Steeples on top of churches on Sunday

Date:                                      Sunday, March 20th, 2011
Word of the day:                    largess(lar\ZHES;lar\JES); Generous giving (as of gifts of money), often accompanied by condescion; generosity; liaberality

Weight:                                  two hundred and twenty-four (224) pounds
Goal:                                      lose one hundred (100) pounds in one (1) year duration
Pounds to lose:                      ninety-two (92) pounds
Waist Size:                             forty-three (43) inches
Days until Royal Wedding:    forty (40) yikes, thirty-nine (39) will be the next number
Rowing Duration:                   fifty (50) minutes, twenty-nine (29) seconds

Well, I  encountered alot of difficulty on Cruella this morning, I developed a cramp in my leg which I was able to massage for a few minutes, the massage worked and I was able to go on with my exercise for a while longer, not my best workout but it certainly wasn't my worst workout either.

Happy Birthday to the memory of Wyatt Earp whose birthday it would have been today, sorry Wyatt, but I don't feel like singing, at the moment anyway.

The best I can say about today is that it is bright and sunny outside, the temperature needs to go the opposite way in order for things to warm up.  However, my sister, Yvonne, does not care about the temperature as she is leaving to go on a Caribeean cruise this Friday, lucky her!

The grabber of today's "In The News" has been all over the media lately, it reads:  Liver Kidney Donor Passes HIV to Organ Receipient.  The blurb goes on to report that the first transmission of HIV from a lung organ donor to a recipient in the United States (U.S.) since screening was implemented in 1985 has prompted a review of the current procedures and policies needed to prevent such an occurence.  In this case, the screening was properly conducted, however, the donor apparently contracted the virus in the days leading up to the surgery, after the testing had already been done.  The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that donors be tested no more than seven (7) days before the organs are removed and transplanted. 


Well, I am going to Church this morning so I am ending the post of today, yeah, I know, I'm working on it.


Topics coming soon:

Image by LZ Creations via Flickr

Politics
Gable and Lombard
Games

Sleeping in on Saturday

Date:                                                     Saturday, March 19th, 2011
Word of the Day:                                  quaff (KWOFF); to drink a beverage, especially an intoxicating one, copiously and with hearty enjoyment; to drink (a beverage) copiously and heartily; an act or instance of quaffing; a beverage quaffed

Weight:                                                 two hundred and twenty-four (224) pounds
Goal:                                                     lose one hundred (100) pounds in one (1) year duration
Pounds to lose:                                      ninety-two (92) too many
Waist Size:                                            forty-three (43) inches, yeah, sure!
Days until Royal Wedding:                    forty-one (41) days and soon Kate will be counting the hours
Rowing Duration:                                  fifty-five (55) minutes, zero (0) seconds

Ta-Da!  The weekend is here, I did sleep in this morning, thank goodness, (I have not been sleeping very well,) and Winter is melancholy, she is probably upset over Judy's departure.

I am trying to catch up on some chores that are very outstanding, I still have my income tax to complete, and I am behind in my social responsibilities, what can I say?  Not too much, clearly!

Did any of you know that in 2003, the United Kingdom (U.K.) officially recognized SIGN language as an an official language.  Yup, making use of space and involving movement of the hands, body, face, and head,  British Sign Language (BSL) is the preferred language of deaf people in the UK,  and those who communicate with them, such as, relatives and interpreters.  BSL has regional and local dialects, and some signs go in and out of fashion,  or evolve over time, just like spoken words.  Although English is the predominant spoken language in both the UK and United States (U.S.,)  BSL differs from American Sign Language in that it only has about sixty (60) percent similarity.

I think Valerie Harper was excellent as the character, Rhoda, when she (Miss Valerie,) was on The Mary Tyler Moore show.  After Rhoda (Valerie Harper) left The Mary Tyler Moore show to move back to New York City, I did not care very much for the Rhoda character.  You see, Rhoda, on her own,  was good in the half hour segment, but when Rhoda had to carry the entire show, it was way too much responsibility, that is why the show went belly up.

It is time now for all of us to get on with our weekend, I hope you have a good one.

Yes, I'm going to say it, BE SAFE!

Topics coming soon:

Politics
Gable and Lombard

Image via Wikipedia

Games

Finally Friday is here

Date:                                             Friday, March 18th, 2011
Word of the Day:                         truckle(TRUHK\uhl); to bend or yield obsequiously to the will of another; to act in a subservient manner

Weight:                                         two hundrd and twenty-four (224) pounds
Goal:                                             lose one hundred (100) pounds in one (1) year duration
Pounds to lose:                             ninety-two (92)
Waist Size:                                   forty-three (43) inches
Days until Royal Wedding:         forty-two (42) days
Rowing Duration:                        twenty-one (21) minutes, ten (10) seconds

Here it is Friday, the end of the work week and Judy is leaving us today to return to her home, yup, her brief  visit was even more brief than usual!!!!  The reason for this is that Judy goes to service at the church on both Saturday and Sunday, God Bless Her!


