Health care reform or bust!

Me, as a young Arizona republican, at the first health care reform rally ever (under FDR).

My Newest Hydroponics experiment

I posted this on my facebook page but thought I'd pass it around here as well. This basil is growing like gangbusters - and it's organic!

Two Reasons to drink Beer from a Glass

Here's looking at you!

I discovered an excellent beer in Austin Texas a couple of weeks ago while visiting my daughter and her family. It's Fireman's 4, a blond ale with a very mild, tart, flavor; very pleasant to my taste buds. However, I was drinking straight from the bottle, which I already knew was a no-no.

Why is it a No-no? The one reason I already knew was that the beer always tastes much better when drinking from a glass. If you doubt me, just try it, I am sure you will agree.

You see, when you drink beer, wine - or actually anything - from a glass your nose comes in to play; your sense of smell takes in the aroma which adds to the flavor when you take a mouthful of delicious beer. Your taste buds react with your sense of smell when drinking or eating , hopefully creating a pleasant taste sensation.

I knew a fellow in the navy who had no sense of smell. The poor bastard nearly poisoned himself several times because, without realizing, he would occasionally eat rotten food or drink spoiled milk, etc.. If there was no visual problem; mold, greenish meat, veggies that actually looked bad - he would generally ingest it. Luckily, he was married and his wife alerted him to most nasty uneatable things. The one benefit to his lack of smelling ability was that he stayed slender. Can you imagine? Ice cream tasting like just something cold - pizza tasting like crusty paste, prime rib tasting like lean, unflavored, hamburger meat, etc. I would rather be a taste-loving fatty!

In Austin I discovered reason number 2 to drink out of a glass: As I mentioned, I had been drinking beer from the bottle and, at the same time, munching on beer nuts. Jesus, I love beer nuts! You get that salty, sweet, roasted peanut flavor combination that is almost a sexual thing to me. I know - that's weird....

Anyhow, I swallowed a mouthful of chewed-up beer nuts then took in a big mouthful of that delicious beer. I always savor the beer in my mouth for a few seconds before I swallow to get more beer flavor satisfaction. This time, however, there was something soft, yet somehow crunchy feeling, in my mouth with the cool beer. I first thought it was a lone beer nut that escaped my usually thorough chewing and swallowing, but, as I moved the thing around the inside of my mouth with my tongue, I soon realized it was something other than a beer nut.

As it played out, the item in my mouth was a thoroughly drowned bee. I was quite sure that the bee did not enter the beer while I had been drinking it because - since I don't spend much time drinking a single beer - if it would had entered the bottle while I was drinking it would surely have still been alive. No, this bee came with the beer, all bottled up and totally dead, when it entered my unsuspecting mouth. I felt sure that being totally dead was a good thing since, if it would have still been alive, my tongue would probably have become much larger than the inside of my mouth. I don't even want to think about it...

So, anyhow, when you drink beer - drink it from a glass - preferably a clear glass so you don't have to worry about swallowing something weird or even dangerous like a scorpion or black widow.

Will I drink Fireman's beer again? Yes, it is a wonderful tasting beer - but, next time, I will do it properly.

Cutting root propagation

This is the easiest, fastest and most convenient way to clone plants from cuttings.




More to come....

A good Role Model?

Should celebrities be our children’s role models?
In his 1991 biography, A View From Above, basketball great Wilt Chamberlain wrote that he had had sex with approximately 20,000 women. "At my age," he wrote, "that equals out to having sex with 1.2 women a day, every day since I was fifteen years old." A record of which one can be proud? Lucky for him it all was done in the pre-AIDS, era.

French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane was banned for three games after head-butting Italian player Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final. Zidane claimed that Materazzi had been tugging on his jersey during the game so he told him, “If you wait, I’ll give you the shirt after the game.” After the head-butt he claimed that Materazzi then insulted his mother and his sister. Despite the head-butt penalty, Zidand was still awarded the Golden Ball for that competition. According to Wikipedia, over a year after the incident, Materazzi confirmed that his precise words to Zidane were: "I prefer the whore that is your sister." He also claimed that he didn’t realize that Zidane actually had a sister…. Would you want either of these accomplished idiots to be your kid’s role model?

James Harrison punches Aaron Francisco during Super Bowl 43: His proud fans gave him a standing ovation for a record-breaking 100 yard run-back touchdown but, later in the game, Harrison vents his frustration - for which receives a personal foul penalty plus much criticism - by multi-punching Arizona Cardinal Aaron Francisco. What a guy!

Michael Phelps was photographed taking a bong hit. Oops!

Snoop Dog appears seems to love hanging out with the “Girls Gone Wild”- college or otherwise. Setting another fine example….

Trust me, there are many more: Barry Bonds, Roger Clements, Michael Vick, and on and on. The truth is, having talent has nothing to do with being a decent human being. A good swimmer, football, soccer, baseball player, etc., may be very accomplished but possibly meaner than a Tasmanian devil and/or dumber than a rock! Are they good role models? Not in my world!

Don’t get me wrong; there are many accomplished, celebrities and perhaps even our relatives, friends or neighbors that would serve as exceptional role models - folks like Jay Buhner, Jamie Moyer and many other real, down-to-earth individuals. However, the reason they could easily serve as our role models is not because of special skills, or talents, but because they are caring, decent human beings eager to contribute to humanity and still remain humble.

I cried with Jay as he gently, tearfully held that beautiful, but cancer ridden, child at one of the Mariner games and I am truly impressed with his continued dedication to ill and underprivileged children.
A few years ago, I grieved with my grandson over the loss of my son, his father, but was thankful for Camp Erin and to the Moyer Foundation for helping him express his grief and helping us to move on.
These are the true role models; not exceptional athletes, actors or dare-devils - but real, unpretentious, honest individuals who deserve our honor and recognition and would serve as excellent patterns to use as we mold our own character.