Welcome to 'OZ' - The 'Other' Side of the Rainbow!! Posting is at 10AM, Noon and 2PM CST daily. Up to 12 days of posts on the main page. The archives have more. You can forward posts by clicking on the envelope at the bottom of the post. Enjoy your stay! *** If you need to contact me, or have a copyright issue, please use the "Contact The Wizard" form on the left side of 'OZ'. Original source and author is cited and credited in each post where possible. ***
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Difference between the sexes
Friendship among women
A woman doesn't come home one night. The next day she tells her husband she slept over at a friend's house. The man calls his wife's 10 best friends. None of them know about it.
Friendship among men
A man doesn't come home one night. The next day he tells his wife he slept over at a friend's house. The woman calls her husband's 10 best friends. 8 of them say he did sleep over and 2 claim he's still there.
...and that my friends is the difference!
A woman doesn't come home one night. The next day she tells her husband she slept over at a friend's house. The man calls his wife's 10 best friends. None of them know about it.
Friendship among men
A man doesn't come home one night. The next day he tells his wife he slept over at a friend's house. The woman calls her husband's 10 best friends. 8 of them say he did sleep over and 2 claim he's still there.
...and that my friends is the difference!
'Stop stealing our F**king signs'
The mayor of an Austrian town called 'F**king' has appealed to British tourists to stop stealing the road signs.
Siegfried Hauppl said the small town always attracted a lot of attention from tourists driving up from nearby Salzburg to pose for pictures in front of the signs.
But he said that, while the money they spent in the area was welcome, locals were fed up with having to replace the signs because people had been stealing them as souvenirs.
He said: "We had a vote last year on whether to rename the town, but decided to keep it as it is.
"After all, F**king has existed for 800 years, probably when a Mr F**k or the F**k family moved into the area. The 'ing' was added as a word for settlement."
Apparently the villagers didn't find out about the English meaning of the word until British and American soldiers stationed in the area in 1945 started arriving in large numbers.
Hauppl said: "We all know what it means now, but for us F**king is F**king - we don't give it a second thought."
Franz Duernsteiner, an expert on bizarre Austrian village names, said the residents of F**king were actually very "conservative" people.
He said: "Most of them can speak English, and when someone asks them where they come from they are a little ashamed to say it."
Residents of two other Austrian communities, Windpassing and W**k on the Lake, suffered a similar reluctance, he added.
*Ananova
But he said that, while the money they spent in the area was welcome, locals were fed up with having to replace the signs because people had been stealing them as souvenirs.
He said: "We had a vote last year on whether to rename the town, but decided to keep it as it is.
"After all, F**king has existed for 800 years, probably when a Mr F**k or the F**k family moved into the area. The 'ing' was added as a word for settlement."
Apparently the villagers didn't find out about the English meaning of the word until British and American soldiers stationed in the area in 1945 started arriving in large numbers.
Hauppl said: "We all know what it means now, but for us F**king is F**king - we don't give it a second thought."
Franz Duernsteiner, an expert on bizarre Austrian village names, said the residents of F**king were actually very "conservative" people.
He said: "Most of them can speak English, and when someone asks them where they come from they are a little ashamed to say it."
Residents of two other Austrian communities, Windpassing and W**k on the Lake, suffered a similar reluctance, he added.
*Ananova
SLOW DANCE
Have you ever watched kids
on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
Do you run through each day on the fly
When you ask "How are you?"
do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time
to call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away...
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
*Louise L. Hay
on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
Do you run through each day on the fly
When you ask "How are you?"
do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time
to call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away...
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
*Louise L. Hay
Saskatchewan Government Announces Cutbacks:
Affects Cities of: Regina and Saskatoon. Towns like Dog River and Woolerton, SK, may benefit.
As part of the cutbacks for 2008/2009, the snow equipment budget had to be realigned. Here is a picture of our new model:
No one in the big cities were available for comment, so The Wizard left for Dog River to get an exclusive comment from cornerstone resident and big business owner, Brent Leroy.
Brent Leroy, owner of Dog River's Corner Gas, (Gas and Convenience Store), reacts to the news:
"Yeah! I just read that in 'The Howler', eh?. It's just great! Before last year when we achieved official 'Town Status', (A whole bunch of Hollywood freaks came here to do some sort of nature film -- can you believe it? Here in Dog River, eh?! They just said to just keep on doing what we normally do, talk as if they weren't there. And they even paid us as 'extras'! I was able to buy a few more chili cheese dogs than before. That $10 sure came in handy! Who da thunk that they would be so intested in filming grass and such?)."
"Above is me and Lacey celebrating with our first checks from the movie fella. Oh, and we rent movies."
