I'm sorry, but between the traveling and sightseeing and some issues with my laptop's ability to reliably connect to the Internet, I will not be able to publish the usual Cartoon Saturday post today. Don't despair, though - Cartoon Saturday will return in this spot next week at its usual time.
Agnes and I are visiting the Royal Gorge today, after taking about 75 bazillion photos yesterday at Pikes Peak, Seven Falls, and the Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings. We'll be home tomorrow, and the travelogue will continue.
Have a good day. More thoughts (and pictures) coming.
Bilbo
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Colorado Springs - The Garden of the Gods
I finished up my conference early this afternoon, and Agnes and I decided to begin our miniature vacation here in Colorado Springs with a visit to the marvelous park called The Garden of the Gods. This is a truly breathtaking place, with beautiful rock formations, forests, and meadows crisscrossed with miles of hiking trails. And the best part is that it's all FREE! Yes, the property was at one time owned by a gentleman named Charles Eliot Perkins, whose children donated it to the City of Colorado Springs in fulfillment of Mr Perkins' wish that it "be kept forever free to the public." The operation and maintenance of the park are paid for by various municipal taxes and the proceeds of the visitors' center and gift shop.
We parked at the main parking lot and joined a nature tour led by a young park ranger who gave a very enjoyable rundown on the plants, animals, and - of course - rocks all around us. At the end of her tour, Agnes and I hiked up a trail to a higher elevation for some other views. It's hard to describe the sheer beauty and magnificence of the park, so a few pictures will have to serve...
Most of the major rock formations have names. I don't remember most of the names, but this one is called "The Kissing Camels"....
There are lots of bears in the mountains, and they often come down into the park looking to get an easy meal in the trash people leave behind. The park tries to discourage them by installing bear-proof trash cans set in concrete, with lids designed to be difficult for bears to manipulate and impossible for them to reach through in search of treats...
Here are a few random photos of vistas in the park...
Since this is, after all, my blog, I get to include a gratuitous photo of myself...
A few more gorgeous scenery pictures...
And a nice picture of Agnes and I, taken by a fellow who was repaying us for taking pictures of he and his wife...
Between Agnes and I, we took a total of 241 pictures, almost all of which are spectacular. It's hard to shoot a bad photo of a place as beautiful as The Garden of the Gods.
Tomorrow we're going to try to ride the cogwheel train to the summit of Pikes Peak, and visit Seven Falls. I'll try to put up more pictures tomorrow evening.
Have a good day. More thoughts (and pictures) tomorrow.
Bilbo
We parked at the main parking lot and joined a nature tour led by a young park ranger who gave a very enjoyable rundown on the plants, animals, and - of course - rocks all around us. At the end of her tour, Agnes and I hiked up a trail to a higher elevation for some other views. It's hard to describe the sheer beauty and magnificence of the park, so a few pictures will have to serve...
Most of the major rock formations have names. I don't remember most of the names, but this one is called "The Kissing Camels"....
There are lots of bears in the mountains, and they often come down into the park looking to get an easy meal in the trash people leave behind. The park tries to discourage them by installing bear-proof trash cans set in concrete, with lids designed to be difficult for bears to manipulate and impossible for them to reach through in search of treats...
Here are a few random photos of vistas in the park...
Since this is, after all, my blog, I get to include a gratuitous photo of myself...
A few more gorgeous scenery pictures...
And a nice picture of Agnes and I, taken by a fellow who was repaying us for taking pictures of he and his wife...
Between Agnes and I, we took a total of 241 pictures, almost all of which are spectacular. It's hard to shoot a bad photo of a place as beautiful as The Garden of the Gods.Tomorrow we're going to try to ride the cogwheel train to the summit of Pikes Peak, and visit Seven Falls. I'll try to put up more pictures tomorrow evening.
Have a good day. More thoughts (and pictures) tomorrow.
Bilbo
Just Checking In...
