Elephants Reunited

Once upon a time Shirley had a friend.  Her name was Jenny.
They knew each other when Jenny was a baby but in 1980 they were separated.

In 2000 Shirley and Jenny were reunited.
The video of their reunion is amazing.








Sadly, Jenny died in 2006.

Read about the extraordinary elephant behavior that occurred as she passed.





Want to know more about the Elephant Sanctuary and the other elephants that live there?  Discover more about Shirley and Jenny in their bios, buy from the gift store, donate to the "girls".  Best of all....take a peek at the Ele-cam!!

Love,
Buddy

Avery's Bucket List

There is nothing that looks cuter or smells sweeter than a baby.
AND
There is nothing sadder than finding out that a baby is not going to be able to live to old age.

Avery is just such a baby. 

I read about her online .

Although Avery and her parents know that her lifespan is limited, they are determined to accomplish a lifetime of experiences into a very short time span, thus the Bucket List.

Read Avery's blog,
follow her on Twitter,
follow her on Facebook,
help her with the Bucket List,
get her on Ellen,
learn about her disease.

Such a cutie!








Love,
Buddy

Drive Thru Rebels

Stealing um-m-m Re-posting this from Smosh.

These are the best of the twenty on Smosh.  No words needed...just laughter. 

Love,
Buddy

Tornados, Twisters, and Trouble

I'll be the first to say that David is a little on the odd side and quite often occasionally he comes up with some really weird interesting ideas.

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/tornado-profile/

David, being a native of Oklahoma, grew up dodging tornados.  While they are nothing new to him, he does respect the fact that they are dangerous and any and all precautions should be taken to protect oneself from the damage they can cause.

Last week there were tornados in Oklahoma and throughout tornado alley. One actually struck in Norman, Oklahoma which just happens to be the home of one of NOAA's weather forecasting facilities.  

David found it pretty funny that the weather people had to take cover from a tornado. He figured the tornado was trying to take out the Weather Service so it could sneak up on other places without any warning. I did warn you he was a little odd.

That is when he came up with one of his weird odd really good interesting ideas.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/tornadoes/

It is a well known fact myth understanding that trailer parks are tornado magnets.  It is also known that FEMA is selling trailers.  (Can you see where this is going?)


David suggests that FEMA give their scrapped trailers to NOAA.  Then NOAA places those trailers strategically to lure the tornado away from places where there are people (and dogs!).  It is a win-win solution to a no-win situation.

http://www3.gendisasters.com/texas/6797/wichita-falls-tx-tornado-devastates-texas-apr-1979

AND not to be left out, Ronnie wants everyone to know that she actually survived a major tornado Tuesday, April 10,1979 at 6pm in Wichita Falls, Texas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Red_River_Valley_tornado_outbreak

Today is the first day of National Severe Weather Preparedness Week.  Become a force of nature and be prepared.  Don't let weather win!

Love,
Buddy

Ray: "I'm Going to Whip Somebody's Ass"

So-o-o-o-o-o-o

Normally I would not be writing about whipping somebody's a**.  Not that I couldn't or wouldn't, it is just not something I would normally find appropriate for a blog.  However, I am going to make an exception in this case.

I first heard about Ray on TEDtalks and loved the story so I went looking.  Google helped me find Ray's song on YouTube and a couple of other places (plus a lot of sites I'd rather not know are out there).

It seems Ray's daughter was having a difficult time at work and needed a little fatherly love and understanding. In turn, Ray (who happens to be a preacher) wrote a special song for his daughter and decided to post it to the internet for anyone and everyone that might need something special to get them through a bad day at work.

http://wovox.com/talks/en/2010/11/27/bad-day-at-work-sing-yourself-a-song/

Now this is going to be my theme song, just in case I ever have a bad day at work.  Hum along if you need to.

Love,
Buddy

Puns are Pun-ish-ing

My photographer thinks he is funny.  When he is feeling really good, he makes puns all day long.  Sometimes they make me laugh but most of the time and sometimes they just make me groan.  Does that make him a pundit?

http://www.sodahead.com

PUNS: the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound.

A pun is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. A pun can rely on the assumed equivalency of multiple similar words (homonymy), of different shades of meaning of one word (polysemy), or of a literal meaning with a metaphor. Bad puns are often considered to be cheesy.

Walter Redfern (in Puns, Blackwell, London, 1984) succinctly said:
"To pun is to treat homonyms as synonyms".

 Puns and Punny sites:

http://puns.icanhascheezburger.com/tag/chip/

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.
http://www.punoftheday.com/cgi-bin/disppuns.pl?cat=0&ord=F=1?=0

http://polymerandmetalclayheaven.blogspot.com/2011/04/every-pun-intended.html

My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned because I couldn't concentrate.
http://www.sillypuns.com/ 

http://thefrogman.me/post/1023906777/hawaiiansdonotblog-frog-puns-for-thefrogman

The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/puns.html 

http://www.wherethepunis.com/tags/puns

Now I am going to have to figure out how to Pun train David. 

Maybe I can send him to a Punitentiary? 

