Best Sand Sculpture

Someone Was Smoking Some Serious Weed...

My nomination for the world's best sand sculpture. If you have other nominees, let me know, but this one is going to be tough to beat!

2019

Miley Cyrus with a Monkey on her Back

It's a monkey on her back, all right.

Miley Cyrus has a monkey on her back. Miley Cyrus is moving at warp speed to prove that, yes indeed, she really does have a monkey on her back. Doesn't look like she's in any big hurry to get the little feller off, though.

Oh, and is just my imagination, or does it seem as though Miley Cyrus is always doing something weird with her mouth? What is up with that? Just wonderin'. Have a nice day.

2019

Southern England From Space

Southern England from Space.

Southern England from Space. It appears as though it were a nice day on Old Blighty. Nice view of the Thames Estuary, the Isle of Wight, Wales, Ireland and Land's End in the distance. Impressive how small the Old Sod really is as seen from space.

2019

The True Road to Success

The Road to Success

"Aye, Captain, we be makin' a hard turn soon!"

The true path to success. There's really no need to get all philosophical about success. That sort of thing bores everyone to tears anyway. I do, however, have some thoughts on success, which simply reflect my own viewpoint and quite likely are nothing at all like yours.

Truth is, there are lots of ways to be successful. The question is, what kind of success do you want?

Compare the easy ways to be successful to difficult ways. The easy ways are less stressful, more enjoyable along the way, and infinitely less interesting and productive in the long run. But that doesn't make the latter necessarily better than the former for everyone - we must recall the old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."

Recently, I was listening to some Italian women discussing their culture on a radio station I listen to fairly regularly. One of them mentioned that, in Italy, the very epitome of success is to find a safe, secure government job and coast with it through life. Sort of like joining the Post Office or finding some nice bureaucratic government office job in the United States.

And there is nothing wrong with any of that! Safe, secure jobs are the perfect solution for many, many folks. From their position of financial security, they also can look down upon those who weren't as focused upon achieving their definition of success as them. Their disbelief that anyone would even consider another road to success than the one they pursued is palpable.

However, there are some for whom safety and security is not the top priority. Actor Jim Carrey has funny (what else with Jim Carrey?) anecdotes about his brief time at the Post Office. He quit because he claims he was a terrible mailman, which is quite possible. However, it is also likely that he left because he saw himself as a great ship. And, once again, we come to a famous old saying - ships are safest in port, but that is not why we build ships, to sit safely in port.

It is quite common for fellows to wonder why women often fall for or are attracted to that "loser," the "bad boy" who doesn't have a secure job or the safety of a pension (many women, of course, do like the fellows with the secure job and the fat pension, and many of us come from families like that). Of course, being shiftless and jobless doesn't mean you are anything special, either. It all depends on what you are trying to do with your life, what you are capable of, where your true talents lie.

It's not so difficult to fathom, really, for those who are clever. Being adventurous and taking huge gambles is inherently attractive. The folks who opt for the safe, secure, easy route often aren't the most clever ones, though. And that's not a put-down, it's a simple statement of fact with which you are free to disagree.

It is a lot more dangerous and risky to choose the road that foregoes the safe job that will see you to your deathbed without any danger of ever being unable to pay the bills or provide for your family. However, some folks just feel that they have more to offer, that life has more to offer, and that they must try something different.

Believe it or not, the ones who try to achieve something unique and wonderful, succeed or fail, are the true winners in life.

2019

Fall in New York City

View down Central Park West, facing Central Park South.

Fall in New York City is a wonderful time of year. Here are just a couple of snots that show the trees in New York really do make a dramatic difference in softening the sharp edges of the Big Apple.

2019

Guy Advice: Smartphone Etiquette

"But I don't want to cramp your style or anything."

You may not get this - unless you've been on a date, and this has happened to you. That is, the person across the table is engrossed in their little communicator After you've been through that, you might nod your head in recognition.

2019

Central Park NYC, Vibrant Shot

Softball diamonds on the right.

Here is a vibrant shot of Central Park. I love to post shots that make New York City look the way that I always think of it. This shot - done by a true artist - really brings out the colors along Fifth Avenue (to the right) and Central Park West (left). Doesn't the park look almost like a country club?

