Elasmotherium - The Siberian Unicorn

How Inuit Build a Real Igloo in 1 Hour With Bare Hands ...

The size of the Sun is...well...

Think the Sun is big? Some stars make it look tiny — one could even swallow our whole solar system!

Our Sun might feel massive — after all, it can fit 1.3 million Earths inside — but in the vast arena of the cosmos, it's actually on the small side.

When compared to some of the largest and brightest stars in our galaxy, the Sun is more like a cozy campfire than a blazing inferno.

Betelgeuse alone is about 700 times the size of the Sun—and Antares is even larger, measuring around 883 times our star’s diameter.

To put that into jaw-dropping perspective: if Betelgeuse or Antares took the Sun’s place, they would engulf the orbits of planets all the way out to Jupiter. And the true titans of the universe go even beyond that.

Stars like Stephenson 2-18 are estimated to be over 2,150 times the size of the Sun, meaning it would swallow basically everything in our corner of the universe....and is also way too big to fit in this image.
 

"Dr. J." will operate on the basketball court for you

Once upon a time (when I was a little boy), doctors would come to your house to visit you if you were ill. Many years later, another man who was called "Dr." came to visit a lot of places, and he did some things that made people feel much better. He was 6'7" and had hands the size of a pizza (yes, he did). And he could jump too. He was Julius Irving, also known as "Dr. J."

 

Prehistoric Planet [2022 - 2023] - Hatzegopteryx Screen Time

Mastodons - The Prehistoric Tanks That Even Mammoths FEARED

No Robotics Blinking Original Dragon Puppet!

Jurassic World Marine Reptiles: The Dino of the Water | Full Documentary...

The Vampire Squid...is waiting for you to show up for dinner

 

Need I add more to this introduction?

(Well, it's not interested in you as dinner--unless you live WAY below in the deepest levels--where there's very little light.)

A philosopher from Minnesota and legend of our time

 

Consider this: a novel. A short story. A movie. And a song--with a tantalizing violin behind a stuttering drummer who somehow is fluent in his rhythms alongside a haunting back-up vocalist who is encouraging the main storyteller. And he's got an attitude like a patient with a bad tooth at the dentist's office who's just gotten nitrous oxide--and it's kicking in full bore. What a masterpiece!

Up on the white veranda

She wears a necktie and a Panama hat

Her passport shows a face

From another time and place

She looks nothing like that

And all the remnants of her recent past

Are scattered in the wild wind

She walks across the marble floor

Where a voice from the gambling room is callin' her to come on in

She smiles, walks the other way

As the last ship sails and the moon fades away

From Black Diamond Bay

As the morning light breaks open, the Greek comes down

And he asks for a rope and a pen that will write

Pardon, monsieur, the desk clerk says

Carefully removes his fez

Am I hearing you right

And as the yellow fog is lifting

The Greek is quickly heading for the second floor

She passes him on the spiral staircase

Thinking he's the Soviet Ambassador

She starts to speak, but he walks away

As the storm clouds rise and the palm branches sway

On Black Diamond Bay

A soldier sits beneath the fan

Doing business with a tiny man who sells him a ring

Lightning strikes, the lights blow out

The desk clerk wakes and begins to shout

Can you see anything

Then the Greek appears on the second floor

In his bare feet with a rope around his neck

While a loser in the gambling room lights up a candle

Says, open up another deck

But the dealer says, "Attendez-vous, s'il vous plait!"

