The things offered for sale on eBay never cease to amaze me -
COLOR 4 x 6 INCH PHOTO SHOWING TRAILER TRASH LADY LAYING ON THE BED GIVING THE BIRD FINGER TOWARDS THE CAMERA
Here’s another one – (description of actual item is not necessary)
I’m guessing here that this seller is a habitual procrastinator, not to mention just plain lazy.
gilmark
Last week, while driving through New Jersey, I was finally able to get a picture of this camouflaged cell phone tower.
These are the most ridiculous things. They are ramrod straight, “pruned” into who-knows-what shape, and are the size of Sequoias, which dwarf any real trees in the vicinity. Oh, and they are evergreens (!), and look so out of place in the winter months in the middle of a deciduous forest devoid of foliage. Here’s one in New Hampshire that makes for a great, romantic sunset.
These towers are starting to cover the continent; I’ve seen them up and down the east coast, from Virginia to Massachusetts. Check out this site on disguised cell towers; you’ll see a bunch in California that are pruned a bit better than the ones I’ve seen.
But still ridiculous.
gilmark
OK, I ran across this photo on the Internet while researching the Going Green phenomenon.
I have several comments and questions -
WHY?
Is this dog still alive? Do you remember reading about Buddy Ebson, who became terribly sick during the beginning of filming of “Wizard of Oz”? That silver makeup they lathered him up with to look like the Tin Man forced him to withdraw from the project. And remember when the movie “Goldfinger” hit the theaters, and the famous movie poster of the woman painted gold? There were about a zillion rumors flying around that she had died because every pore of her body was clogged with paint, causing her skin to cease “breathing”.
What is that woman in the photo doing? Is she the proud owner of the dog? The colorist admiring her work? Is she taking a final look before being carted away in handcuffs for animal abuse?
I had a dog back in the early 80’s who slid her belly through some mud (deep brown) to cool off, caught a squirrel and killed it, getting (red) blood all over her snout and head, then rolled, on her back, in some fresh cow manure (green). She was quite a site, I wish I had a picture of her. At least these colors washed off of her quickly. I’m thinking this poor poodle looked like that for a good month, at least.
Are dogs color blind? Dogs do have some color vision but not as much as humans. Dogs have a particular form of colorblindness called deuteranopia. They can see gray, violet blue, and colors in the yellow-green genre. do you think this dog is conscious of the silliness of all this green largese? Self esteem issues??
gilmark
I’d like to poll the readers (all five or you) about something I’ve thought about for years. It has to do with baseball.
Baseball is the only sport in which the manager and coaches of the team wear the same uniform as the players. With the exception of Connie Mack and Burt Shotton way back when, this hasn’t changed at all, and probably won’t. One reason may be that baseball could be the only sport where the manager and coaches are allowed onto the field of play.
Typically the managers and coaches are much older than the players, and certainly not in the same physical condition. Sometimes they are in the 60-70 age group, overweight and gimping around from an old injury. Sometimes they are in their 50-60 age group, overweight and gimping around from an old injury. You get the picture.
This practice has roots in baseball going back to the 19th century, when a player/coach could insert himself into the lineup whenever he wanted, and didn’t have to change clothes in the middle of the game. He started the game as manager, ready to play whenever he thought he could do a better job than any of the players on the field. The last player/manager I can remember was Pete Rose at the end of his career with the Cincinnati Reds, 1984-86.
I shouldn’t complain too much about this, as I am so used to it that it really doesn’t bother me when I’m watching a game. It’s still a strange practice, and I just laugh and imagine what other sports would look like if coaches wore the same clothing as the players. Imagine a swim coach, way past his/her swimming prime, wearing a racing suit; a football coach in pads and a helmet; or a gangly, 6′7″, overweight basketball coach in shorts and a tanktop.
gilmark
After waking up this morning, I groggily walked into a door. Getting in the car to go to work, I managed to bump, more like smash, my head on the door frame. At work, I really banged my head on a steel beam. Came home from work hungry for lunch, got something out the refrigerator, stood up and banged my head on the top freezer door.
I was going to get the ladder out and work on the house, but there’s a message here for me, and I now have on my bike helmet and I have just taken a break from reading on the couch. I think I’ll stay there, maybe watch a movie for a change of pace. I might take it off for a shower later on today, but I’m not so sure about that.
#1- dropping my keys through a sewer grate, into the sewer, never seeing them again; I give myself about six feet of clearance and walk around them.
#2 – driving behind a Jerr-Dan flat bed tow truck, with the angled ramp at the tail end, only to have it stop suddenly and I can’t, turning my car into a convertible; I usually slow down and let another car get in between.
#3 – opening the door to the dishwasher, pulling the rack out to air dry the dishes, and falling on the knives in the utensil tray; I should put the knives point down, but I just can’t do it.
#4 – another driving fear – following an auto transport tractor trailer on the highway, then the ramps are extended and drag behind the trailer, I drive onto the ramps, speed up in a panic, then go up and over the trailer and fly off in front of the tractor; I try to pass them, or see #2.
I was out yard sailing this morning, and spotted this sign in a North Providence, RI neighborhood -
I can hear the phone call to the town hall office -
Concerned citizen – “Someone is walking their ____________ (choose one – coyote, wolf, dingo, jackal), and they are not picking up the poop.”
