Orinoco Flow - Enya

Happy Birthday to Enya!

Playing Chicken With a Cat

Happy Dance Like a Chicken Day!

Magnets and Marbles!

One of the best 4 minutes and 4 seconds I've ever spent watching a video! Absolutely mesmerizing.

With Plenty of Lead

You Are a Pencil

You are a flexible, easy going person. You go with the flow, and you don't mind making a few mistakes along the way. You don't like paying attention to details, and you feel constricted by rules. You are a free spirit. You wouldn't want to predict the future even if you could. You love that life is full of surprises. In fact, you surprise yourself every day.

Are You a Pen or a Pencil?

Music from Film

Music from Film helps you identify music from movies and TV shows by explaining what was on screen when the songs were playing.

There are plenty of websites on the internet listing the songs that feature in TV shows and movies. But if there's a choice of many you still won't know which is the one you want.

You could try asking on message boards, searching the lyrics on Google, listening to loads of songs on iTunes, etc, but that's time consuming and often unsuccessful.

We present the songs alongside the scene information so that you can quickly identify the track you're looking for.

Music from Film

Bing Weekly News Quiz

I check out the Bing home page nearly every day, not only for their fantastic daily changing themes, but also because I accumulate points towards Amazon gift cards.  It's not all that much, but I can usually get enough each month for a $5 Amazon credit.  (I just redeemed several months worth and paid for nearly half of a 5TB external hard drive)

I also like to take the Weekly News Quiz and after finishing up and getting my score, enjoy seeing - depending upon how well I did - what "kind of week" I'm having.  If my score is good, it tells me I'm having a week as good as - for example - some latest sports champion or record breaker and if it's NOT a good score, it compares my week to some poor slob who just had his world crash down around him.

I aced this week's quiz and this was my result:

To be honest, I wish I had missed a few just so I wouldn't be compared to THAT S.O.B. 

I wouldn't want to be like him, even if I had five times his money.   I don't have much hair either, but at least I buzz mine off w/ clippers and don't try some ridiculous comb over.  I'm also proud to say I don't whine if things don't go my way or tell lies about those who oppose me.

"The Trump train rolls on."  Sadly, yes.  I'd cheer if a train ran OVER Trump,  though. 

turpitude

turpitude noun [tur-pi-tood]

vile, shameful, or base character; depravity

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I knew of this word and have seen/heard it used most often in the phrase "moral turpitude". I haven't thought of it or heard it used in a long time, but from now on I'll think of it when I see a certain someone:

Looks like I'll think of it a LOT over the next four/five years. Gag.

Heaven help us all.

Can You Name the Movie?

Using only a one-word clue?

I took the quiz and didn't do all that well, surprising me because I consider myself pretty good at movie trivia.  I think my biggest problem was being aware of the ticking clock and thinking that the more time I took, the worse my score.  That's not the case, so take all the time you need.

That said, there was no way I was going to get them all correct, but there were a few movies I couldn't remember that I should have.  Also, I misspelled a couple and it won't accept the answer.

Name the Movie With Only One Clue

Block the Kitty

Easy to play: Click on the circles to darken and block the kitty's path to the outside.

Me? I'd let him go; otherwise you might wind up steppin' in sumpthin'.

Seriously, a fun game.

Play it!

I'm sure there's a trick to the game, but I'm not so good with spatial relationship-type problems. I have beaten it twice in about ten games.

If It's a Long Way

On a trip in the back seat of a mini-van, then just sing some AC/DC a cappella.

What Kind of Cheesecake Are You?

You Are a Key Lime Cheesecake

Unconventional and quirky, you live to shock people. You see the world in very weird ways.  Sometimes you even surprise yourself!

What Kind of Cheesecake Are You?

The Cancer of Democracy

Bread and Circuses is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader--the barbarians enter Rome.

— Lazarus Long, in Robert Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset

(Note: To anyone who wants to nitpick - yes, I know that's from the cover of a paperback edition of Time Enough For Love, but it IS a depiction of Lazarus Long, so just stow it before you whine, all right?)

