

"A person who tries to jump on the photography band-wagon by "Pointing-and-shooting" hundreds of terrible pictures, which they will upload to myspace in an album titled "My Photography", "My Art", or "Critique My work". Always followed up by the person adding "Photography" to their General section, or adding "Photography is my life..." to their About Me.

Bulletin posted at 5;34 by Jake: "Guys check out my photography"
Bulletin posted at 5: 41 by Jake: "C'mon guys I'm a photographer now, check it out"

Joseph: Jake the composition of your pictures are terrible... It looks like you just pointed your camera at whatever flowers or animals or graffiti you saw.... Plus half of them are out of focus, and as it got darker, you didn't change your exposure settings and these pictures didn't come out at all... It looks to me like you are a pseudo-photographer, a fauxtographer."

Impressive quadruplets prank

A Stethoscope - The simple truth

Watch to the end and see what is being advertised. :-)

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov

If you like Isaac Asimov, here is an interesting little tale called The Last Question. It's kind of long, but worth the read..

:-)

A better mouse trap, or a better wine bottle opener?

Can you play the bass? This gal can!

Alpaca eats the grass

Ray, our friend in Vancouver, has recently posted some exciting videos on his blog. In responce to this, here I place my lastest in the action series called "Watching the Grass Grow" for your viewing enjoyment. Watch to the end as you won't want to miss the exciting climax!!

Question: Does hair color effect math skills?

Do you get seasick?

Watch this one in fullscreen.

Mel Birnkrant also writes

Some time ago, I posted a few videos of a good friend of mine, Mel Birnkrant. Well, I've been reading some short items that he's been sending to me. The one below, is being posted with Mel's permission (thanks Mel). I'm putting it here so that we might get some feed back on it for Mel. I happen to love his writing style. What do you think?


“SURVIVING SURVIVAL CLASS, or WHAT I LEARNED AT PRATT”

An email I received today revived forgotten memories of times when I was required by the various schools that I attended to participate in “sports activities”. To say that sports were not my forté would be the understatement of the Century. In high school, especially, the two team captains, first, chose-up, by one means or another, flashing one or two fingers, or grabbing a baseball bat, hand over hand, to see which captain got first pick of who they wanted on their team. When all the sides were divided evenly, they had to choose up, once again, to see which team had to have me.

Baseball season found me standing in right field with my entire team hoping no one would hit a baseball out to me, while every batter on the opposing team was trying to do that very thing. If a ball did come my way, my first impulse was to duck and get out of the way, so it didn’t hit me. Then I would scurry over to the ball to pick it up, half heartedly, and lob it half way into the infield again, where it would roll the rest of the way. By this time, the batter of what should have been an easy “out” would be arriving at home plate.

The gym instructor at Mumford High was so gung-ho that he even had us playing football in the snow. I wasn’t too bad at blocking; as the other player’s puny bodies bounced right off of me. Nonetheless, on the second snowy day I slid on ice, fell on my ass, and hurt myself to some degree, although, I was not injured half as bad as the kid who happened to be under me. Thanks to this calamity, I was allowed to spend the remainder of the year on Hall Duty.

Somehow, throughout my four years there, I was able to manipulate my schedule to avoid baring my ass in “swimming class”, an activity, in which I heard the boys participated in the nude. Oy! No way was I going to put all 260 pounds of me on display.

In my final year, I served as art director of the year book. In that capacity, a photographer and I were issued into a secret area where the faculty hung out to take their breaks. We were accompanied by a lady gym teacher, who happened to be extremely butchy. In those days, one was not aware of the likely significance of a haircut, known as a “DA”. There were two rows of windows there that allowed one to view the pool from underwater. It was actually a single pool, divided into two by a removable barrier that was taken away on swim meet days. We were permitted to take photos through the windows on the girl’s side, only. The girls, alas, wore bathing suits. While we did this, the gym teacher stood there, casually gazing through boy’s windows, just as anybody who happened to be down there could. This generally unknown information further strengthened my conviction that swimming class was not for me.

As a freshman at the University of Michigan, I managed to meet my health obligation by studying badminton, at which I wasn’t bad. The next semester I took weight lifting. I was also quite adept at that, having lifted my own weight all my life. Then the following year, I went to Pratt!



Pratt Institute was ugly. It resembled, and in fact, might have actually been a factory. There was no gymnasium and no library. It was designed to be a trade school and had no athletic facilities. Pratt had always offered a certificate, not a degree; therefore, such extras were not necessary. But the year before I went there, the school had been newly converted into a 4 year “University”, offering makeshift academics and a Bachelor of Arts degree. This attracted a different caliber of students, including some girls who, not unlike those I knew at U of M, hoped to find a husband, and get through college effortlessly.
Two dorms had been newly constructed, facing each other on a heavily fenced in area, across the street. The photo above was shot by me from the roof of the men’s dormitory. It was a closed and guarded community, located smack in the middle of the Bedford Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, a neighborhood notorious for restless natives.

