Senior Male Mail

At first I was a bit leery about receiving comments about
my Flickr Photos from a 61 year-old Male model from
Munich, thanks to the deviants lurking on the Web.
But then I wished I was in his work shoes for a day.....
check out his pics at :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/minassian/

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Flickr Mail
To: frdmilltx@yahoo.com
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 2:15:10 AM
Subject: [Flickr] Recent activity on your photos

Go to Flickr

Recent activity on your photos

1 comment 699 views 86 photos	Family and Friends arturminassian says: what a interesting life with different persons Added 17 minutes ago
1 comment 46 views 1 person calls this a favorite	Dawn n Vic 1968 arturminassian added this as a favorite. Added 21 minutes ago arturminassian says: what a beautiful lady - wow ! Added 21 minutes ago

Check out the Senior Moments Flickr Group

See more recent activity on your photos.

Is Junk Mail Ever Cool ?

Sometimes it's worth opening to find out.
What follows is a 'Forward' from my Inbox...

THIS IS HILARIOUS!
DO NOT SAVE - PASS IT ON !

A man takes the day off work and decides to go out golfing.
He is on the second hole when he notices a frog sitting next
to the green.

He thinks nothing of it and is about to shoot when he
hears, "Ribbit. 9 Iron."

The man looks around and doesn't see anyone.

Again, he hears, "Ribbit. 9 Iron."

He looks at the frog and decides to prove the
frog wrong, puts the club away, and grabs a 9 iron.

Boom! He hits it 10 inches from the Cup.
He is shocked.

He says to the frog, "Wow that's amazing !
You must be a lucky frog, eh?"

The frog replies, "Ribbitt. Lucky frog."

The man decides to take the frog with him to the
next hole.
"What do you think frog?" the Man asks.

"Ribbit. 3 Wood."

The guy takes out a 3 Wood and, Boom! Hole in one.

The Man is befuddled and doesn't know what to say.
By the end of the day, the man golfs the best game
of Golf in his life and asks the frog,
"OK where to next?"

The frog replies, "Ribbit. Las Vegas."

They go to Las Vegas and the guy says, "OK frog,
now what?"

The frog says, "Ribbit. Roulette."

Upon approaching the Roulette table, the Man
asks, "What do you think I should bet?"

The frog replies, "Ribbit. $3,000, Black 6."

Now, this is a Million-to-One shot to win, but
after the Golf game the man figures, what the heck ?

Boom! Tons of cash comes sliding back across the table.

The man takes his winnings and buys the best room
in the Hotel. He sits the frog down and says, "Frog,
I don't know how to repay you. You've won me all this
money and I am forever grateful."

The frog replies, "Ribbit. Kiss Me."

He figures why not, since after all the frog did for
him, he deserves it. With a kiss, the frog turns into a
gorgeous 18 year-old girl.

"And that, Your honor, is how the girl
ended up in my room. So help me God, or my name
is not William Jefferson Clinton."

The origination of this letter is Unknown, but it brings
Good Luck to everyone who passes it on. The one who
breaks the Chain will have Bad Luck : You will receive
Hillary Rodham Clinton as a prize.

Do not keep this. Do not send money.

Just forward it to five of your friends to whom you wish
good luck. You will see that something good happens to
you in FOUR MINUTES.

---

Happy Thanksgiving !

Click to enlarge. Grungy image quality is
intentional.

Wallpapers For You on Box.Net

Some new files uploaded to my Box.net....

Liberia's Liberation via One.Org

One little e-mail to the International Monetary Fund**
and see how far we've come !
All I had to do was fill out a tiny bit of info requested, sign
it electronically and hold my breath. And then - the untiring
efforts of One.Org members changed the fate of the
impoverished, struggling West African nation of Liberia !
Here's the heartening e-mail I just received :

Dear Fred, On October 26, ONE members sent emails to the International Monetary Fund asking them to make good on their promises and cancel Liberia's debt. Each individual email might not seem like much, but all together we flooded IMF's email system and it couldn't handle them all. And it worked. We did it. We put on the pressure, and they responded. But you don't have to take my word for it. Yesterday, Masood Ahmed, Director of the IMF's External Relations, posted an open letter on the IMF's website announcing that they finally took the step necessary to move forward. Some key excerpts: I am pleased to inform you that on November 12, 2007, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has secured adequate pledges from member countries for the cost of the IMF's debt relief to Liberia ... We have received a large volume of emails on this topic, so this letter is being posted because it is impossible to respond to each message individually. ... I take this opportunity to also thank all those who have expressed their concerns about Liberia's debt situation. Their strong support to the cause of debt relief contributed to the broad donor support that made this financing possible. Check out the rest of the letter and share your thoughts with other ONE members on the ONE Blog. Congratulations are due to everyone who got involved in this important fight. Of course there is still much to be done for Liberia's debt cancelation, but this is a major step. With Liberia's debt cancelled, the government will have an opportunity to reinvest in their people and their country's future for the first time in more than 14 years. Thank you for your voice in this victory, Josh Peck, ONE.org

ONE.ORG | BLOG | PRIVACY | SUBSCRIBE | UNSUBSCRIBE | CONTACT US | ABOUT

**What the IMF Does

His Wife Is a Dog

Used to be : 'When a dog bites a man, that's not news,
but when a man bites a dog that's news.'
And now.....
When a man marries a dog, that's real news.

