Ridley's Believe It Or Not June 30 History National Ice Cream Soda Day

Ridley's Believe It Or Not—June 30, 2014:  Condolences to Mexico against the Dutch but good luck to Team U.S.A. against Belgium on July 1 in the World Cup.  Almost no holidays but with an assist from the memory of the magic of Harry Blackstone, JR. pulled these out of the hat to enjoy along with the  factoids, and quote from von Goethe with a smile on your face and an ice cream soda in your hand.

            1. Magic Day—celebrating the birthday of Harry Blackstone, Jr. a great magician and member of the Knights of the Orange County Roundtable who died way too soon at the age of 63.      

            2. Lucy In The Sky Day--celebrating one of nature’s great shows, meteors entering our atmosphere and lighting up the heavens; this day for those lacking the creativity of the Alaskanpoet is also known as National Meteor Day.

           3. Leap Second Adjustment Day—marking the semiannual adjustment to the atomic clock by adding or subtracting one second to enable us to keep perfect time; so if you are one second late today you have an excused.

           4. National Ice Cream Soda Day—celebrating that great summer drink that brings all of us back to our childhood days. 

On this day in:

a.       1957 the first of the really iconic sports cars, the Chevy Corvette rolled off the assembly line.

b.    1971 Ohio ratified the 26^th Amendment to the Constitution which became law and lowered the voting age to 18 in federal elections.

            c.   1997 Great Britain transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong to China.

Do you believe in Magic?: “Magic is believing in yourself; if you can do that, anything is possible.” “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, noted 18-19^th Century writer and poet

Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join almost 140 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs--click on links below. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest.

mridley@octechlaw.com  www.twitter.com/alaskanpoet www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com  Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times

© June 30, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

ISIS Declares A Caliphate--Where Is Our Strategy To Defeat?

Flush with success and an Iraqi Army that has largely disappeared

ISIS changes its name to the caliphate we all should fear

ISIS is now IS as in Islamic State

A base for new jihad and terror that will not abate

Parts of Syria and parts of Iraq

Fertile staging areas to the Western World attack

The U.S. caught by surprise, all of its training and aid down the drain

On the sidelines, disengaged, powerless to contain the Islamic State’s terror reign

If the Islam State is Islam’s new face and Sharia Law is its new cop, judge and jury

The rest of the world including Muslims has a growing worry

Time for a coherent strategy on how to this menace face

That’s driven to all non caliphate nations replace

The answers will not easy but the brightest of the brightest need to convene

To plan a means to rid this scourge from humanity’s scene

Part military force ruthless and swift, part economic aid and here’s another item to suggest

The mullahs complain our culture is decadent and pollutes the soul and true belief arrests

Fair criticism but if given a chance, my instincts say Muslim youth would rather dance

Than strapping on a body bomb for the misguided 77 virgin in Paradise chance

Rock and roll galvanized us against Vietnam and turned the tide

Great anti-war songs to the Vietnam War deride

Why not music that attacks sharia and jihad at their very core

A message that death is not worth it when a young lovely you are trying to score

Like the Lysistrata scenes of old, young Muslim women against jihadists must close their legs

Convey the message that jihad and sharia is the scum of the scum of the worst of the dregs

Just a thought but at least a thought to get the discussion juices to flow

Instead of sitting on our hands, heads in the sand, while the jihad forces unabated grow

© June 30, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Cracker Barrel Fires 73 Year Old Vet For Giving A Homeless Man A Muffin--Homeless Man Not A Moose

A rule is a rule but Cracker Barrel comes across as heartless and cheap

Firing this 73 year old Vet seems really a remedy too steep

A far better way would be to have deducted from his pay check the muffin's cost

Not into the unemployment line this man tossed

Cracker Barrel's statement is amazing on what it did not say

An opportunity for its corporate generosity to come into play

A statement on how much food it gives to food banks

Would have helped keep their reputation from going into the tank

Cracker Barrel already has when it comes to gays a bad reputation to possess

Firing a Vet for an act of charity should cause its image further distress 

After all a homeless man is not a hungry Moose

Giving him a muffin would not cause demands for more to be set loose.

© June 29, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

Ridley's Believe It Or Not June 29 History National Camera Day

Ridley's Believe It Or Not—June 29, 2014:  Good luck to Team U.S.A. against Belgium on July 1 in the World Cup.  Slim pickings for holidays but hope you enjoy these holidays, factoids, and quote from Ansel Adams with a smile on your face and a delicious covered waffle on your plate.

            1. Slim Pickens Day—commiserating not the lack of appropriate holidays to celebrate but rather the birthday of a great actor Slim Pickens on this day in 1919, forever memorialized as the B-52 pilot riding a hydrogen bomb into the Soviet Union in Dr. Strangelove.      

            2. National Camera Day--celebrating one of society’s indispensable tools and with cell phones being cameras the possibilities of being caught on candid camera are endless.

           3. Waffle Iron Day—honoring that essential tool of any kitchen especially one with children present—topped with strawberries and cream, great way to start breakfast. Not sure why today is the day as Cornelius Swarthout received a patent for the waffle iron on August 24, 1869.

           4. National Almond Butterscotch Day—celebrating that great crunchy candy best known as Almond Roca in the markets since invented in 1912. 

On this day in:

            a. 1956 The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was signed into law, creating the Interstate Highway System.

            b. 1975 Steve Wozniack tested his prototype of the Apple I.

            c. 2007 Apple released its first mobile phone with camera of course included—the iPhone.

Why focus is a good thing in photography and life: “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.” Ansel Adams, one of the great photographers of the 20^th Century
 Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join almost 140 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs--click on links below. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest.

© June 29, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

2014 Class Graduates Ode To The Sailors

One of the great benefits of being a poet to one's inner core is that when you stumble into an event the muse grabs you almost in a second. After celebrating National Ceviche Day at a great Mexican restaurant Costa Brava in Costa Mesa by ordering a great serving of ceviche, I returned to my complex only to wander into a party celebrating the graduation of 4 seniors from Newport Harbor High School, home of the Sailors. This poem came to me almost immediately and although lacking the relevance to the comments often made about the chaos in Washington, I would like to share it. The youth are our future and after seeing four of our youth at a function in Costa Mesa, this poet is firmly convinced we are in good hands. Kudos to the Class of 2014!

Ode To Sailors On The Ocean Of Life

True Sailors never forget their clove hitch and bowline knots

Never shy from the freedom of the ocean sought

Always ready to leave the safety and security of a port

To on the ocean of dreams set forth on their course never to be cut short

To be land locked is to one’s dreams curtail

Sailors with any wind will always prevail

To be becalmed in dreams is to wither and watch your dreams rot

Tied down to failure in an unbreakable Becket knot

But if after 4 years of learning as a Sailor one is ready to set sail

The world may not be your oyster but is waiting for your tales

You need only a compass of what is true and what is right

And maybe an appreciation of a God who gives us the Northern Lights

To the future the Sailors of the class of 2014, ignore the rising or uncertain surf

You have passed all tests, you are ready to claim you rightful turf

© June 28, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet

www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com