Saturday, May 14, 2016

Goodbye Disney Dollars, 'Kid' Roams Highway, & World's 1st Burger King Spa

Good Day World!

No more Disney dollars after today. 

The colorful currency has been around since 1987, but Disney has decided to do away with it for several reasons.

Don't worry. If you still have some its still good. There's no expiration date. Lots of people have been collecting the funny currency, and I expect that practice will only increase now that they're not printing them it any longer.

Meanwhile...

In Azusa, California, where I graduated from high school (1968), police found a kid roaming around on busy Foothill Boulevard.

The kid (actually a baby goat) is fine, and the Azusa Police Department would like the owner to come and get him. 

If you happen to live in the area and know where this roaming kid belongs, call (626) 812- 3200.

And finally...

If you plan on visiting Finland in the future, don't pass up a chance to go to the world's first Burger King Spa.

Try to imagine all the fun you can have there. Beside a sauna and showers, the spa has a media lounge with a 55-inch television and a Playstation 4 game console.

I'm waiting for McDonalds, and Taco Bell, to open their spa versions in a country closer to me - like in the United States!

Time for me to walk on down the road.. 

Friday, May 13, 2016

My 1st 'Hard' News Story for a Newspaper Was A Shocker

Good Day World!

In 1976, I was a freshman in college and a reporter for The Hornet, the school newspaper.

Fullerton Community College (FCC) back in those days was a small college with a good reputation for multiple disciplines.

I was married to the woman of my dreams, Shirley, and we had two boys. Both just babies. Shirley and I both worked fulltime jobs, and both of us were taking college courses.

I had an epiphany that year and made the choice to be a journalist instead of pursuing an English major that didn't seem to have a payoff soon enough for a growing family.

Two things of note;

One, I was a Vietnam veteran going to school on the GI Bill and older than most of the students in my classes. I was 26-years old.

Two, as a combat veteran, I was still able to function under fire, as it were, and handle horrific situations. Later, PTSD would catch up to me, but not before I had a 21 year career in journalism as an editor and publisher. 

My first hard news story was a public suicide.

A student in the classroom directly across from The Hornet newspaper (where I was working at the time) blew his brains out in the front of a classroom, to the horror of 30 some students and a teacher.

I heard the shot clearly and recognized that it was a gun shot. Even as my brain registered that fact, I was moving swiftly to the source of the shot...instinctively checking out the situation.

Students poured out of the classroom, shrieking and crying. When I entered the room I saw the shooter's body partly held up by a desk.

The chalk board was splattered with his brains and blood. I took in the scene and realized there would be no more shots.
Then the police and first responders came.

Local newspaper reporters interviewed me. When they were done - and the police were done - asking questions, I wrote the story that day. It was published the next day in The Hornet.

Despite that horrendous sight, I was still able to compartmentize my brain enough to write the story while it was still fresh. That's when I knew I could do the job, and write about anything.

Time for me to walk on down the road... 

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Why are candles thought to be romantic?

Good Day World!

Why does every romantic scene in a book, or movie, seem to have candles involved?

What is it with wax anyway? 

I've heard the excuse that candles set a sexy mood. Flickering lights are creepy, if you ask me. Dracula's castle is full of candles!

Then there's the argument that we look better in the light of 10 candles than the glare of spot lights. I'll go along with that up to a point...but, I'd rather use a light bulb with a dimmer. It's a lot less likely to catch on fire than candles.

What about scented candles you ask?

No problem. You want a certain fragrance to spice things up? There's incense.  

What about candles in sex play? I never could understand the thrill of having someone hold a candle over them and having the hot wax sear their body. Just too strange.

Yet, despite these observations, I know that I'm not going to make an impact on candle lovers. Nor do I want to. This post is about sharing an opinion and nothing more.

So...light 'em if you have 'em! Don't mind me.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Getting the last laugh in life

Good Day World!

There's an old English proverb that says, "He laughs best who laughs last."

What's better than getting the last laugh on a bully?

There are many other situations in life where we can get the last laugh in life.

Let's warm up with two quick examples:

Man gets the last laugh after exposing gold-digging woman

How to have the last laugh when dealing with life's bullies

Can you remember a time when you got the last laugh? Nothing is more satisfying.

I was watching the news recently and there was a story about UPS and FedEx packages being stolen from the front of people's houses.

The thief was even known to come back to places he already ripped off for a repeat performance. Then one homeowner got a great idea.

He carefully packed a load of shit into a large FedEx box rigged with a devise that propelled the poop when opened!
Sure enough the box was stolen.

I'm not sure if that thief ever came back - I kind of doubt it - but I'll bet he was shit-faced for awhile!!!

Now, that's getting the last laugh.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Change Can Be A Contentious Subject For Conservatives

Good Day World!

In the normal course of history societies adapt to change, or they crumble like stale cookies.

Traditions are often barriers to change. 

Because a statue of a slave-holder/Confederate general has been in the middle of a town square for a 100 years doesn't mean it can't be relocated to accommodate those African-Americans that are offended by it today.

The fact is Caucasians have marginalized the rest of the races, from African-Americans to Native Americans, since they formed a new government after casting the British out of the colonies.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that from the very start whites have talked about equality of man, but their actions have belied that claim.

Non-white Americans today are still fighting for equal rights throughout the old confederacy. Neo-Confederates seek to rewrite history.

Most conservatives mask their bias against other races and the LGBT community by claiming religious reasons for not tolerating them.

Quick example: The so-called bathroom law has thrust North Carolina into the center of a national debate over equality, privacy and religious freedom in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that legalized same-sex marriage.