It seems to be on the mild side this morning, but the weather experts are saying that this nice feeling of Spring is not going to last, don't put away the scarves, gloves, and sweaters just yet, the weather is drastically going to go back to being cold, very cold.


Well I may just stop watching the television show "American Idol."  One of the participants, Karen Rodrigues, got booted off last night, after failing to catch enough votes to keep her on.  Miss Rodrigues has a fantastic voice, uses emotion when she sings,  and as far as I'm concerned, should have been on to the very end.  Karen Rodrigues surely is alot better than what's his name from a year ago!  What the heck are the celebrity judges keeping the save for?, they should have used it last night, don't you think so?

As you may have noticed, my brain seems to be also on Spring break, so I am again going to reveal to you, the grabber and the blurb from "In the News."  The grabber is secondhand smoke harms fetal development, which I'm sure will not be too much of a shock for anyone!  The following is the blurb that followed that amazing grabber:  Smoking during pregnancy is widely known to increase the risk of premature birth, low birth rate, and a range of serious birth defects, but the danger of secondhand smoke exposure during pregnancy receive less attention, despite the fact that it increases the risk of many of these complications as well.  Reseachers found that exposure to smoke at work or home increased the risk of stillbirth by twenty-three (23) percent and of having a baby with congenital defects by thirteen (13) percent.   Thus, it is important that expectant fathers who smoke either quit or only partake of cigarettes away from their pregnant partners.


Well you made it through the work week, if you are on March/Spring break, I hope you use the last of your time off wisely and in fun.


Remember to never drink and drive, it just isn't worth taking someone's life, is it?


Take care of yourselves and stay safe.


Topics coming soon:

Politics
Gable and Lombard
Games

Tittilating Thursday

Date:                                                    Thursday, March 17th, 2011
Word of the Day:                                 apposite (AP\uh\zit); being of striking appropriateness and relevance; very applicable; apt
Weight:                                                 two hundred and twenty-four (224) pounds
Goal:                                                     lose one hundred (100) pounds in one (1) year duration
Pounds to lose:                                     ninety-two (92) pounds
Waist Size:                                           forty-three (43) inches
Days until Royal Wedding:                  soon
Rowing Duration:                                 sixty (60) minutes, nine (9) seconds

Happy Saint Patricks on this perfectly beautiful day, plus add the fact that there is just one more work day and everyone should be on top of the world.  I am wearing green socks, green underwear and a green shirt as I am very much in the St. Patrick's Day mood, are you wearing the colour green today?

News in Japan is not so good, and it certainly is no holiday over there.  Japan is now flying helicopters over reactors dumping water on them in an effort to stop radiation from leaking out.

Prince William is now in Chirstchurch, New Zealand, in an effort to show support to the people affected by that horrendous earthquake, it seems that there are many countries having a difficult time of it these days.

My beautiful Winter has been coughing quite a bit lately, Zac and I took Winter to the vets wherein he said that Winter is in good health although he recommended that Winter should lose a few pounds.

It seems everyone I know is away on the March/Spring break.  I am a little down that I am not in Florida, I'm missing the kids, Sally, Jessie and Raphael, very much.

My sister Judy has come here for a visit, I'm hoping that she will stay for at least a couple of days, but one can never tell how long Judy's visit is going to be.

I slept in this morning as I'm sure the lateness of this post will indicate,  oh well, one does need to catch his sleep when one can.


Well, I'm off to get my breakfast, I know I haven't given alot for one to think about, that's how it goes some days, enjoy the day and stay safe.


Topics coming soon:

Politics
Gable and Lombard
Games

Warped Wednesday

Date:                                                         Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Word of the Day:                                      blandishment (BLAN\dish\muhnt); speech or action that tends to flatter or coax, entice, or persuade; allurement, often used in the plural

Weight:                                                    two hundred and twenty-four (224) pounds
Goal:                                                        lose one hundred (100) pounds in one (1) year duration
Pounds to lose:                                        ninety-two (92) pounds
Waist Size:                                              forty-three (43) inches
Days until Royal Wedding:                    forty-six (46) days and zero hours
Rowing Duration:                                   fifty-one (51) minutes, fourteen (14) seconds

It seems the big news everywhere is what is happening in Japan.   I'm sure engineers and scientists here are arguing over whether or not they should shut down the nuclear plant at Darlington, which is just outside of Toronto.

