What has changed and what hasn’t?

This is The President, This is the President Conservatives See

 

Any Questions??

PERSONAL OBSERVATION ON A PERSONAL MATTER.

　

Tobacco being an expense and not having gotten any unemployment for the last five weeks.

This morning I was reduced to digging out a relic, my dad’s pipe and a bag of tobacco.

Fortunate for me my son-in-law has better taste in pipe tobacco then dad did and the bag was left by my son-in-law.

The pipe really is a relic, twenty years ago my dad had broken his pipe and I was smoking a pipe then.

So I had given him one of mine, since I had about ten different pipes I was really into smoking a pipe!

Well this morning I load the pipe and started to light it when I noticed I was having trouble.

The bowl seemed out of line and turning away from me.

I finally took it from my mouth and looked it over, dad had done his remodel on it!

He liked straight stem and I like to have a downward bend, he had done some craving and then taped it to suit him. The problem was he was right handed and I am left handed.

Being in my right mind often sets me at the mirror image of how everyone else does things.

Left justified instead of right justified, once I moved the pipe to the other side of my mouth everything seem to line up just fine.

Does that ever happen to you, something that once belonged to a parent and it was passed down.

But it brings out a difference between you and them?

I TOLD HER SHE IS NOW OFFICIALLY A MOTOR CYCLIST.

The surprise I got for my wife was a scooter, we had seen it at a garage sale and she loved it.

But I also knew she would not get it for herself, one thing that many men would love to be able to say about their wives. Mine is not prone to spending money or wanting things that are expensive that is just for being able to say they have it.  For years she has denied herself many things she wanted but would not get because of it cost money.  When it comes to spending money she makes me look like a Bush conservative.

So after going to the bank to discuss the matter with our loan officer which seems that height of arrogant considering the situation we are in. I was able to add to the existing loan with no increase in what we were already paying a month.

She loves the scooter riding it to work everyday and taking to just going for a ride to enjoy the day.

Gee sounds kind of familiar somehow?

Well she told me after I got back of an incident that happened, one that is so familiar that I myself have lost count as to how many times it has happened to me! I have a couple of pieces of advise to those who decided to ride a motor cycle on the streets. You ride like you are invisible because that is exactly the way it is.  There is a reason that it is a old saying and one that came about since motor cycles became common place.

“Honestly Officer…. I did not see the motor cycle!”.

Another is simple logic and can save your life, what is the first thing on the car setting at a stop you should be watching? It’s the wheels, if the car is going to move the first thing that will move is the wheels.  If the wheels start to roll the car is going to pull out in front of you!

She told me it happened that she was approaching a side street where a car was waiting to pull into traffic, suddenly the car pulled out right in front of her! The woman driver seem to have been watching the traffic and waiting but then just pulled out.  I replied, “And she seem to be looking you right in the eyes didn’t she?”.  My wife said, “Yes she seem to be!”.  Again this kind of thing has happened to me so many times I can not tell you how many times.

She said my advise which I had given her just before I had left gave her the time to be prepared and stop in time. As she approached the corner she started watching the wheels and when they started moving she was ready.

My wife is now officially a motor cyclist, all that is left is to dump the scooter either through hitting loose sand or because of not noticing a bump or pot hole in the road. Then the test will be does she get back up and on or say this is not worth it! Of course to my thinking it is worth it and she is getting to that point.

I wonder how long it will be before she starts talking about wanting something bigger?

When we used to listen to the radio.

“Hey hey mama said the way you move,
Gon’ make you sweat, gon’ make you groove. “

Led Zeppelin – “Black Dog” – Page/Plant/Jones – 1971

It was late spring of 1971 and I had just finished up my first year of college. My parents had sold my ’65 Pontiac Catalina coupe when I left, so now I needed a car. A friend of a friend had an old ’63 Volkswagen Beetle that wasn’t running. I handed over $150 in cash and paid the man to tow her home.

After a few days, I had her cleaned up and running pretty well. She was red with white interior and a sliding canvas sunroof. Most of my friends, probably twelve or fifteen in total, also had Vee-Dubs. We would all gather ’round when someone needed work done, pitching in to help.