For orientation, the Hudson is that water you see in the upper left, while Harlem is visible at the extreme far end of the Park.

You may view a companion shot to this one, looking from the northern end of the park down toward this location, here.

A few other pictures of other spots in New York City such as midtown are here.

Some views of the Flatiron Building - my neighborhood - are here.

Lots of saturation in this shot with perfect contrast, photos like this don't just happen.

Here's another very nice shot, looking from the north. This shows some of the priciest real estate in the world.

2019

Best Way to Wash Windows

This is how to wash windows.

How to wash windows. When I was a lad, I always washed our house's windows. It was a fairly old house, and it had a lot of old windows, the type with the panes, much like you see here - except, of course, older.

Anyway, I always used old newspaper to wash them. I never thought much about that, I just figured that we had a lot of extra newspapers around and they might as well be put to some kind of use.

Turns out there was a method to the madness. Unlike paper or cloth towels, a newspaper is absorbent without leaving lint behind.

Nowadays, I use commercial sprays because I usually have them handy. However, again, back in the day, we just mixed something up and went for it. Ah, the simple days, when you actually made something yourself and didn't just buy it ready made!

Actually, those were better days. Instead of using some fancy spray and wiping off paper towels, leaving bits of lint and so forth on the windows, the combination of newspaper and the home-made solution worked wonders.

If you are interested, below is a formula I came across somewhere which provides a nice solution for the window-washing chore. Now, when I was a wee lad, the solution I used generally took the form of about half a gallon of warm water a shot of either ammonia or Comet. Worked all right. But below is a fancy formula someone came up with, and since it requires such a precise formulation, it must be good!

Who'd have thought to use corn starch to wash the windows!

Mix 2 cups hot water
¼ cup vinegar
1 TBS of cornstarch
Shake in a spray bottle
Spritz the windows
Wipe down with a crumpled newspaper

I am assured that this will leave your windows looking like a professional was the one that cleaned them. We shall see.

2019

Cleanse Your Liver

Flushing your liver is important.

Cleanse your liver. We take so much in life for granted. However, it is a good idea to some of the foods listed above simply because they do so much good for you over time. Many of these foods also have other surprising benefits - nuts, for instance, will help lower your blood pressure naturally, while green tea has a whole array of impressive health benefits.

Eat some greens now and then, you'll be much better off.

2019

Benefits of Green Tea

Lots of good effects of green tea.

Green tea is great. I drink a lot of tea. In fact, I usually drink an entire pot of tea each day, on a fairly regular basis. However, I do not drink much green tea. Having looked at this chart, I may try to work some green tea into my overall tea routine.

2019

Dr. Smith Meets Mr. Spock

"Oh, the Pain"

"Oh, the pain, the pain."

I just wanted to share this. My blog, believe it or not, isn't all about me. I just share what I find amusing and interesting, and hope others do, too.

This is part of my "worlds in collision" series. It also features Spock meeting Batman and Batgirl, which you should look at, too, because you'll see there an interesting connection to this shot.

This is just a fairly random snapshot of a couple of guys, Leonard Nimoy meeting Jonathan Harris, and a couple of kids. Nothing special. However, anyone who knows me at all understands that I am one of the world's biggest "Lost in Space" fans. Well, okay, Bill Mumy no doubt knows more about the show than me - but I'm trying.

Strangely enough, this is the only photograph that I can find of Jonathan Harris and Leonard Nimoy together. This despite the fact that they played breakout character parts at the same studio at the same time in the 1960s. They must have run into each other at the Commissary and so forth, but I haven't been able to dig up any other photographs.

Another picture of Leonard Nimoy from the same event with an unidentified woman.

And I like the original "Star Trek," too. So this picture is like catnip.

Anyway, this is a classic behind-the-scenes photo. Jonathan Harris was famous among his young fans for being generous with his time with them, giving them lollipops and guided tours of the set. It appears they are standing at some kind of tourist entrance. If that isn't cool, then I don't know what cool is.

Jonathan Harris.

The fact that this is the actors on their own time - not in their current roles - is what makes this such a classic shot. It speaks volumes.