A very wise man, Lao Tzu, once said;

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creats sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."

Time for me to walk on down the road....

Monday, May 9, 2016

Bizarro World: The Election No One Wants To See

Good Day World!

Bizarro World is a fictional planet featured in DC Comics.

In popular culture it's come to mean a situation or setting which is weirdly inverted or opposite to expectations.

With that, I give you the 2016 Presidential Election which has to be the most bizarre one in our history.

You couldn't pick - but their party's perversely did - two more unpopular candidates than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. How is that even possible?

How bizarre can it get when people say they like Trump because "he says it like it is." This in spite of the reality that he's seldom bothered with facts

Hillary Clinton represents the Democratic establishment that's at odds with millions of Americans. Bernie Sanders represents change, but Clinton's political clout is too well embedded in Washington circles, for him to effectively challenge her.

In this bizarro world there will be no winners after the election is over. 

The clash between the ideological segments of our society will continue.

The anger will only get worse with the regime change.

It's sad watching America spiral out of control with no hope of a hero/Superman to show up at the last minute and save us. If this were a comic book we could all escape this chaos and go back to the real world.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Going 'Old School' On Ya, My Friend...

Good Day World!

It's just one of those days and I'm all nostalgic about the 60s and the weed culture back then. 

I first 'turned on" (modern translation: I got stoned) in 1966, and became a lifelong "head." (Stoner)

What an experience that first time. I was inside a friend's house in a darkened room decorated with cool psychedelic blacklight posters vibrating in an ultraviolet glow.

Jim Morrison's voice gripped us all as we listened to "The End."  There were three of us.
My friend Larry and I, and our host who shall go un-named here.

Met some bitchin people along the Cannabis highway. One of my favorite slang words from those days was "bogart," which meant don't hog something.

Which leads me to this iconic song:

DON"T BOGART ME

Don't bogart that joint, my friend
Pass it over to me.
Don't bogart that joint, my friend
Pass it over to me.

Roll another one
just like the other one.
This one's burnt to the end
Come on and be a friend.

Ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oll another one
just like the other one
You've been hanging on to it
And I sure would like a hit.

By The Fraternity Of Man

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Saturday, May 7, 2016

An Anniversary Date That I Could Do Without

Good Day World!

When I got out of the Army in March of 1971, I threw away my uniforms and medals. 

Then, I disappeared into the hinterlands of America for three years. I was angry a lot. Got into fights too easily. I was constantly looking over my shoulder in anticipation of something bad happening.

Fell in love and got married in August 1974. My wife soon found that she'd married a flawed man. A tortured soul. My nightmares haunted my wife's nights as she tried to comfort me when I woke screaming gibberish.

No one talked about Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) back in those days. My wife and children, as they came along, learned to walk on eggshells when I was around. 

Fast forward to the early 1990s when I was diagnosed with PTSD by the Veterans Administration. Got counseling. I was no longer able to work at my job as a newspaper editor and was awarded a 100% disability pension by the VA.

Today I still struggle with PTSD. I have discovered how to take care of myself, and to avoid situations that could trigger my temper, or fear.

Yet, there's still a certain time of the year (late April, May, and early June) when I'm most vulnerable. The doctors call this time an Anniversary date. 

It's usually associated with dramatic circumstances. In my case, surviving an ambush and seeing my best friend killed at the same time while we were in Cambodia.

I wish I could convey the horror of nightmares and daymares assaulting my senses for days, and sometimes weeks on end

I can only tell you the brain is a mystery. My anniversary date is upon me now...

Every hour is a challenge. Every noise a reason for an increased heartbeat. Darkness tries to wrap me up in a cocoon of misery. 

During this hell-spawned anniversary, the ghosts of war follow me throughout the day. Sometimes I see them, and can't make them go away. And, I die a little bit.

My redemption however is never far away because I have someone who loves me each and every day. My wife Shirley.

She shields me from the darkness whenever it gets too near. She is my loving companion throughout the year; for 41 years now. 

With love, anything can be overcome. Even PTSD.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Friday, May 6, 2016

Struggling To Survive: 'Where Are You Now, My Son?'

Good Day World!

Few singers can speak to the human condition better than Joan Baez. 

I look at what's happening around the world right now, especially in Syria, and I can imagine Joan's beautiful voice telling these people's story today.

The following song is as valid now as when she wrote it in 1973.



"It's walking to the battleground that always makes me cry
I've met so few folks in my time who weren't afraid to die

But dawn bleeds with people here and morning skies are red
As young girls load up bicycles with flowers for the dead

An aging woman picks along the craters and the rubble
A piece of cloth, a bit of shoe, a whole lifetime of trouble

A sobbing chant comes from her throat and splits the morning air

The single son she had last night is buried under her
They say that the war is done

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Thursday, May 5, 2016

The Lizard King's Legacy: Strange Days Are Upon Us

Good Day World!

The world has never been stranger.

When Jim Morrison wrote Strange Days he was talking about the world in the 1970s.

The song really resonates in 2016. Strange things are happening in this presidential campaign. The world has never been stranger... 


Strange days have found us
Strange days have tracked us down
They're going to destroy
Our casual joys
We Shall go on playing
Or find a new town

Yeah!

Donald Trump Is The presumptive GOP Nominee For President


Strange eyes fill strange rooms
Voices will signal their tired end
The hostess is grinning
Her guests sleep from sinning
Hear me talk of sin
And you knows this is it

Yeah!



School project's graffiti sparks fears Zodiac Killer is back


Strange days have found us

And through their strange hours
We linger alone
Bodies confused
Memories misused
And we run from the day
To a strange night of stone

Yeah!

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...