Astrophotodrummer

Casino Royale

2009-06-03T13:26:00.002-04:00

I saw a commercial on TV a few days ago for the movie Casino Royale, the 2008 version that is. It brought back the memory of the first James Bond movie I saw back in the late 60's of the movie with the same above title, along with other spy stuff that originated from the Bond films. For years, the guys at school told me about the Bond films they saw in that little dive of a theater at the Fleetwood Fire Company. Back in the day if you didn't see a movie, it didn't show up a week later like today on DVD after it was gone from the theater and sometimes many years before it would even show up on TV. A reference was made to the Bond films when I went with the guys to see "Batman, the Movie", with the same actors from the TV series in that era. The one kid said during the intro to the Batman movie, it looks like something from the openings on the James Bond movies.

As timing would have it, the next Bond film released after that Batman movie, was Casino Royale. I was expecting good old Sean Connery and looking forward to a nice spy adventure like I was told about for the last few years. During those first few years of James Bond, it spawned a lot of interesting ideas for TV and merchandise. TV series like the Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Robert Vaughn and now starring on NCIS, David McCallum), I Spy (Robert Culp and Bill Cosby), the spy spoof Get Smart and later of all things The Wild Wild West with government agents working in the guess where? The wild, wild west. The spy thing was even featured for a few episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies, where Jethro (if any of you are familiar with his character on the series), decided to go into the spy business as a "double naught" spy. Double naugth in his southern lingo, meaning double zero like James Bond. As far as merchandise, I remember a Christmas gift in 1966, way before the film Casino Royale was ever a thought called "The Secret Sam Attache Case." It was filled with all kinds of spy gadgets, a periscope to see around corners, an opening in one end of the case that shot plastic bullets and other things I have long forgotten. I also had the Aston Martin car model kit, the car used in the movie Goldfinger (spring loaded ejection seat and all). I also had model kits from the Man from U.N.C.L.E. It came in two separate kits with a stone wall that when joined together, made on nice long display with the Nopolean Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illyia Kuryaken (David McCallum) in action.

Now back to Casino Royale. I finally went along with the guys I was expecting to see Sean Connery and looked forward to seeing all the good adventures they bragged about seeing in all those good James Bond movies from previous years. The guy was not in the film at all. After all the hype, the spy stuff I grew up with, the toys, the models and stuff I ripped off of mom and dad to pay for all this, the TV shows about spies, guess who I see? David Niven (great actor, not who I expected there) as a retired James Bond, Peter Sellers (who did a great job in the film Dr. Stangelove, but didn't fit in this movie) and of all people, Woody Allen, both also as James Bond. Why Woody Allen? I have no idea. I never liked the guy in any movie he was ever in. Kind of like the Will Farrel of today, more annoying than funny. What a farce. I hated that movie so bad. In hindsight, I rate that movie as low as Paint Your Wagon and Mrs. Doubtfire, maybe even less if that is possible. I have no idea why they spoiled the James Bond series of movies with that one. It was as disgusting as the men's bathroom at the theater I was watching it from. The urinal was long porcelaine trough about six feet in lenght to pee in. On top was a water pipe the ran the lenght of it with water flowing continuously from the ten or twelve holes from it to flush down the pee and keep the urinal clean. There was nothing in the lobby to drink so you had to fill up before you got to the movie. So if you got thirsty, you were up the creek. Sort of why I now refer to the place as a dive. It fits the description. There was no sink to even wash up, no way to get a drink from a sink so if you got thirsty during the movie, you had to make due with any kind of water vessel you could come up with and we guys used to go into the bathroom and fill up with the water trickling from the pipe keeping the urinal flushed. Sharing that to express under those conditions the water was better than the film. There is one plus side to the film, the theme played by Herb Alpert and His Tijuana Brass. Herb and his trumpet was popular in 60's.

Gotta love the good old days. Hated the movie, but the water tasted fine.

If any of you ever get the chance to see the old Casino Royale movie from 1967, don't.....lol. Just kidding. Seriously if you do, keep my story in mind while you see it. I don't ever plan to see it ever, but if any of you are curious, give it a look.

Love you all.

Daytime TV

2009-01-08T14:58:00.000-05:00

If not having a stomach virus is bad enough, try watching daytime TV for two days. Glad I have a job. Judge Joe, Judge Schmoe, Judge Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe, take your pick. Throw these losers in with Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer and all their copycat shows, you’ve got entertainment that makes one’s stomach churn even more. People actually watch this stuff?

It all started Tuesday night. Picture this:

You are walking barefoot through a tiny stream, water gently beneath your feet, caressing the toes, feeling all tickly. Sounds nice, huh? This was similar to what I was experiencing, but the water was puke and the rocks were the wooden stairs. I was on my way down from the third floor to run to the bathroom and all of a sudden, I felt sick and whoosh. I managed to cut off my only dry path to the bottom of the steps, so I had to do some wading. Found out puke is slippery and if this ever happens to you, puke behind you. I was leaving a trail of footprints on the hallway floor on my way to get some towels. As I cam back to clean up what Mother Nature had provided for me, I could hear the “water” running down each step and running onto the hallway floor.

Even though I felt like crap, already had this description of all this in mind and was just a matter of getting the energy to tell you. I spent all day Wednesday on the sofa and is when I discovered TV really stinks. I spent most of the time running to the potty, dozing off, all routine for this kind of excitement. I’m referring to the virus as well…lol. I ate very little and what I did eat, at least it stayed down. I did get sour stomach on Wednesday night and had a lot of bowel pain, but was gone on Thursday when I crawled out of bed a 1 PM. I took off work both Wednesday and Thursday and glad I did.

The worse seems to be over, now just have to get back some energy. My short burst here is coming to an end and I’d better rest up on the sofa for a bit. Off to see which judge is on TV.

Take care.

oral surgery

2008-10-16T00:34:00.002-04:00

After going to the dentist for some well needed dental work, I knew it would be a long road ahead to get my mouth back into shape. To my surprise after the examination, I found out that my mouth was not as bad as I thought it was. I will need a few crowns, a few fillings and in the end, a small plate on the uppers to replace three missing teeth. I got lucky as last year, I decided to go with the better of two dental plans my company offers for dental insurance. It is only a few dollars more per paycheck and it has already paid off. Before anything else can be done, I needed to get three teeth extracted by an oral surgeon. No problem. Been there, done that before. The appointment was set up and I bravely went in confident and with a smile on my face. I sat down in the chair and this nice lady got me all ready for the doc. I was wearing a shirt with a Car Tech logo on it and the lady asked me what department do I work there. I said the melting department. She then told me that her husband worked in the same department and retired from there as a furnace operator. Once she told me his name, I told her I knew him and asked how he was doing. She said he now works for the PA Liquor Control Board (meaning in the stores that sell booze) and commented that he is now working in his "element" and gave me these rolling eyes...lol. I laughed and commented how it is nice to know someone who knows a bit about anesthesia, in whatever form people can find it.

She got me all prepped and soon the doc came in, I opted to stay awake for a bunch of reasons. First, I drove there alone and had nobody to drive me home. Second was the expense. It's a lot cheaper to tough it out and stay awake. Third, when you are asleep, I'm sure they put all kinds of clamps and medieval devices into play to hold your mouth open and I'm sure they are a lot rougher since you can't feel or see anything. The end result is once you end up awake and the anesthesia wears off, you will be a lot sorer in the end.

The doc gave me the standard Novocaine and let me sit there for about ten minutes. It took few minutes for my jaw to feel like they were in la-la land and he soon returned. That is when he told me that each tooth would have to be removed in pieces and would have to break them apart to remove them. I figured that in the first place and was ready to go. He said he would begin with the two teeth on the top which were side by side. He poked at them with something to loosen them and then pulled out this device that looked like a Dremmel tool with a big round bit on the end. I guess he had to make an opening so he could fit his pliers inside to get a grip. When he put this drill into my mouth, he said i will feel some vibration. He turned it on and at first it didn't feel so bad, but soon I could feel my whole head vibrating. It was actually blurring my vision. He had to use it with all three teeth. It was painless, but a sensation that can't be described. Then he got out a pliers and said that I will hear some crunching and breaking and not to worry. I watched him pull out one tooth in about three pieces, snap, crackle. pop. Same with then next. All was going fine, but so gross. All the while the nice new assistant (not the one who prepped me) was saying to me how well I was doing and giving me words of encouragement, as she had the suction device making that sloshing and sucking sound, knowing everything she was sucking out was blood....yuck. The price you pay if you stay awake...lol. Once the uppers were done, I had to get one out on the bottom on the other side. same procedure. As all his was going on, the doc walked me through each step, telling me things like, "Now you may hear a breaking sound." or "You may feel a crunching feeling." So encouraging...lol. He was right. Even though your mouth is numb and you feel no pain, you still feel the sensation of the teeth being broken and you can see the doc removing everything piece by piece. The assistant kept telling me that I was doing fine and was giving me a lot of encouragement step by step. I expected all of this and none was a total surprise, but just wanted to get it over with and get out of there. Soon it was all over and I was told I did fine and everything will be all right. I got the usual post operative instructions and went home feeling pretty good.