Another picture that was taken at the same meeting, but unfortunately Jonathan has been (mostly) cut out of this one.

I will just point out a few fascinating (to me) aspects about the shot, then I will leave it go:

• Jonathan Harris has a classic Dr. Smith expression on his face and, ever the major ham is playing to the camera as only he could despite the fact that everyone else has been distracted by something else. That's focus!
• Leonard Nimoy is gazing off into the distance for some reason, he - and his character - never being known as a ham of any variety.
• Leonard Nimoy HAS ON HIS SPOCK HAIRDO while on his own time!
• Leonard Nimoy DOES NOT have his ears on, which is a shame.
• The little boy is wearing a medallion - can you say "1968"?
• Leonard Nimoy is too cool for school, with that turtleneck shirt.
• Jonathan Harris, on the other hand, is dressed impeccably, necktie, cufflinks and all.
• The one boy has a weird expression on his face as he looks in the same direction as everyone else, perhaps mama is telling him to smile or something.
• The heavy coats suggest winter, probably winter 1967/68 (Harris has that "final season" look about him.
• I'm guessing that the button on the boy's lapel indicates he paid for the tour.
• The front boy's haircut was very "with it" for the time, long was still for hippies.
• Jonathan Harris is drinking tea, which is totally cool - I'm a major tea drinker.
• The boys almost certainly are brothers - note the similar coats and shirts.
• Leonard Nimoy has his wedding ring on - he was at roughly the halfway point in his marriage to Sandi Nimoy.
• Both Leonard Nimoy and Jonathan Harris were of Russian Jewish descent, and if you look closely, you can kind of see a general resemblance.
• Leonard Nimoy did have two children at that time, but one was a girl, so these aren't his kids.
• Leonard Nimoy stated in his autobiography that he was an alcoholic at this point in time.
• Jonathan Harris also was married, though you can't see his ring. Married for 30 years at this time, in fact. Stayed married for another 35 years, one of the most successful marriages in Hollywood history. That is ironic, considering some of the malicious lies told about him over the years.
• Jonathan Harris answered every fan letter personally, 500 a month right up until the time of his death, from young fans like this. 500! Personally! Every month! For 35 years! OMG!
• Jonathan Harris appears to be holding a Burberry raincoat.

Seriously, can you imagine any actor these days dressing up to the nines like Jonathan Harris did on a regular basis? That was still standard for the day among businessmen, it wasn't just some pretentious Hollywood thing. He didn't have to, but men didn't usually think that way in those days. That's just how things were, people didn't start getting sloppy in public until the mid-70s.

This may have been taken at the same event. Note the stamp-pad and stamper, perhaps Leonard was doing some kind of autograph session.

If anything, Leonard Nimoy's outfit is a bit on the wild side by the standards of the day, with the blazer and no necktie.

All right, I'm done. For now. "Spare me the poisonous barbs."

Jonathan Harris as Dr. Smith.

Oh, the pain, the pain.

2019

Space Frog

Off We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder

It's one giant leap for frog-kind.

During a launch from Cape Canaveral, an interloper was swept up with all the euphoria and decided to participate.

Yes, that is a frog in mid-air.

NASA reports that this frog apparently was in some swamp water that the program uses during its launches to contain the noise and any possible fire damage to the launch pad. Apparently, they don't do a whole lot of screening of the water they use for that. NASA carefully notes that the location of the launch pad supports a nearby wildlife sanctuary where millions of critters are permitted to live - mostly - in peace.

Anyway, the little frog in the picture went for the ride of his life.

Not to be mean, but some comments about this include:

"A perfect 10 for form."

"He waited just a little too long for his princess to kiss him."

"I think the princess turned him down."

"Did it croak?"

"One small step for man, one giant leap for frog-kind."

"Ground control to Major Frog...."

"Best photobomb ever."

"It ain't easy being green."

"More bad jokes here than in our foreign policy."

"Open the pod bay doors, Kermit"!!

"I believe I can flyyyyyyyyyy."

