Road Kill, EI, Cell Phones Don't Float, Movie Review

In doing a little research for this blog I thought I might refresh myself on the natural senses that humans are blessed with. Then to my surprise while I have always thought we only had five senses it turns out we really have eleven. Of course our modern time has to add something to the mix and having just five senses over the many years I have been in this world seems to be just fine with me. But, now I learn that the psychologists, scientists, medical profession, etc., have added some to the basic five. Possibly I will cover the new ones in another blog, but right now I have to stand pat on the current subject of “odors.” What prompted me to get into this subject were the many natural scents (or maybe odors) that I noticed while on a 45 mile bicycle ride on Saturday. It seemed as though the road kill was particularly bad and the recent moisture in the cotton fields presented me with many scents, or odors to choose from. So, my mind being what my mind does best, I started putting words and thoughts to the scents and comparing one to another. The three odors that kept coming back to me on this real country ride was that of domestic animal manure and my findings were really enlightening. For example, did you know that cow, horse and pig manure all have a very distinct difference in scent than one another? I can ride through the canyons and identify the odors my nose picks up as cow, horse or pig. Of the three I really like the horse manure better, and find the pig manure to be really offensive. There is something about the horse manure that has a really healthy scent and enables a person to respect them a little more. In the case of cows they just eat whatever is around, plus chew their cud, then lay out the cow patty that nearly makes a perfect circle and is a work of art. I have never been in a cow patty throwing contest, but they are popular around the cowboy community. Possibly this would be the next competition between the USA Triathlon Board and Staff, one never knows! Also on this ride was a bunch (flock, herd, mess, or whatever) of wild turkey’s but I was not close enough to them for a long period of time to catch their manure scent. If I had to guess on this I would figure the scent is like a bunch of chickens, which are as offensive as the pigs. Then there is always the scent of road kill that has been laying out on the road way too many days. One particularly dead skunk had been out way too many days and was lying in the shoulder of the road as I passed by. Now as we all know skunks are known for their natural odor that is emitted from their body when they are frightened so they spew this disgusting odor out to the world so everyone will leave them alone. To the best of my knowledge it really works, but I have found that their real odor comes forth when they have been laying dead on the should of the road for at least 4 days and the vultures have been serving themselves with gourmet skunk meat. I saw their rib cages, and miscellaneous other body parts all shredded by the vultures and the odor just about frizzled my nose hairs to the point of real disgust. But I did pick up the pace to get by this and held my breath in the interim. Being in an agriculture community I have the opportunity to really experience difference scents and it sure exercises my sense of smell. Now I will go after some activity that will exercise my other senses, and when I get to be a grown up I will add the other six senses that I didn’t know were in existence until today. My point would be to always be aware of what is going on out there in this weird world, or maybe just simply, LIVE AND LEARN!!

Speaking of living and learning I will be starting a new course tomorrow to study and become certified in the new progress field of Emotional Intelligence. This expertise will be added to my Life Coaching practice and I am really looking forward to it. This is the study of the individual emotions as they respond to the emotions we experience from other people. It became a real field of study and concern in the early 90’s but is now surfacing as a real measuring stick to help people or groups achieve what they want to achieve, after they understand the emotions around them. Statistics done on this up to now show that after effective EI evaluation (it is measured by an EI assessment measurement that is unique to the subject). For years Intelligence Quotient(IQ) has been a big measuring stick as to how people might achieve success, etc., but it was found that having a large IQ was really not the key to achievement success and if the high IQ person did not “get it” when it came to what was around them emotionally they generally failed. This will be some interesting stuff.

