Better Blog Writing

Abe Lincoln has started a better blog writing site and we are only on lesson two. Plenty of time to catch up, if you want. You can find it here.

Poppy Watercolor Demo - 4 min. Loose and Wet

Washington Post Compares Proposed Tax Cuts

A graph showing the McCain/Obama proposed tax cuts.

Pet Portraits

A two minute video of pet portraits showing what can be done with color.

(And what's up with this... I put a search key in for "art paintings" on youtube and what do I get? Masterbation art. Geesh!!)

How the Tune Has Changed... or WTF?

Is it a shoe-in for the democrates? Has McCain sealed his fate or has destiny simply taken the wheel?

For a while I have had the feeling that McCain, deep in his heart, does not really want to be president of the United States. I think the republican big-wigs put pressure on him to run because they couldn't find anyone else who could withstand the close scrutiny that comes with campaigning.

And now McCain, or his campaign committee, has chosen a no-name, a no experienced female to be his vice president. Can you say "WTF?!"

What does this say to the republican argument that Obama doesn't have enough experience... Sarah Palin has been Alaska's governor for two years. Prior to that she was on the city council. Where's the experience in that? A move to the female in an attempt to garner all the females who voted for Hillary? No doubt.

When someone says McCain has served his country in the armed forces, I want to scream well what does that mean.... junior didn't serve at all!!

Prediction: Obama is, indeed, a shoe-in. I just hope Bidden doesn't have to end up serving as president.

Post Script: I just went to check my stats to make sure my visits weren't being counted and I noticed someone from "Talk America" visited this entry. Probably gathering information about people's responses to Palin. Checking blogs is a great way of getting feedback. Kewl Idea. Oh, and by the way... Palin has a small controversy going on... seems she tried to get her ex-brother-in-law fired. He's a cop. She'll fit nicely into the republican agenda.. you know, personal influence and stuff.

added later: on the other hand, it was a risky choice but who knows... it just might work. (there... I think I've covered both sides of the issue.)

PPS: ooops. Apparently Talk America is a telephone company who ripsoff people, at least according to google searches.

Living Through History

 After listening to Obama's acceptance speech (did it seem to last forever to you? with him often repeating things?) I found myself thinking about all the notes of history that I've been around to observe. (The order may not be accurate, but that's memory for ya.)

"I Like Ike"... Dwight Eisenhower as president. I remember him being president, but not much else. I was in grade school and politics did not interest me.

Surprise.... The Vatican did not end up running the United States after John F. Kennedy became president. I remember my mother, in her own personal bitterness, ragging about the pope running the country and that she didn't want to pay more taxes.

Police killing Kent State students.

China killing student demonstrators. The lone Chinese student standing in front of the row of tanks and bringing them to a halt. What a shocker that was!!

Viet Nam war and protests. Hippies. Pot. Flower Power. Woodstock.

Man goes to the moon and returns... and lives to tell about it. (00)

The murders of civil rights workers. The bombing of the church and murder of children.

Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to President Kennedy. (I was embarrassed for her. She was clearly under the influence of something.) MM overdosing. (I'm not sold on it being accidental. People kill in the name of politics and MM was a loose cannon.)

The murder of President Kennedy. WTF?! Then the murder of Oswald. I'm sure Ruby was given the hit to carry out so Oswald couldn't talk.

The murder of Martin Luther King Jr.

The murder of Malcom X.

The murder of Robert Kennedy.

So many many murders. Its worrisome.

There is much more in my memory banks, but that's it for now. What are some of the historical highlights you remember?

Got Coffee?

This is Booger, Minnie Pearl's grandson.

 

He's got a job. He works for Juan. Juan Valdeze.

 

"Oh. No. ah, I didn't say anything about Starbucks. Nope. Not me... I know better."

 

Got Burro?

"I have a sweet little burro. Her name is Siya."

 

"We would go everywhere together... as long as that's where she wanted to go."

 

"Today my burro went that way."

 

"Now I can't find her. Have you seen my burro, Siya?"

 

A Repeat

This drawing was done a long time ago and it has been posted before. Perhaps twice. But I wanted to put something up and I got nothink! Nothing but repeats.

The baby elephant has finally been "reunited" with his mom, Rose-Tu, and its looking good. I mentioned below that the newborn had to be removed from 'mom' and the other elephants because 'mom' was getting too violent and there was a great concern that the calf had been seriously injuried internally. But all is well.

Rose-Tu has never even seen a birth, let alone experienced one. I can only imagine what might have been going through her mind when she finally delivered her own baby.

"WTF? What the hell did I just poop outta me?!"

