CURRENT EVENTS Just In Case You Haven’t Heard School’s Out BOOK OF THE WEEK Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder By Arnold Schwarzenegger & Douglas Kent Hall I understand, if you aren’t into bodybuilding; you probably aren’t interested in this book. However, there is more to this book than just bodybuilding. For instance, here is […]
CURRENT EVENTS Keeping An Open Mind BOOK OF THE WEEK It is a new year, so this is a good time to let go of the past by clearing out your clutter. Any book on decluttering will help you. I just happened to have this book; which I find has a lot of good decluttering […]
If you have an interest in the American Wild West, I strongly recommend this book. It is easy reading and loaded with pictures of interesting characters.
Gunfighters (2016)
By Al Cimino
In the remote parts of the West where law and order was unheard of, a man’s best friend and main hope for salvation was his gun. It was an integral part of his life, and most men who lived and died by the gun were a breed apart. In their own time, they were generally called gunfighters — part man, part myth. (Source: Amazon)
MOVIE OF THE WEEK
Ireland: County by County
I’ve been to Ireland and really enjoyed it. However, I wish I had seen this series before I made the trip.
It is hard to watch this engaging show without wanting to visit Ireland or make a return visit.
MUSIC OF THE WEEK
Soak Up The Sun
By Sheryl Crow
Song’s Background
“Soak Up the Sun” is a song by American singer Sheryl Crow. She and her longtime co-worker Jeff Trott wrote the song following a conversation they had during a plane flight, when they discussed the changing weather as they flew to New York City from Portland, Oregon.
Crow was recovering from surgery at the time, inspiring her and Trott to write a happy song that would cheer her up.
In the song, Crow has no money to afford any luxuries or necessities, but she decides that wallowing in her sadness is not a productive activity, so she reflects on what she currently has and “puts on a happy face” that she plans to spread to others.
ART OF THE WEEK
An Artist with a Sense of Humor
EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors (a term coined some 13 centuries later by Niccolò Machiavelli), and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD.
Meditations, the writings of “the philosopher” – as contemporary biographers called Marcus – are a significant source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy. They have been praised by fellow writers, philosophers, monarchs, and politicians centuries after his death. (Source: Wikipedia)
JOKE OF THE WEEK
As you become more aware, you will see that there are more illusions than just the red dot.
PHYSICAL TRAITS
CHARACTER TRAITS
SOCIAL TRAITS
LEARNING TRAITS
Learn to Save
One of the smartest things you can do is to put away 10% of everything you make. Later in life, your savings will work for you, instead of you working.
MISCELLANEOUS
Book
If you have ever been curious about this book, the Kindle version of this book is free, and the paperback version is $10
However, I must warn you that this book will not change your life,
I just returned from Lombard, IL; where I took first place in the deadlift for the 198 and under weight and Masters VI (Ages 65 to 69)
This could not have done this without Freddy, who got be back in the gym years ago.
Walter (fellow on left, holding three trophies he won that day) who got me into competitive powerlifting
And Art, who talked me into returning to the sport although I was in my late 60s. By the way, Art set the “World Record” for his age and weight at this contest.
PHYSICAL TRAITS
Honor Thy Temple
In recognition of Mother’s Day, I dedicate this one to all you moms out there.
CHARACTER TRAITS
The Foundation for Being Extraordinary
I’ve long thought the value of living a good life is simply living a good life, and not based upon a reward or a punishment.
It seems one of Rome’s wisest emperors felt much the same way.
SOCIAL TRAITS
Getting Along with Others
Think how well people would get along if we all just followed this advice.
LEARNING TRAITS
Growth Keeps You Extraordinary
It is important to keep learning, regardless of how old we are.
So here is something you can learn about parking.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Odds & Ends of Being Extraordinary
I realize that some of you out there may believe the odds of you becoming extraordinary are about the same as finding a needle in a haystack.
Well, perhaps that isn’t as hard as you may think if you just give it a try.
SELF-HELP BOOKS
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
by Carlo Rovelli
The lessons are very brief and easy to read; however, very difficult to truly understand. If you aren’t willing to question everything you believe, probably not the book for you.
For example first there was just the flat earth and the sky above. As time went on, we learned the sun and stars revolved around a spherical Earth per Aristotle.
Later, thanks to Copernicus, we learned that the earth revolved around the sun. Still later, we learned our sun was just a star like the one hundred billion other stars in our galaxy.
In the 1930s we learned that our galaxy was just a speck of dust in a vast cloud of galaxies. What you will learn from this book gets much stranger in many other ways.
MOVIEOF THE WEEK
Me at the Nationals
I thought you may want to see this short clip of me at the National Raw Powerlifting Competition.
“Gonna Fly Now”, also known as “Theme from Rocky”, is the theme song from the movie Rocky, composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta Little (the sister of actor Cleavon Little) and Nelson Pigford. Released in February 1977 with the movie Rocky, the song became part of American popular culture after main character Rocky Balboa as part of his daily training regimen runs up the 72 stone steps leading to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia and raises his arms in a victory pose, while the song plays. (Source: Wikipedia)
ART OF THE WEEK
Giant Horse Statue
Here is a photo of the famous large horse at Meijer’s Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI. If you are ever in the Grand Rapids area, I urge you to visit these extraordinary gardens.
I probably should not have, but as you can see in the above photo the horse almost stepped on me. So I tamed it.
EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE
Arnold Schwarzenegger
If you want to know that you are in a serious gym, there should be at least one photo of Arnold on the wall.
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) began weight training at the age of 15. He won the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times. Schwarzenegger has remained a prominent presence in bodybuilding and has written many books and articles on the sport. He is widely considered to be among the greatest bodybuilders of all times as well as its biggest icon. (Source: Wikipedia)
THIS WEEK’S JOKE
BLOG
Thanks to Judith, Kathy & Carol,for commenting on last week’s post. Comments are so encouraging, I urge you to let me know what you are thinking via a blog comment.
Thank you Abbie & Lori for bringing my total number of blog followers to 62.
My Harmony Books & Films Facebook page likes remains at 65.
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 Scot, Kim, Cheryl, Debbie,Carol & Marilyn,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.
This Wednesday’s Powerball drawing is now up to $1.3 billion, so I thought I would present something that shows you how to read your Powerball ticket.
SELF-HELP BOOKS
Compelling People
by John Neffinger & Matthew Kohut
In your quest to become extraordinary, it will be beneficial if you understand personal magnetism. Compelling People provides a lot of information about what makes a person engaging and what makes a person forgettable. This is information you can use to assess yourself and eliminate any of your traits that may be turning people off as well as develop traits that my attract people to you.
PHYSICAL TRAITS – YOUR HEALTH
I, like many of you, made a New Years resolution to lose weight this year. You just have to look around many places in the USA to see people are killing themselves with their food choices. Two of the worse food choices are white flour and sugar.
Many of us when setting a weight goal, turn to height weight charts, so I thought I would provide you some information on how to interpert these charts.
SOCIAL TRAITS
In my book under Social Traits, in Chapter 30, I stress that there is never anything to be gained from arguing with someone. Many arguments are simply over opinions and people have all sorts of opinions and they are entitled to those opinions, even if mistaken. Perhaps, the following will help you remember that.
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK
Chapter 18 of my book talks about detachment to both objects and relationships. The C. S. Lewis quote below illustrates the point I was making.
MOVIE OF THE WEEK
POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Some of my friends who knew me in my younger days used to say I sold out when I went to work for a large corporation. I replied, “Yes, but I got a good price.” I think you will get a kick out of this film about selling out or is it buying in?
POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (commonly shortened to The Greatest Movie Ever Sold) is a 2011 documentary film about product placement, marketing and advertising directed by Morgan Spurlock. The premise behind the production is that the documentary itself would be entirely paid for by sponsors, thus being a form of metafilm. The film’s slogan is “He’s not selling out, he’s buying in”. (Source: Wikipedia)
LAST WEEK’S POLL – 2016
The vast majority of you (84%) believe 2016 will be a better year than 2015.
A much smaller number of you (11%) believe 2016 will be about the same as last year.
And an even smaller number of you (5%) believe 2016 will be worse than 2015.
THIS WEEK POLL – Powerball
I came up with 1.3 billion reasons to make Powerball the subject of this week’s poll.
SONG OF THE WEEK
Let’s Dancing by David Bowie
In recognition of the recent passing of David Bowie.
I conducted a poll of last week’s painting and 72% of you initially saw a young woman, whereas, 28% of you initially saw an old woman. Hopefully, eventually you saw both women in that picture. I hope this little exercise helps you appreciate that two people can view the identical thing or situation and yet come away with completely opposite understandings of what they just viewed.
I’ve often heard it said, that we see things not as they are, but as we are.
The Red Model by Rene Magritte
The uncanny affinity between the feet and the shoes drives our curiosity and undermines our habitual conceptual polarity: feet/shoe, human/non-human, civilization/wilderness, inside/outside. If you want to know more, check out:
Bust of Marcus Aurelius in the Musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse
Marcus Aurelius (26 April 121 – 17 March 180 AD) was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. He was the last of the Five Good Emperors, and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers.
Marcus Aurelius’ Stoic tome Meditations, written in Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration. (Source: Wikipedia)
THIS WEEK’S JOKE
I am using the following joke as an introduction to a more serious discussion of stereotypes:
In heaven, the lovers are French, the cops are British, the food is Italian, the cars are German, and the whole thing is run by the swiss
In hell, the lovers are Swiss, the cops are German, the food is British, the cars are French, and the whole thing is run by the Italians.
The definition of a stereotype that I like best is that of a vastly oversimplified image or idea about something. One needs to exhibit a great amount of caution when it comes to any stereotyping as the following so elegantly demonstrates:
BLOG
I always appreciate those that leave comments on my weekly posts, since it encourages me to continue these posts. This week I am thanking Tania, Terri, Carole & John for leaving a comment. Leaving a comment is easy, just click on “Leave A Comment”, which is immediately below the title of this week’s post. And if instead of seeing “Leave A Comment”, you see “# Comments”, just click on that and scroll down to leave your comment. I really hope more of you start leaving comments as it could lead to some insightful discussions.
If you think this blog has any merit, please pass it on to your friends, as well as liking my Facebook page.
MY BOOK
If you have any interest in changing your life for helping someone else change their life, please consider my book.
Again, for those of you into reading books on a Kindle, I reduced the price of the Kindle version of my book down to $4.95.
My book can be purchased on-line from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million. It is also available in a ebook format. And if you have read my book, please leave an evaluation of it on Amazon. Thank you.
Harmony Books & Films, LLC 