Town Official – “Ok, we’ll put a sign up in your neighborhood.”
I find it insulting that costumers and set designers for television shows, movies, and advertisements (both television and print) need to dress characters in red, yellow, and blue clothes; or use red, yellow, or blue cars in a scene; or a red car, a character in a blue shirt, both in front of a business storefront that is basically yellow; or any combination you can think of. This might take some explaining, so bear with me. I’ll abbreviate the red, yellow, blue to RYB to shorten this post.
I understand that these three colors are important, the PRIMARY colors. I get that part. But pay attention when you are out and about and see if you can find a naturally occurring (really, random, or by chance) group of people or objects that are in RYB mode. Go to a place where’s there’s a crowd and see how long it takes you to spot a RYB situation (see combinations above).
But if you watch televison, particularly a sitcom, it happens in almost every scene. I just can’t watch television anymore because of this. Are viewers thought to have such a short attention span that they can’t follow the story unless jolted back to watching by the RYB trifecta? Is this something that’s hardwired in our genetic makeup that we can only pay attention if these three colors are present? Watch the vapid “Two and a Half Men” for a half hour and you’ll be amazed that so many characters have a wardrobe with such a narrow color selection. This show uses the yellow kitchen wall as a backdrop and the main characters are, more often than not, wearing some garish blue and/or red shirt. I find it hard to believe that anyone would have so many clothes that are RYB, and tacky to boot. Check out this scene -
Who would wear such a bright yellow sweatshirt? I guess if you were at DisneyWorld and bought a souvenir shirt with Goofy on the front and it was bright yellow, well, that might be acceptable for that day at that amusement park. Watch some other successful sitcoms (“Friends” comes to mind) and you’ll see more than enough of this color scheme.
There’s a scene in one of the Governator’s “Terminator” movies (sorry, can’t tell them apart) where Ahnold and a couple of people he’s saving are planning their next move at a campground, in front of a bright yellow tent with both red and blue chairs next to it.
I was thoroughly enjoying a 1986 episode of “Amazing Stories” entitled “Secret Cinema” with the great Paul Bartell and his muse, Mary Woronov, until the character Paul Bartell was playing appeared in a bright yellow shirt and blue jacket with a red hanky in the breast pocket. Ruined the whole thing for me.
An important point on this topic is that, while these three colors can appear in a situation randomly, they just don’t appear with the same regularity that television, movies, and advertisements throw at us. They all should learn a lesson from “Monk” that you don’t have to wear absurdly bright colors to be on television.
More on this later. It’s one of my favorite pet peeves. Pay attention, you’ll notice it. And I hope I don’t ruin anything for you. . .
On the first or second night of NBC’s coverage of the Beijing Olympics, I was watching one of the diving events. One of the divers just polished off a handstand reverse triple whammy double spin somersault backflip tuck pike dive, and the color analyst proceeded to pick apart every segment of the dive. Those analysts were so critical. To the casual viewer without diving experience, most dives look pretty darn good. I was always surprised that these experts just poured on the criticism. (And it’s not just swimming; the gymnastics analysts did the same thing.)
Anyway, NBC had decided to put a camera on the showers, which were right out there next to the pool. I had always thought a shower was sort of a private thing, but the Beijing Olympic officials and NBC thought otherwise, and filmed many of the divers and swimmers rinsing off after being in the pool. I presumed they were rinsing off the chlorine, having done my fair share of swimming in the past.
As the first diver in the shower was being filmed, there was a long pause of silence from the announcers. Apparently they weren’t ready for this part of the coverage. The main announcer awkwardly asked about the purpose of the showers, and the analyst, in a jolly tone of voice, said something about the divers using them to cool down and have fun. I wish I had that film and verbal exchange on tape, because it was very strange the way it was presented. I didn’t see anything fun about taking a shower in front of millions of television viewers, and almost all of the swimmers and divers looked like they didn’t appreciate having their privacy invaded, except for the exhibitionists among them.
Is this an east coast phenomenon, or is this happening everywhere?
Ever since I moved east, I’ve noticed more and more businesses have recorded messages where you can leave a message. I don’t mind that at all; it’s the recording attached to it that bothers me.
For example, just today, I called a company in Connecticut because I wanted some information on a piece of equipment I’m interested in buying. Their website states the hours are 8am to 4:30pm, EST. That’s fine. I picked up the phone at 4:05pm, dialed them up, and listened to the recording, which, among other sales propaganda, repeated the hours that are listed on the website. I calmly listened to the whole thing, thinking that I’d talk to someone after the message was over. Foolish me! I was promptly transferred to an answering system, telling me that I could leave a message since it was not normal business hours.
So I politely left a message that it was 4:07pm, I had listened to their sales pitch which included their hours of operation, and I would try calling their competitor to see if they had a similar product and if they knew what time it was.
This is not a one-shot deal. This is very common around here, especially on Fridays. I’d like to think this doesn’t happen everywhere, but maybe it’s a sign of the times that everyone is overworked and stressed out and it’s Friday and let’s go home early and no one will notice and the economy is booming and selling just one more Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging machine for a few million dollars this week just isn’t going to make any difference.
