No Agenda Zone

"I could see she was a big girl, round and strong. That's all I noticed."

2009-12-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

Chilean Olympic weightlifter Elizabeth Poblete has given birth to a baby boy during a training session, without having known she was pregnant.

Ms Poblete, 22, who lives in Brazil, said she had felt unwell but had no idea she was expecting a baby. The boy was three months premature and was taken to hospital with his mother, where he remains in intensive care. The hospital in Sao Paulo denied reports it forced Ms Poblete to leave after she was unable to pay for care. Ms Poblete began to feel unwell during training on 8 December, as she was preparing to take part in a competition. Shortly after, she gave birth to a baby weighing only 1.15kg (2.54lbs) and measuring about 34cm (14 inches). The head trainer at the gym, Horacio Reis, said the birth had been "a surprise". "A week ago I acted as a judge in a competition in Chile and this girl was competing. All went well and she won the competition," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying. "I could see she was a big girl, round and strong. That's all I noticed." Mother and child were both taken to hospital in Sao Paulo but Ms Poblete has since been discharged, reportedly telling local media she could not afford to continue receiving treatment.
Ms Poblete came 12th in the 75kg women's category at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

How Humiliating Would This Be?

2008-09-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

I mean come on, I’m all for security at airports but isn’t there a better way to do it than this?

JERUSALEM — A performer with the renowned Alvin Ailey dance troupe was ordered to perform steps for Israeli airport security officers to convince them of his identity, a spokesman for the company said Tuesday.

Abdur-Rahim Jackson was singled out from other members of the black American dance ensemble when they arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday night at the start of a six-nation international tour, said publicist Shauli Baskin.
"They stopped him ... as he has a Muslim name," Baskin told The Associated Press. "He told them he was a dancer and was here to dance with the Alvin Ailey dance troupe and they told him, 'So dance.'"
Jackson could not be reached directly on Tuesday, hours before the first of six scheduled performances in Tel Aviv by the New York-based ensemble. But the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, which first reported the story, quoted him as saying that his father had been a convert to Islam and subsequently gave him a Muslim name.
"I demonstrated a few dance steps and after another round of questioning they let me go and join the rest of the group," he told the paper.
Baskin said that waiting for him in the group was Jackson's fiancee and fellow Alvin Ailey dancer Olivia Bowman, who has a Jewish mother with family in Israell.
Baskin said that Jackson did not lodge a complaint with airport officials, and the Israel Airports
Authority said it had no record of the alleged incident.

I can’t wait to see the Olympics! I mean wait I can’t see the Olympics

2008-07-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

Beijing losing battle against Olympic smog

By Clifford Coonan in BeijingTuesday, 29 July 2008

With 10 days to go until the Beijing Olympics opens, the smog simply refuses to lift and the Games organizers are preparing emergency measures to clear the air ahead of the big day.
The traffic on the streets of Beijing is noticeably lighter, and many of the big steelworks and coal-fired power stations have been silenced. But the capital was still enveloped yesterday in a haze that restricted visibility to a couple of hundred yards.
It is still not clear exactly how bad the air has to be for an event to be cancelled, and it is forbidden to bring in measuring equipment for any independent measurement of air quality.
Jacques Rogge, the head of the International Olympic Committee, has warned that poor air quality during the Games could result in the suspension of endurance races such as long-distance cycling and the marathon.

I'm Still Here

2008-07-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

Hello to the very few people that check this site from time to time. I haven’t posted anything for quite sometime. This is probably because I got caught up in another website called listverse.com. I have always loved lists so it was easy for me to be addicted to this site. I started contributing some lists to the site a couple of months ago and a few were posted. If anybody is interested and is still reading this post these are some of the lists of mine that were posted on listverse.com.
http://listverse.com/movies/top-10-memorable-movie-stunts/
http://listverse.com/people/12-notable-people-who-died-by-drowning/
http://listverse.com/people/top-10-sole-survivors-of-a-plane-crash/
http://listverse.com/sports/top-12-pro-athletes-turned-actors/

I now plan to get back to posting stuff on the good old No Agenda Zone.

Don’t Run With Your Mortar Board You Could Poke an Eye Out

2008-05-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

I read in another article they have been doing this since 1912 and because someone needed some stitches a couple of years ago from a flying mortar board they want to put it to a stop .

I mean come on!

Students have been asked not to throw their hats in the air when they graduate because it is too DANGEROUS

May 27, 2008 Anglia Ruskin University, which has campuses in Cambridge and Chelmsford, Essex, does not want graduates to throw their mortar boards into the sky in case the corner of the hat injures someone. The request was made in a statement on the university's website.
Alongside details about which robes students should wear at graduation ceremonies, the statement reads: "It is requested that graduates do not throw the hat up into the air.
"This not only causes damage to the hats but it can also cause injury if the corner of the hat hits the graduate or others who may be nearby."

AIRBAGS

2008-05-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

It seems like every time I look up there is another use for airbags. We started with the basic car airbags then there was the passenger airbags & then side airbags and then recently someone invented a motorcycle jacket airbag.

Then I just ran across this invention. If you hit a pedestrian your bumper senses that you have just hit a human being and an airbag deploys on your hood to protect the guy you just hit.

So I’m thinking I better get on this airbag bandwagon before it passes me by.
So I came up with a couple of ideas of my own. These are hot off the drawing board, patents pending.

We have all heard of taking a bite out of crime now you can take a crime out of a bite. After surgically implanting this special tooth into mans best friend your lawsuit worries are over. This clever little incisor senses human skin only and if more than 10 lbs of pressure is applied Fido has a mouthful of airbag. K9 airbag tooth can be reloaded & used over & over again.

There is nothing worse when you are receiving CPR and have somebody pumping too hard on your chest. Not only do you have to worry about your stopped heart you suffer additional pain with cracked ribs. When50 lbs plus of pressure is applied out pops your rib saving airbag from you CPR glove. Now with CPR glove your ribs can take a sigh of relief.

What kind of flake would buy somthing like this ?

2008-04-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Two sisters from Virginia sold their Illinois-shaped cornflake on eBay Friday night for $1,350. "We were biting our nails all the way up to the finish, seeing what would happen," said Melissa McIntire, 23. "There's a lot of relief involved."
The winner of the auction, which lasted more than a week, is the owner of a trivia Web site who wants to add the cornflake to a traveling museum. "We're starting a collection of pop culture and Americana items," said Monty Kerr of Austin, Texas. "We thought this was a fantastic one." Kerr owns TriviaMania.com and said he will likely send someone to Virginia to pick up the flake by hand, so it won't be damaged.
This isn't the first cornflake that Kerr has tried to buy. He said he purchased a flake billed as the world's largest, but that by the time it was delivered it had crumbled into three pieces. McIntire and her sister Emily, 15, listed the cornflake on eBay last week, but eBay canceled the auction, saying it violated the Web site's policy against selling food. The sisters restarted their eBay auction, advertising a coupon redeemable for their cornflake instead of the cereal itself. The McIntires said they'll likely use the money for a family vacation.
Copycat items have popped up on eBay, including cornflakes shaped like Hawaii and Virginia. There's also been a potato chip shaped like Florida, and Illinois cornflake paraphernalia, including T-shirts and buttons.

It’s really hard to believe somebody actually paid $1,350.00 for a cornflake but I guess somebody did. Anyway I was looking around my house to see if I could find something like this that I could sell on e-bay. I was really surprised how much stuff I have that’s shaped like other things. I found a Cheerio shaped just like my car tire and some Trix cereal shaped very similar to my beach ball collection just to name a few.The one below is my favorite and will probably bring in the most cash.

Elephant Paints Self Portrait

2008-04-04T16:09:00.001-07:00

Elephant Paints Self Portrait Part 2

2008-04-04T15:40:00.001-07:00

When I first saw the above clip I said to my self no way this is real but believe it or not it is. I checked it out on Snopes HERE to make sure. It’s kind of humiliating to see an elephant draw better than I can.
But can this elephant cut & paste like me? I don’t think so.

Mean and Crotchety Law for Men

2008-03-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

This is a true news story. "Honest"
Other sources here: http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.1918751113
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/28/wcrotch128.xml
one moe thing: Can anybody tell me why Italian men touch themselves below for good luck - or when watching a hearse pass by?
Italy: Court rules crotch-scratching a crime
Thursday, February 28, 2008
It may be a harmless and instinctive reflex for many men - but scratching your crotch has been outlawed in Italy. The country's Court of Appeal has issued a "hands-off" ruling which threatens to fine anyone caught touching or reshuffling below the belt. The judges condemned what they saw as "an act contrary to decorum and public decency". But the ruling has sparked a backlash in Italy, where many touch themselves below for good luck - or when watching a hearse pass by. A 42-year-old man from Como had been appealing against a 200 euro fine for gross indecency last May, claiming he was innocently adjusting his overalls. But the judges have now rejected his bid, saying: "The touching of genitalia in public is a sign of ill manners and must be considered against public decency. "The rules of social etiquette require all of us to abstain from what might be considered offensive to public decorum." The defendant not only had to pay his 200 euro fine - but ordered to hand over another 1,000 euros.

Wherefore art thou, Romeo

2008-02-14T10:50:00.000-08:00

Meet the world's smallest bodybuilder

At just 2ft 9in, Indian muscleman Aditya 'Romeo' Dev is the world's smallest bodybuilder. Pint-sized Romeo is well-known in his hometown of Phagwara, India - for his ability to lift 1.5kg dumbbells - despite his overall 9kg body weight. Every day, crowds flock to the local gym to the see the mini-muscleman in training
Unlike many dwarfs, Romeo is well proportioned, with a head circumference of 15in and a chest measurement of 20in. Romeo said: "I've been training as a bodybuilder for the last two years and by now I think I must be the strongest dwarf in the world. "I have always been fit but since I started working out, I have become famous for my strength. "My size has never stopped me. I train with dumbbells and do aerobics and dance. People are always pleased to see me. I have been invited on TV shows and dance on stage."
His trainer Ranjeet Pal spents hours helping his 19-year-old protege build his small muscles to perfection. Because of his small size, I don't assign him hard exercises. But Romeo trains more or less the same as anyone else and he's much more determined.
"When he first started, I insisted he did a month of basic exercises like aerobics, push-ups and basic gymnastics to prepare his body.

OK, besides seeing a 2ft 9in body builder with yellow hair and a black mustache and spindly legs there was a couple of things that kind of stood out when I first saw these *pictures above.
The first thing that I noticed is why the heck can’t he find some weight lifting clothes that don’t look like they came from the toddlers department at Kmart?
The other thing I noticed is that that you would think if you were 1/3 the size of an average person one of the few advantages you might have is not looking your full age. This guy looks at least 40 and it says in the article he is only 19!

*These are real pictures. (No Blogball photo manipulation could compete with the real thing in this case)

Some Current Events

2008-02-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

Garbage collectors will wear uniforms made from the same recycled bottles they collect Muncie, Indiana - Employees of the Muncie Sanitary District will wear uniforms made from the same recycled bottles they collect each week. With a $5,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the district will purchase 100-percent recycled jackets, T-shirts and polo shirts for its 140 employees.Lina Gordy, grant specialist for the district, said securing the grant is the city's latest effort to "go green." It's also a way for local government to save money from its own coffers that typically gets spent on uniforms of city employees.

Ice from airplane potty crashes through Calgary roof
Last Updated: Thursday, February 7, 2008 5:00 PM MT
Chunks of ice that smashed through a Calgary woman's roof came from the lavatory of an airplane flying overhead, transportation investigators said Thursday.
Marian Liknes was sitting and talking on the phone in the bedroom of her southeast home Thursday morning when she heard what she thought was an explosion behind her, said her husband, Wade.
Firefighters found two to three 15-centimetre chunks of ice on a bed inside the home, along with pieces of shingles, plywood, drywall and insulation.
The falling ice broke a hole about 30 centimetres wide in the roof.
John Lee, a manager with the Transportation Safety Board, confirmed the ice — made up of toilet water, antifreeze, disinfectant and human waste — came from an airplane bathroom.
He told CBC News planes can't evacuate the contents of a tank while in flight, but flying into warmer air can trigger some melting, which can cause a holding tank to malfunction.