As part of the cutbacks for 2008/2009, the snow equipment budget had to be realigned. Here is a picture of our new model:
No one in the big cities were available for comment, so The Wizard left for Dog River to get an exclusive comment from cornerstone resident and big business owner, Brent Leroy.
"Yeah! I just read that in 'The Howler', eh?. It's just great! Before last year when we achieved official 'Town Status', (A whole bunch of Hollywood freaks came here to do some sort of nature film -- can you believe it? Here in Dog River, eh?! They just said to just keep on doing what we normally do, talk as if they weren't there. And they even paid us as 'extras'! I was able to buy a few more chili cheese dogs than before. That $10 sure came in handy! Who da thunk that they would be so intested in filming grass and such?)."
"Anyways, we did not even have a budget. Now we have a budget! Now Hank won't have to use his dirty hoe to clean up the street and sidewalk in Dog River. Myrtle will be so happy. You know last year she slipped on the sidewalk and broke her hip. (If that happened this year there'd be hell to pay. -oh. Can I say that? You know between you and me, I think she gets hooked on the painkillers, eh?.)"
"Anyways, Woolerton [spits], doesn't need one of those new plows. They only have one street! Just make sure that they don't add some kind of food tax and force a cut in Lacey's budget at The Ruby... I need my Chili-Cheese Dogs!"
"Anyways, Woolerton [spits], doesn't need one of those new plows. They only have one street! Just make sure that they don't add some kind of food tax and force a cut in Lacey's budget at The Ruby... I need my Chili-Cheese Dogs!"
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Steve Walker (1961-2012)
Celebrated Canadian artist Steve Walker, whose work focused on scenes of men together is dead at age 50.
Born in Ottawa, Walker was 19 when he moved to Toronto to study theatre at university. Deeply affected by the impact of HIV/AIDS had on the gay community, he gave up his goal of being an actor and started to paint.
"Maybe, just maybe, I could help; find a cure for the hatred, fear and ignorance that surrounded so many young men around the world as they lay in hospital beds and drew the last breaths of unfinished lives." he wrote.
Walker said his paintings portrayed themes of love, attraction, hope, despair, loneliness and "the power of a person touching another."
His works, on display at bars and restaurants in Toronto's gay neighbourhood, captivated the public and he was soon exhibiting his paintings at galleries all over the U.S. and Canada. Walker's paintings were also widely published in magazines and calenders.
Walker had this to say about his work: "I hope that in its silence, the body of my work has given a voice to my life, the lives of others, and in doing so, the dignity of all people."
"I see my work as a documentation, an interpretation, a crystalization of singular moments rendered in line, colour, light, shadow, using a hundred brushes, a thousand colours, and a million brushstrokes," he wrote. "I strive to make people stop, if only a moment, think and actually feel something. My paintings contain as many questions as answers."
"It simply never occurred to me to paint about themes in any other context than my own life as a person who happens to be gay. I never had a problem relating to work created by heterosexuals in a heterosexual context. Why should I create paintings whose content was anything other than the truth of my life as a gay man?"
"I have never pretended to represent, depict, or even understand every homosexual or the sub-cultures within a gay culture. No heterosexual has ever represented all heterosexual people or all of their life experiences. It would be both naive and false for me to even attempt to do so with gay people."
A funeral service was held at Our Lady of the Visitation Church on Bank Street in Ottawa on February 25th at 11:00 AM. A memorial to celebrate Walker's life will also likely be held in Toronto on a later date.
Born in Ottawa, Walker was 19 when he moved to Toronto to study theatre at university. Deeply affected by the impact of HIV/AIDS had on the gay community, he gave up his goal of being an actor and started to paint.
"Maybe, just maybe, I could help; find a cure for the hatred, fear and ignorance that surrounded so many young men around the world as they lay in hospital beds and drew the last breaths of unfinished lives." he wrote.
Walker said his paintings portrayed themes of love, attraction, hope, despair, loneliness and "the power of a person touching another."
His works, on display at bars and restaurants in Toronto's gay neighbourhood, captivated the public and he was soon exhibiting his paintings at galleries all over the U.S. and Canada. Walker's paintings were also widely published in magazines and calenders.
Walker had this to say about his work: "I hope that in its silence, the body of my work has given a voice to my life, the lives of others, and in doing so, the dignity of all people."
"I see my work as a documentation, an interpretation, a crystalization of singular moments rendered in line, colour, light, shadow, using a hundred brushes, a thousand colours, and a million brushstrokes," he wrote. "I strive to make people stop, if only a moment, think and actually feel something. My paintings contain as many questions as answers."
"It simply never occurred to me to paint about themes in any other context than my own life as a person who happens to be gay. I never had a problem relating to work created by heterosexuals in a heterosexual context. Why should I create paintings whose content was anything other than the truth of my life as a gay man?"
