07/25/16 – Taking Some Positions

CURRENT EVENTS

Presidential Endorsement

I’ve been told readership of this blog might increase, if I would start taking positions on topics that are of interest to people.  People are interested in endorsements for who should be President of the United States.

So, I am endorsing Trump.

Wk 31 Trump for President

Probably not the Trump you had in mind nor for the particular Presidential Election that you had in mind.  

Divided Nation

If you listen to and watch the media, you might think the USA is a divided nation.  Instead, just look around you and you will see acts like the ones below, going on every day, showing that we do care for one another.  If you don’t see this occurring, perhaps you should consider breaking out of your isolation. 

Wk 31 Race War

PHYSICAL TRAITS 

Honor Thy Temple

Looking for a good doctor, well here are seven of them.

Wk 31 best doctors

CHARACTER TRAITS

The Foundation for Being Extraordinary

Wk 31 Be positive

SOCIAL TRAITS

Getting Along with Others

Wk 31 Words spoken

LEARNING TRAITS

Growth Keeps You Extraordinary

In Chapter 42 of my book, I talk about the importance of setting goals, making plans to meet those goals, and monitoring your progress to ensure success.

Our time here is not unlimited, so please don’t act as if it is unlimited.  Think about what you want to do and be remembered for; and I hope it is something more than what follows below.

Wk 31 Bucket List

MISCELLANEOUS 

The Odds & Ends of Being Extraordinary

Wk 31 Same year 75 times

SELF-HELP BOOKS

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

By Robert Louis Stevenson

Illustrated by Robert Smith

The book above is a graphic novel.  It reminds me of the Classics Illustrated comics I read as a child, only a bit longer and a little better reflection of the real book.

If you don’t have time to read the original or if you want to introduce literature to a child, I think this book would be excellent.  I really enjoyed it and it was a very quick and easy to read book–my favorite kind of book

Wk 31 Dr. Jekyll y Hyde

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

 Bulworth

Given the unusual nature of Presidential Politics this year, I thought of this 1998 film.

Wk 31 Bullworth

Jay Bulworth (Warren Beatty), a financially ruined senator, is now disillusioned with politics.

The forlorn statesman orders a contract killing — the target himself — so his family will be able to collect a fortune from his insurance policy.

Facing imminent death, a devil-may-care Bulworth speaks his mind in public, forsaking platitudes for honest but controversial observations.

But when he falls in love with a hip young woman (Halle Berry), Bulworth urgently rethinks his impending murder.

LAST WEEK’S POLL – Questioning

Holmes Mouse Pad

When it comes to seeing and hearing:

33% – Believe media does not report on some items because it would contradict the message they want to send

28% – Question in our minds what we are told by people in authority

21% – Believe the media report things they know aren’t true.

14% – Sometimes question reality

3% – Generally believe what they see and are told.

I did this same poll about a year ago with only half as many voters and here were the results:

38% – Believe media does not report on some items because it would contradict the message they want to send

31% – Question in our minds what we are told by people in authority

14% – Believe the media report things they know aren’t true.

12% – Sometimes question reality

5% – Generally believe what they see and are told.

THIS WEEK POLL – USA Presidential Voting

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

“Here Comes the Sun”

by The Beatles

ART OF THE WEEK

Embracing Peace

Wk 27 Embracing Peace

A 25-foot-tall sculpture based on a famed photograph of a kiss in Times Square in New York City at the end of World War II is visiting Royal Oak as part of efforts to raise money for a war memorial.

The sculpture by Seward Johnson was installed Memorial Park at the northeast corner of Woodward Avenue and 13 Mile Road in Royal Oak, near the future site of the Michigan WWII Legacy Memorial. It is one of several “Embracing Peace” sculptures on display in the U.S. and Europe.

EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE

If you think the USA is not united today, perhaps you think about what the USA was like while this man was president.

Abraham Lincoln

 Wk 31 Abraham_Lincoln_O-77_matte_collodion_print

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.

Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis.

In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

This has to be a joke, who would believe someone was actually looking a the world around them, rather than their phone.

Wk 31 Watching the real world

BLOG

Thanks to Hemangini for commenting on last week’s post. I urge you to let me know what you are thinking via a blog comment.

My thanks to Kev & Dr. Joseph, who started following my blog (Currently 75 followers and the 66 people who liked my Harmony Books & Films Facebook page.

