Hand Painted Crab Shells

Yes it is definately the end of the world........no doubt about it......lots of stuff has been happening............in one week's time I have had the pleasure of experiencing my first "substantial" earthquake and Hurricane Irene.........and I still managed to get myself down to the Northpoint Plaza Flea Market and hawk my hand painted crab shell ornaments. Imagine that.

First, I again apologize for my lack of posting here on the blog.......I have been very busy.......really.........no kidding..........I have been helping my daughter, Miss Moneypenny, with various assorted things just about every day........grandfatherly type chores....housesitting.....kidsitting......and while at her house I have been busy also with prepping these crab shells so I can sell them. Lot's of work and my time has been consumed in biblical proportions.

Okay......so the weekdays are booked solid........and that leaves me with Saturdays and Sundays to hawk my wares at the flea market. What I sell is not really a flea market item..........it is a craft item.......art..........and not a dollar item. These pieces of art are made by me and for the most part, are unique and some are even one of a kind. I put alot of effort and time into making the ornaments and I have established a spot at the flea market to make them available to anyone who wants one.....or two........or even three.....four...or five of them.

Business has started out really slow.......some days I hadn't even sold one.......but determination is embedded in me and I stand my ground and plant my seeds..........in time, hopefully soon, it will all be worthwhile. Timing is everything.........right? Leave it to me to start a business venture when the economy has tanked and people can barely have enough money to buy the things they actually need. And leave it to me that I decided to manufacture something that is, at best, a novelty and not a necessity.

Painted crab shells!

One month into this venture and things are picking up and word is getting out. More and more customers with each weekend that comes. Oddly, my busiest day so far, was during the hurricane.....go figure.

The Maryland flag.......Natty Boh........

It's a Maryland thing folks...........the Maryland State flower is the Black Eyed Susan.

The Baltimore Ravens!..........every man cave should have one.

And yes, I paint them.........and you can watch me do it at the flea market.

I get special requests sometimes........"Can you make 'em wit da Harley logo on it?"
Yes I can.........but I haven't...........that is...........yet.

Each crab shell gets cleaned thoroughly, disinfected, and primed before painting.

This is one of my latest original creations and perfect for Christmas. While some folks might think that these painted crab shells are just used as a Christmas ornament........this is not the case. You can display them anywhere in your home or office throughout the year.

It's a Maryland thing! And nothing says it better than a painted crab shell.

If you are interested in purchasing a hand painted crab shell, come visit me at the Northpoint Plaza Flea Market in Baltimore County, MD. I am there every Sunday from 7 AM to 4 PM and most Saturdays as well. Occasionally, I may have to be set up at some other venue on Saturdays.

Price?.........well, that all depends.......but I can tell you that my prices are better than than what is generally found on the internet. Quality?.......the shells speak for themselves......tell me what you think.

I plan on making these available here on the internet very soon.........but one thing at a time......I am overwhelmed at the moment.

Still Kickin'

Time has a way of sneaking up on you. Worse yet........because time has a way of sneaking up on you, you might not realize that your health also can be declining in the process without you really noticing........that is, until you feel like death warmed over. That pretty much sums it up for me lately. Time has been flying by........no stunner there.......and in the past year I have been feeling terrible........worse and worse........tired.....wasted......in a funk........and it had gotten worse and worse and ultimately bad enough that I went to a hospital emergency room to get checked out. Being a person with coronary heart disease, I had to get the heart checked out.......just in case this was a precursor to a heart attack. I was feeling like I had been poisoned......deathly ill......the feeling of impending doom.......I had no explanation for it.

The doctors admitted me to the hospital for some testing and observation. The blood tests all came back good. Urine test......good. EKG.........perfect. Blood pressure......good. Heart rate?...........well...........it was 40..........and for me....that is way too low. They performed a nuclear stress test on me.......I survived it and the results showed nothing alarming. Such a mystery. The cardiologist informed me that he felt that it was not necessary at this time to do an angioplasty....why take the risk?..........and that he thought that one of two things (or both) could be the problem. Could be some sort of virus that will have to run its course on its own........or I am overmedicated. Overmedicated!.........that could explain everything...........about 7 months or more ago, my regular doctor had increased (doubled) my dosage of Metoprolol. The cardiologist at the hospital decided to decrease by half the Metoprolol and the Altace that I take. So there I am.........It has been two days and so far I haven't felt deathly ill........maybe a little tired still........and not as out of breath. Time will tell.....but I think the problem is solved.