"I have never pretended to represent, depict, or even understand every homosexual or the sub-cultures within a gay culture. No heterosexual has ever represented all heterosexual people or all of their life experiences. It would be both naive and false for me to even attempt to do so with gay people."
A funeral service was held at Our Lady of the Visitation Church on Bank Street in Ottawa on February 25th at 11:00 AM. A memorial to celebrate Walker's life will also likely be held in Toronto on a later date.
"One Family's Values"
Click on the picture to goto his fanpages on facebook. BIOGRAPHY: Drawing is one of Steve Walker's earliest childhood memories. He recollects drawing pictures from about the age of three or four years old. Drawing came naturally to the Toronto artist, and his love of the art form continued into his adulthood. As a self taught artist, Walker only began painting after a trip to Europe when he was 25 years old. During the trip, he spent much of his time in Europe touring the great galleries and museums. In his words it was the first time he was exposed to great painting, and the first time he recognized the potential power of the art form. "I was moved by something that I was capable of doing," he said. His first paintings were done in a somewhat secretive way, as he had no intention of exhibiting or selling, and had no aspirations of becoming a professional artist.
Producing art about his life and the lives of those around him is as natural to Walker as his first childhood drawings. As a gay man, Walker is acutely aware that he is living during a period of history that is both the best of times and the worst of times. There is more freedom and acceptance for gay men and women, while at the same time AIDS has devastated the gay population.
But Walker's paintings are not about gay people or homosexuality. He describes his art as being about love, hate, pain, joy, touch, communication, beauty, loneliness, attraction, hope, despair, life and death. His art includes universal themes regardless of race, gender, socio-economic class, culture or sexual orientation. However, his work is unique because he conveys these themes through the subjects in his paintings, young gay men. "Remove the gender of the painting's subjects and what we have is human relationships in general, and one's relationship to the world itself," he said. "As a homosexual I have been moved, educated, and inspired by works that deal with a heterosexual context. Why would I assume that a heterosexual would be incapable of appreciating work that speaks to common themes in life, as seen through my eyes as a gay man. If the heterosexual population is unable to do this, then the loss is theirs, not mine."
If Walker were an abstract painter or a landscape artist, he says his sexual orientation wouldn't matter. But since his paintings are about gay life, his sexual orientation becomes more important than his cultural background, age, or nationality.
The focus of his paintings often depict sadness and loneliness to reflect the reality that much of anyone's life is sad and lonely. Walker often portrays people in relationships as separate entities because that is the way he views them. He also uses a small and consistent palette of colours because he is comfortable with them and the colours provide the desired results. "Colour is very powerful and a little can go a long way if used effectively," he said. "Some colours are very exciting to me, while others are quite offensive. Painting flesh is very exciting because of the huge variations possible within a very small colour range."
Walker's artworks are very large, always measuring 36" by 48". He creates large paintings because he believes that a large image is more appealing than a smaller one. "Whether it's a television screen, cinema screen, or an image in a magazine, the size of the image connotes a degree of importance," he said. Walker said belonging to an oppressed minority group has been a driving force in creating his art. "Any minority wants and needs to find artistic voices that reflect their own personal situations, and, in doing so, validate and record their lives and cultures for themselves, and for the larger world," he said.
Walker said he experiences many small rewards during the creative process. "After hours of painting, I stand back and look at something that wasn't there before -- a hand, face, or piece of fabric will exist where there was once a blank canvas," he said.
As an artist, Walker said it's exciting to be working at a point in history where there is an audience ready to appreciate and consume his creations. "It is very rare to find success as an artist in your lifetime," he said. "My work will be around long after me, but seeing it affect people at the time that I am creating it is very rewarding."
In recent years Steve Walker's work has been exhibited in galleries in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia and Key West.
The gay community of North America has responded very positively to Walker's art. "I am very aware of the appreciation from a group of people who recognize the time, energy and talent devoted to a body of work that speaks specifically to them but at the same time exists in the larger world that we all live in," he said.
¹ ho·mo·e·rot·ic ( hō ' mō-ĭ-rŏt ' ĭk ) adj. Of or concerning homosexual love and
desire. Tending to arouse such desire.
Producing art about his life and the lives of those around him is as natural to Walker as his first childhood drawings. As a gay man, Walker is acutely aware that he is living during a period of history that is both the best of times and the worst of times. There is more freedom and acceptance for gay men and women, while at the same time AIDS has devastated the gay population.
But Walker's paintings are not about gay people or homosexuality. He describes his art as being about love, hate, pain, joy, touch, communication, beauty, loneliness, attraction, hope, despair, life and death. His art includes universal themes regardless of race, gender, socio-economic class, culture or sexual orientation. However, his work is unique because he conveys these themes through the subjects in his paintings, young gay men. "Remove the gender of the painting's subjects and what we have is human relationships in general, and one's relationship to the world itself," he said. "As a homosexual I have been moved, educated, and inspired by works that deal with a heterosexual context. Why would I assume that a heterosexual would be incapable of appreciating work that speaks to common themes in life, as seen through my eyes as a gay man. If the heterosexual population is unable to do this, then the loss is theirs, not mine."