Visually, Pratt was a disappointment. Some guys in the dorm made up a song about it, sung to the Harry Belafonte calypso tune, “Mama Look a Boo Boo, I Cried”. The part I can remember went:
“Mama look a factory, I cried.
My Mama told me, swallow your pride.
That’s not a factory, oh, no
A factory can’t be ugly so.
What we saw on this tour
Didn’t look like my brochure...etc.”

The fact is, if the brochure had disclosed what the mandatory athletic program would consist of, I would never have enrolled.

Female students were, apparently, not required to take athletics. That might have been because of Pratt’s total lack of facilities. We men, on the other hand, were offered a pitiful attempt at “bowling”. There was a single manually operated bowling lane in an adjacent building. With twenty students in each class, which were too many to all play a game in an hour on a single lane, some of us merely stood around and watched the others bowl, or were chosen to set up the pins, carefully on little X’s, marking their place on the makeshift alley. It was like a child’s toy bowling game, blown up to nearly life size, with a set of real pins and a single bowling ball that was strictly “one size fits all”. To graduate, one merely had to bowl “100”, at least, one time, before the year was done. Phew, I just managed to do it on the final day. The course, of course, was a total joke, a stupid way to waste our time. But in retrospect, compared to things to come, I considered it “OK”.

What this so-called University concocted for us, the following year, was nothing less than an exquisite form of Torture, a sadistic exercise in sheer perversity, intended to pass for “swimming class”. The course, itself, was the original invention of the “Athletic Instructor”, a person who we all suspected to be a pervert of the highest order. It was called “SURVIVAL”, and was, no doubt, born out of several factors: 1. The primitive facilities, 2. The 1965 sinking of the Andrea Doria, I kid you not, and 3. The fact that the “coach” just liked to see a lot of young men naked.
Survival Class, alas, was mandatory! In order to survive at Pratt, every male student at every grade level had to take it. Thus, there was no way I could escape it!

One of Pratt’s few amenities that indicated it might not have originated as a factory, after all, happened to be a large old fashioned auditorium, complete with a stage. Along the auditorium’s right side wall, what once might have been merely a lavatory had been converted to what was now called “The Men’s Locker Room”. Throughout my first year at Pratt, I didn’t even realize it was there. Although, I would have only had to inadvertently enter an unlocked public “EXIT” door to find myself standing in the middle of a dismal gray antechamber with lockers lining the walls, a concrete floor, and open toilet stalls. Even though there were no showers, the atmosphere inside this so-called locker room was oppressively hot and humid, so much so that a person would begin to perspire the moment they walked through the door.

The excess humidity, I soon learned, to my dismay, emanated from, a small inconspicuous low-ceilinged room, actually located beneath the auditorium stage. Sunk into the floor of this claustrophobic cave was a relatively small concrete lined container, about 20 by 10 feet in size, and as deep as it was wide. This rough textured rectangle, which, long ago, had been painted a flaking shade of baby blue, had now been newly filled with water. This, apparently, made it eligible to be referred to as “a swimming pool”, although, it really was too small to swim in. God knows for what purpose it was originally intended.

The entire room was only two feet wider, on all sides, than the so-called pool itself. These dimensions formed a narrow ledge, around the water’s edge, just wide enough to stand on. A wooden rail ran along the walls, with a section cut out for the door. Further adding to the creepiness of this secret chamber was the fact that its ceiling measured no more than six feet from the floor.

Thus, being that I was 6’4” tall, whenever I had the misfortunate of being in that tiny enclosure, I had to stoop even more than I normally do, for my head touched the low ceiling at all times, unless, of course, I was in the pool. Unfortunately, all twenty of us were in the pool, all at the same time, most of the time. It was sort of like packing a circus clown car; cramming twenty naked “athletes” into such a small container was not an easy feat. And the temperature in this claustrophobic chamber, as well as that of the water in the pool, was always 95 degrees!

I’ll never forget the first day. We chose a locker, arbitrarily, and shed our clothes, reluctantly. Then, one by one, we entered the single narrow door that led to the secret room, and lined up, around the pool. The water looked less than appealing, a slightly cloudy shade of green.

After managing to get through high school, successfully avoiding this very situation; now, here I was, stark naked, 6’4” and stooping over, with my head touching the 6 foot ceiling, surrounded by a group of my peers, all peering at each other, and taking inventory. My classmates were all able to stand tall, being that they were shorter than me. That being true in other respects, as well, I wasn’t as embarrassed as I imagined I would be. Thus, after the first shock was over, I began to feel tentatively at ease.