And you all know what you do when you see something you don't recognize... you nudge it with your foot to see if it moves. Rose nudged it then began to stomp at it. That's when they rushed in and removed the calf. But as of this morning, baby and mom are together, baby is nursing, and mom guides the baby to stay under her belly for safe keeping. Whew! (The zoo keepers and vets were very worried at first. There were tears being fought back during the first announcement explaining what was going on with the baby. This was before they knew whether or not the baby was okay internally.) Awe.......

We are having cool, rainy weather. Its marvelous!!

Hope ya'll had a good weekend.

We're Having a Baby!! AND ITS A BOY!!

 The city of Portland is having a baby.... a baby elephant. S/he could be born at any moment. S/he will be the first born of 14 yr old Rose-Tu, who was also born at our zoo. The herd and everyone else is excited. The baby will bring a new life experience to the herd and will help other female elephants learn how to mother a wee one. (Well, not so "wee"... its expected to be 250-300 pounds.)

Above is a file picture. Rose-Tu is on the left and Tusko, a rented stud, is on the right.

The other females have been trying to help Rose-Tu through labor. They were using their tusks to rub Rose's belly yesterday. Can you say awe.

I'll post an update after it happens.

UPDATE: The calf was born this evening after a "difficult delivery." The calf was not moving immediately after birth and Rose-Tu was kicking at it to get it to move (normal behavior). Everyone was concerned about the health of the calf and because the new mom was getting a bit rough, they separated the calf from the mother and helped the baby take its first steps. The baby still needs to be checked out and assuming all is well, the next hurdle will be to see how the herd takes to the little one. Here's a news article about it.

For Those of a Certain Age

Things That Make You Go "Hmmmmmm"

 I've been wonderin' lately and seem to end up going "hmmmmm" a lot.

Obama has raised almost twice as much money for his campaign than McCain has and I'm a bit surprised since McCain has been in politics for such a long time. You'd think McCain would have raised more money, you know, cause he has so much experience. The only thing I could come up with is that he's a republican and you know republicans don't like to give up their money for anything. Hmmmmmmmm.

I wonder what it would be like to have a candidate, whether local or national, that you really wanted to win instead of casting a vote for the lesser of two evils. Hmmmmmmm.

I wonder what it would be like if campaign ads and appearances focused on issues instead of how to best bad mouth the opposition. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Lilly has come out with a Cialis that is to be taken every day instead of waiting until its needed. I wonder if they had "gobs" of guys writing to them asking for a daily dose so they would be ready at the drop of panties instead of having to wait 20 to 30 minutes to be ready. I mean, ohmygawd, what would they do for those 20/30 minutes? Have you met many men who would prefer taking 30 pills a month? I wonder what the cost difference is between say two to four pills a month verses 30? Hmmmmmmm.

I've been feeling like I'm living in the Victoria Age, except it isn't about hiding sex. Hell, that's tossed in my face whether I was looking for it or not.... but I keep feeling like society is trying to get everyone to be the same. Cloning would, perhaps, make it more easy to have a society filled with all the same kinds of people, but how boring would that be? There seems to be laws and petitions against any and all who do not fit within society's "standard". There's a state (I think its Arkansas, but I'm not sure) that has civil servants paying a monthly penality fee if they are smokers. Its getting ready to do the same for those who are overweight. Will they be doing the same for those who are underweight? Hmmmmmmm.

Insurance companies don't want to insure anyone who is not healthy. If they only insure healthy people, then what's the point? Hmmmmmmm.

And why can't the medical society explain why someone who has never smoked ends up with lung cancer? Perhaps its because they walk pass a smoker and was exposed to second-hand smoke for five seconds. Yeah, that must be it. On the other hand, how do they explain a person who has smoked all of their adult life and they don't have lung cancer? Maybe its because they just didn't live long enough. Maybe if they had lived until they were 90 or 95 yrs old they would have developed it. Hmmmmmmm.

And what's up with that study which showed smokers are more likely to eat at McDonald's than not. What is that suppose to mean? Did eating at McDonald's make them smokers? Or does smoking make them crave McDonald's? I could never figure out what the point of that study was, but I'm sure it cost money to conduct and analyze it. Hmmmmmmm.

Global warming is causing the glaziers to melt. I don't argue that we haven't been speeding it up... but haven't they always been melting ever since, you know, the ice age? Hmmmmmmm.

Sigh. I don't know.

Finally! The Medical Community is finally questioning Gardasil

When the news came out about the new "vaccine", Gardasil, I was skeptical. Out of the blue comes a vaccine for cervical cancer and it was going to be mandatory to have all young girls given it. WARNING WARNING WARNING. Mandatory? Out of the blue? My very first thoughts were that it was a boon for the drug industry because they would be making a lot of money on this.

