Well it looks like Florida is the odd state out.
http://www.thirdage.com/news/snow-49-states-snow-covers-all-states-florida_1-12-2011
And really...even Hawaii? Come on Mother Naure. I've seen the hot chicks that live in that place. Why would you do anything to make them want to cover up those hot babes!!!
"When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail." - Pearl S. Buck
"The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out." - James Baldwin
About me.....
- Dragonheart
- I'm a dreamer and perhaps too much of an eternal optimist. I always try to look at the glass as half full. Defiant and ferocious towards those who would seek to unjustly harm others, I speak my mind...for better or worse. Where as some view compassion as a weakness I view it as a strength. I try not to live in the shadows of my regrets because doing so dims the light and the promise of a new day. I do not strive for perfection for this is the quest of fools and denies a man the blessings of humility. The bonds of true friendship and family are to be protected...sometimes by the cunning, stealth, and tenaciousness of a mouse but other times by the wrath and fury of the dragon. I am one and yet I am both. This is my truth.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Ted Williams...a story of faith, perserverance, and compassion
I saw this story while at my gym and I felt compelled to share it on my blog as well as post some links to it. Having done my charity outreach to the local homeless shelter I saw first hand the misery on the faces of the people seeking assistance. It's good to see that sometimes a person can hit rock bottom but with some faith, a little help, and simple human decency they can accomplish great things.
Ted Williams (born September 22, 1957) is an American voice-over artist based in Columbus, Ohio who became known when a brief interview with him while he was homeless was posted to YouTube, quickly becoming a viral video sensation in early January 2011.He has been called the "Homeless Man with the Golden Voice". The original video posting (first posted on the Columbus Dispatch website) has been removed as a result of copyright protection violation, though numerous copies of the video still exist on different user channels.The original video had over 13 million views in its first three days before it was taken down.
Williams was born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. According to his mother, his father named him after the all-star baseball player of the same name who was his favorite player at the time. He is a father to nine children: seven girls and two boys.Williams served three years in the United States Army, was honorably discharged, and attended school for voice acting.His inspiration to become a radio announcer came from a field trip at age 14, when he found that a radio announcer who he had heard looked nothing like he had imagined. Williams had experience as a radio disc jockey before. He worked some overnight shifts for WVKO (AM) in Columbus when the station played soul music.Williams stated that around 1993, cocaine, crackand alcohol abuse complicated his career and led to his then-current state of homelessness. He says he has been clean and sober since mid-2008.
A video was recorded in Columbus, Ohio at the Hudson Street off-ramp of Interstate 71 (40°00′54″N 82°59′42″W / 40.015063°N 82.994941°W), and posted at the Columbus Dispatch's website on January 3, 2011 by Doral Chenoweth, a videographer for the paper.[11][12] It was reposted to YouTube, and within one day it had been viewed millions of times Williams' story also garnered a large following on the social news websites, with many users pledging donations of money, clothes, and job offers.On January 5, 2011, Williams appeared on the "Dave and Jimmy Show" on WNCI and was interviewed (since clean shaven and hair cut) by The Early Show on CBS. He was interviewed on Today, January 6, doing the lead-in voice over, revealing that he was to have an interview to do voice overs for Kraft Foods.
On January 5, 2011, Williams attempted to fly to New York to reunite with his 90-year old (92 year old according to other news sources) mother.However, TSA did not allow him to do so since Williams lacked the proper identification material required to enter an aircraft. Williams eventually did arrive at the airport in New York, but according to some reports, was escorted away from the media, whom his mother was among. Williams, through the intervention of Today and The Early Show, was able to reunite with his mother the following day.
Since his story hit news, he has been offered several jobs.
On January 5, the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA basketball team offered him a job and a house. The offer calls for Williams to do full-time voiceover work with the Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena. Williams responded, "That’s the best deal ever!"
Also on January 7, Williams was officially hired by MSNBC to provide voiceovers for the network.Williams was also hired to be the voice behind Kraft Foods' new TV campaign due to launch January 9 during the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on ESPN.
