Feeds:
Posts
Comments

MORE Six Word Movie Quotes

March 14, 2011 by pbenjay

What a great week for responses to my weekly plea for Six Word Memoirs!  This Monday I am posting some additional Six Word Movie Quotes.

Star Wars, light force

Luke Skywalker

Mother Nature surely is not happy – Heather

He’s back for a short time! – Susan Celtic Lady

Went bathing suit shopping-discouraging mistake!-Me

Posted in Six Word Memoirs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Why Is NOT the Question! Yin and Yang March Weekend

March 13, 2011 by pbenjay

Although it’s hard to resist asking God, Mother Nature, the Force or whatever higher power (if any) that you believe in, there’s really no point in asking WHY?

YIN

Friday morning about 5:00am; FIRE! A pre-dawn blaze with enough wind to whip up the flames and carry sparks and embers through the air where they landed on another historic home.  Fire in Ocean Grove is a greedy beast, swallowing up as much timber as its tongue can reach.  WHY? Oh there are any number of reasons being bandied about; neglect, arson, faulty wiring, gas  pipe problem – WHY? Destruction, Loss, Damage See photos in

OCEAN GROVE TRAGEDY. PHOTO GALLERY BY CITIZEN PHOTOGRAPHERS

The photos in this link are posted in Blogfinger, a blog with lots of local information and a sounding board for residents.

Friday afternoon in Tokyo; EARTHQUAKE! TSUNAMI! What could be worse than having your house tumble down, the road open up below you,  gas pipes ripped apart, electrical wires loose  with fires breaking out and explosions every minute or two?  ONLY to be followed by a massive tsunami wave.   The tsunami roared over the initial damage and compounded the destruction 100fold. WHY? Destruction, Death, Fire, Flood, Mayhem, Radioactivity

smoke rises, Japan's coast, Ishimaki,Japan, earthquake, tsunami March
Ishimaki,Japan

photo from MSNBC

Otsuchi, Japan, ferry boat, tsunami, earthquake

Otsuchi, Japan

Photo from MSNBC

total destsruction, earthquake, tsunmami,

Where is his house?

photo from MSNBC

YANG

Saturday afternoon: One day later, a few blocks away from the devastating fire site and on the other side of the world from the massive natural disaster, new life is forming.  Why? My daffodils are coming up!  Don’t they know it’s still March? We could have a snow storm.  I thought they would bloom at Easter as they have in the past.  Doubt that I’ll still have blooms since Easter is late this year.  My neighbors across the street who get the afternoon sun in their front yards already have snowdrops and crocuses blooming!

Daffodils, Ocean Grove, La Vie en Rose,March, spring

Early Spring-The Life Cycle Begins

Photo by Lori

Sunday afternoon: Growing up in New England, I can tell you that Spring is a much yearned-for season.  Every kid knows that when you see the first Robin,  Spring has arrived.  This big red-breasted harbinger is a sign that once again life has returned to the gray and leafless landscape.  When you see your first Robin of the season, you automatically smile because you know and anticipate what is coming.  Is there any season more welcomed than Spring?  I don’t know why the Robins have landed so early in March;  I think the ground is not completely thawed and any worms or grubs are still deeply burrowed.  We may still get snow but they’re here bringing a promise of new life.  Why?

 

harbinger of spring, Robin, March, spring

Harbinger of Spring

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

I Want the Blue Rainbow

March 12, 2011 by pbenjay

Last weekend, I was delighted to have Finley stay with us at the cottage.  Well the idea of having her here was exciting.  However, once the crib, the booster chair, the stroller, her suitcase,  the cats in their crates, the food, my bag, Peter’s bag, the other food bag, the blue bag (which carries so many things), the hanging clothes and the clean laundry and her car seat…WELL, really!!!!

Ok so I digress – we joined our friends, Susan & Jim and Joe & Michael for a “catch-up meet-up brunch” at Nagle’s.  We hadn’t seen each other in  a while due to who was sick, who was traveling and who hadn’t been in town.  And I wanted to see Michael before he left for California.  Peter’s birthday was at the end of February, Joe’s birthday had been in the week before AND moved into a new apartment. Michael left his job in CA and was going to be moving to NYC with Joe,and little Miss Fin was in town – so, Let’s Celebrate!

