Other

Although I was born and raised in Southern California - I sometimes feel affinity for the “Show Me” state of Missouri.  I’ve often gone ‘against the grain’ of traditional thought - to examine issues myself - and I don’t always agree with the common consensus.  In Judo, for example - I argue against the traditional form of Osoto-Gari.  Those reading my blog here might well be familiar with that example.

“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.” - Darwin

I had a wee bit of fun this Christmas… according to my Sister-in-Law, my 20 year old niece wanted a “Hair Straightener” for Christmas.  Now, being a guy; I had absolutely no clue what a “hair straightener” was, and had to be ‘edumacated’.

Being somewhat mischievous from time to time, I decided to play a little prank on my niece - so I purchased a red construction brick, a rubber mallet, and a box of matches.

I looked around for an appropriate box, set some styrofoam in it, and with a razor I carefully cut out areas for the brick, mallet, and box of matches to sit in.

Then I sat down to the computer, and created a “manual” for my “Redneck Hillbilly’s Home Care Hare Straitening Kit”.  Then, as all manuals seem to be - I ran over to Google and translated the manual into French, German, and Japanese.  I spent some time learning how to print this out in a ‘booklet’ form, and created a very nice little manual.
(Click Here to View the Manual).

It’s irritating to me to see that there are corporations that are bowing to the ‘politically correct’ theme of avoiding any reference to holidays that may be religious in nature.  To be specific, those stores that instruct their employees to not use the words “Merry Christmas”.

Here it is, today… in America we are ‘celebrating’ Boss’s Day.  And if you want to stay employed, you’d better be ‘celebrating’ it!

I’ve long thought that requiring a 2 or 3 year stint in the military branch of your choice would be an excellent way to instill discipline and educational opportunities for our countries’ young men & women.

I must confess that such an idea comes naturally to me - my father retired from the Navy, and I spent over a decade in the Marine Corps… so I have a very high regard for the opportunities that were afforded me by my service to my country.

Of course they do!  Flying objects that are unidentified – after all, is what “UFO” means… and there’s no-one who can deny that there are objects flying through the air that are unidentified.  Even Project Blue Book, U.S. Air Force - was forced to ‘admit’ that there were sightings that they could not identify.

I’ve so far resisted the allure of cell phone ownership.  Actually, I still can’t quite figure out why I’d want to pay for the privilege of having people call me anytime day or night.  (And pay for the call as well!)

James A. Michener might be a name familiar to those of you who like to read - he’s written many fine books, including ‘Sayonara’, ‘Hawaii’, and ‘Texas’ for examples…  But one book that I read long ago sticks in my mind.  (which, of course, is the goal of any good author!)