As the rain beats down and the cranes fly away

From Black Diamond Bay

The desk clerk heard the woman laugh

As he looked around the aftermath and the soldier got tough

He tried to grab the woman's hand

Said, here's a ring, it cost a grand

She said, that ain't enough

Then she ran upstairs to pack her bags

While a horse-drawn taxi waited at the curb

She passed the door that the Greek had locked

Where a handwritten sign read, Do not Disturb

She knocked upon it anyway

As the sun went down and the music did play

On Black Diamond Bay

I've got to talk to someone quick

But the Greek said, go away, and he kicked the chair to the floor

He hung there from the chandelier

She cried, help, there's danger near

Please open up the door

Then the volcano erupted

And the lava flowed down from the mountain high above

The soldier and the tiny man were crouched in the corner

Thinking of forbidden love

But the desk clerk said, it happens every day

As the stars fell down and the fields burned away

On Black Diamond Bay

As the island slowly sank

The loser finally broke the bank in the gambling room

The dealer said, it's too late now

You can take your money, but I don't know how

You'll spend it in the tomb

The tiny man bit the soldier's ear

As the floor caved in and the boiler in the basement blew

While she's out on the balcony, where a stranger tells her

My darling, je vous aime beaucoup

She sheds a tear and then begins to pray

As the fire burns on and the smoke drifts away

From Black Diamond Bay

I was sitting home alone one night in L.A.

Watching old Cronkite on the seven o'clock news

It seems there was an earthquake that

Left nothing but a Panama hat

And a pair of old Greek shoes

Didn't seem like much was happening

So I turned it off and went to grab another beer

Seems like every time you turn around

There's another hard-luck story that you're gonna hear

And there's really nothing anyone can say

And I never did plan to go anyway

To Black Diamond Bay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73N211qQCZU...

Punctuation marks explained

 

Perilous Points of Punctuation:  

Try http://chompchomp.com for online punctuation drills for kids (and adults who are learning English grammar)
 
•    Double dash --
•    Two hyphens put together
•    Stops action in sentence
•    Makes the reader stop for a moment
•    Creates a break in the flow of ideas to help focus on each thought.
•    It’s hard to believe—but it works—no matter how strange it seems—because the facts—bizarre as they are—confirm I’m right.
 
Brackets and parentheses
•    Use the parenthesis (parentheses is plural) to show how an idea is hidden (or otherwise not up-front)
•    (It’s hiding an idea in the sentence) that the reader “hears” in his or her mind as they read.
•    But if someone is quoted, “Then it’s obvious {for all intents and purposes} that a bracket does the job.”
•    “At times, a misquote uses {sic} to show something missing or misspelled.”
 
Slash away!
•    The slash works as an “either/or” component in punctuation.
•    It serves the purpose to say “him/her” or “he/she” or “this/that” in a sentence.
 
Ellipsis dots…just fade away…
•    Ellipsis dots show words missing from a quote, speech, or an interruption.
•    Use three dots…in the middle of the quote
•    Use FOUR at the end of a sentence (one is really the ending period mark), as well as the ending quotation mark.
•    “Friends…associates…colleagues…let me tell you a story….”
 
The colon
•    The colon announces something important: “Here’s the most-wanted list.”
•    To make a statement: “This grade will get your attention.”
•    To say “such as” and use a punctuation mark instead.
•    To set off a long quotation from the rest of the text.
•    Salutations (To whom it may concern:) or (Dear Aunt Helen:)
•    Time (7:20 p.m.)
•    Biblical citations (John 3:16)

The semi-colon; a break in a sentence without a comma

* Use them to break up a thought without using a conjunction: 

    ** for, and, nor, but, or, yet

•         (The semi-colon replaces both the conjunction itself and the comma that followed)

I often use semi-colons in places where I want a break in a thought process; it helps me (and I hope, the reader) to get closer to an idea

Double-Dash: stops you in your thoughts like hitting the pause button on a remote

• I like double-dash (it looks like --) because it makes you stop reading and think about something. For instance--it's quite noticeable--when you come across them because they grab your attention--and then you can continue.

(Use a parenthesis to hide a thought as though someone was reading your mind but not aloud)

• (I always said a parenthesis looks like you're cupping your hands to speak quietly so no one else hears you except the person you want to know something)

The variation to the parenthesis is the bracket. Brackets are squared and look like [ ]. 