When I got home, Koby (my neighbor's son) and two of his friends saw me. They saw my cheeks puffed up with my mouth full of gauze and Koby asked me what happened? I mumbled in a muffled lisp voice, "I justhted got three teeth remoothed and whatether any one ever taught you about thaking care of your teeth, you bether lithen to them". By my voice, they just looked at me sort of weird and I kept walking.

But in the end, I'm so glad I got it done. In the past months before I got my teeth out, I had so much discomfort after eating and in just two weeks I can eat without all that discomfort and it is all gone. Feels so good. Now that is all gone, but still have to get a few fillings, a few crowns and an upper plate to fill in the lost teeth, I will be as good as new. The upper plate will be of a thin design, not like in the days of my parents and I was told that once I get used to it, it will feel like not having it there.

What I want to say to all of you, dental hygiene is important. It is just not your mouth that is affected, but problems with teeth can and do affect the rest of your body. I know a guy I work with who had an abscess and he ended up getting a valve replaced in his heart many years ago. On my last visit to the dentist, the hygienist told me whenever you brush your teeth and see blood, it is a sign of a bacterial affection. I heard a lot of horror stories this past summer about how one's teeth can cause a lot of health problems later down the road and this is why I began taking it serious. What is that old saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?

Nobody likes going to the dentist, but I remember going to good old Dr. Roland with a toothache way back in the early 1990's. He came into the room as was sitting in the dentist chair and remembering me as an old patient, he looked at his assistant and said with a big smile and his usual loud voice, "They always come back eventually." He was right. I will always remember that statement.

All of you, take care of those pearly whites and they will take care of you.

Pork and saurkraut

2008-09-26T21:39:00.002-04:00

I'm glad to be back here after a long hiatus.

About two months ago, I made myself a batch of pork and sauerkraut to take for lunches at work. I whipped up some in the oven and it didn't give me the yield I was hoping for. I filled only three containers and now decided to double or double and a half the recipe and fill the biggest casserole dish I have. The last time I made it, I picked up a plastic bag of sauerkraut and the cheapest kind of pork I could find in the meat section at Giant. Turned out to be a pack of ribs for about $4.50 and the combination worked out quite well. The oven dish was only filled about halfway last time. When I went to the store this time at Redner's, there were no plastic packages of kraut like I bought at Giant, so I had to do a little guessing. I had no idea of how much was in that plastic bag and I ended up picking up four 27 oz. cans of kraut, totalling almost 7 pounds and managed to find a 4 pound piece of 1/2 butt pork picnic for close to $7. I decided tonight to cut up the pork and get everything ready to make on Saturday. Since I knew I would not need 4 pounds of the pig and when I opened the package and well hidden on the bottom was a thick one inch piece of fat. I sliced off the one inch, by three inch by eight inch of fat, got out my scale and the hunk of fat weighed in at fifteen ounces!!!! I don't throw things like this in the trash, as it might stink up the kitchen so I wrapped it in plastic wrap and storing it in the fridge until trash day on Wednesday. Maybe I should take the hunk of fat back, label it "free" and put it back in Redner's meat section. Maybe some Hispanic or Black, might find it a delicacy...lol.

Anyway, I'm sure I have more kraut than I need and enough pork. I already have the good old mashed potatoes made and have five containers in the freezer to go with the kraut.

Just watch what you buy in the meat section. I'm sure my butt has a two slabs at least on each side, even though my butt is small......lol

Take care.

A hidden gem

2008-08-31T14:00:00.002-04:00

No I didn't find a diamond here at the house hidden behind some wall and be rich forever, but found a great place in Boyertown that holds an activity every year called Duryea Day. It is a car show sponsored by the Boyertown Historical Vehicle Museum and they have it every year on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. It is surely a hidden gem once you discover it. Elliot and went on Saturday and was a lot of fun for both of us. Cars of all kinds, as most car shows go and the fun was interacting with the owners. They eat it up the attention when you compliment their cars and the stories they begin to tell are enjoyable and they don't seem to want to let you go so you can move on.

While we were looking at this one car, the owner came up and offered to let Elliot sit in it so I could take a picture. He actually lifted Elliot in the car, so he would not get his feet on the white carpeted running board. I complimented the owner, telling him he did a good job on the car. He then told me he didn't do anything, as this was the "only car" he had that he bought already finished and is so much easier than fixing a car up by yourself. So he must have others. Made me wonder where people like him get all the money for this, but I got a good picture of Elliot sitting inside.

Soon Elliot and I were getting thirsty and after we depleted our own supply we took along, we found a stand for food and drinks. The prices were normal and not like buying things at a typical event. You know, $5 for a bottle of water or a soda and so on. As we found the place to rehydrate, things were winding down at the show. Since the show was in the community park in Boyertown, we passed by a huge playground and the stand to buy the drinks was only a few feet away. There was no long line and just one guy was in front of us. He ordered a cheeseburger and a Coke. As watched him being served it was like a flashback to the days when I was a kid and the place to go was Schell's in Muhlenberg.

Schell's in the 60's was a place where you had to get out of your car an order at a window. There was no indoor seating there back then and you had to eat in the car. This was typical for back in those days and something I will never forget. The problem with Schell's, they didn't have hamburgers. Their big thing was hamburger barbeque's and fries. I longed in those day for them to put hamburgers on the menu and they soon did. What sent me back on my little flashback, the guy who ordered the cheeseburger on Saturday, I watched the server walk back with a pair of tongs and dig a burger from an aluminum pan with pre cooked burgers soaking in their own juice and throw it on a roll. So retro, just like I remember Schell's doing once they upgrade to hamburgers in the 60's. Throw it on a roll, add a slice of cheese and you have your cheeseburger. So simple and tasted so good.

Elliot got his first look at a Chevy Corvair. It was a small family car in the early to mid 60's. The hood and trunk were opened and as he looked in the front, he looked at me and asked, "Where is the engine?" I said it was in the back. He was a bit puzzled and as we looked back at what we all know as the trunk, there was this little flat looking engine with a fan and a belt on top. I told him how this was something that Chevy came up with, no radiator with what we have now as a water cooling system and the engine was cooled just by a fan. That was why corvairs, had vents on the "trunk, cover for ventilation. I also old him how many of the classic vehicles he saw on Saturday, were typical family cars in their time period and nobody ever knew how these cars would be classics someday.

So it was a good day and Elliot learned some interesting things about cars from the past. He liked comparing engines, whether they were four, six or eight cylinder. He liked what was know as the slant six, made by Chysler and we had one with that old beige wagon we had when we bought our house here on Perkiomen. Had to explain the difference to him about a V engine (V 6 and V 8) and the straight models. Elliot now wants to go back to the Museum in Hershey and take a good look away from the crowds and hot sun.

Got lots of pictures and hope to share soon.

Dental work.

2008-08-20T18:07:00.002-04:00

Okay all of you listen up, seroiusly. I finally made an appointment to get my mouth back into good shape. If I break it, I want you all to come over to my house and scream at me. The appointment is for August 28 at 9:30 in the morning so please pray for the dentist...lol. I lost a ton of fillings which I spent a good buck for over the years and as as you all know, my dental hygiene habits were never the best. Why do fillings fall out? Because if you don't keep brushing, decay finds it's way beneath them. I honestly didn't know that. I thought it was just because I have a habit of chewing ice from my sodas and other drinks. Duh on my part. If any you think my mouth is shot, I'm giving it a shot to not keep it shot. Just think, no more breath mints and no more turning my head while talking to someone within a few feet away. Those with good smell can smell it anyway, but that hopefully will be something of the past. We can't get back what we lost, but can still gain some things back when we take the right steps. So true with teeth and so many other things in life. I'm just glad I'm finally doing it again.

I have no idea of the outcome, whether I will have to either deal with getting the fillings replaced, or maybe some teeth extracted and having them replaced as well. My front teeth are fine, but all the damage is with the molars. I do have a nasty habit of chewing on ice and I did lose some as a direct result, but I'm sure that wasn't the only reason. "We can rebuild him. We have the technology........", as from the famous intro from the old TV show, The Six Million Dollar Man". Speaking of money, when I made the appointment, the gal on the phone could see on her computer (as she commented) that it has been a long time since I was there. I made the remark that Dr. Wetmore may be able to book a cruise once he get s finished with me. She laughed and said, it probably isn't that bad. Made me feel kind of good.