Cell phones don’t float!! Well just when I thought I had seen it all I dropped by cell phone into the commode and it sunk!! Yep, I took that little dude with me on a solo ride and tucked it under my biking pants and when I finished the ride and then went to the rest room I forgot about the phone and it decided to make a swan dive into the commode(thankfully there was just clear, clean water in it). I immediately reached in and pulled it out trying to give it some kind of life saving actions, but no matter what I did it just doesn’t work any more. I dried it out real good but I guess it just stayed submerged too long (only a matter of seconds actually). Now I get to stand in line while I get it exchanged and wait for it to be shipped to me (why don’t these multi-location, million dollar companies have inventories any more??) (Another blog topic for the future). But, I guess that what I learned is that I really have only needed the cell phone one time while being on a ride(for the past 25 years) and that was when a dog decided to take a plug of fresh human meat(he liked the scent I guess) out of my left calf muscle. Since it was bleeding beyond belief I decided I needed to make a call to get some help getting back into town and to the ER. In lieu of that I borrowed a phone from the not (he claimed it was not his dog, likely story since it came running out from under his house) owner of the guilty dog. What I learned is that I can carry it again with me, but I just need to remember where it is being carried and remove it before going to the rest room!! DUH, live and learn again!!

Movie Review: “Terminator Salvation”, ***, It is the year 2018(not too far away folks) and no one is really having any fun any more, simply because this giant army of human terminators (it is confusing to me what these bad mechanical things hate humans since they are the people who created them, oops must be a human mind behind all of this) and killing or capturing all of the left over humans. This is one action packed movie with very little human emotion and they sure are not having fun. These dudes make Arnold look like Daisy Mae. While small groups of human survivors have organized into a resistance, hiding in underground bunkers and led by John Connor (portrayed by Christian Bale) it just seem like they will have a chance to survive. But they do make enough progress to merit a sequel for sometime in the immediate future. Also, the likeness of Arnold does make a brief appearance and the honorable Governor of California is doing the nude thing with a very much computer enhanced body. Go see if you really like to see constant mechanical creatures killing, and controlling humans. For myself I would just like to pull their plug and walk off into the sunset. Between Star Trek, Terminator, Wolverine, I am ready for some more Mall Cop stuff. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence (understatement) action, and language

greerman

Illegal Immigrants, B&S Triathlon, Movie Reviews

Here we go again with the local (Ransom Canyon) illegal immigrant problem that I mentioned some time back. It seems as though the Canadian geese fly down for the winter to rest their feathered butts on our little lake. It seems strange that they would fly all this way just to float around on a little lake but they do, by the thousands actually. There habits are fairly predictable, they fly in honking all the way, land on the lake, take a short break and then fly out for the feeding. They find the food very plentiful in this part of the country, with seed crops plentiful with an endless offering of food. Kind of like going to endless buffet lines at the local fattening food restaurant and scarfing down all kinds of food for very little money. So our little fine feathered friends from the North come to town every year and enjoy our hospitality and food, then they leave behind some of their friends and ducklings. That is what I am concerned about since I have labeled them illegal immigrants and the Mr. Big O is apparently not too concerned about them. He probably doesn’t give a hang since it does not take billions to correct and he is into giving away billions (another story for another blog). I noticed the other day when I was driving out that there was this big only mother hen with 7 new off spring just strutting her stuff right down the middle of the road. Of course the little geese were strutting along right with her, not having a care in the world. The weird thing is all of the other thousands of geese have high tailed it and have honked their way all the way back to the beautiful land of the North. Now the 1,000 citizens of Ransom Canyon are left holding the bag in having to make sure these little newbies are cared for, educated, provided with health care, have a place to hang out, and don’t get in harms way of the steady flow of traffic or maybe even a hunter. While I kind of like their looks and demeanor, I don’t like their waste droppings that are the size of a grown Great Dane and left where ever they have the urge. But I guess that is to be expected when they really don’t have a home they can call a home and they just live off of the land. So, the land becomes their place to do what they do all day long and we as citizens of RC must endure. I have considered running for the City Counsel of RC so I can offer some political concern to this matter, but have decided I am on enough boards and I will just enjoy the beauty of these creatures of nature, plus I can stay in harmony with the new movie, “Earth”(to be reviewed later in this blog). My other question about this whole matter is why do these guys and gals chose to stay here rather than fly back to the North Country? While I see why their like it here, it just seems that they would want to go back as soon as the winter season is over. Of course we do have higher land values than some communities our size and the property taxes are lower, plus the scenery in the canyons are beyond reproach, then the Christmas times with all of the lights in the canyon makes for a neat place. Now I get it, Mr. and Mrs. Geese, you have found a little paradise so why not stay, but I do request that you make the effort to receive your papers or at least a green card. Then I can get off of this subject!!

