Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Good News Friyay.

October 29, 2021October 28, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 81 Comments

It is Friday again and not too far from the glorious weekend. Today we have two good news stories involving animals. They are not monumental but will hopefully bring a smile.

The first is about a lucky photo and a plucky squirrel. Let’s look at the photo first.

This squirrel is showing his bodybuilding pose. The photo was snapped by David Roberts of Glasgow, Scotland. He just happened to have a camera when the squirrel nonchalantly hopped onto his windowsill and struck the pose. The photo has since gone viral for a good reason. There is no way to look at it and continue to frown, which is excellent news.

Our second story is about a photo of a Shelley’s eagle owl in the wilds of Ghana. It is the first time one had been seen since the 1870s—and the first time ever a clear photograph of one of the world’s largest owls. Dr. Joseph Tobias and Dr. Robert Williams were stunned to see the giant bird fly over their heads. It came to roost in a tree, and Dr. Williams was able to get the clear shot. It is estimated that there are between 1700 and 7000 birds, but an exact number is impossible since the owl is so elusive. At least we know it is not extinct, which is excellent news.

I hope you all have a super weekend and today’s JohnKu talks about learning new things.

Isn’t it great when,

Something new is discovered . . .

Causing you to smile.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF and Good News Friyay

October 22, 2021October 21, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 92 Comments

It is Friday again, and we are so grateful that we didn’t miss it. Today is also Good News Friyay, and we have two stories.

The first story is about the preliminary test of the Boyan Slat ‘Jenny’ Ocean clean-up system.

Boyan Slat’s team removed 20,000 pounds of plastic debris from one of the significant “plastic islands” in the Pacific on the first trial of his System 002 nicknamed “Jenny.” It is a system where two boats pull a u-shaped collection device. (pictured) “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch can now be cleaned,” announced Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat, the wunderkind inventor who’s spent a decade inventing systems for waterborne litter collection. This means the 1.4 trillion pieces of plastic down to 1mm in size can be removed from the oceans by 2040.

A shot of the plastic picked up. See any of your stuff in there?

Our second story is just plain good news for one person Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and Bauchman Turner Overdrive. Of course, we can all feel good about one guy who heard the story of Randy having his guitar stolen out of his hotel room and searched the world till he found it.

William Long is a fan of Bachman’s and he heard that Randy had worked long and hard as a kid to buy the $400.00 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins model in Western Orange. The guitar was stolen in 1976 and Long did some internet work and found it in Tokoyo Japan. Long reached out to Bachman who in turn had his Japanese daughter-in-law contact the current owner. The owner was more than pleased to return the guitar to Bachman if a replacement could be found. Bachman went to work and found one that was made at the same time on the same bench. This was out of the 40 Gretsch’s known to exist. An exchange is being arranged. The good news of this story is someone cared enough to look for the guitar and another cared enough to return it to it’s original owner.

Today’s JohnKu talks about helping each other. I hope you have a grand weekend.

When we see someone,

Who needs help out of trouble. . .

Do we lend a hand?

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF – Good News

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 99 Comments

Hey, Friday, welcome back. It is so good to see you. We all could use a weekend, and I think you arrived just in time.

Today’s good news includes an animal story and an octogenarian story. Since I’m also an octogenarian, let’s do the animal story first, so at least we know we’ll get that one covered.

This is the story of a bull Elk and a couple of wildlife officers who cared.

About two years ago, a bull elk was spotted on a trail camera sporting a tire around its neck. It was evident that the tire posed no threat to the animal’s health, but since it could become entangled in the brush, it was decided to try and remove it. Four attempts were made over the period, and finally, last Saturday, officers Dawson Swanson and Scott Murdoch were successful in cornering the animal and removing the tire. Here is a video of the elk which led the officers to its location.

The saga of the bull elk with a tire around its neck is over. Thanks to the residents just south of Pine Junction on CR 126 for reporting its location, wildlife officers were able to free it of that tire Saturday.

Story: https://t.co/WHfkfPuAck

📸's courtesy of Pat Hemstreet pic.twitter.com/OcnceuZrpk

— CPW NE Region (@CPW_NE) October 11, 2021

The other good news story is about an 81-year-old music teacher who is suffering from dementia. Paul Harvey had taught music for 20 years, and before that, he was a composer and classical pianist. Five years ago, Paul began living in a memory care facility. Last September, he composed a two-minute piece using just four notes-F natural, A, D, and B natural. His son Nick posted Paul playing the composition on Twitter. The post went viral. Paul’s piece was recorded by the BBC Philharmonic orchestra and sold as a singe. The proceeds went to Alzheimer’s Society and Music for Dementia, which campaigns for music access for people with dementia.

Here is Paul playing his Four Notes piece. For the BBC Breakfast show. The first Twitter post by Nick Harvey will not play. Just skip to the second.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1320621712753524736

Paul was invited to conduct the BBC Philharmonic orchestra playing his Four Notes and an earlier composition named Where’s the Sunshine to mark the first anniversary of the recording. Here is a video with the whole story about Paul. His son reports that he is back with them while playing the piano.