SOME SPORTING NEWS

2008-02-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

South Korean players dislocate shoulders to dodge draft
SEOUL, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Ninety-two current and former South Korean soccer players have been indicted for dodging military service by intentionally dislocating their shoulders to receive medical exemptions, a prosecutor said on Monday.
South Korean men spend up to 24 months in the military as part of mandatory service in the 670,000-strong armed forces, a duty which can hamper the careers of athletes.
The players, including 15 professional K-League players, dislocated their shoulders by methods such as swinging their arms while holding heavy weights or having fellow players jump on their shoulders, the official said.

PITTSBURGH — A high school wrestling coach accused of biting a wrestler in the leg has agreed to resign rather than face possible criminal charges, police said.
Mike Marshall bit the Central Cambria High School wrestler at practice on Jan. 21, Cambria Township police Officer James McGough said.
"The coach was wrestling with him and bit him in the leg, the upper thigh," McGough said.
Marshall's attorney, John D. Messina, said the incident was "completely innocent" and not malicious."The incident occurred while he was joking around with one of the wrestlers," Messina said. "Certainly it was poor judgment and it cost him his job."
Marshall was expected to resign Wednesday, Messina said.

AFTER - BEFORE

2008-01-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

I just read about this lady recently but I guess she has been around for awhile.
Her name is Jocelyne Wildenstein. You can read about her sad story
HERE
Believe it or not the 2nd picture is the after picture from almost 4 million dollars of plastic surgery. What amazes me is that she was an attractive woman to start with. I’m not totally against plastic surgery but I guess it’s like everything else. One needs to know when enough is enough. (And the same goes for the doctors performing the surgery) I’m sure we have all seen example of famous people where they actually look better before than after.

So I was thinking.. wow I’m sure glad plastic surgery wasn’t as popular in the past as it is now.

Then I thought.. hey I wonder what some of the famous people from the past would look like with a little nip & tuck.
So here are a few No Agenda Zone examples.

NOTE: The last subject was the most difficult because of her unsightly cracks.

Another Blogball Hidden Talent

2007-12-13T12:08:00.001-08:00

During a successful art show where I was showing off my latest abstract art pieces I was asked to perform with a famous orchestra playing 1st cello. Not ever playing the cello I was a bit apprehensive but I’m a pretty quick study so I said OK. This clip shows me playing a piece called 4’33”.
NOTE: This was all self taught on my part. (Not one lesson) Even though this was the only piece they let me play it was still a thrilling experience.

Just Call me Blogball the Arteest

2007-11-29T17:51:00.000-08:00

WE HAVE A WINNER (SEE COMMENTS)

Because I can’t draw or paint when I have a certain idea or image in my mind for the No Agenda Zone I have to resort to cutting, pasting, tweaking, etc. a bunch of images together to create one illustration. Then I saw some abstract paintings on display and said to myself “hey now this is more up my alley"

Four (4) of these paintings below are legitimate modern/ abstract art pieces the other four (4) are the works by the new, up & coming abstract artist Blogball. Can you spot the legit ones?

The winner will receive a signed & numbered lithograph of one of Blogball's works.

By the way one of these paintings below just sold for 140 Million Dollars. I’m not kidding you.

Click HERE and make your own Jackson Pollock painting

Note: Click on picture again to have a better shot at winning this valuable prize

Another Study Way Too Hip For Me

2007-11-13T17:45:00.000-08:00

OK here’s another study that proves once again we are running out of things to study. Before I get to this latest study here are a few more examples

Democrats and Republicans Both Adept at Ignoring Facts, Study ...

Infant, Adult Sleep Similar, Rat Study Says

Parasite "Brainwashes" Rats Into Craving Cat Urine, Study Finds

Ok as promised here is the latest study:

Study Shows Curvy Hips Make Women Smarter

LONDON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Women with small waists and big hips also have big IQs, a new U.S. study has found.A study of 16,000 women determined those with hourglass figures were more intelligent than their counterparts with round or straight bodies, The Sunday Times of London reported.Curvier women also tended to have more intelligent children, possibly because omega3 fatty acids are stored in their hips, the British newspaper said. Skinny women, or those whose fat deposits are around their waists do not have such deposits.The study, to be published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior this week, may explain earlier findings that men prefer women with smaller waists than hips even if they are compared to slimmer women, said the study's authors at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

We might be running out of things to study

2007-10-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

This is an actual article from the National Geographic Website.
I couldn’t wait to share it with everybody.

Herring Break Wind to Communicate, Study Suggests

James Owen in England

for National Geographic News

In polite society, flatulence is often a social faux pas—especially when issued deliberately. But in the world of fish, group "raspberry-blowing" sessions appear to perform an important social role. This intriguing idea comes from scientists who discovered that herring create a mysterious underwater noise by farting. Researchers suspect herring hear the bubbles as they're expelled, helping the fish form protective shoals at night. It's the first ever study to suggest fish communicate by breaking wind. The study's findings, now published online in the U.K. science journal Biology Letters, reveal that Atlantic and Pacific herring create high-frequency sounds by releasing air from their anuses.
We know [herring] have excellent hearing but little about what they actually use it for," said research team leader Ben Wilson, a marine biologist at the Bamfield Marine Science Centre, British Columbia, Canada. "It turns out that herring make unusual farting sounds at night."

You can read the whole article Here

Many images came to mind when reading this article. This is just one of them

Another Smoking Ban

2007-10-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

California bans smoking in cars with child passengers

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -Arnold Schwarzenegger has passed a law making it an offense to smoke in a car carrying children under the age of 18, official sources said Thursday.
The new law -- the latest in a series of crackdowns on smokers in California -- was signed into law by Hollywood icon Schwarzenegger on Wednesday at the state capitol in Sacramento.

When I read this article it made me think how irritating it is when I see people throw their cigarette butts out of their car window which prompted the illustration below.

This Guy Doesn’t Have a Leg to Stand On

2007-10-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of the strangest (true) news stories I have read in quite a while.

Two men fight for custody of amputated leg
MAIDEN, North Carolina (AP) — A South Carolina man who stored his severed leg in a barbecue smoker that was later auctioned off is locked in a custody dispute with a North Carolina man who found it.
John Wood's leg was amputated near the knee after a 2004 airplane crash. He asked doctors to give it to him so he could be buried as a whole man when he died.
The limb, which Wood had kept in the smoker in a storage facility after he lost his home, was bought by Shannon Whisnant last Tuesday in an auction held by the storage company because Wood had missed his monthly payments.Whisnant initially gave it to police, who subsequently turned it over to a funeral home when it became clear it was not the result of foul play.
But Whisnant, who put a sign on the empty smoker charging adults $3 and children $1 for a look, now wants it back.

"He's making a freak show out of it," Wood told The Charlotte Observer for a Monday story. "He wants to put money in his pocket with this thing."
Whisnant, who was unsuccessful in his bid to get the leg from the funeral home, consulted with a lawyer and decided his best move was to persuade Wood to share custody and profits.
"It's a strange incident and Halloween's just around the corner," Whisnant said. "The price will be going up if I get (a stake in) the leg."
Wood, who is heading to Maiden to pick up his leg, said the two men can meet, but he is not interested in using the leg to make money.
"I just think it's despicable," he said. "I don't mind having the 15 minutes of fame, but I'm not looking to really profit off this thing."

The Royal Flush

2007-09-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

Minneapolis Airport Men's Room New Tourist Attraction

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - "Where's the bathroom?" That's the question travelers at the Minneapolis airport are asking. Since U.S. Senator Larry Craig of Idaho was arrested in a sex sting, the bathroom has become a tourist attraction. Airport information specialist Karen Evans says some people are even taking pictures of the infamous bathroom. Craig was arrested June 11th by a Minneapolis airport police officer. The Republican pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct but is trying to withdraw that plea. Many airport workers say they get the question daily, and they watch as people stop by to take pictures. They say the bathroom is by the Lottery shop, next to Royal Zino Shoeshine.

When I saw this article I thought to myself what could be more ridicules.
Then I thought what’s next a brochure to promote this bathroom?
Then I thought hey that might be a fun thing to design.
So I came up with this first brochure daft to promote the Larry Craig Bathroom.
My apologies to the Senator. For details click again

This Airline Can Really Get Your Goat

2007-09-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

Goats sacrificed to 'fix' airlines plane troubles
Wed Sep 5, 2007 6:01pm AEST

Nepal Airlines has acknowledged that it sacrificed two goats to appease a Hindu god following a spate of technical problems with one of its aircraft.
The goats were slaughtered in front of the Boeing 757 at Kathmandu airport.
The persistent faults have not been specified but they had led to the postponement of a number of flights. An airline official says after the ceremony, the plane successfully took off to Hong Kong.

"The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights," said Raju KC, a senior airline official, without explaining what the problem had been.
Local media last week blamed the company's woes on an electrical fault.
It is common in Nepal to sacrifice animals like goats and buffaloes to appease different Hindu deities.
- BBC/Reuters

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

2007-08-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

I know you may think I’m crazy or obsessed but I went back to the scene of the crime.
I had to take the same road again on the way back from the beach so it’s not like I made a special trip. So I’m not completely nuts. (Just a little)..

I took a picture of the view someone would have if they stopped at the spot where the stop sign line is. As you can see by the Picture below you can’t really see anything unless you creep up slowly and do more of a rolling stop.

I was thinking about complaining and claim that it’s even more dangerous to come to a complete stop because you have to get your speed up very quickly to merge on to the very busy Topanga
Canyon Blvd.

I even had some pictures prepared of what happens when people come to a complete stop.

Here is a picture of the camera that took those pictures that fateful day

Anyway I have a feeling the parks department won’t buy this but I do feel better that I went back and investigated.

THIS CAN’T BE ME !

2007-08-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

When I received this citation and photos (above) in the mail I went through these typical series of thoughts & emotions

Thought #1: “This must be a mistake”
Noticed that the photo was the make & color of my car.

Thought # 2: “This must be my wife when she borrowed my car”
Noticed that the date on the citation was the day I took off work to take my daughter to the beach and was driving on the street at the exact time that the citation had noted.

At this point it’s starting to look pretty bleak as far as "THIS CAN’T BE ME"

Thought # 3 "Hey maybe it was another person with a white PT Curser that was traveling on Pacific Coast Highway at the same time and had a license number that was really close to mine and the enforcement people that mail these things out accidentally reversed some numbers and sent the citation to me by mistake"

With all the decks stacked against me and a never say die attitude I went for the last minute pass into the end zone

I went out to my car with citation in hand looked at my license plate and made sure the numbers on the photo matched EXACTLY.
(They did) Game over, the fat lady was singing.

Thought # 4: "What a rip off!! How can they prove from this photo that I didn’t come to a complete stop ?"

At this point I recognized that I was starting to sound like some big cry baby making excuses and not taking responsibility for my actions and to just pay the $100.00 like a man.

Thought # 5 I will just pretend that this $100.00 went for taking my wife out to eat last week when our dinner plans fell through.

MONA LISA WAS STRANGLED

2007-07-31T13:23:00.001-07:00

I hate to be a naysayer or a party pooper or an anti-conspiracy guy but aren’t we all a little tired of the Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper hidden meanings, cracking the code thing?

I think if Di Vinci was alive today he would say something like "Guys, Guys, Guys it’s just a painting ok".

Here is the latest Last Supper theory
Did Leonardo Da Vinci Conceal Images in The Last Supper?

By super-imposing the reversed image on the original image, Pesci discovered what appears to be a figure holding a baby (center left). The image also appears to show Templar knights standing at opposite ends of the long table.

"I came across it by accident, from some of the details you can infer that we are not talking about chance but about a precise calculation," Pesci told journalists during a press conference earlier this week.

I’m a little suspicious of the “I came across it by accident” part.

I guess this Pesci guy just happened to reverse the image and super-impose it on the other image. Plus where is the baby? I'm still looking.

Anyway so I decided to see if there was anything to this and thought I would start with De Vinci’s Mona Lisa and check for any hidden codes.

1. I first started with the painting in the normal position
2. Then I reversed the image of the painting
3. Then I turned the painting upside down
4. Then I super-imposed the upside down reversed image to the normal image
5. Then I accidentally moved the upside reversed image down and to the right a bit

I could not believe my eyes

The mystery of Mona Lisa was solved the code was broken.