AP is reporting the strange but true story of an Indian
man who married a stray dog :

'A man in southern India married a female dog in
a traditional Hindu ceremony as an attempt to
atone for stoning two other dogs to death —
an act he believes cursed him — a newspaper
reported Tuesday.'

Here's the happy couple !

click to enlarge

No word on whether they are planning a Honeymoon
or if his wife is a real beeyach....Oops ! I meant to say
'real lady'. Really. OK, not really !

Read the whole story here

All Aboard the Dream Train

click to enlarge

Here's a video that brought back many memories for me
about riding with the masses on a train to Mumbai.
Every one of those riders had a story to share and
a cross to bear, or so it seemed. In reality, it turns out
that very little has changed except that now the young
job aspirants have their precious SIM cards to show off -
a symbol of their hi-tech status that betters their chances
of landing a job in the big city.

This journey has been played out ever since I can
remember and will always continue. It's the age-old
story of the desperate struggle for survival by youths
in this part of the world. Migrant teenaged youths who must
abandon schooling to make the journey so that their
families won't starve.

Quote :
" These passengers are changing the world. In one
of the greatest migrations in history, an average
of 31 villagers are predicted to show up in an
Indian city every minute for the next 43 years,
according to a study by Goldman
Sachs - 700 million people in all. "

Wish them luck !

Read the International Herald Tribune article by
Anand Giridharadhas here

2007 Home-Based 100 Finalists

Here is Startup Nation's List of Top Performers in
the field of Home-Based Businesses

The 'Category' column sucked me in but the winners
are really more than that. Interesting read......

Showing 1-25 Results Alphabetically

Next

Name	Category	Rank
10FootDrillBit.com	Wackiest	2
11th Hour Concierge	Most Slacker-Friendly	7
Above The Clouds	Yummiest	9
Accu-Ruler	Most Innovative	3
Artistic Lifestyling	Greenest	7
Birol Growth Consulting	Best Financial Performers	7
Breakthrough Enterprise	Boomers Back in Business	8
Brent Brotine Communications	Boomers Back in Business	7
Cafe Elisa	Yummiest	4
Catherine Miller Designs	Most Innovative	2
CenterPoint	Worldliest	5
Chasing Attire	Wackiest	7
Child Shield USA	Most Innovative	1
Christine Adler Care	Most Slacker-Friendly	6
Ciao Laura	Highest Vote-Getters	3
Ciao Laura	Yummiest	7
Coldsweep	Greenest	6
Coldsweep	Grungiest	6
ConformaTies	Wackiest	8
Cool Bug Stuff	Grungiest	4
CreativeStream Marketing	Worldliest	8
Dinosaur Recovery Bureau	Grungiest	3
E Cell Recycling	Highest Vote-Getters	8
Exquisite Air Charter	Worldliest	1
Eyewear 2 U	Most Innovative	10

REAL AGE : The Ultimate Exercise Machine

Today's Real Age Tip of the Day is my new favorite
because it's about something I practice and advocate :
using my body as a machine instead of with machines.

November 12, 2007
All About YOU: The Ultimate Exercise Machine
No gym membership? No problem. You're living in
the best gym in the world: your body.

It's all you need to get stronger, leaner, and better
equipped to grow younger. So put it to good use!
Because the stronger your body, the longer and better
your life.
Here are two at-home, in-your-body workouts to try.
No assembly required.

2 Workouts to Help YOU Stay Young
You can check out these workouts, and more, in the
new book YOU: Staying Young, the latest offering from
RealAge experts and best-selling authors Mehmet Oz, MD,
and Michael Roizen, MD.

1. The You2 Workout
This workout will stretch and strengthen your muscles,
which in turn not only helps you maintain a healthy
weight but also does things like build stronger bones.
Get step-by-step instructions, including how-to pictures.

2. Chi-Gong Workout
This 2000-year-old workout not only shapes your body but
also helps you destress and keeps your energy levels high.
Check out all 13 moves, then print them out for easy access.

Extend the warranty on your body!
Check out all the grow-younger tips, tools, workouts,
and tests in the online YOU: Staying Young Center.

RealAge Benefit: Strength training can make your RealAge 1 year younger.

'The Last Supper' Never Ends

click to enlarge

It may be called 'The Last Supper' but it looks like this
is one Supper that will never end.
For centuries scholars have made it their life's work
delving into its mysteries (and a decent living while
at it). People like 'The Da Vinci Code' author Dan Brown.
People like the marketing geniuses behind the annual
Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. In their case, they
used official Fair sponsor Miller Beer's logo with their
parody version depicting leather-clad Gays and Lesbians
at this venerable table.

