Phillip Toledano: days with my father

Not everyone has a father they love and admire as much as Phillip Toledano did his, but most of us can still appreciate the bond between these two men and the beauty of the images and the prose found in the photo essay days with my father. I was moved to tears.

Swollen Knees

Revenge!

Bathroom Poem for Those of Us With Septic Tanks

Those of us with septic tanks,
Would like to give a word of thanks,
For putting nothing in the pot,
That isn't guaranteed to rot.
Kleenex is bad, cigarettes too,
Feminine products are taboo,
No hair combings please - use the basket.
There's a very good reason why we ask it.
With your kind cooperation
We'll keep our tank in operation!
--Author Unknown

Actually, these are good rules to follow for any septic or sewer system.

Snapdragon Time

I just wanted you to know I have entered the snapdragon part of my life.


part of me has snapped ...

and the rest of me is draggin'

The Real Meaning of Courage

What's the meaning of courage?

Is it to fight a bull in a bullring?

Is it to drive a formula 1 car?

Is it to fly a fighter into combat?

Is it to practice free fall parachuting?

Is it bungee jumping or white water rafting?

Is it to gamble your salary on a coin toss?

Is it to insult the doorman in a bar?

Is it to insult your boss?
Bullsh!t.....that's nothin'.


THIS is COURAGE!!!

An Atheist in the Woods

An atheist was walking through the woods.

'What majestic trees!’
'What powerful rivers!’
'What beautiful animals!’
he said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.

He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him.



He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder & saw that the bear was closing in on him.

He looked over his shoulder again, & the bear was even closer.
He tripped & fell on the ground.

He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw & raising his right paw to strike him...



At that instant the Atheist cried out,
'Oh my God!'

Time stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky.

'You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident.'

'Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament?’
‘Am I to count you as a believer?’

The atheist looked directly into the light, 'It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian?’

'Very well,' said the voice.

The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head & spoke:



'Lord, bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen.'

Monkey Business

Once upon a time a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.



The villagers, knowing there were many monkeys, went to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.
He then announced that he would buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the villagers efforts and they started catching monkeys again.
Soon the supply diminished and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!



The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf.
The assistant told the villagers, "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that my boss has already collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when my boss returns, you can sell them to him for $50."

The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys.

They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of monkeys!



Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works !!!

It doesn't get much clearer than this....


Now imagine transactions involving millions of monkeys, with villagers borrowing money at high interest to the point of risking all they owned and creating huge debt for their children and grandchildren, and you will have a better understanding of why the stock market losses are so devastating.

The Book of Negroes

I finished The Book of Negroes two days ago. It is a very good read, all about slavery and man's inhumanity to man, as you might expect. But what was especially interesting to me was the emphasis on Black Loyalists and how they were treated by the Brits. The only flaw that I noticed, and felt quite keenly, was that all whites are portrayed as awful human beings while all blacks are not--just some of the blacks are, and most of those have excuses made for them--they had to do what they did to survive. All whites are portrayed as weak or evil or pathetic. Even the abolitionists are described unfavorably. So that put me off a bit. Otherwise it is a fascinating work of historical fiction, obviously quite well-researched by the author.

The CBC has a good interview with the author, Lawrence Hill, here, in which he discusses various aspects of his book and how it relates to Canadian history.

Martin Luther King Jr.: "I Have A Dream"

Remembering Dr. King today, the holiday commemorating his birthday.



August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial

Winter Poem

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WINTER POEM

It's winter in Northern Ontario
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Northern Ontario
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Northern Ontario
I'm frozen to the freakin' ground!

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Poor Frosty

An oldie but goodie, this makes me smile every time I see it. (Click to enlarge)