A
welcome sea beckons in the red mornin' sun
Rise up buccaneers thar’s work to be done. Hoist every sail and set a course true Out on the trades thar’s riches fer you. After the pillagin’ we’ll fly in the winds To Pyrates Cove whar the partyin' begins. Thar be wenches, rum, and a sea farin’ song Divvyin’ up booty arrrr plan all along. We’re partyin’ pyrates ‘til we’re put under A great grand life for a bit o' the plunder. |
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A
Pyratical Sea by Don
“D'Pyrate” Winfield
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Thursday, February 15, 2018
A Pyratical Sea
Monday, December 25, 2017
Christmas Day 2017
2017 has turned out to be a very special Christmas, indeed. It started out with my son, who hasn't been home in about a year and a half, showing up at the house on the 22nd. He'd just returned to his home in Reno, NV from a two month stint in Puerto Rico. He'd been on the island helping with the clean-up and restoration of the cell phone service which was disrupted by Hurricane Erma. Ben's flying east and arriving in time for Christmas was a pleasant surprise for his mom and me, and our extended family.
On the 23rd, there was a family Holiday gathering at my eldest daughter's home. For the first time in 11+ years we were able to take photos of all 4 of my children together. This is a picture we'll cherish forever. The party was congenial and fun for everyone. Only my grandson, Dylan, was unable to attend. Sadly, he had to work.. We all missed him very much.
On the twenty-fourth, my wife's sister and her partner showed up for Holiday cheer and a grand old gab-fest. Jayne and John are such a pleasure to be around, with their interesting life on a farm in rural Upstate NY. Of course, it was an excellent time to compare the lives we all lead, and how widely varied they are within the same family. We have full time farmers, students, business owners, civil servants, engineers, and most puzzling to some of us, the Mennonite/Amish contingent.
It's heartwarming to all of us that we all get along so well, and understand each other's choices. Even though we're from different societies, religious and political beliefs, we all love one another equally.
This is notable to me because I hear the stories people tell about family gatherings and Holiday meals that are uncomfortable and often contentious. I realize that this happens, but I'm glad that our lives have room for everyone to have their differences and still be loved. I credit our ancestors' child rearing abilities, and our ability to carry on those ways, so that they have trickled down to our children. Hopefully, with lessons learned from us, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will grow to be tolerant and loving of their families ad infinitum.
Now, it's Christmas Day. It's a small gathering consisting of Meg, myself and our 2 progeny. Ben and Ashley are here for presents, dinner, and companionship. Ashley's boyfriend, Bob has joined us, and it's nice to welcome him into the fold.
Having chronicled this Holiday Season, so far, it's time for me to shut the computer off and get a seat in the family circle.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a truly warm and wonderful Christmas experience.
On the 23rd, there was a family Holiday gathering at my eldest daughter's home. For the first time in 11+ years we were able to take photos of all 4 of my children together. This is a picture we'll cherish forever. The party was congenial and fun for everyone. Only my grandson, Dylan, was unable to attend. Sadly, he had to work.. We all missed him very much.
On the twenty-fourth, my wife's sister and her partner showed up for Holiday cheer and a grand old gab-fest. Jayne and John are such a pleasure to be around, with their interesting life on a farm in rural Upstate NY. Of course, it was an excellent time to compare the lives we all lead, and how widely varied they are within the same family. We have full time farmers, students, business owners, civil servants, engineers, and most puzzling to some of us, the Mennonite/Amish contingent.
It's heartwarming to all of us that we all get along so well, and understand each other's choices. Even though we're from different societies, religious and political beliefs, we all love one another equally.
This is notable to me because I hear the stories people tell about family gatherings and Holiday meals that are uncomfortable and often contentious. I realize that this happens, but I'm glad that our lives have room for everyone to have their differences and still be loved. I credit our ancestors' child rearing abilities, and our ability to carry on those ways, so that they have trickled down to our children. Hopefully, with lessons learned from us, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will grow to be tolerant and loving of their families ad infinitum.
Now, it's Christmas Day. It's a small gathering consisting of Meg, myself and our 2 progeny. Ben and Ashley are here for presents, dinner, and companionship. Ashley's boyfriend, Bob has joined us, and it's nice to welcome him into the fold.
Having chronicled this Holiday Season, so far, it's time for me to shut the computer off and get a seat in the family circle.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a truly warm and wonderful Christmas experience.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
No Blue Screen
I just got my computer back from the nerd. Yea! Right. Here's the story 'cause I need to vent.
A couple of weeks ago my computer started to need me to hit F1 to light it up every time I turned it on. The message was something like this. "You're screwed pal. Your hard drive is crashing and there's nothing you can do about it."