 Probably the funniest thing about the whole incident, though, is that someone at NASA noticed the frog - it was on only one frame of the film - and marked and saved it, and then someone else decided to release the shot to the public. That's hysterical!

2019

The Real Problem

Attitude Can Be THe Problem

Attitude is everything.

Your attitude towards a problem leads to the solution or leads somewhere else. The problem is usually solvable, once you put your mind to it. The negative attitude of a person is usually absolutely not solvable, because that is who they are, and they will never change. Not only that, they will highly resent any attempt to resolve their attitude problem, because, again, that is who they are, and they will defend themselves to the death. This is all so true, have seen it over and over throughout my life.

2019

Words to Live By

And we mean it.

As you get to know me, I only get weirder. If you are at all creative, this probably works for you. If you aren't, well, at least we're warning you in advance.

2019

Best Memorial of All Time

The Proper Way to Honor a Man

Mrs. Chippy.

This is the story of a man and his memorial. Harry was a cantankerous old sort. Actually, he wasn't all that old, but he was 40, and imagine a 40-year-old playing center for your local football team, and you kind of get the idea. He was looking for work, so he signed on to some fool's expedition to some frozen wasteland just to get away from things. It wasn't at all atypical for Harry to do that sort of thing - in fact, he did it regularly. He did the same thing again years later, simply leaving a wife and all his possessions behind to move to a new country halfway around the world without a job or a prospect. Harry wasn't tied down by anything, and certainly not a bad sort - he just didn't believe in all that bother of playing by society's rules.

Anyway, so Harry went on the expedition, which was to the South Pole, though the where and why wasn't really all that important to him. It was a job, and it was different, and it would keep Harry fed and busy for a few years. One never knew when the ordinary labor jobs upon which Harry relied would dry up, and he didn't have all that much to live for anyway, so what the hey. Harry was lucky enough to have a skill that the Big Shot in charge needed: he was good working with wood, what we would call carpentry. Most carpenters had more sense than to go gallivanting around the world at Harry's age, but it was just the thing for him. The Big Shot chose him.

But it turned out that Harry did have one thing to live for, and it was the only thing he apparently cared for in his whole life, at least judging by his actions. That thing was his cat, known by everyone as "Mrs. Chippy." Chippy was the slang of the time for a carpenter like Harry. Harry loved that cat so much that everybody jokingly called it his wife, hence the name. Harry didn't mind the nickname for his cat one bit, and when they eventually found out that it was a boy cat and not a girl one, he decided to keep the nickname for it anyway. An easygoing sort, that's our Harry.

The expedition ran into trouble, of course, as every one of the fool leader's expeditions had before and, indeed, would do so in the future. But the Big Shot was considered a Great Man, and Harry knew his place. Those were days when knowing your place was a Very Good Idea. Besides, the Big Shot was the guy paying and feeding Harry, and that was enough for Harry to put up with just about everything that came from him. So, while everyone else on the expedition took things easy as they sailed onward toward catastrophe, Harry kept himself busy. He built cabinets, he added parts to the ship. He built screens to protect the helmsman from the bitter winds, he created semaphore signalling to make navigation safer when the lookouts in the bow spotted a safe direction. He was constantly busy, but Harry liked it that way. It made him feel useful. And he was probably the biggest asset the crazy expedition had, old 'Arry and his cat.

One day the ship, as ordinary wooden ships in icy Hells tend to do, developed some problems. In fact, it sprung a number of leaks from ice pressing against it on both sides. The Big Shot's plan all along, in fact, had been to encase the ship in ice, which just goes to show what kind of judgment he had in the first place. The water was freezing - literally - and working in it or even falling in it and getting clothes or boots wet could have killed several sailors. Harry ingeniously figured out a way to dam off the inrushing water into partitioned pools - "cofferdams," they're called, though old 'Arry didn't go in for such fancy terms - which water then was pumped out. This kept everyone dry and also, incidentally, kept the ship from sinking. Harry was just doing his job and didn't ask for any special credit. After all, if the ship sank, it was a long swim home. The Big Shot, of course, took it all for granted. After all, he was feeding and even paying the poor slob that was his carpenter, wasn't that enough?

There's your only way home. Good luck.