Mona Lisa was strangled probably by De Vinci himself

Had To Share This

2007-07-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

I took my wife & daughter to Santa Monica Pier over the weekend or I guess I should say my wife and daughter took me to Santa Monica pier. Its not my favorite place especially in the middle of summer on a Saturday. It seems the older I get the more I think how nice it would be to be home right now when going to such places.

Anyway as we were strolling down the pier we came across a street performer that was juggling so we thought we would check it out. He twirled some balls on his fingers and balanced a few spinning balls on his chin at the end of a tennis racket. Nothing that spectacular but he had a good personality and even smiled at me when I took his picture.

Then it came time for his big grand finale trick. Apparently he balances a tray of glasses (to the left) filled with blue water on his chin at the end of a tennis racket. He then brought out his bucket and placed it in front of the crowd and announced he was going to attempt his final unbelievable, spectacular trick and asked for some monetary help in doing so. This is pretty typical with street performers now days to bring out the hat right before the big trick. So we put in our customary dollar along with a few other spectators. You could then tell he was disappointed with his take so he kept on appealing to the crowd for a little more love in the way of cash but no one took him up on his pleas Then he did what I have never seen a street performer do. HE DID NOT PERFORM THE BIG GRAND FINALE TRICK.

He just looked at the few people that did give him money and said “I’m sorry about this”
I couldn’t believe it! After everybody waited through all of his not so great tricks to get to the part where he balances a tray full of glasses filled with blue water on his chin at the end of a tennis racket he instead takes his bucket and goes back to his chair I guess to wait for the next crowd to gather.
I mean what happened to Hey That’s Show Biz or The Show Must Go On?

Apparently before this guy decided to become a street performer he crunched the numbers and decided he needed a certain amount of money for each grand finale trick in order to feed and clothe his family.

Below is a spectators metal picture of what it might have looked like if the street performer would have performed the grand finale trick of balancing a tray full of glasses filled with blue water on his chin at the end of a tennis racket instead of committing the ultimate street performer sin by not following through with your big trick due to lack of funds

I feel better looking at this that my dollar was not spent in vain

Con Tractor

2007-07-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

When my wife & I decided to renovate our master bath we thought about hiring a general contractor. Then I thought to myself “I don’t need no stinkin general contractor” I can be MY OWN general contractor.
How hard could it be coordinate a little ole bathroom? I mean after all I do know a tile guy, I know a guy that knows a plumber and I know a guy that knows a guy that does shower doors. Then I could do the painting!

OK LET’S GET STARTED!

It started out pretty good. The tile guy even built a bench (at my wife’s request) so she can sit down in the shower and shave her legs.

Just a word of warning when picking out tile: Calculating the cost of $2.50 cents for each tile will not cost you $500.00 for 200 square feet. There are things called bull nose and decorative pieces after you add these things in it will cost an additional 5 million dollars.

When the tile man was done with his work your trusty general contractor called the plumber to connect the new vanity and install the new toilet and put the new shower hardware on.

Now it’s time to call that guy that knows a guy to call the shower door guy to measure for our new shower doors.

Then it happened:
When the shower door guy arrived he walked into the bathroom and looked at the shower area and said these 5 dreaded words while he scratched his head. “WHO IS YOUR GENERAL CONTRACTOR?” I then answered sheepishly “that would be me”. Then I tried to sound like a seasoned general contractor with an attitude when I said the next 3 words “WHAT’S YOUR QUESTION?” I knew what he was going to say next was not good news but then I thought to myself hey maybe he has never seen such precision and organization skills in his 20 year career as a shower door installer and was amazed that an average guy like me could master this undertaking and just wanted to shake my hand.

This was never said and he didn’t shake anything but his head.

He just looked up at me and said “there’s no way I can legally put a shower door here”.
It turns out that our new improved shower complete with a bench so my wife can shave her legs was too close to the toilet for any shower doors known to man to function properly. The only option was a shower curtain or to move the toilet.

We decided after spending a billion dollars on the tile and shower hardware a shower curtain was not an option.When the plumber gave me his estimate to move the toilet he kept telling me how lucky I was that we had a crawl space under the house instead of a concrete slab and that it would only cost me $900.00 to move the toilet.

I thought to myself "wow lucky me”

Called the tile guy back to make a new hole in our new tile for our new toilet location.

Called the plumber back to put new pipes under the house and reinstall our new toilet in its new location.

Called the tile guy back again to patch and tile over old toilet location.

Called professional painter. Too tired to do it myself plus after all I am a general contractor. Plus my wife told me to.

NEW LOCATION !

Our new bathroom with new tile including bull nose and decorative pieces and a new shower complete with a bench so my wife can sit down and shave her legs and new shower doors along with a new vanity and our most treasured feature: A new toilet location. Now we can finally just sit down and enjoy the new view.

Unreal

2007-06-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

New Zealand: '4real' not a name

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) June 25, 2007 — New Zealand authorities have blocked a couple's bid to officially name their new son "4real," saying numerals are not allowed. Pat and Sheena Wheaton said they decided to name their new baby "4real" shortly after having an ultrasound and being struck by the reality of his impending arrival.
"For most of us, when we try to figure out what our names mean, we have to look it up in a babies book and ... there's no direct link between the meaning and the name," Pat Wheaton told TV One on Wednesday. "With this name, everyone knows what it means."
But when the parents filed the name with New Zealand's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, they were told names beginning with a number were against the rules.
The government office has opened negotiations with the parents about the name under a policy that says all unusual names must be given case-by-case consideration.

I like this part:

They decided to name their new baby "4real" shortly after having an ultrasound and being struck by the reality of his impending arrival.

What did they think was arriving before the ultrasound a pepperoni pizza?

Here are some other baby names that might have been rejected after parents viewed their ultrasound

· Wow Look At That
· Look She’s Moving
· No Silly That’s His Umbilical Cord
· Look What We Cre 8 Ed

(Other contributions are welcome)

Tips Not Excepted

2007-06-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

Another example of zero tolerance for zero tolerance

Miniature toy weapons banned from fifth-grade graduation

Associated Press - June 15, 2007 11:14 AM ET
RANCHO PALOS
VERDES, Calif. (AP)

A fifth-grade classroom turned into a free-speech
battleground yesterday, when students in Rancho Palos Verdes were asked to
remove the weapons from their toy soldiers. Students at Cornerstone school typically decorate their fifth-grade graduation hats with miniature cars, figurines, and other toys. Before the ceremony yesterday, students were told they could not participate unless they cut off the tips of the guns carried by their plastic GI's.

Parents reacted angrily, calling the decision censorship. But the school principal and
district officials said the guns violated the school's zero-tolerance for
weapons on campus.

Nipping the Competition

2007-06-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

I think this might be a sign that the Guinness book of World Records is running out of ideas for new record breaking categories.

I like the picure of the the nipple guy and the camera zooming in to record the historic moment. This almost reads and looks like a fake lampoonish story but luckily for all mankind it is not.

By Harry Cheadle
for The Brooklyn Paper

It’s official! No one in the world has a longer nipple hair than Doug Williams.

Last Saturday, Williams had his celebrated chest hair measured at a barbeque in his Williamsburg backyard, complete with a grill, a keg, and even a DJ. A group of photographers and a videographer were also on hand, clustered around Williams to get the best shot of the astonishing strand.
The barbeque was the culmination of Williams’s quest to get the hair into the Guinness Book of World Records. He says he didn’t set out to break the coveted record, it just happened.
One morning, Williams was “taking stock” of his nipple hair and noticed one was “really long.” Curious to see what the record was, he looked it up and found out it was only four and a half inches, considerably shorter than the hair sprouting from his own vestigal mammary gland.
Those close to Williams thought it was, well, a little odd.
“Initially, I was a little bit surprised,” said girlfriend Malika Crutchfield. “But after checking out the hair, I realized he had a shot at the record. I’m thrilled.”
The record-breaker himself remained low-key. “It’s a genetic thing,” he said with a shrug, as reporters hounded him with more questions than the beat writers who follow around Barry Bonds.
Measuring duties fell to Dr. Sagat Verma, who bent over Williams and carefully extended the strand, holding it against a tape measure. Appraising nipple growths isn’t Verma’s specialty; by day, he’s an internal medicine specialist at Wyckoff Medical Center in Bushwick.

Hair apparent: A doctor measures Doug Williams's nipple hair while a film crew documents the historic event. The hair measured 5.078 inches, breaking the Guinness Book record.

NEWS FLASH
Another great accomplishment!

The following quote below is from another record holder

"Making it to Guinness World Records is indeed a special occasion for me and my family," said Radhakant. "God has been very kind to me."

To see this great accomplishment and the person that said these words click below

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/human_body/extreme_bodies/longest_ear_hair.aspx

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave

2007-05-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practice to steal newspapers because you think you look fat in a photo.

At first glance the photo below looks like several attractive girls having fun at a sporting event. It wasn’t until after I read the story that I started examining the girls (third from left) photo trying to “figure” out what part of her body she could possibly be insecure about. Just what she was afraid might happen.

I guess you could say the cover up was worse than the crime.

Jennifer Carsillo, 18, (third from left) said she and a friend grabbed 130 copies of The Gatepost paper because they were embarrassed about this photo, shot at a lacrosse game.

By Associated PressFRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- "I just kind of got caught up in the moment and grabbed a whole bunch of copies," Jennifer Carsillo, 18, tells the Boston Globe. She and a friend hid the papers in their dorm rooms, according to the paper. "We didn't think it was a big deal," she says.

They apparently felt the photo made them look fat, the paper's faculty adviser said.The photo in the April 27 edition of The Gatepost at Framingham State College shows seven fans at a women's lacrosse game with ``I (heart) N-O-O-N-A-N,'' the name of a friend on the team, spelled out on their stomachs. They are wearing hip-hugger shorts and abbreviated tank tops.Campus police won't pursue criminal charges, but two students face possible disciplinary action, college spokesman Peter Chisholm said.English professor

Desmond McCarthy, the faculty adviser, said he was told by other students the women who took the papers thought they looked fat.``This is the most stupid reason the paper has been stolen,'' said McCarthy, adding that editions of The Gatepost have been stolen four times in the past 15 years.

We’ll just have to wait and see about this.

2007-05-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

We can’t even get the 5 day weather forecast right and I'm supposed to believe this?

Scott Norrisfor National Geographic News
May 16, 2007
The sun and Earth will probably be spun out into a lonely region of space when the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies finish colliding about five billion years from now, researchers say in a new study.

There's also a small chance that our solar system will be swept from its home in the Milky Way and scooped up by Andromeda during an earlier close encounter, in just three-and-a-half-billion years.

Anyway if this doesn’t happen I want all these scientists fired immediately.

Sign of the Times

2007-05-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

This billboard was put up by a couple of Chicago attorneys. I guess it was taken down because of a permit violation. The attorneys said that in the short time it was up their business improved dramatically.
So I was thinking that someone should counter this with a pro-marriage billboard like the one below.

Please Note: For those who don’t know me I'm a happily married guy.
(Just having some fun)

I Just Had an Idea

2007-05-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

The information below is from the website of a company called Celestis http://www.memorialspaceflights.com/default.asp
(This is the company that just launched Scotty from Star Trek into space)

The company charges $495.00 to put 1 gram of your loved ones ashes into a little capsule and then launch it into space for a couple of minutes and then it floats back to earth and then returned to the family for a keepsake.

Earth-Return Service

Our Earth-Return service affordably launches a symbolic portion of cremated remains to space, and after experiencing the zero gravity environment, returns the individual flight capsules and modules back to Earth
After a successful flight, the Earth-Return payload, including flown flight capsules and modules, is recovered, validated as having reached space, and the capsule or module is returned to the family or loved one as a keepsake
Standard Price $495
In the event that the Celestis Earth Orbit Service spacecraft does not achieve orbit, we will — at no additional cost — place a second sample of the cremated remains aboard our next scheduled mission.

Here’s My Idea
So I was thinking about all the people who love baseball and came up with this idea.