I remember in the seventies (70s) when the movie, "The China Syndrome" came out, anti-nuclear protests were held everywhere, I'm not sure if anything of consequence happened with the protestations, but I do know that ticket sales of the movie increased.  I remember, I saw the movie, "The China Syndrome" at the Odeon Hyland theatre.


My older sister, Yvonne, and her family, which includes her husband, daughter and grandson, are currently on a cruise in the Caribbian.  It seems my nephew, (my sister Yvonne's son,) gave his parents and sibling a cruise as a Christmas present.  It was very generous and thoughtful of my nephew to do this, too bad my nephew's Uncle, meaning me, couldn't go with them.


It is quite bizarre but I can remember the name of the theatre/cinema wherein I saw a movie, go ahead, name one, and I can name the theatre.

Since I do not have alot on my mind, I've decided to talk a little bit about Art today .   Now the subject of Art is quite extensive so I am just going to discuss Art in brevity, beginning first with the definition.

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.   Art encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings.  

The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics, and even disciplines such as history and psychology analyze its relationship with humans and generations.  Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery.  This conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".

The nature of art has been described by Wollheim as "one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture".  Art has been defined as a vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas, a means for exploring and appreciating formal elements for their own sake, and as mimesis or representation.   Leo Tolstoy identified art as a use of indirect means to communicate from one person to another.  Benedetto Croce and R.G. Collingwood advanced the idealist view that art expresses emotions, and that the work of art therefore essentially exists in the mind of the creator.

The theory of art as form has its roots in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and was developed in the early twentieth century by Roger Fry and Clive Bell.   Art as mimesis or representation has deep roots in the philosophy of Aristotle.   More recently, thinkers influenced by Martin Heidegger have interpreted art as the means by which a community develops for itself a medium for self-expression and interpretation. 

Art can describe several things: a study of creative skill, a process of using the creative skill, a product of the creative skill, or the audience's experience with the creative skill.   The creative arts (art as discipline) are a collection of disciplines (arts) that produce artworks (art as objects) that are compelled by a personal drive (art as activity) and echo or reflect a message, mood, or symbolism for the viewer to interpret (art as experience).  

Artworks can be defined by purposeful, creative interpretations of limitless concepts or ideas in order to communicate something to another person.   Artworks can be explicitly made for this purpose or interpreted on the basis of images or objects.  Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses.   Art is also an expression of an idea and it can take many different forms and serve many different purposes.  Although the application of scientific knowledge to derive a new scientific theory involves skill and results in the "creation" of something new, this represents science only and is not categorized as art.

Art can connote a sense of trained ability or mastery of a medium.   Art can also simply refer to the developed and efficient use of a language to convey meaning with immediacy and or depth. Art is an act of expressing feelings, thoughts, and observations.   There is an understanding that is reached with the material as a result of handling it, which facilitates one's thought processes.   A common view is that the epithet "art", particular in its elevated sense, requires a certain level of creative expertise by the artist, whether this be a demonstration of technical ability or an originality in stylistic approach such as in the plays of Shakespeare, or a combination of these two.  

Traditionally skill of execution was viewed as a quality inseparable from art and thus necessary for its success; for Leonardo da Vinci, art, neither more nor less than his other endeavors, was a manifestation of skill.

You can read more about Art by googling Art and then reading the Wikipedia's report of it.


Anyway, have a good day and as always, be safe in everything that you do.


Topics coming soon:

Politics
Gable and Lombard
Games

Tin gets recycled on Tuesday

Date:                                                   Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
Word of the Day:                                psuillanimous(pyoo\suh\LAN\uh\muhs); lacking in courage and resolution; contemptibly fearful;cowardly

Weight:                                              two hundred and twenty-four (224) pounds
Goal:                                                  lose one hundred (100) pounds in one (1) year duration
Pounds to lose:                                  ninety-two (92)
Waist Size:                                         forty-three (43) inches
Days until Royal Wedding:                forty-six (46)
Rowing Duration:                              sixty (60) minutes, nine (9) seconds

First off, it is the Ides of March and I want to tell all of you to be careful out there, ice is still slippery, there are still murderers and thieves out there and Brad what's-his-name chose the wrong lady on The Bachelor last night, at least I think so.

Last night was the first night that I tuned into the show "The Bachelor" and I think that the lady that Brad did not choose really loved him, and that the lady he did choose was just doing it to give her daughter a father, that's how I feel folks!

Here it is Tuesday and my sister Judy has not telephoned me yet, I'm really not surprised, Tuesday is Judy's day for doing her errands, what day is yours?