If Walker were an abstract painter or a landscape artist, he says his sexual orientation wouldn't matter. But since his paintings are about gay life, his sexual orientation becomes more important than his cultural background, age, or nationality.
The focus of his paintings often depict sadness and loneliness to reflect the reality that much of anyone's life is sad and lonely. Walker often portrays people in relationships as separate entities because that is the way he views them. He also uses a small and consistent palette of colours because he is comfortable with them and the colours provide the desired results. "Colour is very powerful and a little can go a long way if used effectively," he said. "Some colours are very exciting to me, while others are quite offensive. Painting flesh is very exciting because of the huge variations possible within a very small colour range."
Walker's artworks are very large, always measuring 36" by 48". He creates large paintings because he believes that a large image is more appealing than a smaller one. "Whether it's a television screen, cinema screen, or an image in a magazine, the size of the image connotes a degree of importance," he said. Walker said belonging to an oppressed minority group has been a driving force in creating his art. "Any minority wants and needs to find artistic voices that reflect their own personal situations, and, in doing so, validate and record their lives and cultures for themselves, and for the larger world," he said.
Walker said he experiences many small rewards during the creative process. "After hours of painting, I stand back and look at something that wasn't there before -- a hand, face, or piece of fabric will exist where there was once a blank canvas," he said.
As an artist, Walker said it's exciting to be working at a point in history where there is an audience ready to appreciate and consume his creations. "It is very rare to find success as an artist in your lifetime," he said. "My work will be around long after me, but seeing it affect people at the time that I am creating it is very rewarding."
In recent years Steve Walker's work has been exhibited in galleries in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia and Key West.
The gay community of North America has responded very positively to Walker's art. "I am very aware of the appreciation from a group of people who recognize the time, energy and talent devoted to a body of work that speaks specifically to them but at the same time exists in the larger world that we all live in," he said.
¹ ho·mo·e·rot·ic ( hō ' mō-ĭ-rŏt ' ĭk ) adj. Of or concerning homosexual love and
desire. Tending to arouse such desire.
REMEMBER... Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday March 11th!
Daylight Savings Begins For You.. Not here in Saskatoon, tho... We never change!
Hope you will enjoy your one less hour of sleep, poor stiffs!!! Put yer clock forward an hour, eh?
On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST is on the second Sunday of March and end the first Sunday of November. Canada followed suit, but Saskatchewan never did like ol' 'W'!!!!
Friday, March 09, 2012
Monday, March 05, 2012
Congratulations Saskatchewan!
over $6 Million dollars raised!
Read about TeleMiracle here.
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Thoughts on Retirement
Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked, 'How old was your husband?'
'98,' she replied. 'Two years older than me'
'So you're 96,' the undertaker commented.
She responded, 'Hardly worth going home, is it?
Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman:
'And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?' the reporter asked.
She simply replied, 'No peer pressure.'
The nice thing about being senile is you can hide your own Easter eggs.
I've sure gotten old! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees, fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends. But, thank God, I still have my driver's license.
I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor's permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.
An elderly woman decided to prepare her will and told her preacher she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Wal-Mart.
'Wal-Mart?' the preacher exclaimed. 'Why Wal-Mart?'
'Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week'.
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Know how to prevent sagging?
Just eat till the wrinkles fill out.
It's scary when you start making the same noises as your coffee maker.
These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart says, 'For fast relief.'
'98,' she replied. 'Two years older than me'
'So you're 96,' the undertaker commented.
She responded, 'Hardly worth going home, is it?
Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman:
'And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?' the reporter asked.
She simply replied, 'No peer pressure.'
The nice thing about being senile is you can hide your own Easter eggs.
I've sure gotten old! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees, fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends. But, thank God, I still have my driver's license.
I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor's permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.
An elderly woman decided to prepare her will and told her preacher she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Wal-Mart.
'Wal-Mart?' the preacher exclaimed. 'Why Wal-Mart?'
'Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week'.
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Know how to prevent sagging?
Just eat till the wrinkles fill out.
It's scary when you start making the same noises as your coffee maker.
These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart says, 'For fast relief.'
THE SENILITY PRAYER:
Grant me the senility to forget the people
I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and
the eyesight to tell the difference.
Always Remember This:
You don't stop laughing because you grow old,
You grow old because you stop laughing.
Grant me the senility to forget the people
I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and
the eyesight to tell the difference.
Always Remember This:
You don't stop laughing because you grow old,
You grow old because you stop laughing.
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