Last weekend we put on the Buffman & Squeaky Triathlon, named after our two Boston Terriers. They are funny characters and fit well within the canyon community and the triathlon scene. Being somewhat narcisstic themselves they do identify with the athletes very well. During the pre-race time they enjoyed seeing and greeting the over 200 entrants in the race and they athletes enjoyed them also. Buffman has the look about him that just commands attention and Squeaky is just kind of out it most of the time. They looked, sniffed, peed and basically left their mark through out the race course and declared it ready to go and wished the athletes well. The event went off great with wonderful weather, and a very competitive field. We wish to thank all of our friends that were here for the event and look forward to the Buffalo Springs Ironman 70.3 and the Tri Raider June 28th.

Movie Reviews: “Angels & Demons”, ****, finally I get to totally disagree with my local critic. His review and rating was like he saw a movie I didn’t see. But, I really liked this movie and thought it was really well done. I did agree with my local guy with the assessment that the scenery in Vatican City made me want to take a vacation there at some point. The photography of the Sistine Chapel to the famed, off-limits Vatican Archives was excellent. In this rendition Angels and Demons, written by novelist Dan Brown, is a prequel to “The Da Vinci Code,” offering his first introduction to Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon, portrayed by Tom Hanks. The movie does treat the plot as a sequel, which allows the Vatican’s Swiss Guard to be less than pleased with Langdon, thanks to his prior visit. So, this is part of the sub-plot which again I thought was great. The movie involves a scientific break through, century’s old negative history of the Catholic Church, intrigue, action, and a great story line. Like the “Da Vinci Code” the story only involves about five hours of real time. So, there is no time for food, drink, love scenes, change of clothes, etc. The big plot is the century old Illuminati organization, which are enemies of the Catholic Church and they want to destroy the Church. Hanks does a great job carrying the movie and is in every scene. Of course the scientist is a good looking woman played by Ayelet Zurer; I can’t remember seeing in any other movie. But there is not time for fooling around by Hanks and Zurer, it is all business. Go see, great movie!! Rated: PG-13 for sequences of violence disturbing images and thematic material.

“Earth”, ****, Great Disney movie with cinematography that will make your jaws drop. There is a great story line concerning the migration of an elephant herd, a mother bear and her cubs, and a giant whale and her off spring. A very restful informative movie. A must go see!! Rated G-enough said.

“The Soloist,” ****, A very well done movie but a very depressing movie, even though it had a reasonably positive ending. But, it is a true story of a child musical prodigy who succumbs to schizophrenia and the LA Times reporter that discovers him living in a group of 90,000 homeless people in Los Angeles. Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. play the leads and do an excellent job. At times you wonder who is mentally ill, the reporter (Downey) or the obvious schizo (Foxx). But, since it was based on a true story you kind of give it some slack. I recommend it with the disclaimer that watching the homeless in LA and seeing how the mentally ill deal with their problems is not a real grin. Beware!! Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some drug use and language.

“Star Trek,” ***, Since I have never been a Trekie (hope that is spelled right) I really only went so that I could rate it properly. Very much an action movie but also another prequel with sass and a lyrical treatment of iconic characters. It spends time introducing us to the original key characters and where they came friend and then ventures on into the new horizons. It is a well done movie and will be enjoyed by most. Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content (must have been while I took a brief nap, I don’t remember this).