Jim got a large sheet cake with a  BIG RAINBOW on it-this is a running insider joke between them.  So I gave Joe a birthday card with a rainbow, a congratulations on your new home and new job card and Susan added Peter’s name to the birthday cake.

Happy Birthday, Joe Lugo, Peter, Nagle's, brunch
Happy Birthday Joe! and Peter too

photo by Lori

Joe Lugo, Peter Press, Nagle's, sunday brunch

Cutting the cake

photo by Lori

Joe Lugo, Finley Ray, Finny, Nagle's

Finley and Uncle Joe

photo by Lori

You can see where the first cut was made and if you look at the first picture, you can see that the rainbow is on the opposite side of the cake – Finny wanted a piece of cake with the blue rainbow. Even if we wanted to accomodate her request, it would have been hard to extricate one piece of cake out of the middle – Problem solved.  How about a piece of  cake and Gigi will cut a piece of the blue rainbow and put in it on your piece?  “OK” , she says.

Finley Ray Clark,Finny, blue rainbow, Nagle's

I Want the Blue Rainbow

photo by Lori

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

More Photos of Devastating Blaze

March 12, 2011 by pbenjay

Many Grovers were out in the wee hours of this morning taking photos.   Blogfinger is a popular locally focused blog site and several residents contributed photos and comments about the horrific fire this morning that robbed this Historic Landmark that we live in, of several historic Victorian homes.  The photos are all far better than mine and I would like to share them with my readers. Please  click the link below.

Massive Blaze Destroys Eight Buildings on Surf and Atlantic Avenues, Including Vacant Former Hotel

Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

FIRE! The Most Dreaded Word in Ocean Grove

March 11, 2011 by pbenjay

It’s still dark, the phone is ringing?? It’s 5:30am! WTF? It’s Susan and from her voice I can tell she is upset.  FIRE!! Oh no, not again…just like last March.  She can’t tell where it is but the fire engines are going north on Central Ave.  I jump out of bed, and look out the door of the guest room and there it is-an eerie orange glow in the northern sky.  I’m going. Dress quickly, grab camera, license, gloves, hat, rain boots, car keys (I forgot my house keys).  Later I realized I didn’t have a lens in or a pair of glasses.  I drove up Broadway to Ocean Ave and went North to Ocean Pathway.  I parked the car in front of the Pavillion because I knew the police wouldn’t let me go any further.

I walked to Surf Avenue and saw the flames engulfing whatever fuel their greedy fingers could reach.   The fire apparently started in a construction site where a former boarding house stood and was in the process of being rebuilt as condos.  But in Ocean Grove, fire never stops where it starts.  Already the house to the west had flames shooting out of the roof.   The police tape was up so I could only get so close but clearly the fire had already jumped to the next street to the north-Atlantic Avenue.  Just like last year, the wind sent sparks flying and fanned the flames so they were able to leap to the houses behind the site.

People were gathering quickly, word of a fire in the Grove spreads as quickly as the fire does.   I watched a man try to get across the street – later I spoke to him and one of the houses that were being “streamed” with water simultaneously while the firemen valiantly tried to control the blaze or blazes as now there were at least 4 houses on fire.

I focused on this little bungalow thinking it would survive but then smoke started to seep out of the dormer.  OH GOD!!! I don’t think anyone had been in that house and I thought how devastating it would be to find out that the little cottage you left during the week or winter would be gone AND everything in it 😦  The bungalow was all that was left between the fire and the house of the man I met on the sidewalk.   The firemen were soaking his house from the front and the back as he paced back and forth but basically remained calm and resolute.

I imagined myself in hysterics jumping up and down in his place.  We have so many one of a kind collectibles in the cottage and worse yet the cats.   Cats are not like dogs who would follow you, come to you or bolt out-no cats would hide under the bed amidst the “stuff” stored there and you wouldn’t be able to get them out easily and quickly and unfortunately quickly is the key word in a town of wooden houses.  As far as I know, all animals got out, all the people got out although one elderly gentlemen was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

Surf Avenue, Ocean Grove, fire,

Fire Before the Dawn

Surf Avenue, Ocean Grove, construction site blaze

Surf Avenue Blaze

Atlantic Avenue, Ocean Grove

Atlantic Avenue Houses are Destroyed

the bungalow, Surf Avenue, Ocean Grove, NJ

Trying to save the Bungalow

streaming, crane, Atlantic Avenue

Streaming the gold house from behind

I got to the fire about 5:45am and the fires were roaring;  I left about 7am and now it’s 10:30am-some fire trucks have just gone west on Broadway, several flatbed trucks and pick-up trucks have gone east on Broadway which makes me think that some clean up is taking place.   In about an hour I have to pick up Peter and we will go by the site or as close as we can get and I hope to post “the remains of the day”.

