Toe Pop

If you have kids then more than likely they love candy. Ju Ju beads, milk duds, Necco wafers, gum. You name it, I am sure they have had it. OK. Maybe not the necco wafers, but tons of others. The one on my mind tonight is the ring pop.

Designed to go on the hand and provide a treat of sugary goodness, the ring pop is one of the favorites of my kids. Colors and flavors vary, but my kids have tried and enjoyed almost all of them. The one thing I didn't expect, was the eating method.

I only wish I had caught it in a video or picture. My kids, unknowingly, invented the toe pop. Why would a kid out a ring pop on their toe to eat it. I guess we have women of all ages wearing rings on their toes, why not a ring pop on a toe. I can't remember which toe it was. Doesn't matter.

Enjoy.

El Toro Negro

I have another pic that you have to use your imagination, or rather a picture that you have to figure out what the heck it is. Clues.... Well, it is something that my kids love to do. It takes about 4 or 5 minutes to complete and cost anywhere from $5 to $8. John was scared of this at first but is now a fan as well.

We did this in Madisonville in front of the WalMart.

El Toro Negro

Rock Hard Bodies Unite!

I'm sure you have all heard of YouTube, the site where you can upload videos of just about anything. I have an account myself. I mostly post videos of my kids, but have some that are political, and even have a music video I made where I am singing in Spanish. If you have ever wanted to see something, you have a good chance of seeing it on YouTube.

When you go to the main page you will see several headings in bold. On of them says "recommended for you". I guess they have a way of determining what you would like seeing. It may have something to do with what you have viewed before or what you yourself have uploaded. That brings up the whole big brother thing, but we wont address that here and now.

One of the videos that was "recommended" for me was a fitness video uploaded by someone with the user name of charliejames1975. Now I'm no fitness freak. I don't exercise, at least not in the "go to the gym" way, so I'm not sure why they thought I would like this video. I do my exercising each week by moving 25,000 boxes and push mowing 10 to 12 yards, not to mention the other things that I do around the house.

The girl that is featured in these fitness videos has got to be the poster girl for smokin' hot babes all over the planet. I think her name is Zuzana, and the videos advertise another site. Anyway, these videos consist of her doing various exercises, and last about 8 to 10 minutes. Here is a photo of her. You can also see the site she promotes.

She does all kinds of exercises. She uses chairs and broom sticks as well as does pushups (one armed ones too) sit-ups and jump rope. Really quite impressive as far as fitness goes.

Now you have to be asking yourself what's the point. Well, as you know, for me, there doesn't have to be a point. But this time....... there is a point.

I got to thinking about political correctness, and global goodness, and the environment, and pollution, and recycling, and every other bleeding heart liberal catch phrase that exists. You know exactly what I am talking about. You know how sorry we, as Americans, are supposed to feel because we don't separate or trash into 37 types of recyclable material. Or how we should lash ourselves every day because we don't volunteer to help out the destitute and poverty stricken in Zambia. I feel guilty every time I start up my Suburban. But, I'm in the process right now of adding all my old cordless drill batteries to the drive system of my Suburban, in order to offset my carbon butt print (or is it.... doesn't matter). I'm heading to the Gulf Coast right after I finish writing this to clean shrimp. Enough of that.

I just wondered. How could this girl, and all people that desire to be fit, better serve the almighty Planet. The answer is quite obvious, isn't it? Aren't there places and people that need help. Just the other day at the grocery store I was talking with this huge lady with a Lone Star card. She was explaining how she just couldn't get her grass mowed. She had three sons ages 19, 17, and 16. She tried to talk me into bringing my mower over and cutting her yard. She just didn't want to have to pay.

Why couldn't Zuzana, or her local counterpart, go to this lady's house and cut her grass. They would , of course, have to use a hand scythe. You wouldn't want to use the evil combustion engine. Just imagine the workout and the goodness that would be spread by helping this lady out.

What about the people in Haiti? Isn't there, like, a million tons of ruble there that needs to be moved to the recycling plant? These fitness people could loose themselves in body hardening selfless service by moving all the concrete, by hand.

Just the other day I needed a trench dug. Where were the fitness freaks? In their gyms. In there homes with their bowflexes. Being greedy with their desire to be healthy. Why wont they dig my ditch? They are expending all that energy and all they have to show for it is a well toned body. Why not help someone out AND stay in shape?

I can think of only a couple of drawbacks. First, there has to be someone to video them. This shouldn't be a big issue. We can add another Federal agency that not only coordinates the fitness friends, sending them to those that help, but also has an army of videographers to record and upload the footage of all the volunteerism.