1. To explain further, correct, or comment within a direct quotation: ...
2. To alter part of a word, indicating necessary changes from its original form: ...
3. To replace parentheses within parentheses

I use brackets in example #1 when I write: "It's easier to hide things [in a bracket] when you're quoting something."

The hyphen mark. THIS one is tough to explain. The closest I can try is "Two things that aren't anywhere alike but connected." I'm using this source because the Purdue University OWL program is really good for academics, grammar rules, and writing. 

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/hyphen_use.html

A 5-in-one book for multiple reading levels

Order here: 5:1 Book for Emerging Readers

What’s a 5:1 Book About? Glad you asked. To be direct, it’s about encouraging reading: for all ages. ESPECIALLY so, for children and young growing-up boys and girls—but also with a twist. 

The twist? It’s for adults to read aloud to young children. See, we know as educators that reading helps the mind grow stronger; it develops the imagination, and it opens possibilities of original, creative thinking skills that will come with new opportunities. 

 So, here, I’ve packaged a 5-layer “cake” of reading pleasure. (It would be a chocolate cake if I had my way, but sorry, this one is for reading, not eating. But you can “eat up” the stories if it helps feed your interest in reading! Or sharing the art of reading! So, here you’ll find a gradual phase of reading levels for children and also a top level for young people and even adults! (Yes, adults! We still have a lot to learn by reading, and in the stories from a very special high school with very unique students, you may find the ideas and interest to write YOUR memories! That’s what I did!) 

 And within this book are five different ranges of reading styles that will be suitable for young children: starting with “I am the Flumps,” and then going on to either the Platypus or Rose Plant & Blueberry Bush story, and then on to the Girl Who Made Friends with Dragons—and then, in time, on to the madcap high school adventures of eight friends who just look and act a bit...weird?! To be read alone or aloud: it’s anyone’s correct choice!  

The GOAT of the NBA: the greatest player's impact ever - Wilt Chamberlain

A short video clip for sports fans. I know there's a lot of debate about the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in the NBA and who was better. I certainly think Bill Russell was a champion player, teammate, and legend. But for the record, just watch Wilt Chamberlain MOVE Bill Russell by just using his forearm--and strength. Watch Russell fight for balance and position. I have a lot of other reasons to be a Wilt fan--especially because so many (close to 90) records still are intact--50 years after Chamberlain retired. By the way, the record for rebounds in a game (55) is held by Wilt--against Russell's Celtics. 

And I grew up in Wilt's era. I saw him on TV. He was unstoppable--against top opponents like Abdul-Jabbar, Willis Reed, and Nate Thurmond.
Rules were changed because of Wilt: goal-tending (he would go so high up for shots that the refs didn't believe it possible), widening the lane (6 to 12 feet), not entering the lane after shooting a free throw (Wilt used to take a running leap from the line and dunk). THOSE were Wilt's comments to Michael Jordan about "Who had the most influence." Wilt said, "They changed to rules to make it harder for me. They changed them to make it easier for you."
By the way: Wilt NEVER fouled out of a game. EVER. And he averaged 48 minutes.

(Wilt's strength was another story. When he dunked, there were times the ball bounced up as high as the rim after hitting the floor. He definitely dislocated Gus Johnson's shoulder by blocking an incoming dunk; Wilt didn't like being disrespected like that. And he broke Johnny Kerr's toe when he slammed one that hit Kerr's foot. Big Bob Lanier, who stood 6'11 and weighed 270, said "Wilt picked me up like a coffee cup and moved me for better position.") And that IS Gus Johnson, at 6'6", 245, being thrown off the court by Wilt. And Gus was one POWERFUL man himself. Not to Wilt: "You go there. I want this spot."

Wilt also stopped a bench of players from coming on the court simply by walking toward them: it was said they all stopped like they hit a wall. They almost did: a human wall. Wilt's shoulders were huge.