Now the athletics director appeared. He was a middle-aged man with a salt and pepper brush cut and a stubbly beard. In contrast to our nudity, he was covered completely by a bulky gray sweat suit with elastic at the wrists and ankles that overlapped his high top sneakers. In spite of the intense heat, splashing water, and sweltering humidity, he remained fully clothed in that attire, every day, throughout the whole semester. Around his wrist, he wore an oversized stopwatch. And from his neck, a silver police whistle dangled on a silver chain. Several large hand lettered flash cards were tucked under his arm. It was rumored that he couldn’t swim.

Now, with a startling blast from his silver whistle, he announced abruptly: “Everybody into the pool!” and the Nightmare began! Some hot-shots jumped right in, exuberantly, with splashes that hit the walls and ceiling, and proceeded to show off. While others, like me, waited our turn patiently, and soaking wet with sweat, already, climbed down the narrow ladder, cautiously, and eased ourselves into the water, which, to our surprise, was body temperature. It was also somewhat disconcerting to discover that we could not touch the bottom, and there was no shallow end. Furthermore, to my distress, I got the distinct impression that several “bottoms” [pun intended] had, already, touched me.

Now, the Athletics Instructor positioned himself at the mid-point of one of the longer side walls, leaning against it, which is where he stood, each time, from that day foreword, to conduct the class. Ordering us to quiet down, he proceeded to passionately explain what course was all about. It was clearly his original creation. Thus, while we clung to the edge, treading water, neck deep in what felt like a pool of our own perspiration, he delivered an oration.

The course was called “SURVIVAL” and it derived its inspiration from the sinking, just the year before, of the Andrea Doria. It seems that more people could have “survived” if only they had known how to stay afloat longer. Thus, throughout the following semester, we were going to be trained in the fine art of keeping our heads above water, so that we might SURVIVE the next time we were in a shipwreck. One had to admit the premise was clever, an ingenious way to concoct a swimming course for a school that didn’t have a legitimate swimming pool … or a legitimate instructor, either, for that matter,

The course plan was as follows: On this first day, we would have to swim for five minutes, without touching the sides. Of course, we couldn’t touch the bottom either, even if we tried. Nothing was said about touching, I mean colliding with, each other. Meanwhile he explained that he would blow his whistle, every so often, to signal that it was time to change the stroke. The flash cards would tell us what stroke to do next. The plan was that in each succeeding session, 5 more minutes would be added to the time, until the “Final Exam” in which we would be required to SURVIVE for an ENTIRE HOUR, without stopping, drowning, or grabbing onto the side.

He blew the whistle, and once again, a deafening “TWEEEET!” echoed through the chamber. The first flashcard read, “CRAWL”! And, then, the Pandemonium began! Who would have ever guessed that the sheer horror of being dumped into the ocean, amid panic and commotion, and scrambling for one’s very life could be so accurately replicated in such a tiny box of water? It was a genuine fright simulator, with everybody crashing, thrashing, and bumping into one another, while doing their own thing, with butts and other body parts in close proximity to, or flashing past, your face.

Among us, that first day, were those who thought themselves Olympic Swimmers. They were the worst offenders, as they saw this as an opportunity to impress everybody with their spectacular form and speed. Therefore, they raced haphazardly, from one end of the pool to the other, crashing mindlessly into any body or body part that had the misfortune of being in their way. To add to the commotion, each time we heard the whistle blow, it gave these assholes an opportunity to show off another flamboyant stroke. The Overhand Back Stroke, The Butterfly, all executed dramatically with arms flailing wildly, hitting people in the eye.

Others, like me, were getting angry, and going at much slower speeds. We were merely trying to avoid collisions, a feat that proved impossible to achieve. Amid crashing, thrashing splashing cursing and everyone traveling in different directions, we managed to replicate a degree of panic that might have actually accompanied the sinking of the Titanic, when masses of desperate humanity were suddenly tossed into the sea. I imagined an illustration by Gustave Doré depicting souls in torment writhing in a pool of sweat, somewhere in the lowest levels of Dante’s Inferno. The ordeal went on for what seemed like an Eternity. Five minutes worth of Hell on Earth, not only, proved exhausting, but felt like it would never end.



Mercifully, the sheer panic and near riot of the first day was never quite repeated again. That was because, throughout the week, “Survival” had become the main topic of conversation. And by the time the next class began, we had conferred as a group, and plotted a course of action, or one might better say, inaction. We all agreed that in the future, we would all move in the same direction and at the same slow rate of speed, the slower the better. Showing off was strictly off the table, and bumping body parts was out of bounds. And so it was, with each succeeding meeting, the pace at which we “survived” slowed down.

