On the Bridge At Midnight

Thought I'd share the lyrics to some of the songs my father and grandfather passed on to my brother, myself and various cousins in the family. I never was able to find out where On the Bridge At Midnight song came from. The other two I have heard in different form/versions. Do you have any that your family passed on to you?

On the bridge at midnight,
I heard a rooster shout
"Cock-a-doodle-do-de-do
Me guts is coming out."


Oh my name is St.Johnson,
I come from Wisconsin,
I work in a lumber yard there.
All the people I meet,
on the street,
ask me what is my name....

and I say..

Oh my name is St.Johnson,
I come from Wisconsin,
I work in a lumber yard there.
All the people I meet,
on the street,
ask me what is my name...

and I say...
(this was repeated over and over again until all us kids would groan, roll on the floor and beg my grandfather to stop.)


Sam, Sam the monkey man,
washed his face in the frying pan,
dried it off with a donkeys tail,
scratched his tummy with his
big toenail.

My grandfather also taught us to whistle with our hands. We cupped our hands together and blew threw a small hole between the two thumbs. (It sounded like the whistling in the old Clint Eastwood westerns). It took me many months to be able to do it, but when I did I was so proud! My father taught us how to blow on a blade of grass (we've all done that, right?). We used to drive my mother crazy with all the squeaking and hrrummphing and squealing we did. I'm sure she told my father how much she appreciated his teachings.

A Political Moment...

Aren't politicians suppose to represent their constituents?

A Book Meme

A non-tag from Old NFO

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
2. Find page 123.
3. Find the first five sentences.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

From Vince Flynn's Transfer of Power
1.I remember it verbatim because it seemed rather inconsiderate of you to be taking a shot at the very people who were putting in one-hundred-plus-hour weeks protecting you.
2.You said that 'the Secret Service is comprised of a paranoid group of people, who, although well-meaning, have an inflated sense of self-importance.'
3.I'm sure those words, combined with your and President Hayes's more recent refusal of a request for an increase in our budget, will go over just great with all of your voters.

No tags.... just play if you like!

The Red Green Show

The Red Green Show is another PBS aired program that borders on insanity!
The title character, Red Green (Steve Smith), is a lazy handyman who generally tries to find shortcuts to most of his projects, trusting the vast majority of his work to duct tape (which he calls "the handyman's secret weapon" and the "universal adapter"). He is the president of the Possum Lodge, a fictional men's club in the small town of Possum Lake, Canada, near the also-fictional town of Port Asbestos. He and his fellow lodge members have their own TV show (which is more or less the show itself), in which they give humorous lessons and demonstrations in repair work and outdoor activities (such as fishing and camping), and advice for men on relating to women, among other things.

He is the duct tape king, inspiring many fans to create unique items out of duct tape! Click here to see some of the crazy stuff!

Posh Nosh By Gosh! or Are Your Vegetables Embarrassed?

One of the funniest shows I've seen in a while.... Posh Nosh! I just caught an episode for the first time and I highly recommend watching a show if you can find it! PBS carries it sporadically here in MA... If you like British humor, (Benny Hill etc.) then you should definately give this a try! If you haven't seen it... read on...

Posh Nosh
From Wikipedia
Posh Nosh was a 2002 BBC television programme parodying television chefs. Written by Jon Canter from an idea by Arabella Weir and directed by Chris Langham, the programme stars Weir and Richard E. Grant as chefs the Hon. Simon and Minty Marchmont, owners of a very posh restaurant called "The Quill & Tassel." There were nine ten-minute episodes, in which the chefs carry out their mission to bring "extraordinary food" to "ordinary people."

Simon and Minty prepare various dishes ranging from architect's fish and chips to bread AND butter pudding, offering snooty and frequently surreal commentary along the way. For instance, they employ words in odd ways in parody of specific culinary terminology, such as "interrogate a lemon"; and their cooked vegetables are not peeled but "embarrassed," after which they might be "annoyed" instead of boiled. They also frequently insist on ultra-specific, often prohibitively expensive, ingredients - such as Greek currants that you actually have to fly to Greece to buy.

At the same time, a thread of domestic tension (and often hostility) runs beneath the surface of every exchange between Simon and Minty, along with some not-so-subtle hints about Simon's sexual orientation. A running joke in the series is Simon's crush on his tennis instructor José Luis, played by David Tennant. Both Marchmonts are obsessed with their dog, Sam, going so far as to throw a birthday party (complete with other dog guests) for him. The birthday cake prepared for the party contains huge amounts of chocolate, which would kill dogs, a rather macabre joke.

