I was out biking in the country the other day and came upon the car you see above. It was just sitting there at the corner of a farmer’s field — in a way out of place but then again, maybe not. With the exception of the TR7, I’ve always liked the different models that came from Triumph, especially the TR6. When I saw this car, it reminded me that a long time ago I came within 100 dollars of buying a brand new Triumph Spitfire. The dealer wouldn’t come down and I wouldn’t budge so the car was never purchased. I always wished that I had given in but I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Ah, but I digress.
I thought it was pretty cool what the owner did with this old frame. He took an ordinary corner out in the country and added a unique glimpse of the past. For those of us who have fond memories of the old days, this provided a little ride down memory lane. The flowers were a nice touch so that even those who don’t have any emotional attachment to the car can appreciate the beauty of the floral arrangement. It got me to thinking once again about taking the simple things in life for granted. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m as guilty as the next person when it comes to appreciating the little nuggets that life is always throwing at us. I’m still recovering from my back injury and being in good health is definitely on top of my list of things that I really appreciate right now. It’s sad but true that we don’t seem to appreciate things until we lose them. That includes family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, health, a good job, etc.
Soooo, smell the roses, will ya?
Two women were playing golf. One teed off and watched in horror as her ball headed directly toward a foursome of men playing the next hole. The ball hit one of the men.
He immediately clasped his hands together at his groin, fell to the ground and proceeded to roll around in agony. The woman rushed down to the man, and immediately began to apologize. “Please allow me to help. I’m a Physical Therapist and I know I could relieve your pain if you’d allow me”, she told him.
“Oh, no, I’ll be all right. I’ll be fine in a few minutes”, the man replied. He was in obvious agony, lying in the fetal position, still clasping his hands at his groin. At her persistence, however, he finally allowed her to help. She gently took his hands away and laid them to the side, loosened his pants and put her hands inside. She administered tender and artful massage for several long moments and asked, “How does that feel?”
He replied, “It feels great, but I think my thumb’s still broken!”
Since next Sunday is Father’s Day, I thought I would select a picture that represents the occasion.
When I saw this picture, my first thought was that I wish I had one like that with my daughter. I do have many pictures of my daughter and me but none seem to capture the pure innocence quite like this photo. It’s such a great age for children. They’re little sponges of knowledge and still at the age where they think their Daddy is the greatest and can do no wrong. They’re just such a joy to hold and talk to.
What I really like about this photo is the fact that it is in black and white. There is definitely a time and place for color photography, but in this case, the photographer’s decision to use black and white was perfect. Not having color causes me to concentrate more on the character and emotion of the shot. I think color would have diluted the overall impact of the photo.
The name of the photographer who took this photo is Thomas Paul. He hails from North Carolina and is the owner of a wedding and portrait photography business in Charlotte.
To see a gallery of his recent work, click here.
To view a higher resolution image of this photo, click here.
The other day I saw a car with the bumper sticker you see on the left. It’s available from an atheist and agnostic organization called the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was the John Lennon song, Imagine. The second verse of the song’s lyrics goes something like this:
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
I assume the individual displaying the bumper sticker was making his opinion known that the world would be a much better place to live if there was no religion. I believe most atheists think that if only there was no religion, the world would suddenly become this global utopia, where we are one big, happy family environment. Certainly if one looks at the Crusades, the attempts at genocidal cleansing over the centuries and the current Islamic fanatics, you can make a case for this line of reasoning. However, in most instances, the people heading these endeavors were disturbed and/or evil in character and used religion as a convenient excuse to further their cause. Also, how do you explain the likes of Stalin, Lenin and Hitler? To my knowledge, there were no religious underpinnings to their slaughter of millions of people. They were basically atheists.
The same reasoning can be used to debunk the first line in the verse above – “Imagine there’s no countries.” Those that champion the idea that if we don’t have a country to show allegiance to we will suddenly solve the world’s problems because then people will have no reason to fight or kill each other. Sure, this sounds great on the surface. However, the human race, since the beginning of time has always tried to form some kind of common bonding. Whether it’s a small group of cave dwellers, a tribe, an ethnic group, etc., man will always attempt to form some kind of relationship. It’s in our DNA. Eliminating the country dynamic isn’t going to eliminate the problem. It will still manifest itself in another form.
Certainly there are numerous examples of people using religion for nefarious purposes. They definitely get more than their fair share of airtime on the networks and on the Internet. However, the vast majority of religious endeavors are made for the overall good of mankind. The bushel of religion has too many good pieces in it to throw it away because of a few bad apples.
When Charles de Gaulle decided to retire from public life, the British ambassador and his wife threw a gala dinner party in his honor. At the dinner table, the Ambassador’s wife was talking with Madame de Gaulle: “Your husband has been such a prominent public figure, such a presence on the French and international scene for so many years! How quiet retirement will seem in comparison. What are you most looking forward to in these retirement years?”
“A penis,” replied Madame de Gaulle.
A huge hush fell over the table. Everyone heard her answer… and no one knew what to say next. Le Grand Charles leaned over to his wife and said, “Ma Cherie, I believe ze English pronounce zat word, ‘appiness!'”
This year is going to get real ugly, real fast. Things are so volatile right now with the Democratic Primary that the General Election is going to be a real barnburner. Unfortunately, the American public will have to endure another five months of lies and half-truths. As far as I’m concerned, the political process is too far removed from reality that only a radical change can save the system and our country.