Stories for Business Speeches & Reading Aloud to Children

 

Oh, a few weeks ago on a Saturday, I found myself on the phone with my middle brother, Steven. And I had just written a short story the day before about a VERY upset, confused cow. In talking with him, I found myself thinking about putting these stories together with some others I had written, and then putting them into a Kindle book. And the ideas would be all based on stories of animals.

Now, for the audience. Well...some of these would work for children--but I think it would be better if an adult (maybe Grandpa or Grandma) read them out loud, but the first story about the cow...is better for a business audience. (Sometimes when a person is called to give a speech or tell a funny story at a party, they could use one of these. Especially the story about the cow--or the story about the duck. But THAT story came to me when I was 11 years old, by way of my mother's mother, and I was her first and favorite grandson. I also wrote other stories about her and animals...including the pet woolly monkey she had in her living room. The living room with the waterfall and goldfish pond....)

So...this is for sale here (this makes #13 for me on Amazon), and here's a preview of my brother's story and one about my grandma.

Without further adieu, please welcome "The Pig's Tail and the Goat's Neck," and "The Fish with Two Tails and No Head." And yes: they're true.

=====================================

    My middle brother, Steven, is two years younger than me. And he’s known among family and friends for his enthusiasm, laughs, and attention-sharing episodes. This is his story: of the Pig’s Tail and the Goat’s Neck.

        Steven, who is a very diversified retired chiropractor (someone who adjusts the body for better health) was on a date with a girlfriend. And he was filled with knowledge and technique from his new medical degree from a fine college—and he wanted to show off a bit. So he and his girlfriend were at a local farm in New Jersey where they featured a petting zoo.

        After looking around after they arrived, Steven and his date stopped by a wandering goat who seemed to be a bit out of its comfort zone. It kept stretching and twisting its head back and forth and side-to-side. That’s all it took for Steven to take the situation in hand—and I mean that directly.

        He grabbed the goat’s head and in one twist, performed a standard chiropractic procedure to fix the neck muscles. Of course, it’s normally done on a person! But—Steven had found himself his first patient, and he wanted to show his girlfriend what he could do—and he did. Crunch!

        The goat was astonished—or perhaps relieved of the stress—or perhaps it didn’t know what had just happened. (How do you explain chiropractic to a goat?) It didn’t matter: it worked, and the animal walked away looking around slowly but surely with more confidence and not doing all those twists.

        But that wasn’t enough for Steven: he had to prove his skills even more—with a pig. And that’s when he noticed a pig’s curled tail with its backside against an open space on a fence. So he reached over and took the pig by the tail—and pulled.

        It squealed—loudly!--but its tail went out straight. Another adjustment! And so Steven walked off, laughing and happy at his success, and his girlfriend shook her head at him in behalf of the goat and the pig.

=====================================================

 The Fish with Two Tails and No Head

    My mother’s mother, my grandma, had a very large and  expensive tropical fish collection in her home.  She was one of the first homeowners in Long Island to have a large aquarium when a tropical fish craze took hold during the 1940’s. 

There were up to 10 tanks going at once, each with its own kind of species, and when we visited, we received a tour of the Fish Room.  She had scorpion fish, lion fish, sea horses, angel fish, all kinds of rainbow-colored miniature darts, and some ferocious Oscars.  They were terrifying cannibalistic hunters, ready to eat anything dropped in the tank, especially goldfish.  Grandma found herself one day with a fish that was never seen before: the fish with no head and a tail at either end.

        She had walked in to look at her collection, and she stopped by each tank to examine her treasures.  One tank held....what was this?  A fish swimming in circles...with no head?--and two tails? 

One of the fish had tried to eat its partner.  They were so closely matched in size that the victim couldn’t quite fit, and it was hard to see where one started and the other left off.  You could say that one of them tried to bite off more than it could chew.  Grandma couldn’t separate them, but for a few minutes, she had the strangest fish she ever could have shown us.  But the Fish Room had other guests on daily residence.