The common use of web sites in television programmes are often spoofed as well, with items such as www.sexmexavacado.com and www.arthurleggbourkersfarmnearbanbury.co.uk appearing as subtitles on screen.

Finally, each episode concludes with teaser for the next episode and a short faux promotional piece for a jar of something "from the Posh Nosh range" at your local purveyor of all foods fine and extraordinary. Each item on offer is progressively more ridiculous. For example, here is the close from the episode about architect's fish and chips (as distinct from builder's fish and chips):

Minty: Join us next week on Posh Nosh, when I'll be disabling a partridge in its own jus.

I have been tagged by A Voice In The Night with a meme and against my better judgement I have said I would participate. Here are the rules if you decide to play along:
1) Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4) Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
*********************************************************************************

1. I used to drive a taxi cab. I dispatched cabs for ten years, then tried driving one. I lasted about a year or so, until I was robbed at gunpoint and locked in the trunk of the cab. Figured there was a reason I survived and didn't want to press my luck, so I got out of the business.

2. I have a fear of heights. I can overcome it when necessary, but you won't catch me riding any roller coasters. Flying doesn't bother me, as long as it's in a 747 or something similar in size.

3. I quit smoking in 2002. I had been smoking for 28 years. Best thing I've ever done for myself.

4. I have a great love for Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. YUM!

5. I am the daughter of a milkman!

6. I wanted to grow up to be a writer. I'll let you know how it turns out when I grow up.

7. I dislike email chain letters, brussell sprouts and people who don't take advantage of the priveledges our country has to offer...such as an EDUCATION, and the RIGHT TO VOTE.

Tag, you're it!
Bagblog
Exile In Portales
Nobody Asked Me
Musings of a Vast Right-Winger
When your only tool is a hammer
Glock N'Cuffs

The Death of Allure

Peter, over at Bayou Renaissance Man, has a great post about a new fashion trend. Click here to take a look.

I have had nightmares off and on all my life. I never once thought about writing them down, but now I wish I had. They would have made great storylines! When I was a child, I used to have a recurring dream of giant bumblebees in the basement of our house. I would inevitably end up down in the basement full of fear, and then be chased up the stairs and throughout the house by the bees. I can attribute the dream to an incident that occurred when I was five years old. I had been stung on both the upper and lower lips by a honey bee! Of course, as I got older, those dreams disappeared. I don't recall many of the dreams I've had over the years, except of course, for the ones that seemed to be completely nuts! I think the dreams about the spaceships were the scariest. I'm sure I had these dreams because of all the science fiction books and movies I had read and seen. There was always the feeling of dread in these dreams. I haven't had the spaceship dreams in several years but I can remember them as if I'd had one last night. They always started with a sound. The sound of whirring.... slow and low, almost like the sound a large jet makes when it is off in the distance. As soon as I would hear this sound I knew that they were coming. This particular dream was recurring. I would run around my house trying to lock all the doors, pull the shades down on all the windows, fear rushing through my whole body. I saw them in the sky just above the trees in the back yard, hovering, waiting. The sky would grow dark with them, and the air was electrically charged whenever they were there. I can't remember ever going much beyond that... although as I write this I feel as if there had been more to the dream, I just can't remember it. I would wake up in a cold sweat, heart beating like mad, consumed with fear. They were horrible dreams. There were other dreams of spaceships, throughout my life... one I can remember where I was standing in a huge open field with other people and this spaceship of immense proportions was floating just above our heads (you could reach up and touch it). The field was bordered by a cliff above the ocean. Nothing happened in this dream.... it was just us and the spaceship. Still it invoked feelings of fear and dread.
I also had a dream (two or three times) about being in a jungle that had tree huts in a village setting. The huts were on fire and I was trying to escape the jungle. Another dream; (I thought I was awake but must not have been) I woke up to find a women dressed in Pilgrim clothes, holding my ankles tightly - so tightly that I couldn't move my legs. I woke up screaming from that one!
I have always wondered about the meaning of dreams and nightmares but found the interpretations from books much less interesting than my own. Growing up on Cape Cod, there was always an air of mystery. Ghost stories, the Salem Witches... well you can see why a person's imagination might get the best of them. I would really like to hear about your recurring dreams or nightmares! Please feel free to post in the comments and don't worry about the length... or shortness of your post.