Meanwhile, on many days, before the actual endurance test began, the instructor invented bizarre things for us to do, like standing around the parameter in the nude to hear a lecture on the dangers of a storm at sea, or diving into the water, one at a time, while the others watched your every move, to retrieve the coach’s submerged car keys. Throughout all this, my discomfort over being oversize never did subside. The six foot ceiling was always there to remind me, by forcing me to slouch, even more than I would otherwise.

One “lesson” that I found particularly embarrassing was the day we had to “get undressed in the water”. The coach had a theory that the first thing one should do, when tossed into Davy Jones’ Locker room, is take off all your clothes. So on this particular occasion, we had to stand around and watch each other, one at a time, don a single set of sopping wet attire that the instructor had supplied; then jump into the pool and take it off again. Who would have guessed that getting dressed could prove more embarrassing than disrobing? This became a graphic demonstration that the myth of “One Size Fits All” is a lie.

All eyes were upon me as I tried to force myself into a shirt, too small to button up, and a pair of soaking wet trousers, intended for someone half my size. Naturally, the waist and fly had to remain open wide. The worst part was trying to get my size 13 feet into a waterlogged pair of size 10 shoes. I felt like one of Cinderella’s ugly sisters cramming my toes into a small glass slipper, while hopping on one leg. With toes barely inserted and heels protruding well beyond the shoes, the coach insisted that I “wear them” anyway. My classmates found all this hilarious. I was not amused.

When I was dressed and ready, the instructor, who was always as serious as if we were doing cancer research, with much bravado, blew his whistle, “TWEEEET!” And like a hippo from Fantasia, I hobbled over to the edge on tiptoe, plopped into the pool, with a splash that felt spectacular, and disappeared beneath the surface. Once my body hit the water, the striptease part proved more than easy, as I was half undressed already. Even as my head resurfaced, the pants fell down around my ankles. And the shirt, as well, was gone, before the tidal wave subsided. The shoes, on the other hand, had come off in mid-air, before they even hit the water. Then using the skills I had developed by retrieving the coach’s car keys, I dove to gather up the clothes, dragged my bare butt up the ladder, and handed them to the next in line.

And so the course continued. Over the weeks that followed, the instructor always managed to think up something new for us to do, like timing how long each of us could hold our breath, while underwater, or making us hop into the pool with our hands and feet tied together. One week, we had to stand one at a time, beside the instructor and bend over, with our hands nearly touching our toes, while he coached us, from behind, on how to dive into the water. And if you didn’t do it right, you had to do it over.
All these poolside activities had one theme in common; they meant we all had to stand there together, in the altogether, watching each other individually endure inane and subtle forms of torture. We spent more time standing around naked, in my case stooping over, than we did wallowing in the water. Eventually, thank God, as the actual swimming times grew longer, there was no longer time for “out of pool activities”.

As the year progressed, a spirit of brotherhood and cooperation grew among our little band of nudists. We learned to move together as a unit, slowly drifting around the tiny pool, like melting marshmallows, floating on the surface of a cup of instant coco. In the process, we unlearned everything we ever knew about swimming. Our strokes had become jokes. And the flash cards were just a code for variations of a float. The Crawl became an exceedingly lame doggie paddle; the Breast Stroke became a wallow; the Side Stroke was the same thing on your side, and the Back Stroke, everybody’s favorite, became merely a welcome excuse for floating motionless on your back and wiggling your toes.

With Thanksgiving approaching, we had become a well coordinated team of synchronized floaters, capable of circumnavigating the pool in slow moving ovals, without touching or intruding on each other’s space. Our sole goal became, to stay aloft as long as possible, as, with each passing week, the time increased.

Then, suddenly, a most mysterious MIRACLE, took place, and we all got a Reprieve! Overnight, for no apparent reason, the water in the pool turned BLACK! I’m not kidding! This being Pratt, “black” was not merely a figure of speech. When one said black at Pratt, they meant it! The pool water had turned as black as India INK! Furthermore, all attempts to explain or cure the mystery proved to be in vain. “Bacteria” was mentioned! Therefore,” SURVIVAL” was suspended. We all hoped, never to begin again. And thus, we went home for Thanksgiving with ample reason to be thankful.

THE FINAL EXAM

When we returned to school again, no one was disappointed to discover that the pool condition had NOT been remedied. I was rumored that Pratt had simply pulled the plug, emptied the pool, and that was that! Alas, our joy was to be short-lived, for the Athletics Instructor was determined that SURVIVAL would survive, at least, long enough to administer the Final Exam. Therefore, he managed to arrange a Grand and Glorious ALL Inclusive, One Time Only, Final Hour-Long Examination to take place at a local YMCA.
Thus, one cold bleak morning in December of 1957 two hundred and fifty miserable disgruntled students, comprising half of Pratt’s male student bodies, everyone from all the Survival classes combined, reluctantly trudged across a mile of Brooklyn sidewalks, with towels tucked under their arms. One by one or in small groups, they found their way to a seemingly abandoned rundown building that clearly had seen better days.