greerman

Illegal Immigrants(again), B & S Triathlon, Movie Reviews

Here we go again with the local (Ransom Canyon) illegal immigrant problem that I mentioned some time back. It seems as though the Canadian geese fly down for the winter to rest their feathered butts on our little lake. It seems strange that they would fly all this way just to float around on a little lake but they do, by the thousands actually. There habits are fairly predictable, they fly in honking all the way, land on the lake, take a short break and then fly out for the feeding. They find the food very plentiful in this part of the country, with seed crops plentiful with an endless offering of food. Kind of like going to endless buffet lines at the local fattening food restaurant and scarfing down all kinds of food for very little money. So our little fine feathered friends from the North come to town every year and enjoy our hospitality and food, then they leave behind some of their friends and ducklings. That is what I am concerned about since I have labeled them illegal immigrants and the Mr. Big O is apparently not too concerned about them. He probably doesn’t give a hang since it does not take billions to correct and he is into giving away billions (another story for another blog). I noticed the other day when I was driving out that there was this big only mother hen with 7 new off spring just strutting her stuff right down the middle of the road. Of course the little geese were strutting along right with her, not having a care in the world. The weird thing is all of the other thousands of geese have high tailed it and have honked their way all the way back to the beautiful land of the North. Now the 1,000 citizens of Ransom Canyon are left holding the bag in having to make sure these little newbies are cared for, educated, provided with health care, have a place to hang out, and don’t get in harms way of the steady flow of traffic or maybe even a hunter. While I kind of like their looks and demeanor, I don’t like their waste droppings that are the size of a grown Great Dane and left where ever they have the urge. But I guess that is to be expected when they really don’t have a home they can call a home and they just live off of the land. So, the land becomes their place to do what they do all day long and we as citizens of RC must endure. I have considered running for the City Counsel of RC so I can offer some political concern to this matter, but have decided I am on enough boards and I will just enjoy the beauty of these creatures of nature, plus I can stay in harmony with the new movie, “Earth”(to be reviewed later in this blog). My other question about this whole matter is why do these guys and gals chose to stay here rather than fly back to the North Country? While I see why their like it here, it just seems that they would want to go back as soon as the winter season is over. Of course we do have higher land values than some communities our size and the property taxes are lower, plus the scenery in the canyons are beyond reproach, then the Christmas times with all of the lights in the canyon makes for a neat place. Now I get it, Mr. and Mrs. Geese, you have found a little paradise so why not stay, but I do request that you make the effort to receive your papers or at least a green card. Then I can get off of this subject!!

Last weekend we put on the Buffman & Squeaky Triathlon, named after our two Boston Terriers. They are funny characters and fit well within the canyon community and the triathlon scene. Being somewhat narcisstic themselves they do identify with the athletes very well. During the pre-race time they enjoyed seeing and greeting the over 200 entrants in the race and they athletes enjoyed them also. Buffman has the look about him that just commands attention and Squeaky is just kind of out it most of the time. They looked, sniffed, peed and basically left their mark through out the race course and declared it ready to go and wished the athletes well. The event went off great with wonderful weather, and a very competitive field. We wish to thank all of our friends that were here for the event and look forward to the Buffalo Springs Ironman 70.3 and the Tri Raider June 28th.

Movie Reviews: “Angels & Demons”, ****, finally I get to totally disagree with my local critic. His review and rating was like he saw a movie I didn’t see. But, I really liked this movie and thought it was really well done. I did agree with my local guy with the assessment that the scenery in Vatican City made me want to take a vacation there at some point. The photography of the Sistine Chapel to the famed, off-limits Vatican Archives was excellent. In this rendition Angels and Demons, written by novelist Dan Brown, is a prequel to “The Da Vinci Code,” offering his first introduction to Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon, portrayed by Tom Hanks. The movie does treat the plot as a sequel, which allows the Vatican’s Swiss Guard to be less than pleased with Langdon, thanks to his prior visit. So, this is part of the sub-plot which again I thought was great. The movie involves a scientific break through, century’s old negative history of the Catholic Church, intrigue, action, and a great story line. Like the “Da Vinci Code” the story only involves about five hours of real time. So, there is no time for food, drink, love scenes, change of clothes, etc. The big plot is the century old Illuminati organization, which are enemies of the Catholic Church and they want to destroy the Church. Hanks does a great job carrying the movie and is in every scene. Of course the scientist is a good looking woman played by Ayelet Zurer; I can’t remember seeing in any other movie. But there is not time for fooling around by Hanks and Zurer, it is all business. Go see, great movie!! Rated: PG-13 for sequences of violence disturbing images and thematic material.

