Existing In BFE

Here are a couple of local business people plying/flying their signs. All the signs have the same basic tenets: hard times, hungry, homeless, god-bless, vet, and lost job. The gentleman in the lower picture unfortunately uses hunger as a hook, but he certainly looks well-fed. From a St. Pete Times article by Lane DeGregory : A. Your sign is your voice. You have only a few words to get sympathy at a stoplight. Scrawl your messages in magic marker on the back of a Listerine box or a pilfered "Home for Sale" placard. Highlight your words with crayons. End your pleas with three exclamation points. Are you homeless? A vet? A single dad? A widow? Do you have an ailing mother or pet? All the above? One guy parades his limping dog. Another says he sends half his money to his 2-year-old son. One admits he stays out just long enough to collect enough for smokes and a six-pack. B. Two debates divide the panhandling community: Stay on one corner or float? Wheelchair or walker? If you al...

Bums, or rather local entrepreneurs , heavily man (and woman) the busiest intersections of St. Pete and I assume every major metropolitan area of the country. You can't walk or drive a block around here without seeing them. The job/scam/endeavor has given rise to many discussions here amongst family about these people who stand and panhandle motorists. These women and men have been well documented by the local newspaper and gave us some interesting insights into their "profession". This is an article from the St. Pete Times (Lane DeGregory ) detailing the art of 'flying'. Flying is a term to describe holding a cardboard sign designed to get a passing motorist to give you money. Excerpts: A. "After a while, you learn what works," said Roderick Couch, 28. He was in a wheelchair outside a St. Petersburg Wal -Mart last week, clutching a sign that said, "Disabled." The word was in quotation marks, as if the writer were crossing his fingers. Couch ...

We only think of movie bloopers as a recent phenomenon due to DVD 'extras'. But they have been screwing up their lines all along. Here is a fascinating 1936 video with some funny and not so funny bloopers. A collection of Warner Bros. movie bloopers from 1936, featuring Humphrey Bogart, Joe E. Brown, James Cagney, Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Leslie Howard, Paul Lukas, Barton MacLane, Fredric March, Paul Muni, Pat O’Brien, Claude Rains, and more

This is a great piece with Tom Brokaw explaining Canada to the U.S. After the US hockey team defeated the Canadians, this Canuck flashed this sign.

This is a fake $20.00 bill Brendan got at work. It feels like real money and certainly looks like it too. Although I didn't have a real bill to compare it, to see and feel it you would swear it was genuine. If you notice the front of it, someone marked it with one of those pens and if it comes up black then the bill is real, but if it is yellow, then it is bogus. Just by looking and feeling you wouldn't know this was counterfeit. Perhaps a little too yellow on reverse, but to the casual consumer, this would pass for real. The feel is just the same as ordinary bills. Remarkable job, and today's quiz: "What percentage of currency is counterfeit?" Answer: The U.S. government estimates that less than 1/100 of 1 percent of U.S. paper currency in circulation is counterfeit. Considering recent advances in printing technology and the obviously vast incentive to counterfeit bills, that's a pretty small number. In part, that's because the U.S. Secret Service thoroug...

Pot 'O Gold about 3 blocks away. By the time I got there it was all gone.

Yesterday Brendan and I went to Clearwater to the Countryside Mall to pick up some presentation material from their New York store and bring back to Tyrone Square Mall. It saved Mackenzie a trip and she needed a truck anyway. (On the way up we saw a truck pulling a trailer and it had "Junk For Jesus" sign.) Now I'm not the greatest mall goer. Quick surgical strikes for things is more my style, not walking endlessly seeing the same franchise stores that populate all malls. However, this one is rather opulent and features this neat ice skating rink. It was fun seeing the kids with their skates and helmets. They all knew how to skate also, never saw anyone fall down.