More about my hospital stay at the end of this post.



And now for some more dopplegangers:

Remember singer Eddie Money?

For some reason he looks exactly like Suzanne Roberts, the host of a short public interest show on Comcast.


And Orioles owner Peter Angelos.........

.......looks awfully familar to me!........

Yep........looks like Peter.


If you have watched Fox News then you most likely have seen Charles Krauthammer.

Every time I see Charles Krauthammer I think of ..........

.........Madame!............yes indeedy..........

And more Fox News........
You have seen Alan Colmes before............


.........thats right........Alan Colmes used to be the Gatekeeper!


Orioles again............manager Buck Showalter.......


..........looks exactly like actor Sam Neill from Jurassic Park.


Okay....enough of that stuff........

Back to the hospital......

Tests......monitors........IV's..........stabbed in the arms four times............not particularly a comfortable experience..........but the ultimate insult to injury is what occurs right before leaving the hospital.......

As it was......for whatever reason in the 24 hours I was in the hospital........I ended up with no less than SIXTEEN of those round sticky wire connectors stuck to my chest..........a set for the heart monitor........a set for the EKG in the ER.......and yet another set used during the stress test........and it was left for me to remove............and the problem was.......I have hair on my chest.

Jesus God Almighty!




My son almost shit himself laughing as he watched me yank each of the sixteen torture pads. I yelled and winced and hollered and nearly shit my own self silly.

So I ask........is this really a good way to release a heart patient from the hospital?

Brathanki

Okay.....okay........what is Brathanki?

Well.......Brathanki is the name of a Polish band. For some reason I have become smitten with this group. The music is unusual......a combination of traditional Polish folk, rock, pop, and all sorts of stuff blended together into a complex earful of talented musicians. A while back, I was wondering about Poland and what they might be listening to on the radio........and this is when I discovered Brathanki. The group has, over the past few years, gone through some changes. The original female singer sought a solo career and they replaced her with two female singers for a while. Since then, they have replaced those two with another lone female singer.

Such changes in lead vocals in any band in the rest of the world would lead to the demise of a group. In Poland, it is almost a tradition it seems. The band Varius Manx has gone through several changes of lead female vocalists and yet has found success with each and every one of them.

So why do I bother mentioning Brathanki here? Well, first, I really enjoy their music......I cannot explain why........it simply strikes a chord with me. And since that is the case, I enjoy sharing good things with those who otherwise might never find themselves with the occasion to even hear such stuff. Therefore, I am providing a few videos of Brathanki from a "live" Polish TV program. These are not recent and show the band with their original lead vocalist. And yes.......it is all sung in Polish and I generally have no idea what it is that they are singing about. For me, it is not about the words anyway......it is all about the delivery......and this group delivers well.

Furthermore, it is also a week following the celebration of two birthdays over the weekend for two people very near and dear to me. My "little" sister EBCBEBR and my granddaughter Princess Fartknocker are both a year older now..........Happy Birthday! This is for them as I know they both will enjoy and appreciate it. Now if I can get EBCBEBR to play the flute as fast as in one of the videos.....well...........yes......she is a flutist(sp?).....hehehe.

So here you go.......please watch these videos and hopefully you will be smitten too.

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What In Hell Is Going On?

I suppose I won't actually be finding out the answer to that question this year............The town of Hell is located on Grand Cayman Island.........and we originally had plans to vacation there later this year but had to cancel those plans for various assorted reasons.......one of which is that life has generally become hellish in its own right. Oh well........stuff happens, doesn't it? Good and bad........take it as it comes.......avoid the bad if possible.....enjoy the good whenever.......and go to Hell some other time.......hehehe.

I would apologize to everyone for being on such a long hiatus away from writing on this blog.......but.........it is not like I really need to write on a blog at all. The only exception being that there are some people that seem to stay tuned and long for my next offerings......so for them, I DO apologize for not getting out of my funk and writing.

Alot of stuff has been going on..........way too much to write about. I had all sorts of plans for things to do and lately I have had trouble getting started on any one of them. It's a funk that I am in. It seems that when I am on the edge of starting something, something else rears it's ugly head and diverts my attention away.........hehehe.......same old, same old. Isn't it odd that it is always such that I can help others yet cannot seem to be able to help my own self? Oh well......it has been that way for many, many years now.