Love,

Buddy

E-mail Scam (two more)

Well, it seems as if now we are getting popular with the scam set.

Normally the spam folder has one or two e-mails touting enlargements, prescriptions, and sales. All of which is completely ignored

Up to now we have managed to avoid most of the entreaties for help with some poor orphan to obtain the vast amounts of money that is stuck in a foreign bank account.

If you get approached by an e-mail stranger, don't go with them, protect yourself and ignore or report them, or at the very least do a little research.

http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/e-scams
http://kb.iu.edu/data/afvn.html

Following are two new scams that popped up this week.

*************************************************************
The first appears to be a legit inquiry but there are a couple of things that raised a red flag. First, the e-mail was sent to "Undisclosed-Recipients". Second, the "Sender" is one name and the "From" is another name. So I did a little Google searching and found this. Some names have been changed in his variations of the scam but not to protect the innocent.

Sender: sales.williamburns1@gmail.com
Subject: Urgent Order
From: Bob Banks
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Urgent Order
"Bob Banks"
 
Good Day,
Am Bob.mayor i want to know whether you carry ( Street Bench ) in stock for sale if you do so email me with the price ranges on that so that i will know the one to offer and also i want to know if you accept credit card as form of payment. Awaiting for your prompt reply.
Mr.Bob Banks

***********************************************************
I think you will be able to spot the red flags in this one right away. Again, a little Google sleuthing reveals interesting information.

From:
Reply-To:
Subject: Business Ethics
X-Originating-IP: [151.37.105.132]
To: undisclosed-recipients:

MR.SUNG LEE
DAH SING BANK LTD
DES VOEUX RD.BRANCH,
CENTRAL HONG KONG,
HONG KONG.

Good Day, I am Mr.Sung Lee, Auditing and Account Credit Officer, Dah Sing Bank Ltd (Hong Kong). I do insist in your confidence in this transaction. I am making this contact with you, based on reliable information available to me courtesy of internet business index and confirmed by my local chambers of commerce and industry concerning your reputation.Thus I am convinced you would be capable to provide me with a solution to a money transfer transaction of Forty Three Million, Six Hundred Thousand United State Dollars.

This is to seek your cooperation as my foreign partner and your assistance to enable me own a property and invest in the stable economy of your country. Accept my apologies if this mail does not suit your personal or business ethics. All other information to facilitate the remittance of the funds will be revealed to you in due course. For your assistance, you shall receive 25% of the funds to be transferred and 10% will be set aside for all expenses incurred by both parties. I will appreciate if you can reply me. Kindly delete this e-mail if it does not suit your personal or business ethics, as I will gladly appreciate.

Yours faithfully, Sung Lee

*******************************************************************
Be Careful Out There!
Love,
Buddy

Titanic and Taxes

 Time is running out to get your taxes done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic

Officially, April 15th is Tax Day in the US. 

It may vary depending on what day of the week the 15th falls.  Normally, if the 15th is on a Sunday, Tax Day would be on Monday the 16th.

However, there is a provision about Washington DC's holidays affecting Tax Day.

April 15th is also the day the Titanic sank.  


Coincidence?





Get your taxes done and watch out for icebergs.

Love,
Buddy

Stuck On Art, Tape Art That Is

Art can appear in many shapes, forms, and sometimes surprising ways.

Like this for example:

Sculptures made from tape: these give a whole new meaning to the phrase "tape it up".








There is a contest, but unfortunately I found it too late for this year.

Last year's winner!

Check here between April 19 and May 2 to see the winning creation for this year.  You can view this year's entries and vote on your favorite piece of tape.



On the bright side, this gives you plenty of time to think about entering next year.  How about "tape worms", "tape recorder", "tape dispenser", or "caught on tape". 

Love,
Buddy

E-mail Scam Alert (aka True Fiction)

WARNING: DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN SCAMS LIKE THIS!!

Fortunately, most of the e-mail spam we get goes straight into a separate folder and can easily be disposed of. However, because of the business, some mail has to be opened just to see if it is a real customer.

When this one arrived, it was so laughable that I had to share it. It is a true work of pure comedic fiction. I love the last paragraph, especially the last line. 

Clever fellows these chaps, always trying to find a way to part a fool from his money.  Please, if you get this in your e-mail, don't respond, it really is a scam.

Love,
Buddy
***********************************************************************

Federal Bureau of Investigation Counter-terrorism Division and Cyber Crime Division
J. Edgar. Hoover Building Washington DC
ROBERT S. MUELLER,
Attention Beneficiary,
Records show that you are among one of the individuals and organizations who are yet to receive their overdue payment from overseas which includes those of Lottery/Gambling,Contract and Inheritance.

Through our Fraud Monitory Unit we have noticed that you have been transacting with some impostors and fraudsters who have been impersonating the likes of Prof. Soludo/Mr.Lamido Sanusi of the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Aziza, Bode Williams, Frank, Anderson, none officials of Oceanic Bank, Zenith Banks, Kelvin Young of HSBC, Ben of FedEx, Ibrahim Sule, Dr. Usman Shamsuddeen and some impostors claiming to be The Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Cyber Crime Division of the FBI gathered information from the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) on how some people have lost outrageous sums of money to these impostors. As a result of this, we hereby advise you to stop communication with any one not referred to you by us.