Eventually, the ship got squeezed in the ice big time - when you sail into ice floes and just keep going, that's pretty much what always happens. We're not talking simply trapped in the ice, more like being caught in a car crusher. The pressure built and built on the stout timbers until the ice squeezed the ship's sides open like a man squeezing a coke can together. The water came rushing in, and no cofferdams were going to stop it. Clearly, even the Big Shot had to accept that it was time to leave. However, Harry the carpenter organized a party that opened a hole in the sinking ship just long enough for the men to carry out some food. It would come in quite handy, considering there was nothing else to eat for a thousand miles except what they might catch if they were lucky, such as penguins or fish. Within a few minutes after the last man left, it was goodbye ship.

Now, the little troupe was stuck on the ice with nowhere to go. The remnants of the ship were still stuck in the ice that had squeezed together, though now full of freezing water, so Harry took some of the splintered wood and erected some football (soccer) goalposts. Thus, at least the guys could have a little fun while they waited to die of starvation and exposure. An amazing display of initiative, but old 'Arry, he was always the clever one, aye?

Eventually, the Big Shot decided that they should haul the main ship's three horribly heavy lifeboats over the ice to try to find some open water. The only inconvenient fact to be overcome from this brilliant plan was that open water was several miles away. You may think that dragging things over ice and snow is easy - it isn't, not when the thing you're dragging is insanely heavy, not smooth on the bottom, and there are regular pressure ridges to cross. Everybody took turns on the straps, pulling the heavy objects up and down over ice blocks and grinding huge trails in the ice. Harry helped like everyone else, but, quite frankly, his joints were killing him - he'd had enough. Finally, he had it out with the Big Shot, telling him to his face what a fool he was and how he didn't know what he was doing. The whole expedition was a farce, Harry told him, and working the men to death in this pointless exercise was only something a damn fool could think up.

The Big Shot told Harry to shut up or find a way home on his own. No more food for anyone with such an attitude, he said. In fact, if Harry kept mouthing off in front of the others, the Big Shot strongly implied that he might just shoot Harry as an act of mercy to everyone else, to put them out of Harry's misery.

Harry shut up.

They now were running low on food despite Harry's valiant salvage efforts, and the Big Shot figured there should be one less mouth to feed in any event. He knew just how to solve that problem. He took out his pistol and went to look for his target, which he soon found.

And he shot Mrs. Chippy dead.

That did it for Harry. He fell into line, but he hated the Big Shot. Every time he looked at the man who had killed the only thing he ever had loved in his life, he wanted to kill him. However, Harry knew that nobody would ever understand and he would at best serve out the rest of his days in a work-farm if he did anything, so he buckled down and just did what he was told. Soon after, Harry almost got stranded on an ice floe that started drifting away into open water, which would have meant certain death - you don't just swim back through frigid water in heavy clothing with no shelter on the other side and live to tell about it. At the last second, by pure chance, someone saw him floating away and threw him a rope, enabling Harry to escape. Harry kept his mouth shut about this, and only mentioned it in passing the next day as if it were nothing special. He knew better than to expect any sympathy from the Big Shot for his brush with death, and he wasn't about to seek sympathy from the man who had shot Mrs. Chippy. He didn't get any.

Coming to an epiphany, after many pointless days of brutal struggle, the Big Shot finally decided that Harry had been right after all about the lifeboats. He told the men to stop killing themselves trying to haul the heavy boats toward the sea - the drifting ice was taking them there slowly but surely anyway. However, his being wrong and Harry being right just made the Big Shot hate Harry all the more.

You know how that goes.

When the drifting ice finally brought them to the ocean, the only way to reach help was to sail for it. That's easier in theory than in practice, sailing a small boat hundreds of miles over an open ocean full of ice and foul weather and starting off in an exhausted state with no food is, shall we say, tricky.

The first problem was that the lifeboat itself wasn't up to an ocean journey. Harry was the answer to that. Once again, he buckled down and strengthened it. This made the boat somewhat seaworthy when otherwise it would never have lasted for the journey. Even the Big Shot later admitted that Harry's work on the open boat was the only thing that enabled them to make it. That didn't make the Big Shot like Harry anymore, of course, because he was done with Harry.

