2015

POTD: Stiffy

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T-shirt advertisement from a buddy of mine. Just a little hunting humor… ~Vic

Hunt Hard Image
09-02-2015
Click for a larger view.

Picture of the Day

Tune Tuesday: The Light (Disturbed) 2015

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The Light Disturbed Zumic Image
Image Credit: Zumic

Five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart was The Light by the heavy metal band Disturbed. Released October 5, 2015, it was the fifth track from their sixth album Immortalized and the second release.

The video is full of powerful imagery. The lyrics deal with tragedy and triumph, being able to find grace in the most extreme and unnerving circumstances.

Joe DiVita
LoudWire
November 20, 2015

“Go figure. Disturbed songs with an air of positivity. Who would have ever thought?

You know, the only way that you get to appreciate the darkness is by contrasting it with light. And it’s been my experience, with people in my life, or friends that I have or have had, that sometimes those periods in our lives that are dark ones can be so daunting and you let them overwhelm you to the extent that you succumb to hopelessness and you succumb to stagnation. And the truth be told, everything is a pathway. Sometimes you have to go through dark periods in your life in order to find the answer that you need, in order to become stronger, in order to see the light… ~David Draiman

Blabbermouth.net
November 20, 2015

Lyrics

Tune Tuesday: The Hills 2015

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The Weeknd The Hills Vevo Image One
Photo Credit: YouTube

Switching things up a bit…~Vic

Five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B/Hip-Hop and Canadian Hot 100 charts was The Hills by Canadian singer The Weeknd (Abel Makkonen Tesfaye). Released May 27, it was the 5th track from the album Beauty Behind the Madness and the second single released.

“When a song takes its hook from a horror film, Wes Craven’s 1977 cult classic The Hills Have Eyes, you know there’s bound to be trouble.

Brian Mansfield
USA Today
June 2, 2015

Certified Diamond (RIAA 2019)
♦ The song was featured in an Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium commercial featuring Zoe Kravitz.
♦ The song was used in the TV show Life in Pieces, Season One, Episode 21.

Song Saturday: Jamie’s Cryin’

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Van Halen Album Image
Image Credit: SoundCloud

**Edward Lodewijk Van Halen (January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020)**

“She saw the look in his eyes, and she knew better…”

This Saturday’s playlist submission is Jamie’s Cryin’ by American rock band Van Halen, formed in 1972 in Pasadena, California. The sixth track from their debut album Van Halen, it was released as a single on May 16, 1978 but, it never charted. Credit for songwriting is the whole band and the album peaked at #19 on the Billboard 200 on May 20, 1978 after its February 10 release. It was certified RIAA Diamond (10x Platinum) in sales on August 7, 1996.

After their 2015 North American Tour, they appear to be on indefinite hiatus. Eddie Van Halen has had some serious health problems.

American rapper Tone Lōc used the opening tom-tom and bass riff from this song on his 1989 hit Wild Thing and wound up settling out of court with Van Halen. He and Eddie Van Halen crossed paths some time afterwards and it wasn’t friendly.

I was in sixth grade when this song came out and I had no clue. I was all into disco back then. I didn’t know who they were until Dance the Night Away came out the following year. I didn’t buy an album of theirs until Diver Down. I have never been to a concert. ~Vic

Tone Lōc Talks About Debut Album & Eddie Van Halen (Billboard January 25, 2019)
America’s Songs III: Rock! Rock! (Google Books)
Van-Halen (Official Site)
Van Halen News Desk (Unofficial Site)
Gene Simmons Talks Lost Seventies Van Halen Demos (Rolling Stone March 22, 2016)
Eddie Van Halen’s Wife’s Positivity (Survivor Net September 8, 2020)

Lyrics

Weird S*** Wednesday: The Silent People

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The Silent People Image One
Photo Credit: Timo Newton-Syms & Amusing Planet

In looking thru odd stories, this caught my attention. From Oddity Central:

A Creepy Art Installation Freaking People Out on Google Maps

By Spooky on May 15th, 2020
An eerie art installation located in a barren field in the Finnish countryside recently went viral after someone accidentally stumbled upon it while searching on Google Maps. With quarantine and isolation measures still in place in many countries around the world, people are spending a lot of time online looking for cool places to visit once they can travel again. Many are using free tools, like Google Maps, and end [up] going deeper down the rabbit hole than they originally anticipated. That’s probably how some people recently discovered The Silent People, […] creepy-looking [figures] that left them scratching their heads about why anyone would fill a field with hundreds of scarecrows and dress them as real people.

