Pangæa

Strong Parodies

There's a meme taking the internet by storm.  It began with this Rick Perry "Strong" campaign ad, but has since become the basis for several funny parodies.  I love parodies, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you.  Here's the original campaign ad:

Don't Watch This Video

If you're happy with the status quo, don't watch this video.

If you're a member of a private social club in Chicago, don't watch this video.

If you're a supporter of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, don't watch this video.

If you're one who doesn't believe in peaceful civil disobedience, don't watch this video.

If you're unsure of the aims & purposes of Occupy Wall Street, don't watch this video.

If you're not ready for some changes around here, don't watch this video.

The Shorter End Of The Stick

Shorter University, a Baptist university in Rome, Georgia, decided last week to begin requiring its employees to sign a "personal lifestyle pledge."  Among other promises, the pledge includes the promise that an employee will "reject homosexuality."

Shorter's president, Dr. Don V. Dowless, says that teachers and administrators who don't sign the pledge could lose their jobs:  "I think that anybody that adheres to a lifestyle outside of what the biblical mandate is would not be allowed to continue here." Adhering.  Like tape?  Like red tape?

I've Got Your Number

Today is October 31st, 2011 and on this day, give or take a few days, weeks, or months, the population of the world is arbitrarily set to reach 7 billion people.  The population of the earth has doubled during the past 50 years.  Next week, I'll turn 50, which means that I've been here to witness the earth doubling over.  I was the 3,115,745,978th person brought into the earth on the day that I was born, although my mom can hardly be held accountable for all of that.  I was also the 76,838,271,249th person to have ever lived throughout history.  Curious about your number?  Follow this link but don't forget to enter your birthdate the European way (first day, then month, then year):   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515

The World's Worst Campaign Ad

It could be worse . . . I just can't think how, at the moment, but I'm sure it could get worse.

The End

Moammar Gaddafi is dead.

Osama bin Laden is dead.
 
Let's leave Libya, Afghanistan & Iraq. 

The end.




A related post is "The War Works Hard."

Damages

Event: Catastrophic earthquake

Date:  01/12/2010
Magnitude:  7.0
Epicenter:  Léogâne
Aftershocks: 52 of a magnitude 4.5 or greater
Fatalities:  316,000
Injuries:  300,000
Homeless After Quake:  1,000,000
Homeless Now:  1,000,000
Foreign Aid Response:  Ineffectual
Damaged Homes:  250,000
Damaged Businesses:  30,000
Date I Took This Pic:  9/27/2011

Haitian Braids

I just returned, late last night, from a week-long visit to my mom's small orphanage in Bon Repos, Haiti, just a few miles north of Port-au-Prince.  My mom uses her teacher retirement benefits and, as she always reminds me, my "inheritance" to feed and care for sixteen Haitian children.  I took a lot of pictures while I was there and I have many stunning faces and smiles digitally captured.  I thought long and hard about how to represent this trip without revealing the individual identities of the children.  I wanted to respect their privacy but I also had a strong desire to show the beauty and individuality of these kids.  Since the majority of my mom's children are girls and haircare is a serious daily preoccupation among them, I decided to take and display images of braids and braiding to give you just a glimpse into the rich texture that is the culture of Haiti.  My own hair was braided and rebraided several times during the past week, with less-than-satisfactory results. Most of the children, during play, braided each other's hair or grabbed a doll for a more cooperative form of braiding.  

How Pretty Your Hair Is

This video, called "Grandpa Gets A Webcam," has quickly become one of my favorites.  This older couple, vexed by their inability to use their new webcam, is being unknowingly recorded.  Grandpa is cutting up while Grandma's trying her best to figure out how to "take a picture."  Just when she starts to get irritated with him, he shifts gears and begins complimenting her hair.  Then he decides to try to talk her into lowering her dress and showing off her . . . well, you'll see.  If the current trajectory of my marriage is any indication, this will be Scotch and me in about twenty years or so.

If you liked this post, you might like:  "A Close Shave," "Breaking A Bittersweet Spell," or "The Big Five-Ohhhhhhhh!"

A Hundred High Fives

I confess.  I fall in love easily.  It's almost a tragic flaw, this trait of mine.  I have a private stock of beautiful people that I've collected over the years -- people who stir some portion of my soul or intrigue a piece of my intellect.  Some of these people have been in my life since the very beginning, others have been folded in along the way, and yet others are happy new surprises.  I'd like to tell you about my happiest new surprise. 

Last evening, my oldest son and I were talking about a chance encounter that he had fifteen months ago.  He was in Berkeley, California, sipping something at the Teance tea bar, when he was lucky enough to met another Teance customer, a young terminally happy woman named Sara Lahey.  It was a case of one extreme extrovert accidentally meeting up with another extreme extrovert so you know that the sparks were flying that day.  This situation was a near-miss for me, since I was on that trip but didn't fly out to meet up with my son until a day later.  For me, Sara was "the one that got away."

While my son and I were reminiscing about that trip, Sara came up in conversation. That conversation led to a Facebook friend request, which led to a brand-new friendship (less than twelve hours old!), which led to a cascade of happiness.  Sara is the mind behind the Hunting Happiness Project, which has the goal of bringing happiness to the world.  The Hunting Happiness Project has spun out some sweet concepts, one of which is an idea/video called "A Hundred High Fives."

Through a sheer (and very uncanny) coincidence, this Debutopia blog entry of mine is the 100th entry that I've posted.  It is my hundredth high five to you.  If I could reach out and touch you right now, I would.  Short of that, these brief words will have to do.  Life is good -- better, even, than I deserve or expected.  Celebrate being alive!


If you liked this, you might like "10,000 Clicks; 10,000 Hours."

Yarnbombing And Lichen It!

I took this picture at Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois just this week.  I first noticed this tree from my perch on a 12-foot high platform built around a 60-foot tall Sycamore tree, a lookout point above the arboretum's one-acre Maze Garden.  I was instantly irritated when I noticed this tree because I thought that it had been painted and I felt that an arboretum, whose mission it is to plant and conserve trees, had no right to defile one of their own trees.  I decided to get down off the platform and go investigate.  As I got closer, the "paint" on the trunk started looking lacier and I soon noticed that somebody had lovingly crocheted a tree cozy.  That somebody is Ohio artist Carol Hummel, in a work of art that she calls "Lichen It!"  In her artist statement, Hummel says that she is creating a "visual and fun reminder of the crucial long-term relationship between man and nature."  Her work won me over.