“Earth”, ****, Great Disney movie with cinematography that will make your jaws drop. There is a great story line concerning the migration of an elephant herd, a mother bear and her cubs, and a giant whale and her off spring. A very restful informative movie. A must go see!! Rated G-enough said.

“The Soloist,” ****, A very well done movie but a very depressing movie, even though it had a reasonably positive ending. But, it is a true story of a child musical prodigy who succumbs to schizophrenia and the LA Times reporter that discovers him living in a group of 90,000 homeless people in Los Angeles. Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. play the leads and do an excellent job. At times you wonder who is mentally ill, the reporter (Downey) or the obvious schizo (Foxx). But, since it was based on a true story you kind of give it some slack. I recommend it with the disclaimer that watching the homeless in LA and seeing how the mentally ill deal with their problems is not a real grin. Beware!! Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some drug use and language.

“Star Trek,” ***, Since I have never been a Trekie (hope that is spelled right) I really only went so that I could rate it properly. Very much an action movie but also another prequel with sass and a lyrical treatment of iconic characters. It spends time introducing us to the original key characters and where they came friend and then ventures on into the new horizons. It is a well done movie and will be enjoyed by most. Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content (must have been while I took a brief nap, I don’t remember this).

greerman

"Greener Grass" - Triathlon - Movie Reivews

As I leave Ransom Canyon to drive into the big city of Lubbock the road out requires me to pass by a 40 acre fenced in pasture that has four horses in it. They are generally grazing in the pasture with their heads down just eating the grass to their hearts content. But the other day I noticed one of them was doing something that reminded me of an old saying, as I watched him stick his head through the barbed wire fence, and stretch his head to the utmost to eat the grass outside the 40 acre pasture of green grass. Yep, you guessed it the old saying, “the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.” As I watched him stretch to eat this grass outside the pasture I noticed that the grass in the pasture was exactly the same grass, the same color and in the same volume, so why would he stick his neck through this barbed wire to eat the same grass he could eat right in front of him. Then I went into all kinds of philosophical manipulations to try and understand why mankind does the same thing, i.e. men look at other women and decide the grass is greener on the other side so they leave the comfortable pasture of marriage they are in to pursue the “greener” grass. But then to the contrary they find that it is not only not greener, but it is actually has a hidden brown tint to it, or is possibly rotten to the roots. Not at all what it appears but once he is in tight with it the real color comes through. Then there is the same thing in careers, use to a person would find their career or profession; pursue a company to work with and then stay with it for a number of years. Now days the grass always looks greener on the other side and no one seems to be loyal to their employers as they once were. So, why do we do this and what would be a way to prevent it from happening, or better still how does one know when the grass really is greener on the other side? The reality of life is that there are times when the grass not only looks greener, but it is actually greener and much better than the current harvest before you. So, to really evaluate this one must be real honest with themselves as to how green their existing grass is and does the grass across the fence really fit the bill or could it even be worse? The other way to evaluate it is to consider why you decided on the current choice of green grass in the first place. In the case of the horses they don’t have much of a choice since the owners put them in the fenced in pasture and they are stuck with it, except for sticking their heads through the barbed wire to harvest the grass outside the fence grass with their tongue and teeth. On the other hand we humans have our options set out there for us and we must decide what is the best choice of grass. While this topic has gotten a little more deeper than I had expected I suggest that anyone looking at the greener grass on the other side of the fence, before making a rash decisions they should just take out a pen and paper and list the 10 reasons for staying with the existing grass and 10 reasons to go for the grass across the fence. See which 10 are the strongest, and remember to use honesty in jotting these 20 items down. When I quit smoking two packs of cigarettes per day 45 years ago on October 31, 1964 at 5:45 a.m. in the morning (I remember these details because this habit is a hard one to really quit), I made a list of 10 reasons why I wanted to quit and kept the list close by so that every time I wanted a cigarette I would just take the list out and read it. The reality of smoking is that you really only have the urge to smoke for a matter of 30-45 seconds, so by the time I read the 10 item list I was past the craving. Then I memorized them and each time I wanted to smoke I just went to the mental list. So, now when you see some “greener grass” take a few minutes to determine is it really greener or does it just have an “appearance” of being greener? Good question!!