We would all mount our tires “backwards” so they looked wider and we took off the narrow “running boards.” I painted my rims red to match the body color. Most of our cars had rusty bumpers, so we trimmed them off, too. I put a “hot rod” freeflow muffler on mine and it sounded all so cool.

We had an eclectic group of Vee-Dubs. They ranged from ’59 to ’70, a couple of convertibles, a Squareback and colors from grey primer to black to red to yellow. One guy filled all the body seams on his with Bondo and painted her green – with spray cans.

Down at the corner, there was a huge old oak tree in front of the bank parking lot. That’s where we would all hang out after work. By then, most of the guys had shoulder length hair and the girls wore skin-tight hip-hugger bell bottoms. Someone always had a bottle of Southern Comfort and inevitably there would be a few “cigarettes” passed around.

And then we would go crusin’. Sometimes it was to one of the local Metro Parks for swimming and other activities. Sometimes it was just down to the pool hall. If we had the cash, it would be off to the Grande or East Town for a concert.

Regardless of where we went, it was always in a line – ten, twelve, fifteen – Vee-Dubs in a row, windows down, hair streaming and the radios on, all tuned to WRIF-FM and blasting out the latest rock ‘n’ roll. We were a rolling, stoned band of gypsies and WRIF played the soundtrack of our youth.

What was the soundtrack of your youth?

William Stephenson Clark

Thank God It’s Friday!

Even being a short one, this week has been a little stressful, so I am going to depart from my usual “gloom and doom” commentary and head for a lighter place in the world.

Come Monday, there will still be oil gushing in the Gulf, DADT will still govern the military, President Obama will still have his army of haters and naysayers and Armando Galarraga will still be looking to pitch a perfect game.

The world will still be the same crazy place – next week and the week after and the week after that.

You get the idea.

So, let’s take a walk on the lighter side, to paraphrase Lou Reed.

What brings a smile to your face, my friends, no matter the troubles that you may be experiencing?

For me, it is my children, my grandchildren and my pets. Also, having an opportunity to get out in nature with my camera and lenses and take shots of the beauty of the world we live in. That, and I love being with my friends and talking, laughing and just generally enjoying the company of people I care about.

All of the things that bring a frown to my face will not go away just because it is Friday, but for a moment, I can focus on those things that make me smile:

Barbecuing for my friends and family. Learning new things. Listening to new music and the old music I love. Trying new recipes and finding that some of them are just not worth the trouble, while others are instantly added to my repertoire. Finally figuring out some of the mysteries of life. Playing catch with my dogs and having my cats take turns sitting on my lap. Watching the amazing development of my grandchildren. A phone call from my daughter fifteen hundred miles away. Sharing a joke with a stranger.

What makes you smile, my friends?

William Stephenson Clark

Midgets, Molly, Men and Bit of Fun

“The only difference between men and boys is the size of their shoes and the price of their toys.” – Anonymous.

The world has been a bit crazy of late. Wars, famine, destruction, earthquakes and oil gushing in the Gulf. In North Korea, we have a deranged midget rattlin’ sabers and in Iran, another midget that is just a doofus.  Right here at home, Tea Baggers are runnin’ ’round acting like they are the only true patriots, and we have a bunch of political critters that have obviously missed their “grown up” pills for quite some time.

“I still believe in Hope – mostly because there’s no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas.” – Molly Ivins.

The above doesn’t add anything to the story, I just like Molly Ivins.

So, rather than discuss the weighty issues of the world today, let’s just have some fun and talk about a subject near and dear to me  – toys.

The opening quote of this column is a commentary on men, but the same applies to women, as well. Don’t try to kid yourself.

Feel free to talk about shoes if that is the subject near and dear to you!

Well, for me, I wear a size nine and I have expensive tastes in toys. As I bang this column out, I am surrounded by mega-bucks worth of photographic gear in my office.  I pretend that I am going to make a good living with it one of these days, but that doesn’t explain why I periodically just pick up my camera and hold it, stroking my hands over it like it was a magic lamp and a genie is going to pop out and grant me three wishes.

