Another One

Don’t Cry for me

Don't cry for me now I have died, for I'm still here I'm by your side,
My body's gone but my soul's is here, please don't shed another tear,
I am still here I'm all around, only my body lies in the ground.
I am the snowflake that kisses your nose,
I am the frost, that nips your toes.
I am the sun ,bringing you light,
I am the star, shining so bright.
I am the rain, refreshing the earth,
I am the laughter, I am the mirth.
I am the bird, up in the sky,
I am the cloud, that's drifting by.
I am the thoughts, inside your head,
While I'm still there, I can't be dead.

Author unknown.

a bit more on wisdom

 Wisdom is bright and unfading. She readily appears to those who love her. She’s found by those who keep seeking after her.She makes herself known even in advance to those who desire her with all their hearts. Someone who awakens before dawn to look for her will find her already sitting at the door. 
~ scripture

jpr: why my obsession with this topic?  Try living
 with an individual who finds wisdom inconvenient!

Knights of Malta 900 years later

St Augustine Confesses

In his teen years Augustine and  friends entered an orchard and stole several pears. Later in life the man wrote several pages on this adolescent event. He explains the theft was a act based on comradeship, and laughter. The pears he explains were not eaten, or needed. in fact they were fed to some nearby pigs.

Then his act was seen as a good among friends. Later he confesses that his act was a lesser good as the farmer and his family were cheated of their rewards. The Saint warns that all sin is held as good by the sinner when a higher good is lost.

Happy Thanksgiving Day

"Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart."

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC – AD 65) 

doing good

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Aesop

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
Mohammad Ali

Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.
Buddha

 To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer. 
Mahatma Gandhi

 If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence. 

Lao Tzu

 Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. 

Mother Teresa 

 No man lacks the price to doing good.

7 Foot Nile Monitor Lizards in Florida

In the early 1990s, reports started surfacing concerning the sightings of gigantic, monster sized lizards in the Cape Coral area. Cape Coral a burgeoning development community of 400 square miles of waterways, homes and undeveloped land, was the original focal point of lizard resettlement.

The Nile monitor lizard is a remarkable and adaptable animal. It can quickly climb trees, walls and houses. It  is a proficient swimmer and can remain underwater for up to an hour. It can run at approximately 15 miles an hour (faster then most humans). It can dig tunnels and underground burrows with ease. The Nile monitor is also a prolific breeder and female lizards lay up to 60 eggs every two years.

Shakespeare on aging

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consum’d with that which it was nourish’d by.
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Sonnet 73

Snow flakes. by Emily Dickinson

I counted till they danced so
Their slippers leaped the town,
And then I took a pencil
To note the rebels down.
And then they grew so jolly
I did resign the prig,
And ten of my once stately toes
Are marshalled for a jig!

deer hunter

"There must be some deer nearby!"

Not sure what I'm gonna do with this or where its headed?

there are basically 6 emotions, emphasis on basic; all other feelings spring from them. some think there are more, some less, as many as 11, but that's not the point here.there are about 500 words in the english language identifying feelings. Illustrate.
It is healthy to have an awareness of your emotions, to acknowledge them, and to identify them, especially in recovery. Why is that? In order to manage them better. Feelings often lead to behaviors and for the addict the default behaviour is boozsky.

• love
• joy
• anger
• sadness
• fear, and
• shame

http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/WHEEL%20OF%20EMOTIONS.pdf

What's it like...in progress

I live inside my head Most times, and I have since I was two. how about you.
What’s it like In there? Under that hair? tell me what’s the weather like. Quiet and calm?
Like a Snowy lane Sun shines bright Snow goes away. Or stormy and gray One stays pale that way. What’s the tempo like in there Are you free to do as you like Away from the crush Of mean folk Hunger and affected mush? What kind of place is it In that storied noggin.
Is it as nice as I imagine Is there whiskey and gin Can you let your work go til you're ready to begin again Can you sing, can you dance, is there plenty of chance to play with your friends.
Or is someone hoggin all the fun.

Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson

I ask good things that I detest,
With speeches fair;
Heed not, I pray Thee, Lord, my breast,
But hear my prayer.

I say ill things I would not say -
Things unaware:
Regard my breast, Lord, in Thy day,
And not my prayer.

My heart is evil in Thy sight:
My good thoughts flee:
O Lord, I cannot wish aright -
Wish Thou for me.

