Bloomers

 

We have over a hundred Azaleas in our yard here at the Boggy Thicket, and a whole bed of Gardenias lining the front our house, but we  only have two Camellias. 

This year they are blooming like crazy – almost like they are trying to make up for the fact that there are only two of them.

I Think That I Shall Never See…..

Given the current state of affairs in Mexico, I doubt if I will ever see this in person, but I wish I could.

It is a Cypress tree in the town square of Santa Maria del Tule, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. 

Known as El Arbol del Tule, this tree was old, and honored by the Aztecs, before Columbus ever stumbled upon the Western Hemisphere.  Depending on measuring methods, its circumference has been estimated at anywhere from 130 to 170 feet, and it takes from 30 to 50 people with their arms outstretched to reach around trunk.  Its average diameter is just over 30 feet, making it bigger than the largest Redwood in California.  It isn’t as tall as the giant Redwoods, but at 130 feet, it towers over everything in the little town.

Toons

Thought I would share a couple of cartoons I saw recently.  The first was published in Charlie Hebdo :

I’m not sure where the other one came from, and, now that I see it again, it’s not really a cartoon. I’m not sure what you would call it.  It was emailed to me last week. 

No Comment

 

 

The prestigious University of Qassim in Saudi Arabia held one of the biggest women’s rights conferences in the Arab world last year. Ironically, the institution managed to hold the event without the advice or attendance of a single woman.

Themed around the topic of “Women in Society” the conference, held every year at the University, is supposed to set a benchmark for tolerance and progress in the region. Delegates and speakers from more than fifteen countries showed up.

As is to be expected from Saudi Arabia, a country firmly under the grip of Sharia Law, zero women attended the event.

A Kid, a Dog and a Puddle

I got my first dog, a pointer named Rip, when I was about the age of the boy in this video.

There is one big difference, though.  Rip wouldn’t have waited around while I had my fun – he would have been right there in the middle of it with me.  We were such soul-mates that I’m told he would whimper and howl whenever I got scolded.

Either Way, I’m Rich

 

Maybe it’s because it’s Groundhog Day, or maybe it is simply a coincidence, but when I opened Outlook this morning, my Junk Mail folder contained:

Dearest  One,
Good afternoon to you, l deem it fit to contact you today based on your profile which l saw today in my private search, when l was looking for some one who l will in-trust my future living under his/her care for a better living of mine, please bear with me. i will really like to have a good relationship with you, and i have a special reason why i decided to contact you, I decided to contact you based on the urgency of my situation here today.
My name is Sandra xxxxx. l am a single lady, of 24 years old, the daughter of Late Chief Dr.Lambert D xxxxx, my late father was a successful business man during his day's, it is sad for me to inform you that l lost my father in a motor accident on the 14th of November, 2006. during the time he was returning from a business trip from Jackson, Michigan to Ohio (USA), Dear, after four months l lost my beloved father, his second wife killed my mother so that she and his children will inherit all what my father left for all of us.
Meanwhile after my fathers second wife poisoned my mother to death, I wanted to escape to any where l can be accepted since she's also after my own life and no where is safe for me to stay with her and his children, but she went and hid away my international passport and other valuable traveling documents which I'm suppose to travel with. luckily for me as God have his own plans for my life, she couldn't discover where I kept my fathers file which contains important documents of his deposited money of US$3,800,000.00.which my father used my name to deposit with one of the leading financial bank. So after then, since l have no where to run to, I decided to run to the refugee camp here, where l am today by the grace of God, presently seeking asylum under the United Nations High Commission for the Refugees and Now I am out seeking for your humble assistance for a long term business relationship between us in your Country. Which l would like you to invest my inherited money for me in any lucrative moving business.

However, l wish to stop here for now as l have no much time to explain all the details to you as l wish, but please dear, as soon as l hear from you soon showing your interest and acceptance to assist me as l really need your help to me now and l am waiting so that l shall send you my pictures and forward all vital information's to you for your confirmation to help me out.

In my regular Inbox, I had an even better offer from heritage.org

I wish to notify you of an inheritance $7.9m to you,please send me full names and telephone number to this email only : ( xxxxxxx@outlook.com ) for details and further instructions.

They say the key to success is a positive outlook – according to my Outlook, it’s going to be a wonderful day!

NFL Awards

 

Nobody – not even the Food Network – was showing anything but reruns during NBC’s airing for the NFL Awards last night, so you probably watched the show.  Just in case you didn’t…….

Hometown hero J. J. Watt was not named the NFL MVP for 2014. That honor went to Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers for the second time in his career.  Even though that honor almost always goes to an offensive player, usually a quarterback, Watt and Rodgers were the only two serious contenders for this year’s award – Rodgers won with 31 votes, Watt got 13, followed by a couple of Cowboys (Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray) with two votes apiece.

Bleacherreport.com calls Watt  a football superhuman who is well on his way to being the best 3-4 defensive end in history and striking his place among the all-time defensive greats. He finished with 78 tackles and was second league-wide with his 20.5 sacks, becoming the first player in NFL history to have 20 sacks in two separate seasons. Working as an occasional goal-line tight end, Watt added three receiving touchdowns and had five touchdowns overall.

Pro-Football-Reference.com's approximate value metric, which attempts to quantify a player's performance and normalize it across positions, had Watt as the league's best player by a significant margin.

Watt’s blocked pass/interception/long run for a touchdown was one of five plays shown on the big screen as a contender for Play of the Year. Offensive Rookie of the Year, Odell Beckham Jr. grabbed Play of the Year for that unbelievable one-handed catch he made for a TD against the Cowboys.

Watt was the first presenter of the night, and he drew laughs for correcting his co-presenter’s pronunciation - She kept saying o-fensive and he kept telling her it was off-ensive – and he may have drawn the biggest laugh of the night during his acceptance speech when the thanked the cafeteria workers who prepared the food, LOTS of food.

Acceptance speech – oh yeah.  He was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in his short career. He was the first unanimous choice for the honor in the history of the awards.