It was in this Behemoth of a Bathhouse that the final chapter of Survival was scheduled to take place. The Grand Finale proved to be both Spectacular and exceedingly surreal. Imagine an enormous chamber, sort of a cross between a huge gymnasium and an aquatic auditorium, a far cry, indeed, from the tiny sweatbox in which we had labored for months to increase our endurance, and whittle down our swimming skills. In the center of the structure was a massive pool, not merely Olympic in size, but bigger still; sort of like an indoor beach.

The decor consisted of predominately tile covered walls and floors, white with dark green accent lines. Much cracking and crazing clearly indicated that the individual tiles, like the building they adorned, had been deteriorating for a long time. The vast interior conveyed a feeling of austerity that, at the same time, radiated a hint of elegance and faded glory. This must have been wondrous place to bring the family, around the turn of the Century.

Surrounding the pool was a tile clad skirting, approximately 12 feet in height. Behind the deep end, where the top of the tiles ended, a massive window, made up of many individual panes of glass, began. It extended from one side wall to the other, and clear up to the ceiling, which was easily 40 feet high. Through this enormous wall of windows, the desolation of a dismal December morning poured in and bathed the room in cold gray light

As the chamber began to fill with all of the two hundred and fifty reluctant swimmers who had been required to take SURVIVAL class that year, it became increasingly clear that this YMCA must have been in some sort of shutdown mode, possibly marked for demolition, or just closed for the season. Standing there, still with our coats on, and the steam of our breath, visible and unabated, we began to realize that this massive room, in which we would soon be swimming, was NOT heated!

Much noisy speculation and careful observation resulted in the conclusion that, mercifully, the water was! This could be deduced from the fact that a blanket of steam rose from the pool, and hovered, like a low flying cloud, above the water. As a cacophony of complaints reverberated in the chilly air, it also became clear that this vast tile covered space formed, in effect, a rather dramatic echo chamber. And thus, the ruckus rose to a playful ROAR, then, stopped abruptly, when the shrill sound of a silver whistle shattered the air, signaling the Coach was there!

“Take your clothes off!” he commanded “Just put them anywhere!” If there was, in fact, a locker room, it clearly was not being offered. At least, we didn’t have to undress in the water! The shallow end faced several rows of rising bleachers. Some of us laid our towels and clothing there. Others stacked their stuff against a wall, while many more, cursing and complaining, just let their belongings fall to the floor, and left them there.

The coach, dressed in his usual attire, to which a winter jacket and gloves had been added, stood beside the pool, surveying his minions, two hundred and fifty naked men, including one, who, to my surprise, was nearly twice my size. Then, while we all stood there, shivering, shriveling and turning blue, he slowly took attendance! After two hundred and fifty names were called, and nearly the same number of teeth chattering replies of “Here!” were heard, he raised the silver whistle to his lips and blew! A mighty TWEEEET, ricocheted from the walls of the vast echo chamber, and a crowd of pissed off polar bears stampeded to the pool, eager to immerse themselves in what they hoped would be Warm Water.

Thank God, the water proved to be, not only, warm, but Hot! Or, maybe, it just seemed that way, in relation to the frigid air. Standing there, we were able to easily compare the water temperature to that of the air, because the water only came up to our knees. The shallow end was even shallower than we expected it to be. And to our glee, we soon discovered, as we eagerly dove forward, that relatively shallow water extended well past the center of the pool. Thus, unlike the seventh circle of Hades, where we had trained, our feet could secretly touch the bottom, throughout three quarters of the pool.

Once again, the Whistle blew, and the Wild Rumpus Began! “Crawl” the flashcard said, and it became clear that all the various classes, who had studied Survival that year, had come to the same conclusion as our little group of twenty: “Go Slowly and Don’t Make Waves!” And so, two hundred and fifty wet doggies began to paddle in a circle around the massive pool. All of them were talking, shouting, laughing, roaring, as if to test the echo, which answered back with a resonance that was sonically rewarding. The hubbub rose to a near deafening crescendo. While the coach, who did not seem to mind the din, blew his whistle again. “Side Stroke” the flashcard read. This was the best stroke, as one leg could wiggle at the surface, while the other, inconspicuously, touched the floor.
Around the middle of the pool a great clog of humanity formed, as no one was eager to venture into the deep end, where they would actually have to swim. There was much poking, prodding, and whispering, “Come on, it’s your turn” “You go next”. Half the pool was almost empty, as, one after another, we each reluctantly took our turn, circling the deep end. It was surprising how quickly we all fell into this pattern, with the better part of an hour still ahead.

