§ Weekend Rambles...

BOOK REVIEW

Wow, have I got another good book! And, again, like the previous book I finished reading, The Immortal Nicholas, the author of my 'newest' book is Glenn Beck. Can the man write, or what? His creations just flow so swiftly and easily. He's becoming a favorite author. I also have to give some credit to his choice of editors....no grammatical errors!  [I really hate that in a publication]  This time around instead of fiction, this book is based on true events/people. More or less short biographies of those who were scandalous and dreamers of achieving goals in life to make something of themselves in the world. The book is DREAMERS AND DECEIVERS. The list of his subjects are

Grover Cleveland [president]
Edwin Armstrong [founder of radio/FM]
Woodrow Wilson [president]
Charles Ponzi [con artist]
Desi Arnas [from I Love Lucy fame - Lucille Ball]
Upton Sinclair [author]
*Alan Turing ['father of computer']
Alger Hiss [spy]
Walt Disney [animator]
Steve Jobs/John Lesseter [creators of Pixar]

*Now, I haven't finished the book yet. As of this blog post, I am going to continue with Alger Hiss. But the last subject I read blew me away. Well, the closing remarks by Mr. Beck blew me away at least!! I just completed the short bio of Alan Turing. He was a mathematical genius from Cambridge, envisioning a machine that would take commands by number and respond with like numbers [binary in our language of today]...he was recruited by the British government to help break the code of the German "Enigma" of World War II. Of course, in no time he did accomplish this feat. His invention, today's computer, goes down in history. But, the epilogue of this scholar is what captured my attention. Mr. Turing committed suicide by poisoning an apple at his night stand one evening.  There is one movie quote from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs that Mr. Turing was said to say often.  I won't tell you what the quote is...you have to read the book.  But it IS significant to his life.  He took ONE BITE on the night of June 7th, 1954....hence:

EPILOGUE: There is a modest tribute to Alan Turing at Manchester University where he spent his final nine years of his life....Perhaps the most striking, if possibly coincidental, memorial to the man who invented the first computer, is that anytime anyone looks at an iPhone, iPad, or a MacBook, they find the image of an apple on the back...It is missing a single bite!! 

THE COLOR BLACK

Of course in school, my art teacher once told his class that white and black are actually NOT colors to an artist. They are 'hues'. Well, lately, I seem to choose black over all "colors". In clothes mostly. And I have a favorite t-shirt I wear all too often. The color? Black!

Bud: "That shirt again? You'd think it'd be threadbare for as often as you wear it!"
Anni: "You know I love tigers!"

What does black say about me? Read more

SIGNAGE

The sign entering the trailway specifically says "No Bikes".
Yet, just a few yards ahead, what do I see?


EYE ON THE SKY

PARDON ME

It states in our constitution: "In the United States, the pardon power for federal crimes is granted to the President of the United States under Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution which states that the President "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States". If that is the case, I have a question: "Why, then, are top politicians and high officials pushing for President Obama to grant a pardon for Hillary Clinton? According to her statements there is NO crime, and that she committed no offenses to the United States?!!!" In the past so many pardons have been given without any further investigations, for instance Pres. Ford/Pres. Nixon,  to help the country move on with governing the land  My opinion back then, and still today, it's all kinds of wrong.  It makes commoners think [and perhaps the person in question feel they're 'above the laws of the land']. No one should be above the law!!!  Politics....it's volatile.  
 Read More ...and more: No Pardon

SUN-KIST

On the lighter side...


Today's Flower: Sun Kissed Bougainvillea


Serving up....Sushi!!

§ Nature's Weekend...

Note: I added the fourth week's Halloween Treat [shown above - just click on any/all and save]

NATURE NOTES & WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY

links of these memes on sidebar

The post today is of my two favorite subjects/days to post lately.....nature, birds and birding. Along with the challenge below, that is every Wednesday -- Hodgepodge! [that I post all at once on Tuesday of course] This time of year when Bud and I enjoy being outdoors after the insufferable summer temperatures and humidity...it's truly delightful. This past weekend, we did go to the three day, annual, Jazz Festival [which I'll share just a few photos taken with my cell phone, on Saturday]. Friday it was rainy and cold, so I cooked in the slow cooker a batch of chicken enchilada soup. Saturday was perfect for attending the outdoor festival. Sunday morning we drove to the islands and did a little birding. On the drive - Bud and I counted nine osprey on the JFK Causeway... over the sandy dunes [highway], we spotted hawks on the power lines [and two osprey] - at the birding centers, we spotted scissortail flycatchers, tennessee warblers, starlings, one lone osprey in the trees [a photo below], hooded warbler, white pelicans, spoonbills, ducks, egrets, cormorants, avocets, herons, sea gulls, terns, ibis---and a whole SLEW of humongous dragonflies [most of them mating, and no exaggeration that they were HUGE...size of a hummingbird!!!]. When we returned home, I started a crochet project [beginning photo shown below in Hodgepodge section] with some 2 ply yarn skeins I've had in my basket for a couple of years. I thought it was time to use it. LOL After dinner, I noticed a huge white 'fire ball' behind the silhouetted trees across the street when we shut down the garage door for the evening, and I realized it was the full moon that had just risen. I went indoors and grabbed the camera; by the time I was back outdoors, the moon had nearly made it to the tree tops; no longer hidden behind the thick tree canopies:

...after all the birding, we decided to sit down and pull out the Planet Earth™ DVD series, and watched a couple of the program segments, Forests and Oceans. I love these. They are narrated by Sir David Frederick Attenborough.