My thoughts and prayers are with my neighbors who lost so much today.  I may not live next door to them…however, this is a small community and one person’s loss is felt by all.  The temporary shelter is up and running;  Susan brought dog food and leashes and I contributed kitty litter.  I’m so sad over this destruction-every historic home lost in this little community cannot be replaced.  The very charm of Ocean Grove lies in its Victorian cottages and of course its community.  And every time there is a fire, the phrase, “…there but for the grace of God…” comes to mind.

 

 

Related Articles

Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

John Cleese on “Terrorist Threat Levels Being Raised

March 10, 2011 by pbenjay

Basil Fawlty

Image via Wikipedia

My friend, Gail, sent me this great piece of British humor.  John Cleese, best known as a former Monty Python group member and star and writer of the highly-acclaimed Fawlty Towers, now bills himself as British writer, actor and tall person. I think from that you can get where this is going! He’s so damn clever (and I wish he had made 12 more episodes of  Fawlty Towers).

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.” The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out.  Terrorists have been re-categorised from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s get the Bastards.” They don’t have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide.” The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender.” The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France ‘s white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country’s military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing.” Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides.”

The Germans have increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbour” and “Lose.”

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to “She’ll be alright, Mate.” Two more escalation levels remain: “Crikey! I think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!” and “The barbie is cancelled.” So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

— John Cleese – British writer, actor, and tall person

 

Posted in BY THE WAY | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Thursday’s Top Ten PUNS

March 10, 2011 by pbenjay

The ability to make and understand puns is considered to be high form of language development.  Here are the TOP TEN winning puns in the International Pun Contest.

  1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons.  The stewardess looks at him and says, “I’m sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.
  2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall.  One turns to the other and says, “Dam”!
  3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft.  Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can’t have your kayak and heat it too.
  4. Two hydrogen atoms meet.  One says, “I’ve lost my electron”. The other says, “Are you sure”?   “Yes”, the first replies, “I’m positive”.
  5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal.  His goal: transcend dental medication.
  6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories.  After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse.  “But why?” they asked, as they moved off. “Because” he said, “I can’t stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer”.
  7. A woman delivers a set of identical twins and decides to give them up for adoption. One goes to a  family in Egypt and is named “Ahmal”.  The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him “Juan”.  Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother.  Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal.  Her husband responds, “They’re twins!  If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Ahmal.”
  8. A group of friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival  florist hired Hugh McTaggert, the roughest and vicious thug in town to “persuade” the friars to close.Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he’d be back if  they didn’t close up the shop.Terrified,they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.
  9. Mahatma Ghandi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet.  He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and,  with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
  10. And finally, there was the person who sent ten different puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

Related Articles 

Hummel, friar,

Friar Tuck NOT

Posted in Thursday's Top Ten | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

First They Came For The Bilderbergers

March 9, 2011 by pbenjay

Scanned image of author's US Social Security card.

What Bank is your Mommy?

CONSPIRACY THEORY WEDNESDAY

It’s Wednesday and therefore time to explore another conspiracy theory!  Since I finished posting COUP D’ETAT ,  an extensive theory as to WHO was involved in the assassination of President  Kennedy, I wanted to continue with conspiracy theories.  In about a New York minute, I knew where I could find a treasure trove of theories to explore – The Tea Party Movement.

This week I found an article in The Economist in which Bob Inglis, a Republican candidate who lost in the primary speaks about a meeting he had with Tea Party-activists just before the primary. I’m going to include the link to the full article, however I just can’t resist posting the part where Bob Inglis is quoted.

“…This week’s Mother Jones has an interview with Bob Inglis, the Republican congressman from South Carolina who just lost his primary to a tea-party-backed candidate despite having a 93% rating from the American Conservative Union. Mr Inglis, a former right-wing firebrand from the GOP‘s Class of 1994, says he lost his seat because he simply couldn’t go along with the kind of radical conspiratorial rhetoric required to remain viable in Republican politics today. He tells the story of a meeting with tea-party activists that took place shortly before the primary.