I toyed around with the idea to make videos for the blog......especially videos where I would offer up some of my classic parodies and phone calls about Jehovah's Witnesses. While I still harbor a spot in my brain to offer such in the future, here and there, I must say that whenever one messes with the devil and it's evil realm it has a way of fighting back and attacking you in assorted ways. It is risky business. No, I have no fear of the evil, I just like to avoid it if possible. So stay tuned.....you never know when I will get ticked enough to tackle the devil again here.

Here's hoping that everyone enjoyed celebrating their mothers on Mother's Day.

So Bin Laden is supposedly dead........hmmmmmm......okay........Have you noticed the mad scramble to decide who the new boogeyman is? For such a "leader" of "his people", Bin Laden lived in squalor. What happened to all of his money? Obviously he lived in alot of fear......and that's a good thing. I am sure we do not know all there is to know about it but he was hardly the terrorist leader that the powers that be made him out to be.


Here's a doppleganger for you:

Mike Rogers........a politician from Minnesota.......

.......looks suspiciously like.......

........ Meat Loaf!


Hopefully, Obama is a one-termer. I didn't vote for him and surely won't vote for him this next election either. As a matter of fact, I like the idea that we all should vote for people that are not career politicians. For that reason, it looks like I will be voting for Donald Trump for President.........that is if he decides to run. If he doesn't.......well.......maybe Herman Cain.

By the way, I once wrote about the following picture, here on this blog......and I feel compelled to mention it again. The following picture is from an advertisement in 1979. For some reason, Pakistan Air thought it was a good idea to display the World Trade Center with the shadow of a jet airliner. Either this was an omen that nobody noticed or Pakistan has been trying to tell us all something.

Hmmmmmm..........Bin Laden hides in Pakistan for at least six years........hmmmm...........and the U.S. gives Pakistan how much aid money every year?.........hmmmmmm..........I think it is time to to cut off Pakistan. Pakistan is not our friend at all......apparently.

Let's put it this way........if your neighbor supports a person that sets fire to your barn, would you give him money every year to pay his rent?

George Bush actually said it right........you are either with us or against us. He tried to tell us that the harboring and financing of terrorist puts a country on our shit list. It is time to shit on Pakistan.


Stay tuned.

Related articles

• Pakistan refusing to let US talk to bin Laden's wives (americablog.com)
• Boogeyman dead - NY discusses Bin Laden's demise (rt.com)
• Kingdom Hall Phone Calls (endoftheworld-signtopia.blogspot.com)
• Cayman: A Photographic Journey Through The Islands (bootsnall.com)

Kingdom Hall Phone Calls

For some reason it has been a somewhat rough few weeks. I should not complain.
One of my pals has suffered a stroke and is hospitalized..........he is doing pretty good.....considering. Times are getting tougher.......prices rising........lots of turmoil around the world......wars.....quakes.....unrest.......I had a wicked bout of the flu.......days where nothing seems to go right.............aggravation........weather...........need I say more?

I decided to have a little fun here by revisiting the past.

Several years ago I was involved in lots of religious discussions online........so much that I actually hosted a live chat room on the internet where I bantered back and forth with many people of all walks of life......and from all over the world. It was very interesting and I found it to be entertaining as well. It was a good way to waste time.

For some reason the primary focus was on the Jehovah's Witnesses and what they believe or do not believe. Everybody knows that they do the door-to-door thing........but I had discovered that they were also infiltrating the internet......preying on unsuspecting victims. I must say that while there were some very nice Witnesses online they were overshadowed by a high number of vicious venominous Jehovah's Witnesses and their so-called apologetics. The folks at the door would never dare to act as these did online. Nevertheless, there were many major debates over many specific beliefs and teachings. The world online was full of extremely knowledgeable people and students of ancient languages who each would offer up a pissing contest dissecting contexts and ancient words that have long been forgotten. It was amazing at how many self-professed experts in Koine Greek there were......and how scandalous and overbearing many of the participants became over a period of time.

Regarding Jehovah's Witnesses, the problem was that they were all admonished to beware of the internet and for all intents and purposes stay off of the internet and stay out of chat rooms and not mingle with potential "apostates". Of course, some of them would deny such orders just as some still deny that their organization touted that armageddon would occur in 1975. You know the deal.......they said things and yet they didn't say things.....but some heard what they said and believed it dearly. Today they hear things and go as far as to pretend they were never told or taught such.........lying as if they cornered the market on it. This kind of thing makes for alot of arguments......many of which get extremely heated.

