Weird Stuff!

I was out cruzzin' the net today and came accross some odd stories and photos!

Over 5,000 participants taking part in the nude installation by New York based artist Spencer Tunick titled 'Mardi Gras:The Base' pose on the front steps of the Sydney Opera House.

A police car is pictured in Germany in 2009. A woman in Germany phoned police after hearing "suspicious noises" in her flat, but much to her embarrassment officers found the source was a vibrator, authorities said Friday.

DENVER - A woman who won $42.9 million off a penny slot machine saw her jackpot disappear when the casino said the payout message was an error.

NYPD patrol car in Manhattan. Instead of resting in peace, the body of a recently deceased man ended up in New York's equivalent of Purgatory: the city tow pound for illegally parked cars

How long do you think they could hold this pose?

Where else would you pick up things for dead people? I really enjoy how they made the word “people” more plural by putting and “s” at the end.

Who needs a bell when you have a 5 foot horn sticking out your ass to tell everyone your here!

Does anyone want to guess who is the bride, the groom and the best man? The second question – Is the person in the white dress a guy or girl?

and lastly ........ some easter bunnies???????????
*CORRECTS SPECIES TO HARES * Hares fight on a field near Frankfurt, central Germany, on a warm and sunny Thursday, March 25, 2010.

Enough Said

NCAA Syracuse and Cornell

Two big games tonight for us "Upstate, New Yorkers"

First at 7:07 (hmmm why the crazy time??) is the Syracuse University/Butler game. Syracuse is one of my favorite towns upstate and one that I visit often!! From the great Irish Pubs and festivals, to the State Fair you can't help but love Syracuse! It is also the only place in America where the street light is upside down (Tipperary Hill.) (see pic below)

Then at 9:57 is the Big Red game of

Cornell University/Kentucky!!

Cornell is located at the base of Cayuga Lake in the town of Ithaca, which is another favorite town of mine. Ithaca is know for its gorges, waterfalls, and old Victorian homes, a beautiful lake, and an upbeat town. It is also the first town on any good wine quest tour, no matter if you go up the east or west side of the lake you will find some interesting places to stop and sample some great wines!!

Go Syracuse and Cornell!!!

I will be keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed for you tonight!!!
GO TEAMS!!!!

In Memory of Mom

If roses grow in Heaven Lord
Please pick a bunch for me.
Place them in my Mother's arms
and tell her they're from me.
Tell her I love her and miss her,
and when she turns to smile,
Place a kiss upon her cheek
and hold her for a while.
Because remembering her is easy,
I do it everyday,
But there is an ache within my heart
That will never go away.

mom and dad ...

We miss you mom!!

Happy St.Patrick's Day

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all who wander upon this blog!! I give thanks to my Irish ancestors for enduring the hardships they went through so I may walk this planet! If you look to the right and see the picture of the door, it is the door my great grandmother walked through for 16 years, until she left her homeland to come to America. It is the same door my Great-Great grandmother walked through each day after seeing five of her children leave and come to America, never to see them again. How sad, I can only imagine the times she must of spent weeping for them. Today and each day I think of how lucky I must be to have had such strong Irish woman and men in my life, and can only read about what they endured. So today on this "High Holy Day" I will say a quiet prayer and say thanks ...

Great-Grandmother's two room humble home in County Tipperary, Ireland

The window she looked out upon with the dreams of a young woman, and the same window my GG-Grandmother looked out upon and wondered about her children in America

Hills as green as emeralds
Cover the countryside
Lakes as blue as sapphires-
And Ireland’s special pride
And rivers that shine like silver
Make Ireland look so fair-
But the friendliness of her people
Is the richest treasure there.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig

Happy Birthday to My Grandson!!

Well tomorrow is the HIGH HOLY DAY! March 17th, St. Patricks's Day ... but today March 16th I have much to celebrate!!!! Four years ago today my first and only grandchild was born, mind you only hours away from the 17th (mom could just not hold out any longer) - lol !!

What an amazing feeling to have a grandchild, you can not explain it until it happens to you! AND to know one of my "babies" gave this gift to me is even more of a blessing!! Thank you Regina for the most wonderful gift you could ever give me!!!

Happy Birthday BABY TOOTS (ok this is our nickname) today you are 4 YEARS OLD!!! GRANDMA LOVES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IN THE BEGINNING!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY TOOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grandma LOVES YOU XOXO!!!

Foto Friday

Tomorrow is the Syracuse Parade, marching for the 5th year ...
NOTE: THE TRAFFIC LIGHT!!
It is the only light in America that has the GREEN on the TOP!!
Tipperary Hill, Syracuse!!

Mother Of A Miners Child

As a follow-on to my blog yesterday on "The Breaker Boys" I came accross this song that Gordon Lightfoot wrote, here are the words and a link to YOU TUBE to hear it sung.

