Sep
16
2009
Few stories have so moved the American public during the past year than Patrick Swayze’s determined struggle for survival.
Most people recognized that his battle was futile in the long run; but his fight for life inspired us all. When faced with a terminal illness, his powerful, “never give up” attitude showed his mettle. His wife stood by him. To be strong and patient for another person during a lengthy battle with cancer takes a lot of mettle as well. She inspires me too. I wish her strength as she grieves in the months ahead.
At age 57, Patrick Swayze was just five years younger than I am. To realize our mortality is to come to terms with life itself. Our value system comes into question as we acknowledge that we must live our lives to the fullest extent possible; for, in the end, what we leave behind are the memories of ourselves that other people carry with them. Fond memories of our lives together, of times shared, of moments treasured; these are the best gifts that we leave to others.
I enjoyed Patrick Swayze’s movies. Point Break and Roadhouse are still fun to watch. Dirty Dancing was pretty cheezy but we still liked it. The concept behind Ghost was endearing. The pottery wheel scene with Demi Moore and Patrick tore my heart out and watered my eyes. I may have to buy a DVD of Ghost just to honor him.
Note: The “Possibly-related Articles” below are links to other posts on Today.com blogs, and may or may not include other posts on Grugger’s Way.
Sep
09
2009
Yesterday, I reached 350 posts on this site. That is a lot of writing, drafting and proofing, as well as a lot of ranting, complaining and preaching.
Someone commented that my post on Labor Day camping made me sound like a grumpy old man. Yup.
I am, in many ways, old-fashioned, with habits and dislikes fairly common to people in their sixties, particularly men, I think. We seem less tolerant of other people’s quirks and habits than do women.
Women seem more compassionate, compromising and cooperative.
Men seem more confrontational, combative, and other “C” words, like crass and crabby.
I am debating whether or not to change my profile photos on various social networking sites to more accurately reflect my “true self.” At least as others sometimes see me, or I think that they do. Oh, that is confusing. Here are some possibilities:
I guess any of these could represent my “True Self.” Umm, maybe not Clint. I am still waiting for him to accept my Facebook Friend Invite.
Note: the “Possibly-related Articles” that are hyper-linked below are from Today.com blogs, which may or may not include posts from Grugger’s Way.
Sep
08
2009
I saw five families camping together over the Labor Day weekend. Perhaps 20 people in all, including five unruly kids, who were evidently INVISIBLE to their parents, or maybe everyone was making so damn much noise that the kids made no impression.
And WHY bring Off-road, four-wheeler ALL TERRAIN VEHICLES to a campground? 
I hope these party people are all exhausted from their weekend of drinking, smoking, listening to loud music, rip-roaring around on the ATV’s and generally being a pain in the butt to those of us who were hoping for a little peace and quiet. Perhaps we should stay home on three-day weekends.
Now I understand why retirees enjoy the OFF-SEASON so much!
All I can say is how much I appreciate enforced Quiet Hours in a campground where the Host is actually On-Duty!
Another thing that made this past weekend endurable was the rain. Lots of rain tends to calm things down and confine the noisy kids to their own tents and campers.
The best part of the weekend was Monday afternoon, Labor Day, when all the campers with all the kids all packed up and headed for home.
(Note: the links shown below as “Possibly-related Articles” do not necessarily link to other articles on my blog, but are links to other Today.com blogs, which may or may not include Grugger’s Way.
Sep
03
2009
If you have traveled to The Republic of The Philippines and been introduced to the local cuisine you may have enjoyed pancit, chicken adobo, lumpia, and other fine foods.
There is one item that usually tests the mettle of even the most experienced World Traveler. If you think you have “global” taste buds, try BALUT, the Filipino treat that they present to tourists with great fanfare and much drinking and laughter.
Balut is a “not quite ready to hatch” embryo of duck (or chicken) that is hard-boiled in the egg shell casing and then consumed WITH BEER! (I just threw in the beer part.)
U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy sailors have long tested each other with initiation ceremonies that included eating balut, as though it were a rite of passage into the mysteries of the Far East.
(If you click on the photo at left it will open a much larger view of the balut.)
What does it really taste like? Someone once described it as tasting like the way air smells after a big fireworks demonstration. The duck embryo contains phosphorus. But to describe it thus is not doing it justice; one has to try it.
There are Filipino restaurants in the U.S.A. that serve balut. Some Asian food stores also sell balut.
Yes, there are bones and yes, there are wet little feathers. A beak. Two feet. Just poke a hole in one end of the egg and suck out the “amniotic fluid.” If that doesn’t get you, you might enjoy balut with a dip of chile sauce and vinegar, then sprinkle on a little salt….wash it all down with San Miguel Beer!!
(Note: the links to the “Possibly-related Articles” below this entry do not necessarily refer to other posts on my blog. They do link to other today.com blogs with similar subjects, including my own blog. It will be interesting to see how many other articles relate to BALUT!