If I could make one change to our system it would be to term-limit our Congress. To me, that is the only way to stop this madness. Politicians are becoming too powerful and lobbyists are controlling too much of the political process. What I would propose is to limit a Senator to a single six-year term and a House member to two three-year terms. This would also have the benefit of removing one election cycle from the current system when running for a House seat. I think that six years is enough time for an individual to learn the basics of the job and make an impact on the system. It would also completely remove any incentive for a Senator to make decisions based on improving his chances for re-election. Another benefit of term limits would be to put everyone on a more level footing and not give a few senior members too much power. Senators would arrive in Washington with no distractions of worrying about getting re-elected. Even House members would be more focused on dealing with the real problems that need to be addressed.
I really don’t see any other way of fixing the system. Too few people have too much power in the legislative body. I have little confidence in our current senior representatives. It’s time for a major change. Anything less would be like applying a band-aid to a ruptured artery. What do you think?
A husband and wife came in for counseling after 20 years of marriage. When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a passionate, painful tirade listing every problem they had ever had in the 20 years they had been married.
She went on and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of unmet needs she had endured over the course of their marriage.
Finally, after allowing this to go on for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and, after asking the wife to stand, embraced and kissed her passionately as her husband watched with a raised eyebrow. The woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze.
The therapist turned to the husband and said, “This is what your wife needs at least three times a week. Can you do this?”
The husband thought for a moment and replied, “Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I golf.”
At the risk of drawing the ire of some folks, I’ll give you my take on the current gas situation here in the U.S. Stop your whining and do something about it! Do I like having to pay more for gas? No. However, having said that, I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone complaining about the high price of gas as they go screaming by my car at 75-80 mph in their land yacht, SUV or pickup truck. The number of people that really need to be driving around in one of these gas-guzzlers is small.
Do people really think that the politicians in this country will do anything to help long-term prices? I hate to say it but most will do what they think will make them more electable next cycle. Sad, but true. Actions should have been taken over the last 20-30 years to address these problems but no one had the guts to make the tough calls. Barring a global economic collapse or some horrendous terrorist event that cripples a major population center, you can probably expect the prices to remain high for the foreseeable future. Increased use in countries like China and India, instability in the Middle East, Africa and other oil producing countries, tough environmental restrictions on drilling and refineries and a lack of new oil reserves are all contributing to the price increases.
What could have an immediate effect but would not be particularly popular would be to lower the speed limit to 55 mph. Realistically, the real speed would be 60-65 mph since most people drive 5-10 mph over the posted speed limits. Depending on what agency or institution figures you want to believe, the projected savings would be about 5-10%. Without a doubt, that size of a gas usage reduction would impact gas prices. However, until politicians get a backbone, this is what you can do to help yourself and your country:
• Drive 60-65 mph – it won’t kill you, really! Leave for work 5 minutes earlier. That’s about all the difference it would make for the average commuter that uses the Interstate system as part of their commute. A small price to pay to save some of your own money and help control gas prices.
• Keep your tires properly inflated and check your air filter.
• Use a more fuel-efficient car. I realize it’s not financially practical for everyone to do, but if you can, go for it.
• Accelerate more slowly from the stop. You’d be surprised how often the more moderate driver catches up to you at the next stop.
• Watch and anticipate the traffic and stoplights ahead. It’ll save your brakes as well as gas.
• If you’re going to be idling for much more than 30 seconds, shut off the engine.
Here are three sites with some more tips and information on saving gas:
So folks, what’s it going to be? Are we going to continue to complain about prices and the lack of government solutions or are we going to take responsibility for our own small part in creating this problem and help to solve it ourselves? The choice really is yours.
The Bourne Trilogy is my name for the three movies made from Robert Ludlum’s action novels The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. The story is based on a clandestine CIA operation gone awry. The agent in the botched operation, Jason Bourne, gets amnesia as a result and the rest of the first movie is a quest to discover his true identity. This set of three movies is a good selection for a mini-movie marathon. When I threw my back out last week, I decided to watch these movies again. They didn’t disappoint. Usually, movie sequels never quite seem to do justice to the original in the series. However, I think the two sequels are each well done in their own right. The action is good and the characters are well portrayed by the likes of Matt Damon and his supporting cast. According to various websites, a fourth Jason Bourne movie is in the works for 2008.
If you’ve never seen them before, these are top-notch action movies and highly recommended. If you’ve already seen them, they’re still worth a second viewing.
There’s also a song played at the end of the movies called Extreme Ways by Moby. It’s a pretty good song and you can watch the video here.
For more information on the Bourne movies, click here.
The picture above pretty much speaks for itself. I don’t think my words will do it much justice.
When I saw this picture, the first thought that came to my mind was – pure. The sheer beauty and innocence of the face leaps out from the page. The eyes just seem to penetrate right through you. She’s such a natural beauty and would put many a Hollywood model to shame. The truly amazing thing is that she is only 15 years old!
The photographer of this beautiful photo is Bjorn Leirvik from Norway. He was kind enough to allow me to display his picture on my site. Thank you, Bjorn.
If you’d like to see a higher resolution image of this photo, click here.
To see a gallery of Bjorn’s many fine photos, click here. He has a nice variety of people, animals, landscape, seascape, etc. Definitely worth a look.