So it looks like I will be spending a lot of time at the dentist for a while and as I said, pray for Dr. Wetmore. I'm sure he will have a good time on a boat at the Caribbean on my expense this winter. At least I will have another part of my health taken care of by the end of this year. I have an appointment with Dr. Braun in early September and I plan to have a lot of other things taken care of on the next few months and don't plan to leave this planet for a long time, God willing.

Ignoring a problem is so easy, but they will never go away until we face them.

Love you all.

original movies vs. remakes

2008-08-17T14:08:00.002-04:00

I just got finished watching the newer version of "The Producers". I really like the new version, but as seeing the original, I was a bit disappointed. I like all the actors that star in the new version, but it is just not the same. The Producers was Mel Brooke's first movie, yes, before Spaceballs and Blazing Saddles. If one didn't ever see the original, they would not be aware of the differences. If they did see the original, maybe they would feel the same way as I do. The remake is very good and follows the original plot, but what is missing most is what happens during the play on stage. The original shows the play in the movie, "Springtime for Hitler" and the antics going on depicted in more detail. To me that is the highlight of the movie. I was never a big Dick Shawn fan, but he played Hitler in the original better than any other actor I could think of. He also played the son of the nagging mother in law on the film, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and did a great job. Other than that, I never saw him in any other movies and no place on TV, other than talk shows or game shows. in the 70's. His role in both movies were similar. His cool, "Baby, baby", "Daddy-O" persona fit both films. If you would do a search on this guy, I'm sure he was a hit on Broadway.

As "The Producers" was Mel Brook's first movie, he wanted Dustin Hoffman to play in one of the starring roles. He gave Dustin a call and Dustin told Mel he was not available as he was flying to California to audition for a movie with his (Mel's) wife for a new film. It was an audition to star with Anne Bancroft for the movie that became a world hit, "The Graduate." As it was, film history was in he making.

There have been so many remakes of many movies over the years and if I may say, watch the original first. All are entertaining, but always fun to see what the differences are, not only for the technological but to see what the modern movies may have left out in plot . From my perrspective a lot is added to the newer versions, but look for the things that may have been left out.

That is Hollywood, as they say.

The Pope in the pizza.

2008-08-13T18:34:00.002-04:00

On Friday evening after picking up Elliot, we stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner. We had some pizza left over, had it boxed and brought it home. We got home, after finding a parking space way up the block, brought everything in the house for the evening and began preparing for our weekend away at my granddaughter's Birthday party at State College with all the family. On Saturday morning, Elliot and I got picked up and we spent a nice weekend away from the house. It was one of the nicest weekends I have had in as far as I can remember and hope to do it all again someday. Anyway, on the way home on Sunday after a big lunch at the local Ponderosa Steak House in State College, food somehow entered my mind. I remember having the leftover pizza from Pizza Hut in the refrigerator and figured it would make a good snack for me later after I got home. Later that evening I went to the fridge and there was no pizza. I figured with all the excitement on Friday evening, I might have eaten the pizza and simply forgot that I did. I made myself something to eat and got ready for bed.

Monday morning on my way to work, I walked up to my car and saw something on the car roof. Sure enough, total recall now kicking in, There was the pizza. The lid was opened and all three little leftover slices were all exposed. It sort of made me laugh, wondering how many people must have waked by all weekend and saw it sitting there.

What makes this more humorous, the birds up in the tree made this pizza into a pooperoni pizza by adding a little of their own bird dropping topping. Made me think about the old gag on Saturday Night live back in 1980, find the Pope in the pizza , but now it was more like finding the "poop" in the pizza....lol. There was no bird poop on the rest of the roof of the car (unless the rain washed it off, but I doubt it). Did you ever try to wash bird poop off a car without having to rub the crap (pun intended) out of it? Anyway, momma bird must have been doing her job quite well. Her babies seemed to have been trained to hit a small target with great accuracy. It's funny what you notice about something so gross and soggy on the top of your car so early in the morning, while you are still half asleep. Has this ever happened to any of you?....lol. Especially as you attempt to to pick it u off the roof. The thing was a waterlogged, all swelled up and a mushy mess. One try to pick it up was almost a near disaster.

Luckily I keep plastic shopping bags in my trunk, because it is obvious someone like me needs them. I held the bag open and tried to slide the whole mess off my roof. Splat, one slice is now in the gutter, another slice spilling all over the place, just grazing the outer part of my work bag. It was disgusting. Some of it just missed the open pouch where I keep may wallet, comb, work ID, etc. Luckily my reflexes aren't so good in the morning and turned slow enough or maybe some of this gunk would have slid in if I reacted faster. As humorous as this all was, my attitude might have changed if that would have happened. I should have just left it all fall into the street, catching one third was better than nothing. I was doing good to this point and didn't want to blow it and lose my temper. All turned out fine, everything else got in the bag, no gooey mess down the side if the car threw it all away at the trash can at the company parking lot. It could have been worse. All's well that ends well.

I could have let the rest on the roof....lol.

Left or right?

2008-07-28T16:45:00.003-04:00

No, not speaking politically here, just about what predominant side are we, left or right handed.

I'm working shutdown and working with the bricklayers as I did last year. We were out on a job today, and my job was to smear mortar with a trowel onto cracks in the furnaces we were were working on. There were six of us getting in the way of each other. Normally, only two guys work on a furnace and we were bumping into each other and with four other guys around, we were having fun and commenting on each other's work. As I was patching away, I was doing my best to make things look good and it apparently was doing better than I had to. All I was doing was to make things look smooth and one guy jokingly commented that I must have had cake decorating experience down at Giant at their bakery...lol. Then as I was working, I was switching the trowel between both my right and left hands. I unconsciously do this as it is easier than turning my whole body from left to right and a lot less awkward for me and don't realize I am doing it. The boss showed up and as I must have had the trowel in my left hand at the time and I heard him say, "Did I just see that guy hold a trowel in his left hand?" As it was back in my right hand, I still knew he was referring to me and I just said my usual line when I here a comment like that, "My brain just can't make up it's mind."...lol. They all got a good laugh, but it got me to think about all this. They must have some kind of inside joke about this left hand trowels stuff and I have to ask to see what he meant sometime later.

So what makes a lefty or a righty, anyway? What causes a young kid to pick up a pencil or crayon for the first time with the left hand, like I did when I was a wee little lad? I remember Nana asking the experts (whoever they were at that time) and she was told to just let me go. What causes a kid to grab a fork or spoon for the first time with the left hand? She got the same response. Now what gets me, why do I do almost everything else with my right hand, just a few with my left and others with both. Is it true that my brain really can't make up it's mind?

With sports, I was never really was much as far a participant, but have made some interesting observations. Whenever I played baseball as a kid, I was the standard right handed player. I batted right handed and threw a ball right handed, with the catching glove on the left hand. Here's the "catch", yes the pun is truly intended...lol. Whenever I messed around in street hockey, I liked to be the goal tender. The goalie holds a goal stick in one hand and a catching glove in the other. I found it somehow comfortable to hold the goal stick with my left hand and the catching glove on the right, opposite of wearing a catching glove when playing baseball. I noticed this oddity way back when I was a goalie in high school gym classes when we played lacrosse. I always liked playing goal and I held the stick on my left hand and glove on my right. Either way, I found I with both using the left and right hand while catching with both those sports, my reflexes were equal on both sides with my catching hand.

I find that I can do many other things with either hand and we all know that that term for this is ambidextrous, but if you put a pencil in my hand and tell me to sign my name, it would look like someone as out of first grade. As far as eating with a fork in my right hand, I can do it, but will still get the same stains on my t-shirts as I do with my left....lol. Got many stained shirts to prove that. I sometimes think I'm the guy who made the manufactures come up with the idea for the product, Tide-To-Go....lol.

Now about musical instruments. I mess with the drums and tried them both ways. Me? right handed for sure. You can set up a drum kit either way and right handed is me. They make right and left hand guitars for those who need it and Never played one much, but feel I'd be right handed. Always wondered how a leftie would ever play a keyboard. Ever hear of a a left handed keyboard?....lol. I always picture a person planing a keyboard with croseed arms....lol.

Sighned, truly crossed up....lol.

East come, easy go.

2008-07-12T17:18:00.002-04:00

The Reading Phillies have their "Crazy Hot Dog Vendor". A guy who looks like he is riding an ostrich and throws hot dogs up into the stands. It's funny when one of the wieners unwraps on it's flight and pieces of hot dog and roll fall down all over the crowd. The Reading Royals have "Slapshot", who comes out on the ice on this little buggy equipped with and air cannon and launches T-shirts into the crowd. On Friday night, I was at the Velodrome in Trexlertown and a normal looking guy throws T-shirts from track side, up to those in the seats or other spectators standing around the perimeter of the track.