The Big Shot held grudges. Big time.

In one of the greatest feats in maritime history, they - Harry and only the ablest went along, the rest remained behind to be rescued later - somehow made the 800 or so odd miles over open water to the island. Just like "the cover-up is worse than the crime," the flight for life was more legendary than the actual expedition. Harry didn't complain during the trip, but he did mention matter-of-factly at one point that his feet were swelling inside his boots, a dangerous condition. This made the Big Shot realize that they all might die if he didn't do something, so he ordered all the men to all take off their boots. Turned out, everyone had the same condition, which could have killed them if nothing had been done. Harry saved everyone's life once again. Did the Big Shot appreciate it and perhaps make a mental note to honor Harry? What do you think?

Once on the island, just a speck of nothing in the middle of nowhere, several miles of nothingness, it still was necessary to cross a mountain range to get to the other side. That was where the only town in the entire hemisphere was located. Harry wanted to walk there himself, having come this far, but he couldn't because his feet were too badly off. He did hobble as far as he could with the ones who could still walk, escorting them out of camp. He shook goodbye. He was the only one of the ones left behind who did. You never knew, the ones setting out might never make it, and their bodies might never be found. After that, Harry went back with the others.

Old 'Arry, he always had a lot of class like that.

Harry and the others had to wait for weeks as the three men picked their way over the mountain to get help in an epic adventure all its own. During this time, Harry once again showed his handiness with wood, designing and helping to construct a lean-to using the boat. This gave the men, who were in real danger of freezing to death, some primitive shelter. Even so, with little food and the howling winds and the bitter cold, they barely survived long enough to be rescued. The Big Shot, who arrived on the rescue ship, noted matter-of-factly in his diary that they had arrived barely in time, singling out Harry (with satisfaction?) as being particularly emaciated and on death's door.

Eventually, they all made it home to the mother land. The Big Shot was feted as one of the great heroes of the day, having, as the press put it, personally saved the lives of his entire crew. There was a war on, don't you know, and the country could stand a "hero" or two. Harry, meanwhile, was completely forgotten by everyone - except by the Big Shot. There being a need for heroes, the Big Shot was given authority to award medals to those who were deserving. It was at this point that he remembered Harry, oh, how he remembered him and their little "discussion" on the ice. The Big Shot made it a point to award just about everyone in the expedition except Harry a medal for their service during the failed expedition. Others in the expedition, aware of what really had happened, remarked quietly at what an injustice it was, while the public was oblivious. Harry, for his part, couldn't have cared less. Mrs. Chippy hadn't made it back with him, and that was all that mattered.

The years went by, and Harry continued on from one menial job to another. Society was very class-based, and simply being classy didn't get you anywhere. He got tired of the wife he had picked up somewhere along the line, so he hitched on with a freighter and went Down Under, never to return to England. Always footloose and fancy free, that 'Arry.

After working for years as a longshoreman on a forgotten dockyard, Harry's aching legs, which had hurt since the failed expedition, finally gave out for good. Harry spent his last, miserable days living in a makeshift shack on the waterfront, finding whatever food he could, exposed to the elements in a frigid climate. He soon died despite attempts by fellow workers, who respected him, to help. "Anything for our 'Arry," you know how close hard workers can be, as close as brothers. This effort to help truly was extraordinary because it was a time when everyone was experiencing legendary Hard Times, but despite their genuine attempts to help, they could only do so much.

Harry was buried in an unmarked grave that quickly was forgotten. It was a pauper's grave, common for the era, which basically meant dig a hole and dump in the body. When he died, Harry had owned nothing but the clothes on his back, which in fact were rags but they at least kept him decent. The burial ceremony of the largely forgotten explorer was honored briefly by a warship that just happened to be passing through that day, though Harry was beyond caring.

Years passed, and wars came and went. People began to look back at Harry's time as being something special, a time when true heroes still lived, men who just did things and didn't expect anything at all from anybody. Someone looked at the records of the failed expedition and did a little checking on who this mysterious carpenter had been who had held things together for everyone else but had been passed over for any kind of recognition for it. A few old farts of a historical bent actually went to some trouble to find and mark the grave, and they even managed to get a tiny island in the middle of nowhere named for Harry. Well, that's that, the world said, and turned away again. Old 'arry and the grave were forgotten again for another forty years.