Seen from afar, The Silent People [site] looks like a perfectly still army of people all facing the same way. It’s only when you take a closer look that you realize it’s made up of wooden frames covered in human clothes and heads made of [peat], which does a surprisingly good job of emulating human hair. Even knowing that it’s an art installation, you still feel uneasy looking at the almost one thousand still [bodies] but, knowing absolutely nothing about it and [suddenly] finding it on Google Maps can really freak a person out.

The Silent People Image Two
Photo Credit: Antti T. Nissinen & Amusing Planet

From Amusing Planet:

Hiljainen Kansa: The Silent People of Suomussalmi, Finland

By Kaushik Patowary on March 28, 2015
Motorists driving along Highway 5, about 30 km north of the small town of Suomussalmi, in north-eastern Finland, are greeted by a peculiar sight. A crowd of almost a thousand figures stand silently on a field near the road. In the morning with light behind them, this motionless army appears morose, even menacing. But, when a light breeze picks up their colorful dresses and blows them around their still bodies, they appear to have sprung into life.

This army of scarecrow-like figures called “The Silent People” or “Hiljainen Kansa” in Finnish, were the creation of local artist Reijo Kela. They were first displayed in 1988 in a field in Lassila, a neighbourhood of Helsinki. Later in 1994, these were on display in the Market Place of Helsinki’s Senate Square, then on the banks of the river Jalonuoma, Ämmänsaari and finally moved to this location in 1994 itself.

Additional Reading:
The Silent People (Atlas Obscura)

Shutterbug Saturday: Halloween Local 2.0

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More local images. Halloween Local 1.0 was last year. Take a look at Old Halloween Stuff. All pictures are my personal collection. ~Vic

Squirrel Image One
I *think* this is a stuffed squirrel.
11-03-2015
Hamilton Burr Image Two
Hamilton vs Burr
10-23-2016
Skeleton Image Three
Another angle of the crazy skeleton from last year’s post.
11-05-2017
Spider & Bat Image Four
I love the bat.
11-05-2017
Ghost Image Five
“I’m coming to take you away, ha-ha!”
10-28-2018
Skeleton & Ghost Image Six
This bat isn’t as well fed as the last one.
10-28-2018
Snake Skeleton Image Seven
The snake skeleton is pretty creepy.
10-28-2018
Frankenstein Jack Image Eight
It’s Frankenstein Jack!
10-28-2018
Eek Image Nine
Spider in the bushes and EEK on the mailbox.
10-28-2018
Big Spider Image Ten
That is a big spider.
10-28-2018

POTD: Patience

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On the way to the restaurant I mentioned in my post, yesterday, there was a pit stop for gas. Not only was this a cool looking older truck, the adorable pooch waiting patiently for his owner was so sweet.

Dog In Truck Image
Sweet baby.
02-19-2015

Shutterbug Saturday: Ice Storm 2015

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Continuing from yesterday’s post, this was an ice storm that occurred when I was in Examiner School. This area is in the Eastern part of the state, a half an hour due East of Fayettenam (Fayetteville/Fort Bragg) and 75 miles NNW of Wilmington. Basically, it’s in the middle of nowhere. It was all I could do to not bust my ass walking to class.

These and yesterday’s pix were taken with my old Samsung Alias II. ~Vic

Ice Branches Image One
Ice Branches
02-17-2015
Frozen Walkway Image Two
Lost a limb.
Grass Clumps Image Three
Frozen grass clumps.
Ice Tree Image Four
Ice tree in front of the library.
02-18-2015
Ice Trees Image Five
Looks like glass.
Ice Trees Image Six
Sun Devil
Glass Daggers Image Seven
Glass Daggers
Frozen Fountain Image Eight
Frozen fountain outside of a steakhouse in Roseborough.
Railroad Street Steakhouse
02-19-2015

Still feeling cooler? You’re welcome!