(This continues with the Boy Bird who Laid an Egg and the Bird who Barked and Meowed. They're ALSO a true story. So is everything else in this book.)

"Owls" by Leo Kottke; performed by Andrew Lardner

Art (and beauty) are in the eyes of the viewer

Very Special People - a warning before you proceed

 If this topic disturbs you, please go to any other post instead. No judgement on my part--or yours, please.

These were fellow human beings. And they have a story to tell.

Of challenges, struggles, notoriety in its own cruel way, employment (yes!), even romance and families; of proving themselves. This is the story of some Very Special People. And I discuss this with nurses and other medical professionals to ask, "Do you know of these people and their conditions?"

I had this book in paperback in 1973, and last read it in 1982. The stories still are vivid in my memory. Even now, I can tell you some of the names of the book cover: that's Eli Bowen on top left, born without a lower body but attached feet instead; poor Julia Pasternak, who was from a Mexican Indian tribe and labeled "The Ugliest Woman in the world," who did get married, but only at death to have her body put on display by her greedy, manipulative husband. To her left; well, she was obviously a midget, and around 18 inches tall. The overweight man eludes me, but that's "The Human Caterpillar," Prince Randian from the Caribbean, who is rolling his own cigarette with his mouth. There were others whose story I would leave for another possible post.

But very special in his own way: Joseph Merrick. The Elephant Man, whose short life was totally misplaced and ruined by David Lynch's movie of the same name. Joseph, who suffered NOT from neurofibromatosis but instead, Proteus Syndrome, did NOT face the social ridicule of Victorian England when he DID work as a side show exhibit. He DID have a fairly normal childhood although his growths were obviously forming, and he was unable after age 11 to work in a factory--and ended up in a workhouse until age 17, and then went to the side shows for employment. 

He WASN'T associated with a theater star, nor was he abused by a guard at the hospital where he lived after he WAS introduced to his benefactor, Dr. Frederick Treves. He did NOT meet a beautiful theater actress, but he WAS introduced to one of Queen Victoria's daughters. He would normally sleep sitting up because of the weight of his skull being impossible to sleep sideways or on his stomach or back. When he DID one night try to sleep on his back, the mass and weight of his skull broke his neck and killed him. He was known to never complain about his condition.

Proteus was the Greek god who could change into a gas, solid, or liquid. He did so to try and avoid helping Hercules complete his 12 tasks. Hercules still contained him and got the answers he sought.

Oh. About Eli Bowen. He had a pal named Charles Tripp, who had no arms but had his legs. They would go out on a two-seated bicycle throughout Ohio as a tour enticement for their act. Eli would steer and Tripp would pedal, and a crowd of amazed viewers often heard Bowen snap back, "Get your hands off me!" Tripp would call out to his partner, "Watch your step!" 

The 16 Types of Government

Civics isn't taught in high school anymore; a real loss for social knowledge skills and decision-making, in my view. And although I didn't have that class as my choice in high school, we did take sociology in 10th grade, and I took "Presidential Politics" as a course in 1976 at a college. It reflected on four styles of the office of the commander-in-chief: how they could be either active or resistant to handling responsibilities. It would also depend on two choices once they were in office: how did their term as president reflect in a rewarding view by historians--or not? Active presidents sought the office. Negative presidents didn't want the office but were swayed to accept it.

Active-Positive; Active-Negative, Negative-Positive; Negative-Negative.

(A Negative president could be someone who replaced a previous leader.

 Calvin Coolidge is a Negative-negative)

(Dwight Eisenhower-Franklin Pierce / Harry S. Truman-Calvin Coolidge) = Active/Positive & Active-Negative, while Truman/Coolidge is Negative-positive and as mentioned...

But here's a list of current ideas rolling around everyone's vocabulary--which is why I'm posting it.

The Evolution of Rhinos

Evolution of the Platypus