‘I sat down, and they said on the back of your Social Security card, there’s a number. That number indicates the bank that bought you when you were born based on a projection of your life’s earnings, and you are collateral. We are all collateral for the banks. I have this look like, “What the heck are you talking about?” I’m trying to hide that look and look clueless. I figured clueless was better than argumentative. So they said, “You don’t know this?! You are a member of Congress, and you don’t know this?!” And I said, “Please forgive me. I’m just ignorant of these things.” And then of course, it turned into something about the Federal Reserve and the Bilderbergers and all that stuff. And now you have the feeling of anti-Semitism here coming in, mixing in. Wow.’ ….”

The tea-party movement: First they came for the Bilderbergers | The Economist.

Posted in Conspiracy Theory Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Heart Healthy! Lemon-Tarragon Salmon over Asparagus

March 9, 2011 by pbenjay

Red onions, lemon, and tarragon come together as a tangy topping for salmon and asparagus.

20 asparagus spears, trimmed to 6″ and halved lengthwise

2 large radishes, very thinly sliced

4 boneless, skinless salmon fillets 5 oz each, 1″ thick

coarse salt and pepper

1 small red onion thinly sliced

1/4 cup plus 1 TBS thinly sliced lemon zest strips, plus 1 TBS  plus 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 TBS fresh tarragon

1 TBS plus 1 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven 400 degrees.  Cut out four 12″ by 17″ sheets of parchment paper, fold each in half crosswise to form a crease

Divide asparagus and radishes evenly among parchment pieces, arranging mixture on 1 side of each crease.  Lay 1 salmon fillet on top of each pile. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss together onion, zest and juice, tarragon, 2 tsp oil, and 1/2 tsp salt; divide among salmon, spooning over tops.  Fold parchment over ingredients; make overlapping pleats to seal.

Bake on 2 baking sheets for 11-12 minutes for medium-rare, or 13 minutes for medium.  Unwrap; drizzle with remaining 2 tsp oil.

I’ve often avoided cooking fish because I think it’s either going to smell in the house or it will come out dry.  WELL, neither happens with this delicious dish.  Heart Healthy!

heart healthy fish, salmon, tarragon, lemon zest, red onion

Salmon is Heart Healthy

Posted in Marthaspeak, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Six Words! No More, No Less – JUST 6

March 7, 2011 by pbenjay

Opening logo to the Star Wars films

The Movie - Not the Reagan Defense System

People speak in six word sentences – Mmmm there’s concept.  Certainly not me, and not Peter who I accuse of the longest rambling sentences in the world!  However, last week, I quoted an article that appeared in The New Yorker magazine in 2008, SAY IT ALL IN SIX WORDS, in which the author of the article purposely  used several six word sentences.  Maybe six word sentences  are the answer; our life in bullet points!

Twitter says to say it 140 characters, texting requires clever abbreviations to convey  messages without using whole words and there are more and more places where brevity is king.  And then of course, we also had a President who spoke in six word sentences because that was all he could manage without misusing or mispronouncing a word!  (I couldn’t resist).

This week I’ve uncovered another great source of six word sentences – quotes actually from movies!  Here are a few and I would love it if my readers could think of some more and send them in.

“May the force be with you” – Star Wars

“English, motherfucker, do you speak it”? – Pulp Fiction

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner” – Dirty Dancing

“I’m the king of the world” – Titanic

And now to this week’s submissions from some of my readers:

Sun lamps/tanning bed more validity – Susan in the Grove

Life sucks – I demand a refund – Spinnyliberal

Last boss nuttier than Charlie Sheen – Weez

Been meaning to buy that book – Anne-Marie

Weekend with Finley, heaven can wait – Me

And from The Book as I like to refer to Not Quite What I Was Planning Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure:

Not pretty enough so now unemployed – Stacey Smith

 

Mistakes were made, but smarter now – Christine Triano

Likes everything too much to choose – Rachel Lindenthal

Curly haired sad kid chose fun – Stacy Abramson

Ok the challenge is out there, the ball’s in your court…Send me some Six Word Movie Quotes OR your own Six Word Memoir next week.

 

Related Articles

Posted in Six Word Memoirs | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »