Silent Volcano

Lava cascades down the slopes of the Mayon volcano during its continuing 'quiet eruption' south of Manila August 5, 2006. The Mayon volcano, the most active in the Philippines, has been erupting slowly, putting at risk the thousands of villagers around its slopes.
As anyone who's ever spent any time around my Daddy knows, silent eruptions can be just as dangerous as any other.

It's a site that has all kinds of interesting money stories (OK, some aren't that interesting) and oddities. But anyway, the coin above this blog's title is a 2-cent coin the U.S. government issued from 1864-1873. I wish I had one of these, so I could literally put my two cents in sometimes.


The pirate and other dude are "hobo nickels," and the messed-up looking nickels and pennies are mint errors. They used peppermint instead of spearmint. Blahahahahahahaha (to quote Crazy B).

Mel is swell, but stupid

I like Mel Gibson. In fact, I think he's one of those celebrities who gets sexier as he ages, like Sean Connery, Tom Selleck, Pierce Brosnan, and Don Rickles. I know you've all been waiting impatiently to hear my thoughts on his recent DUI arrest. Well, the wait is over.

I think it's very unfortunate, for many reasons. First, he should have his drinking habits under control. Carousing in a bar with young women (and he's very married, with what, about seven kids?) was just stupid.

Second, he should've called a cab. Heck, the man's a multi-millionaire; he could've had a limo waiting outside for him. Stupid.

Third, he shouldn't have been such a smart-alec during the arrest. He was wrong, he knew he was wrong, and he should've known that everything he said would be printed in a newspaper the next day. Stupid.

Fourth, and most importantly, after proclaiming so publicly his Christian faith, Mel should've realized that there were skeptics all over the world just waiting for him to do something wrong so they can put down Christianity. I know he's human and therefore makes mistakes, but when you put yourself in the public eye you have to be more mindful of what you do, especially in public. Piling stupid mistake on top of stupid mistake? Stupid.

All that being said, I found a funny (but not G-rated) web page relating to Mel's arrest.

Did you know his full name is Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson? I didn't either.

Now that's fresh

Look closely...

Pool season over yet?

Summer's Over

Click on the picture to get a better look. It's a sunset near a Guatemalan volcano.

Blue Necks

I found this at a redneck website...

YOU JUST MIGHT BE A BLUE NECK IF...

...Instead of referring to two or more people as "Y'all," you call them "you guys," even if both of them are women.

...You think barbecue is a verb meaning "to cook outside."

...You think Heinz Ketchup is really SPICY.

...You would never stop to buy something somebody was cooking on the side of the road. (e.g., boiled peanuts, not road kill, Dummy!)

...You don't have any problems pronouncing "Worcestershire sauce" correctly.

...For breakfast, you would prefer potatoes-au-gratin to grits.

...You don't know what a moon pie is. You have probably never watched a moon pie in a microwave.

...You've never had an RC Cola.

...You've never, ever eaten okra -- fried, boiled, or pickled.

...You eat fried chicken with a knife and fork.

...You have no idea what a polecat is.

..You don't see anything wrong with putting a sweater on your dog.

...You would rather have your son become a lawyer than grow up to get his own TV fishing show.

...You drink either "Pop" or "Soda"- instead of "Cokes."

...You have never planned your summer vacation around a gun-'n-knife show.

.. You have never been hep'd.

...You think more money should go to important scientific research at your university than to pay the salary of the head football coach

...You have never gone to a family reunion to pick up women.

...You don't even have one can of WD-40 somewhere around the house.

...You couldn't find the eye of the stove if your life depended on it.

...You don't have any hats in your closet that advertise feed stores.

..You have more than one professional sports team in your home state.

..You call binoculars opera glasses.

...You can't spit out the car window without pulling over to the side of the road and stopping.

...You can't spit without opening your mouth.

...You don't know anyone with at least two first names (i.e., Joe Bob, Faye Ellen, Billy Ray, Mary Jo, Bubba Dean, Joe Dan, Mary Alice)

...You don't know any women with male names (i.e., Tommie, Bobbie, Freddie, Johnnie, Jimmie, Ricki)

...You don't have Maw-maw's, Me-maws, Pawpaw's or Pappaw's.