A JW would say what he will online and if you asked a JW at your door about what the JW online said......well......they would say stuff like "you can't trust someone online" or "he's probably not in good standing" or "was disfellowshipped". I once asked a JW at my door if there are any real Jehovah's Witnesses online and I was told "No" that they stay away from it. Go figure.

Because of the dilemma between having JWs online and JWs at the door......I figured that I could come up with a way to let Jehovah's Witnesses expose themselves in a way that nobody would doubt the truth of the discussions. Often, I had been called all sorts of names....apostate.....evil.......the devil.......you name it, I have been called it online.......and I often got called a liar. I would get sent private emails where the message was "how come you know so much about us?". I never got an email that said "everything you say about us is wrong".....yet publically I would be castigated and derided for everything I said or did. There was the ultimate way around all of this. Instead of the online JWs attacking me personally and calling me a liar, they would have to attack their own bonafide JWs in the Kingdom Halls for revealing the truth about their beliefs.

It was easy for the online JWs to deny that they are taught to believe that Jesus is the fallen angel of the abyss...........if I said that's what they believe.........BUT they have a hard time denying their "brothers" who confirm such teachings with their own mouths. I merely provided the avenue for such to happem.

I started making phone calls to various Kingdom Hall across the United States and did it LIVE! in the chat room where everyone could hear. Needless to say......the online JWs were not very happy about it.

Fortunately, somebody managed to record some of these calls including calls by others. I held these recordings on the backburner for many years now and I decided that some of these calls and some of the assorted parodies that I created should be shared with the world.

I have always said regarding the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Society that "Nothing does as much harm to them than their own words." And that goes for both the written word and the spoken word.

Here is the first of what will be a series of videos. Feel free to comment about what you hear on the video.

As of this date, I have no information that Jehovah's Witnesses believe anything contrary to what is confirmed on these videos........in other words.......if they have gotten any "new light" recently......hehehe.

In this video the phone call is regarding their "Memorial" which is the only day that they celebrate anything.........unfortunately......they celebrate the DEATH of Christ! Furthermore, you will hear that is it "not advisable" for anyone to partake of the symbolic flesh and blood of Christ which is passed around at the Memorial. These "emblems" are rejected by the Witnesses.

Christians?..............

Getting Creative

I got bored and while fiddling around with my laptop computer I happened to come across the Windows Movie Maker..........so.......having never used it before, I decided to see how well it works.........and to see if I could come up with something a little creative and interesting.........well......maybe not interesting for most people but interesting for at least a few.

It was far easier than I had imagined and now my mind is coming up with all sorts of ideas. Give me some time and who knows what I can come up with.

Here is my very first video creation............

Doppelgangers

Hmmmmm........maybe you have seen yourself before......somewhere.......or maybe it was last week..........could it be?..........nahhhh........it ain't you at all..........but sometimes you have to double-take.........dang..........close..........real close. I have had several different looks..........there were the years that went by where I could have passed for Charles Manson.......and the brief time I looked like an Arab (can't explain that one)...............and there was the time several years ago when I was in a bill payment center in line waiting to pay a bill and this woman in front of me turned around and looked at me and said "Craig!". I said "I am not Craig". She insisted that I was and said "Stop fooling around, I should know Craig when I see him". So I asked her "Who is this Craig supposed to be?"........She said "You should know.....you are my ex-husband!"........imagine that.......hmmmm.......so I responded with...."I guess we all know now WHY you ain't married to Craig anymore."......hehehe.....needless to say she had nothing more to say to me.

A week or two ago, I go online and start doing my daily routine of checking my favorite websites......boortz.com.......among others.......and I check the Drudge Report for some news and lo and behold!......I see the following:

Look at the picture on the left side of the Drudge Report...........do you see what I see?

.......okay, okay......yes that woman looks like that mask from the movie "Scream"........but what caught my eye is the dude with the hat.........and NO......I have never been in Wisconsin. Hmmmmm.....I wonder if he ever gets asked if he has a blog and goes to the Caribbean often.