Then the ads start appearing. I listened closely to what was said, the fine print if you will, and it made me think the vaccine could be nothing but a placebo and there would be no way to prove it. (So what if the FDA approved it... that means absolutely nothing.)

The ads stated that the vaccine was not a treatment for cervical cancer. I have no problem with that. I don't know of any vaccine that is used in a pre-existing disease.

Then it states that it does not protect against ALL cervical cancers.... so you'd best keep being checked for it.

And it does not work on ALL people. So if someone who had the vaccine came down with cervical cancer... well hey, they were just one of the few that the vaccine didn't work on. ??? Prove otherwise, if you can.

There is an editoral in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding this vaccine. You can find it here. (And there have been 18 deaths associated with this vaccine.)

This is just another situation where my initial reaction to something has proven to be valid. My confidence in my intuition is certainly improving. But I am so glad someone in the medical community is speaking out about it... raising questions, because you certainly can't trust the drug companies.

Ya Gotta Check This Site Out!

Check out this photography site!!

Well... I'm Tired of This Face Now.

 

 

 

Back to Normal.... and Beyond!

We've made it thru the week from hell. The last three days were over 100 degrees and that is unusual for this area. This morning I woke up to clouds, rain, and a cool cool breeze. At 11am it was 63 degrees with 84% humidity.

The two shots below were taken through my dirty window when it was raining. (I like how the headlights reflect off the moisture.) You can see the rain drops on the window in the second shot.

 

 

Then a lightning storm moved over the area and we were without power for about 30 minutes. Very dramatic sounding. The picture below was "borrowed" from a local news site. (my camera is so slow it would be an accidental miracle if I captured it.)

 

Once the rain changed over to drizzle I took the opportunity to run to the store for a few things. I came back broke. Summer sales, doncha know. I did snag myself a summer hat for next year...$5. Now the challenge will be to put it somewhere where it won't get smashed. The second challenge will be to remember that I have it next summer.

 

Goodies!

I tried Wanda's (Brush Stroke from the Heart) recipe for pickled cucumbers.

 

Ohmygosh... was it ever GOOD!! I made it about four days ago, but didn't get around to eating it until yesterday so it had marinaded a while. Did I say 'ohmygosh was it ever GOOD?'

I got them out to go along with a sandwich. I finished it as dinner along with a few wheat thins just to sop up the juices in my stomach. To make sure you understand.... the pickled cucumbers were the main dish. The wheat thins were the side dish. Can you say 'slurp'. (burb)

I found this tri pod at the dollar store.

 

I haven't hooked it up to the camera yet. I hope it works okay because I often have difficulty holding the camera still. If it doesn't, no big deal because it was only a dollar.

Speaking of dollars, we are one of four cities tapped to be a test city for a dollar coin. They've been tried before and it didn't catch on. This time they are using the 'green' approach. The coins will last decades and are recyclable. The dollar bill usually lasts about 21 months. I read somewhere that the only time a coin replacing a bill worked was when there wasn't a choice... when the bills were taken out of circulation. I hope the dollar coins will be a size that is easily differentiated between quarters and fifty cent coins.

I took a picture of a pineapple while shopping the other day. Not a good shot. I feel weird taking pictures in public.

 

There was one time, a long long time ago, when someone brought in a pineapple that blew me away. The color was magnificent. Purples, yellows, some green. All I could do was look at it with total admiration. I've never seen another pineapple as perfect as that one. I'm posting this picture because... well, because its available.

WHAT?!?

WTF?!?! On the local news they said to expect the price of gasoline to go up again because the oil refineries are cutting back on production. Why? Because their profit margins are declining. Their BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars in profit aren't enough?

If the feds don't jump in here and put some stinking regulations on the oil industry ALL OF THEM NEED TO ... well, I better not say outloud. Home Land Security doncha know.

Did you see the interview with the big Shell Oil honcho? When asked about the huge profit margins his answer was that all the numbers associated with oil products are big. Cost of business is huge so profit margins are huge. That was suppose to be an acceptable answer. Can you say WTF? again!!

How can those people be so greedy? My gawd, is there no limit?

(and if one more politician tells us to cut back on driving to solve the problem I'm going to scream!!)

The Wuss is Whining

Oh... My... Gawd!! Its so frigging HOT!!

