Bet you can't do this!

Lucianne.com News Forum - Thread Interesting link to some amaaaazing feats. Bet you can't do all of these actions. I know I wouldn't attempt all of these. How about you?

Presidential Strike

Lucianne.com News Forum - Thread It was nice to see Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush tonight at the start of the World Series Game between the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers. President George W. Bush threw the first ceremonial pitch to Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. Click the above link to see the former president throw a strike. George W. Bush definitely throws better than the current president who seems to pitch to the far left.

""The Punisher"

R, U, N, N, M, E ? .... Interesting to hear our esteemed president address the Latino audience and exhort the Hispanic populace to get out the vote to "reward their friends and punish our enemies". Are you an enemy? Well, if you believe in the rule of law; apparently you are an enemy. If you think illegal immigration is illegal; then you aren't showing true American values. It is somewhat surprising to hear a president describe people who don't support his left leaning viewpoint and world view as an "enemy". Maybe its just me, but, I thought the president was supposed to try to represent ALL of the people in the country and not just be a partisan hack who wants to reward his friends and punish his enemies. Notice how "fired up" President Obama is on the campaign trail as he flies around the nation basking in the warm glow of applause and adoration from his faithful followers. Although the number of his faithful followers is steadily decreasing as time goes by ( 37% favorable rating according to the most recent poll ) ; he seems to relish looking down from his podium and teleprompter and explain how good and smart he is and how dumb people are who don't agree with him.

It is not uncommon to compare current presidents with previous presidents. Perhaps this president is an amalgam of the worst traits of Presidents Nixon and Carter. President Obama appears to exude the thin skinned "enemies list" traits of President Nixon with the incompetence of President Carter. What do you think?

President Obama some say has a cerebral thoughtful professorial manner as he carefully weighs the issues of the nation. In school a professor has to have a class to teach his subject and students. Well, President Obama has no class. What else would you say about a president that flutters around the country with his fake folksy accent and says that Republicans have to sit "in back " . For someone who thinks he is so smart, President Obama with his nose held high up in the air; must think that he is above the common folk as he lectures his audiences on how the current state of the nation has nothing to do with anything that he did. For a supposed "smart guy" President Obama doesn't show any economic sense. You don't raise taxes during a recession and expect employment and economic activity to increase.

Don't be surprised President Obama that your party gets "punished" at the ballot box this November. As they say, "the only true poll is taken on election day". Barring extreme voter fraud by the Democratic side, a "red tide" is coming and I will "go out on a limb" and predict that Nancy Pelosi's days as Speaker of the House are numbered.

Peacock

Here's a photo of a peacock I saw today in the garage of a house I inspected in West Barnstable on Cape Cod. The owners said that this peacock likes to come around and eat the dog food that is found in a couple of dog food bowls in this garage.

That is something I don't see every day as of course usually peacocks like cat food.

Dennis Green-Republican Rally

I went to a Republican Campaign Rally this afternoon held at the Dennis Green on Rt.6A. Charlie Baker, Republican candidate for Governor, and Jeff Perry, the Republican 10th Congressional candidate were there along with the "press" and a few other candidates. In this photo Charlie Baker is speaking with a Channel 7 reporter and other media members. Charlie addressed an enthusiastic crowd and emphasized his themes of fiscal accountability, making Massachusetts a friendlier place to create new jobs, and ending the cycle of cronyism and tax increases. Only 10 days to go until the November 2nd election. I hope Charlie Baker becomes the next governor of the Commonwealth as it would be good to have a governor with some business experience who is able to try to resolve the current fiscal mess.

"The Puppetmasters"

Juan Williams: Fox News gives Juan Williams an expanded role - latimes.com The "Puppetmasters" controlling the political purity of National Public (Progressive) Radio may have stumbled "big time" when Juan Williams was fired for expressing his personal thought that he gets nervous when he boards an airplane and sees Muslim passengers dressed in "traditional Muslim" garb. A certain billionaire just gave NPR 1.8 million dollars. With friends like this billionaire it is clear that NPR no longer needs any public funding and it is time to de-fund this organization and let them compete if they can in the media marketplace without any governmental assistance (see the link from the LA Times). The progressive left of NPR apparently has no use for anyone that doesn't follow their viewpoint and agenda. These extremists have "crossed the line" regarding "free speech" with their intolerance for any view that doesn't conform to their "holier than thou politically correct" claptrap.

Let the debate begin. Do you want to live in a world of controlled speech or free speech? I think NPR "outfoxed" themselves and will be Soros (I mean sorry).

"Who's the Scariest of Them All?"

Driving home from Wellfleet, Mass after attending the 10th Annual Wellfleet Oysterfest; I came across this "scary" house on State Highway in Eastham. Lots of scary ghouls, goblins, including "Michael Jackson", a dead rock band(The Grateful Dead perhaps?), and numerous tombstones. I noticed that the traffic was "bumper to bumper" from Wellfleet up until passing this house and then the cars started going the normal speed limit of about 45 miles an hour. This photo was a "drive by shooting" on my part as I took the shot from my car while driving past this apparently somewhat haunted dwelling near sundown. I guess either many people in the cars in front of me also slowed down to take pictures or else these people were so frightened of this horrific scene that they sped up once they saw this ghoulish assemblage. These creatures I guess only seem to come out near nightfall as I didn't recall seeing them during the daylight hours when I drove up to the festival.

