Tuesday, May 17, 2016

It's Time For A Blog Break My Friends!

Good Day World!

It's time for me to take a blog break. I'm going to visit family in Southern California.

I'll be back on Tuesday, May 24th. 

However...

Seeing as you stopped by already, why not check out some of my newspaper columns, or past posts from this blog? Look to the right of the page and pick whatever you want.

I appreciate you're stopping by. In parting, here's an old Irish Blessing that I love:


May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back. 
May the sun shine warm upon your face; 
the rains fall soft upon your fields 
and until we meet again, 
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

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

Monday, May 16, 2016

Déjà vu To You: How Does Your Brain Process The Past?

Good Day World!
                                  
Déjà vu to you. 
I’ll explain later, but right now let’s cut to the chase. 

Have you ever had the feeling you had experienced something in the past when the experience was actually a new one?

Kinda creepy huh? It has been for me numerous times. As far as I’ve been able to determine there are two schools of thought on that sense of Déjà vu. 

You have the scientific viewpoint, and you have the folks who believe those feelings of Déjà vu come from psychic abilities possessed by some people.

So what is it? Disorders in the brain or memories of a past life? What is Déjà vu? 

Let’s start with those researchers who spend their lives trying to find the answer. The collective feeling has been attributed to schizophrenia, anxiety and a malfunction of the electrical system in the brain.

Interestingly, certain medicines are believed to be factors responsible for Déjà vu. Medicinal drugs such as amantadine and phenylpropanolamine have been observed to cause it.
    
A popular theory says our brains tend to associate different situations. Even more interesting, the brain often tries to experimentally reproduce a situation it has never faced. 

The result?

Your anticipation of a certain event might make you think you’ve encountered a similar experience before.

In my reading on the subject I found there are several types of Déjà vu. Fair warning; this gets a little tricky. Basically you have Deja Senti, Deja Vecu, and Deja Visite. 

With Deja Senti the feeling you have refers to something “already felt.” According to researchers something felt in the past was very similar to that felt in the present. The similarity in the two experiences can make a person feel they’ve done it in the past.

When you visited a completely new place, have you had the funny idea you knew what was going to happen next? That’s called Deja Vecu, and those who experience it feel they have a portal to the future.

There’s a fine line between Deju Vecu, and the last form of Deju vu called Deja Visite. As the name implies, Deja Visite is all about going to a place for the first time and claiming to know it despite never having been there in reality.

It’s funny, but most of my Deju vu experiences were like “Oh No! Caught again!” 

I knew a guy in the Army who always claimed to experience Déjà vu and after a while I wondered if he was a psychic or a wacko. Luckily, we were only stationed together for a few months and I never had to find out.

While trying to understand this mysterious Déjà vu stuff I came across one explanation that was an eye opener. Scientists say one of the human eyes perceives a certain thing before the other. One eye actually records the incident earlier, they claim.

Meanwhile the other eye, which records the same incident milliseconds later, gives the brain a feeling of recollection.

Researchers suggest that one eye perceives something and the brain interprets it. The other eye lags in time by a few milliseconds, perceives the same thing and sends the image to the brain.

So what happens? The brain perceives the image milliseconds later and thinks you’ve seen it before. Sound good? 

Well…maybe not. People with only one eye experience Deju vu too, a fact that has left those researchers scratching their heads and bumping into walls.

I’m sure this will only be a temporary setback and they’ll have another explanation for Deju vu one of these days.

If you think I wrote this post before, please squint one eye and blink the other a couple of times until the feeling goes away! 

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

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Of Politics, Team Sports, and Losers

Good Day World!

There's nothing wrong with sports teams that support their club without reservation.

That concept shouldn't be applied to politic parties however.

We have two warring teams - the Democrats and the Republicans. Both protect their brand jealously, and mindlessly, to the detriment of the American people.

Those two political teams are supposed to be representing their constituents...not pie-in-the-sky ideologies that ignore reality. 

The real concerns that most Americans have are seldom addressed in the political arena where the two parties play their games.

Particularly troubling is the practice of voting along party lines rather than for the best candidate. A good example of that is Louisana governor Bobby Jindal's recent op-ed.

He admits Donald Trump is an ass, but says he felt the party is more important, therefore he's going to vote for him.

It's that kind of attitude - take one for the Gipper - that has produced two candidates that are extremely unpopular wih the general public.

The bottom line is voters are going to be stuck this year voting for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. 

Unlike team sports however, there will be no eventual winner, just millions of losers.

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

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...

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...