I was standing along the track just past the finish line and the PA announcer told us to all yell if any wanted a free t-shirt. I looked down and the guy was straight in front of me at the bottom of the track. I yelled, "Up here". He made eye contact and threw it right to me. It was in my hand and suddenly another guy who was reaching for it, accidentally knocked it out of my hand and we all watched it roll down the steep bank of the track. You could hear the oohs and aahs from the crowd and it was sort of a bummer, but no big deal. The guy picked it up and threw it to another set of spectators off to our left.

There was a guy standing to my right between me and the guy who attempted to get the shirt and while I was fiddling around with my camera, I heard a voice saying that he was sorry. I looked over and we were laughing about the whole thing. He kept apologizing and I said, "No problem. It's just a shirt." Ahh, but the little devil inside me was in action and I couldn't resist and I added, "Besides, it probably wouldn't fit anyway." He got a kick out of the comment and was laughing but the guy didn't realize that I wasn't referring to me.....lol. If there was an avatar on here for it you would be seeing a little smiley devil inserted at that last lol. Nasty, aren't I? Hee, hee, hee.

All was not lost. After each race night, the fans are invited to go into the infield and meet the racers. It just so happened that Friday was a night where the "legends of the track" were racing. I got to see all the old guys who used to race there 25 years ago when I used to go out a lot on Friday nights. I went into the infield and met up with a few. I was talking to one, Gibby "the bear" Hatton. I told him that for years, I had a 16 by 20 photo of him that I took with another popular guy there (who was also present, Art McHugh who now works in the press box), hanging up on on the third floor wall. It was a picture of the two of them sprinting around the turn before the finish line. Maybe all you family members remember seeing the picture. He thought it was kind of cool. I said if I only knew he was going to be there, I would have brought it along for him to autograph. He told me to keep an eye on the schedule for future "legends" nights and he is always there. He said Art would probably enjoy seeing the picture and putting his name on it, also. I remember taking the picture the first time I was ever there with mom in 1978 and never thought anyone would be interested in a photo that old.

I told him this is the first year I have been here since Nelson Vails used to ride here, just after he won the silver in the Olympics. He commented, "Yeah, 1984, you have been gone for a long time. Good to have you back." Made me feel so welcome.

There aren't many sports where the spectators and pros get to interact. How else would I have gotten an autograph from a silver cycling medalist back in 1984 a week after he got it? And we can't forget good old Maple Grove and the drag races. You don't have to go far for entertainment and even with the cost of gas, we have plenty around here without having to spend more than a gallon or two. I guess it all depends what one is interested in. I had a good night and what I thought would be a simple night at the local velodrome, gave me some memories I will never forget.

Photos

2008-07-10T23:24:00.002-04:00

No. No photos tonight, but hopefully I will have some on here in the future. I don't mess around on the blog very much other than just to write, but soon will attempt adding photos....again. I know to some it is probably fool proof and as I'm no ordinary fool, you may see an entry (or entries) with captions or titles referring to photos, but with no photos.

Almost happened when I did try to upload one about a month ago, and it was taking forever to load (I imagine because it was a picture at 10 mega pixels), got impatient and clicked the whole thing off. I thought the short entry (minus one photo) would show up on the blog, but it didn't. It was a short entry that would have had no meaning without the picture anyway, so all was well. I'll attempt it again soon. Just didn't feel like messing with it since then. I know I can make things a little more glitzy on here and will have to give it a try later.

Off to bed.

Nite

This post at Elliot's request.

2008-07-09T17:39:00.002-04:00

Elliot asked me to post this, as he said something very funny last weekend. It's fun when kids can poke a little fun at themselves and I guess he liked the reaction he got from me an his mommy from what he said. But first, things all started five days earlier.

As all of you know, I have a common condition known as paroxymal, supraventricular tachycardia (excuse any spelling with all this). A common arythmia that causes the heart rate to elevate up over 180 beats per minute and in my case, even faster at times. It is important to get the heart rate back to normal as soon as possible, so when this happens, I must get to the emergency room as soon as I can. Sounds scary, but not really (unless not dealt with at the time). Had it since I was 22 years old. Anyway, I had to go over to the emergency room again two Sundays ago. It's not the first time I had to do this, but this time Elliot had to come with me and things worked out fine after the docs injected the usual medicine into me to slow the heart rate down and was back home in less than three hours. I was told to make an appointment with my cardiologist to discuss a procedure (called an ablation) were they can burn off the nerve or electrical area on the heart, to eliminate this condition for good. Made the appointment, went in that Thursday and afterwards went down to pick Elliot up for the weekend.

As when I can get away to pick up Elliot early enough, sometimes we meet with mom and we sneak off to a fast food place and hopefully get her back in time so she won't get in trouble for being away at work. We ended up at Arby's on Thursday near where she works. As we were eating, I was explaining all of this to mom and in chimes good old Elliot, knowing I have stents and seriously said, "But dad, you already have "stencils". Me and mom busted up laughing and I think Elliot knew why. He simply said the wrong word, but caught it too late. It's like Adrienne's mushroom and marshmallow thing or even a better one.

Once mom and I were watching "The Right Stuff". In one part of the movie, Chuck Yeager, who was not chosen to become an astronaut, went out one morning and seemed obsessed with taking a new jet for a flight. Soon he took off and flew straight up, hitting over 100,000 feet and just after seeing a glimpse of space, the engine cut out and he was heading back to earth. He hit the parachutes and fell safely back. Mom sort of missed that part, and soon the scene "came" up with him walking toward the rescue people, plane all in flames in the background, then mom says, "Look, he is safe. He ejaculated." She caught it in seconds and we both busted up laughing. Just had to share. We all do it as far as mixing up words and always is a riot when one is on the listening end.

So Elliot told me he didn't make the stent mistake on purpose and he laughed about it later that he called them stencils. It was his request to put this on the blog all last weekend and finally got around it tonight.

Come back again...lol ;-)

Juty 4 and the evil the plastic wrap

2008-07-04T17:12:00.002-04:00

Everything started out so good. Elliot and I got out of bed and we ran to Redners. I told him the place should be empty as it is a holiday and there probably wouldn't be a lot of people there. We pulled into the parking lot and the place looked like the weather forecast was calling for a snowstorm. We got inside and the place was mobbed. It almost looked like a free for all, people scrambling all over the place. My first though was, what kind of goofs do their shopping on July 4th, then realizing I was one of the goofs, too...lol. They were running a lot of specials on meat and cookout items, so I could see why. I got to take advantage, too and have no complaints. The registers were fully manned and we waited at the checkout line no longer than any other time.

After we got home, we played a bit and I decided I'd better get the chicken thighs and hamburger into the freezer. I thought I had some small freezer bags, but all I had was plastic wrap. I started wrapping the chicken and you you have to remember you are reading from someone who can't open anything from any cardboard container without damaging it somehow. The plastic wrap was no different. Once you bend or damage that little cutting edge when you open it for the first time, you will know how every time you try to tear the plastic off, the thing will become a tangle mess for the life of the entire roll. Well, I did it a few weeks ago and paid for it today. That stuff no matter what I ever did, no damaged metal cutter on the edge or what, that stuff always somehow ends up sticking together and pretty much hate the stuff. I found that tearing off about three feet, is enough to wrap almost anything.

Elliot came out into the kitchen while I was wrapping the chicken thighs. He looked at them and said they looked really good. I asked if he was hungry and he said he was. I told him I have a chicken breast in the freezer and will make him a late lunch. Lo and behold, I went to the freezer and realized I made him the last chicken breast last weekend. He and I are breast men all the way in the chick department, but I like the thighs more from the feathered chick variety, but he still like his chicken breasts. I managed to make him a thigh man for this afternoon.

So all is well and I'm waiting to wrap the hamburger after I get a supply of small freezer bags tomorrow. Would be to overwhelming to use the plastic wrap. Probably would use like a half a mile of it for just 6 pounds of hamburger.

Happy fourth of July everyone.

shorts

2008-06-25T19:42:00.002-04:00

Here I am, deciding to go away somewhere with Elliot, but the pair of shorts I have been wearing around the house have a big food stain or something on the leg. I grab another clean pair and slip them on. I'm not talking about denim or shorts with a zipper and in need of using a belt, but the kind with a draw string inside the front. No need to tie the string, as they are still tied from last time and the elastic is so nice and stretchy, I just slip them up over my ample belly with no problem and all is well. I get in the car and arrive at my destination. As I am walking around I find the need to casually slip my hands into my pockets and walk around with them there, but something didn't feel right. I find out then, the openings are the wrong direction. This when I now when I also notice why my two best friends dangling below inside haven't felt quite right for the past few minutes. My shorts are on backwards. I immediately looked around to see if anyone noticed my struggle to get my hands into my pockets. "Paranoia. Paranoia, Paranoiahhhhh, Paranoia !! (sung to the tune of that song, "Tradition").