It got up to 102 degrees yesterday. At 5:30am this morning it was 69/70 degrees... no way to cool down the apartment before the sun comes up. Speaking of the sun... its predicted to get up to 104 degrees today and the same tomorrow. On Sunday, if we're lucky, it will go back down to 90 degree weather. I'd snort, but I'm too hot.

When I stepped outside yesterday it felt like someone stuck an iron in my face. "HEY... YOU LEFT THE FRIGGING WRINKLES!!!" It felt like a 10 pound wool blanket was on me in a dry sauna. No oxygen in the air.

As soon as the sun comes up so will the temperature... and its going to be coming up within a few minutes. Summer is not my season.

I think RegCure is a sham

I bought this 'clean up' software off the web because I wanted to clean up/delete all the empty registry keys. (I think its stuff that stays on your pc even after you uninstall/delete programs.) I have never been able to get the scan to come up with zero "empty registry keys."

I just scanned my pc six times, one right after the other, and the lowest count I could come up with is a count of 4. 4 empty registry keys. I was not nor had I been on the web. I did not uninstall any programs. I did not visit any sites. I only had RegCure up.... and kept scanning/fixing, scanning/fixing six times. Never got a zero. I think this program just randomly displays numbers so you think its doing something.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm fairly ignorant of electronics and I may be wrong... but right now I think I've been had. I'm posting this so no one else buys the junk and thinks its actually doing something. (this is not the first time I've done back-to-back scans. it is the first time I did six of them.)

Got Marshmellows?

 

How'd you like to drive by this coming down the freeway?

There were some small wildfires along I5 near Eugene (mid state) and when this hay truck went by it also caught on fire. There's a couple of more pictures here (news article). Seeing something like this driving down the freeway will perk you right up.

Chit chat

 nutin' much going on around here, although I got my 'shopping' done for the month. My quanity shopping. There's always small trips to local area stores when the bread runs out and things like that but the bulk of it is done. Now hold onto your hats cause here's some excitin' news... I even made it to the Dollar Tree Store!! I know, I know.... how exciting is that?

"Summer time and the livin' is easy...

 ...fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high." Except around here you better plunk down some money first and get a fishing license otherwise you'll find yourself in court fighting a fine. And lord, don't go fishing around these parts. Rivers are so contaminated you'll poison yourself if you eat what you catch. But cotton is high, though. 100% cotton is expensive!

Below is a picture of my friend's table in her kitchen nook area. The plants love it there! We once tried to relocate most of the plants around the house, but they yelled at us with their silent screams. "I'm dying... dying, I tell ya. Move me back into the light!!" 




A painting I did several years ago that is now hanging on my friend's wall. (I've posted a picture of it before, but its been a while. Hey, its all about recycling.) I copied the painting from a how-to book. 



Its warming up around here... again. Towards the end of the week its suppose to get into the 90 degree temperature range. Might even make it to 100. The one saving grace is that it should only last three or four days at most.

Hey... How 'bout those profits!

$655 million dollars in profit for the year. That's $2 million a day in profits, folks. Where's this, you ask. Providence Hospitals, that's where. And I suspect other hospitals are right there, too. (This is for the entire Providence network of hospitals and clinics in several states.)

The spokesperson sounded as though this high profit margin is completely acceptable because it doesn't go to shareholders. It gets put back into their health care system since they are a non-profit organization. It must not have anything to do with them OVER CHARGING FOR EVERYTHING!!! I wonder how their employees are feeling after hearing how much profit they made... the low wage employees.

And since they are a non-profit organization they would be tax exempt.

As I was looking for a written article about this (I was unsuccessful) I came across something about a litigation:

Providence discriminates against the very patients who are supposed to benefit most from its charity care by engaging in a pattern and practice of charging inordinately inflated rates to its uninsured patients, including Plaintiffs and the Class they seek to represent, that are far higher than the rates it charges its insured patients for the same services.

The rich get richer and the poor get ripped off. On the other hand, there is good news. This is a prime example that there is money to be made out there. It just takes a ruthless heart and the right choice of industries. (And don't let anyone ever tell you that health care is not an industry.)

I'm not sure what to think about this, but I find this news is a bit uplifting. There is money out there to be made, there are folks out there who can afford to purchase things, and this makes me feel a little better. Go figure.

Rosy's "Game of Creative Art"

Rosy has invited anyone who wants to join in to participate in her "Game of Creative Art." Details can be found here, but basically it is to take one of her drawings and alter or manipulate it in any way, or recreate it in our own style, etc. Friday is the deadline, but it can be posted any time during the week.

Here's my go at it:

 

 

Done with pen/ink and colored pencils.

If you decide to join in and you are not one of the regulars to our blogs, please leave a comment so we will know to go check out your contribution. Thanks.