Wayback Wednesday: Garfield 1978

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Garfield Image One
Image Credit: aromaticcoffees.wordpress.com

Forty-one years ago, today, the Garfield Comic Strip debuted. Created by cartoonist Jim Davis, it chronicles the daily life and adventures of Garfield, a large orange (or ginger) Tabby cat, his human Jonathan Q. ‘Jon’ Arbuckle and, Odie, the dog, originally owned by Jon’s friend and roommate, Lyman. Davis named the cat after his grandfather, Jon Arbuckle came from a 1950s coffee commercial and Odie was based on a car dealership commercial written by Davis, which featured Odie the Village Idiot. Set in Muncie, Indiana (Jim Davis’s home), the strip showcases Garfield’s laziness, sarcastic humor, love of lasagna & coffee and, his dislike of Mondays.

In 2002, it became the most syndicated comic strip, reaching 263 million readers, worldwide. From 1978 to 1983, Garfield looked more like this picture but, went through some changes and became more cartoonish-looking from 1984, forward. Lyman was written out in 1982. Other notable characters are Dr. Liz Wilson (Garfield’s vet), Arlene (a pink stray cat), Pooky (Garfield’s teddy), Nermal (a grey Tabby kitten that Garfield is jealous of) and Jon’s family members.

Garfield Image Two
Image Credit: ucomics.com
Garfield’s First Appearance

On Television
Movies
Video Games

I bought his first book from 1978 and I still have it. It is a little worn but, it is in good condition. ~Vic

Garfield Image Three
Scanned from my book.
02-08-2015

POTD: Stickwork Sculpture

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In November of 2015, Patrick Dougherty of Stickwork was commissioned by the Hillsborough Arts Council to craft a sculpture for our Riverwalk. The saplings were sustainably harvested from the Ayr Mount Historic Site. In December of last year, the heavy snowfall damaged the original piece and it was finally taken down. I’m glad I got some photos of it. ~Vic

Stickwork Sculpture Image One
“A Sight To Behold”
06-09-2017
Stickwork Marker Image Two
06-09-2017

Chris Thomas: An Update On Nibiru

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A Blog Post From: The Chris Thomas Files

Sunset Image One
Photo Credit: My Buddy Ray Tutterow
Research Triangle Park
01-07-2015

Introduction

I don’t know about you but, I like looking at sunsets. It doesn’t seem to matter how bad a day it has been for me, or for anyone else on the planet, taking a few minutes at the end of the day to watch the sun drop below the horizon just calms the nerves and renews my sense of well-being. During August, I have paid particular attention to the sunsets, attempting to catch a glimpse of the “new sun”, the one we are assured is called “Nibiru” that has been travelling through our solar system dragging its seven planets along with it. As I sit at my keyboard, I realise that I am, actually, sitting at my keyboard. I am not sitting at another keyboard in some alternate universe. I have not been vapourised by the bow “shock-wave” that this sun Nibiru was reputedly pushing before it, destroying all life in the solar system. Funny that. But, on the other hand, it looks as though the HGF (Human Gullibility Factor) has been working overtime.

For several months, we have been warned by those who claim to have insider knowledge from the NSA, CIA, NASA, and the Vatican, telling us that Nibiru is on its way through our solar system, wreaking its destruction, despite any evidence that could support these claims. Oh, how I long for the time when humans finally wake up and re-integrate their souls back into their bodies because, then, we wouldn’t have to put up with any more of this c**p.

A History of Nibiru

The name Nibiru is most usually associated with the translations of the Annunaki material by Zecharia Sitchin. Sitchin was acknowledged as the world’s leading expert at translating ancient Sumerian “Cuneiform” writing into English. In the 1960’s, Sitchin began translating a collection of clay tablets that were reputed to be about 5,000 years old. These tablets state that the story they tell was dictated to a Sumerian scribe who, accurately, recorded the story being dictated to him.

