When is it OK?

A picture is worth a thousand words. BUT nobody in my family and none of my friends are pregnant that I know of.

Life in SoCal

They start young in Southern California.

The first rule is that the sun shines wherever you are. 

The second rule involves breaking hearts. 

And never crawl when you can ride in a Barbie car.

The Value of a Toothless Smile?

Six months ago (more or less) she was an in-distress infant who had been subject to an emergency c-section and not quite four pounds body weight. My daughter/her aunt who took the photo, did not doctor the color of her eyes. 

Biting Water

It is possible to bite water (rather than merely to drink it). 

However, it takes practice and the imagination of a four year old.

How to Eat a Pancake

When confronted by a pancake, tear it to pieces. 

If they have "mouse ears", you eat the ears first.

Tell me what you want

Arizona Walk-About

Arizona is a nice place to walk about in the winter. You can do it in the summer, but the higher elevations are nicer. I'll be there for a few days scouting about. One of the places that I plan to go is Payson. I shot my first deer when I was seven years old up on the Mogollon Rim. The photo of this blogger with his scoped .22 rifle (right) was taken shortly after that incident. 

As a result of having lived in the area as a boy, I enjoy returning and re-living some of my own history through a different (much older) set of eyes.

In the winter, Payson gets a lot of snow. In the summer, it's high pine forrest with a few homes. One of the nice things about Arizona is its lack of patent land. Most of the State of Arizona is either Indian reservation or it belongs to the US Department of the interior and it's available for public use. Payson is located in the geographic center of Arizona.

I didn't expect it to snow in May.
Near Payson, AZ - 2 years ago.

Then there were expeditions to
wilderness areas near Payson.

In 1918 author Zane Grey made his first trip to the area surrounding Payson. He returned regularly through 1929, and purchased land near Tonto Creek, including 120 acres (0.49 km2) from Sampson Elam Boles under Myrtle Point. Grey wrote many books about the area that I read as a boy. When you read Grey's novels about cowboys, miners, gunfights and the old west, you will see a lot of Payson in your mind's eye.

The last of the great range wars in the old west took place near Young, Arizona (not far from Payson - in lower elevations). Ranchers each sent away for hired guns to enforce their rights and it ended in a series of bloody shoot-outs that were popularized by dime novels at the time and Hollywood movies much later in history.

I spent a cold night in the rig in the Hell's Gate Wilderness
not far from Payson. Memories of a different year on walk-about

Man of Steel (Movie Review)

I don't know how many Superman movies that I've seen. But I've seen a lot of them. When I was bored last night, I broke down, went to the theater, dropped $12 and viewed it.

The movie was worth the money primarily because I do like SciFi movies and BIG special effects. The film has both.

Russell Crowe (Jor El) did his usual memorable job of Academy Award acting. If you like Russell Crow, you'll like the movie. He's in a lot of it, not just in the beginning.

The beginning of the movie (before Krypton explodes) is my favorite, and by far the most interesting.

Antje Traue (Faora Ul) was smoking hot, and was a pleasure to watch on screen.

Don't trifle with the angry woman from Krypton

Michael Shannon (General Zod) is a good actor and showcased his talents in the film -- and did as good a job as possibly could have been done with that roll.

Henry Cavil (Superman) did a good job with the roll, which has been played by a long list of other Hollywood leading men. I remembered his role in the Showtime series, Henry VIII as I watched his portrayal of Superman.

It's not like previous Superman movies, while being true to the franchise. But it's a Sci Fi movie. If you don't like Sci Fi, you may not enjoy it as much as those who do.

Can Obama speak Chinese?

We all know that President Obama isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer and can't speak coherently without reading from his teleprompter. When he does, he says things that he handlers aren't comfortable with -- he goes off message and sounds even more like a goof. But WHAT IF the Chinese hacked his teleprompter? Would he simply speak Chinese?

I'm just asking the question.

Women Who Wear Leather

Medical research confirms that when a woman wears a leather dress, a man's heart beats quicker, his throat gets dry, he gets weak in the knees, and he thinks irrationally.

But did you ever wonder why?

It's because she smells like a new car...

Political Rhetoric

Sometimes it's difficult to sort out the rhetoric in American politics. Today, we know that the government records ALL of our telephone calls and e-mail -- and it's flattering that they also read this blog. Yet that is somehow NOT a violation of a fundamental right to privacy?

When you can't HEAR them...

My two year old grandson, feasts on rice-cakes.

My grandson, Cannon, is two and he's beyond adorable. He loves Buzz Lightyear, wrestling with anyone who is willing and sometimes, he's quiet. That's when things get interesting because if he's not asleep, he's up to something.

Barack's Ear.

"When you make peaceful protest impossible, 

you make violent revolution inevitable." 

-- John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

The recent disclosures that the Obama Administration essentially directed that all telephone calls on Verizon (which I use) and information stored the Apple Computer Network servers (e-mail) would be collected by the government is troubling.

From your mouth to Barack's ear.

Everyone knows that the government can listen in on your conversations or read your e-mail with cause and the specific approval by a judge in each case. In previous US Administrations that was how it went. Not so today. Even more troubling is the use to which the Obama Administration has put components of the government -- targeting his political opponents. The Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice and the National Security Agency have been tagged in the recent scandals that have rocked the nation.

Why are they doing this? Apparently to insure that the Democratic Party continues to rule, by intimidating people who may feel differently.

Passing Movie Memories

I don't consider myself to be a movie buff, but there are scenes that are iconic - to me and to a lot of people. Here are a few, submitted for your approval.

Some people are too high strung.

"I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle..."

http://youtu.be/olXilz8r4uU

"We'll come in low out of the rising sun. About a mile out we'll put on the music... how come all you guys sit on your helmets? --- So we don't get our balls blown off."

How lucky do you feel?

http://youtu.be/8Xjr2hnOHiM

Because some time you 'gotts to know'.

A Champion is Made

This is just cool.