The "scariest" figure though was not seen at this macabre dwelling. Yes, although he and his family have vacationed nearby on Martha's Vineyard for the past two Summers, for some reason he didn't join the other assembled frightening figures this past Sunday evening. Perhaps because he himself is more frightening than all of these other scary figures combined and didn't want to share his scariness with this assembled cast of creatures.

Yes, if you believe in the free enterprise capitalist system where you get rewarded based on your efforts; Barak Hussein Sotero Obama, is the scariest of them all. Socialism and Communism can seem to be appealing as a theoretical construct with each person contributing towards the greater good of society according to their abilities and sharing equally the results of their efforts with everyone else so that all will benefit. However, this does not work well in practice as forced expropriation to "spread the wealth around" destroys the incentive to work hard and is basically theft from the productive members of society.

It is one thing to help the "truly needy" who have physical or mental handicaps and are not able to support themselves. Many churches and charity organizations exist to help the disadvantaged among us and many people freely of their own volition contribute to these worthy causes as well as directly helping out friends and family.

It is another thing to have a society which demonises business and entrepreneurship during a time of rising unemployment and trillion dollar federal governmental budget deficits and then expects these same businesses to try to expand their business during a time of great economic uncertainty caused by the inept governmental policies of passing the TARP stimulus bill along the biggest boondoggle of all time; the Healthcare "reform" Act. Combine these actions with letting the Bush tax cuts expire as they probably will as Congress skipped out of town without even addressing this situation.

"Who's the scariest of them all?" For me, President Barak Obama is the scariest as he can create fiscal nightmares all throughout the year for our country and its freedom, individual liberty, and free market system; not just during the Halloween season.

"Neighborhood Turkeys"

While inspecting a home in South Yarmouth on Cape Cod today I came across a group of wild turkeys in the back yard of a developed residential neighborhood. Apparently this gang of turkeys roams the neighborhood and eats bird seed from the bird feeders. I was surprised that these birds weren't startled by my presence at all and didn't mind being photographed. There were a baker's dozen of big birds who sleep in the neighborhood trees at night so that the foxes and coyotes don't eat them. That seems like a smart idea for a type of bird that has a reputation of being on the dumb side. Yes these neighborhood turkeys seem almost as domesticated as a pet. I did promise these turkeys I would give them copies of my photographs so I'll just have to scan the trees tonight in this neighborhood to see where they are spending the night.

"Oyster Cake"

Here's a photo of the "Oyster Cake" from the 2010 Wellfleet Oysterfest. This giant oyster cake was cut up and distributed throughout the crowd.

The cake was quite tasty and didn't taste like oysters at all! Near the end of the cake cutting the cake distributers were probably tired of cutting and lifting all the cake so the last dozen or so remaining pieces of cake were extremely large in size being about a foot long and about six inches high. It was fun to watch people eat these giant pieces of cake. Growing up we were often told to finish out meals at home as there were many people in China and other places that were starving. Of course, in the present time that is probably no longer true as China seems to have a fairly robust economy while America has over 42 million people on food stamps.

I wonder if Chinese parents tell their children to eat up all their food as there are many Americans on food stamps; probably not yet but I wouldn't be surprised if this happens in the future.

"Aw Shucks"

These oysters were all in the same boat this weekend at the Wellfleet Oyster Festival. How would you feel if someone invaded your home and tore it in half; then placed you on a cold bed of ice exposed to the elements, then someone comes along and lifts you up and puts you on a plate and squeezes lemon juice on your insides , covers you with cold red cocktail sauce and horse radish and then swallows you while you are still alive? Such is the fate of the oyster and thousands of oysters were swallowed over this weekend festival. "Aw shucks", what a way to go. Lucky oysters don't talk much or the screams of these slaughtered oysters would be deafening!

Wellfleet Oysterfest "Incredible Casuals" 10/17/10

Just returned from the 10th annual "Wellfleet Oysterfest" held in downtown Wellfleet. "The Incredible Casuals" were the last musical act. There were tons of oysters of course as well as some "Chowdah's", Sam Adam's "Oyster Stout" beer and lots of craft and food booths.

Wild Turkey in the Straw

Here's a photo of some wild turkeys taken today just before sundown in Harwich on Cape Cod. There were about 18 wild turkeys that leisurely walked right in front of my car but it took a few seconds for me to reach over to my passenger seat and grab my camera. During those few seconds the turkeys crossed the road. I don't know why they crossed the road exactly but probably to get to the other side as I do know that is why chickens cross the street. Hey hey, wild turkeys in the straw.