O bend my words and acts to Thee,
However ill,
That I, whate'er I say or be,
May serve Thee still.

O let my thoughts abide in Thee
Lest I should fall:
Show me Thyself in all I see,
Thou Lord of all.


jpr: also worth the keep

7 Foot Clown with Golden Voice

click on song title to listen

Puddles sings "Royals"

Puddles the Pitiful Clown sings "Halleulah"

May you live a long life

May you live a long life

full of gladness and health

With a pocket full of gold

as the least of your wealth,

May the dreams you hold dearest

be those which come true,

May the kindness you spread,

Keep returning to you...

Happy Birthday Pappy McD.

Nanofilms

Researchers at RMIT University and Australian National University have finally quantified the voltage output of piezoelectric nanofilms — thin film materials capable of converting pressure into electrical energy. Imagine a laptop powered by typing or clicks. Or shoes that charge your iPod while you work out.

Why I sleep on the floor...rem sleep behavior disorder

RBD is characterized by the dreamer acting out his or her dreams. These dreams often involve kicking, screaming, punching, grabbing, and even jumping or falling out of bed.  Just what I need - another problem behavior.   

Famous people with Dysprosody

Humphrey Bogar

Truman Capote, lisp

Claudius, Roman Emperor

Camille Desmoulins, journalist in the French Revolution; stutter
Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States — lisp
James Earl Jones, actor — stutter
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

A Mother’s Lament for her Son’s Death by Robert Burns

FATE gave the word, the arrow sped,
And pierc’d my darling’s heart;
And with him all the joys are fled
Life can to me impart.


By cruel hands the sapling drops,
In dust dishonour’d laid;
So fell the pride of all my hopes,
My age’s future shade.


The mother-linnet in the brake
Bewails her ravish’d young;
So I, for my lost darling’s sake,
Lament the live-day long.


Death, oft I’ve feared thy fatal blow.
Now, fond, I bare my breast;
O, do thou kindly lay me low
With him I love, at rest!

jpr: for Robert James, and Mark Ronan

Did Van Gogh really kill himself?

A number of thinkers doubt that Vincent van Gogh committed suicide.  The romantic idea of a troubled genius taking his own life; the subsequent spike in sales; and the worldwide endearment to this myth, make it difficult for one to be taken seriously if you don't buy into the story.

A couple of prize-winning writers (Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith), and a well-known handgun forensic expert (Dr Vincent Di Maio ) have studied the limited extant evidence.  Based primarily on the forensics of the shooting itself there is no doubt that Vinny was shot in a manner other than suicide.

Read the detailed article at this link - http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/12/vincent-van-gogh-murder-mystery#

World Toilet Day

 Nov 19th is World Toilet Day,  an effort by the UN to draw attention to the 2.6 billion people who do

not have basic sanitation.  Grandparents had indoor plumbing but insisted we use the family outhouse.  While in St. LUCIA half the population had no plumbing and you could watch the people emptying their pots in the rivers every morning.

landing on an asteroid

(LEFT) The 510-kilogram (950-pound) Hayabusa spacecraft rendezvoused with asteroid Itokawa in September 2005.  This was second time in history a spacecraft descended to the surface of an asteroid but the first to return with soil samples. (NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous-Shoemaker spacecraft landed on asteroid Eros on Feb. 12, 2001).

(RIGHT) The ESA scientists calculated that  (european) Rosetta spacecraft lander's  first bounce, lasting nearly two hours, carried it about a kilometre away from the original point of contact while the second smaller bounce lasted for about seven minutes, carrying it several metres further.  It landed on two of three legs in shadow of a near by cliff.

jpr: These be exciting times for good (responsible) space exploration.

climate change?

I'm with these guys!

Science gives not a tinker's damn about "consensus"

The meme is that 97% of scientists agree that man-made global warming is a fact.  I am unable to ignore this nonsense.  I believe that a minuscule amount of warming is due to human activity but i do not believe that global warming has been established.*  More than 31000 climate scientists signed a letter as well as a petition to Congress that global warming is NOT supported by the facts. Again I assert that the global warming panic is Politically driven and if left unchecked will redistribute funds in the form of taxes and price increases from the underclass to the government and the corporate capitalists.

Here's one link global warming scam.  I can provide additional info if requested.