I will call this service Final Inning®

Family can select their deceased loved ones favorite baseball Picher and batter to participate.
A sports drink (of your choice) and 1 gram of ashes of your loved one will be injected into the center of a major League baseball.
The pitcher will pitch to the batter for a maximum of 1 hour to achieve a flight of 385 ft. or a homerun which ever comes first.
If this distance or a homerun is not achieved after 1 hour the pitcher will throw the baseball as far as he can to try and duplicate a 385 ft. flight.
The keepsake ball will be signed by both players for added sentimental value.
Baseball will be placed against an official Final Inning plaque suited for hanging or placing on a shelf or mantle.
Cost of Final Inning services will be based on the two ball players present salary prorated
(1 hour)
Average cost is between $5,000.00 & $75,000.00

Armed and Dangerous

2007-04-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

I know it looks fake but believe it or not the photo to the left is the real thing.

Arm reattached after crocodile attack at zoo
Taipei, Taiwan A zoo worker had his forearm reattached Thursday after his colleagues recovered the severed limb from the mouth of a 440-pound Nile crocodile, an official said.The crocodile severed Chang Po-yu's forearm Wednesday at the Shaoshan Zoo in the southern city of Kaohsiung when the veterinarian tried to retrieve a tranquilizer dart from the reptile's hide, zoo officials said.The Liberty Times newspaper said Chang failed to notice the crocodile was not fully anesthetized when he stuck his arm through an iron rail to medicate it.As Chang was rushed to the hospital Wednesday, a zoo worker shot two bullets at the crocodile's neck to retrieve the forearm, said Chen Po-tsun, a zoo official.

"The crocodile was unharmed as we didn't find any bullet holes on its hide," Chen said. "It probably was shocked and opened its mouth to let go of the limb."

SPECIAL NOTE: Here are some other titles I thought of for this story before I decided on "Armed and Dangerous" Additional title suggestions are welcome

Zookeeper Gives Croc a Hand

Croc Enjoys a Taste of Finger Food

Croc Eventually Unarmed

Farwell to arm

Zookeeper Gives Croc a Knuckle Sandwich

Is That Crocodile Gay or Does He Just Have a Limp Wrist?

Zookeeper Goes Out on a Limb to Help Crocodile

Is That a Hand in Your Mouth or are You Giving me the Power Salute?

Man Becomes Single and Unattached After Trying His Hand as a Zookeeper

What would the baby bear choose?

2007-03-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Kill baby polar bear, animal activists say
By Stephanie Kennedy

Animal rights campaigners in Germany have called on Berlin's Zoo to kill a baby polar bear that has been rejected by its mother rather than have it raised by humans.
The three-month-old polar bear cub has captured the hearts of many Germans, baby Knut and his twin brother were born in December.
They were rejected by their mother and were left exposed to freezing temperatures.
After Knut's brother died, the zoo intervened to save the surviving cub.
Knut has been nurtured by a keeper who has slept by his side and bottle-fed him.
Now animal rights campaigners argue Knut should be put down to stop him becoming emotionally and physically reliant on humans.
That has sparked outrage in Germany and Berlin Zoo has vowed to continue hand-rearing the cub.

I was just thinking if the situation was reversed and I was abandoned by my mother and had a choice to either die or be raised by polar bears I would say “Heck what do I have to loose ?”

Long Arm of the Giant

2007-03-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a really neat story so I thought I would share it.

March 14, 2007—Who says super heroes don't exist?
Desperate to save two dolphins that had eaten plastic pieces at an aquarium in China's Liaoning Province, veterinarians summoned the world's tallest man—7-foot-9-inch (2.36-meter) shepherd Bao Xishun of the neighboring Inner Mongolia region.
The plastic pieces had caused the marine mammals to lose their appetites and become depressed, Royal Jidi Ocean World officials told the BBC. But the dolphins' contracting stomachs had stymied vets' attempts to use instruments to remove the objects. Instead Bao's extra-long arms were able to extract the offending shards yesterday.
After Bao, 54, "operated" on them—their teeth wrapped with towels for safety, as seen in the bottom photo—the dolphins were in "very good condition," aquarium manager Chen Lujun told the BBC.
Veterinarian Zhu Xiaoling told the state-controlled Xinhua news agency, "Some very small plastic pieces are still left in the dolphins' stomachs.
"However, the dolphins will be able to digest these and are expected to recover soon."

Sorry but this story would not be complete without a No Agenda Zone Update

After great success with dolphins Bao Xishun eventually moved on to human medical procedures.

The photo below shows the ambidextrous gentle giant performing a Tonsillectomy and a stomach stapling simultaneously

Rectum? Darn near killed-um

2007-03-09T09:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry about another butt related blog posting but I couldn’t pass this one up.

Just an update on the story below: Apparently this guy was just a nut and no one was ever in danger but I was just thinking... If I happened to be of Middle Eastern decent and my name was Fadhel al-Maliki one of the last things I would try to do is board a plane with a magnet and wires in my butt.

March 07, 2007
Iraqi national detained at LAX with magnet in his "bum"

From Doug Hagmann, Director of the Northeast Intelligence Network:
6 March 2007: TSA officials at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) detained a 35 year-old Iraqi national at about 5:40 this morning after he set off an alarm at the passenger screening area at terminal 1. Security officers searched Fadhel Abbas al-Maliki of South Ocean Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, finding wires on his body and what was described as a magnet concealed in his rectum. Al Mailki also was in possession of another, unidentified metal device which is currently being assessed and evaluated by law enforcement authorities. Fadhel al-Maliki intended to board a US Airways flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. Although al-Maliki was detained at the terminal, his luggage remained on the aircraft, which made an

unscheduled landing in Las Vegas for a security screening.

A Little Lift in Life

2007-02-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

Something I Just Thought About:

Many times I have been in a situation where I go for a drink at a public drinking fountain lets say at the park or another public place where kids may gather and right in front of me is a little kid (that I don’t know) on his or her tiptoes with lips puckered desperately trying and get a drink of water. Years ago I would think nothing of giving the little one a little lift to quench his or her thirst.
Now in recent years with constant media coverage of kids being kidnapped and /or molested I have restrained myself out of respect for parents that might see me lift up their child and freak out. Is this just a sad sign of the times or am I being too cautious?

I thought this was pretty incredible

2007-02-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

This is a real picture of a real fly with real glasses. (Pretty sure non prescription)

Micreon, based in Hannover, Germany, created the fly's eyewear using ultrafast laser micro-machining. The firm notes on its Web site that the process can create objects with high precision at scales of less than a thousandth of a millimeter.

Wow.. looks just like Elizabeth Taylor

2007-02-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

I thought this was interesting and a good excuse for another No Agenda Zone manipulated cartoon

February 15, 2007—She was the legendary queen of Egypt who seduced two of the most powerful men in the ancient world.
But a silver coin that went on display at a British university yesterday suggests Cleopatra's beauty may be Hollywood fiction.
On one side the coin shows the Egyptian ruler with a shallow forehead, long nose, narrow lips, and a sharply pointed chin (at left above). On the other, her longtime lover, the powerful Roman general and politician Mark Antony, is depicted with a large hooked nose and thick neck (right).
The unflattering images suggest that fictional accounts—from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra to the HBO TV series Rome—overplay the attractiveness of the doomed couple.

Ancient Coin Flip

What Kind of American Are You Anyway ?

2007-02-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

When I was reading about the Super Bowl I read this:
Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith will make history as the first African-American head coaches to lead NFL teams to the Super Bowl”

Then I read this:
“Lost in the celebration of the first black head coaches to reach the Super Bowl is that the first Asian-American coach Lloyd Lee who will be pacing the sidelines in the Big One.”

Then I was reading about the Astronaut that went off the deep end and read this:
An Italian restaurant in Cocoa Beach, Fla., plans to hold a fundraiser for Nowak this weekend because she was the first Italian-American woman in space.

Then this:
“Haroldson, the county’s chief deputy district attorney, is the first Mexican-American to become a district attorney in Oregon’s history”.

Then there’s this:
“As a former member of Bush's Cabinet and the nation's first Cuban-American senator, Martinez already had considerable cachet”.

Then just yesterday I was reading this about Rudy Giuliani:
“Just by running for the nomination, the former New York mayor and hero of 9/11 will be the first Italian-American to run for president”

OK my point is that I do greatly admire the people that have broken the color or race barrier in American history but I was hoping by the year 2007 America would not need to still label or make an issue out of someone’s race. I do realize we still have some work to do before we are all on a completely even playing field but for crying out loud the two head coaches in the Super Bowl did not believe is swearing or yelling at their players. Doesn’t this deserve more admiration than the color of their skin in this day and age?

I guess I just have to hope & pray that my daughter will be the first Italian, Norwegian, Danish, French, American to see a color blind society.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Martin Luther King Jr.

New Product with No Agenda Zone Expanded Uses

2007-01-26T11:08:00.000-08:00

Warning the following post contains silly over the top bathroom humor

Believe it or not this is a real product. It’s called "Super Catcher".It catches your dogs poop so you won’t have to pick it up off the ground.The problem is that the poor dog has to be humiliated by wearing a clown’s hat on his butt.

There is even a demonstration video clip on the website. http://www.fellowlike.com.tw/en/?d=product7

Anyway I was thinking hey why not expand the use of this ingenious product.

Has The Government Gone Too Far?

2007-01-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

There were 2 Stories that came out today that caught my attention

Maine law bans adults from smoking in cars with children
National-NBC) January 19, 2007 - A new law banning smoking with kids in the car has taken effect in Bangor, Maine.
Under the new law, anyone caught smoking in a vehicle with minors will face a $50 fine. Advocates say the ban will help children breathe easier, while opponents say it infringes on personal rights.
Several other areas have similar laws covering young children, but Bangor is the first to include everyone under 18.

And then there was this one

CA Proposes Ban On Spanking
January 19, 2007 12:26 p.m. EST
Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer
Sacramento, CA (AHN) - California's state legislature is mulling a ban on spanking children, making California the first and only state to outlaw smacking kids on the behind.
Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, a Democrat, is proposing a bill to ban parents from spanking any child 3 years of age or younger. The bill would make spanking a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine up to $1,000, with first time offenders most likely only having to attend parenting classes. For the record, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber does not have children and says she was not slapped as a child. But she does have a cat named Snoop, which her veterinarian told her never to hit.

I thought it was interesting that the Assemblywoman does not have any kids and related the situation to hitting her cat. Kind of like if my gold fish jumps out of the tank it doesn’t do any good to give Goldy a little pat on the tail fin. I also thought the name of her cat (Snoop) was kind of ironic. When my daughter was younger (under 4) I did give her a little hit to the butt a couple of times for stuff like running away from me toward the street. OK I do cringe a little when I see parents spank their kids for stuff that seems really minor to me but I really don’t think the Government should interfere with that.

There are many child abuse laws already on the books.
Have we gone too far?

Keeping with tradition here is a “ No Agenda Zone” illustration relating to the subject. .

I was also was wondering what happens when a child turns 4 years old? Is it then no holds barred?

Little Johnny's parents have been waiting to give him
the presents behind their backs for 4 long years.

Now this is MY kind of humor

2007-01-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

I thought this was pretty funny

Eagle Eyed Fox

2006-12-28T13:10:00.000-08:00

As a guy that has always been interested in photography I have always liked action shots.
I think this is one of the better ones I have seen in a while. It’s a golden eagle taking a fox away from a partially eaten carcass.

NOTE: This photo was not altered in any way. I found this on http://www.snopes.com/ under the “True” status. By the way Snopes is a great site to find out if suspicious photos or stories flying around on the Internet are true or not.

Here is an example of a “False” status from Snopes.com

Snowball the mutant cat

OK you probably had a feeling there would be just one more picture.
This fell into the “undetermined ”status contributed by the No Agenda Zone.

Saddam is discovered to have two ears on same side of his head

& six fingers on right hand.

PS I hope everyone has a happy and safe 2007.

“I can’t understand how that tape could just disappear like that”

2006-12-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

This holiday season reminded me of one of the true mysteries of my life:

I can be sitting on the floor involved in putting something together or wrapping presents and I continue to misplace stuff like tools, scissors, glue, pen, tape, parts I just had in my hand etc.

HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN WHEN MY BUTT HAS BEEN IN THE SAME PLACE THE WHOLE TIME?