This handsome fella was buried deep in the foliage of Jungle Gardens. I tried to do a little research on Tiki culture but found very little information online. Here is what I did find: Tiki is an art form that has been around for thousands of years. It is found in the jungles of Africa, the stone faces of Easter Island, the totem poles of the American Indians. "In Central Eastern Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean, tiki is a name given to large carvings of humanoid form. These carvings often serve to mark the boundaries of sacred or significant sites." (Wikipedia) I found a website that sells tiki masks and totems but also has information about Hawaiian Tiki History. Tiki culture was popular here in America, the 1950's and 60's. Trader Vics was one of the popular Polynesian-theme restaurants that promoted the tiki bar experience. Anyone remember the Hawaii episode of the Brady Bunch where Bobby found the evil tiki god carving at Mr. Brady's construction site? This movie (a classic!) definately influenced America's desire for everything "tiki"! I knew a Wisconsin family who decorated their entire basement in the Polynesian tiki bar motif. It was a great get-a-way in the middle of a cold winter! Anyone know someone who still has one in their home?

A little bird told me.....

Seeing these guys was one of the highlights of my trip! Sarasota Jungle Gardens is a lovely spot to "duck" into in the early morning hours, before the heat of the day crashes down on you. I got there just as it opened and enjoyed walking the jungle trails. They have quite an extensive collection of tropical birds; some you can even pose with, others - such as the flamingos - were in a more natural habitat. There are several alligators and croc's to peer at, two very large tortoise, a monkey, an emu and some prairie dogs (not quite what I'd call jungle creatures- but still fun to see). They also had a reptile exhibit and while viewing the snakes, a rattlesnake shook his his rattles at me! There was a Birds of Prey show, which was informative and very well presented. The slight deviation from the program however, gave me the willie nillies.... (large cockroaches were brought out for viewing). Ewwwwww! I'm outta here!
There are many squirrels throughout the place, having found a free meal in dropped seeds below the parrot perches. Ducks roam about freely and it is interesting to see them interact with the pelicans and flamingos on the nearby pond. The overall experience is a calm, relaxing journey through palm trees and palmetto bushes, with many places to sit and observe the animals and birds.

A Reservation for One

Now generally, I am a patient person. My job requires it. I have a natural inborn tendency to be patient. (and understanding too!)I have developed a huge amount of patience over the years, having had to deal with my child, my parents, my co-workers, and that annoying "please hold for the next available operator" that drones on and on and on. When I arrived at Logan,(12 noon) my patience was still intact, fully charged and ready to be challenged. I've had experience with flying and knew very well what a test of one's patience could be ahead of me. ~snicker~

Airline agent: "Hello, where are you flying to today?"
Silly me: "Tampa"
Airline agent: "Oh no".
Silly me: "Huh?"
Airline agent: "That flight was cancelled. Let me see what I can do for you. Oh yes, here we go; I can get you on a flight to Cleveland, then Chicago, with a stop in BumfreakingEgypt, then after a 3 hour layover we might get lucky and strap you to the wing of Flight 308 and get you to Atlanta by next Tuesday."
Silly me: "Huh?"
Airline agent: "Of course, if you want to get to Tampa we could just put you on a flight that leaves three and a half hours later than your original flight with two stops, arriving in Tampa at midnight."
Silly me: "Are you kidding me? I paid for a DIRECT flight! I'm suppose to be toes deep in white beach sand by 6pm tonight! I only get four days off! You're kidding me, right?"
Airline agent: "No ma'am. I'm sorry for the inconvienence."

So there I am, sitting patiently waiting for a flight that leaves at 5:30ish to Cleveland. At 5:10 the airline agent at the desk makes this announcement:
"DUE TO AN FAA REQUIRED INSPECTION OF THIS AIRPLANE OUR DEPARTURE TIME WILL BE DELAYED BY ONE HOUR." Of course this messed up the connection in Cleveland so I get up to go speak to the agent. I am directed to the auto-kiosk thing-a-ma-jiggy, scan my ticket and VOILA! I am now booked on a direct Boston to Atlanta flight leaving in..... wait for it..... another hour and a half! But that's really okay because once I get into Atlanta I only have to wait three more hours for the flight to Tampa!

Time to pull up the bootstraps, push in the bottom lip, wipe the tears off, and belly up to the bar!

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round!