Whoosh Bottle

Do a search for these on YouTube and you'll find several more, but I thought this was the coolest looking one. 

DISCLAIMER:  DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.

Actually, go ahead if you want, I was just covering my ass.  If you DO try it at home, please record it and post it to YouTube, esp. if it blows up.

For some detailed instructions, view this video: Extreme Whoosh Bottle Trio

I'm thinking that if you're thinking of doing this, you might want to watch it to find out the proper and safest procedure.

Inkblot Test

This Inkblot Test Will Reveal If You Think Like A Child

My results:

Based on your visual associations, we found that your style of thinking is much like that of a rebellious teenager. You tend to be quite strong-minded and inquisitive and tend to question the world around you. Your decision making process is mostly based on instant gratification rather than rational reasoning as you prefer to live in the moment. You can come across as quite cynical at times, but that's only because you don't accept things as they are and try to understand the real meaning behind them. You don't play by the rules and make your own destiny as you go along.

Sounds 'bout right.

Inkblot Test

Moon Phase Widget

From a great website: Midnight Kite. They also have nice selection of star charts in PDF available for download.

Me and Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul

R.I.P. Billy Paul

Ancient Words For These Times

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.

But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.

 For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men.

 He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.

 ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman Statesman, philosopher and orator (42 B.C)

I've Been Thinking About You - Londonbeat

Noticed the original video had been taken down, an expected hazard of posting videos.

Originally posted on April 26, 2009

Shines the Name!

When I was a young man I was introduced to Robert A. Heinlein's books by Mrs. Seitz, a gentle lady who became my very favorite teacher. I'm sure she was also a favorite of both of my sisters who also attended her classes.

It wasn't the first one I read, but my favorite "juvenile" Heinlein novel was Starship Troopers. The novel helped to shape my views on what a citizen owes to his country. (I should also say "her country" too, because Heinlein also influenced me as to the proper respect owed to women)

In Troopers, a young man, a rich and privileged boy named Juan "Johnny" Rico desires to earn his citizenship and enlists in what Heinlein envisioned the future Marines might become. When it became time to board the assault ship or to return to it from battle, the ship's loudspeakers would play "The Ballad of Roger Young" as a homing signal. RAH mentioned it several times in snippets "....shines the name, shines the name of Roger Young"

I was always curious about who Roger Young was, but couldn't find anything in the meager research resources available to me at that long-ago time. When I got a computer, it was one of the first things I researched.

This is what is on the very last page of Heinlein's classic novel:

Young, Rodger W., Private, 148th Infantry, 37th Infantry Division (the Ohio Buckeyes); born Tiffin, Ohio, 28 April 1918; died 31 July 1943, on the island of New Georgia, Solomons, South Pacific, while singlehandedly attacking and destroying an enemy machine-gun pillbox. His platoon had been pinned down by intense fire from this pillbox; Private Young was wounded in the first burst. He crawled toward the pillbox, was wounded a second time but continued to advance, firing his rifle as he did so. He closed on the pillbox, attacked and destroyed it with hand grenades, but in so doing he was wounded a third time and killed.

His bold and gallant action in the face of overwhelming odds enabled his teammates to escape without loss; he was awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor.

---

From a now-defunct R.A.H. fan site:

For Robert Heinlein, Rodger Young stood for that noblest of men--the soldier willing to put himself in harm's way for the sake of his people. Heinlein first mentions Young in 1952, when he recorded his piece for Edward R. Murrow's This I Believe show. Heinlein expands greatly on the theme in 1958 with Starship Troopers, a controversial novel which he freely admits having written in part to "glorify] the military. . .specifically the P.B.I., the Poor Bloody Infantry, the mudfoot who places his frail body between his loved home and war's desolation--but is rarely appreciated." In the story, Johnny Rico serves aboard the troop ship Rodger Young, and we have occasion to hear the boarding tocsin for that ship, a verse from Frank Loesser's "The Ballad of Rodger Young."

To the everlasting glory of the infantry
Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young

The Ballad of Rodger Young

Ball

Play Ball!

This is one of those games that is simple, yet maddeningly frustrating.