I sometimes have to get up and get another screwdriver, pair of scissors or whatever I misplaced to finish the job.

I know it’s not gremlins and it’s probably my organizational skills combined with maybe a relatively short attention span combined with my… well I could go on but I will leave it there. Anyway lately I have been bringing two of each item needed before I sit down.
This seems to do the trick.

No wonder I’m having trouble with Beta

2006-12-18T17:15:00.000-08:00

December 18, 2006

MAN TAKES POSITION AT BLOGGER CLAIMS HE MISREAD JOB TITLE New Employee overheard saying “I knew it sounded too good to be true”

Sceam Thoughts

2006-12-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

I was wondering why Google is making a big deal out of Edvard Munch’s birthday on their home page? (the guy who painted “The Scream”)

Then I thought to myself hey that scream painting kind of reminds me of that Home Alone picture. So I decided to compare the two.

Then I was wondering if anybody else saw this similarity and sure enough there was a mention of it in Wikipedia.

Reproductions of this mask are now very popular and common masks in the real world. Child actor Macaulay Culkin's pose in front of the mirror, in Home Alone by Chris Columbus appears to be a homage to the work.

Then I decided to put this exciting thought process I just had on my blog site and share it with everybody lucky enough to see it.

Word Verification

2006-11-30T15:52:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or are these word verifications getting harder to read. (See samples below)
I’m thinking to myself now is that an N or an H is that a small q and what the heck is that etc. I know I have some problems with dyslexia and maybe this is the reason I’m having trouble. I was just wondering if anybody else has the same problem. It OK if you don’t… I can take it.

Anyway it did give me an idea for a new No Agenda Zone illustration

Another No Agenda Zone Enhanced News Story

2006-10-31T14:56:00.000-08:00

Mirror test suggests elephant self-aware
Tue, October 31, 2006
By AP WASHINGTON -- If you're Happy and you know it, pat your head.
That, in a peanut shell, is how a 34-year-old female Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo showed researchers that pachyderms can recognize themselves in a mirror. It's complex behaviour observed in only a few other species.
In a 2005 experiment, Happy faced her reflection in an 2 1/2 -by-2 1/2 -metre mirror and repeatedly used her trunk to touch an "X" painted above her eye. The elephant could not
have seen the mark except in her reflection. Furthermore, Happy ignored a similar mark, made on the opposite side of her head in paint of an identical smell and texture, that was invisible unless seen under black light
The test results suggest elephants are self-aware, or at least that Happy is. The ability to distinguish oneself from others had previously been shown only in humans, chimpanzees and, to a limited extent, dolphins.

Weeks later Happy seems to be really getting the hang of the mirror and its importance much to the chagrin of her mate.

Thanks a lot Krazy George

2006-10-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

The Wave Celebrates 25 years

Oakland, Calif. (AP) Krazy George, now 62, says he spent three years perfecting the Wave. He first pulled off the move — in which fans take turns, by section, standing up and waving their arms — on Oct. 15, 1981, at the Yankees-A's AL championship series game in the Coliseum. Washington, meanwhile, did it two weeks later, on Oct. 31.

I hate to sound like a party pooper but I think the wave is kind of a distraction when you are at a game. Of course if you don’t stand up with everybody else you are considered a stick in the mud. I also was wondering why it would take someone 3 years to perfect this thing.

Krazy George: “OK everybody NOW!! NO,NO,NO, NO, way too early lets try it again. NO, NO, NO way too late. OK everybody that’s all for today. I want everybody here bright and early tomorrow"

No Agenda Zone Enhanced News Story

2006-10-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

US casino magnate gives Picasso's 'Dream' the elbow

Picasso's famed "Dream" painting turned into a nightmare for Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn when he accidentally gave the multi-million dollar canvas an elbow.
Mr Wynn had just finalised a $US139 million ($A184 million) sale to another collector of his painting, called "Le Reve" (The Dream), when he poked a finger-sized hole in the artwork while showing it to friends at his Las Vegas office a couple of weeks ago.
Director and screenwriter Nora Ephron, who witnessed and related the incident in her blog on the Huffington Post website, said Mr Wynn had raised his hand to show the group something about Picasso's 1932 portrait of his mistress Marie-Therese Walter.
"At that moment, his elbow crashed backward right through the canvas. There was a terrible noise," Ms Ephron wrote, noting that Mr Wynn has retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disease that damages peripheral vision.
"Smack in the middle ... was a black hole the size of a silver dollar. 'Oh s...,' he said. 'Look what I've done. Thank goodness it was me.'"
-Reuters

6 Months Later

Restoration complete on Picasso’s “Dream” Painting

Picasso’s “Dream” Painting has now been restored thanks to Pierre de Pointe. “This little lady was in really bad shape as you can see” said the famous restorator “ I just couldn’t let her stay like that and I was honored to do it”

Those Crazy Census Bureau People

2006-10-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

It’s official: U.S. now at 300 million

Associated Press
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
WASHINGTON — America's official population passed the 300 million mark yesterday, fueled by a growing number of immigrants and their children. There were no fireworks or presidential proclamations. Census Bureau employees had cake and punch.

OK I don’t have the most exciting job in the world either but the way this article was worded kind of cracked me up. I mean can you imagine working for the Census Bureau
and you come home every day for 30 years and your spouse asks “did anything exciting happen at work today honey?” Then finally the day comes when the population reaches 300,000,000. I pictured the conversation going something like : “Yyou better believe it baby can’t you tell by the punch & cake stains all over me?” ”Man oh man what a crazy day!” “I can’t wait till 2043 when we hit 400,000,000”

This prompted another No Agenda Zone illustration showing the Census Bureau when this country hit 300,000,001

ROSIE FALLOUT

2006-10-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

I used to kind of like Rosie O'Donnell a while back when she first started her TV show but now I’m sorry but she is just so loud and irritating. So she is the latest subject of a No Agenda Zone illustration.

Here are a Couple of Achievements that will Improve Mankind.

2006-09-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

A US woman who has been growing her fingernails since 1979 has made the Guiness Book of Records. Mrs Redmond treats her nails daily with warm olive oil and nail hardener and says she can do most household chores without a problem, including shaving her husband.

Also making the new edition of the record book is 16-year-old Aaron Studham, from Massachussetts, who boasts a 53 cm high mohican.

I wish this was a fake news story but it’s not. The thing that struck me kind of strange about the nail lady is that she shaves her husband. I mean of all the tasks she could be doing she picks that one. I don’t know any wife that shaves her husband.

I was thinking maybe they struck up a deal that if she shaves her husband he will pick her nose.

Blogball Tries to Make a Point

2006-09-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

I realize there is an Election coming up in a little over a month but I’m getting so tired of the 911 blame game between the right & Left.

So I created this illustration below to make a point.

Jack LaLanne Turns 92

2006-09-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

My new goal in life is to try and outlive this guy

Trying to look cool but no cigar

2006-09-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or can we all agree that it's really difficult to look cool on one of these things.

My Daughter's Science Project

2006-09-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share my daughters science project.

Jut a quick observation: I had no idea that lipstick was so tough to get out.
But I guess that’s a good thing for a married guy not to know.

Soap Project

Problem:

Do all detergents work the same and get the same stains out? Which of these three detergents: “Arm and Hammer”, “Purex” and “All”, works better to get stains out ?

Hypothesis

I think that “All” would work the best because it is the most expensive of the three and I would assume that it had the best ingredients and quality. I think “Arm And Hammer” and “Purex” will do poorly because they are the least expensive and I would assume that they have lower quality soap.

Experiment

For my experiment, I used three pieces cut from a 100% cotton T-shirt. I stained each material with grass and dirt, lipstick and grape juice. First I put 1 cup of Arm and Hammer into my washing machine and set it for 2 minutes on warm/cool. When it was done, I noticed that none of the stains were totally gone, most of the grape juice was gone, none of the lipstick was gone and part of the grass stain was gone. I labeled my experiment and went on to the next detergent. Next, I used “Purex”. I did the same thing and when I took it out I didn’t really do anything. All of the stains were there and the only stain that looked a little lighter was the grape juice. Last I tried “All”. I used the same process as the other two and it turned out that the most expensive one did the worst. All of the stains looked about the same. My hypothesis was incorrect.

Conclusion

My hypothesis was wrong. “All” did the worst and it was the most expensive. Arm and Hammer did the best and it was the cheapest one of the three. I am very surprised with these results and I learned that advertisements and price aren’t really how you can tell if a brand is good or not.

My daughter was thinking about what stains she should use for this experiment. I jokingly said to her "Hey I have a great idea" which prompted the illustration below.

Call 911 IT"S A CONSPIRACY

2006-09-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

I am so tired of hearing all of these nutty 911 conspiracy theories floating around. Apparently there is this film called Loose Change on the Internet that has convinced a lot of people that the US Government orchestrated the whole thing. It’s not just a few individuals either. One statistic shows 15% of the population believes this!
Besides believing something so absurd how can you imagine that the government is so organized that they could plan something so extravagant and pull it off? Just ask anyone who has ever worked for the government. I know I have crabbed before about conspiracy theorist
but this one takes the cake.

Anyway I created this Illustration below to relieve my frustrations

Gee I just brought some paper and a couple of pencils

2006-09-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

This is a list of supplies my daughter had to bring on her first day of school (5th Grade)
I’m not kidding … I wish I were.

12 black ballpoint pens (no clicking pens)
12 red ballpoint pens (no clicking pens)
12 sharpened # 2 pencils (no mechanical pencils)
1 ruler- inches and centimeters
1 Protractor
1compass
1 pocket-type calculator
1 large eraser (Pink or Magic Rub)
1 box 24 crayons
1 box 12 colored pencils
1 box 8 classic color markers (broad line)
1 box 8 classic color markers (fine line)
1 pair Fiskars brand scissors
1 plastic pencil pouch for pens, pencils, and eraser (label with name)
2 glue sticks (1 large & 1 small)
1 bottle of white school glue (4 fl oz)
1 large package of multi-colored construction paper
1 realm white copy paper
1 paperback dictionary
1 oxford color paperback thesaurus
1 box tissue
1 roll paper towels
1 container of baby wipes
1 package of 81/2 x11” graph paper (4 squares per inch)
1 yellow vinyl folder (for social studies)
1 91/2 x 6” Five Star notebook for writing Journal (*note special size)
1 roll of correction tape (no liquid White- Out)
3 1” three-ring binders (Open Court, Writing & Grammar, and Music)
3 red three- hole fastener folders
2 packages of Avery Write-On Big Tab Reference Dividers (5 assorted colors)
1 yellow fluorescent hi-liter
3 packages of 8 ½ x 11” college ruled paper
1 small bottle of hand sanitizer
1 small stapler
1 box staples
1 clear 1 quart box with lid (for art supplies)
vinyl, 3-prong folder in each of the following colors: Red (2) Black Yellow, Blue, Purple
Book sox (1 for each text book)

NOTE: *Rolling backpacks may be no longer than 12” x 12” x12”

Blogball (1/2 Fake) News Story

2006-08-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

CBS slammed for slimming Couric in photo
CTV.ca News Staff

CBS is taking heat for slimming down a photo of its new prime-time anchor with digital effects, after a retouched photograph of Katie Couric appeared this week in a magazine distributed to CBS stations and American Airlines flights.

This image compares the original photo on the left, with the airbrushed photo on the right.

The photograph in the September issue of Watch! made Couric look about 20 pounds thinner. The original photo, taken in May and showing Couric at her real weight, had been circulated to the media as an official photo. To make matters worse CBS also released photos of Couric’s Anchor Competitors Charles Gibson and Brian Williams who appear on ABC and NBC respectively.

This image compares the original photo on the left, with the airbrushed photo on the right.

This image compares the original photo on the left, with the airbrushed photo on the right.

CBS Could not be reached for comment.

Blogball (Fake) News Story

2006-08-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

I walked in front of the mirror the other day and from my point of view it caught just the lower part of my body. I was sorry to admit it but my reflection kind of looked like those people they show on those fat TV news stories where they show the body and not the head. OK I admit that I have gained a little weight after I tied the knot but maybe just a pound or two a year. The problem is I’ve been married almost 17 years.