HODGEPODGE
links of these memes on sidebar




1. When it comes to good manners, what two top your list of most important? Excusing yourself after you've belched. LOL [I lived with a 'crude' man for months before he actually said "Excuse me". That was a feat for me to get him that far!!!] The 2nd...definitely respecting the elderly.

2. Let's open a proverbial can of worms...Common Core. Are you familiar with the term (talking education reform in the USA)? If so, care to share your thoughts? In your opinion, what is one of the biggest issues schools (in your home country) face today? Nope, not familiar at all....have no kids in school...or at home for that matter....but, the government wants their 'hands in everything...stay away from kids and let them learn without your influence and dictating!! Financing mostly, there are way too many classes dropped. And, what is it these days where the common structure of writing [cursive] is not even taught?!!!! OH...and I have a question: If the new way of teaching math is so good, then why oh why can't high school students make change for $1.00 in their heads? You purchase a pack of gum for $.86...the change should come automatically in their heads...but lord help us if the computer/registers are down!!!!

3. Name a celebrity whose fashion sense you admire and share why. None really!!! I say, just be yourself and don't 'ape' anyone's fashion!! ........ Like Miley Cyrus?!!! Oh lord...don't get me started on that.

4. How are you affected by the changing seasons? Well, I sleep better with a window open in the cooler seasons than when the air conditioning is on in the hot months.

5. Scariest book you've ever read? I would have to say: Cujo! [not only a horror BOOK, but a great movie also] -- and tho not 'scary' in a science fiction setting, the book "The Client" was intense. Scary in terms of the little boy who witnessed a suicide/crime. [Movie was nothing, compared to the thriller/book!]

6. What time of day are you most hungry? What's your go-to snack? Usually the lunch hour. I try to eat my 'biggest meal' by mid-day. It's a habit really. Snack? I love Nature Valley's Almond Salty/Sweet Almond Granola Bar.

7. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others? Definitely independence for me. There is a right way, a wrong way, and then there is MY way. Harder to deal with would be the 'needy'. Where there is a will there is a way.

8. Insert your own random thought here. As mentioned above in my nature/birding notes, I began a new crochet project. I tried this pattern a long time ago and didn't get it right after about 20 rows or so and gave up. I'm starting again. So far, so good....

§ Sorry 'bout the poo in the powder blue!! But...

[click to join]



CAMERA CRITTERS


...with the camera's zoom it picks up just about anything and everything. While driving back from Padre Island this past Thursday morning ---there is a particular area on the causeway where an osprey is occasionally seen. Thursday it was perched on the street light as I rounded a curve. I pulled over and took the camera out and looked through the windshield and snapped away. So, it's a bit blurred [that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it] ---anyway it will be a bit more clear if you embiggen it. If I woulda pulled up alongside him and opened my window he would have been flying off by the time I focused.




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WEEKEND FUNNIES

THIS IS TRUE!!!!
In...
Texarkana [on the border of Texas and Arkansas]

Owners of horses may not ride them at night without tail lights

In...
Houston Texas

Beer may not be purchased after midnight on a Sunday, but it may be purchased on Monday.

In...
the entire state of Texas

When two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop, and neither shall proceed until the other has gone.

You know you're in Texas, on a hot summer day, when...

You see two trees fighting over a dog.

When IN Texas visiting us...

DO NOT try to tell us how to Bar-B-Q. This could lead to permanent expulsion and revocation of your work visa. Consider yourself just damn lucky that we let you come down here in the first place. Don't push your luck!

...last but not least, this is a serious privacy offense in my opinion. Did you know that each and every driver in the U.S. that has been issued a driver's license in their state can be viewed by ANYone with computer access?!!! You know how I am about privacy issues. This scares the heck outta me. If you click on this link url I've provided you can type in your name and state, the site will search and then you [or anyone] can then see your personal stats [height, weight, birthday and photo ID, etc.] Once it's loaded you can click the option to disable it from being viewed by others! I immediately went and searched for me, it came up but with all those using this site, it may be slow and there is another link to use which I clicked on and it came up a lot quicker that way, and I opted out. Privacy issues these days are few and far between.

Here is the link: THIS IS NOT RIGHT!!!




PS: Shadow has commented that my blog's background went 'belly up' on the server and all she could see was frogs with the domain registration disabled. So, I moved my images and redid it a bit. Hope that helped!!