Well, I've had many computers head south over the years, and I was happy to have advance warning that it was packing it's bags. Being right on the ball, I headed for the local computer toy shop and picked up an external HD with twice the space of my PC's existing one. Oh yeah. Hot stuff!
I then dutifully moved all of my files from the PC to the external drive. I'm on a roll, man! After that was done, I called my favorite geek and made an appointment to get the repairs done. He told me, "order the 1TB HD in the url I'm sending you. When it comes in, call me and I'll have you bring the machine up."
Glory! Things are really moving now. It's all good, and I'm well on my way back to computer paradise. Well...maybe not so much.
The new HD arrives. I text my friendly geek and get an appointment.
This may be a good time to mention that I'd been using my crappy laptop PC for about a week by then. I'd been unable to record my weekly hour-long show for about three weeks, and struggling to do the daily half-hour show on the damn laptop. The 30 minute shows are mostly done on the broadcast program, not on my computer, so not so bad. Did I say my fat fingers don't do well on a laptop's smaller, flat keyboard? I keep scraping the totally useless touch pad. Oh yeah. Frequently, when I complete a long paragraph my hand grazes the touch pad and all is lost. That's about seven out of ten times. The longer the paragraph, the more likely I'm going to lose it.
Long story short, the computer whiz gets my PC, new HD, data laden external drive, and all. A few hours later he calls me with fantastic news. "Don, your old HD is so bad I can't get an image of your content or operating system. I know you have Win 10 on there, but I can only install Win 7 because you have the Win 10 that they gave everyone free when they did the big changeover. I don't have the code numbers for it, buddy."
Another day passes. No computer yet. Then, there's more good news. "Hey, Don. I was able to get Win 10 on your new HD, but none of the data. I can show you how to load that when you pick your machine up."
"You can't do it there?" I inquire.
"Well, yes. But, it takes hours, and I'd have to charge you a lot more."
"Yeah, show me when I come get it."
Another long story shortened considerably. He told me all about how to do the file transfer starting with taking a fresh "image" of my Operating System (Win10). By the time I left, I knew I was on my own. Seriously, I was up shit creek without a paddle, in a leaky canoe.
I don't know how, but I got enough stuff loaded into this PC so that I'm using it to write this blog entry. I still have to install all of my programs, one by one. The best news for now is that all of my archived programs, pics, logos, interviews, music, and information is available on my external hard drive.
I'm hoping to one day get smart enough to put all of that stuff on the internal HD of this machine where it'll be a lot more convenient to access.
The moral of this tale is when the slightest problem arises on your computer, call the nerd immediately. Don't wait a minute. Take that damn computer and drop it in the geek's lap. You'll be glad you did.
So long for now, and happy computing. Maybe I'll go clean up my old typewriter.
A couple of weeks ago my computer started to need me to hit F1 to light it up every time I turned it on. The message was something like this. "You're screwed pal. Your hard drive is crashing and there's nothing you can do about it."
Well, I've had many computers head south over the years, and I was happy to have advance warning that it was packing it's bags. Being right on the ball, I headed for the local computer toy shop and picked up an external HD with twice the space of my PC's existing one. Oh yeah. Hot stuff!
I then dutifully moved all of my files from the PC to the external drive. I'm on a roll, man! After that was done, I called my favorite geek and made an appointment to get the repairs done. He told me, "order the 1TB HD in the url I'm sending you. When it comes in, call me and I'll have you bring the machine up."
Glory! Things are really moving now. It's all good, and I'm well on my way back to computer paradise. Well...maybe not so much.
The new HD arrives. I text my friendly geek and get an appointment.
This may be a good time to mention that I'd been using my crappy laptop PC for about a week by then. I'd been unable to record my weekly hour-long show for about three weeks, and struggling to do the daily half-hour show on the damn laptop. The 30 minute shows are mostly done on the broadcast program, not on my computer, so not so bad. Did I say my fat fingers don't do well on a laptop's smaller, flat keyboard? I keep scraping the totally useless touch pad. Oh yeah. Frequently, when I complete a long paragraph my hand grazes the touch pad and all is lost. That's about seven out of ten times. The longer the paragraph, the more likely I'm going to lose it.
Long story short, the computer whiz gets my PC, new HD, data laden external drive, and all. A few hours later he calls me with fantastic news. "Don, your old HD is so bad I can't get an image of your content or operating system. I know you have Win 10 on there, but I can only install Win 7 because you have the Win 10 that they gave everyone free when they did the big changeover. I don't have the code numbers for it, buddy."
Another day passes. No computer yet. Then, there's more good news. "Hey, Don. I was able to get Win 10 on your new HD, but none of the data. I can show you how to load that when you pick your machine up."
"You can't do it there?" I inquire.
"Well, yes. But, it takes hours, and I'd have to charge you a lot more."
