Saturday, December 17, 2011

Happy Yuletide


Choosing the right size for the Yule log so it will burn the longest and hauling it into the place for the Yuletide fire is the most important item on the list of things to do this season as the days grow shorter and the nights are longer in their length as we approach the winter solstice.

A log that burns continuously throughout the holiday season brings good luck to those in that home who keep this tradition alive.




May your Yuletide celebration be merry and bright and may your fire stay lighted and warm throughout the holiday season.
~ Butch ~









Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Day!


Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Veteran's Day 2011


Hard Times


"Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears
while we all sup sorrow with the poor.
There's a song that will linger, for ever in our ears,
Oh, hard times come again no more." ~ Stephen Foster

Let us also, pause in our daily lives on 11-11-11 and remember this day for all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to their country and also for those who returned home to us as veterans. This is not a time of celebration but, a time for reflection and remembrance of whom were sacrificed in the name of war and peace. Let's remember those lives and their potential that was lost as well. Take a little time out and remember them and the living veterans for this is their day to be remembered.
Many thanks.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Hallowe'en! (Samhain)


Happy Hallowe'en!

and

Happy New Year! ( Samhain )

to all those of Celtic lineage.


Do watch out for all those wee spirits that will be out and about tonight.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

The One Percent Deriding The Occupy Wall Street Movement.


The 1% looking down on the 99% Occupy Wall Street Movement as they drink their champagne, snap pictures of them and generally make fun from the Wall Street Stock Exchange balcony during the first week or two of the protest.

The damage the banks and Wall Street has done to the middle class in this country has finally awakened the majority of these hard working folks who have lost their entire retirement funds and savings because of Wall Street and its questionable dealings.

The rich business owners have made huge profits at the expense of the working classes by destroying their benefits, laying them off and out-sourcing their jobs out of country where they can get workers for a fraction of the cost to work for them. They also continue to hold their earnings out of country so they will not be taxed in this country.

Those out of work folks who struggle looking for jobs, are lucky to find low paying work and end up working two and three low paying, part-time jobs without benefits. The owners profit not having to pay their health care.

Those unlucky to find any employment end up foreclosing on their homes because the banks will not refinance and end up grabbing back those same homes again making another profit.

Do we wonder why the people have had enough of this and are now occupying Wall Street? We have begged our representatives and senators to do something and nothing gets done. Do you wonder why? Republicans have been bought by the corporations supporting them 100%, so you will get no where with them and the democrats have been bought off by at least 80% by corporations, so there will be no changes coming from the Congress. The president has been acting like a republican for the past three years caving to them. Now it is campaign season so he needs to become a liberal again.Expect to her all the campaign rhetoric and the lies we heard the last time he campaigned. He will protect Social Security, Medicare / Medicaid and Veteran's benefits just like he promised before. But, you will recall it was President Obama who put these very items himself on the table to be negotiated way during the "debt ceiling" debacle. A democrat! Social Security should never have been put on the table in the first place as that came from our payroll taxes and was not his to touch and had nothing to do with the budget in the first place.

It is pathetic how both parties and this president have moved so far to the right one cannot recognize them anymore. There are no liberals left to represent any of us who are liberal.

This movement does not want the democrats to try and take them over for political purposes. They had three years to make a change and failed. Now, it is the people who are going to do the job for them and the republicans. Just watch them and see how it is done nonviolently. At least we can hope it stays this way. So far, the only violence has come from the white shirted police who have tried to provoke violence and have failed. Let's hope it stays this way.


Monday, September 5, 2011

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Happy July 4th !




Happy July 4th, 2011 !

It's time to celebrate and get out the BBQ with friends and have a great time! Here's hoping your holiday is a safe one.



Monday, June 13, 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Memorial Day May 30th, 2011


As we draw near to Memorial Day, it should be safe to say that no political leaning should claim to own this day by showing their patriotism more over another. Instead, let's concentrate on the lives that had been given for this country during war time regardless of their political leanings and thank them for giving the ultimate sacrifice to this country.




Memorial Day
May 30, 2011



Monday, April 11, 2011

Watch for Those Wonderful Road Signs to Keep You Amused.



This may be one of those signs one comes across in the United States where it pays to have English as your first language and that it can be taken many ways if one is in a creative state of mind. In my case, I envision a bunch of "no shouldered, mentally challenged" children running around in wild abandonment where we should be aware of running over them, playing on a dead end street. That was one of my scenarios. I fight the urge to hunt down that sign and magic marker it with the appropriate punctuation if it can be salvaged, forgetting syntax, etc. ( not saying I'm any scholar when it comes to grammar or syntax. Though, even it was hurting my eyes and brain. )

I suppose those entrusted in the art of sign making do not have to use punctuation to aid the reader in determining at a glance what the meaning of the sign is. Remember, we are supposed to be driving at the posted speed limit and reading this sign at the same time. As you can see, this sign has too many words on it and too many meanings can be drawn from it. ;-) One is supposed to be able to look at a sign in a second or so and understand what the sign means more than what it reads. This one takes time to read it requiring one to waste time with our eyes off the road and on the sign trying to figure out what in the world this person is trying to say.

How about this:

Dead End
No Shoulders

Caution
Slow Down
Kids at Play

If the two thoughts were separated on the sign it would make sense whilst traveling at what ever speed and the person would probably start slowing down on their own, in my opinion.


Some day I would love to meet the people would think up the wording for the signs and see if they also employ an editor to check their work as well. It must be a fun job with an huge responsibility to determine which way the arrow goes on a sign and the appropriate words that go underneath, such as, " turn right," or "left," which ever the case may be. One must make sure the arrow matches the words. ;-) I would imagine one must have to work in the sign department for at least five or more before advancing to the position where you are allowed to handle painting the commands on signs such as, " Do Not Enter." That commands a lot of power and is not for the weak to handle, I would imagine. I just cannot fathom how many years in the company a person must gain seniority to have painted the one above. ;-)

Enjoy your Spring where ever you live.

Butch

Sunday, February 6, 2011

A Flash Back To The Past.


Revisiting my senior year in high school, I saw this picture of a select few of us band members playing music at a pre-game pep rally. All of these "kids" will be, either 63 or 64 years old this year. I am the fellow playing the Sousaphone. This was the year 1965. Forty-six years later, my nephew is marching for the second year in the University of Michigan marching band playing the Sousaphone. I'm not sure if he is carrying on a tradition or if it is just a coincidence but, I would like to think that I had something to do with it. ;-)