Saturday, February 8, 2014

"Sitting Bull"

"One of the great American minds.

“'Warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right to take another life. The warrior for us is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others.

"'His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all, the children, the future of humanity'.

"As a leader, Sitting Bull's wisdom was infinite.

Our readers and leaders should read and learn from Sitting Bull's wisdom."

Amen.

"The Beatles: The Night That Changed America - A GRAMMY® Salute - Preview"

"The Beatles on 'Ed Sullivan': 50 Years Later"

I was 12 years old and fell in love with the Beatles from that performance. In 1965, I would enter St. Catherine's High School wearing Beatle boots and long hair. Talk about culture shock: the boys there had crew cuts and penny loafers. I was attacked.

Four years later, they were smoking dope and letting their hair grow.

Open Blog - Weekend

Thank you, Betty Boop.

Friday, February 7, 2014

An older Woman was asked, "At your ripe age, what would you prefer to get : Parkinson's or Alzheimer's?"

The wise one answered, "Definitely Parkinson's - Better to spill half my wine than to forget where I keep the bottle.".................................Yep!

"Nolan gets message across to Latvian hockey team"

From The Journal Times.com:

By JOHN WAWROW

"Three years ago, Ted Nolan needed a map to locate Latvia.

"Now he's speaking their language.

"Thanks to hockey, Nolan has become well-acquainted with the small, proud Baltic nation since taking over Latvia's national team, which he will be coaching at the Sochi Winter Games.

"'Yeah, I learned the language, and the people on the street taught me a couple of terms,' the Buffalo Sabres' interim coach said this week. 'I've learned a few words in Latvian to get by, how to shoot and work and compete.'

"These are among the phrases Nolan required to get across his message to players, a majority of whom compete in the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League.

"And yet, Nolan's desire to learn the language went beyond bridging a communication gap.

"As a First Nations' Ojibwa growing up in Sault St. Marie, Ontario, Nolan is drawn to how a nation identifies itself through culture and language. In Latvia, that, in part, means speaking the native tongue after the country spent much of the past century under the control of the former Soviet Union.

"As a result, one of the first rules Nolan established was having only Latvian _ not Russian, Swedish or English _ spoken in the locker room.

"'When you're a group that's kind of been put down and under certain rule, sometimes it's tough to find your identity,' said Nolan, who leans on former Latvian NHLers Arturs Irbe and Sandis Ozolinsh to translate when necessary.

"'It's Latvia, so let's use your language. I think you should be proud to be a Latvian. You should be proud to be a Canadian. You should be proud to be from whatever nation you're from. And in Latvia, they're a proud people. And to be a part of that, I'm just thrilled.'"

Read more: http://journaltimes.com/news/olympics/nolan-gets-message-across-to-latvian-hockey-team/article_78e81cee-2fa0-500e-80d0-33d04ec7be20.html

My parents and sister emigrated from Latvia, their homeland, to the USA before I was born.

Local Blogs Busy

From Racine Community Media:

"CITY OFFICIAL MARY OSTERMAN HIT WITH ANOTHER ETHICS VIOLATION!!!"

Read: http://racinecommunitymedia.tumblr.com/post/75870652306/city-official-mary-osterman-hit-with-another

From Racine Exposed:

"Any Comment From Racine City Hall?" on the four latest lawsuits brought against Racine, plus a look at the Osterman Ethics Complaint

Read: http://racineexposed.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/any-comment-from-racine-city-hall/

From Racine in Ruins:

"Even with the outcome known we fight."

Read: http://racineinruins.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/even-with-the-outcome-known-we-fight/

From Root River Siren:

"SCJ To Now Cut 300 to 400 Racine Jobs"

Read: http://rootriversiren.blogspot.com/2014/02/scj-to-now-cut-300-to-400-racine-jobs.html

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back! This week has been a bit of a mess... I came down sick on Wednesday and I'm still recovering. Tender Heart just threw out her back last night. Thank God, the weekend is here! We both could use the rest.... Anyways, here are your questions.....

1) Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?

2) Do you count your steps when you walk?

3) Do you chew your pencils or pens?

4) Have you ever ran out of gas?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday

Ain't it the truth.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

A Sad Story

Time is like a river.

You cannot touch the water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment of life.

As a Bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Nova Scotia back country.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.

I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man. And as I played "Amazing Grace", the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.