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Alot of what RLSH and costumed activists do is provide assistance to the homeless. Thanatos is nothing short of an iconic figure in the ranks of the RLSH when it comes to this, serving as a prime example of those who lend a much needed hand to those in dire need of it. Reading the story of Ted Williams I am encouraged by the acts of charity, by those reaching out ot help him rebuild a life that was destroyed by the demons of alcoholism & drug use that sent him spiraling into despair. I can't imagine how many people passed him by with their cars on the day they filmed him but because of a chance encounter with him by someone in the broadcasting industry and a gut feeling that made that person want to film Mr. Williams, Ted now finds himself on the cusp of rebuilding his life one moment at a time. No one except Ted can really know where his life will take him from this point on - in many ways fate has just reached out and grabbed him, lifted him up off theground, dusted off his pants and said "Here's your shot my friend. Here's your second chance. Don't blow it." But this opportunity would never have happened if he would have been ignored, cast away into the sea of homeless that more often than not are silenced by the sometimes apathetic nature of human society. Instead SOMEONE took the time to care, to spotlight Teds situation and as fate would have it, the dominoes tumbled in his favor. RLSH/costumed activists help fill a niche like those of the guy who filmed Ted and got the whole ball rolling. Though the RLSH may never create the kind of publicity to help someone on the level that Ted Williams recieved assistance, the point is the assistance RLSH/costumed activists provide at the very least a small respite to the suffering of he homeless and much like the Ted Williams situation, a simple act of random kindness can lead to amazing things. Faith, perserverance, and compassion have turned the life of Ted Williams around. Let's hope he makes the most of this opportunity.
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Now on to the "I told you.." section of my blog.
Regarding the TMZ article where the Potentate (or the Impotent One as I like to call him) talks about the
whole RLSV/RLSH thing, check out these quotes...
Potentate - "We would never cheer at the injury of an actor doing their job, but yes, we're thrilled any time the ventures of heroes and their overblown attention-seeking behavior blows up in their faces. It's a disaster, doing what heroes do best, failing spectacularly and looking ridiculous while doing so."
Update to the performers injuries:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110108/ap_on_en_ot/us_theater_spider_man_fall
"The 31-year-old suffered a fractured skull, a fractured shoulder blade, four broken ribs and three broken vertebrae during his Dec. 20 tumble.The fall that left Tierney in a back brace and with eight screws in his back happened only seven minutes before the end of the Dec. 20 performance."
And the Potentate was thirlled by this...
Now given that the actor playing Spiderman fell and got injured and the statements of the Potentate above, here's food for thought for RLSH/costumed activists - the Potentate & RLSV, by the quotes above, ENJOY the thought of knowing you might get seriously hurt in the quest to help people. Yes ladies and gentleman, the idea of each of you getting seriously maimed makes them happy. Something to think about perhaps.
And he calls RLSH/costumed activists actions "attention-seeking behavior" and yet he goes out of his way to interview himself on TMZ and plaster the article for the masses to see. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Ted Williams (born September 22, 1957) is an American voice-over artist based in Columbus, Ohio who became known when a brief interview with him while he was homeless was posted to YouTube, quickly becoming a viral video sensation in early January 2011.He has been called the "Homeless Man with the Golden Voice". The original video posting (first posted on the Columbus Dispatch website) has been removed as a result of copyright protection violation, though numerous copies of the video still exist on different user channels.The original video had over 13 million views in its first three days before it was taken down.
Williams was born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. According to his mother, his father named him after the all-star baseball player of the same name who was his favorite player at the time. He is a father to nine children: seven girls and two boys.Williams served three years in the United States Army, was honorably discharged, and attended school for voice acting.His inspiration to become a radio announcer came from a field trip at age 14, when he found that a radio announcer who he had heard looked nothing like he had imagined. Williams had experience as a radio disc jockey before. He worked some overnight shifts for WVKO (AM) in Columbus when the station played soul music.Williams stated that around 1993, cocaine, crackand alcohol abuse complicated his career and led to his then-current state of homelessness. He says he has been clean and sober since mid-2008.
A video was recorded in Columbus, Ohio at the Hudson Street off-ramp of Interstate 71 (40°00′54″N 82°59′42″W / 40.015063°N 82.994941°W), and posted at the Columbus Dispatch's website on January 3, 2011 by Doral Chenoweth, a videographer for the paper.[11][12] It was reposted to YouTube, and within one day it had been viewed millions of times Williams' story also garnered a large following on the social news websites, with many users pledging donations of money, clothes, and job offers.On January 5, 2011, Williams appeared on the "Dave and Jimmy Show" on WNCI and was interviewed (since clean shaven and hair cut) by The Early Show on CBS. He was interviewed on Today, January 6, doing the lead-in voice over, revealing that he was to have an interview to do voice overs for Kraft Foods.
