Freaky Friday Features

Natural Wonders of Our Planet Earth

There are so many natural wonders on this planet of ours that is impossible to list or picture them in one short blog. There may be several in your area, as these phenomena can occur in more than one area of the world, while others are located in one isolated area and one area alone, as with a few of the exceptional spectacles in Iceland. Planet bound or skyward, they awe and inspire, difficult to capture on film or digital camera–rare when they are–natural wonders of our planet. Lenticular clouds

Heavenward, our climate makes for some spectacular shows such as water or fire spouts. How about lightning that strikes upward, not down? Those strikes have been captured and authenticated. This is a lenticular cloud–some so alien as to be mistaken for UFOs.

Glorious trees grace our environment. How about the Rainbow Eucalyptus? This tree, also known as the rainbow gum is probably the most colorful tree on the planet. Found in the Philippines and Indonesia, it also grows in Hawaii. The bark starts out as green. Then as the bark ages, it begins to turn color as the chlorophyll is replaced by tannins.

Spotted Lake in BC, Canada, takes on a polka dot appearance in the summer. The water evaporates in the summer leaving large deposits of colorful minerals. Also known as Kliluk Lake, there are numerous videos on YouTube that exhibit its beauty.

Columnar basalt is the result of lava flows that has cooled quickly and cracked vertically. This particular phenomenon is found around the world. The “sailing” stones of Death Valley move hundreds of yards at a time–by themselves over the sand. sailing stones

The planet is 71% water, 29% land. It is filled with so many natural wonders and as harsh, varied and violent as it can be, still is our fragile planet. I am awed every day at the site of new displays of beauty and worried at its ability to withstand the indolence of man. ©2016 Virginia Williams Resource Box

Do We Really Need AI?

I need a new computer.

One that understands me.

One that anticipates what I’m trying to do–and executes it properly the FIRST time.

One that doesn’t flip out every time I breathe hard or brush the wrong key.

One that will STOP fighting what I am trying to do and LETS me do it!

One that doesn’t auto-correct the slang, euphemisms, or abbreviations with words I’ve never heard of.

One that doesn’t have to have the same passage or photo re-entered and saved six times to stay where I put it.

One that doesn’t take a sudden left turn and leave a large block of content unsaved.

And,

One that uses my searches to FIND what I actually want within 15 minutes.

The “Artistic Crime of the Century”

America has benefited by some of the most creative and innovative engineers, scientists, and builders on the planet, conceiving modern marvels such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, Mt. Rushmore, bridges, tunnels, transcontinental railroads, skyscrapers, and, of course, the World Trade Center. It was in 1974 when 24 year old Frenchman Philippe Petit made it his “le coup” to illegally walk on a high wire across the top of the twin towers a total of eight times, the “artistic crime of the century.”

Then the tallest structures in the world, the twin towers stood at just over 1,360′. According to Wikipedia, it was among a complex of seven buildings. The twin towers opened in 1973 and were known as 1WTC and 2WTC.

Petit walked at the 1,350 ft. level at the 110th storey. There was a 200′ gap between

philippe_petit — Philippe Petit: Credit AP

the buildings. The feat is celebrated in a film released in 2015 called “The Walk,” and there is no way to appreciate just how high that really is until you see the picture of the walk with Lower Manhattan buildings well below. Better known is the terrorist destruction of the twin towers on two-eleven.

It’s Freaky Friday and granted I have missed a few. We are still in a state of transition and things can get pretty crazy around here. Just to remind myself that there is still a sense of humor in the world out there, I’ll present you with two funny pictures today. Maybe just my sense of humor, but both are pretty funny though I can’t imagine how that horse got himself(?) into that situation. (Trying for the break to freedom no doubt! The pastures are always greener….or there was a really pretty little filly just over yonder hill.) Yes, I’d imagine the cow was photoshopped, but how great is that? It’s Friday–relax and have a chuckle on me. And them. horse

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Freaky Friday Features

He Guest Hosted (Just) Once on SNL!

Known to millions of early television viewers as “Uncle Miltie,” Milton Berle was among the American TV pioneer stars during “the Golden Age” of TV. Born in 1908, he was credited with a number of witty quotes, several (including the one above) were the most popular: “Laughter is an instant vacation,” “If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands.” But I think my favorite is also a poem:

“I’d rather be a ‘could-be’ if I cannot be an ‘are’ because a ‘could-be’ is a ‘maybe’ who is reaching for a star. I’d rather be a ‘has-been’ than a ‘might-have-been’ by far; for a ‘might-have-been’ has never been, but a ‘has’ was once an ‘are.”
― Milton Berle

Freaky Friday Features

Goodyear–Where Did the Name Come From?

Goodyear, a smaller suburb of the Phoenix Metropolitan area with a population of approximately 65,000 is coming into summer with a cooler than average spring. Normally experiencing the highest average July temperatures of any U.S. metropolitan area, our days in the 70’s are coming to an end. We don’t experience too many cloudy or rainy days. Obviously, it must be time to leave.

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Freaky Friday Features

How to Prolong Your Life and Save Another

So are you a dog person or a cat person? I’m more the dog person. Having a canine companion can be a joy and, yes, I’m aware a feline companion can also give you joy. However, even in our larger cities where walking or running space is at a premium, dogs are quickly taking the favored pet choice. A canine is a quickly adaptable animal, loyal, and easily anthropomorphized. Perhaps the difference between owning or being owned.

These fur kids are generally undemanding (except perhaps for the feline variety). They require very little–really. They are the only animal that can look you in the eye and discern your mood AND then act to relieve or elevate it. Below is my mood elevating animal. Yes, that one–but also the one in white! Just look at that face! Ahh….

20150606_175438 They can reduce your blood pressure just by stroking the little beasts. If the animal shelter shared with you, it’s a win-win. You’ve saved a life and the endorphins generated will go a long way with your own. ©2016 Virginia Williams Resource Box

Freaky Friday Features

I’m a list person.

And a scheduler.

Sometimes I keep a list within a list (i.e., grocery list on my daily list). Perhaps the list and the schedule go hand in hand. I keep a list to remember what I’m supposed to do that day. Ergo, the schedule. That creates the time frame for the list. Before I retired, it was a great deal more detailed. I won’t say the list was down to the minute–more like the quarter hour. Things are a little more relaxed now, though I still run through the mental list in the morning so I can set the pace for the day.

I suspect it is easier to keep that modus operandi if you are single. Living with a spouse or partner involves their schedules or lack thereof. Unfortunately, my husband doesn’t have one. He is now retired–again–and doesn’t feel any urgency in keeping any kind of plan–daily or weekly. So it is when he came home last week and turned our world upside down that I find the first casualty in my previously ordered world is now my writing schedule; blog posts and copywriting.

We are now on an extended fact-finding trip searching for possible employment and housing opportunities associated with the locations of our son and daughter. (Heaven knows we are not getting any younger.) I hope that the earth will slow the spinning a bit for me in the near future, but for now, this is my contribution for the Freaky Friday Feature. 2016 ©Virginia Williams Resource Box