We have negotiated with the Federal Ministry of Finance that your payment totaling $5,900,000.00 (Five Million Nine Hundred Thousand Dollars). will be released to you via a custom pin based ATM card with a maximum withdrawal limit of $15,000 a day which is powered by Visa Card and can be used anywhere in the world where you see a Visa Card Logo on the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM). We guarantee receipt of your payment.

This is as a result of the mandate from US Government to make sure all debts owed to citizens of American and also Asia and Europe which includes Inheritance, Contract, Gambling/Lottery etc are been cleared.

Below are few list of tracking numbers you can track from Delivery Company website to confirm people like you who have received their payment successfully.
Name:E LINDBERG:DHL Tracking Number 1426425615 (www.dhl.com)
Name :PITELIS :UPS Tracking Number h8433223480 (www.ups.com)
Name: GERALD D. WARNER FedEx Tracking number 875777537332 (www.fedex.com)

To redeem your funds, you are hereby advised to contact the ATM Card Center via email for their requirement to proceed and procure your Approval of Payment Warrant and Endorsement of your
ATM Release Order on your behalf which will cost you $200 Usd only and nothing more as everything else has been taken care of by the Federal Government including taxes,custom paper and clearance duty so all you will ever need to pay is $200.00 only.

Mr. John Will (ATM Card Center Director)
Central Bank of Nigeria Central Business District,
Cad astral Zone, federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.

ATM Card Center Director MR. John Will Email: will.john@yahoo.cn Phone: +234 8029921182
Do contact Mr. John Will of the ATM Card Center via his contact details above and furnish him with your details as listed below:
FULL NAMES: __________________________________
DELIVERY ADDRESS FOR ATM CARD: __________________
SEX: _______________
DATE OF BIRTH: __________________
OCCUPATION: __________________
TELEPHONE NUMBER: _____________________
EMAIL ADDRESS: _____________________

On contacting him with your details your file would be updated and he will be sending you the payment information in which you will use in making payment of $200.00 via MoneyGram or Western Union Money Transfer for the procurement of your Approval of Payment Warrant and Endorsement of your ATM Release Order, after which the delivery of your ATM card will be effected to your designated home address without any further delay, extra fee.

ROBERT S. MUELLER,
DIRECTOR FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535

Note: Disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possession of your ATM card, you are hereby advice only to be in contact with Mr. Jonathan Tobi of the ATM card center who is the rightful person to deal with in regards to your payment and forward any emails you get from impostors to this office so we could act upon it immediately. Help stop cyber crime.

The Great Easter Escape

Isn't this just the best Easter story?

Dog Helps Rabbit Escape

Watch the video here.





So, I don't know if this happened on Easter but I found the video on Easter and it makes a good Easter story.  Forgive me for taking a little creative license.

Love,
Buddy

Up the Down (& Around) Staircase

There are stairs at home, and there are stairs at work, so I know stairs. 

I go up and down stairs all day long at the studio because my throne is upstairs and I sit up there and survey my domain. 

I go up and down stairs all evening at home because that is how I get from my bed, to my food, to my backyard. 

So I know stairs.

I never in my life saw stairs so wonderful as these.

I want to walk these stairs.  I want to go to the very top to see what I can see and quite possibly howl at the moon.  Wouldn't that be wonderful?






Some of these stairs are pieces of art (and some make me more than a little dizzy) but still, I want to see each and every one of them. 

Especially this one:

See you there!









Love,
Buddy

Big Bang Tonight!

Do not forget . . .

Big Bang Theory tonight with Stephen Hawking.

http://the-big-bang-theory.com/

I am going to go take a nap now so I'll be awake then.

Love,
Buddy

A Day Worth Remembering

. . . coming home from work, walking through the kitchen and the smell of baking bread, grabbing a bottle of something cold from the fridge, heading to the back porch, letting the screen door slam behind you, sitting in the creaky rocker beside the barefoot kids playing in the dirt, pulling your boots off, propping your feet on the porch rail, sipping the beer, listening through the open window to mama singing, sighing deeply, and watching God paint a picture . . . a day worth remembering.

Love,
Buddy

April Fool's Day

Maybe it is the day for us all to just enjoy the fact that Winter as been banished for another year and Spring is here to renew the Earth.  Maybe it is the day for us to all sit back and laugh at ourselves for taking life too seriously.  Maybe it is the day for serious thoughts to be pushed aside and jocularity to rule.  Whatever the reason, April Fool's Day is a day for fun and laughter, and laughter is good for the soul.

April 1.  This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four.  ~Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson, 1894

How about this as a suitable activity for the day....

CINCINNATI (AP) — Fool me once, the saying goes. But 50 times? That's what a convincing art forger did for nearly three decades when he donated his copies of Picassos and other works of art to unsuspecting museums in 20 states.

 

You gotta love an artist (and curator) with a sense of humor.

Love,
Buddy