Agnes and I are in Colorado Springs, and are having a great visit so far (except for that working part that I need to do, but that's okay). Haven't had a time to do any real touristy stuff yet, but that will start after work today. We had a great visit yesterday evening with one of my old friends from high school and his wife at their beautiful home out on the plains, with marvelous views of the mountains and the glorious sunset (thanks to all the fires in California).
This afternoon, weather and work permitting, we plan to visit the Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls. Hope it works out.
I will try to do a real post tonight or tomorrow morning...for now, just wanted to let you all know we're still alive and kicking!
Have a good day. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
This afternoon, weather and work permitting, we plan to visit the Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls. Hope it works out.
I will try to do a real post tonight or tomorrow morning...for now, just wanted to let you all know we're still alive and kicking!
Have a good day. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Another Look at Civility
I know I keep harping on the lack of common courtesy and civility in modern America, but I can't help it...it drives me up the wall. The Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you) seems to have been replaced by The Zinc Rule (Do unto others before they have a chance to do unto you...and do it loudly and often). Civility has all but vanished in politics, it's in short supply on the street, and it appears that many parents don't bother to teach it to their children.
WWGWD? - What would George Washington do?
A few months ago, an NPR report looked back at George Washington's handwritten list titled Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. Yes, it's somewhat dated (we probably don't need the one which reads, Kill no vermin, or fleas, lice, ticks, etc. in the sight of others; if you see any filth or thick spittle put your foot dexterously upon it; if it be upon the clothes of your companions, put it off privately, and if it be upon your own clothes, return thanks to him who puts it off, at least in most locations in modern America), but many of his rules of civil behavior could apply just as well today as when Mr Washington wrote them down back in the 1700s. Here are a few of George Washington's rules to live by which wouldn't be out of place today:
- Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present. (Everyone wants respect, but nowadays no one seems to realize that it has to be earned, not demanded)
- Sleep not when others speak, sit not when others stand, speak not when you should hold your peace, walk not on when others stop.
- Read no letter, books, or papers in company, but when there is a necessity for the doing of it, you must ask leave; come not near the books or writings of another so as to read them unless desired, or give your opinion of them unasked. Also look not nigh when another is writing a letter. (This is, after all, why people buy privacy screens for their laptops...)
- Do not laugh too loud or too much at any public spectacle. (I guess this means I have to stop laughing...or crying...at the antics of our elected reprehensives)
- Let your ceremonies in courtesy be proper to the dignity of his place with whom you converse, for it is absurd to act the same with a clown and a prince. (Of course, lately we all have more experience dealing with clowns than princes...)
- Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of any.
- Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.
- When another speaks, be attentive yourself and disturb not the audience. If any hesitate in his words, help him not nor prompt him without desired. Interrupt him not, nor answer him till his speech be ended. (Wow...I wonder if any of the bozos who try to shout down speakers at public events would recognize this one?)
There are 110 rules in George Washington's list. He tried to live by them, and perhaps we should, too. We could do worse.
And all too many of us usually do.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
P.S. - Agnes and I are headed out to Colorado Springs later this morning. I'm attending a two-day conference, and we're taking the opportunity to do a few days of sightseeing in the beautiful Rockies. I'll try to keep up the blog and the daily Facebook quotes while we're gone, but please bear with me if things are a little irregular for the next few days.
B.
WWGWD? - What would George Washington do?
A few months ago, an NPR report looked back at George Washington's handwritten list titled Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. Yes, it's somewhat dated (we probably don't need the one which reads, Kill no vermin, or fleas, lice, ticks, etc. in the sight of others; if you see any filth or thick spittle put your foot dexterously upon it; if it be upon the clothes of your companions, put it off privately, and if it be upon your own clothes, return thanks to him who puts it off, at least in most locations in modern America), but many of his rules of civil behavior could apply just as well today as when Mr Washington wrote them down back in the 1700s. Here are a few of George Washington's rules to live by which wouldn't be out of place today:
- Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present. (Everyone wants respect, but nowadays no one seems to realize that it has to be earned, not demanded)
- Sleep not when others speak, sit not when others stand, speak not when you should hold your peace, walk not on when others stop.