...You get freaked out when people on the subway talk to you.

...None of your fur coats are homemade.

Parrot Flower

What would Keanu say if he saw this?

Coats. Soothes. Refreshes.

Suffering from upset stomach, yet craving a cool treat? Perhaps you should whip up some Pepto Bismol ice cream. Follow the link for the recipe (and explanation of why the creator made some in the first place).
One word: ewww.

Can you see it?

The hidden picture within this picture, that is. Leave a comment to tell me what you see.

Orchids

One of the world's most magnificent flowers, orchids are grown in every climate except deserts and Antarctica.
Did you know that vanilla (see below) is an orchid? It's the only variety of orchid cultivated for a use other than beauty. FYI, the Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest user of vanilla as a flavoring.

Looky here for much, much more about orchids. (I love Wikipedia!)

BLOG UNDER RENOVATION

I logged on to post a notice that (duh) I hadn't had any time for blogging lately. I wind up tinkering with the template but only get started fixing it up when (duh) I ran out of time and had to log off again.
Sometimes I confuse me. Could I be ADD?

Penguin Poop!

Penguins are cute, but I had a professor in college who'd done some research in Antarctica, and he said that penguin colonies are the noisiest, smelliest places in the world.

Eat a fig, go to hell

Whoah. What happened to make this person so all-fired adamantly opposed to figs? Did he fall out of a fig tree as a child and bonk his noggin, leaving him permanently disfigured? Did his daddy beat him with a fig branch? Did his Aunt Gertrude choke on a fig and croak in the middle of Sunday dinner? Does his family own a date-processing company, and therefore see figs as their main competition in the chewy dried fruit market? Go to godhatesfigs.com to see if you can "fig"ure it out!

By the way, here is a quiz to let you know if you are a little too obsessed with figs. If so, you are not alone. Some people are so fig-centric they even post about them in their blogs! Losers!
By the way, did I mention that I have fresh figs and fig preserves for sale? I also specialize in gourmet fig desserts, such as fig brownies, fig bars, and even fig-cherry cheesecake (product in development). Figalicious!

Home Security System

How to set up your Southern Home Security System
1. Go to a second-hand store and buy a pair of men’s used size 14-16 work boots.

2. Place them on your front porch, along with a copy of Guns and Ammo and your NRA magazines.

3. Put a giant dog dish next to the boots and magazine.

4. Leave a note on your door that reads:

“Hey Bubba - Big Mike, Slim, Tiny and I went for more ammunition. Back in an hour. Don’t mess with the pitbulls. They attacked the mailman this morning and messed him up pretty bad. I don’t think Killer took part in it but I locked all four of them in the house. Better wait outside.”

Star Trek vs. Star Wars

Ha!

Yo-yo dance

Check out this video of a guy doing yo-yo tricks. I wonder how many times he whacked himself in the head while practicing this routine? My favorite part is the sounds the audience makes.

Click here to get more information than you ever knew there was about yo-yos. For example, did you know that the name yo-yo is believed to have derived from Tagalog and translates as "come-come"? In reality, however, yo-yo is not a Tagalog word (the word for "come" is halika). It is possible that the term came from another Philippine language. The term was first published in a dictionary of Filipino words printed in 1860. I could go on and on. Personally, I like "yo-yo" a lot better than "halika-halilka." Don't you?

By the way, the yo-yo pictured above is on sale! It was $199.99, but if you act now you can get it for only $134.99. Seriously.

Superman

I don't know about you, but I'm excited about seeing "Superman Returns." It looks really good to me.

Bet you didn’t know this about Superman:

He started as a bald villain! One of the all-time greatest good-guy superheroes actually began life as a big, bad bald guy bent on world domination! Comic creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first drew him as a villain in a January 1933 story called "The Reign of the Super-Man," which appeared in an issue of their comic fanzine Science Fiction. It bombed, so they reimagined him as a superhero.

Forty Things You Don’t Know about Superman

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
You may have noticed a few changes on this page, but just wait till you see the changes I've made in the house this week. Guess what I've done?

HA!

I love Maxine

I know there are a lot of "Maxine" e-mails floating around, but some are cheap imitations. You can usually tell by the different font style or the use of blatant profanity (Maxine doesn't need to drop the F-bomb to get the point across).