On January 5, 2011, Williams attempted to fly to New York to reunite with his 90-year old (92 year old according to other news sources) mother.However, TSA did not allow him to do so since Williams lacked the proper identification material required to enter an aircraft. Williams eventually did arrive at the airport in New York, but according to some reports, was escorted away from the media, whom his mother was among. Williams, through the intervention of Today and The Early Show, was able to reunite with his mother the following day.
Since his story hit news, he has been offered several jobs.
On January 5, the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA basketball team offered him a job and a house. The offer calls for Williams to do full-time voiceover work with the Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena. Williams responded, "That’s the best deal ever!"
Also on January 7, Williams was officially hired by MSNBC to provide voiceovers for the network.Williams was also hired to be the voice behind Kraft Foods' new TV campaign due to launch January 9 during the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on ESPN.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alot of what RLSH and costumed activists do is provide assistance to the homeless. Thanatos is nothing short of an iconic figure in the ranks of the RLSH when it comes to this, serving as a prime example of those who lend a much needed hand to those in dire need of it. Reading the story of Ted Williams I am encouraged by the acts of charity, by those reaching out ot help him rebuild a life that was destroyed by the demons of alcoholism & drug use that sent him spiraling into despair. I can't imagine how many people passed him by with their cars on the day they filmed him but because of a chance encounter with him by someone in the broadcasting industry and a gut feeling that made that person want to film Mr. Williams, Ted now finds himself on the cusp of rebuilding his life one moment at a time. No one except Ted can really know where his life will take him from this point on - in many ways fate has just reached out and grabbed him, lifted him up off theground, dusted off his pants and said "Here's your shot my friend. Here's your second chance. Don't blow it." But this opportunity would never have happened if he would have been ignored, cast away into the sea of homeless that more often than not are silenced by the sometimes apathetic nature of human society. Instead SOMEONE took the time to care, to spotlight Teds situation and as fate would have it, the dominoes tumbled in his favor. RLSH/costumed activists help fill a niche like those of the guy who filmed Ted and got the whole ball rolling. Though the RLSH may never create the kind of publicity to help someone on the level that Ted Williams recieved assistance, the point is the assistance RLSH/costumed activists provide at the very least a small respite to the suffering of he homeless and much like the Ted Williams situation, a simple act of random kindness can lead to amazing things. Faith, perserverance, and compassion have turned the life of Ted Williams around. Let's hope he makes the most of this opportunity.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now on to the "I told you.." section of my blog.
Regarding the TMZ article where the Potentate (or the Impotent One as I like to call him) talks about the
whole RLSV/RLSH thing, check out these quotes...
Potentate - "We would never cheer at the injury of an actor doing their job, but yes, we're thrilled any time the ventures of heroes and their overblown attention-seeking behavior blows up in their faces. It's a disaster, doing what heroes do best, failing spectacularly and looking ridiculous while doing so."
Update to the performers injuries:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110108/ap_on_en_ot/us_theater_spider_man_fall
"The 31-year-old suffered a fractured skull, a fractured shoulder blade, four broken ribs and three broken vertebrae during his Dec. 20 tumble.The fall that left Tierney in a back brace and with eight screws in his back happened only seven minutes before the end of the Dec. 20 performance."
And the Potentate was thirlled by this...
Now given that the actor playing Spiderman fell and got injured and the statements of the Potentate above, here's food for thought for RLSH/costumed activists - the Potentate & RLSV, by the quotes above, ENJOY the thought of knowing you might get seriously hurt in the quest to help people. Yes ladies and gentleman, the idea of each of you getting seriously maimed makes them happy. Something to think about perhaps.
And he calls RLSH/costumed activists actions "attention-seeking behavior" and yet he goes out of his way to interview himself on TMZ and plaster the article for the masses to see. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
New Years Eve Charity Mission a success
It started a couple of weeks ago really. I began saving money (hard to do during Christmas & paying your property taxes on a house you own) to buy some food and some clothing to help out the homeless at a local shelter. My assistance package consisted of assorted potato chips, sandwiches, small mini-cookie bags, water bottles, and a t-shirt. In total I prepared 12 of these and anything left over would be given to the shelter seperately. Here's how it went down.
December 30th: I went to my wifes job to pick up my paycheck from direct deposit. After doing the math as to what would go where I passed by a Winn Dixie which was about 2 minutes away. I bought what I needed and came home. The T-shirts were taken care of already so the only thing I needed to cover was the food.