When I finished, I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head was hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothing like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Byte Me: How Our Gadgets Track Our Every Move

The sheer volume of data sucked out of us every minute is creating a digital duplicate of our lives that can be exploited by the nefarious

This IS an extremely interesting article by Bob Sullivan from NBC News.

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/byte-me-how-our-gadgets-track-our-every-move-n18621

All those gadgets and appliances that can talk to the Internet might fulfill the dream of George Jetson, or they could bring about the nightmare of George Orwell.

It is amazing all the technology that is out there collecting data on use daily without our knowledge or consent. Is it legal, I really don’t know.

Here is one example and he has listed several:

Cell phones tell stores you are walking by. Thermostats tell power companies when you get home. Computers in your car tell companies where you go, and how fast you get there.

Logo is property of NBC...I stole it.

Open Blog - Thursday

Have a great day.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my fascinating friends! How are you? The sun was actually out a few times in the past week. Goodness gracious, it was quite a sight to see. Some snow melted and I even drove with the car window open. Of course, we soon got more snow, then the deep freeze, rinse, repeat. Everybody’s running out of salt for the streets and highways. Here’s a suggestion: Spread potato chips and pretzels and other salty snacks on the roads. The salt will melt the snow and the crunched snacks will improve traction.

Another snowstorm is bearing down on Racine and should be here by the time you read this. Here we go again. Snow, snow, snow, then the deep, deep freeze. Doesn’t Old Man Winter know any other song? Or is it the Weather Witches?

I have an announcement and an offer to make. I’ve decided to make my blogs available to the JournalTimes.com if they want to post them. They can put them in the print edition of the paper, too, if they so desire. I make these available for a nominal fee.

Journal Times, adding my blog to your site will result in a move personable, dare I say it, more positive online atmosphere. It’s a scientific fact that people smile when they see me. They even smile when they see my avatar online. What’s it worth to make every customer smile? You let me know, Journal Times. My email address is below. Happy readers make for happy advertisers.

I’d like to publicly address Mr. Justin Bieber, but he’d never know about it. What I really want to do is bend him over my knee and wail on his posterior a few times. Such a spoiled brat. When you start abusing other people and their property, I think it’s time for the joyride to come to an end. I give his last appearance in court -5 stars. I hope they put him away for awhile, before someone does it for them.

I’d also like to address the Internal Revenue Service over their refusal to allow my travel expenses for places that I’ve astral projected to. I’d like to, but I won’t. I’m no dummy.

Thank you for stopping by my blog this week. I love visitors. We each bring a flavor to the communal pot.

When will you have your day in court? Find out: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

Be careful, dears, though I believe you already are. You don’t get this far into winter without major trauma by not being careful. I love you all and I love Sol, our sun. Enjoy your week. Fefnicute!

Open Blog - Wednesday

Happy whisking Wednesday.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Next year, reserve earlier!

Looking for a Contract?

I'm put 'in a contract out on Punxsutawney Phil; 6 more weeks...the little bastards gotta go...

Who is this creature who claims to be an expert on the long-term weather forecast?

call (262) 555-1212

Open Blog - Tuesday

So much cuteness.

Monday, February 3, 2014

The Crescent Moon and Uranus

I like taking unusual pictures sometimes. They aren't always the most spectacular shots, but they show off unusual conjunctions that may happen fairly often but are rarely photographed.

Tonight's shot that falls into that category is the Moon and Uranus. I didn't think I was going to get a chance at this on as it was raining in the early part of the evening. By chance I happened to be outside around 9pm and it had cleared so I grabbed the camera and went for it. The following shot was taken with my Canon60D, EF 75-300mm lens at 220mm and f/5.6, 0.5 second exposure at ISO3200. I fired up Stellarium to verify which of the fainter objects was Uranus and put a little line pointing to it (and it took forever since my computer with Lightroom and Photoshop had a hard drive crash and I am currently waiting for replacement parts I had to use alternate photo processing programs...don't worry...a good backup exists!)

In October, we will have a totally eclipsed Moon very close to the planet Uranus. I look forward to capturing this pair at that time, clouds willing!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Have you ever used Time Warner Cable for telephone services?

Bump: I've bumped up this blog because of the new, anonymous, 7th comment.

By the way, I have an appointment this Wednesday for TWC to install telephone service.

Originally posted on January 13, 2014 at 12:25 AM:

I'm thinking of switching landline telephone service providers from AT&T to Time Warner Cable. I want to hear anyone's experiences with TWC telephone service.

TWC's introductory rate (one year) is considerably less than my AT&T bill. Plus, it includes nationwide long distance. Presently, I have no long distance service. Even after a year, TWC's regular rate is less than what I'm paying now.

I've had issues with TWC's Road Runner internet service in the past, so I don''t want to shoot myself in the foot.

Thank you for your time.

Unscrewed Theater Grand Opening

Most of you know I do improv here in Tucson with Not Burnt Out, Just Unscrewed. We have performed all over Tucson at bars, coffee shops, churches and anywhere else we could find over the years...until now.

We have been on a long time quest to open our own theater and that happened last Friday night. We now have a 96 seat theater with lobby, concession stand, two classrooms and office space. We have been working on transforming the space since last fall and did four shows over the weekend. It is called Unscrewed Theater.

Here is our version of the Dating Game from last Friday's uncensored late show (the early show is family friendly) so it is a little off color at times. The woman from the audience we use as the bachelorette is a local television reporter who did a piece on the theater opening.

You can find a bunch more videos from the opening weekend on our youtube page

Going forward, we are doing mostly family friendly shows and teaching classes. We will add different types of shows and have other groups perform there as well. Very exciting times here!

A Boy and His Bucket

Besides the kitchen cabinets, Charlie now insists that the oven door be open for his inspection, too:

Local Loyalty - Top Dog Hot Dogs

Welcome back to this weeks feature -

TOP DOG @ Regency

Top Dog is located in Regency Mall,

inside the south west exit, near HH Gregg.

The hours are...

Mon-Sat 10am-9pm

Sun. 11am-6pm

While Top Dog has recently come to the mall,

it has been in existence since June of 2009.

There is also a Top Dog cart running in the summer.

I will have to find it this year!

Top Dog can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

I know Orbscorbs is a huge fan of Top Dog, as am I.

Everything I have had there is really good,

but my absolute favorite are the cheese curds, simply awesome!

The location is easy to get to, fun to be at and the service and quick and friendly.

If you're lucky, Caleb, the owner, himself may even take care of you :)

All prices include tax, which I really like.

"We give it to you straight" is one of the benchmark slogans.

The graffiti art on the walls is pretty awesome. There are a few places you can 'tag' and write on, marking that you were there.

The 3 words that Caleb chose to describe his place -

1. Fast

- yes it is!
2. Fun

- especially if you take the time to write on the walls

3. Friendly

- definitely something that draws you in and brings you back

Stop in and try out the good food, don't forget to try the cheese curds, you won't be disappointed! Help spread the word, and tell them you saw it here!

Open Blog - Monday

I hope that you can bear the rest of the day.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Bronco Run

Ground Hog Day

"NASA Sued for Failing to Investigate Martian Jelly-Donut Rock"

"One man is claiming that the intriguing Martian rock photographed recently by NASA's Opportunity rover isn't a rock at all, but a living thing, and is now suing the space agency for neglecting to investigate further.

"Rhawn Joseph, a neuropsychologist and author, filed a lawsuit in a California court earlier this week demanding NASA 'thoroughly scientifically examine and investigate' the mystery object that seemingly appeared out of nowhere on the surface of Mars this month.

"Dubbed the 'jelly donut,' by Opportunity lead scientist Steve Squyres, the rock is white on the outside with a red center. And while NASA scientists admitted it was 'unlike anything we have seen before,' they definitely determined it to be a rock.

"NASA even offered a simple and slightly dull explanation for its curious appearance on Mars on Jan. 8, after photographs taken in the same location just 12 days earlier showed no such object.

"That explanations included the possibility that Opportunity's tires knocked the rock, since dubbed 'Pinnacle Island,' into view.

"But the mystery was not to be explained away so fast for Joseph.

"The self-labelled astrobiologist and author of several books on extraterrestial life instead resorted to legal action against the agency, explaining in the court petition his theory that the rock is indeed 'a putative biological organism.'

"In fact, it could be a "mushroom-like fungus, a composite organism consisting of colonies of lichen and cyanobacteria, and which on Earth is known as Apothecium," Joseph speculated in the petition."

Hey, hale-bopp! What's going on up there?

Below is an image which is irrelevant to this discussion, but it might get this blog some more hits.

JT IRREGULARS