Anyway I was thinking if some attorney decided to represent all of these headless figures in a class action lawsuit it might look something like this ......

A Class Action Lawsuit has been filed for all the obese individuals that have been photographed without their permission.

The Complaint alleges that just not showing their faces is not good enough for the people that recognize themselves or are recognized by close friends and family.

Here are just some of the individuals that have stepped forward to participate in this lawsuit.

Nora Olson from St Paul Minnesota said “I just couldn’t believe how humiliated I felt.
I was watching this special on TV called Obesity is Killing America and there I was with my good friend Alice eating the new Nacho Crunch Stuffed Burrito from Taco Bell’

Rodger Johnson from Miami Florida said” I was looking at some news stories on line and I came across this article called Overweight Men and Impotency Is There a Connection? I did a double take when I saw a picture next to the article of guy that had a tie that looked just like the one my ex-wife gave me. Then I looked a little closer and sure enough that guy was me. I thought hard about participating in this lawsuit because I know I will hear it from by buddies at work’.

Margaret Roastberger from a northwest suburb of Boston says “I have been in therapy for 9 months now. I was relaxing watching TV and the news came on about how some of the airlines are thinking about charging extra for people that are 50 or more pounds overweight. I had just returned from a very strenuous business trip only to see a photo of me at the airport as I was about to board a plane back home to Boston. It’s bad enough when you think you might have to pay extra money for an airline ticket but now I have to put up with the thought that they used me as some sort of poster lady for fat travelers”.

Eileen Stovetop from Wichita Kansas says “Its Just not right. My best friend called me and said Hey Eileen I just saw you on the news! I had no idea what she was talking about until I watched the evening edition and they were doing a news piece called Obesity and Smoking Equals a Death Wish. They were showing all these heavy-set people but not their faces and there I was with my brand new shorts I just bought at Sears. My friends are still teasing me and that story ran 2 years ago".

Blogball Cartoon

2006-08-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

IT’S JUST A CAT

2006-08-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

I don’t usually buy the cat food but the other day we ran out so I had to run to the store to get some for our two cats. I couldn’t believe all the choices.
The list I put together below represents just a fraction of what’s out there.
Now to get the full effect you have to think about all the starving people all over the world.

Iams Less Active/Weight Control Formula
For lazy cats that just lay around. Like 99.9% of them

Iams Weight Control & Hairball Care
Wow you can kill two birds with one stone. “Grate deal!”

Iams Active Maturity (Senior) Hairball Care
For older cats that actually move (Probably to the litter box and back to the bed) with that hairball bonus built in.

Iams Active Maturity Formula
Exactly the same as the one above. We just don’t mention the hairball thing.

Iams Kitten Formula
Same as adult formula only all crunched up

Purina® Pro Plan® Senior 11+ Cat Indoor Care
For the older professional cat. Formula is way too advanced for the armature cat to understand and appreciate.

Science Diet Sensitive Skin For Adult Cats
For snobby cats that don’t like to be pet.

Science Diet Sensitive Stomach for Adult Cats
For cats that puke all over the place. Lots of fiber has been added to hopefully make it come out the other end.

Royal Canin® Intense Hairball
We are not talking your every day run of the mill hairballs here.

Royal Canin® Oral Sensitive 30™ Cat Food
For cats that don’t like to be talked to.

BLOGBALL QUICK THOUGHT

2006-08-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

I was paying some bills the other day and was just wondering why some of the account numbers I was putting in the memo section of my check were twice the size of the total population of the earth?

http://www.worsleyschool.net/socialarts/world/population.html

JUST SAY YES

2006-08-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

Please Note: The following post was written by a husband that has just recently completed a very trying bathroom project that has left him very frustrated at the moment. He has attempted many home improvement & repair projects during his 16 years of marriage. Some of these projects have ended in disaster and others have come out really nice.

*IF YOU ARE NOT EXTREMELY HANDY AND YOUR WIFE WANTS A HOME IMPROVEMENT OR REPAIR JOB DONE AND INSISTS ON CALLING A PROFESSIONAL “JUST SAY YES”

These jobs include:

1 Painting
2. Wall Papering ((Double Warning) Matching the pattern & getting rid of bubbles and seams to your wife’s satisfaction could result in instant divorce or homicide
3. Resurfacing anything
4. Hanging a door
5. Installing a built in appliance
6. Repairing a broken window
7. Repositioning anything that is hardwired or bolted to the ceiling or floor
9. Any job where you have to rent something that you have never used or driven before

*More scrutiny will be placed on your handy work than a professional’s because your wife gave in and let you do it. So even if you win the “discussion” by being able to attempt any of these projects listed above you have in reality already lost.
.

Should Have Nailed That 5th W

2006-08-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

Docs Remove 119 Nails From Woman's Stomach
By The Associated Pressposted: 01 July 200611:15 am ET

HANOI, Vietnam (AP)—Physicians removed 119 nails—many of them rusty—from a woman's stomach months after she apparently swallowed them, a doctor said.
The 43-year-old woman arrived Wednesday at Hospital No. 121 in the southern city of Can Tho City, complaining of a severe stomachache, Dr. Tran Van Nam said Friday.
"After having her stomach X-rayed and scanned, we found a stack of strange objects and decided to operate as soon as possible,'' he said.
During surgery, doctors removed 119 nails, each about 3 inches long. Many were rusty, indicating they could have been in her stomach for months, Nam said.
The woman's stomach was scratched by the nails, but she did not suffer any major injuries, he said.
"Her life is not at risk now, and she is recovering,'' Nam said, adding that the patient was expected to be discharged soon.

I remember in school we learned the importance of Who, What, Where, When & "WHY" when reporting a story. This newspaper reporter must have been absent the last day of class.

Was she trying to add a little iron to her diet?
Did she loose a bet?
Is the hardware store her favorite restaurant?
Was she going for 121 nails to try and match the name of the local hospital?
Was she getting ready to get hammered? (Sorry about that one)
Is she just plain nuts?

If no one knows why she swallowed the nails just say so! Also the reporter writes that “she apparently swallowed them”
I was trying to figure out how else they could have ended up in her stomach?

Blogball back in the saddle again.

2006-08-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Haven’t posted for a while. I guess I am just coming out of shock from turning 50.

Here’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to: Soon after turning 50 I kicked a ball as hard I could at a father daughter kickball game at her school. Unfortunately I only kicked the very top part of the ball resulting in a painful hamstring pull. I made believe it didn’t hurt and ran to first base with a swinging bunt single (Took 3 weeks to heal). Just recently I was at a hotel that had a water slide and my daughter said to me “hey dad try going down this way” (on your belly feet first) I did and jammed my foot at the bottom of the pool resulting in a bad ankle sprain. (Still healing) Other than that I still feel like I’m 49.

The Tortoise And The Camel

2005-12-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

I just turned 50 years old the other day. By the way thank you for the bd wishes si & Bryan. As I sat contemplating the age 50 and I was wondering how many living animals besides humans live this long. I knew about some birds and turtles living a long time but I was interested to see how many other living creatures get to live to my age so I looked it up.

As you see by the information below I would still be a young buck if I were a tortoise. On the other hand I would be ready to kick the bucket if I happened to be a camel.

The only thing this post proves is that people think about the dumbest things when they turn 50.

Cats and cetaceans (whales and dolphins) have lifespans in the 20-30 year range.
Large herbivores (cattle, horses, camels, deer) in the 30-50 year range.
Birds usually live 10-30 years, with parrots - particularly macaws - the notable exception, with lifespans ranging from 40-80 years.
Elephants have lifespans of 50-80 years. Blue Whales can live from 40 to 80 years.
Dogs live up to 25 years.
Tortoise’s live up to 150 years.

BLOGBALL FUN FACT

2005-11-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

Between 25% to 33% of the population sneeze when they are exposed to light

I was surprised this percentage was so high. When I walk out into the sunlight I many times sneeze. If there is someone with me I will ask if this also happens to him or her. Most of the time they look at me like I’m nuts.
For those who have not experienced a light activated sneeze you don’t know what you are missing. They feel great!

IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

2005-11-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

California votes on several Propositions on Tuesday.

Proposition 73 Amends California Constitution, defining and prohibiting abortion for unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor's parent/guardian, except in medical emergency or with parental waiver. Mandates reporting requirements. Authorizes monetary damages against physicians for violation..

A YES vote on this measure means:
The California Constitution would be changed to require that a physician notify, with certain exceptions, a parent or legal guardian of a pregnant minor at least 48 hours before performing an abortion.
A NO vote on this measure means:
Minors would continue to receive abortion services to the same extent as adults. Physicians performing abortions for minors would not be subject to notification requirements.

For crying out loud if my daughter fails a quiz or a test she has to have it sighed by my wife or me. Is it too much to ask a doctor to call a parent or guardian before he or she performs an abortion on a minor?

I try not to get too political on the No Agenda Zone but good grief.

Theory of Relativity

2005-11-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

Daughter: (After acting fresh) “Dad, mom says she’s going to throw all my Halloween candy away!!”
Me: “Well if you just be good I don’t think she will do that”
Daughter: “Dad, come on… I have known mom a lot longer than you have”
I laughed when she said that but then I thought to myself… Hey my daughter is right she has known my wife all of her life. (A lot longer than I have)

P.S. I was right she didn’t throw away the candy.

Blogball One Breath Blog (2nd in a series)

2005-11-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

The following blog is one sentence and must be read in one breath:

During sporting events I always like to listen to the Star Spangled Banner and wait for that big moment when they get to “land of the free” and wonder if they will sing the last part of the word “free” 20,000 octaves higher and then I take notice to how much applause this person will get during that pause before they finish the rest of the song.

Stupid Statements From the Right and Left

2005-08-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

This is why I now call myself an Independent.

STUPID STATEMENT FROM THE LEFT
(By Barbra Streisand)
“August 6, 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima. The Atomic Bomb, which decimated the Japanese city and its people, was never used in combat again. This day is also the anniversary of another "bomb" that was dropped 4 years ago, this time into the lap of President Bush in the form of a memo titled 'Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the US.' While on yet another extended vacation at his Crawford ranch, the President chose to neglect his duties as Commander in Chief by refusing to act decisively and immediately on this impending threat, leading to the worst terrorist attack in American history. These anniversaries remind us to learn from our past actions in order to ensure a safer more secure future”

STUPID STATEMENT FROM THE RIGHT
(By Pat Robertson)
Concerning Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez:
''You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,. ``We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.''

Leap Of Winding Faith

2005-07-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

I had a couple of people (all excited) come up to me and ask me if I had checked out the fact that one of the flight numbers from 9/11 when converted to the winding font makes an image of a plane flying into 2 towers along with what looks like a bomb and then a picture of a skull and the star of David. They went on and said. “Just put in flight number Q338NY and convert it to windings”

I said, “That doesn't sound like a flight number. Are you sure?” They were convinced without checking out the details. Details like, oh I don’t know, maybe checking into the real flight numbers.

As Unca commented on a previous post about conspiracy prone people: I guess this makes life more interesting.

At least it didn't include a picture of a grassy knoll.

Blogball One Breath Blog (1st in a series)

2005-07-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

The following blog is one sentence and must be read in one breath:

Have you ever been in a situation where you are getting a ride or carpooling with someone you know fairly well and then you find you are diving with Mr. Hyde behind the wheel and he announces that everybody is driving like idiots and then he starts to cuss and honk his horn at everybody and then you say something like “hey take it easy its not worth stressing yourself out like that “ but he doesn’t pay any attention to you and then he intentionally gets along side a guy at a red light so he can give the guy a dirty look and you try to slump down in your seat and you think to yourself is this guy always like this or does he think this is impressing me?

BLOGBALL THIS DAY IN HISTORY

2005-06-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

June 2nd 1865: AMERICAN CIVIL WAR ENDS

NOTE: I think the end of the Civil War was pretty much of a done deal several weeks before this. I believe June 2nd might be the official date of the last surrender.

Anyone that has done some reading or watched Ken Burns Documentary about the Civil War knows what an extraordinary event is US history this was.