Speaking of doppelgangers........it doesn't always have to be one human looking like another human..........it could be that a human being resembles a thing either animated or inanimate. Sometimes it can be that a human resembles an event or even an event that is about to happen........such as what is shown in the following photograph.

This train is about to run out of tracks.......and we all know what is definitely going to happen.........that's right.......it is too late to stop and it will be going over the edge extremely soon.
Sadly, this train and its coming event has a doppelganger:


That's right.............Charlie Sheen.

Need I say more about that?

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Five Days With Signtopia Expansion Pack 2.1

I have been busy lately. The past three weeks or so have been a bit hectic, yet wonderful. First, since my last post on the blog, I have taken a trip to Tennessee for my Mom's birthday....spent four days there, then six days at home, and then off to Texas for five days.

Time flies........and so did I. Me and Supernurse flew to Texas to see our youngest grandchild and hand deliver some Nascar toys for him to play with. Not that he really needs any more toys or cars........or trains......he loves trains........but lately he has been enthralled with race cars........Nascar........zoom......zoom. Apparently his mom and dad have been unable to find any Nascar cars in Leander or the surrounding areas so they put in a request to ole Signtopia to track some down in Baltimore..........which I did..........at Ollie's. Aside from that........there was no special event or occasion to make the trip except that me and Supernurse wanted to see the rugrat play indoor soccer......his first foray into the world of competition with other rugrats.

There is no way we are gonna pass up that.

On this trip, he was a bit smitten with me. On past visits he was all about "Mom-Mom".......this time "Pop-Pop" was his focus.

Of course.............that is.......when he wasn't focusing on his cars.........hehehe.

He's a great kid and he takes the cars very seriously.

As if he was in dire need of more stuff, Supernurse goes and buys a racetrack for his cars........needless to say he was thrilled. He particularly loves it when they crash.

Supernurse was very happy and that alone makes me very happy.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that my little Noodle Girl was little. I miss the days when my kids were little........time flies by so quickly........and now she gets to experience what me and Supernurse have experienced.........and we get to visit and spoil her kid.....hehehe.

I am lucky to just be there to see moments such as this.

I spent alot of time corrupting my grandson..............you know what I mean........."brrrrt"......."what was that?"..........."A frog on a motorcycle!"........and "BRRRRRRRT!".........that was a "Monkey on a Harley".......hehehe. I spent the majority of the time tickling him and making him laugh.

I never envisioned this when I was younger..........but somehow it is as if it was all planned.

We managed to get to see him at a soccer practice during the week..........which caused me to have flashbacks to when I was the indoor soccer coach for a bunch of monsters in White Marsh.......what was I thinking.......oh well........this time I am a spectator.

And spectate we did. His real soccer game was Saturday morning at 8am.......8AM!!!!!!!!!! at the YMCA............8AM!!!!!!!.........arrrgghhhh.........this is the time when I just start to have vivid nightmares while I snore away for five hours. Oh well............no rest for the wicked.

It was great watching him chase after the ball.............along with all of the other kids at the same time..............knowing that while he was running after the ball he was making race car sounds (in his mind he was racing). Even when he stopped for a drink......it was a "pit stop".

They don't bother with the score at this age level.............which is a good thing because his team was slaughtered. Still.......after all was said and done.........both teams were winners and celebrated as such. Expansion Pack 2.1 happens to love tunnels because of his fascination with trains......so when the parents line up to make a tunnel at the end of the game, he was the first in line for it............

So what does he do after he gets through the tunnel?

He runs around everybody and inserts himself at the end of the line and goes through the tunnel again! Smart kid.........hehehe.

So that was it.......after his game we drove to the airport in Austin and headed for home.

This is what Washington DC looks like from the airplane. Supernurse slept on the plane.........me?.............no sleep for me. I listened to a podcast of the Mark Levin show on my iPod and chowed down on some nasty crackers that the stewardesses pawn off on people.

Back to the grind............we get home and Supernurse got ready for work......that's right.......she had to work that evening in the ER.

We must be crazy.

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• Riviera Maya Vacation - Part Nine (endoftheworld-signtopia.blogspot.com)
• Christmas Eve 2010 (endoftheworld-signtopia.blogspot.com)
• Riviera Maya Vacation - Part Ten (endoftheworld-signtopia.blogspot.com)
• Riviera Maya Vacation - Part Four (endoftheworld-signtopia.blogspot.com)