This past weekend I did the Ransom Canyon Triathlon for the fifth time and even though there was no one in my age group I was able to trim 6 minutes off of my time from last year. So, that was really my victory and the enjoyment of doing the race was accomplishing this feat. I knew going in that there was no one in my age group so my goal was to trim some time off. We had perfect race day weather, with mid 60 degree, overcast skies, slight wind from the NE and at times a light mist. The water was 66 degrees, so a little chilly for swimming. But the wetsuits and polar caps kept us warm and the race was on. This race is one of the more challenging sprint courses, simply because of the Canyon hills and the fact that the bike is a little longer than most sprints. With nearly 150 athletes competing it was a very enjoyable event. The burgers were excellent and the awards ceremony went off like a ticking clock. Then with Balls and Marianna, and new friend Matt present at the house afterwards we exchanged some philosophical viewpoints on luck and numbers. We are always glad to see our friends from the Republic of El Paso and so are the dogs, since they bark and sniff the whole time they are here. Buffman really did the barking scene this time and must have been thinking it was the Buffman & Squeaky tri coming up on the 17th.

Movie Reviews: “State of Play”, *** (Same as my local critic, but agree I just couldn’t come up with the fourth star) Russell Crowe is terrific as an investigative reporter in D.C. working for one of the major newspapers. This is a murder mystery involving a Senator, who was Crowe’s room mate in college. The motive includes sex, lust, greed, bribery, scam, murder, etc., meaning it is a real to life story of politics in our nation’s capital. It is also a story concerning the desperate times faced by many newspapers trying to stay afloat (with no bail out package from the Big O packagers). The movie is fast paced, has a good ending, good acting, and is worth going to see. Save some dough and go to the matinee. Rated PG-13 for some violence (you mean murder is violent?), language including sexual references, and brief drug content.
“Crank 2: High Voltage”, ----, this movie is terrible starring Jason Statham as the adrenaline junkie Chev Chelios. Chelios has such a strong heart that his enemies have a heart surgeon take out his heart in the opening scenes, replace it with a batter-powered ticker that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep it working(they want to save his life so they can harvest other vital organs from him). So, for the rest of the movie he is pursuing the bad guys who have his heart in a beer cooler and along the way he has to have jolts of electricity to stay alive. Man I can’t believe I actually sat completely through this. Rated R for frenetic strong bloody violence throughout, crude and graphic sexual content (you mean sexual intercourse between our hero and his girl friend in front of 10,000 race track fans?)
“17 Again”, ***, This was a much better movie than I thought it would be. The older Mike (played by Matthew Perry) is given a chance to go back in life to being 17 again. He is given a chance to re-capture some of his best years but comes to the reality that his current life wasn’t that bad after all. Rated PG-13 for language, some sexual material and teen partying.
greerman

“Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”, **, A very stupid and boring movie starring Matthew McConaughey as a committed bachelor who mocks romance on a daily basis. He is warned to expect visits from the ghosts of former jilted girlfriends, who escort him on a revealing funny odyssey through his failed relationships. Jennifer Garner and Michael Douglas co-star. Rated PG-13 for sexual content throughout, some language and a drug reference.
“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, ****, Excellent movie starring Hugh Jackman. A prequel to the original X-Men, this film tells the story of Wolverine’s violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed and the ominous Weapon X program. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity (you mean when Jackman runs through the open fields into a barn naked?)