In the past, my toys were quite expensive and slightly dangerous – Harley Davidson motorcycles. You can’t just “buy” a Harley. Once you own one, you have to spend beau coup bucks for chrome doodads, performance parts, custom paint and all that.

So, my demented blogging friends, what are your toys and why?

One more for the road………………………………..

“In Texas, we do not hold high expectations for the [governor’s] office; it’s mostly been occupied by crooks, dorks and the comatose.” – Molly Ivins.

Who (or what) Do You Love To Hate?

My dogs bark at everything and everyone, all the while their tails are wagging. They love the Mailwoman, but they bark at her constantly, even after she gives them a biscuit.

We all have SOMETHING or SOMEONE that we love to hate.

For me, the list is long……………. Japanese copies of Harley-Davidson styling, hypocritical politicians, celebrities that have never done anything (that means you Paris Hilton) racists or homophobes that try to hide their true feelings, Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter,  Sidney Crosby, Todd Tiahrt, the list is long and growing.

Add to my list: Unmelted cheese on my cheese-burger, flat beer or Pepsi, cold eggs, Pit Bulls, Free Republic, flat tires, mean people, bad service, cold coffee, Dallas, Ben Rotten-burger, John Boner and Nude Gingrich.

So who do you love to hate?

Oh, yeah……………………….. you can’t include this one…………………

Phuckin’ Phred Phelps.

Everyone hates him and his dismal family.

So, who’s on your hit list?

William Stephenson Clark

Guilty Pleasures………….

Well, for the most part, we all try to act all grown up and sophisticated, trying not to expose our inner-child to an inquisitive and critical world. Deep beyond prying eyes, however, we all have our guilty pleasures.

As I have grown older, I am less inclined to hide my guilty pleasures, but sometimes (!) I am less than forthcoming about the extent of my secret habits.

For some, guilty pleasures amount to all things chocolate or bacon, and some even combine the two with chocolate covered bacon.  For others, a guilty pleasures amount to a secret love of mushy old love songs or movies that bring a tear to the eye.

Others, mostly men, try to deny their politically incorrect and environmentally insensitive love of hot rods and muscle cars.  For others, it may be action movies where the good guy kicks the ass of the bad guy in the end, pun intended.

Now, I have to say, this thread probably doesn’t apply  to any Pop Bloggers whatsoever, since most are totally innocent of any deceitfulness in that regard.

(Raise your hands!)

Anyway, tell us about someone you know (wink, wink!) that has a guilty pleasure that they indulge in, behind closed doors.

Feel free to begin your post with “I know a guy that……………………”

We will all understand.

William Stephenson Clark

Betty White Humor

We’ve all heard Betty White is going to host Saturday Night Live on May 8th, a pre-Mother’s Day episode also featuring appearances from six “SNL” alumnae.  Here’s a bit of her humor to get you primed and looking forward to seeing more of her!  🙂

St. Olaf to New York: White to Host ‘SNL’

Pimped-Out Colbert Skewers Hannity

Enjoy!  🙂

Pimped-Out Colbert Skewers Hannity

Did You Know?

“Rain” Starts on March 2nd…

My ex-wife purchased, months ago, a ticket for our daughter to attend the show “Rain”.  I got Emily tickets to see a Beatles cover band a couple of months ago which she viewed as the best concert she’d been to – I am expecting that experience to be upstaged by the “Rain” concert.  Emily plays bass guitar and has most of Sir Paul McCartney’s songs memorized and she can sing them as well.

I was in the forth grade when the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.  I am glad that our generation produced material of interest to today’s younger generations.

Maybe we boomers are worth more than bloated health care needs.  Have any Beatles stories to share?  I have seond-hand stories, but they are the best I have to offer…

The webpage for Rain.

iggydonnelly

Summer is almost here!

Summer is almost here …

we can now see the deer moving around.
Yep, won’t be long.