December 31st: I woke up early and started putting together the charity packages. My wife jumped in to help out (I am blessed by God to have a wife who is supportive of what I do even if she thinks it's a bit odd sometimes) and even my kids, ages 6 and 3 put in a helping hand (hmmm...could this be the start of their costumed activist training?) All in all it took us about 45 minutes to put everything together. A word of advise to any parents reading this - if you have small children never let them sit at a computer and fiddle around it for too long. Apparently my son or daughter screwed up some of my computer settings so I had to take some time to try and correct this. I didn't get all of them taken care of but I've got more friends in IT than I have fingers on my hands so I'm not worried.
My drive to the homeless shelter took about 15 minutes. I was dressed in a toned down version of my uniform - I just felt it was more appropriate this way (and no, this does not mean I am against patrolling or doing charity work in uniform/costume). My personal choice is to do presentations and panels for kids in full garb but that's just me. When I arrived at the place where I thought it would be I was surprised to see that it was no longer there - apparently they had moved. I took out my cell phone and punched in the name of the shelter to get an address, which it did...except it gave me the old address. A few minutes later I saw a homeless person walking around and I stopped honked my horn at him. Slightly rolling down the windows I asked him if he knew where they had moved the homeless shelter to and he gave me the direction. He offered to take me there if I wanted but I respectfully declined - intentions of charity are no excuse for being naive or placing myself in unnecessary danger. Extreme need sometimes makes people do terrible things. However, I reached into my backseat and gave him one of my charity packs and thanks him for his assistance.
Arriving at the homeless shelter was a sight that I had seen before but anyone who tells you they can get used to seeing human suffering without flinching needs a reality check. I drove slowly so that I could get a good look at the place - I had never been here before since they had moved the location. There were alot of people sitting on the side walk against a fence, small bundles of essentially everything they owned at their sides or on their backs. Some of them roamed the sidewalks listlessly and one of them was sprawled asleep on the sidewalk with only a bundle of old newspapers as a pillow. I surveyed my surroundings and then walked up to one of the homeless and asked him where I had to go to do the drop offs or the handouts. He directed me to metal grate door which was surrounded by homeless. I knocked on the door and they asked me what I wanted to which I responded "I have some supplies to drop off." The guy opened the door and asked me if I needed a cart or something to help carry it in and I told him I did. I walked with one of the employees at the shelter, himself apparently also a homeless person who was assisting the shelter, to my car and began explaining what I had for them. Another man came out with some paper work for me to fill out (since charitable donations are tax deductible) and we got to talking about the homeless shelter situation, how it had moved, why it moved, and about volunteer work. It seems the shelter moved because it needed more space, a sad reality in these hard times when so many people are struggling on a daily basis. I also asked him it I could hand out the stuff I had left over that were not individually bundled in charity packages and he told me that while I could do that that it was not the wisest thing to do. He was very clear that if I did that they could not gaurantee my safety and that I would probably get mobbed upon. Hearing him say this merely reinforced the harsh reality that these poor people had to deal with and putting myself in a position where I could potentially get hurt by the power of desperation would not do me or the people I was trying to help any good. I signed the paperwork, shook their hands and thanked them for helping me out andf they thanked me for the donations. I also gave them consent to go on their news letter so that I could get updates on the status of the shelter and anything they needed or were planning.
Overall the experience was enlightening, albeit with a sense of sadness about it. I had hoped to hand out the charity packages first hand but now I understand how foolhardy that would have been. Walking around by myself with two bags of stuff in a bad part of downtown might have gone terribly awry. Seeing so many people with so little makes me feel very silly when I lament on my own misfortunes - the old saying holds true, as bad as things may be going for us at times for alot of people out there who have it alot worse. Seeing so many people with such desperate need also makes me understand that what I am doing is important and that my detractors or those that ridicule me are pathetic at best. With so many problems in the world they choose to waste valuable time and creative energy by targetting and harrassing a miniscule percentage of the population like RLSH and costumed activists because we choose to think outside the box when it comes to helping people. These misguided actions add nothing to the world but rather take from it - every person they discourage to quit helping people or turn away from starting to is a wound upon the hopes of a better future. One would think that sooner or later they would figure out that they're wasting their time but I don't think they ever will and I don't think they fully understand thge harm they inflict with their actions.
Looking towards the future I hope to do more things like this again and probably even volunteer within the shelter itself. I am encouraged by the support I have gotten from my friends and family about this and unfazed by the ridicule of the hopelessly unenlightened.
December 30th: I went to my wifes job to pick up my paycheck from direct deposit. After doing the math as to what would go where I passed by a Winn Dixie which was about 2 minutes away. I bought what I needed and came home. The T-shirts were taken care of already so the only thing I needed to cover was the food.