Then, to our amazement, about five minutes into the Exam, a kind of Miracle began. Slowly, we started to realize that visibility was decreasing rapidly. Two hundred and fifty warm bodies in hot water, breathing hot breath into the freezing air, began to generate a fog that supplemented the cloud of steam that was already there. As what was happening became apparent, the chorus of whispers changed from “Swim slower!” to “Breathe faster!” And the universal challenge was no longer to swim for an hour, but rather to huff and puff, and generate as much steam as possible, so that, hidden from view, rather than “swimming” we could walk instead. It worked!

Slowly, but surely, fog filled the chamber. Throughout all this, the instructor continued to periodically blow his whistle. But he had to read the cards aloud, for no one could see them, any longer. Nor could the coach see us. Soon visibility was down to zero. And amid laughing, joking, and general hilarity, the Crawl became merely walking on the bottom, the Side Stroke, hopping on one leg, and the Back Stroke, turned into brazenly walking backwards. Before long, the circle of “swimmers”, now invisible, had transformed itself into a half moon shape that avoided the deep end altogether.

This fogbound Free-for-All continued to escalate, as hoots and hollers and peals of laughter echoed from the rafters, until, at last, the final whistle blew. And, in the end, which for many of us arrived too soon, this much dreaded Final Examination turned out to be a FUN Occasion! It had become a Raucous Romp and Celebration, a winning combination of sweet revenge for a semester of humiliation, as well as, forgive the pun, a welcome chance to “let off steam”! And so, in joyous anticipation of the impending Christmas Vacation, another precious year, of my fast waning youth, came to an end.

SURVIVAL class was not offered again. Therefore, the other half of the male student bodies, who didn’t take it the first semester, escaped it, altogether. Pratt closed the little pool under the stage, perhaps forever. And, if there was any lesson to be learned from this endeavor, it might be that if there is ever to be another Andrea Doria Disaster, hopefully it can be arranged to take place, in cold December, at the Bedford Stuyvesant YMCA!

İnsan Çiçekler & Irp-group.co.cc

WOW, these are images of real people!!!

Just in time for St. Patrick's day

Windows 8?

I haven't used Windows 8 yet, although I have a copy of it, but it doesn't look good based on this.. :-)

Sears at it's finest

I have an interesting tale to tell about an appliance which we purchased October of 2006. First I need to say that we have used Sears appliances for years and have been very happy with them. But, due to our recent experiences I need to say that I think we’ve bought our last Kenmore product from Sears.

We purchased a Kenmore Trio Refrigerator (Model 795.77314600) hoping that again, we’d have a long living unit. Boy, were we wrong. Shortly after the warrantee ran out small things started happening, like , plastic latches broken, freeze ups so that it wouldn’t cool, etc. Nothing that was very serious, but is very annoying at best. Then one evening in early November of 2010, my wife open the door to discover the entire light bulb assembly (which is at the top) had fallen to the shelf below. The refrigerator was extremely hot inside and had melted the plastic around the mounting screws. Of course the butter had melted as well and was running down from shelf to shelf. A note here; these bulbs are supposed to come on when the door is open. Then if the door is left open for about a minute, an alarm sounds. This alarm NEVER sounded, but the VERY hot bulbs were on!

I started doing some internet searches and discovered that this is a known problem with these units, which are manufactured by LG and sold under the Sears name Kenmore. I found a web site, www.mysears.com, but the pages referring to this problem have been removed. But, if you go to Google and do a search on “Kenmore Trio Refrigerator Fire Hazard”, there’s plenty of information out there.



I called many Sears and LG phone number and got absolute zero from them. Go figure!! So, I sent in a complaint to our states Attorney General. From this, I received that my complaint had be forwarded to the Consumer Products Safety Division, in Washington. Time marches on and I finally got a correspondence from Sears stating that there had been a class action settlement. Of course, neither Sears nor LG said they did anything wrong. HELLO, some people actually had a fire in their kitchen as a result of this “defect”.

Needless to say, I got on the phone to Sears to have the repair taken care of. They ordered the parts and scheduled a service call for a few weeks in the future. Well, the parts didn’t come so I called again to cancel the service call. Shortly thereafter I started receiving all sorts of calls from Sears in reference to the backordered parts or they were trying to reschedule the service call. Good thinking, schedule service calls with no parts!! Go figure. Anyway, time marches on (an lots of calls from Sears) and the parts finally arrive. I called Sears and scheduled the call. They finally arrived and fixed the refrigerator. This was in mid-January of 2012.

Now, zoom forward to the present (mid-March). We’re sitting here in the evening and there’s knock on the door. The UPS truck had delivered 2 boxes. Of course, I asked my wife what she had ordered. Likewise, she asked me the same question. You’re not going to believe it but, they delivered 2 sets of parts for our refrigerator AFTER the unit has been repaired. Now, we’ll wait to see if anyone calls to schedule one or two new appointments.