I am always surprised when I hear how many casualties this war brought over the 4 years. I always heard growing up that more Americans died in the Civil war than in WW I and WW II combined. I remember thinking to myself “no way” Sure you have Americans dieing on both sides but when you think about the fact that there was no sophisticated weaponry, no airplanes, long-range missiles etc. this is still a staggering statistic to me.

Any way, I decided to look up the numbers and sure enough, according to the The American War Library website that is an accurate statement.

1917-1918 World War I
Total: 116,708

1941-1945 World War II
Total: 408,306

World War I & World War II Combined Total: 525,014

1861-1865 Civil War,
363,020 from the North
199,110 from the South

Total: 562,130

Here is more information on the very end of the Civil War (140 years ago today)

June 2nd 1865: Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, signs the surrender terms offered by Union negotiators. With Smith's surrender, the last Confederate army ceased to exist, bringing a formal end to the bloodiest four years in U.S. history.

When I was looking for more information on the end of the Civil war I came upon how the Surrender went between Grant and Lee (Several weeks earlier) described by General Horace Porter (One of Grant’s confidants)
This is a little lengthy but I think well worth the read:

"We entered, and found General Grant sitting at a marble-topped table in the center of the room, and Lee sitting beside a small oval table near the front window, in the corner opposite to the door by which we entered, and facing General Grant. We walked in softly and ranged ourselves quietly about the sides of the room, very much as people enter a sick-chamber when they expect to find the patient dangerously ill.
The contrast between the two commanders was striking, and could not fail to attract marked attention they sat ten feet apart facing each other. General Grant, then nearly forty-three years of age, was five feet eight inches in height, with shoulders slightly stooped. His hair and full beard were a nut-brown, without a trace of gray in them. He had on a single-breasted blouse, made of dark-blue flannel, unbuttoned in front, and showing a waistcoat underneath. He wore an ordinary pair of top-boots, with his trousers inside, and was without spurs. The boots and portions of his clothes were spattered with mud. He had no sword, and a pair of shoulder-straps was all there was about him to designate his rank. In fact, aside from these, his uniform was that of a private soldier.
Lee, on the other hand, was fully six feet in height, and quite erect for one of his age, for he was Grant's senior by sixteen years. His hair and full beard were silver-gray, and quite thick, except that the hair had become a little thin in the front. He wore a new uniform of Confederate gray, buttoned up to the throat, and at his side he carried a long sword of exceedingly fine workmanship, the hilt studded with jewels. His top-boots were comparatively new, and seemed to have on them some ornamental stitching of red silk. Like his uniform, they were singularly clean, and but little travel-stained. On the boots were handsome spurs, with large rowels. A felt hat, which in color matched pretty closely that of his uniform, and a pair of long buckskin gauntlets lay beside him on the table.
General Grant began the conversation by saying 'I met you once before, General Lee, while we were serving in Mexico, when you came over from General Scott's headquarters to visit Garland's brigade, to which I then belonged. I have always remembered your appearance, and I think I should have recognized you anywhere.'
'Yes,' replied General Lee, 'I know I met you on that occasion, and I have often thought of it and tried to recollect how you looked, but I have never been able to recall a single feature.'"
The two generals talked a bit more about Mexico and moved on to a discussion of the terms of the surrender when Lee asked Grant to commit the terms to paper:
"'Very well,' replied General Grant, 'I will write them out.' And calling for his manifold order-book, he opened it on the table before him and proceeded to write the terms. The leaves had been so prepared that three impressions of the writing were made. He wrote very rapidly, and did not pause until he had finished the sentence ending with 'officers appointed by me to receive them.' Then he looked toward Lee, and his eyes seemed to be resting on the handsome sword that hung at that officer's side. He said afterward that this set him to thinking that it would be an unnecessary humiliation to require officers to surrender their swords, and a great hardship to deprive them of their personal baggage and horses, and after a short pause he wrote the sentence: 'This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage.'
Grant handed the document to Lee. After reviewing it, Lee informed Grant that the Cavalry men and Artillery men in the Confederate Army owned their horses and asked that they keep them. Grant agreed and Lee wrote a letter formally accepting the surrender. Lee then made his exit:
"At a little before 4 o'clock General Lee shook hands with General Grant, bowed to the other officers, and with Colonel Marshall left the room. One after another we followed, and passed out to the porch. Lee signaled to his orderly to bring up his horse, and while the animal was being bridled the general stood on the lowest step and gazed sadly in the direction of the valley beyond where his army lay - now an army of prisoners. He smote his hands together a number of times in an absent sort of way; seemed not to see the group of Union officers in the yard who rose respectfully at his approach, and appeared unconscious of everything about him. All appreciated the sadness that overwhelmed him, and he had the personal sympathy of every one who beheld him at this supreme moment of trial. The approach of his horse seemed to recall him from his reverie, and he at once mounted. General Grant now stepped down from the porch, and, moving toward him, saluted him by raising his hat. He was followed in this act of courtesy by all our officers present; Lee raised his hat respectfully, and rode off to break the sad news to the brave fellows whom he had so long commanded."

Blogball Tribute

2005-05-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

With Memorial day coming up we sometimes (Including myself) look at this day as just another three day weekend.
I thought this poem was a good reminder of what it’s all about.

In Flanders Fields
John McCrae, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Here is some information on Flanders Field I found interesting:

Inspiration for the PoemOn 2 May, 1915, in the second week of fighting during the Second Battle of Ypres Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed by a German artillery shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae. It is believed that John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' that evening.

Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial lies on the southeast edge of the town of Waregem, Belgium. At this peaceful location rest 368 American military Dead, most of whom gave their lives in liberating Belgium in World War I.

Blogball Current Event

2005-05-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

When listening to and reading about the recent news events involving Newsweek and the Koran desecration in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld was quoted saying “I think it was Mark Twain who said Something that's not true can speed around the world three or four times in a matter of seconds … while truth is still trying to put their boots on”.
I have had other people qualify a quote by starting off with: “I think it was Mark Twain who said… and then kind of had a feeling that Mark Twain didn’t say it but it is a good name to use so the quote they are about to say would have more validity. Anyway I couldn’t find that quote anywhere. I even went to this great website called twainquotes.com and did a search. “Nothing” I know this does not compare to sloppy reporting plus he did say “I think” so he would be off the hook if MT really didn’t say this. I just thought it was ironic that it was said while talking about inaccurate reporting.

If anyone can find that quote please let me know. Maybe he really did say it.
If MT didn’t say it I am surprised the political machine hasn’t picked up on it.

I think it was Mark Twain who said… “If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything” Yes, he really did say that. I checked my sources.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Tall Buildings But Were Afraid To Ask

2005-05-15T23:52:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I always kept track of the tall buildings going up in the world and was always a little worried that another country was going to build one taller than us. (I guess I didn't have too much to worry about back then)

With all the talk about this new building going up in New York called the Freedom Tower, (Planned for a symbolic 1776 Ft tall) I was curious to see where the tallest buildings are now. I was surprised to see that the Empire State building now ranks 9th. I was also surprised to see that the Sears tower now ranks 4th. I guess I havent been keeping up with my buildings. Apparently there were two buildings (kind of like the twin towers) built in 1998 in Malaysia called the Petronas Towers. The Petonas are 33 Ft taller than the Sears Tower, which measures 1,450 Ft. Then in 2004 an even taller building was built in Taiwan called the Taipei 101.That building measures 1,670 Ft.

There is an official council that measures all the buildings in the world called the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
These guys take their buildings very seriously.

Here's the deal on how they measure buildings and how they rank them.
(This kind of reads like what team is getting into the NFL playoffs).

The height of a building is measured from the sidewalk level of the main entrance to the structural top of the building. This includes spires, but does not include television antennas, radio antennas, or flag poles. Height is listed in both meters and feet and is rounded to the nearest integer.

Ranking is determined by height to the structural top of the building. If there is a tie, the building with the larger number of stories is ranked higher. If a tie still remains, the building which was completed first is ranked higher. If a tie would still remain, the buildings would be ranked alphabetically.

Anyway it will be good to have the tallest building in the world back in the good ole USA. "One less thing to worry about".

Blogball’s Born On This Day In History

2005-05-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

Joseph Louis Barrow Born May 13 1914, better known in the boxing world as Joe Louis and nicknamed The Brown Bomber

Every time I read something or watch a special on Joe Louis I am always more impressed with Joe Louis’s character and class than his impressive boxing record. (Total Bouts: 71 Won: 68 Lost: 3 Drew: 0 KOs: 54) I guess he was best known for his 2 fights against Max Schmeling. During the Nazi up rise. He also served in the Army during WW2. As I was looking through more information on Joe Louis I saw this quote by a reporter named Jimmy Cannon he said, "Louis was a credit to his race ... the human race."

Here’s more on Joe Louis:
Boxer, born in Lafayette, Alabama, USA. His reign as heavyweight champion of 11 years and eight months is the longest in boxing history (1937–49). He turned professional in 1934 and won the heavyweight title in 1937 with a knockout of James J Braddock in the eighth round. He defended his title 25 times, a record for any weight division, and posted a career record of 68 wins, three losses, with 54 knockouts. He retired in 1949, but made a comeback in 1950. He lost the world title fight to Ezzard Charles (1921–75), and had his last fight against Rocky Marciano in 1951. Nicknamed, ‘The Brown Bomber’ he was a devastating puncher with either hand. His grace and seeming invincibility inspired African-Americans and won him fans throughout the world.

Here are some highlights from his memorable fights:

In one of his most memorable bouts, Louis took on light heavyweight champion Billy Conn on June 18, 1941 at the Polo Grounds in New York. Conn, a masterful boxer, was ahead on the scorecards after 12 rounds. But miraculously, Louis scored a 13th-round knockout to save his title. After the war, during which Conn served in the Navy, they met again and Louis scored an eighth-round knockout.
In 1947, Louis was dropped twice by Jersey Joe Walcott but managed to hang onto the title by a controversial split decision. The end was nearing for the great champion and shortly after he knocked Walcott out in a rematch, he announced his retirement.
In 1950, at the age of 36, Louis returned to the ring to challenge heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles but lost a 15-round decision. He fought nine more times over the next year, beating the likes of Lee Savold and Jimmy Bivins but announced his permanent retirement when Rocky Marciano knocked him out on October 26, 1951.

I thought this was interesting too:

A few years after his retirement, a movie about his life, The Joe Louis Story, was filmed in Hollywood. Louis remained a popular celebrity until his twilight years, when he began suffering various illnesses (Pugilistic Parkinson's syndrome) and ran out of money. In his later years, he got a job welcoming tourists to the Caesar's Palace hotel in Las Vegas, where many world boxing champions and legends from other walks of life, including old rival Max Schmeling, would visit him. In fact, they became close personal friends over the years, and the compassionate Schmeling would often send him money. They remained friends until his death, when Schmeling paid for the funeral and was one of the pallbearers.

Joe Louis died of a heart attack in 1981. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

I haven’t seen your child but he feels fine to me.

2005-05-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

I know I might be breaking the No Agenda Zone rules but
I think Political correctness might have gone a little too far here

This is a true story out of Colorado.

DENVER — A judge has cleared the way for a blind couple to open a day-care center in Colorado, saying the state's refusal to issue them a license violated the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Christine Hutchinson said she and her husband, Thomas, will move ahead with plans to open a facility, although they are worried they will be hounded by inspectors looking for problems.
If they stopped now, she said, "We felt it would be an injustice to the kids we fought so hard to care for."
Administrative-law Judge Matthew Norwood last week overturned a state decision denying the Hutchinsons a day-care license.
They would apparently be the first blind couple to operate a day care in Colorado, one of only a few states where courts have allowed blind people to run day cares, the couple's attorney, Scott LaBarre, said yesterday.
"It's yet another victory in a long string of victories for blind and disabled people, demonstrating to the public as well as our government that you can't discriminate solely on the basis of blindness," said LaBarre, who is also blind.
Liz McDonough, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, said the state has not decided whether to appeal.
The couple, who live in Grand Junction, worked at Thomas Hutchinson's sisters' day-care center until it closed down two years ago, then applied for a license to operate their own.
Both hold bachelor's degrees in child and family studies and have taken first-aid courses. Before applying for a license, they also bought safety devices to help them run a day care. Thomas Hutchinson has been blind from birth; Christine Hutchinson can perceive light.
Human Services denied them a license last year after Christine Hutchinson's doctor suggested her blindness could "adversely affect" children.
In his ruling, Norwood said the state could not deny the license based only on the couple's blindness, especially when the Hutchinsons have shown competence in caring for children.
He said the license would include restrictions the Hutchinsons would impose on themselves, including no children under 3, no more than four children at a time and no overnight stays

Blogball’s This Day In History

2005-05-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

May 11, 1997 Deep Blue beats Kasparov

I thought this was interesting.
This made me think that I hardly ever hear about big chess matches anymore. Back in the early 70s everybody was getting into chess because of those great matches between Fisher and Spassky . This was when the cold war was in full swing so it made the matches even more interesting. My father used to tell me that a computer could never beat the best chess player because a computer is only as good as the information you program into it. Then he would say “now if they could program a computer that can think and learn from it’s mistakes like man that would be a different story.”
When Deep Blue beat the best chess player in the world it probably generated a lot of excitement from a computer programmers point of view. For me it has taken a little romance out of the game.