If you think this blog has any merit, please pass it on to your friends.  Hopefully, more of you will continue to share this blog with others. My thanks to Annette, Nandini, Joanne, Lisa, Nancy, Sarah Jane, Melissa, Kelle, Anibal, Antoinette, Rick, Jennifer & Brenda for sharing my post last week on Facebook.

MY BOOK

There are around 150 copies of my book floating around.  If you have read my book, please consider posting an evaluation of it on Amazon, so far only six of you have.  Thank you.

My book is available on-line from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million.  For those of you into reading books on a Kindle, the Kindle version of my book is $4.95.

My Final Cover

http://www.amazon.com/Tired-Being-Ordinary-Are-You/dp/0990388697

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/im-tired-of-being-ordinary-are-you-wm-allen/1120528064?ean=9780990388692

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Im-Tired-Being-Ordinary/Wm-Allen/9780990388692?id=6429711012885

07/18/16 – When Will It Stop

CURRENT EVENTS

nice-attack-afp_650x400_51468597708

People left flowers, candles and other tributes in Nice, France, on Saturday in memory of those killed in Thursday’s terror attack in the coastal city.

I thought last week called for an inspirational quote, which would serve all of us well, not just for today, but for every day.

Wk 30 Don't be an ass

PHYSICAL TRAITS 

Honor Thy Temple

Portion control is important in maintaining an appropriate weight, please don’t let what happened to David, happen to you.

David after 3 years in USA

CHARACTER TRAITS

The Foundation for Being Extraordinary

Wk 30 Who wants to change

SOCIAL TRAITS

Getting Along with Others

Wk 30 Eye sight

LEARNING TRAITS

Growth Keeps You Extraordinary

In Chapter 41 of my book, I talk about the importance of analyzing your day in a journal and looking back a year later at what you wrote.  Very few do this, but if you wish to be extraordinary, you will adopt the practice.

“Those who cannot remember the past

are condemned to repeat it.”

George Santayana

220px-George_Santayana

MISCELLANEOUS 

The Odds & Ends of Being Extraordinary

Wk 40 Key to success

SELF-HELP BOOKS

Code of the Samurai

Translated by Thomas Cleary

This easy to read book provides some excellent rules to live by, which are still relevant today.  I’ve read and reviewed it many times of the years and it never fails to inspire me.

Code of the Samurai

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

 Outlander

I’ve watched two seasons of this Starz TV series and most of it has been good to very good, now that they have left their sadism behind.  For a while, I could not stand to watch some of it and had to fast forwarded through the sadistic crap, but the show got back on track was excellent.

Outlander

Outlander is a British-American television drama series based on the historical time travel Outlander series of novels by Diana Gabaldon.

The show premiered on August 9, 2014. It stars Caitriona Balfe as Claire Randall, a married World War II nurse in 1945 who finds herself transported back to Scotland in 1743, where she encounters the dashing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and becomes embroiled in the Jacobite risings.

The second season, consisting of 13 episodes and based on Dragonfly in Amber, premiered on April 9, 2016.

On June 1, 2016, Starz renewed the series for a third and fourth season, which will adapt the third and fourth Outlander novels, Voyager and Drums of Autumn.

LAST WEEK’S POLL – Racist Comments

Wk 29 All

If someone makes a racist comment in front of you:

69% – Said they would tell the person that the comment was inappropriate

31% – Said they would say nothing

THIS WEEK POLL – Questioning

Holmes Mouse Pad

Please check all that apply

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

“Peace Train”

by Cat Stevens

ART OF THE WEEK

All this craziness is taking a toll on the World’s Guardian Angel

Guardian Angel     Older Gardian Angel

EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE

Martin Luther King, Jr.

 Wk 30 Extraordinary

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if we could all transcend our egos.

Wk 40 Trump

BLOG

Thanks to Sue & Samantha, for commenting on last week’s post. I urge you to let me know what you are thinking via a blog comment.

My thanks to my 73 followers and the 66 people who liked my Harmony Books & Films Facebook page.

If you think this blog has any merit, please pass it on to your friends.  Hopefully, more of you will continue to share this blog with others. My thanks to Carol, Susan, Joanne, Lisa & Liz for sharing my post last week on Facebook.

MY BOOK

There are around 150 copies of my book floating around.  If you have read my book, please consider posting an evaluation of it on Amazon.  Thank you.

My book is available on-line from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million.  For those of you into reading books on a Kindle, the Kindle version of my book is $4.95.