Needless to say, purchasing anything from Sears is NOT on the top of our list. FYI, I won’t go into the rusted out oven (Sears) or the dishwasher (Sears) that had to be replaced. Just junk!!!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts

If I may quote from Kim Komando's web site: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Simple Gifts are two instantly recognizable tunes. This amazing cello and piano cover from The Piano Guys puts them together beautifully."

Bet you can't play it just once.. :-)

Life is like coffee

The other day Alachua added a comment on my blog Seniors at a Florida Coffee Shop. I thought about that as I watched this, this morning. I thought he/she as well as everyone else might enjoy this.

Life is like Coffee. Now go and get some friends and enjoy a nice cup.

Thoughts of Summer past

My wife grew some elephant ears last year and they were hugh, but great to look at.



I then decided to zoom in a little bit on one of the drops of water.

Gee, what gives with this white stuff.

We've been enjoying a very mild winter this year and loving it. Of course there are concerns that without the snow to melt in the spring that we may be in for a drought this summer. But, imagine my supprise when I read about snow arriving today. Well, it's here.
:-(

Leap Year defined (by a speed reader)

So, what's this leap year all about? Phew...

Beware - "When Siri Goes Psycho"

Do you know Mel Birnkrant?

Mel is a guy that had some computer problem some years ago and gave me a call. Well, he came over and spent a lot of time with me as I pieced all of his images and documents together from his damaged computer. That time together has developed into a friendship and we (with our wives) get together over dinner and jokes, lots of jokes. Anyway Mel was here again yesterday with more computer problems and I decided that I really should share this truely amazing person with you all. If you're any kind of old toy or Disney fan, this is for you.

Corporations are NOT people

Well, here I go again.. As you may or may not know, our supreme court has decided that corporations are people and therefore have all the rights (and maybe more) that we as individuals do. When I first heard this I was outraged, but I fugured, what can I do about it. I mean I'm just one person. Well it seems that there is something being done about it and with all your help maybe we can help those in the forefront of the movement. Here is a link to the Free Speech for People web site. Below is a video on one gal in Maryland that has taken it even further.

If this bothers you, then pass this on to your friends and family.

Tempered Glass doors breakage solution

This is an image from the 3M web site, just so I don't get into trouble over it.

We have had a 3M safety and security film applied to our new shower door glass as well as two other windows that are tempered glass. It is perfectly clear and looks like it is the solution to our problem. We found a local 3M authorized business that coould apply the 3M™ Safety and Security Window Film and are very happy with it. Check it out if you have tempered glass.

By the way, the gentleman that came to install it told of a business that was VERY happy that they had this film on their store front windows. He said that the security video showed that the window was struck 18 times with a baseball bat and still did not give. They, of course, needed to replace the glass, but the would be thieves were not about to get into the store.

And now for some fun!!

Thanks to my friend Judy (Angel) for finding this one.

Our government in action again, at it's finest

There is an article in our local newspaper this morning that is adding fuel to the fire. As you know from prior posts it seems that our Congress can openly engage in insider trading legally. It is really laid out in a book that I'm reading, Throw them all out by Peter Schweizer and is available on Amazon.com at this link.

Ok, back to the article in the paper. It's an eye opener...
House GOP scuttles regulatory effort

OK, here's another try

OK, so The Tasmanian Devil didn't make you laugh. So here's another attempt and using bus advertisments at that. Thanks to my friend Judy (aka. Angel) for finding these..

Remember The Tasmanian Devil

Go get him Daffy!!! :-)

Kristen Bell on the Ellen show

This is too funny!!!!

Watch for the birdie!

This should put a smile on your face....

Drew Berry: Animations of unseeable biology

I just watched a video on TED.com about the structure of DNA and it's very fascinating. I was given this link via an email to the "Brewer Surname Project Members". This is a genealogy project of grouping people by their DNA on the Familytree DNA web site. If you are studying your family tree, I strongly suggest that you become a member of this. I have found my roots back to the first settlers of Manhattan Island (aka New Netherlands).

Touched by a Wild Mountain Gorilla

I think I'd be running for hills!!

Why people go south in the winter...

Bill Moyers with Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson

I was listening to NPR (Northeast Public Radio) today to the Bill Moyer show Moyers and Company. In this show Bill was interviewing Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson on Engineered Inequality. It's very eye opening and I think that everyone that lives in the U.S.A. should listen to it and find out what has been happening with our political and economic systems over the last 30 years.

You can listen to this show on Bill Moyers web site using this link.

The Spy

I'm reading a great book right now. It's The Spy written by Clive Cussler.