Using your cursor that's "tethered" to the ball, flick it up and click on it and the ball will change colors.

Easier said than done, and not easy to do several times in a row.

A friend of mine sent me the link to this game and it reminded me of when I had an MSN Group that found these types of games, zipped them up with the page and instructions, even included screenshots to promote them.

(It - the group - was a resounding failure, but that's another story)

When I'd find a game like this, I would write the webmaster, tell him what I wanted to do, ask his permission to redistribute his game. More often than not, they'd give permission, sometimes stipulating certain things such as what websites were prohibited from using the games.

I liked this game, so I "dug" the shockwave file out of my Temporary Internet Folder and made my own page so I can play it anytime I like.

I wondered if the site had more games, so I clicked on over to the index page, found out it was a forum for techie types, no other links to other games or cool things.

I did see this graphic and it made me literally lmao:

One Toke Over the Line - The Lawrence Welk Show

Uh, it's "spiritual", but not in the way you think.

What Is The Meaning of Your Life?

The Meaning of Your Life is Joy

The purpose of your life is simple: to live it to the fullest. You believe that happiness is a choice, and being happy isn't that hard to figure out. Too many people struggle in their lives. You think they should just let go and enjoy what they've been given. It's easy to find misery, but it's difficult to find happiness. You know that all the happiness you need comes from within.

What Is The Meaning of Your Life?

After Taxes - Johnny Cash

Countdown to the NFL Draft

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Let's Stay Together - Al Green

Happy Birthday to Al Green!

Michelle's Money Message

I am Mrs.Michelle Obama and I am written to inform you about your Bank Check Draft brought by United Embassy from the government of Benin Republic to the white house Washington DC and has been mandated to be deliver to your address on Tuesday  being April  11th 2016 as soon as you get back to me with your below information.

Home address:.............................
City:...................................
Phone number.........................

You check is containing the sum of $10 million USD.

Here is my number.(+1-360-437-6565) you can call me or send me an sms, but i prefer sms because I'm always busy in the white house and i cant be able to pick calls all the time.I will be waiting to hear from you immediately, thanks and God bless you.

Sincerely
Mrs.Michelle Obama
First Lady

Thanks, Mrs. Obama, but there are many reasons I'm sure this isn't legit...and the main one is that if you know who I am, then you probably also know how rudely I've spoken about you - much worse than I have your husband, actually.

As always, I am publishing the email addresses (hidden below this) found in the source in hopes the spammer gets spammed.

I'll just have to say I'm FINALLY proud to have a chance to criticize you on my blog.

USA.@ninus.ocn.ne.jp; mogw0339.ocn.ad.jp; mf-smf-ucb001.ocn.ad.jp; mv-mta-ucb026.ocn.ad.jp; mzcstore352.ocn.ad.jp; vcwebmail.ocn.ad.jp; michelleobama666@outlook.com

Fast Track - Simon's Cat

They Don't Sell These

Around here

You Are an Acai Berry

You are an intense, fascinating person with a very strong personality. You don't shy away from controversy, and you're incredibly independent. You are cultured, knowledgeable, and worldly. You have a deep understanding of things. You are lively and healthy. You believe your body is a temple, and you treat it as such.

What Tropical Fruit Are You?

---

I was liking how it flattered me until the last bit; there's no need to try to fool my friends and family who might be reading this.

"My body is a temple..." -snicker-

The sad thing is the controversy surrounding this fruit, namely the health food scams and that the harvesting of this fruit is helping to deplete the Amazon rain forest.

BallDroppings

Cool application - draw some lines so the balls dropped can bounce off them, turn up your sound and waste some time in a fun fashion. It helps if you draw some "boundary lines" so the balls don't bounce off the screen. Adjust the ball drop rate and gravity to change how the balls react.

BallDroppings

Bible Gateway

A nice feed for a Bible verse of the day.

Polly Want Some Cracker Trivia?

A Ritz cracker has seven holes, while a regular saltine has thirteen.

What Would Scotty Do?

"Aye, Captain...we canna warp without the analytics!"