My Final Cover

http://www.amazon.com/Tired-Being-Ordinary-Are-You/dp/0990388697

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/im-tired-of-being-ordinary-are-you-wm-allen/1120528064?ean=9780990388692

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Im-Tired-Being-Ordinary/Wm-Allen/9780990388692?id=6429711012885

07/11/16 – Sad, Just Sad

CURRENT EVENTS

So many horrible things have happened this week in the USA, with police killing citizens and citizens killing police.  It will take the efforts of all of us to stop this.  It will never stop if we just sit it out and wait for someone else to step forward.

Wk 29 All

Good police need to see that bad police are removed from the police force.  The time to straighten out white and black thugs are when they are young.  White and black racists need to know their behavior is not acceptable and nor will be tolerated.

Traffic Reports

This week I drove up to Bay City, MI for a wedding, so naturally I paid attention to the traffic reports; especially this one.

Wk 29 Road runner

PHYSICAL TRAITS 

Honor Thy Temple

Week 1 of my book talks about the importance of diet and eating healthy, and not overeating.  I see so many people eating themselves into an early grave.  If these words upset you, well there is a good chance that is what you are doing to yourself.

Wk 29 What would you like to eat

CHARACTER TRAITS

The Foundation for Being Extraordinary

Week 13 of my book talks about anger and the importance of remaining calm.  Fighters know the surest way to beat their opponents is to make them angry.

Wk 29 Remaining calm

SOCIAL TRAITS

Getting Along with Others

Week 29 of my book talks about the importance of smiling to make everyone feel better about coming into contact with you as well as making yourself feel better.  Also, it is good to smile in the face of adversity, as the photo below shows.

Wk 29 Smile

LEARNING TRAITS

Growth Keeps You Extraordinary

Here is a handy trick that will fix many things.

Wk 29 Unplug

MISCELLANEOUS 

The Odds & Ends of Being Extraordinary

Wk 29 Winning at life

SELF-HELP BOOKS

Fairest

By Gail Carson Levine

This book is some easy reading entertainment. Towards the end of the book, we learn about “Gnomish Justice”, which is different from human justice.  Its focus is more on outcomes than on punishment.

Fair by Gail Carson Levine

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

 Crash

This film has something to say, but it is raw and upsetting.

Crash

Writer-director Paul Haggis interweaves several connected stories about race, class, family and gender in Los Angeles in the aftermath of 9/11.

Characters include a district attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his casually prejudiced wife (Sandra Bullock), dating police detectives Graham (Don Cheadle) and Ria (Jennifer Esposito), a victimized Middle Eastern store owner and a wealthy African-American couple (Terrence Dashon Howard, Thandie Newton) humiliated by a racist traffic cop (Matt Dillon).

LAST WEEK’S POLL  USA

USA

How do you believe the USA of today compares with the USA of 1961:

56% – Better

39% – Worse

5% – Same

Regarding the future of the USA:

81% – Optimistic

19% – Pessimistic

THIS WEEK POLL – Racist Comments

Wk 29 All

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

“You Might Think”

by The Cars

ART OF THE WEEK

Gun Country

By Michael Murphy

I took a photo of this at the 2014 Art Prize, held in Grand Rapids, MI.

ggun map

EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE

Guardian Angel

 Guardian Angel

I feel like America’s Guardian Angel looks like this after last week.

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

Speed checked by radar

BLOG

Thanks to Tania, Carol, Carolyn, Judith, Kathy & Samantha, for commenting on last week’s post. I urge you to let me know what you are thinking via a blog comment.

My thanks to Rozeller, William & Wander Lust Explored for  following my blog (Now 73 Followers) and the 66 people who liked my Harmony Books & Films Facebook page.

If you think this blog has any merit, please pass it on to your friends.  Hopefully, more of you will continue to share this blog with others. My thanks to Carol, Jean, Joanne & Annette for sharing my post last week on Facebook.

MY BOOK

There are around 150 copies of my book floating around.  If you have read my book, please consider posting an evaluation of it on Amazon.  Thank you.

My book is available on-line from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million.  For those of you into reading books on a Kindle, the Kindle version of my book is $4.95.

My Final Cover

http://www.amazon.com/Tired-Being-Ordinary-Are-You/dp/0990388697

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/im-tired-of-being-ordinary-are-you-wm-allen/1120528064?ean=9780990388692

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Im-Tired-Being-Ordinary/Wm-Allen/9780990388692?id=6429711012885

07/04/16 – Fourth of July

CURRENT EVENTS

Make America Great

Wk 28 Make America Great

Brexit

Wk 28 Brexit

Red Run Golf Course, Royal Oak Michigan

Support your local fireworks displays.  Many smaller communities, such as Royal Oak, have excellent fireworks displays, as the video below shows.