Well yesterday certainly turned out to be lovely, it was a good day to take one's dog to the park, naturally I didn't do what would have been good.  However, I suspect that in the not-so-distant future, we all can look forward to getting better, warmer, days, yes, it is time to clean out those closets and dresser drawers and get ready to replace those woolies with more appropriate wear.

Well, today's grabber of "In the News" read Depressed New Dads More Likely To Spank Kids.  A survey of of new dads in the United States (U.S.) found that those who were depressed were nearly four (4) times more likely to report spanking their children in the past month than those without symptons.  About forty (40) percent of depressed fathers said they had spanked their kids, compared to just thirteen (13) percent of fathers who were not depressed.  Researchers are particularly troubled by their findings because the children in the study were only one (1) year old.  At such a young age, children are more easily injured, and unlikely to understand why they are being harmed.  Well, I say to this, the parents understand and they should be shot!

The radiation leaking from the power plant in Japan is bad enough but now the stock market is reacting on a negative basis.  The nikei isn't doing well, so be careful with all of the dollars that you have invested, because of the ripple effect, a big drop in the market is expected.

The rock n roll hall of fame awarded new rock stars to the hall and Alice Cooper was there, snake in toll, glad I wasn't there, I suffer from ophidiophobia.

Remember to be safe out there today, you just never know where danger may be hiding.

Have a great day.

Topics coming soon:

Art
Politics
Gable and Lombard

Image via Wikipedia

Minding my own business on Monday

Date:                                                   Monday, March 14th, 2011
Word of the Day:                                epicene(EP\uh\seen)); having the characteristics of both sexes; effeminate; unmasculine;  sexless; neuter
Weight:                                               two hundred and twenty-four (224) pounds
Goal:                                                  lose one hundred 100) pounds in one (1) year duration
Pounds to lose:                                   ninety-two (92) pounds
Waist Size:                                        forty-three (43) inches
Days until Royal Wedding:                 forty-six (46) days
Rowing Duration:                                fifty-nine (59) minutes, six (6) seconds

The beginning of another work week, and I know I haven't had much to say lately, sorry, but there doesn't seem to be too much on my mind.  I am thinking quite alot of those poor people in Japan, that seems to be the most thing that is on my mind.

Today is supposed to be warmer, thank goodness for that.  I am so tired of the season of Winter and I wish I could take a Spring or March break.  I still have not heard anything about my kidney stones, it is the kidney stones that is preventing Zac and I from travelling to the South.

In my add-on "In The News" this morning, the grabber (headline) reads:  Elephants learn quickly to cooperate.  It was long thought that learning and cooperation were limited to primates, but it turns out that this is not the case .  In recent tests involving food rewards placed on a platform attached to a rope, elephants firgured out as quickly as chimpanzees that they could only recover the treats by working together.  When one (1)  elephant arrived at the testing site before its partner, it quickly learned to wait for its buddy before attempting the task.  Additionally, if only one of the elephants was able to reach its end of the rope, it would not bother to try pulling it at all,  recognizing that the task could not be completed without the simultaneous help of its partner.  I've always loved elephants, I was actually very upset when I watched one of the series in the digital video device (dvd) Planet Earth, it showed some lions attacking an elephant because of lack of food around for them.

There is now just seven (7) days away to the season of Spring arrives, it is amazing how much better people feel with the arrival of Spring, the days are longer, and hopefully, warmer, or they will be soon. I heard on the news that there is quite alot of people that suffer from seasonal affective disorder, also known as (aka) SAD, I know that I, too, get a little down during the long, grey months of Winter.

Amanda Knox is back in court today, Miss Knox is the American student currently in prison in Italy because she has been found guilty of murdering an english girl who was also a student in Italy.


Daniel Radcliffe, aka as Harry Potter, is hard at work being in the musical "How to Succeed in Business without really Trying," by all reports, the musical is alot of fun and the previews have been receiving standing ovations at each performance.  Mr. Radcliffe is scheduled to be in the musical for at least six (6) months, although Daniel Radcliffe will take some time off from the musical to promote the movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows," "Part Two (2)."

I am back to doing memory tests on my self, the one (1) memory test I do is I write out all of the States that make up the United States (U.S.,) well can you write out all of them?  I think I'm able to do this because I read alot, the book that I'm currently reading is a book on the movie "The Godfather," entitled "Everything you need to know about The Godfather,"  I am enjoying reading all of the anecdotes on the film "The Godfather."

It is now time for my breakfast, I hope you all have a good day.  Stay safe.

Topics coming soon:

Art
Politics

Image via Wikipedia

Gable and Lombard