Ad Version vs the Real Thing

Here's a site that shows fast food products as seen in ads along side a picture of the real thing.

I've heard there are professionals that are called in to make things look better than they are while shooting the ads or commercials... and not everything is real in the ads. No surprise to anyone, I'm sure. I always take a good look at the placement of the fingers when ads come on for small snack versions of fast food sandwiches, too. They are placed to try to make the sandwich look larger. And the bites that are taken are smaller.

Many many years ago I was in a buffet type of restaurant (can't remember the name now) and a woman was fuming because her watery bowl of liquid containing a couple of tiny tiny shrimp didn't look anything like the full bodied picture/ad on the wall. "I didn't order this! I ordered that!!" pointing to the ad. She was yelling throughout the restaurant. And I didn't blame her at all. I'm sure they didn't placate her, but I hope they gave her back her money.

Another One Bites the Dust

"I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMAN!"

Ooops. Wrong guy. My bad. This time its John Edwards. And he had just been touting the need for morals. Imagine that.

Beyond the morals issue, what does this say about his intelligence? Not much. I mean if you're running to be the presidental candidate and you are a public figure, why oh why would you chance it?

Mother Nature's a bitch sometimes. That sexual urge and the danger of the activity certainly seems to be enticing. Penis power. I guess its hard to over come. (pun intended.)

Plus his pay off to the woman came from his political action group. They paid her over $100k "to make web political ads" when she had no experience at all. DUH! I guess there are four or five short videos. That's pretty expensive. And that is where your donations end up.

I could be wrong but I think the only guy who has been able to maintain a faithful relationship is the one who has never had the opportunity to do otherwise.

Sandy's Boats

Sandy asked in the comments section of her blog entry found here, if anyone was interested in doing her photos of boats. I didn't answer there because I wasn't sure if I would do it or not... but I gave it the ole try. (I have difficulty getting photos that aren't blurry. I took several shots. Sorry 'bout that.)

 

Watercolor pencils, 5.5 x 8.5 140 lbs paper

A picture of my work space. Keyboard, phone, container of water, pencils, coffee, pad of paper, junk mail that I use as a note pad, defuncted cell phone, junk, junk, junk. My version of living on the edge... two sources of liquid next to my keyboard and mouse. I moved one of them as soon as the thought entered my mind.

 

The photo as it appears on my monitor.

 

Drawings with Watercolor Video (5 min)

Getting this posted has not been straight forward. I hope it posts this time. I enjoyed watching this, probably because I'm more draftsman than painter.

Kool Aid and Potato Chips

 

Darius stayed with me Monday night. Well, actually Monday all day into Tuesday all day. And look... we're both alive! I tried to get a few candid shots but Mr Ham-it-up wasn't too cooperative.

 

He was semi quiet when I stuck some kool aid and potato chips in front of him. He wore the koolaid around his mouth like a badge of honor. Burp.

 

The burp was followed by a semi cheesy grin.

 

Coccoon, the second generation. D wanted to sleep in the front room and since it was just him (brother did not come over) I made up a pallet for him. He stayed on it for the most part, but occasionally rolled off.

We had a good time considering there's not much for him to do around here. Especially since his brother wasn't around.

Red Bull's Flugtag

Last Sunday Red Bull's Flugtag was held on the Willamette River (downtown area) and the turn out was huge. It looks like there wasn't any room to be filled... people everywhere.

In case you don't know, the Flugtag is where teams build "things" to push off into the water. (Clearly I don't know about Flugtags) I guess there is a goal to see which 'thing' gets the longest distance airborn, but truly, its just to jump into the river. My guess is that most of the people don't have a clue as to just how filthy the river gets. We're always hearing warnings to stay out of the river. I hope the folks don't get too sick.

If you want to look at some pictures go here: http://portlandoregondailyphoto.blogspot.com/2008/08/sunday-august-3-2008-red-bull-flugtag.html

We're Having a Heat Wave

In lieu of something new to show I thought I'd recycle this frog through again. Frog. Water. Coolness.

We're in for a week of heat with the chance of getting up to or over 100 degrees. I got a running headstart yesterday. I was able to get the apt. cold yesterday morning and it lasted for most of the day. It wasn't cool enough over night to do it again. Its pretty darn hot all over.

oh gawd... I'm talking weather again.

Darius spent the night and I'm not sure if he will stay another night or not. Its a lot easier with just one grandson. (The other one is staying else where.) Although Darius might not agree... it gets a little boring at times for him.

This is so boring but its all I've got right now. Hope you have a good day.