Complete Blog Archives

A Thought About Ignorance

A Thought About Ignorance

I don’t know if somebody else has already said this just like this, but I had this thought while watching the news: “During times of bounty, ignorance is like heaven. During a crisis, it’s like the other place.” ;-)

Con Trail

Con Trail

It’s been a few months since I saw a live taping of the the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Watching his show on TV compared to seeing it live is like watching a major league pitcher throw a fastball on television compared to actually standing at the plate and watching it coming at you …

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Tee Off

Tee Off

Article written for Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) Schoolguides website, August 5, 2009 One important rule in golf is to never rush to hit a golf ball. That’s why they call it “addressing” the ball–you acknowledge the ball, evaluate its relative position to the fairway, the slope of the hill, the depth of …

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Drone

Drone

A moment before the alarm clock wakes up the day to play the radio, there is a very quick hum that precedes it, almost imperceptible, and only those who are already awake before the alarm goes off can hear it. Many cable boxes that are equipped to record TV programs hum even when the television …

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Corazon Aquino, 1933-2009

Corazon Aquino, 1933-2009

I don’t quite know how to mourn and celebrate Corazon Aquino, except to improve my knowledge of her life and accomplishments. This is some of what I’ve learned so far: She is the first woman president of the Philippines. She is the first woman president of any Asian country. She was nominated for the Nobel …

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Imaginarium

Imaginarium

(click on the picture to go to the web site) The project took about 2 weeks to finish, about an hour a day. One hour to tape the model kit pieces together to see if they fit. Two hours to glue the pieces together. Two hours to spray paint, two more hours to hand paint. …

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Take Five

Take Five

Most everything I do, in terms of time, is estimated, from actually getting up as opposed to when the alarm first goes off, to driving from point A to point B, to meeting a group of people somewhere. Because of traffic, the telephone, forgetfulness and bad estimations, rarely am I ever at an exact place …

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Naps of Our Fathers

Naps of Our Fathers

I’d been wanting to re-watch the movie Flags of Our Fathers for a couple weeks now, and got to do it last night. The movie follows the story of the three surviving members of the soldiers who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi, during the famous WWII battle of the island of Iwo Jima. Here’s …

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Fear and Liberation

Fear and Liberation

Conan O’Brien, from his Inside the Actor’s Studio interview: “Comedy isn’t a science. Science isn’t a science. We’re learning that all the time. We’re learning that in Wall Street. Nobody really knows what they’re doing. And there’s two ways to go with that information. One is to be afraid. The other is to be liberated. …

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Reveille

Reveille

One of the ways to keep a car running healthy, especially when it’s older, is to be gentle with it in the morning. Revving the engine soon after you start the ignition, quick starts and stops, and forcing the car into higher gears before it’s warmed up is a surefire way to shorten its life. …

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The Trough Periods

The Trough Periods

About a month ago, I called my church and asked if they needed help with anything, whether it’s driving food or groceries to the infirmed, or helping finish their web site. The web site work will resume in a couple months, when the church organizer is caught up with his other non-church duties. The other …

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Charice on Oprah

Charice on Oprah

Charice singing “Note to God” on Oprah: Lyrics transcribed from the Oprah performance: If I wrote a note to God I would speak what’s in my soul I’d ask for all the hate to be swept away For love to overflow If I wrote a note to God I’d pour my heart out on each …

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Check Engine Light

Check Engine Light

I stumbled onto the above picture this morning. The picture is in various places on the Web. I don’t know where it originated but if you do a Google image search for “define necessity”, you’ll see the other web sites and blogs that have posted it before I did. The picture reminded me that I …

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Three Stages of Day

Three Stages of Day

I. During the earlier part of the day, I thought about this quote: “Boredom is the root of evil.” I searched the Web for references to it, and inevitably found Soren Kierkegaard’s Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard Kierkegaard is famous for having said the quote, “Boredom is the root of all evil—the despairing refusal to be oneself.” …

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Batteries Included

Batteries Included

Each human eye initially transmits upside-down images to the brain, which in turn, rotates these images to the way that we understand and remember them. Everything we see is actually turned 180 degrees, all the time. The brain, depending on the physiology of that person, will see colors slightly more differently, will notice more or …

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Pieces of Watergate

Pieces of Watergate

In the summer of 1974, only half a year after coming to America, my parents and I went to see a drive-in movie. My father worked three jobs—full-time as an engineer during the weekdays, driving a taxi cab on weekends, and as a cook in the kitchen of the concession stand at a drive-in theater. …

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Waltzing With Wires

Waltzing With Wires

Harold did find himself faced with a crime Overload outlets with more than two wires A task much too easy, stores will agree They stock extension cords ‘numerably ‘Twasn’t enough that a T.V. suffice ‘Long with a radio singing so nice He went out and bought a Beta machine In case he might miss a …

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