Second, I am not sure that these helpers could always wear spandex. I know it is a requirement of those sexy workout types. I don't think I have ever seen them in anything else. I can imagine how shredded it would get while moving shards of broken building. But, this agency could provide an endless supply of replacement leotards. Problem solved.

What a wonderful world this could be if we all, well, those that want to be fit, would just direct out energy toward helping those in need. We might even be able to get a mandate implemented that would require them to volunteer. Man the things that could get done.

El Toro Negro

Do I Know You?

Have you ever heard of those couples that have been married for a long time and one of the spouses finds out something about the other that they didn't know that you would have thought they would have discovered after all that time?

I have often thought that if you are a loving couple, spend time with one another, and are genuinely interested in each other that that would be impossible. I'm not talking about some deep dark secret. I'm not talking about discovering that your husband is a serial killer. Just the little things that you thought would have been out in the open.

My wife of 17 years, today, asked one of my sons to clean out the pantry. She must have not been thinking because I am sure she didn't want us to find out what she had been doing for who knows how long. My son did a thorough job, and came across something that shocked us all.

Lurking in the recesses of the pantry, my wife's domain, was a collection. Something that must have taken a good many years to bring to such a large number. I thought I would have noticed it somewhere along the way. We have lived in four places, moved three time, and I have no recollection of having ever seen this. It is not small and not light. There must be 30,000 of them. Does she have a compulsive disorder? Is she addicted to this thing? Does she need an intervention, a twelve step program?

I love her dearly, and will stand with her no matter what this challenge may bring. As a team, we can work through anything. So far, it had not had an adverse impact on or family, or marriage, but who know where this could have gone.

El Toro Negro

Nodding My Head Like...

Sorry, no pics to go with this one. I seem to get a lot of my thoughts from the ones I love. I was recently talking with one of the afore mentioned and the said that you couldn't shake your head yes. That you you always shake your head to say no to someone. That got me thinking. Is that really true? Do we only shake our head no and nod our head yes?

So I tried it. You know. Pretended that someone asked me a question, and then answered by making a movement with my head. You might give it a try. I have to admit that it does feel a bit more natural to shake your head no than it does to nod your head no, but the difference is very negligible.

So I say to all. It is really a matter of semantics. If you move your hear from side to side in a horizontal pane, is that a shake or a nod? It seems to be something that has to be figured out on a personal level. For me.... no me importa.

El Toro Negro

And here we are.

So here we are. Most everyone in the world is aware of the greatest scam, the biggest lie, that has been pimped on the people of this planet in recorded history. You know exactly what I am referring to, don't you. Man made global warming, and specifically, right now, the cooling we have had the last 11 years.

Oh, how the world we live in has changed in the last 10 years. Oh, how the lie has grown and only recently has begun to unravel. You can't hardly turn on the TV or the computer, or read a newspaper (who does that) without hearing of another way we should burden ourselves in order to repent of being alive and causing the planet to warm. There are CFLs, credits, recycling, replanting, painting your roof, wearing reflective hats, even only using one square of toilet paper per...... movement. One celebrity actually said we should only flush after defecation, never after urination. All to save the planet from something that doesn't exist.

There are plenty of examples of how our world is changing. The whole CAP and TRADE legislation threaten us all. Our businesses are running scared of what might be imposed on them (really the consumer... who pays in the end) if this thing goes through.

I found an electronic product a while back that had a curious label on it. I took a picture of it with my phone (thus the quality) and found the photo recently. It show what lengths we are having to go through to appear GREEN. We all remember the energy star ratings designed to help us save money by telling us how the particular appliance compares to others in energy usage. Well know we have something else. The global warming score.

Remember to feel like crap if you ever buy something that doesn't rate well enough.

I hate this whole movement. I am sure that makes me a racist.

El Toro Negro

WOW

Well, it has been a long time since I posted anything. At least a couple of months. Not sure exactly why. Perhaps because of six kids and a wife. Makes life a bit busy. Could also be that I have just chosen to use my time in other areas of interest.

One of the things that I am sure has caused me not to post is that I have been very bummed about what is going on politically in this country. It has made me just want to vomit. Literally. Do not be mistaken. I am just as aggravated about what is going on. It is just that I have wanted to bury my head in the sand.

So I spend some time tonight going through some of my thoughts. No, not so much that.... just rambling. I have some things that I will be writing about very soon. Perhaps tonight. We will see. For now.........

El Toro Negro