( click to enlarge)
Miller pulled the logo from the ad to avoid offending
anyone, but only after enough press had been generated
gratis. And now.....here comes Giovanni Maria Pala
with some intriguing observations based on his research
on the painting :

Musical notes embedded into Leonardo Da Vinci's
masterpiece 'The Last Supper' are arranged so that one
may actually play this somewhat somber piece of music,
similar to a requiem. At first the notes didn't make sense
to the ears of Italian musician/techie Giovanni until he
played them backwards, (right-to-left) which is the way
the genius Leonardo wrote. Talk about da Vinci coding !

It has been common practice for artists from time immemorial
to subtly 'sign' their works through symbolism, aesthetically,
politically and humorously. The Human Ego can be a relentless
driver when it comes to creativity in the Arts.
Obviously Leonardo the ultimate Renaissance man had
to go by what his commissioner for the work wanted : a sacred
mural. But how to sign it ?
The music he must have heard in his head for this painting
subtly found its way into posterity by his hidden musical coding,
his signature. Leaving behind a time capsule for centuries of
future geniuses to try and decipher, and to marvel at. Can you
sense the wisdom, humor and depth of vision of this man ?
I wish I could see him grin behind his heavy flowing beard as he
placed the loaves of bread on the table for musical notation.

Read the AP/Yahoo news story here
and BBC Story here

But wait, there's more !
See the recently-released 16-bn. pixel image here

Will The Last supper never end ? Stay tuned........

Indian Surgeons Shine Brighter

This amazing piece of news needs to be retold and
saved for posterity even though by now it has been relayed
to the world many times over. I'm speaking of course, of
the little Indian girl born with four arms and four legs

who had successful re-constructive surgery and now has
a pretty normal appearance. And a cute smile to boot !

Here's what the BBC.co.uk shows as her post-op X-Ray :

1. Spine cut from the front to remove extra limbs

2. Wide gap between pelvic bones closed using bone grafts

3. More operations may be needed to correct club feet and
rebuild pelvic floor muscles

There are many brilliant Indian Doctors all over the world
and many more to come, judging by the 24-hour gratis
job done by Dr. Sharan Patil and his team at Sparsh Hospital
in Bangalore. I await the day when little Lakshmi grows
old enough to seek out and thank these wonderful people.

For those not in the know, Lakshmi was named after the
many-limbed Hindu Goddess of Wealth.

More images like this at
http://www.geetasaar.com/gallery2.htm

Auspicious. I believe the blessings have only just begun
for Lakshmi and her benefactors.

Donorschoose.org et al : Kudos !

Helping students from low-income communities in any way
they could, they raised $420, 000...what a great job !!
Read about it at the Official Google Blog:
Bloggers blog, readers donate, students benefit,
tomatoes dance




http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/leadershipboard.html

Et tu, Martina ?

Surprising news - I really admired this female prodigy

who was named after the great Martina Navratilova
and lived up to the name - until now. Damage control is
underway, but in light of the recent admission by
Olympic Gold Medalist Marion Jones

regarding her steroid-tainted wins, the truth is better late
than never. It's the right thing to do and I hope it all works
out for Martina Hingis.

from martinaworld.com :
Martina tests positive for cocaine and retires 11/1/2007

"Throughout my career, I have always
been open and honest with you.

I have been accused by an outsource testing
company of taking cocaine during the Championships
at Wimbledon. I find this accusation so horrendous,
so monstrous, that I have decided to confront it
head-on by talking to the press.

My weapon on the tennis court is and always was one
single thing: the game, the ingenuity on court.
And for this style of tennis, there is only one performance
enhancer - the love of the game."

Click here to read more.

The Shrinking Dollar

Normally I steer clear of politics since it involves taking
sides and most of the time I am hard pressed to take the
side of anyone in the American political arena. Why ?
Because of the sorry state we invariably find ourselves in
at the outset of another Election year.
In other words, things just keep going from bad to worse.
I'm getting tired of all the political jokes, cartoons, rants
and barrage of e-mails from all over the world in my Inbox.
You know who you are. Please desist !

Ex- Presidential hopeful
Pat Buchanan's words and
mannerisms never held my attention till today when he
wrote of the state of the (once) Almighty American Dollar
in 'Sinking Currency, Sinking Country':

" A sinking dollar means a poorer nation, and a
sinking currency has historically been the mark of a
sinking country. And a superpower with a sinking
currency is a contradiction in terms.
What does this mean for America and Americans? "

Read Buchanan's interesting take on the not-so-amazing
shrinking Dollar here.

Now what does all this have to do with Gisele Bundchen,

the world's richest Supermodel ?

BBC News is reporting
that ' The world's richest model has reportedly reacted in her own
way to the sliding value of the US dollar - by refusing to be
paid in the currency. '
This from a woman who is New York-based ? Not very
comforting for her agency and for the rest of those
America's Next Top Model hopefuls.

Will there ever be a return to the days of the
Almighty Dollar ? Not likely in my lifetime, I think.
Not when a young Indian like Mukesh Ambani gets listed
as the richest man in the world, surpassing Bill Gates...