In it, the main character Isaac Bell owns a Locomobile. I had never heard of this car and looked it up. In the book, it's a racing car from the early 1900s and true to his word here's a video of one on Youtube.
Locomobil Old 16

It's an international spy story of the Dreadnought race. What is a Dreadnought, you ask?
This is a Dreadnought:

You can find more information about them on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadnought

Enjoy :-)

Great BBQ

I went to lunch yesterday with a good friend of mine, Judy. We went to a local place called Billy Bob's BBQ. I had been there before and the waitress had highly recommended one dish. It's called Piggy Pie. She said to arrive real hungry and plan on taking a long nap or plan on taking a doggy bag home. Well, let me tell you I thought I had died and gone to BBQ heaven.

You take pulled pork and put into the bottom of an over safe bowl, over it you cram lots of Macaroni and Cheese (heavy on the cheese) over it, put some bread crumbs on top and pop it into the oven. WOW, was it ever good.. :-). My wife, Linda, that doesn't particularly like BBQ really liked it, as she had the left over doggy bag last night for dinner.

How to turn the page

New music jukebox

Well, I finally did it!!! I actually bought an Apple product, an iPad 2.



Here's my reasoning. I used to have my music stored on a computer and used a program called MediaMonday as the jukebox. It was connected to our stereo via audio cable. All this worked fine until the hard drive containing the music died. Well, I didn't do anything about it for quite a while, but finally started thinking that we own all these CDs but they're diffiecut to manage and store in the living room. I started looking around for some sort of small device (computer) that I could use for this purpose. Hopefully putting it on a shelf along with the stereo equipment. Finally I ran across an ad for the iPad and started thinking or wondering if it could do the job for me.

I investigated quite a bit, even calling Apple directly, but couldn't get a definite answer if it could work for me or not. I finally had to drive an hour to an Apple store where this cute little french gal convinced me that, yes it can do that. Note, her good looks, etc. didn't have any baring on my decision. :-)

I got it home and started playing and after several calls to Apple tech support it is finally working. I have it setup like this:

All music (250 CDs) are stored on a Windows computer using iTunes
My stereo is plugged into an Airport Express (Apple device)
The Airport Express has an ethernet cable to my existing network (to the PC)
The Airport Express has a wireless network to the iPad.

Using the Music app on the iPad, I can play all of my iTunes library on the PC through the wireless connection to the stereo. It's pretty slick.

My only real complaint is with the Music app on the iPad. If you display the music by genere, it gives you a list of ALL songs in that genere. I think it should give you a list of all artists and then albums in that genere. You see, in 250 CDs we have a LOT of songs in an individual genere and then all get listed. :-(

Now I need to find out what else this little thing can do..

Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer

I am reading a book called Throw Them All Out that was written by Peter Schweizer. It is the story of our political system at work and getting RICH while doing it. :-( I think everyone should read this one.

The link above points to it on www.amazon.com and below is the description of it as quoted from Amazon.
"One of the biggest scandals in American politics is waiting to explode: the full story of the inside game in Washington shows how the permanent political class enriches itself at the expense of the rest of us. Insider trading is illegal on Wall Street, yet it is routine among members of Congress. Normal individuals cannot get in on IPOs at the asking price, but politicians do so routinely. The Obama administration has been able to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to its supporters, ensuring yet more campaign donations. An entire class of investors now makes all of its profits based on influence and access in Washington. Peter Schweizer has doggedly researched through mountains of financial records, tracking complicated deals and stock trades back to the timing of briefings, votes on bills, and every other point of leverage for politicians in Washington. The result is a manifesto for revolution: the Permanent Political Class must go."

Photographer shows us the world

You should view this in HD and full screen...

Bill Cosby

I can't remember if I have posted this, but I recently saw it on EO's blog and it's extremely funny... :-)

100 Years of our history

I'm not sure if this is good or not. It certainly shows 100 years of our history in a very short time frame. It may be disturbing, so be forwarned.

My War - Andy Rooney

I recently finished reading a book that a friend recommended to me. The late Andy Rooney put together a real collection of his experiences during WW II. If you like Andy or are interested in that War, this is really a good read. It's called My War and is available from amazon.com. Below is a quote of the book description from Amazon.

"Book Description
Publication Date: October 15, 2002
My War is a blunt, funny, idiosyncratic account of Andy Rooney's World War II. As a young, naïve correspondent for The Stars and Stripes, Rooney flew bomber missions, arrived in France during the D-Day invasion, crossed the Rhine with the Allied forces, traveled to Paris for the Liberation, and was one of the first reporters into Buchenwald. Like so many of his generation, Rooney's life was changed forever by the war. He saw life at the extremes of human experience, and wrote about what he observed, making it real to millions of men and women. My War is the story of an inexperienced kid learning the craft of journalism. It is by turns moving, suspenseful, and reflective. And Rooney's unmistakable voice shines through on every page."