*Note: The story was dictated to a scribe, therefore, it had to be dictated by “someone”. This someone is never identified in the story the clay tablets tell. If, as claimed in the story, the information was the actual history of humanity, then, the history would have been recorded as it happened. In other words, the history was common knowledge amongst all of the people. So, why was it necessary for a story to be dictated to a scribe? The answer is, that, it is just that…a story and not reality.*

I have commented on the lack of truth, and the lack of validity, of this dictated story many times in my books and essays, so, [I] am not going to repeat the story here. Enough to say is, that it is a complete fantasy, deliberately designed to mislead people in the current times into believing that our “creators” are an alien race, known as the “Velon”. Within this dictated fantasy story is the “legend” of the planet Nibiru. Please note the word planet. The Velon/Annunaki fantasy story claims that Nibiru is a “travelling” planet that enters our solar system every 3,600 years.

Brown Dwarf Image Two
V838 Monocerotis
Variable Star
Erroneously portrayed as an approaching planet or brown dwarf on a collision course with Earth
Image Credit: wikipedia.org & hubblesite.org

Several of its orbits have caused problems within our solar system, destroying one planet with the Earth and, the asteroid belt being made from the debris of this collision. According to Sitchin’s translations and calculations, the last time that this fictitious planet entered our solar system was about 2,200 years ago (about 200 BC). This means that the next orbit is not due for another 1,400 years from now.

Are there any human traditions that have a record of a “travelling planet”? No, there are not. Chinese records, Egyptian records, Celtic traditions, Native American traditions, Aboriginal traditions, Inuit traditions, Eskimo traditions…not one of them tell of a planet that travels in and out of our solar system. Is there an ancient Earth people who speak of a planet called Nibiru? Yes, there is. This is the ancient Assyrian Empire centered around the ancient city of Babylon. Except, as far as the ancient Assyrians are concerned, the name Nibiru was their name for the planet Jupiter in our own solar system although the Assyrians possibly spelled it “Neberu”, meaning “The Ferry”.

However, the fear-mongering that has been going on over the past few years, especially in recent months, refer to a sun called Nibiru that has entered our solar system, destroying all in its advance. Quite why Nibiru had changed from a single “travelling planet” to a sun with seven orbiting planets has been impossible to track down. There does not appear to be any reason, whatsoever, to explain why Nibiru has changed from a single planet to a whole solar system…at least none that I have been able to find. The only explanation seems to be that a fictitious travelling whole solar system engenders far more fear in people than a fictitious single travelling planet does.

Why Try To Make People Afraid?

For the last 1,700 years, there have been those on the planet who see themselves as an “elite”. In order to control the population and to make them believe what this elite wants them to believe, the elite have found that, by far, the best way is to make people afraid. By creating situations of fear, especially the fear of things that do not exist, the elite have created a society that is made up of individuals that are extremely gullible and can be forced to act in ways which go against their intrinsic nature. There are many, many examples of this behavior throughout human history, both in the past and in the present.

To continue reading (it’s ten pages), download the PDF version HERE.

[Note: This PDF was originally posted on the One-Vibration Forum Blog on August 12, 2013.]

POTD: Examiner Encounters

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From October 2014 to August 2016, I was a Driver’s License Examiner. I had several interesting encounters and experiences. The job wasn’t bad but, HQ was a terrible problem. Politics is a nasty business.

This kid was the customer of one of my co-workers but, I started to giggle when I read it. He didn’t mind me taking a picture. ~Vic

T-Shirt Image
10-14-2015

Picture of the Day

Shutterbug Saturday: Critter Collections 3.0

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All photos and video are my personal collection. I'm surprised some of these turned out as well as they did. The first six were taken with a Samsung Alias II…an old flip phone. ~Vic
Part I/Part II

Web Image One
Rogue spider in the Den.
06-01-2013
Web Image Two
It was a good-sized web.
Spider was nowhere to be found.
Big Spider Image Three
I nearly walked into this big web leaving work.
10-23-2013
Big Web Image Four
Healthy spider.
Bathroom Spider Image Five
These long-legged things freak me out.
They love to hang upside down in bathrooms.
08-22-2015
Bathroom Spider Image Six
Just ewwwww…
Leaf Grasshopper Image Seven
He looks like a leaf.
10-31-2016
Roach Image Eight
During a rainstorm, he crawled up on the kitchen window to dry off.
YUCK.
06-20-2017

I had forgotten that I had some videos of critters, too. I was trying to sing like a child, just being silly.
Clark was not impressed.