Today’s JohnKu talks about hope and caring. I wish you all a beautiful weekend.

Four Lettered Words

A four-lettered word,

Can be more than disgusting . . .

Like hope and care can.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

July 30, 2021July 29, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 100 Comments

“Boss. Twiggy keeps running away.”
“Isn’t that what tag is all about?”
“Not when one gets older it isn’t.”
“You’ll be fine. Go get her.”

It is Friday again and the beginning of that period of rest that we all need. I hope your week went well.

We all learned that the CDC issued some revised guidelines for mask-wearing. They advise mask-wearing even if fully vaccinated in public places, indoors in those areas where there is a high and substantial level of Covid transmission rates. This covers about 225 million Americans or about 63% of the population. So if your area has between 50 and 100 new cases per 100,000 population or a positivity testing rate of 8% to 10%, then you are in a substantial to high transmission rate area.

Also, the CDC is recommending those school-age children in grades K through 12 wear masks when they go back to school. This has caused so much confusion in the school districts here in Texas. The governor issued a directive that school districts and communities are not allowed to mandate mask-wearing, so at best, any decision on masks has to be an advisory position. Texas shares the no-mask mandate with Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Montana, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Makes your head spin.

We also learned this week that eating foods high in flavonoids can help beat cognitive decline. To all you youngsters out there, this knowledge has little relevance. To we old codgers, what it means is all the strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, red cabbage, onions, peppers, kale, parsley, black tea, oolong tea, green tea, wine, chocolate, soybeans, and citrus, that we have consumed is keeping our cognitive abilities from diving into the dirt. This was a study done over a 25 year period with 75,000 participants, and results were published in the American Academy of Neurology journal. So keep eating and drinking that stuff, and if you are not eating or drinking it, you should start.

Today’s JohnKu talks about cognitive decline. I hope you have a super weekend.

To protect the brain,

Flavonoids are wonderful . . .

Give me some more wine.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

July 23, 2021July 22, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 97 Comments

Twiggy and Lucy — “Lucy. What are all these people doing out front?”
“I told you yesterday. They are here to install the turf.”
“All that machinery. Going to put a damper on Friday ruckus.”
“Yup.”

Another hooray for Friday. It is nice that we are all on the eve of two days of rest. I’m over at Story Empire today complaining about not working on my manuscript. Come visit if you want to see a grown man cry. Here’s the link.

I always hate to discuss COVID but given the fact that new cases are up 55% across the country makes it hard to ignore. 97% of the new hospitalized infections are occurring in unvaccinated people. Sadly too, 99% of the people who die have not been vaccinated. It looks like a new serge of Covid is on the way due to the Delta variant. Breakthrough cases among fully vaccinated folks still remain at a low level.

We have survived this situation before, and I think it may be time for all of us to take precautions to keep ourselves and our families safe. However, I’m not going to look to the government for this precaution since the whole mask, social distance, and shut down process has become a political morass.

More bad news from the Olympics in Tokyo. The opening ceremony Director Kentaro Kobayashi was fired in response to anti-holocaust statements he made while performing a comedy act in 1998. He was the opening ceremony director since 2019. He is the last in a string of Toyko Olympics officials to be let go for indescretions. The US team has moved from the Olympic village due to COVID concerns. It looks like this Olympic venue is going to have more troubles. I feel badly for the athletes.

Today’s JohnKu talks about the Olympics. I hope you have a great weekend.

Four years to prepare,

A world wide celebration . . .

Of human spirit.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

July 16, 2021July 15, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 86 Comments

Lucy and Twiggy — “How about a game of tag.”
“Sounds good. It’s Friday after all.”
“I’ll give you to the count of three.”
“Make it five and you have a deal.”

Another Friday is in the history book. This has been an unusual week.

We saw space tourists, riots in South Africa and Cuba. Flooding in Germany. More fires in California and a big brouhaha over the wearing of masks when the kids go back to school.

The Surfside Flordia Condo collapse toll rose to 95, and the rescue efforts have turned to recovery. A little prayer for those who lost loved ones.

The Texas State Democratic representatives walked out of the special legislative session and flew to Washington on a chartered airplane. They are attempting to halt election reform legislation. Unfortunately, they have also stopped other bills whose intent is to serve the people of Texas. The only comment I have is that if you are an elected member of the legislative branch, you should be willing to serve and not just bug out when things don’t go your way.

COVID cases are on the rise. 11,000 last week, 25,000 this week. Deaths are still stable but are expected to rise along with the new cases. As long as people refuse to get vaccinated, this will be the norm after every holiday.

The news has not done much with the story, but BLM leadership on their official Twitter account has condemned the US for its economic sanctions against Cuba. It also came out in support of the Communist regime in Cuba even as folks are dying who oppose the government there. Gotta think something is wrong with that stance.