Here's a link to "Crabby Road," the daily online Maxine comic, and at this site over here you will find more Maxine than you can shake a stick at.



What are some of your favorite Maxine lines?

Monday Memories

Ok, I know it's Tuesday, but let's not quibble...

I'm posting this after seeing the idea on Don't Try This At Home, a blog I ran across recently. Thanks for the idea, Chilihead.

Here's a memory for ya...

When we were dating, my (now) husband and I were in college together. We met up in the quad one day between classes (how typical), and when he saw me he jumped onto a bench and loudly said, "Penny's my girl, of that I'm proud. I'll stand on a bench and shout it out loud!"

So cheesy. So silly. So Kirk.

Bluegrass "Jump"

Naughty girl!

I ain't judgin', but you aught to read this article about Heather Mills McCartney's "colorful past."

What do you see?

ancient prediction

We know he loved Van Halen...

An update on Casey Sheehan:
On 25 May 2006, a headstone was finally placed at Casey's grave, one described thusly by the Vacaville Reporter: "The elegant marble slab is thick and emblazoned with a cross and delicate thickets of trees on both sides."

"Our Casey," reads an inscription on the front. "Ever faithful, kind, and gentle, good son, beloved brother, brave soldier, dear friend, you loved your family and lived your life serving others to the end." Six icons grace the other side, representing a military insignia, the theater, Eagle Scouts, Van Halen, the World Wrestling Federation and Superman.

That same publication also contacted Cindy Sheehan via e-mail for her comments on the placement of the headstone. Sheehan said she had paid for the tombstone herself and was part of a family effort to put it up, even though its installation saddened her.

"It is important for the rest of Casey's family to have one," she wrote. "I guess the pain of seeing it etched in marble that he is dead is another pain I will have to deal with."

The headstone was very expensive, Sheehan wrote. She said that the government should have paid for it because of its responsibility for his death.

Ha!

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

"When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."

Have you read the book?

Have you seen the movie?


You should.
Some quotes from C.S. Lewis:
"Human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and can't really get rid of it."
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

Grave Matter

Despite all his mother Cindy's media-courting antics and attention-seeking stunts, Casey Sheehan's grave still has no headstone. Cindy has made up feeble excuses for why she hasn't had her war hero son's grave marked with a proper headstone, although the military would provide one free of charge if requested to do so. I would have thought she'd have a bronze statue of Casey erected on the site. The more I hear about Cindy Sheehan the more I believe she's nuts. To read more details, follow the above link. Oh, and she didn't pay all the funeral costs, either.

Oh, Viggo

Allow me a moment to talk about Viggo...this guy is deep. Did you know he is not only an actor, but also a painter, poet, writer, and avid equestrian? In fact, he purchased the horse he rode in the Lord of the Rings movies, and he also bought Arwen's horse and gave it to the stuntwoman who rode the horse in the movies. He also bought one of the "Hidalgo" horses. Cool.



"You don't have to make something that people call art. Living is an artistic activity, there is an art to getting through the day."
-Viggo Mortensen



"Be kind. It’s worthwhile to make an effort to learn about other people and figure out what you might have in common with them. If you allow yourself to be somewhat curious — and if you get into the habit of doing that—it’s the first step to being open minded… and realizing that your points of view aren’t totally opposite. I don’t think anyone’s are, in the end. It’s just a question of finding out by spending time with them or giving their ideas a chance to be considered." -Viggo again



Here is one of his poems:

Cuttings
The afterthought of chimes
filters in from next door.
I am under the echo, not
listening so much as noticing
it from time to time as
I look over the results
of my landscaping and
weeding from a white
wicker chair.

An errant vine has sprouted
two blue flowers
where it reaches
the base of the lemon tree.
They are beautiful;
I am suspicious.
Are they a diversion,
an entreaty to keep me
from cutting back the vine?
I'll keep the flowers,
put them in a saucer
by your bed.



OK!