This is when I had images of when President Skroob (Mel Brooks) in the movie Spaceballs, who went through the transporter and found his head on backwards. They reversed the beam and straightened him out, but there is no beam here to reverse for me and had to live with it.

The remedy would be so easy if at a mall, a store or somewhere at a burger joint and could slip into the into the closest potty and reverse things. At places like those, I would find out quickly in advance as soon as I got out of the car when I try to slip my keys or wallet in my pocket. Can easily get away in those cases and make the necessary change ASAP, but what if out in a park somewhere with Elliot like the last time I took him to one? Now as I look like his Pappy, I stick out like sore thumb already playing with a kid his age, while he had me playing all his pretend games with him with a lot of other young parents watching us as I climbed over all the playground with him. All I wanted to do is not let anyone notice my shorts were on wrong. I just avoided to not reach in my pocket for anything. We were at the the Mohnton Memorial Park, a huge park always packed full of kids and parents. Luckily I didn't have my dark blue shorts on, the ones with the light blue stripe running down each side. That would have been even more obvious tan I would want to describe. Glad they were the ones that that had food on the one leg that I changed out of. My two best friends dangling below inside somehow became comfy and obviously adapted, but I wasn't. It's like I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide. I was thinking how much of a goof this was, almost as like a woman putting her bra on backwards...lol. I don't think anyone really noticed and if they did, they must have had a good laugh after they left the park.

Made sure to go straight home and made the necessary correction as soon as I got in the door. I'll be paying more attenyion next time. So far so good. That was weeks ago and all has been fineto date.

This one goes down as one of the anals (annuls) pun definiteliy intended here as to what happened last year while on the hike on the Appalacian trail after Madelaines's dedication. There is a similar story that I can share that happened when I took Elliot to Toys R Us on his birthday a few years ago, to let him pick out his own gift. If interested, let me know. Elliot was there to witness the whole thing. Lets just say I had another pair of underwear lost other than the one 50 feet off the trail last year.

Thanks for visiting. Now all of you can go potty, and make sure your underwear and shorts are on correctly. Women, your bras also...lol.

Love you and adore you all.

Elliot's latest

2008-06-19T19:29:00.002-04:00

On Sunday, I had something funny to tell all of you, but wasn't sure if it would be appropriate in all present company. Here I am in in a man's house who is Jewish, so I didn't know how he would take something like this. I bet he would take it pretty good coming from Elliot, but just was not sure. Felt it was best not to talk religion at the dinner table, I guess you know what I mean.

As Elliot and I were driving home last weekend, we were talking about the Indiana Jone's movies. He started on about making a new "Ark", called "The Ark of the Government". I asked him as to what we would do to make it look different from the Ark of the Covenant? I told him there were gold wings on the top and suggested maybe have some presidents in their place. He said there should be a head of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln on top, facing each other. He asked me what was inside the original ark and I told him that was where the original Ten Commandments, etched on two stone tablets as the Bible says and were placed inside. His next idea was to put inside the ark, a book of the entire American history, adding that the pages would have to be pretty big, maybe ten feet long as we have a lot of history. As always, I was busting up laughing inside. It was so cute. I said, it will have to be a pretty thick book. He said, yeah and will probably need a lot bigger box..... I love those hour drives with him, I think at those moments is where I really get to hear his inner feelings, away from the video and computer games, away from the TV and love to just hear him ramble on. It's like in the old days when families sat around the dinner table and could all share what was on their minds.

I have a good one for him. I'm going to ask him after all the "Global Warming" engulf the earth in a few hundred years (assuming it is something to really be concerned about) and after we are all long gone, will there be people out to search for the Ark of the Government? I can't wait to hear what he comes up with. Elliot has his own ideas about global warming, by the way...and have to share all that here sometime.

Take care all of you who actually read this stuff.

oops

2008-06-18T22:11:00.002-04:00

More fun the second time around, wasn't it? Hit a wrong key somehow ....turning red...lol

funny moment at work today

2008-06-18T19:32:00.004-04:00

To start things off I and Walt went in an hour early to get a head start. As it turned out later, there was a problem at the AOD vessel with the heat I was supposed to get and I stayed over even two more hours and finally got home near 7. Plus, I got my pay stub in the mail and I was gypped out of two days pay. I know what went wrong and will explain that later. It involved me getting put in for vacation days and was given one too many. When I called the boss last week about it, I was told it was all taken care of but still they did something wrong and they took off two vacation days. Long story, but it will work out in the end when I see him tomorrow. Now for the funny part.

The second shift crew came in and there was not a whole lot to do right away. Then we saw his guy walking toward our "pit office" and my pitleader made the comment, "Who is this clown coming?" The door opened and this guy came in we never saw before, carrying a camera bag. I knew right away what I wanted to say, but kept silent. The guy just stood there, looking at us, didn't say anything and as quick as he appeared, walked out the door. As soon as he left, I shouted, "Marty, get into the time machine, we have to go back, back to the future. It's not you but your kids, your kids, Marty!" Everyone busted up laughing, as this guy was a definite cross in looks between Einstein and that Doc guy from the Back To the Future movies, tall, skinny and gray stringy hair poking out from his hardhat. Everyone knew what I was shouting and this was the appropriate crew for all this. Every three weeks when this crew is on second shift, they have what they call "movie night (s)". The main computer has a DVD drive and when things are slow, they pop in a DVD, turn out the lights and watch movies in the comfort of a melt shop. This was the crew I and Walt were on before we volunteered for the all dayshift 9 to 5 thing. The pit leader does his best to manipulate the strip times the best he can so he and the rest can catch up on a few good flicks. Do we have it made where I work or what?....lol.

Anyway, I got to see this man in a action on one of the heats, manned with his camera on his tripod. He was told to come into our department and take videos (he was using a digital high speed video that also takes still photos, which I was drooling over) to capture the stream that flows out of the bottom of our ladles open (when the steel begins to flow). It seems sand is getting into our steel and our management is trying to find out ways to prevent that. Here is how it works. Our ladles open at the bottom through a small nozzle about 35 mm in diameter. When we get a ladle ready, the ladleman pours (from the top) some sort of zircon sand into the bottom of an empty ladle, blocking the hole (the nozzle)where the steel will flow out of. Without putting in the sand, the steel would "freeze up" when the ladle gets back to us when full and nothing would come out. In the ladle, the steel is on the bottom and the slag floats on top, thus the steel has to come out of the bottom of the ladle. The ladle goes up to the AOD vessel and the steel is poured into the top of the ladle. When the ladle comes back to us, the ladleman opens the gate and the sand comes out of the nozzle before the steel. We have what we call a sand deflector on top of where the steel enters the molds, but somehow the deflector is not doing the job and sand is still getting into the molds. Did you all get all of that?...lol Welcome to steel making 101...lol.

Anyway, I got to see the videos this guy was taking. He told me he just picked up the camera yesterday and still didn't know how to use it. He goofed on something so simple as forgetting zoom in on the one I was watching him take. But he got a good image earlier and he showed it to me frame by frame and could easily see how the sand was getting into the molds. I told him that even though he goofed on this second attempt, he really got a good shot on his first one and I explained to him why. You could see the sand pouring out before the steel, but as he went frame by frame, you could see more clumps of sand. Our eyes don't perceive these things at normal speed, but when you see things slower at something like 100 frames a second, you see it all. He was happy with the first results, but said he will be back to try again to confirm what he got the first time. I may not have gotten any brownie points, but was fun to witness something the other guys I work with didn't see.

So I'm going to slip soon into my own time and space nature's way and wake up tomorrow into the future. "Marty, quick, get to bed. Don't let you see yourself as if you do, there will be consequenses greater tan you can imagine." Good thought. I'll just refrain from looking at myself in the mirror in the morning...lol.

Love you all.

funny moment at work.

2008-06-18T19:32:00.001-04:00

Fathers Day

2008-06-17T17:17:00.002-04:00

I created this blog mostly for everyone to see the silly side of me, have some fun and maybe help others get through the hum drums after having a bad day or just to have the same fun reading what I have to say as it as much fun for me to write. It will be rare to see an entry like this one again, but sometimes it is nice to share the serious things and the feelings I have about those moments as well.

In all the years as a dad, this last Fathers Day was one that I have to put on the top of my list of favorites. It was quite a surprise that I got to be with my entire family for the evening. It is always nice to be with everyone in the family and only happens a few times each year. Many families seem to only get together when bad things happen, like a death in the family or when one is injured or sick and is in the hospital. Many families get together and the tension in the air is so thick that one can almost cut it with a knife. I'm lucky that even though I live alone, there are still those moments when we all get together when the opportunities arise under good circumstances. That is when the love is in the air and so thick, that it can be cut with a knife, also. That is how it felt for me on Fathers Day

As we all sat there eating and joking around, I could not help but steal gazes at that foxy lady sitting way at the other corner of the table away from me. So close but yet so far. So unlike in long days past when we would both sit side by side and fight (lovingly) for elbow room as I'm a lefty and we'd have fun bumping and jousting with our arms when sitting at a dinner table and still somehow avoid each other's food to fall on our laps. A thought ran through my mind and it took all the restraint I had not to say what I'm about to say here at that moment. I wanted to stand up and say it, but felt it better to be left unsaid. As they say, discretion is the better part of valor, so I thought I would wait and write it here later.