May 11, 1997 Deep Blue beats Kasparov
IBM's supercomputer Deep Blue makes chess history by defeating Gary Kasparov, the chess champion widely regarded as the greatest who has ever lived. The Russian master conceded defeat after 19 moves in the sixth game of the tournament, losing the match 2.5 to 3.5. It was the first defeat of a reigning world champion by a machine in tournament play.
Big Blue, which can analyze 200 million chess moves a second, had met Kasparov once before, but the human had been able to hold his own against the computer. Before their second meeting, Kasparov had never lost a professional chess match.

This is a Conspiracy

2005-05-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

There have been times I will be in a conversation with someone that seems normal in every way and then the conversation will turn to some historical event or someone famous. Then this happens: The person says something like you know what REALLY happened don’t you? I am now talking to someone completely different from the person I started the conversation with. At this point I am hoping my cell phone will ring. Then I can excuse myself so I don’t have to nod my head and say stuff like well “yea that’s an interesting theory”. Or “yea I heard a lot of people believe that”. These people are really convinced about stuff like:

·The government is hiding the fact that there was a past civilization on mars.
·We never really landed on the moon it was all a Hollywood set
·Lady Di’s accident was all a set up and she was murdered.
·Space Shuttle was shot down by a laser

I have compiled a list of reasons why people might believe in unlikely conspiracies
I guess you might call this my conspiracy theory about conspiracy theorist

1.They were born with conspiracy DNA and can’t help it
2.They can’t face the fact that normal things happen to famous people.
3.They don’t believe in a higher source so they tend to believe in anything
4.Their parents constantly lied to them so now they don’t trust any form
of authority.
5.They were kicked in the head by a unicorn
6.The government has lied to us in the past so now everything the government
does is some kind of vicious plot against them.
7.Paranoia
8.All of the above
9.Everything they are saying is true and I am the most naive person in the world.

Blogball’s This Day in History

2005-05-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

I thought this was interesting because it was 51 years ago today that Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile. They used to make a big deal out of this when I was a kid but now all races are in meters so I guess it’s kind of a lost art now.

FIRST FOUR-MINUTE MILE:

May 6, 1954
In Oxford, England, 25-year-old medical student Roger Bannister cracks track and field's most notorious barrier: the four-minute mile. Bannister, who was running for the Amateur Athletic Association against his alma mater, Oxford University, won the mile race with a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.
For years, so many athletes had tried and failed to run a mile in less than four minutes that people made it out to be a physical impossibility. The world record for a mile was 4 minutes and 1.3 seconds, set by Gunder Hýgg of Sweden in 1945. Despite, or perhaps because of, the psychological mystique surrounding the four-minute barrier, several runners in the early 1950s dedicated themselves to being the first to cross into the three-minute zone.
Roger Bannister, born in Harrow, England, in 1929, was a top mile-runner while a student at the University of Oxford and at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London. In 1951 and 1953, he won British championships in the mile run. As he prepared himself for his first competitive race of the 1954 season, Bannister researched the mechanics of running and trained using new scientific methods he developed. On May 6, 1954, he came to the Iffley Road track in Oxford for the annual match between the Amateur Athletic Association and Oxford University. Conditions were far from ideal; it had been windy and raining. A considerable crosswind was blowing across the track as the mile race was set to begin.
At 6 p.m., the starting gun was fired. In a carefully planned race, Bannister was aided by Chris Brasher, a former Cambridge runner who acted as a pacemaker. For the first half-mile, Brasher led the field, with Bannister close behind, and then another runner took up the lead and reached the three-quarter-mile mark in 3 minutes 0.4 seconds, with Bannister at 3 minutes 0.7 seconds. Bannister took the lead with about 350 yards to go and passed an unofficial timekeeper at the 1,500-meter mark in 3 minutes 43 seconds, thus equaling the world's record for that distance. Thereafter, Bannister threw in all his reserves and broke the tape in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. As soon as the first part of his score was announced--"three minutes..."--the crowd erupted in pandemonium.
Bannister went on to win British and Empire championships in the mile run, and the European title in the 1,500-meter event in 1954. At the end of the year, Bannister retired from athletic competition to pursue his medical career full time and in 1955 recounted his experiences in the book The Four Minute Mile. He later earned a medical degree from Oxford and became a neurologist. In 1975, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
His world record in the mile did not stand long, and the record continued to be lowered with increasingly controlled climatic and surface conditions, more accurate timing devices, and improvements in training and running techniques. A "sub-four" is still a notable time, but top international runners now routinely accomplish the feat. Because a mile is not a metric measurement, it is not a regular track event nor featured in the Olympics. It continues, however, to be run by many top runners as a glamour event

Here’s some more stuff I found on the mile run

·The current world record in the mile is 3:43.13, set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco on July 7, 1999. The current women’s record is 4:12.56 by Svetlana Masterkova of Russia, set on August 14, 1996.

·The first American to break four minutes was the University of California’s Don Bowden, who ran 3:58.7 on June 1, 1957.

·The fastest mile by a high school runner is 3:53.43, by Alan Webb of Virginia on May 27, 2001.

·The word "mile" comes from the Latin "mille," meaning thousand. A mile was 1,000 Roman strides, a stride being two paces.

Bolgball Tidbits

2005-05-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

I am going to start posting little tidbits of information that I find interesting (I might be the only one) from the websites I have favorite placed over the years.
I am hoping this will keep me posting on a more regular basis. (Like maybe 5 times a year instead of 2)
Below is just a sample of excitement to come.

More than 70 percent of all bagel shops in the United States are found in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and California.

Now that's Exciting!

This one is in honor of George Molchan (Little Oscar) who passed away recently

The 2000 Oscar Mayer Wienermobile has a GMC W-series chassis and a 5700 VORTEC engine, which makes it the most powerful Wienermobile in the fleet. It measures 27 feet by 8 feet by 11 feet, or 55 hot dogs long, 18 hot dogs wide and 25 hot dogs high.

Blogball Fun Fact

2005-03-30T09:38:00.000-08:00

Lightning strikes men about seven times more often than it does women

Blogball Fun Fact

2005-03-22T14:09:00.000-08:00

The muscle that lets your eye blink is the fastest muscle in your body. It allows you to blink 5 times a second. On average, you blink 15 000 times a day. Women blink twice as much as men.

Did you do your homework?

2005-03-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

30 minutes of reading
Spelling, wb. p. 92
Math, wb. p. H7-8 and Review 1-10 Sciencedrill
test Thursday (Unit B, Chapter
Math test Thursday (Chapter 7)

This is my daughter’s 3rd grade homework assignment. All teachers (grades 1-8 ) are to post the homework for that day on the Internet.
I guess the days are gone when your mom or dad would ask you if you have any homework and you might say something like “no not really”. Now the parents check on line just to make sure. I’m not sure if I like this idea or not. I don’t know why but I just feel a little funny when my wife or myself double check and make sure my daughters homework statements are accurate. Or maybe I’m making too big of deal out of this.

Lock Your Doors Everybody Martha Stewart Is Out Of Jail

2005-03-03T23:56:00.000-08:00

I know this is the no agenda zone but I have to say something about Martha Stewart.
As everyone knows she was just released from prison. I just heard she will be under house arrest for 5 months and have to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to track her every move. Doesn’t this seem like a little much? Are they afraid she might break into someone’s house and start decorating without the owner’s approval? I am not a fan of Martha Stewart. I never watched her TV shows and I don’t shop at Kmart. I have also heard she is very hard to work with and is sometimes very nasty to her employees. Having said all this, is it just me or did this whole thing seem kind of like a witch-hunt?
I know she lied to the feds about a stock deal and of course should be punished for this. I just think a couple of years of community service plus a stiff fine with the money going to some charity would have made more sense. But who am I to Judge?

Another Fun Fact

2005-02-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven’t posted anything for a while. Here’s a fun fact to stall for more time.

A roach can live up to 9 days without its head

Fun Fact

2005-02-15T10:21:00.000-08:00

My Daughter was all exited when I picked her up from School because she found out that nothing rhymes with silver, nothing rhymes with purple and nothing rhymes with orange.I was thinking wow a chip off the old block she must have received my fun fact DNA. So that’s my fun fact for the week.

Valentines Day

2005-02-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

Well here it comes, Valentines Day
I have never met a married guy that looks forward to this day.

Some wife’s might say to their husbands “Oh honey don’t worry about getting me anything for Valentines day just being with you is enough for me”
Translation: You better get something even if it’s only one lousy red rose or you are dead meat.

I am very lucky. I am married to an honest woman. She says to me “honey you better get me something for Valentines day or you are dead meat” After all a man wants to know where he stands with his woman.

Every year is the same and I’m sure this year won’t be any different. It goes something like this:

I always wait until the very last minute for this joyous occasion. This means on the way home from work at 6:00 PM on the 14th of February. I don’t know why I do this, maybe it’s my way of protesting the whole thing. As I am driving to the local Hallmark store I am plotting my strategy. OK I will get a card and then hop over to the store across the street to buy her that thing she likes. Bing Bang then I’m home sweet home. (Of course deep down I know it will never go that smooth)
As I enter the store I see the Hallmark store is in a frenzy with my last second card buyer fraternity brothers bumping into each other in a six square foot card section area that says FOR WIFE.
Before I entered the store I was thinking that I might get her a humorous card but not really that silly just something simple to show my love to her with a little sense of humor to it. As I survey the situation I downsize my ambitions to a card that says wife and love somewhere on it and it is in English.
As I look through the few remaining cards I am reading phrases like
.
“Baby, I Love you so much, I can just lose control”
(As you get older this might not be such a good thing)

Here is an original one: “You are my soul mate forever”

One year I remember reading something like: “You have peeled away the calloused layers of emotion, which I have built up over the years”

Here is one of my favorites: “Your love has set me free” (No comment)

How about this one: “Our many years together speaks for itself” (I’m thinking to myself then why am I buying this stupid card)

I really love my wife allot but I can never really relate to these cards. Does a married person actually write these things? It’s now almost 7:00 PM so I settle for a card I don’t like but at least I don’t hate. Now I have run accrossthe street to pick up that gift she probably won't like.

I arrive home and of course my wife is on to me by now. “Why are you so late?”
Translation: I know you waited till an hour ago to buy something for me.
I’m thinking at least I’m not in the dead meat category.

There actually is one day I do look forward to every year and that’s, February 15.

Blogball Fun fact of the day

2005-02-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

Dogs and humans are the only animals with prostates.

Sponge Bob Dress Pants

2005-01-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

Help keep diversity a wellspring of strength and make America a better place for all, I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own.

I always knew Sponge Bob was gay.

No Agenda Zone Interesting Fact:

2005-01-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

A dog was killed by a meteor at Nakhla, Egypt, in 1911. The unlucky canine is the only creature known to have been killed by a meteor.

No Agenda Zone Frustration Alert ...

2005-01-03T14:02:00.000-08:00

When did we start to track and keep score of each counties response and contributions during a natural disaster and then turn it into a political horse race?

2005-01-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

The Perfect President (With a little help from Picture It)
Is Everbody Happy Now?

THIS JUST IN...
President Burry has united the red and blue states!
Owes it all to going wind surfing with his cowboy boots on.