Go out and check your tires to make sure they are OK. This past week Kenzie drove the 8 miles from her house to her workplace and discovered when she arrived she had a flat tire. Running her hand along the outer edge it seemed the tire was in great shape and had lots of tread. However, when Brendan (who was enlisted to change it) ran his hand over the entire tire he came back with sharp metal shards. The lack of alignment made this a very dangerous car to drive and we found out the other front tire was the same way. We'll never know how long this was mis aligned or what caused it, however, this town is riddled with "speed humps"; along residential roads and in all shopping areas. Many people will attempt to avoid running over them with both tires, instead trying to keep one tire on smooth surface. We were told at the tire shop to hit the humps straight on with both tires. Running over them with just one tire can get things out of whack. Now back to your regul...

flight patterns from Charlie McCarthy on Vimeo .

It does cool off nicely down here and the trees shed their leaves. Frankly my favorite time is winter in Florida. It is warm to cool and sometimes cold. That beats the endless searing heat of summer. I can understand the "snowbird" mentality. I never thought I'd like two homes, preferring one, but I can see it now. Especially when I train my cam over the snowy cold of Galesburg, this is nice. For those interested in seeing what I have been seeing since I've been down here, this is the link: http://www.galesburgrailroadmuseum.org/RailCamPage.html

Copied from my VROC forum: HOW TO PLAY AND SING THE BLUES 1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this morning..." 2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues unless you stick something nasty in the next line like "I got a good woman with the meanest face in town." 3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes, sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound." 4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch. There ain't no way out. 5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or SUVs. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lif...

In my two decades + at the Mary Davis Home I received more from the kids than I could ever give. Their trust, humor, resilience, and struggle to improve their behaviors made it a great place to work. They also introduced me to Meat Loaf. Meat Loaf has finished his latest album and it will be released in April. He is the only one I'd go almost anywhere to see. I have been to two concerts to see him and loved them both. Mark your calendars for April. Never pushed to get it played much in BFE CC but this is the stuff I secretly sing to with a fake microphone. I can escape in this stuff better than anything else. The iconic Meat Loaf album still remains Bat Out Of Hell and the three Bat trilogy CD's remain his best work, especially his collaboration with songwriter Jim Steinman . He remains one-of-a-kind with soaring rock-n-roll operatic ballads. Go to your iTunes and download the longest version of "I'll Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)", "Heave...

This was in the St. Pete Times yesterday. Click on the article and it will expand so you can read it. It is another example of people doing dumb things. You would have thought last week's death of a para-sailer would have made people really think twice about sharks. Apparently not. Well, Captain Stump may think twice next time.

This was forwarded to me by Neighbor Tim. It made me laugh out loud. I reread it and I laughed again. (I have been repeating to myself "...poor stupid Laurie" for a quick giggle.) Enjoy: Here's a prime example of "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" offered by an English professor from the University of Colorado for an actual class assignment: The professor told his class one day: "Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. As homework tonight, one of you will write the first paragraph of a short story. You will e-mail your partner that paragraph and send another copy to me. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story and send it back, also sending another copy to me. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back-and-forth. Remember to re-read what has been written ea...

Some pictures and a short video of Friday night's sunset here at Sunset Beach in St. Petersburg.

A Personal Helicopter - Click here for funny video clips Is this the future of single-person transportation? Well, the blades are too low, the seat too small, the range has to be almost non-existent. But I'd sure like to give it a try. Sounds like a weed-eater.

This is an old advertisement for the SSS, the Separate Sack Suspension devise. Wonder if this was a precursor to the jock strap? Don't know, and doubt if I will investigate any further. We'll leave this in the "Never To Know" file. Just want you to know that this blog has, within 48 hours provided actual coverage of the shuttle launch as well as the SSS. This blog never sleeps.