I do believe that human activity has deleterious effects of an  ecological and geographic nature. 

monoliths of mars

Several rectangular stones, monoliths have been detected on Mars moon called Phobos. As you can see the monument is part of a geomarker on Mars, not just a single monument alone. This image was drawn from the map corrected image from the MOC, and indeed the marker points due North. 

One of these monoliths periodically transmits radio signals which have been detected by satellite probes visiting Mars.

jpr: we report you decide soon!

structures seen from space

One is from Mars (left) with squares the size of 10's of kilometers, the other (right) is from a desert in China sized about 1 mile.
jpr: we report you decide.

Now that the tailgating is done....

"A recent survey of  North American males found 42% were overweight, 34% were critically obese, and 8% ate the survey."  - Banksy

day and night

"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night."

Steve Martin

my hero section....didier drogba

A native of the Ivory Coast, Didier plays soccer in England.

Through his charitable foundation, Ivory Coast captain and Chelsea legend Didier Drogba will help fund the construction of five clinics specializing in children and women's health spread throughout the country. The announcement was made by Didier Drogba Foundation secretary Guy Roland Tanoh, who said that the projects are being funded by the organization's London galas and Drogba's personal contributions.

The main goal of the Didier Drogba Foundation is to provide financial and material support in health and education to the African people. And the former Chelsea striker is also engaged in the fight against malaria since early 2012, alongside United Against Malaria (UAM), starring in a new campaign to fight this disease, which still kills a child in Africa every 60 seconds.

jpr: The man contracted malaria  while playing soccer in African Nations Cup.

acorns and the weather

Many people believe a large acorn crop is a predictor of a harsh winter. The truth is, the acorns on the ground today are the prediction of weather conditions two or three years ago; Scientists argue.

Favorable weather conditions for acorns mean a bumper crop two or three years later, the crops of 2013-2015 may bring some of the largest crops yet.  "The production of acorns definitely is not forecasting but hindcasting the weather."

jpr  Let's see if hill folk know best as they claim lots of acorns be falling now. They see a snowy winter.

The Passing of A Classic

Tom Magliozzi, co-host (with his brother Ray) of NPR's 'Car Talk' for 35 years, passed away this morning at 77 from complications of Alzheimer's. An auto mechanic with a PhD in finance, he brightened my day every Saturday with his wit, insight, and outrageous humor, plus some great car and relationship advice.  A real character and a class act, I will miss him. Fortunately, the old shows continue to be rebroadcast.  RIP Dr. Magliozzi.

The Tower's Poppies

From 5 August 2014 to 11 November 2014, a major artistic installation entitled 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' sees the Tower of London's famous dry moat filled with over 880,000 ceramic poppies to create a powerful visual commemoration for the First World War Centenary.

The ceramic poppies were on sale for £25 each with net proceeds, hoped to be in excess of £15 million, to be shared equally amongst a group of carefully selected Service charities. At the exhibit's close the poppies will be resold.

Remembrance Sunday, the second Sunday in November, is the day traditionally put aside to remember all those who have given their lives for the peace and freedom we enjoy today.  WWI ended on 11.11.11. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.. 


 The National War Memorial at Islandbridge, Dublin is dedicated "to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914–1918. This casualty rate is ~30% and twice that of all others.

Calling all Scientists!!!!

we are from the future?

if you will indulge me, watch this video (the last half a little frenetic) which posits an interesting quantum physics notion related to life.  JP and any else ones, is this accurate?  If so it is mystical; if not, then oh well..

Remembering Luther

Tradition holds that Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk,  posted his 95 Thesis on this day in 1517, supposedly nailing them to the door of a cathedral.  In reality they were mailed to Bishops and because of the availability of the new printing press widely distributed.  His intentions were not be break away from Rome but to address abuses by the Curia, specifically the Church's selling of indulgences, to absolve past, present and future sin, the money earmarked for renovations in Rome.  His basic premise was that the Church establishment exceeded its authority in a variety of ways.  He was excommunicated and thus Lutheranism.  Imagine what he would have to say today. 

all saints..all souls day

All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows' Day or Hallowmas) is the day after All Hallows' Eve (Hallowe'en). It is a feast day celebrated on 1st November by Anglicans and Roman Catholics.

It is an opportunity for believers to remember all saints and martyrs, known and unknown, throughout Christian history. As part of this day of obligation, believers are required to attend church and try not to do any servile work.

Charon's "last judgement" is the Sistine Chapel

Shakespeare " So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
                      And, Death once dead, there's no more dying then