Tubthumping - Chumbawamba

I'll Pass on the Cracker, Thanks

You Were a Parrot

You are a master of language, and you use your wit to mock and tease others. But you are also wise, and you often think carefully before you speak.

What Animal Were You In a Past Life?

I was probably a parrot stuck in a cage in a shop window and screeched out obscenities at the most inappropriate moments.

The Empty Tomb

The empty tomb at The Cross of Our Lord, Groom, Texas.

My friends and regular readers of this blog know how much I enjoy going over to the huge cross at Groom and taking photos. These are a year or so old, but I don't think I've yet published the following photo in this blog.

If you've seen my other posts about the cross, you'll also know how I love the angel atop the empty tomb.

(My Angel has many of my favorite photos of her)

A closer, straight-on look at the stone that was rolled away.

Inside the tomb is this angel:

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A "bump" for Easter Sunday

4000 Match Chain Reaction

Speechless Thought Bubble

Or maybe it's a thoughtless speech bubble, I dunno.

I was looking at headlines on my Bing start page and got this page after clicking a link:

It wasn't a 404 error because I looked down at my modem and saw I was temporarily offline.  (AT&T -spit!-)  Close enough to a 404 page for the blog label, though. 

No Pity for Pilate

And I was round when Jesus Christ
Had His moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed His fate

"Sympathy for the Devil"
- The Rolling Stones

This is the first station in the Stations of the Cross and is one of my favorites. I will post some better photos at a later date, but these are some of the older ones I wanted to go ahead and show, then burn to disc.

Stepping around to the middle of the exhibit, the detail on the bronze of Jesus' face is the very definition of "resigned to one's fate".

I've tried to not be caught looking, but I find it interesting to watch some people's reactions at this station, especially after they've seen the pure essence of dejection from the above view. Quite a few of the folks step away with a sad face, then turn facing Pilate with Jesus, standing side-by-side, often with their hand on Jesus' shoulder. I've never seen it done with disrespect, no mugging for the camera; in fact, I never have seen anyone posing with the statues...most of the photographing of people is done with the huge cross as the background.

A little closer view shows how the bronze has been shined by people touching or brushing up against it.

Both figures are fascinating to study; Pilate is interesting because he did nothing, "washed his hands" and I suppose I can relate to that more than I can being persecuted as was Jesus. Pilate was human, interested mainly in his own self-preservation.

We all have crossroads in life, decisions we make that turn out to be wrong, but which is the worse sin; making a mistake or doing nothing? Sometimes our fate hinges not on those things we do, but by the things we do NOT do.

It's also common to find several dollars worth of change in Pilate's hand washing bowl.

This is my favorite perspective of Pilate, and I've plans for this or similar photos. I altered this one with my IrfanView program several months ago and like the way it almost looks like an oil painting.

As I said, I will post more at a future date.

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Sorry, but this one is also a "bump" and was originally posted on 8/3/07

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"Bumped" again from May 31, 2008

Spring Has Sprung!

Happy Vernal Equinox!

---

Summer, fall, winter, spring

The seasons rotate as each brings

Its special beauty to this Earth of ours.

Winter's snow and summer's flowers;

Frozen winters will flow come spring.

There is a renewal of everything.

- Edna Frohock
American poet (1906-97)

Everything you need to know: Vernal equinox 2016

The Oracle of Bacon

Ever heard of or played the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game? It works on the premise that everyone in Hollywood has worked with Kevin Bacon or worked with someone who has worked with Kevin Bacon and can be linked in six steps or less.

Well, here's a great online version:

The Oracle of Bacon

The premise is simple;  input the name of an actor/actress and click the button "Find Link" to see how he/she is connected to Kevin Bacon.  According to the site, any link of four or more is rare.  I would agree, because I've tried and tried and never done better than three.  Two links has been my average.  I've thought of some obscure films, B-movies and used the names of people who had insignificant roles in those flicks and have always been disappointed with the results.

Give it a go and tell us how you've done!

(a "bump" from March 25, 2012)

spoonerism

spoonerism \SPOO-nuh-riz-uhm\, noun:
The transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words.

Some examples: (from the website)

We all know what it is to have a half-warmed fish ["half-formed wish"] inside us.