Something's fishy about this

In Kenya someone caught a tuna with a verse from the Koran apparently spelled out in its scales. The verse translates as "God is the greatest of all providers."
When I look at the picture, it just looks like a regular old fish to me. I guess I am just not used to a language that looks like wavy lines. Just think of all the "messages" we've missed in the clouds, on pond scum, and in Kool-aid stains on my carpet. Somebody get me a translator!
On a similar note, I recently found some strange pieces of noodles in my soup that looked eerily like letters of the alphabet. In one spoonful, I found the cryptic message, "RVBA STLX," which means "Floss Daily" in Swahili. CREEPY!

Wish I was here...

Check out these beautiful photographs from all over the world.

Our pretty blue planet

You've gotta look at these satellite photos taken of our planet. No, seriously, go look at them now. The website shows them in much greater detail than I can on this page.

Beauty

If you want to see beauty, look at something and then look at it again.

J.R.R. Tolkien

It's a mirage

A stunningly convincing mirage appeared earlier this month off the Eastern coast of China.

Thousands of tourists and local residents witnessed a mirage of high clarity lasting for four hours off the shore of Penglai City in east China’s Shandong Province on Sunday.

Mists rising on the shore created an image of a city, with modern high-rise buildings, broad city streets and bustling cars as well as crowds of people all clearly visible.

Experts said that many mirages have been recorded in Penglai, on the tip of Shandong Peninsula, throughout history, which made it known as a dwelling place of the gods.

They explained that a mirage is formed when moisture in the air becomes warmer than the temperature of sea water, which refracts rays of sunlight to create reflections of the landscape in the sky.

Spooky!

Flat-D

Now we've seen everything.

A company called Flat-D Innovations, Inc. has invented dog thongs complete with charcoal filter to reduce the smell of dog farts.

But Rover isn't the only one who can benefit from the breakthroughs in the field of breaking wind. You, too, can own a fart filter. Available for men and women, in regular and thong-designed. Here are some actual customer testimonials...



“I had become a hermit after a very embarrassing experience I had happen to me. I avoided meetings and made my office off limits to everyone except my personal secretary. After using your product for a few weeks I realized that I would be able to let down the barriers and enjoy life again. I cannot ever thank you enough for how you’ve helped me.”

"What a wonderful product. I can fart and not really have to worry. Great."

"My husband is constantly stinking up the house. I always had to burn candles or spray air freshener to mask the smell. Thanks to your product, his gas smell is taken care of at the source. He was skeptical at first but when I threatened to divorce him if he did not try it, he did and has been happy with the results. Thanks Flat-D."

"It also does a nice job muffling the noise."

"I work very close to people as a computer trainer. Unfortunately I am lactose intolerant but I love my cheese. One day I had a grilled cheese sandwich at lunch, and I paid for it that afternoon. I quickly installed my Flat-D and it greatly reduced the smell and sound of my farts. In the past I was quite embarrassed by the smell and sound and I think the people who came to my classroom gave me poor ratings due to my internal problems. This has been a god-send product."

...And my favorite...

"I dont stink no more thanks to my flatty ds"

Also available: chair pads that will "effectively neutralize groin odor."

Click here to learn more than you ever wanted to know about pooting, from self-proclaimed "Flatulence Guru" Frank Morosky.

Circular Kitchen

Okay, this is way too cool. The circular kitchen rotates and even has a cover that closes around it to hide the whole thing. It has a storage capacity equivalent to that of a large conventional kitchen. You can have all the appliances necessary - refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, fully integrated coffee machine, ceramic cook top with 2 or 4 cook zones, a built-in microwave/oven-combination and a Range hood.
Go to the company's website to see more pictures and chose your own color scheme (I like the blue).

Rednecks

TOP 10 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU'RE USING A REDNECK'S COMPUTER...


10. The monitor is up on little blocks.
9. Outgoing faxes have toe-backy stains on them.
8. The six front keys have rotted out.
7. The extra RAM slots have Ford truck parts stored in them.
6. The numeric keypad only goes up to four.
5. Every password is "Bubba."
4. There's a gun rack mounted on the side of the computer.
3. There's a Skoal can used for your beverage coaster.
2. The keyboard is painted in camouflage.
1. The mouse is referred to as the "critter."

More redneck stuff here...

In a HP mood

Here's a website encompassing all things Potter.

Bed Books

A company has come out with books printed sideways so you don't have to struggle to find a comfortable position for your book while lying on your side.
I am not kidding.