I'm back from my way too short of a vacation in the wonderful state of Florida! I can tell you from beginning to end, it was an adventure! The first leg of my journey involved a bus ride from the Cape to Logan Airport - nothing exciting about that, right? I had taken this particular ride several times over the years, and although my heart and soul were on the bus pictured here; I was pretty sure it would be just another typically boring bus ride to the airport. "Joe" the bus driver, looked like the average wheel jockey... about 65+ years old, gray hair, yet still agile enough to toss the tonnage of luggage around like it was nothing. As I settled into my seat, I took notice of the other passengers; several couples, a student, the guy who looked like he was sleeping out in the woods, two women, who were already engrossed in a deep conversation about the newest political gaffe by the Democrats, and a man in a business suit who had a cellphone attached to his ear and a Blackberry in his hand (or was it a remote control death ray device, programmed to jam all signals to the local Burger King drive-thru monitoring system?) ---> No I do NOT own a tinfoil hat folks!
Anyhow, while Joe got us up and running, I leaned back into my seat, closing my eyes to dream of sandy white beaches and some sort of rum drink with pineapple.....
"ATTENTION LADIES AND GENTLEMEN" I opened one eye, "THIS IS JOE, THE NUMBER ONE BUSDRIVER AND DO YOU KNOW W-H-Y I'M THE NUMBER ONE BUSDRIVER?" my second eye opened in disbelief, and of course I really did want to know why Joe was the number one busdriver. "WELL FOLKS, LET ME TELL YOU! I'VE HAD MANY, MANY DRIVERS GIVE ME THE NUMBER ONE FINGER OVER THE LAST 35 YEARS OF DRIVING!" My confidence in Joe's driving abilities hit a new low.
For the next hour and a half I gripped the arm of my chair while I listened to Joe attempt to humor us with stories. Just above him hung the sign "Unneccessary Conversation with the Operator is Prohibited".

Another Smoking Related Death

What a tragedy.

Heroic efforts of YPD Officer Marc Thibeault acknowledged during Tuesday news conference



WEST YARMOUTH - A press conference was held at 3 p.m. on Tuesday at the Yarmouth Police Department to acknowledge the heroic efforts of canine officer Marc Thibeault.

46-year-old Sharon Wetherbee is still in critical condition after being pulled from her burning home by Officer Thibeault early Tuesday morning.

After being stabilized at Cape Cod Hospital Wetherbee was flown by Medflight to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Wetherbee is being treated for severe burns and smoke inhalation.

The Canine Officer who pulled her from her burning house on Bradford Road, Marc Thibeault, was treated for smoke inhalation at Cape Cod Hospital and released. According to the Yarmouth Police Department, another police officer and firefighter were also treated and released.

According to investigators from the Yarmouth Police and Fire Deparments, careless disposal of the contents of an ashtray is believed to be the cause of the fire.

During the news conference, Yarmouth Fire Chief C. Randall Sherman described the fire conditions and praised Officer Thibeault. He then answered questions from the local media, and most of the Boston news outlets also present.




UPDATE: Sharon Wetherbee was pronounced dead Tuesday evening

Full story here

Toes in the Sand

Vacation time! Back in a few days.... with stories to tell, I hope!

OH NO!!!!

Created by OnePlusYou

Tornado Season is here again!

Tornado Myths.....

From Wikipeda:

One of the most persistent myths associated with tornadoes is that opening windows will lessen the damage caused by the tornado. While there is a large drop in atmospheric pressure inside a strong tornado, it is unlikely that the pressure drop would be enough to cause the house to explode. Some research indicates that opening windows may actually increase the severity of the tornado's damage. Regardless of the validity of the explosion claim, time would be better spent seeking shelter before a tornado than opening windows. A violent tornado can destroy a house whether its windows are open or closed.

Another commonly held belief is that highway overpasses provide adequate shelter from tornadoes. On the contrary, a highway overpass is a dangerous place during a tornado. In the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak of May 3, 1999, three highway overpasses were directly struck by tornadoes, and at all three locations there was a fatality, along with many life-threatening injuries. The small area under the overpasses created a kind of wind tunnel, increasing the wind's speed, making the situation worse. By comparison, during the same tornado outbreak, more than 2000 homes were completely destroyed, with another 7000 damaged, and yet only a few dozen people died in their homes.

An old belief is that the southwest corner of a basement provides the most protection during a tornado. The safest place is the side or corner of an underground room opposite the tornado's direction of approach (usually the northeast corner), or the central-most room on the lowest floor. Taking shelter under a sturdy table, in a basement, or under a staircase increases chances of survival even more.

Finally, there are areas which people believe to be protected from tornadoes, whether by a major river, a hill or mountain, or even protected by "spirits". Tornadoes have been known to cross major rivers, climb mountains, and affect valleys. As a general rule, no area is "safe" from tornadoes, though some areas are more susceptible than others.

Tornado Myths

Batten down the hatches folks...