A well-boiled icicle ["well-oiled bicycle"].

It is kisstomary to cuss ["customary to kiss"] the bride.

Is the bean dizzy ["dean busy"]?

When the boys come back from France, we'll have the hags flung out ["flags hung out"]!

Let me sew you to your sheet ["show you to your seat"].

Spoonerism comes from the name of the Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), a kindly but nervous Anglican clergyman and educationalist. All the above examples were committed by (or attributed to) him.

---

Off the top of my head, I can think of only one spoonerism (it might not qualify, but it's still funny); my childhood buddy Joe Bill used to say -usually to a girl- in a low voice:

"Tickle your ass with a feather?"

And when the person did a double-take and said "Excuse me?", Jody would say

"Particularly nasty weather!"

Spoonerisms remind me of Cockney Rhyming Slang.

More spoonerisms

It's The Dog-gone Truth!

A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down.
- Robert Benchley

---

Boys ARE quite a bit like dogs, come to think of it.

---

Here's another topical quote:

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
- P. J. O'Rourke

Ain't that the truth; this govt. is spending money like a drunken sailor...or a kid with his/her folk's credit card.

And I'm Good With Onions

You Are The Liver

You are a very versatile, adept person. You are able to do many jobs. You seek balance at all times. You are good at adjusting yourself to keep things level. You are able to counteract bad influences. You can neutralize anything toxic. You are resilient like no one else. You can rebuild yourself completely if you need to.

What Internal Organ Are You?

I Saw Her Standing There

A tribute to the late George Martin

The Virtual Bluegrass Band - Josh Turner & Friend Carson

Hamlet vs PayPal

PayPal's Terms and Conditions (including their privacy policy, acceptable use policy, eBay shipping services policy and billing agreement terms) has a longer word count at 36,275 than does Shakespeare's Hamlet, which has 31,950 words in total.

Not-So-Famous Last Words

Your Last Words Would Be Philosophical

"What we know is not much. What we don't know is enormous."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

I think this one is probably pretty correct, although mine would probably be more along the lines of:

"Did you know Ben Franklin's last words were 'A dying man can do nothing easy.' ?"

Lucky Man - Emerson, Lake & Palmer

R.I.P. Keith Emerson

All in a Day

Yep, it's that time of year again to start out the old mnemonic "Spring forward, Fall back".  I usually hear nothing but complaints about losing an hour of sleep, but good grief, it happens on a Saturday night and the next day is Sunday.  The only people who it seems like it would really inconvenience are the church goers...and I'd like to know what percentage of them sleep through church anyway.    I'd think people who worked the graveyard shift would be happy, having to work only 7 hours. 

When I worked on rigs, we usually got paid for the nine hours we were out there during this time change and generally when the fall change of advancing the clock ahead an hour, we got paid for eight, despite having only worked seven hours, but I did have a few companies who refused to do that, saying we got the extra hour in the spring, so it was only fair.  The trouble with that was I sometimes hadn't been working for the company then and when that was the case - when I had to be out there for nine hours and only got paid for eight - I'd make a point- if I could- to do absolutely nothing for an hour.  If I couldn't, then I'd do it some other night .  Don't get me wrong, I was a good hand and conscientious about my job, but it was the principal of the thing.

Enough about my roughnecking days (or nights), here's some day trivia:

The total time between sunrise and sunset is the "day length".  This can vary with latitude.

Day length at the equator is about 12 hours every day.

Day length at the poles ranges between 24 and 0 hours every six months.

Why aren’t there exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness on the spring and fall equinoxes?

On the equinoxes, the very center of the Sun sets just 12 hours after it rose. But the day begins when the upper edge of the Sun reaches the horizon (which happens a bit before the center rises), and it doesn’t end until the entire Sun has set. Not only that, but the Sun is actually visible when it is below the horizon, as Earth’s atmosphere refracts the Sun’s rays and bends them in an arc over the horizon.

psittacism

psittacism noun [sit-uh-siz-uh m]

1. mechanical, repetitive, and meaningless speech

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There's a lot of psittacism going on now leading up to the election.