One of my Galesburg buddies is Brian Storm. He and Michelle welcomed the arrival of a baby girl on February 1st. This is the site that has Ava's pictures and other information. Congratulations to the parents and family. And welcome to the world, Ava Otillia Storm. http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=3cfe629b-798c-4574-b61e-7e3d5fee15e4&babyid=98ca4fed-96c7-4112-abfb-8d974070445a

I set my alarm for 4:00 am Monday morning to see if I could get a glimpse of the last night-time Shuttle launch. I stood in the parking lot and trained the camera toward Cape Canaveral, about 152 miles away. The launch was scheduled for 4:14 am. This is what I got. The fun begins after the minute 22 second mark. My little inadequate camera didn't get much clarity. I didn't hear it, but my ears are a bit plugged due to a cold I had last month. The actual sight of it through the naked eye was an intense orange rather than the whitish glow of the video. I kind of wish I would have taken still of it rather than the movie, I might have had better resolution. I occasionally went out in the country when I lived in Galesburg to see the various "big" sky-related events in years past. Often alone, in the middle of no where, sometimes in the cold, and getting somewhat spooked. Anyway I think it is fun and although this recording is really really lousy, the copy-and-paste lin...

Is Mel Gibson the jerk or Dean Richards? Hmm, its not as easy an answer as you may think.

http://adland.tv/SuperBowlCommercials You know the routine, copy and paste. (Go Saints)

1. Some good videos I've seen recently: The Perfect Getaway, A History of Violence, and Zombieland. Good escapist stuff. Best of the bunch, Zombieland all the way. Don't forget to see Paranormal Activity and Oscar nominated District 9. The Hurt Locker was very good, but The Road was a letdown. Good book but tough to transfer to the screen. 2. Avatar 3-D is the most awesome thing you will see all year, and maybe longer. 3. My buddy Gay Johnson was edged out of the Regional Superintendent of Schools job by only 90 votes. Good for her and I hope she tries again. I was so rooting for her. 4. That lady who does the Progressive insurance commercials is creepy. Her wild eyes, the 70's hair, her stupid banter. Everything is eerie. 5. I continue to find coinage in parking lots here. Another 10 cents this week. 6. I couldn't figure out why so many drivers stop far behind other cars at stop lights. It was explained to me as a measure to discourage car jacking. 7. The Saints by a t...

The birthday girl and Drew. The usual suspects. Neat looking monster concocted by the kitchen staff. Sorry, but this is the usual pose for the Glory that is Brendan. More birthday treats furnished by the staff of Three Birds Tavern. You can do it. Mmmmm. Sure looks good.

I feel a bit like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window, but I see this playing out a couple times a week from my rear apartment window. These two seniors are are doing what countless millions do daily for their loved ones. This old lady is barely able to push this guy, presumably her husband, in his wheelchair, let alone help him maneuver himself into the car. He has lost a leg. She will put that board on the seat and then next to him and he'll slide on the board to get in the car. After that she will barely be able to get the wheelchair into t he trunk of the car. It is a long process and I am amazed at what we do for each other, long after what we signed up for, in our youth, has ceased to exist. It is a testament to who we are and how we seek "to" love. These old guys are nearing the end and one must feel admiration for continuing the battle to make it through each day.

I continue to love my Kindle, Amazon's reader whereby you down-load books. It makes sense for me since I don't need the feel or smell of a book. I read to learn or be entertained and I am not a bibliophile nor do I require a library with my tomes. Behold, An Ashen Horse was an interesting novel about a terrorist attack on 5 American cities and the eventual response. The populist elimination of the Muslim faith on earth was the theme of the book and while entertaining was really over the top with its political leaning. The Art of Racing in the Rain was something I read after Missy died so it has a place as one of my favorites. OK, I may read this one again. Moving, funny and ultimately uplifting, this was recommended by Karen, and I thank her. A Ship's Tale was a neat little story about a group of men and boys who steal an obsolete sailing ship and take her from England to Ireland in post-World War britain. I am presently reading White Sky, Black Ice about an Alaskan St...

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. You have had quite a year. As I step back and let someone else assume the role of protector and Defender of your Realm, know that I will always be your loyal and devoted servant. Have a great day and many many happy years to come. The joy you have brought me is beyond human expression.