"Semi-Refreshing Barf"

I'm sure most of you have "thrown up, puked, regurgitated, barfed, and upchucked" in your life as well as I and I don't know about you but generally this experience is not "one of my favorite things" as Julie Andrews would say as she would sing about "raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens",and something about mittens. "Puking" of course is your body's defense mechanism sometimes on expelling from your system things that aren't good for you. I guess it is better to "throw up" the bad stuff than keep this "stuff" in your body.

For example, I used to like to buy smoked oysters in a tin can from Thailand. One time though for some reason, I ate a whole can of smoked oysters and also had a cup of yogurt after eating these oysters. I then went to work at my seasonal job at The Soundings motel on Cape Cod. I was working with my brother Scott that night and all of a sudden started to feel a bit "queesey" and started to shiver uncontrollably even though it was probably about 80 degrees outside being during the Summer season. In addition to the shivering I guess I was experiencing "vertigo" as the walls of the office started to slant at non 90 degree angles. After a while, I guess my body decided for me, "enough of this" as I rushed to the bathroom and got rid of the oysters and yogurt from my system. After that I felt a lot better, the shivering stopped,the office walls resumed their proper angle, but was left with that "sour taste" in my mouth.

One time in my life though, I do remember a "semi-refreshing barf". I don't remember all the details of this barf as to what I ate before this stomach eruption; however, I do know that I drank quite a bit of orange juice right before puking. I remember upchucking and thinking to myself,"That wasn't bad in fact that was rather refreshing." I think that maybe the citric acid found in the orange juice counteracted some of the stomach acids that cause the sourness of most pukes and the fact that I drank the cold orange juice right before throwing up probably helped in making that regurgitation experience almost pleasant.

I guess if I had my druthers, give me an almost refreshing orange juice barf any time over a typical sour mouthed or "dry heave" experience. Of course, usually I for one would prefer not to puke at all. But, as in most things in life, there are different grades of human experience and a semi-pleasant barf experience isn't "half bad".

Memorable Guests

Working at the front desk of a seasonal oceanfront motel on Cape Cod you get to meet all sorts of people from all over the world. Some people are more memorable than others. Today I will attempt to describe one such memorable couple of people who came back year after year.

Their names are Robert and Earline Vanderland, (not their real names but pretty close). Robert was probably around sixty to middle sixty in age and Earline was a couple of years older or younger but basically the same general age. Robert had thinning hair, glasses and ears that stood out from his head. In this description the intent is not to critique their appearance but to describe them. Earline would tell us that she had to help Robert with his "ear wax" build-up and sometimes Robert wouldn't hear too well unless his ears were cleaned out. Earline was of average height with small round glasses, a roundish face, and a high pitched voice. Robert had a deeper voice and a somewhat nervous sounding speech pattern.

For example, Earline and Robert would come to the front desk and speak with us, Earline cooing " We're going to out favorite restaurant across the street, Yum!, Yum!"; while rubbing her hand in a circular motion across her belly. Robert chimed in with his deep voiced mumbling style, "Yeah, huh, huh, its really good huh, huh, I like it huh, huh, its yummy huh huh".

One of their quirks over the years was to march up and down the rows of the parking lot I guess for exercise. I don't know if they were looking for some pennies, nickels, and assorted change or they just liked the feel of melting asphalt on their sneakers. Other guests liked to walk on the oceanfront beach but this couple preferred the parking lot.

The Vanderlands also preferred "Room 2" for some reason even though this room had a partially obstructed view of the ocean from their room and patio. One year they were moved to another room with a better view and they came up to the desk lamenting this and how they preferred "Room 2".

People at the front desk would speculate on how this couple of people met each other and comment on how well they got along with each other. Year after year they would come back to the hotel. The most memorable fact came to light one year when I learned that Robert and Earline were not married to each other. Everyone always assumed that they were a quirky but happily married couple. No, these people weren't having "an affair" or "living together in sin". They are brother and sister.

A memorable reflection about two memorable guests.

Cranberry Harvest

Yes, Fall is once again upon us and on Cape Cod that means Cranberry Harvest time. Today I noticed that the cranberry growers were harvesting a bog right up the street from my home just a few hundred yards away.

These harvesting machines are kind of interesting as they roll across the cranberry bog chopping off the cranberries from the vines after the bog is flooded. The cranberries then float in the water where they are corralled into the ends of the bog and later loaded up into trucks and carted away to make all sorts of delicious drinks, sauces and jams.

Although these cranberry harvesting machines aren't built for speed they do go quite fast. Why, when I was watching these men work; I swear that one of the machines must have been speeding along at maybe 3 or even up to 4 miles an hour! These very dangerous speeds require that the machine operators take extensive training courses before they are licenced to operate this equipment. I couldn't help but wonder why these daredevils weren't wearing some sort of crash helmets. Oh well, I guess they know what they are doing and just like the danger and excitement of their work.

Truro Bay Beach Path

Up in Truro today. Wandered down this rustic board path over the dune and down to the beach. The sand is increasing here over the years and the owner of the cottage I inspected said that they are considering raising their cottage a few feet to reclaim their panoramic water view.