Mother Of A Miners Child
by Gordon Lightfoot

She is my flower
And she blooms for the one who loves her best
The miners stop to watch as she walks
They know her love is not for sale
She will never fail me cause I know
I watch her grow
And the mother of a miners child
Waits for me beside the kitchen door
She is my light
In this place where the darkness never ends
Shell guide me where the tunnels twist and bend
She's the only one who listens when I tell her
I got less than I can spend
She knows the pace
Oh mother of a miners child
Was away the coal dust from my face

When the night shifts done
Shell be waiting by the table when I come
Searchin for another dream to chase
Oh mother of a miners child
I know that you still think about the day
When well be movin on
Remember dear old daddy and
The promise that I made to carry on

Sometimes I smile
In the cage where the cables softly hum
Id curse that old straw boss to the bone
But the mother of a miners child
Is waiting for her paycheck to come home
Come Saturday
And he is just a miners boy
I hope that he will find a better way

She is my flower
And she blooms for the one who loves her best
The miners stop to watch as she walks
They know her love is not for sale
She will never fail me cause I know
I watch her grow
And the mother of a miners child
Waits for me beside the kitchen door

The Breaker Boys

The Breaker Boys

Last evening I watched a show called "The Irish: Two Nations-One Heart", this unique documentary includes interviews and cinematography shot on-location in the Donegal and Mayo counties of Ireland, as well as several counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. It presents the full story of Pennsylvania's Irish and the emotionally compelling testimony of an extraordinary journey that continues to this day. The second part focused on the coal mines that are well known in NE Pennsylvania, and about "The Breaker Boys." I was so very touched by the story that I spent a good part of this morning reading about them and thought I would share a little of their story.

Smaller lumps of coal in the mines had to have the impurities removed and this was done by hand, usually by boys between the ages of eight and 12 years old known as breaker boys. The use of breaker boys began in the U.S. around 1866. The breaker boys would sit on wooden seats, perched over chutes and conveyor belts, picking slate and other impurities out of the coal.

Breaker boys worked 10 hours a day for six days a week. The work was hazardous. Breaker boys were forced to work without gloves so that they could handle the slick coal better. The slate, however, was sharp, and boys would leave work with their fingers cut and bleeding. Many breaker boys lost fingers to the rapidly moving conveyor belts, while others, moving about the plant, had their feet, hands, arms, and legs amputated when they moved among the machinery and accidentally slipped under the belts or into the gears. Many died when they fell into the gears of the machinery, their bodies only retrieved at the end of the working day. Others were caught in the rush of coal, and crushed to death or smothered. The "dry" coal kicked up so much dust that the breaker boys sometimes wore lamps on their heads to see, and asthma and black lung disease were common.


Public outrage against the use of breaker boys was so widespread that in 1885 Pennsylvania enacted a law forbidding the employment of anyone under the age of 12 from working in a coal breaker, but the law was poorly enforced, and many employers and families forged birth certificates or other documents so children could work. Estimates of the number of breaker boys at work in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania vary widely, and official statistics are generally considered by historians to undercount the numbers significantly. Estimates include 20,000 breaker boys working in the state in 1880, 18,000 working in 1900, 13,133 working in 1902, and 24,000 working in 1907. Technological innovations in the 1890s and 1900s such as mechanical and water separators designed to remove impurities from coal significantly reduced the need for breaker boys, but adoption of the new technology was slow. By the 1910s, the use of breaker boys was finally dropping because of improvements in technology, stricter child labor laws, and compulsory schooling laws. The practice of employing children in coal breakers largely ended by 1920 because of the efforts of the National Child Labor Committee, sociologist and photographer Lewis Hine, and the National Consumers League, who educated the public about the practice and succeeded in passing child labor laws.


Here is an interesting clip also from YOUTUBE...


and this ...

Today is International Women's Day

Why have I never heard of this before ... do I live that far out in the sticks that I am not aware of this???

Today is International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on the 8th of March every year. It is a major day of global celebration of women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.


Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet block. In many regions, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

The IWD is also celebrated as the first spring holiday in the Northern Hemisphere as the first day of March is considered the first day of the spring season.

On occasion of 2010 International Women's Day the International Committee of the Red Cross is drawing attention to the hardship displaced women endure. The displacement of populations is one of the gravest consequences of today's armed conflicts. It affects women in a host of ways.[3]

Women displaced by armed conflict – often living alone with their children – are frequently exposed to sexual violence, discrimination and intimidation. Many face poverty and social exclusion as well. International humanitarian law therefore includes specific provisions protecting women, for example when they are pregnant or as mothers of young children.



"..And she'll promise you more
Than the Garden of Eden
Then she'll carelessly cut you
And laugh while you're bleedin'
But she'll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself
Cause she's always a woman to me..."

-- from "She's Always A Woman" by Billy Joel

I honor and congratulate women from all over the world, from the past to the present -- and yes, even to the women of the future, of the accomplishments they have made, are making and will make. Ladies, this is your day.

Today we celebrate International Women's Day -- officially. But to me, and to most people surrounded by wonderful women, Everyday is Women's Day!