- Read no letter, books, or papers in company, but when there is a necessity for the doing of it, you must ask leave; come not near the books or writings of another so as to read them unless desired, or give your opinion of them unasked. Also look not nigh when another is writing a letter. (This is, after all, why people buy privacy screens for their laptops...)
- Do not laugh too loud or too much at any public spectacle. (I guess this means I have to stop laughing...or crying...at the antics of our elected reprehensives)
- Let your ceremonies in courtesy be proper to the dignity of his place with whom you converse, for it is absurd to act the same with a clown and a prince. (Of course, lately we all have more experience dealing with clowns than princes...)
- Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of any.
- Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.
- When another speaks, be attentive yourself and disturb not the audience. If any hesitate in his words, help him not nor prompt him without desired. Interrupt him not, nor answer him till his speech be ended. (Wow...I wonder if any of the bozos who try to shout down speakers at public events would recognize this one?)
There are 110 rules in George Washington's list. He tried to live by them, and perhaps we should, too. We could do worse.
And all too many of us usually do.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
P.S. - Agnes and I are headed out to Colorado Springs later this morning. I'm attending a two-day conference, and we're taking the opportunity to do a few days of sightseeing in the beautiful Rockies. I'll try to keep up the blog and the daily Facebook quotes while we're gone, but please bear with me if things are a little irregular for the next few days.
B.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Ice Cream
"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!!"
Most of you (at least, most of you who grew up in the US) howled this at your parents at some point while you were children. Ice cream is one of those wonderful, simple pleasures that - unless you are lactose intolerant or some such thing - help ease our way through the hot days of summer.
It's also a cash cow for enterprising entrepreneurs.
When I was young, we had two or three brand names of ice cream back home in Pittsburgh, and they were all the brands of local dairies. Isaly's was the best, Otto's came from the dairy that delivered our milk (yes, the refrigerated truck used to bring glass bottles of milk that were placed in the insulated case outside our door), and there may have been one or two others I've forgotten.
Nowadays, of course, every supermarket has row on row of cases of ice cream. There are a million different brands, most with off-the-wall names featuring odd spellings and umlauts over one or more letters. The most expensive brands offer odd combinations of flavors and come in ever-smaller containers at ever-increasing prices. It's sad.
It's also one of the reasons why Agnes has invested in an ice cream freezer so that we can make our own.
This is not, of course, one of those exhausting, hand-cranked-keep-filling-the-tub-with-ice-cubes -and-rock-salt freezing buckets that we had to crank for hours on end until the ice cream froze. No, this is a high-tech device with a self-freezing bucket that churns out wonderful homemade ice cream in a short time with none of that manual labor stuff. Agnes has so far made passion fruit ice cream and a wonderful mint chocolate chip concoction. She's bought ice cream cookbooks and searched the Internet for even more recipes. I don't know how she's missed this one so far...
Ice cream. Don't leave home without it.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Most of you (at least, most of you who grew up in the US) howled this at your parents at some point while you were children. Ice cream is one of those wonderful, simple pleasures that - unless you are lactose intolerant or some such thing - help ease our way through the hot days of summer.
It's also a cash cow for enterprising entrepreneurs.
When I was young, we had two or three brand names of ice cream back home in Pittsburgh, and they were all the brands of local dairies. Isaly's was the best, Otto's came from the dairy that delivered our milk (yes, the refrigerated truck used to bring glass bottles of milk that were placed in the insulated case outside our door), and there may have been one or two others I've forgotten.
Nowadays, of course, every supermarket has row on row of cases of ice cream. There are a million different brands, most with off-the-wall names featuring odd spellings and umlauts over one or more letters. The most expensive brands offer odd combinations of flavors and come in ever-smaller containers at ever-increasing prices. It's sad.
It's also one of the reasons why Agnes has invested in an ice cream freezer so that we can make our own.
This is not, of course, one of those exhausting, hand-cranked-keep-filling-the-tub-with-ice-cubes -and-rock-salt freezing buckets that we had to crank for hours on end until the ice cream froze. No, this is a high-tech device with a self-freezing bucket that churns out wonderful homemade ice cream in a short time with none of that manual labor stuff. Agnes has so far made passion fruit ice cream and a wonderful mint chocolate chip concoction. She's bought ice cream cookbooks and searched the Internet for even more recipes. I don't know how she's missed this one so far...
Ice cream. Don't leave home without it.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Sunday, August 30, 2009
At the Movies, Avoiding the Rain
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, last evening we went with our friends Ken and Nadja to the Filene Center at Wolf Trap Park to see a screening of The Two Towers accompanied by a live orchestra and chorus. It turned out to be an absolutely awesome evening.
Despite having lived in Northern Virginia for so many years, Agnes and I had never been to Wolf Trap, and we found it to be a wonderful place - a gem set in forests and green lawns in the middle of a major metropolitan area. There are basically two seating options: on the lawn (cheaper tickets, farther from the stage) or under cover (more expensive, but you don't get wet when it rains).
And did it rain last night!
Happily, we missed most of it. The sky was dark and forbidding when we arrived, but the rain held off long enough for us to commandeer a picnic table and finish off a bottle of champagne and some snacks and get to our seats before it began to pour. The people with lawn seats came prepared and didn't seem to mind - umbrellas and tarps were broken out and everyone just waited out the first of the two periods of heavy rain (the second came right at the start of the intermission, wouldn't you know).
Our seats were in the center of the Loge section, with a perfect view of the giant HD screen. The only problem was that the screen hid most of the orchestra and chorus, which was unfortunate when the show was over and all we could see during the (well-deserved) standing ovation was the conductor, the two vocal soloists, and the front row of the orchestra. Bummer.
The music was perfectly aligned with the film, which was shown with subtitles (necessary because the powerful live music tended to drown out much of the on-screen dialog). The conductor had a flat-panel computer display on his podium which allowed him to watch the film while conducting, thereby keeping the music synchronized with the action.
If you haven't seen The Two Towers before, it's an incredible movie, with matchless cinematography, solid acting, and fantastic special effects, and the addition of a live rendering of Howard Shore's musical score added to the overall effect. We loved it.
The downer, for those of you who have not been to Wolf Trap, is the parking...well-organized (and FREE!!) on arrival, but pretty chaotic once the show is over. We were parked in one of several huge parking lots in meadows adjoining the park, and it took quite a while for the traffic to funnel out of the various lots onto the roads leading back out to the main highways. It wasn't nearly as bad as the gawdawful scrum we were mired in after a Jimmy Buffet concert at the Nissan Pavilion some years ago, but we still learned a valuable lesson: a post-show tailgate party to kill time while the traffic thins out isn't a bad thing.
Anyhow...
If you have the opportunity to see a show that adds live orchestral accompaniment to a great movie, do it! We loved it, and I think you will, too.
Just don't irritate the police who are directing traffic...
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Despite having lived in Northern Virginia for so many years, Agnes and I had never been to Wolf Trap, and we found it to be a wonderful place - a gem set in forests and green lawns in the middle of a major metropolitan area. There are basically two seating options: on the lawn (cheaper tickets, farther from the stage) or under cover (more expensive, but you don't get wet when it rains).
And did it rain last night!
Happily, we missed most of it. The sky was dark and forbidding when we arrived, but the rain held off long enough for us to commandeer a picnic table and finish off a bottle of champagne and some snacks and get to our seats before it began to pour. The people with lawn seats came prepared and didn't seem to mind - umbrellas and tarps were broken out and everyone just waited out the first of the two periods of heavy rain (the second came right at the start of the intermission, wouldn't you know).
Our seats were in the center of the Loge section, with a perfect view of the giant HD screen. The only problem was that the screen hid most of the orchestra and chorus, which was unfortunate when the show was over and all we could see during the (well-deserved) standing ovation was the conductor, the two vocal soloists, and the front row of the orchestra. Bummer.
The music was perfectly aligned with the film, which was shown with subtitles (necessary because the powerful live music tended to drown out much of the on-screen dialog). The conductor had a flat-panel computer display on his podium which allowed him to watch the film while conducting, thereby keeping the music synchronized with the action.
If you haven't seen The Two Towers before, it's an incredible movie, with matchless cinematography, solid acting, and fantastic special effects, and the addition of a live rendering of Howard Shore's musical score added to the overall effect. We loved it.
The downer, for those of you who have not been to Wolf Trap, is the parking...well-organized (and FREE!!) on arrival, but pretty chaotic once the show is over. We were parked in one of several huge parking lots in meadows adjoining the park, and it took quite a while for the traffic to funnel out of the various lots onto the roads leading back out to the main highways. It wasn't nearly as bad as the gawdawful scrum we were mired in after a Jimmy Buffet concert at the Nissan Pavilion some years ago, but we still learned a valuable lesson: a post-show tailgate party to kill time while the traffic thins out isn't a bad thing.
Anyhow...
If you have the opportunity to see a show that adds live orchestral accompaniment to a great movie, do it! We loved it, and I think you will, too.
Just don't irritate the police who are directing traffic...
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.Bilbo
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Cartoon Saturday
Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy, one of the longest-serving member of the senate and the last surviving Kennedy brother, has passed away; a girl kidnapped at age 11 has been reunited with her family at age 29, after being imprisoned by her kidnapper for 18 years in sheds and tents in his back yard and forced to bear two of his children; in the spirit of high-minded and issues-oriented campaigning, a spokeswoman for New Jersey governor Jon Corzine called challenger "a complete menace to society" because of a 25-year record of driving citations; in a magnanimous gesture toward healing the divisions of the recent election, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is calling for prosecution of his political rivals "for challenging the legitimacy of his electoral victory and tarnishing the image of the state"; and the Washington Redskins lost a preseason game to the New England Patriots 27-24.
Yep. You need Cartoon Saturday as much now as you ever have.
There's an old joke that John probably remembers about little Johnny's description to his parents about what he learned in Sunday school...the punch line is, "Well, if I told you what he told us, you'd never believe it!" You have to believe that someday, some child will come up with this as an alternative punch line to a variation of that classic joke...
If you're a man, life is good: you only need three pairs of shoes - black, brown, and sneakers. If you're a woman, you can't have enough shoes, and they have to be carefully coordinated with everything else you're wearing. Of course, you can go a bit overboard...
For another take on the same general topic, we have...
And if those activities should go awry, the perpetrators could end up here...
Dining in sidewalk cafes can be fun and romantic. Of course, it does have its drawbacks...
It can be difficult for police officers, always seeing the uglier side of humanity ... or can you say, "violinity?"
And an extra bonus cartoon for this week, because it's been such a long and ugly one. I loved this cartoon just for its wonderful twist on the cliched sports activity...
Agnes and I are headed to Wolf Trap tonight to see the movie "The Two Towers" on a huge HD screen, accompanied by a live orchestra. We've never seen a show like this before, and we're looking forward to it. I'm particularly looking forward to the hopeful realization that it's worth the cost of the tickets, particularly since I bought the entire Lord of the Rings movie trilogy for less than the cost of said tickets. Wish me luck.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Yep. You need Cartoon Saturday as much now as you ever have.
There's an old joke that John probably remembers about little Johnny's description to his parents about what he learned in Sunday school...the punch line is, "Well, if I told you what he told us, you'd never believe it!" You have to believe that someday, some child will come up with this as an alternative punch line to a variation of that classic joke...
If you're a man, life is good: you only need three pairs of shoes - black, brown, and sneakers. If you're a woman, you can't have enough shoes, and they have to be carefully coordinated with everything else you're wearing. Of course, you can go a bit overboard...
For another take on the same general topic, we have...
And if those activities should go awry, the perpetrators could end up here...
Dining in sidewalk cafes can be fun and romantic. Of course, it does have its drawbacks...
It can be difficult for police officers, always seeing the uglier side of humanity ... or can you say, "violinity?"
And an extra bonus cartoon for this week, because it's been such a long and ugly one. I loved this cartoon just for its wonderful twist on the cliched sports activity...
Agnes and I are headed to Wolf Trap tonight to see the movie "The Two Towers" on a huge HD screen, accompanied by a live orchestra. We've never seen a show like this before, and we're looking forward to it. I'm particularly looking forward to the hopeful realization that it's worth the cost of the tickets, particularly since I bought the entire Lord of the Rings movie trilogy for less than the cost of said tickets. Wish me luck.Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Friday, August 28, 2009
Real Ikea
I imagine all of you are familiar with Ikea, the Swedish home furnishings store that is all over the place in the US, offering all sorts of put-it-together-yourself furniture and home decorating items, cookware, toys, etc. Our house is largely furnished in early Ikea. The furniture is beastly heavy (being made of particle board with a veneer finish), but is sturdy, easy to assemble, and mostly attractive.
Last night while I was ironing my shirt for work today (I need a butler, dammit), NPR's program The World ran a story titled "Just hanging out at Ikea in Beijing" which was pretty interesting. Ikea opened a large store in Beijing back in 1999, hoping to break into the expected huge Chinese market for home furnishings...but it hasn't quite worked out as intended. Instead of spending some of the vast amount of money that they've imported from America, the Chinese go to Ikea to ... well ... just hang out. It's air conditioned, there's a place to leave your children so they can play, there's a reasonably-priced restaurant, and the store is full of sets of furniture on which you can relax, sleep, read, or whatever. Beijingers go to Ikea in droves - they just don't buy anything...they hang out. Ikea isn't commenting on the phenomenon, other than to say that the Beijing store is a "long-term commitment." Perhaps just not a commitment to profit, but that's their problem.
Anyhow...
One of the questions asked of the reporter was how Chinese customers deal with the Ikea custom of giving all it's products Swedish names that are difficult enough for English speakers to deal with...like the Besta and Framsta storage units, or the Komplement, Malm, and Hemnes wardrobe cabinets (right now, I'm sitting at my Galant desk, surrounded by Billy bookshelves, and Benno CD towers). The reporter just laughed and said it was sometimes a challenge.
Well...
It got me thinking, as so many things do. Wouldn't it be a good thing if Ikea gave its products names that were more descriptive and appropriate? Instead of calling a chair Ektorp or a dining room table Leksvik, why not make the names more fitting? How about...
The Fatass easy chair?
The Inept government official desk?
The Snorer bedroom set?
The Cleanyerplate dining room table?
Any other ideas from out there? I think we could probably take this a long way...
Have a good day. Hang out at Ikea. Cartoon Saturday is coming...
Bilbo
Last night while I was ironing my shirt for work today (I need a butler, dammit), NPR's program The World ran a story titled "Just hanging out at Ikea in Beijing" which was pretty interesting. Ikea opened a large store in Beijing back in 1999, hoping to break into the expected huge Chinese market for home furnishings...but it hasn't quite worked out as intended. Instead of spending some of the vast amount of money that they've imported from America, the Chinese go to Ikea to ... well ... just hang out. It's air conditioned, there's a place to leave your children so they can play, there's a reasonably-priced restaurant, and the store is full of sets of furniture on which you can relax, sleep, read, or whatever. Beijingers go to Ikea in droves - they just don't buy anything...they hang out. Ikea isn't commenting on the phenomenon, other than to say that the Beijing store is a "long-term commitment." Perhaps just not a commitment to profit, but that's their problem.
Anyhow...
One of the questions asked of the reporter was how Chinese customers deal with the Ikea custom of giving all it's products Swedish names that are difficult enough for English speakers to deal with...like the Besta and Framsta storage units, or the Komplement, Malm, and Hemnes wardrobe cabinets (right now, I'm sitting at my Galant desk, surrounded by Billy bookshelves, and Benno CD towers). The reporter just laughed and said it was sometimes a challenge.
Well...
It got me thinking, as so many things do. Wouldn't it be a good thing if Ikea gave its products names that were more descriptive and appropriate? Instead of calling a chair Ektorp or a dining room table Leksvik, why not make the names more fitting? How about...