This is what I would have said:

"We all know there is a special day to honor mothers and today it is to honor the fathers. However, we wouldn't have Fathers Day unless there was a mother there, also. There could have been nobody better than you to have the kids we have had together and it is now that I am the one who is honored, to tell you how much I'm in love with you and without you, Fathers Day would have no meaning without you being the one with me to have had them with." Then ending with a simple, but very meaningful, "Thank you."

Short, sweet and all so true.

True love is something that has no bounds, distance or timeline. Once it is there, it nothing can take it away once it is in one's heart. I have it, so thankful that I do and glad I have that love for "all" of you within me in those special ways meant for each of you.

Thank you all again for a great Fathers Day.

Needs and wants

2008-06-13T20:58:00.002-04:00

We all know the difference between a need and a want. Needing something is a necessity and wanting something is a desire to have something. An old saying goes, the worse thing about wanting something may actually be to get it. I found that out this week after shelling out $92 for a Cd set. From reading other entries in the blog, you all know how I was debating about buying a Cd set from The Dave Clark Five. I caved in last week and sent for it. The expense is due to the rarity and is now a collector's item. I am not a true collector in the collector sense of the word. The house is filled with enough and don't need collector's items all over the place. I have to deal with enough junk and have no desire to put stuff aside just for the sake of having it. I bought the set so I could hear the music. As soon as it showed up on Monday, I made a copy of both Cds and put the original set away. It showed up at the house like new. Not a scratch on the cover, the original booklet intact and the CDs look like they were never played. Maybe the original owner did what I did and just played the copies.

I have owned 8 of their popular songs from other sources and really enjoy them. This set contained a total of 50 songs and can see why those 8 only made it to the top of the charts. The late Mike Smith, lead singer, died back in April a week after the DC5 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He suffered injuries in a car accident last fall, became paraplegic and died of pneumonia along with other complications. His voice was one that in one song could sing a crooning ballad and the next one, rough and gravelly in sound. As I listened to the variety of tunes, he definitely sounded very similar to John Lennon in some of them and I guess that is why Paul McCartney criticized the group as a cheap Beatles's imitation. A few of the songs could pass for Beatles tunes if one was not knowledgeable with either of these groups.

Dave Clark was a one man show. He wrote many of the songs, was their business manager and was involved in all the record contracts, booking the tours, as well as the groups drummer. They maintained a clean cut style, always wearing suits on stage and appealed positively to all the American TV networks. But soon their clean cut style, the thing that made them famous, became their enemy. It wasn't long before other British groups like The Rolling Stones and The Who came along, with their "bad boy" images were becoming the norm and even though at first not accepted by TV execs, soon the networks caught on and traded good looks for cash.

So back to my point, I bought something I was very disappointed with, but all isn't lost. Since this thing is a collectors item, I can resell it and get my money back. I just may have to wait a while, but I can get it back. I will miss the booklet that came with the set, but maybe I can scan or copy all the pages and save it all somehow.

So keep this "want and need" thing in mind whenever you want something. In this case I can save all of it, unload it somehow without loss and still have it, so maybe got lucky in that sense. Doesn't work with all things, so always beware.

Keep an eye out as I said about things in a box on a future post. Just want to keep you in suspense.

Elliot's quote of the week

2008-06-09T21:24:00.002-04:00

Almost every weekend, Elliot seems to come up with a good line. This week was no exception.

I was yawning while Elliot and I were watching TV upstairs on Saturday evening. He was sitting close to me and suddenly stared at my mouth. He said, "Do that again." So I did. Then he said, "Wow, that's big. Looks like a portal to another dimension." Then simply turned away with a straight look on his face and began watching TV again.

Almost made me wonder if it was one of those jokes to "make you look". Like I should go grab a mirror and see if he saw something I wasn't aware of in there...lol.

The line kind of took me by surprise and normally my mouth would drop open, but since it already was, I had nothing else to do with it and just humbly shut it back up. It was one of those moments that many of us have from time to time, where you simply go blank and have no comment. Luckily I had a pencil and a notepad nearby to jot down his quote. With aging (no, I wasn't going to say getting older! ! !...lol), what enters the ears must go to another dimension or something, 'cuz sometimes it just don't seem to be there to recall and.....darn, forgot what I was going to say (wink). Anyway, to finish that last sentence, .....what goes in somehow gets forgotten, making me wonder where it went.

I know where I'm going now..... potty. I'm gonna sit this one out and know for sure at least where it ends up....lol. No mop tonight....lol.

Take care. Love you all.

hose set on "spray"

2008-06-08T13:29:00.002-04:00

Okay gals, listen up. I'm sure you would have a worse problem than us guys and that is why you sit. I'm talking about peeing. If toilets were not invented, wonder what it would be like for you. Meanwhile, we guys have this problem where no matter how good we aim, we do pretty good unless:

Hate it when the hole is dried shut and when we start, we end up with two or three separate streams and not knowing how to adjust the aim so at least one stream goes into the bowl. Once nature's spigot is turned on, it is like a rocket launch. After lift off, you can't shut off the engines and hope the thing still goes where you want it to go. So as we finally get one stream to hit the target, the hose soon opens up and self adjusts from "spray" to "full", opening up to one full stream. If we have guessed right, no problem. Otherwise we end up going full force off to one side somewhere before we get to make a mid course correction. This is when we're glad we put the seat up and have one less thing to clean up later, along with the floor on one side and the nearby wall on the opposite side of the pot. When man was created, toilets were not in the picture and we created this problem to happen as we evolved into the modern age. It's like the line in Jaws, "I think you need a a bigger boat." Well, I guess a bigger toilet (or higher one) would help nowadays. The sad thing, you never know when this is going to happen and you hope for the best each time.

Our toilet-less ancestors never had this problem and I guess the gals were the ones who had the disadvantage. A guy could wing it out anywhere, but a gal still had to stoop down or something and have to pee in the open somewhere. Surely it was messy for the gals and the men had it made. What did they wipe with, anyway (assuming they did wipe)? No pee running down a man's legs...lol. Now it is the opposite.

Women have it the roughest overall, dealing with periods, pregnancy, childbirth and menopause. So maybe in our modern age it is proper for us "men 'to' pause" and have to grab a rag or mop now and then put them to use in the bathroom (especially when no woman is there). What real man would ever admit he made a mess in the bathroom and and expect his gal to clean it up for him, even if a woman was there? Guess that is why they call that liquid cleaner, "Mr. Clean"...lol)I'm sure a lot of experienced wives and mothers have seen the results of these peeing disasters from husbands and male kids who "pee and run", thinking they somehow got away with it....lol.

I'm off to pee and see what happens. The mop is poised and ready.

Check out my next entry soon. Has to do with "boxes".

"Open the pod door, Hal."

2008-06-06T23:16:00.004-04:00

It's getting late on a Friday night. Time for all the weird stuff to show up on TV, but I have a little Twilight Zone story of my own. I have many issues I can't wait to rant about and have been waiting for the right time. Sorry to keep any of you in suspense and hope you all are still checking things out here. Now that I'm almost ready to post more whacky thoughts, this one came along so suddenly tonight and has beaten all the others to the blog. Yes, my computer IS alive....lol.

I decided to download a CD, Queen's, "A Night At the Opera". I went on Widows Media Player, put in the CD, hit the "rip" tab and casually sat back and watched each song load one by one. Then I noticed that the cover of the Cd (you all know, the one that is displayed when you are on line), was not A Night At the Opera, but "Queen's Greatest Hits". Then I noticed the song line-up was also from Queens Greatest Hits. Now is when the theme and the narraration from the old sixties Outer Limits Tv show began running through my head....."Please do not attempt to adjust your set, we control the horizontal, we control the vertical, we can change the image to blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity"....and so on.

Whatever was going on here, I have no idea. Anyway, the songs that did download at least were from the Night of the Opera Cd. Thank goodness, because if songs showed up on my computer from some other Cd than the one in the drive, I really would have considered rousting some poor preacher out of bed somewhere to perform an exorcism or something (or just simply pull the plug and hope the thing still wouldn't keep running).

Of course it was just a minor electronic glitch on-line and after the songs were downloaded, I had to edit all the titles of the songs, but could not change the picture of the CD cover. Guess these things happen. Okay, stand by in a few days for some other log overdue items I would like to share.