December 31st: I woke up early and started putting together the charity packages. My wife jumped in to help out (I am blessed by God to have a wife who is supportive of what I do even if she thinks it's a bit odd sometimes) and even my kids, ages 6 and 3 put in a helping hand (hmmm...could this be the start of their costumed activist training?) All in all it took us about 45 minutes to put everything together. A word of advise to any parents reading this - if you have small children never let them sit at a computer and fiddle around it for too long. Apparently my son or daughter screwed up some of my computer settings so I had to take some time to try and correct this. I didn't get all of them taken care of but I've got more friends in IT than I have fingers on my hands so I'm not worried.
My drive to the homeless shelter took about 15 minutes. I was dressed in a toned down version of my uniform - I just felt it was more appropriate this way (and no, this does not mean I am against patrolling or doing charity work in uniform/costume). My personal choice is to do presentations and panels for kids in full garb but that's just me. When I arrived at the place where I thought it would be I was surprised to see that it was no longer there - apparently they had moved. I took out my cell phone and punched in the name of the shelter to get an address, which it did...except it gave me the old address. A few minutes later I saw a homeless person walking around and I stopped honked my horn at him. Slightly rolling down the windows I asked him if he knew where they had moved the homeless shelter to and he gave me the direction. He offered to take me there if I wanted but I respectfully declined - intentions of charity are no excuse for being naive or placing myself in unnecessary danger. Extreme need sometimes makes people do terrible things. However, I reached into my backseat and gave him one of my charity packs and thanks him for his assistance.
Arriving at the homeless shelter was a sight that I had seen before but anyone who tells you they can get used to seeing human suffering without flinching needs a reality check. I drove slowly so that I could get a good look at the place - I had never been here before since they had moved the location. There were alot of people sitting on the side walk against a fence, small bundles of essentially everything they owned at their sides or on their backs. Some of them roamed the sidewalks listlessly and one of them was sprawled asleep on the sidewalk with only a bundle of old newspapers as a pillow. I surveyed my surroundings and then walked up to one of the homeless and asked him where I had to go to do the drop offs or the handouts. He directed me to metal grate door which was surrounded by homeless. I knocked on the door and they asked me what I wanted to which I responded "I have some supplies to drop off." The guy opened the door and asked me if I needed a cart or something to help carry it in and I told him I did. I walked with one of the employees at the shelter, himself apparently also a homeless person who was assisting the shelter, to my car and began explaining what I had for them. Another man came out with some paper work for me to fill out (since charitable donations are tax deductible) and we got to talking about the homeless shelter situation, how it had moved, why it moved, and about volunteer work. It seems the shelter moved because it needed more space, a sad reality in these hard times when so many people are struggling on a daily basis. I also asked him it I could hand out the stuff I had left over that were not individually bundled in charity packages and he told me that while I could do that that it was not the wisest thing to do. He was very clear that if I did that they could not gaurantee my safety and that I would probably get mobbed upon. Hearing him say this merely reinforced the harsh reality that these poor people had to deal with and putting myself in a position where I could potentially get hurt by the power of desperation would not do me or the people I was trying to help any good. I signed the paperwork, shook their hands and thanked them for helping me out andf they thanked me for the donations. I also gave them consent to go on their news letter so that I could get updates on the status of the shelter and anything they needed or were planning.
Overall the experience was enlightening, albeit with a sense of sadness about it. I had hoped to hand out the charity packages first hand but now I understand how foolhardy that would have been. Walking around by myself with two bags of stuff in a bad part of downtown might have gone terribly awry. Seeing so many people with so little makes me feel very silly when I lament on my own misfortunes - the old saying holds true, as bad as things may be going for us at times for alot of people out there who have it alot worse. Seeing so many people with such desperate need also makes me understand that what I am doing is important and that my detractors or those that ridicule me are pathetic at best. With so many problems in the world they choose to waste valuable time and creative energy by targetting and harrassing a miniscule percentage of the population like RLSH and costumed activists because we choose to think outside the box when it comes to helping people. These misguided actions add nothing to the world but rather take from it - every person they discourage to quit helping people or turn away from starting to is a wound upon the hopes of a better future. One would think that sooner or later they would figure out that they're wasting their time but I don't think they ever will and I don't think they fully understand thge harm they inflict with their actions.
Looking towards the future I hope to do more things like this again and probably even volunteer within the shelter itself. I am encouraged by the support I have gotten from my friends and family about this and unfazed by the ridicule of the hopelessly unenlightened.
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