Merry Christmas!
Wishing you and yours the blessings of the season!
Merry Christmas!
Thanks and a tip o’ Santa’s cap to Jim Ivey who included the little drawings above on his last letter to me. Jim’s 87 and still rockin’.
Category: Misc.
Geronimo aka “He Who Yawns”
That’s the famous Apache renegade, Geronimo. He’s probably one of the few Indians – or Native Americans – if you prefer the more politically correct term, that modern people know by name. Did you know that…
- Geronimo’s birth name was Goyahkla — He Who Yawns which was given to him because of his “sleepy” nature
- It would be said that after one of his victims screamed for mercy in the name of Saint Jerome — Jeronimo in Spanish — the Apaches had a new name for Goyahkla.
- …white settlers in the American West were known to frighten their misbehaving children with the threat that Geronimo would come for them.
Geronimo had an interesting life — and if you’d like to learn more about him, you can in this short but informative article by Gilbert King.
Parkour-Powered Rube Goldberg
It’s not secret I love Parkour [as opposed to Parker, which I also dig]. So, what do you get when you power a Rube Goldberg machine with Parkour? Something that starts out crazy and gets more intense with each new object that gets put into play.
Well done, Jason Paul and his team!
Craig’s Back – Where’s He Been?
Well, it’s been a while hasn’t it.
My computer crashed on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend. I took it into the shop ( a great local place called Volusia Computers) the next morning. What followed was a run of bad luck I haven’t seen since Big John Beatty busted out on triple aces twice in a row in a game of In-Between.
But that’s a story for another time.
The guys at Volusia Computers were great, but my computer could not be resuscitated. We almost had it back, but then it died again. At that point I decided to buy a refurbished, but bigger and faster computer. It was ready for pick-up and started experiencing minor problems when they were showing me it’s features. So for my inconvenience I was upgraded to an even better computer for a lower price.
The downside was that it took some time to get my new refurbished computer ready for me to take home. Oh, and did I mention that while all this was going on that my big screen tv died? It did.
FPL came out and installed a smart merter and didn’t tell us to turn off appliances. So for a few days I was without my computer AND my big screen tv.
All is good now. I’ve got a new tv and new (to me) computer. Both are improvements over what I had. So…
I’m back, baby.
The Truth About Gunfights in the Old West.
Recently Neatorama posted The Truth About Gunfights in the Old West. While we probably knew most of the liberties taken in Hollywood gunfights, the piece is still a fun and interesting read.
Did You Hear About the Time-Traveling Attorney?
Andrew Basiago is a Seattle attorney who, since 2004, has been publicly proclaiming that as a child he was involved in a government sponsored time-travel program known as Project Pegasus. According to Basiago, the US government has had time-travel technology for over 40 years.
Basiago further claims that, as a child he time-traveled to [and was photographed at] Gettysburg when Lincoln gave his famous speech. If you click over to this article at the Huffington Post, you can see the photograph from 1863 of the child that Basiago claims is him, taken while on his time-travel mission. You can also view a video of Basiago talking about his time-travel experiences.
Wow! Andrew Basiago’s claims make his childhood sound like a cross between Johnny Quest and The Time Tunnel. Both of which, were more plausible.
Negative Girl Turns Positive
1. Stare at the red dot on the girls nose for 30 seconds.
2. Turn your eyes to a plain surface (a sheet of white paper works great).
3. Blink repeatedly and quickly.
4. What do you see?
A big positive thank you for the negative illusion to Bits and Pieces.
Rooftop Tower Climb
I’ll admit that my palms got moist watching this video of a Russian who got on a sky-scrapper’s roof and decided to climb the snow-covered steps to a tower… and then up the tower.
Watch it on full screen and feel your stomach tighten and your body shift to find balance.
15 Ways the Internet is Changing Our Brains
More often than not, when you hear about research on how internet use and computers are changing our lives, there’s a negative spin. Well, here’s a positive piece about 15 Ways the Internet is Changing Our Brains.
Thanks and a tip o’ the mouse pad to Bill Crider for the link.
Beat the Carnies
So the carnival is coming to town and you’re planning to take your wife, girlfriend or significant other to the midway. Before you go, especially if you’re planning to win some prizes, you should take a couple of minutes to read Beat the Carnies: How to Win 5 Popular State Fair Games.
Chris is a Marathoner!
Big congrats to my son, Chris, who completed his first Disney Marathon today. Way to go, Chris!
What’s Up with These Scuba Divers?
Check out this video of scuba divers and see if you can figure out what is going on. For the record, they are really scuba divers and they’re really in water…
Mayans Didn’t Predict 2012 Apocalypse
You just know we’re going to be reading and hearing a lot about the Apocalypse that is predicted for this year. Well, let’s go ahead and put an end to the whole Mayans predicted the end of the world in 2012 nonsense right now.
Happy New Years 2012
We’re just a little over 6 hours away from 2011 going into the history books and 2012 opening a new chapter in all of our lives. I like the promise that a new year holds. Don’t you? [You’re not one of those “2012: end of times” fanatics are you? If so, I’ll bet you’re having a hard time getting excited about the promise of the coming year.]
I have to admit though that I’m usually not excited to see a year come to an end. For one thing it means we’re getting a year older. That by itself is no biggie. Who cares about one year coming to an end? It’s the cumulative effect of all those previous years ending that take their toll. Plus when a year comes to a close, it signals that all of our unfinished goals, resolutions and projects won’t be finished THAT year.
I do like that New Year’s is a time to pause and reflect on the past year and the blessings that we’ve received or heartache we’ve been spared. I also enjoy the opportunity to plan for the coming year. Although I’m not one for resolutions, at least public resolutions, I hope 2012 sees a couple of mine succeed. While I’m hoping for good things in 2012, let me wish you and yours the best that a new year can bring.