Take care everyone and don't forget to say goodnight to your computer. It may have feelings, too.....lol. Don't forget the line, "Open the pod door, Hal" (from "2001, A Space Odyssey").

Goodnight moon, goodnight picture on the wall, goodnight computer...lol.

Time for bed. Goodnight to you all.

Voyage to the bottom of the sink....again.

2008-05-20T19:05:00.002-04:00

Yes it's true, another adventure in doing the dishes, in fact, not since my last entry about doing the dishes, when was that? I put up a strong fight kept up with them for a while, but they took over and now I'm back whee I was a few weeks ago. This time, I wasn't alone. I had The Dave Clark Five by my side and playing on the speakers in the kitchen. We all have our favorite songs that get us motivated and their song, "Glad All Over" is a big foot stomping tune and actually was the only song in 1965, that knocked the Beatles off the charts for a whole fifteen minutes. It's true. The Beatles owned the top spot with many songs that year, but Dave and the boys had that honor for their fifteen minutes of fame. Glad All Over is one song I can play the drums to, without missing a beat. Like most of their songs, they explode out of the starting gate and other than the ballads, the songs have no instrumental interlude and they blast each verse at you until the end. I love the song, "Any Way You Want it", with the fading echo added in the studio at the end of the lines that end with, hey, hey, hey--ey--ey--ey. Ahead of their time with that one.

I really like the ballad, "Because" and is a love song that I can relate to. One that if a woman would have a man sing this to her, surely she would melt in his arms. In contrast another love song, more upbeat and rowdy like most of their material, is "You've Got What It Takes." This is one song I'm not sure any man should sing to a gal who he wants to woo, but get these lyrics, repeated for the last three verses: "You don't live in a fancy place, and you don't dress in the best of taste, and nature didn't give you such a beautiful face, but bay-yay-yaya-bee, you've got what it takes, to satisfy and you've got what it takes, and so do I, so oh, oh, oh, oh, oh-a yeah, you've got what it takes for me." So by the time I play the eight songs from them that I pirated off the computer back in 2001 (thank goodness I did. I want the History of Dave Clark Five collection so bad, but can't justify spending $78 and up on Amazon), I'll have my last batch of dishes done in that time. Then off to record the movie, "Rear Window" on my DVR on TCM.

Take care all of you.

Viva Viagra

2008-05-14T16:19:00.002-04:00

No, I don't use it, no need, but I love those ads on TV for those sex drugs, you know, the ones that have those warnings about possible four hour erections..lol. There are two ads that crack me up the most. Have any of you ever seen the one for Viagra, where they play the song "Viva Viagra", to the old Elvis tune, Viva Las Vegas. There is this good looking gentleman who looks like he's in his late 50's, gray haired, thin, and a lot better looking than most men his age. He's dancing with this young babe who looks like she could pass for his daughter and dancing to the above tune. Elvis, if you are still alive, we now have the drug for you...lol. The commercial makes me laugh every time I see it.

The other is an ad for another drug that warns that it should not be taken by women. Why would they need something for an erection? The next warning cracks me up the most. Should not be taken if you are pregnant. Take heed all you men...lol. Then comes the warning from both ads about getting medical help if you experience a four hour erection. Women take heed...lol. I figure it this way, if the "thing" doesn't go down, put it to good use. Once the gal is all sore, worn out, passed out and one is still all revved up and no place to go, I have some great ideas. Why lay there and watch the clock, knowing how embarrassing it will be to have to go to the emergency room and have all the nurses laughing about you when you are in one of those waiting areas. I know all about the nurse thing, as when I was in the hospital two years ago for other reasons. I had some procedures done, not relating anything to this, but I quickly became known as the "hairy one". I had half a pound of tape on my privates (twice) from two separate stent catheterizations and hearth monitor things taped all over my chest, torn off, redone and torn off many times over. My point here is how the nurses get to know their patients quickly and I'm sure they had a good time with me behind the scene and certainly have a lot of fun with the four hour erection thing when those guys show up. "We got another one."....lol. What the heck do they do for that problem anyway?....lol.

Anyway, why waste a good erection. Get out of bed and grab yourself a shower and you now have a nice place to hang the washcloth while shampooing your hair. After the shower and dry off, you now have a place to hang a towel while you dry your hair, brushing your teeth, whatever....lol. If you are going to end up going to the emergency, you might as well be clean.

The guffaw is when the ads say to visit your doctor and make sure it is safe for you to have sex. What a way to "go", huh? Why not die with a smile on your face?...lol.

Okay, this is all in fun and in as a layman (no pun intended), the makers of these drugs must protect themselves from lawsuits and must give warnings no matter how rediculous they may sound. These are just my reactions to the ads and thought it would be fun to share.

So for all you women, don't take these drugs, especially if you are taking "nitrates for chest pains"....lol. It may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure........

an evening at the movies

2008-05-09T21:38:00.002-04:00

I just drew the line tonight. No trip to a movie theater for ONE adult and ONE child should cost $30 (snacks included). I can see if we ate a half dozen candy bars, twizzlers, dots, chips or other things that can run up the price that we didn't even look at, BUT a lousy tub of popcorn and two drinks for $14.75?

What can we blame tonight's costs on? Gas prices, corn prices, meat prices, health care, possible extinction of the bald eagle, spotted owls or what? I drew the line and the it's going to be a cold day at the center of the earth before I buy another movie ticket. Well all of you know me better than that and know that's not true, but as one who rarely goes to a theater, spending $30 is no problem now and then. It's just the point of the whole thing. Besides, I'm assuming the center of the earth IS hot and if there are any cold spots, well, I guess I'll be going to the next feature.

I look at it this way. I'd probably end up with a DVD of every movie I'd see in the theaters anyway, so why waste the money to go see every movie that looks interesting? I usually end up with them (a DVD) without going to the theater, so I saved a few bucks. The only movies I have seen for I can't tell you how many years, were mostly with my kids. The last movie mom and I saw together alone was "The Flinstones" (spring of 1994). Mom was also along with "Finding Nemo." Always had a good time and either me or any one of rest have a DVD around somewhere of whatever movies we all saw at some point. Note, all kids sort of movies. Yes, even saw Dudley Doo Right, a very underrated movie and I really like it.

Speed Racer was pretty good, but way too long. There was a lot of action, noise, crashing and all that good race stuff, but many people with little kids left early. Elliot can usually hold out to go potty, but he had to go really bad, potty dance and all, just near the ending during the final climactic race. As soon as the bad guy's car crashed, Elliot told me he knew Speed Racer was going to win and suggested we "get outta here." If this had been a western, his dance could have produced some possible showers...lol. (A rain dance for anyone who doesn't get it). Who knows, maybe that's what the Indian's were really doing in those old days and just had to go while dancing around the fire.

Speaking of going,

Gotta go, I mean just go, not potty...lol

The weather

2008-05-04T18:02:00.002-04:00

I share my son's sentiments about the weather after reading a recent post in his blog. It is too cold for air conditioning, but my room up on the third floor builds up heat even on a balmy day like today and will be very warm when I go to bed tonight. I can open a window, but with the convection of this house, no air comes in the window, as the air from the downstairs flows up through the house ( goes out the window) and really doesn't cool the room off at all. Yes, some warm air goes out, but not enough. I like my room a bit on the chilly side at night. I work in the heat all day and (especially) during the summer months (with no central air), the house is usually a bit on the warm side. That's all okay, but when I go to bed, I feel it is my reward to spend the end of my day in the comfort I deserve. It's almost at this point already and it isn't even hot outside yet. The downstairs is comfy, but the bedroom will be warmer tonight than I would like.

Speaking more about the frustrations of weather, are the forecasts. I could be with my son Elliot this moment, so why am I here instead? Because up until Saturday, I thought that Sunday was going to be a total washout. I can go see him anytime, but I elected for Monday evening after work, because I felt it would be better than today and not have to run around in the "supposed" downpours. As today turned out so beautiful, I guess I could have went to visit him anyway, but I already told his mommy that I would wait until Monday. My wife always was one who has had to work around other peoples' schedules for so long and I try not to make it any harder for her. Yes, we live apart, but we are still "one" in my mind and always try to make things as easy as I can for her. Anyway, being a meteroroligist must be the best job in the world. What other job can one make so many mistakes and get away with it?...lol.

So I will go see Elliot on Monday for a little night out for dinner, hear his insights about life as he knows it and he surely will come up with another dandy about something. He is one kid that is never at a loss for words and if you would ever have the pleasure to hear him, he would leave you speechless, like he does to me.

I'm stunned. The Flyers advanced to the next round of the playoffs. Nobody expected them to beat Montreal, but they did it in five games. If all goes as expected, the Flyers will meet up with Pittsburgh in the semifinals. Have to see where that series goes.