As I mentioned quite a week. Today’s JohnKu talks about the news. I hope you all have a great weekend.

It all can’t be good,

But when bad it is awful. . .

Have to move forward.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

July 9, 2021July 8, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 102 Comments

Friday came just in time for me. I have pushed myself so hard since the 5th of July I need another weekend off. I hope you know that I’m kidding. I think I’ve been reading too many Twitter trending tweets.

I saw an article that stated in June, 100% of the COVID deaths in Maryland were among those who were not vaccinated. So I can imagine that would be some wake-up news for those who are still not there. But, of course, some are opposed to being vaccinated, and maybe the news won’t wake anything.

Our county has reached 70% of the population receiving one shot. Looking forward to the time where 70% of the population has had two shots. I have real fear for those not vaccinated as the new variants are beginning to take hold. Also, it will be interesting to see where the case count goes after the Fourth of July weekend. That will be in another week.

Today’s JohnKu talks about getting vaccinated and why not. I hope you all have a safe and restful weekend.

Is it politics?

Maybe a religious fear . . .

Why not? A puzzle.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

July 2, 2021July 1, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 78 Comments

Before we begin I just want you to know I have a story published on Vocal Media. It is titled The Last Hum – Before the end. If you visit and like the story you can hit “like.” Here is the link https://vocal.media/fiction/the-last-hum

Yes, it is Friday again. Always nice to see it. I think everyone is looking forward to the Fourth of July holiday. Makes for a nice long weekend.

The City of Lakeway has reinstated the Fourth of July parade, so I’ll be there. It is being held on Saturday, so I will bring it to you on Views of the Neighborhood on Sunday. I always enjoy a Fourth of July parade. So I hope you will stop by.

Today’s JohnKu talks about our Country’s birthday. I hope you all enjoy the weekend.

One more year older,

The Democracy cradle . . .

Happy day to you.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

June 18, 2021June 17, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 79 Comments

“So what are we doing today, Little one?”
“Friday? Lovely sunshine? 98 degrees? Absolutely nothing but relax and stay cool..”
“I can handle that.”

Here we are on a Friday again. It is so nice to head into a weekend. I hope your week wasn’t too stressful. If it was, then you are only eight hours until relief.

I went to the dentist today. My teeth had not been cleaned since October of 2019. I was scheduled for one in April of 2020, but we all know what happened. I was rescheduled for September 2020 but canceled. I finally showed up today, and it was fine. The good news was the hygienist and dentist were surprised I hadn’t been cleaned for 21 months—the power of wine.

There has been a lot of talk about employers wanting employees to return to the office. But are employees ready to return?

NBC News has reported, and I quote, “a survey released in April by the American Psychological Association found that 49 percent of adults feel uneasy about returning to in-person interactions once the pandemic is over. Vaccination status did not affect that: 48 percent of those who have already been vaccinated say they, too, feel uncomfortable with in-person interactions.”

So this means folks would like to take more time at home, and hopefully, companies will be able to accommodate them. FlexJobs, which surveyed more than 2,100 people who have been working remotely during the pandemic, found that 58 % would quit if they were forced to return to the office. This has to be a wake-up call for companies.

The suggestion is companies take a slow approach and keep alternatives open for those who aren’t ready to return. How about you? Any desire to return to the office?

Today’s JohnKu talks about a return to the status quo. I hope you have an enjoyable weekend.

Pandemic concerns,

Are in the rearview mirror . . .

What is your normal?

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

May 21, 2021May 20, 2021 ~ John W. Howell ~ 67 Comments

Ah, Friday at last Little One.”
“Feels good, Lucy.”
“Yes it does.”

Friday again so soon? WTH. Okay, enough of the “Is life moving too fast? rant.” Of course, it is. We haven’t seen anything yet. Wait until everything opens up, and we all jump on the gerbil wheel.

The political wags are making a big deal out of certain states cutting short the unemployment pandemic bonus payments of 300 dollars a week. The real facts are 1. The number of unemployment claims is at the lowest level since the pandemic started. 2. Businesses are trying to attract workers, but with the prospect of earning that $300 by not working, there are staffing shortages everywhere. There is another lesson here. Some business sectors need to raise their wages to get the workers they need. I’m just saying.

We finally got three inches of rain here at the house. We needed it badly, and more is on the way. The folks in Louisana did not need the rain they got, so now there are emergency situations. It would be nice if there was an even allocation of the weather.

Had a great time on Fresh Ink Group’s Voice of Indie Podcast last night. Thanks to Beem Weeks and Stephen Geez for having me on. Here’s the link https://t.co/W0RkRhUm6Z?amp=1

If you haven’t seen the post on my review of Andrew Joyce’s Yellowhair, I hope you do. I have a lot of respect for his work.

Today’s JohnKu talks about the situation in the Middle East with the prospects of a cease-fire set for today. Let’s hope it is in place for a long time.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

I am killing you,

You are killing me as well . . .

Let’s stop this madness.