PHYSICAL TRAITS 

Honor Thy Temple

Advertising with their super models and airbrushing skills are bombarding us with unrealistic images.  We really need to start demanding they use real people and untouched images in advertising or start avoiding those products.  If you think like the above, than you may appreciate the following.

Wk 28 Ass Study

CHARACTER TRAITS

The Foundation for Being Extraordinary

How many of us would be extraordinary, if we could just get started.

Wk 28 Unstoppable

SOCIAL TRAITS

Getting Along with Others

I know it is practically impossible to not gossip but at least don’t spread malicious gossip.

Wk 28 Gossip

LEARNING TRAITS

Growth Keeps You Extraordinary

Many people talk themselves out of opportunities that could make their lives extraordinary.

Wk 28 Never let the lack of ability

MISCELLANEOUS 

The Odds & Ends of Being Extraordinary

Wk 28 If you were dying

SELF-HELP BOOKS

George Washington’s Rules of Civility

& Decent Behavior

After reading this little book, when you  listen to the discourse in this country; you will immediately realize how far we have fallen from Washington’s day in being civil to one another.

123

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

 American Graffiti

For some of you, this film will bring back memories and others of you may find the film irrelevant.   It takes place in a time that no longer exists.  Some will find that sad; but others will find the door to opportunity has never been opened wider.

American Graffitti

American Graffiti is an American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed and co-written by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Harrison Ford, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack & Suzanne Somers.

Set in Modesto, California in 1962, the film is a study of the cruising and rock and roll cultures popular among the post–World War II baby boom generation. The film is told in a series of vignettes, telling the story of a group of teenagers and their adventures over a single evening.

LAST WEEK’S POLL  Brexit

UK

What you thought about the results of the Brexit vote results:

48% – Bad

28% – Indifferent

24% – Good

 

THIS WEEK POLL – USA

USA

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

“American Pie”

by Don McLean

I recall when this song came out, many of us were trying to figure out what the lyrics meant.  Later, Don McLean answered our question.  He said the song meant that he would never have to work again.

ART OF THE WEEK

Statute of Liberty 

I always found the Statute of Liberty best viewed on a windy day.

4th of July

EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE

Marquis de Lafayette

 Arrival of Lafayette

Marquis de Lafayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), in the U.S. often known simply as Lafayette, was a French military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. A close friend of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette was also key figure in the French Revolution of 1789.

He became convinced that the American cause in its revolutionary war was noble, and travelled to the New World seeking glory in it. There, he was made a major-general, though initially the 19-year-old was not given troops to command.

Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, he still managed to organize an orderly retreat. He served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of the war, he returned home to lobby for an increase in French support. He again sailed to America in 1780, and was given senior positions in the Continental Army. In 1781, troops in Virginia under his command blocked forces led by Cornwallis until other American and French forces could position themselves for the decisive Siege of Yorktown.

Lafayette died on 20 May 1834, and is buried in Picpus Cemetery in Paris, under soil from Bunker Hill. (More information is available on Wikipedia about this extraordinary individual)

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

McDonald’s has asked me to inform you ladies to please stop throwing your fries on their floor.

Wk 28 Spank

BLOG

Thanks to Jo, Sue, Carolyn & Samantha, for commenting on last week’s post. I urge you to let me know what you are thinking via a blog comment.

My thanks to Splended Yoga, We Love to Workout & Katia for  following my blog (Now 72 Followers) and the 66 people who liked my Harmony Books & Films Facebook page.

If you think this blog has any merit, please pass it on to your friends.  Hopefully, more of you will continue to share this blog with others. My thanks to Carol, Valda, Joanne, Beverly, Robbie, Pete, Rosemarie, Dada, Jill, Kimberly, Susan & Annette for sharing my post last week on Facebook.

MY BOOK

If you know someone who is trying to change their life or that needs to change their life, please consider my book.

For those of you into reading books on a Kindle, the Kindle version of my book is $4.95.

My book is available on-line from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million.  

And if you have read my book, please leave an evaluation of it on Amazon.  Thank you.

My Final Cover

http://www.amazon.com/Tired-Being-Ordinary-Are-You/dp/0990388697

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/im-tired-of-being-ordinary-are-you-wm-allen/1120528064?ean=9780990388692

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Im-Tired-Being-Ordinary/Wm-Allen/9780990388692?id=6429711012885