Petticoat Junction

2008-04-26T22:24:00.002-04:00

Remember that old show with the hotel and the train in the town of Hooterville with Kate and lazy Uncle Joe as a few of the characters? I just saw a routine from the popular comedian, Ron White. Here is a short from Ron's routine I heard tonight:

Normally I stand up here and don't see much of the audience. Tonight is special as tonight we are making a DVD of the show, but normally I look out over the audience and see all dark or just a few people in the first few rows. One night I looked out and there was this woman sitting down front with one of those denim skirts, you know, the ones with the buttons up the front. Well this one wasn't buttoned..... I couldn't help but look, you know, with my attention deficit and all.... After a while, I had to say something and said, "Ma'am, Could you button up your skirt? I can see your slip." She snapped back, "It's a petticoat!" Well ma'am, I can see the junction. (long pause) And Uncle Joe looks like he could use a good shave, by the way...."

The audience was rolling with laughter. I having a hard time getting into many of the latest bunch of comedian's, but this guy is pretty good.

Well, the Flyers won tonight fair and square. They are looking a lot better than I thought they would against Montreal and they have good chance of advancing to the next round if they can keep this up. Time will tell.

What turns people off of sports?

2008-04-24T22:20:00.003-04:00

Professional players; judgement calls. Tonight was a typical example. As a Flyer's fan for 36 years, I've seen this scenario more than anything else in any sport.

Flyers winning game in third period. Penalty called against Flyers (replay shows no penalty occurred). Other team ties the game. Other team wins in overtime, fa la la la la, la la la la. (put the "fa la la's" after the previous three other lines and you have a great song to sing at a game during the Christmas season...lol) Yes, hockey is faster than when I first began watching, with lots of speed, lots of teams, lots of action, high ticket prices, but one thing hasn't changed, the officiating. It's as disgusting as ever and I was once told by someone that it is why (she knows who she is) never liked sports. For me, hockey will be fun to watch no matter what, but it has gotten very old as far as the Flyers being in the same situation over and over as mentioned above. I can see once in a while, but a half a dozen times each season?????

The Flyers are a good team and if they lose this series with Montreal, they still showed how a team can come back after their worst season ever. I'd like to see Montreal go all the way this year. Would be nice to see one of those good old oroiginal teams get into the Stanley Cup finals again. Sorry Duck's.

The Flyers playoff series

2008-04-22T21:39:00.003-04:00

Well, another nail biting finish. It's the 7th game, game tied, going into overtime. First goal wins the series. History has it that all Philly teams choke in these situations. We will see. I'm off to watch the finish. More in a few days. Have a lot to say, but just waiting for some witty thoughts to go with them. Come back soon. Who won the primary anyway....Better check that out, too. What is more important, a president every four years or a a Philly championship sometime this millennium? Don't hold your breath for any of how these turn out.

ElliotQuote of the weekend

2008-04-14T22:03:00.003-04:00

I was bringing Elliot up to the house for the weekend and during the drive, was asked something interesting. Elliot asked me if I was aware and if I believed there was such a thing as world hunger. I told him that I'm aware of world hunger and how people in many parts of the world do not have enough to eat. He responded, "I have a solution to the problem". I said, "Yeah? What is it?" He began rambling in his usual unbroken continous style, "When I poop, I get hungry afterwards. If we can stop people from pooping, they won't get hungry. So to stop world hunger, we must first stop world pooping." At this point, I'm having trouble keeping my car on the road and trying not to laugh out loud. As soon as I regained my composure, I asked Elliot, "Is this something you heard from Larry the Cable Guy or on the Toon Network, or did you make that up on your own?" He said he made it up.

High Speed is back

2008-04-12T11:50:00.002-04:00

I have my hight speed internet back. The Comcast guy showed up on Saturday and all is well. The problem was (for a change) not at the computer, but outside at the pole. He said the signal coming to the computer was dead and not a computer issue. Got a lot to do today, so catch ya'll later.

Morning surprise

2008-04-09T18:46:00.002-04:00

You know you are going to have a bad day when:

You just got finished peeing, then when putting on some deodorant, the cap falls into the toilet. Happened to me yesterday. Sank to the bottom, of course. It's situations like that I can't deal with as soon as I'm out of bed and decided to wait until I got home from work to dig it out. It's times like these when you realize the morning pee is the foulest. They say things come in threes and luckily my day went pretty good. Nothing new to report and thanks for dropping in (get it?)...lol.

Can of SPAM

2008-04-08T17:57:00.002-04:00

As a photographer who is very discriminating on how his equipment will meet my needs, I did an experiment after work. I noticed when I take pictures with my 75 to 300 MM zoom lens, the pictures are not as sharp as with the regular 18 to 70 MM lens. Thought I would put both lenses to the test and do a little comparing. I used a can of SPAM as my subject. It is a simple fact of life, that you can't expect something more than what limitations are given to you or whatever situation or person you are with. Gotta take what we get and can't expect to get blood from a stone, as the old expression goes. So true with photography and did this little experiment to learn the limitations of my equipment. I set up the can of SPAM on my outside yard table. Then took a few pictures at various distances, keeping the size of the subject the same in all the pictures. Mom and Nate, if you are reading this, will be sending you both an e mail in more detail. I've already determined that the "steady shot" feature of my camera is inconsistent. The camera was mounted on a tripod and it took four shots to get a sharp image (with my lens set at 300 MM and with my 2X teleconverter added) before I got one that showed little camera shake. Each of the other three, showed camera shake to various degrees.

A white balance test is in the future. Did an experiment like that before when using a "neutral gray card" and using backgrounds of different colors with construction paper back in my 35 MM film days. The results were cool and showed why people who took pictures of white horses in an all grren fiels of green and why the horse ended up looking pink. There is a very simple explanation as to why and plan to do this same experiment with digital and see if I come up with the same conclusion. I'm one who enjoys digging into the "hows and whys" of things and even though it can get a bit complicated at the time, what I learn makes things so much easier late when it counts the most.

I'm off to load in my pictures from today and see how things look.

Take care.

Latest Movie

2008-04-06T17:45:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity last night to watch (if you can believe this?), The Bridges of Madison County. If you know me, this is probably the last kind of movie you would think I would enjoy, but I really did. It was on AMC and took a look at it out of curiousity. I never was interested in the film, but was curious about it as it was once mentioned during a hilarious skit from the Red Green Show. On the show, one of the characters is a "bomb" expert (named Edgar). He was being interviewed on a segment during the show known as "As the Experts" Somehow along the way, the conversation of movies came up. Edgar began rambling about how movies are so fake. Harold ( those familiar with the show will know who I mean), commented how many good movies are out there, like The Bridges of Madison County. Edgar's eyes lit up and said he saw the movie, commenting how he was waiting for one of those bridges to blow up. Then added that the other's must have just as disappionted, as everyone left the theater in tears....lol.

Well, if any of you have never seen the movie, it is a good one.

My first introduction

2008-04-04T20:23:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.

I thought I would start off tonight by asking a question. Do you have any idea of how many dishes you have? I find out how many I have when the cupboard is empty and the sink is overflowing. I'm on my second sink full tonight have a third on in the waitng. I have a system when I do the dishes at this level. I do all the plates and bowls first, dig them out one at a time and use the scubber on them and rinse them off (while the sink is still full of the other things), like pots and pans and all those plastic containers that have built up from lunches that I took to work. While the plates and bowls sit to dry in the dish drainer, the water had gotten cold from all the rinsing. I grab a towel dry them by hand and place them back in the cupboard so there is now room for more. By then the hot water heater has caught up and ready for more action. This is when you discover light at the end of the tunnel. Now that you can see the bottom of the sink, that is where you find old ziti pasta from when you drained them through a collander three nights earlierand have now swelled up and look like oversized rigatoni, yuck. If lucky enough, they are still white and won't look all fuzzy, with hairy things moving on them like they are some kind of lab experiment. Now it is time to wash those plastic containers, the ones I bring home evey night from my lunches I take to work. I hate those containers (from a washing standpoint) as the water is retained in the rims and seems to take days to evaporate. Same with the lids. Anyway, if ambitious, I'll get out a towel and take a half an hour to dry them off individually. Once past that point, along comes my favorite, the silverwear. Scrubbing each knife, fork and spoon is a nightmare. Sometimes I just stick them in a big bowl and if they look clean, just rinse them all at one time and put them in the dish drainer...lol. After that, the pots and pans are a piece of cake.

It is rare when I let things get to that point, but as a procrastinator, sometimes I let this get out of hand and have to spend a few hours to catch up and pay the price. Nothing better to do on a Friday night, when you have to to work on Saturday, like I have to tomorrow. Off to finish the last sinkload and having the feeing of accompishment after walking by the sink all week and ignoring it. Take care all of you who are reading this and now will not have to walk past the sink each night and feel guilty (until two weeks from now again...lol) Enjoy your weekends and will post something more very soon.