The Fatass easy chair?
The Inept government official desk?
The Snorer bedroom set?
The Cleanyerplate dining room table?
Any other ideas from out there? I think we could probably take this a long way...
Have a good day. Hang out at Ikea. Cartoon Saturday is coming...
Bilbo
Thursday, August 27, 2009
One Simple, Quick, Thought...
Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy died this week after a long illness. He was one of the longest-serving senators in history, and whether you liked his politics and his personal history or not (and I expect many of you both did and didn't), he was truly an historic figure.
My simple question is this:
Will the life and death of Senator Kennedy - "The Lion of the Senate" - get more or less coverage over time than the life and death of Michael Jackson - "The King of Pop"?
I'm pretty sure I know the answer, and I'm getting depressed in advance in the relative certainty that I'm right.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
My simple question is this:
Will the life and death of Senator Kennedy - "The Lion of the Senate" - get more or less coverage over time than the life and death of Michael Jackson - "The King of Pop"?
I'm pretty sure I know the answer, and I'm getting depressed in advance in the relative certainty that I'm right.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sex for Seniors
Okay, admit it...you stopped reading the title of this post after the word "sex."
It's all right. I would have, too.
Last Monday, I put up a post titled "Television as Birth Control?" that took off on a news article about a proposal to cut down on the population of India by wiring remote villages for electricity and equipping them with television sets, so that people would stay up late watching TV and be too tired to have sex. Lots of good comments on that one, including this from Melissa B. - "Hmmmmm...TV doesn't seem to curb teens' sexual appetites, so why do the Powers That Be seem to think it will work on the rest of us?" Good question, Melissa...especially if those teens watch Showtime, Cinemax, or any of the other ... um ... racy cable channels.
Well, anyhow, since it seems that sex is a winning topic, when I received this in my "Joke of the Day" e-mail this morning, I figured I'd just go with a winner...
1. Wear your glasses to be sure your partner is actually in the bed.
2. Set a timer in case you doze off.
3. Set the mood with lighting: turn them all off!
4. Before you begin, put 911 on your speed dial.
5. Write partner's name on your hand in case you forget.
6. Keep the Polygrip close by so your teeth don't end up under the bed.
7. Have Tylenol ready in case you actually complete the act.
8. Make all the noise you want... the neighbors are deaf too.
9. Don't even think about trying it twice.
10. If it works, call everyone you know with the good news.
11. Next morning, be sure to remember to remind your partner whether she enjoyed it or not.
I have put these hints on a handy, laminated card to keep on the nightstand for reference as needed. You never know...
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
It's all right. I would have, too.
Last Monday, I put up a post titled "Television as Birth Control?" that took off on a news article about a proposal to cut down on the population of India by wiring remote villages for electricity and equipping them with television sets, so that people would stay up late watching TV and be too tired to have sex. Lots of good comments on that one, including this from Melissa B. - "Hmmmmm...TV doesn't seem to curb teens' sexual appetites, so why do the Powers That Be seem to think it will work on the rest of us?" Good question, Melissa...especially if those teens watch Showtime, Cinemax, or any of the other ... um ... racy cable channels.
Well, anyhow, since it seems that sex is a winning topic, when I received this in my "Joke of the Day" e-mail this morning, I figured I'd just go with a winner...
Love Making Tips For Seniors
1. Wear your glasses to be sure your partner is actually in the bed.
2. Set a timer in case you doze off.
3. Set the mood with lighting: turn them all off!
4. Before you begin, put 911 on your speed dial.
5. Write partner's name on your hand in case you forget.
6. Keep the Polygrip close by so your teeth don't end up under the bed.
7. Have Tylenol ready in case you actually complete the act.
8. Make all the noise you want... the neighbors are deaf too.
9. Don't even think about trying it twice.
10. If it works, call everyone you know with the good news.
11. Next morning, be sure to remember to remind your partner whether she enjoyed it or not.
I have put these hints on a handy, laminated card to keep on the nightstand for reference as needed. You never know...
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
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