Finally, some more historians, a little more connected and with access to deep pockets, once again checked in on the old carpenter and his fate. They found the new grave, which, despite having been marked, now was overgrown with weeds and rubbish and basically was falling apart. This group was a little more understanding of what the old man had been through. In fact, they really wanted to reward Harry somehow. But how?

They wanted to build a magnificent marker, but they were at a loss for how to properly honor the man who had saved so many lives but been left to die alone, a forgotten, homeless wreck. What would Harry himself appreciate? Some ordinary memorial? Perhaps issue some kind of belated medal? Maybe a statue of him somewhere in front of some forgotten park in some hidden section of nowhere? It just wasn't clear how to make right what had been made wrong for such petty reasons so long before. Someone did some checking, they thought about it, and they read the record over and over.

Now, this was an interesting question, which merited very careful thought. Do we properly honor Harry by building something that we think properly honors him, or do we honor Harry by building something that he would think honors him. Or, do we properly honor Harry by sort of "summing up his life" regardless of what we or Harry himself might think? These would all lead to different memorials.

Perhaps there is even another answer: honoring the man by showing what was important to him and showed what was in the crusty old carpenter's heart, regardless of what we think is a "proper monument."

Finally, they figured it out. There was only one way to properly honor old 'arry in a way that he, himself, would have appreciated, and how should be crystal clear from the above narrative. They got it just right.

The result is below. Perfectly appropriate memorial.

Harry's gravesite.

2019

Best Natural Antibiotics

Best natural antibiotics.

My belief, for whatever it is worth, is that the more you can do for yourself naturally, the better off you are. Not that there's anything wrong with modern medicine, but, in my experience, natural remedies that work tend to put less stress on your body, have fewer toxic side effects, and are easiest to incorporate into daily life.

The four best natural antibiotics:

1. Garlic
2. Ginseng
3. Echinacea
4. Oregan.

Not to mention that these types of antibiotics usually taste better or involve less pain to administer than chemicals and pills, both to the body and the wallet.

2019

The REAL Difference Between Men and Women

What are the real differences between men and women? Here you go. You all know it's true, this is the "bottom line" in the difference between men and women.

2019

Guy Advice: Life Choices, Good and Bad

Go with What Works

It is important to make good choices. Everybody faces choices in life. Do I get up today, or do I stay in bed? Do I eat breakfast, or do I skip it? Do I order in, or do I cook my dinner myself?

Some choices, though, are a little bigger than others. Do I go to college, or do I join the Army? Do I get a post-graduate degree, or do I get a job?

At the top of the heap, though, are choices you make about how you actually live that will follow you forever. Anyone can fix one of the easy choices mentioned above, one way or the other. You can always join the Army and then go to college, for instance. But if you make the wrong life choice, you are screwed.

Forever.

Below, an example of a truly important life choice. In the end, as Billy Joel would say, you get up with yourself anyway. Heck, I don't care what you do, I've made my choices. It's your life, buddy, choose wisely.

2019

Wacky Family Portraits

Epic Photo Failures

We all take bad pictures sometimes. It happens - maybe you burp when the camera clicks, or you're looking in the wrong direction. Perhaps you didn't notice that stain on your shirt, or that you were sweating. Hey, it happens. Clean up the shot and move on.

There are no judgments here. Lord knows, we all have photos we'd love to have buried somewhere, never to see the light of day. With a few of these, you can sort of understand what the basic concept was. That, unfortunately, doesn't mean it was a good basic concept.

But there are epic failures that simply defy belief. In this great land, we all are free to do as we please and chose our own destinies. With the shots below, though, the casual viewer inevitably is left with the eternal question for the ages, the one that floats above us all in the Cosmos, lingering and awaiting a worthwhile answer from the folks below as to:

Why?

Kindly be advised that, while the photos below are not graphic in the classic sense, they may be disturbing. Once seen, a photo may not be unseen. Proceed at your own risk.