"Yeah, show me when I come get it."
Another long story shortened considerably. He told me all about how to do the file transfer starting with taking a fresh "image" of my Operating System (Win10). By the time I left, I knew I was on my own. Seriously, I was up shit creek without a paddle, in a leaky canoe.
I don't know how, but I got enough stuff loaded into this PC so that I'm using it to write this blog entry. I still have to install all of my programs, one by one. The best news for now is that all of my archived programs, pics, logos, interviews, music, and information is available on my external hard drive.
I'm hoping to one day get smart enough to put all of that stuff on the internal HD of this machine where it'll be a lot more convenient to access.
The moral of this tale is when the slightest problem arises on your computer, call the nerd immediately. Don't wait a minute. Take that damn computer and drop it in the geek's lap. You'll be glad you did.
So long for now, and happy computing. Maybe I'll go clean up my old typewriter.
Monday, November 06, 2017
Answers Needed (to obvious questions)
Sunday, November 5, 2017. Another mass murder in the US. This time in Sutherland, Texas, and 26 are killed at their Baptist church. Eight members of one family are no longer with us, and roughly a score of wounded are recovering in area medical centers. Some of them may not survive.
Like Charlotte, Las Vegas, and in Connecticut a gun was used to do the slaughter. Again, it was a man with an ax to grind and the stupidity or insanity to grind it with mass mayhem.
I don't have the answers to stopping, or even slowing down this horrible spate of human destruction, but I'm hoping that wiser heads will.
I believe that feeling sorrow for the victims and families effected by the killings, and praying doesn't hurt. It may serve to comfort them. I agree that we need to sympathize and do everything we can to help those who are torn apart by these terrorist acts to recover as best they can. Our humanity binds us to do whatever we can to make their suffering less painful, if that's even possible.
Hand wringing and praying will not solve the problem. Saying "we stand with the victims and their families" offers no real assistance. Blaming these tragic outcomes on the possible mental illness of the perpetrator is useless small talk.
We must call upon the political leaders of our states and The United States, to find solutions. It's an epidemic. If it were a disease, nothing would be spared to find a cure. Let's cajole, beseech, beg, and even bully them to get a grip on gun violence in OUR America, and find the cure.
Like Charlotte, Las Vegas, and in Connecticut a gun was used to do the slaughter. Again, it was a man with an ax to grind and the stupidity or insanity to grind it with mass mayhem.
I don't have the answers to stopping, or even slowing down this horrible spate of human destruction, but I'm hoping that wiser heads will.
I believe that feeling sorrow for the victims and families effected by the killings, and praying doesn't hurt. It may serve to comfort them. I agree that we need to sympathize and do everything we can to help those who are torn apart by these terrorist acts to recover as best they can. Our humanity binds us to do whatever we can to make their suffering less painful, if that's even possible.
Hand wringing and praying will not solve the problem. Saying "we stand with the victims and their families" offers no real assistance. Blaming these tragic outcomes on the possible mental illness of the perpetrator is useless small talk.
We must call upon the political leaders of our states and The United States, to find solutions. It's an epidemic. If it were a disease, nothing would be spared to find a cure. Let's cajole, beseech, beg, and even bully them to get a grip on gun violence in OUR America, and find the cure.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Dream of Life
Dream of Life
(c) 2017 - D. J. Winfield
With hungry eyes afire
The Dream swells in his heart
The young man grows impatient
To quickly take his part
Strong and quick at twenty-one
His life has yet no past
He teases each moment and pushes
As though it were the last
Seasons flow together
The Dream will have to wait
At forty he knows reality
Wipes his brow and lengthens his gait
Where did they go so quickly?
Those ideals so real and alive
They're missing now, but not the pain
For the man at sixty-five
Sunset's fingers touch a weathered face
No friends to ring the phone
The Dream alive for ninety years
Now dies with him, alone
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Something NEW! Podcasts....
Hi there!
To my followers, accidental viewers, and even my few "Somewhat North of Disorder" blog friends, some nearly inconsequential news. Not to me, however. To me, it's very consequential.
As of today, I'm introducing a new facet to my career as an internet radio entertainer, Trop Rock music aficionado, and freestyle blogger.
Starting today, I'll be publishing podcasts of what I contend are interesting and/or entertaining musical programs. Some will be the regular weekly radio broadcasts I do for www.ShoreLifeRadio.com. Mostly, however, they'll be specially packaged shows to honor and celebrate specific musicians.
To kick it all off, I'm introducing an artist with musical creds stretching back a few decades but who's new to the Trop genre.
Go to the link below, and get to know Dayglo Red, and his new concept, "American Reggae". You'll hear all the tracks from his new "American Reggae" CD, introduced by the artist himself. You'll love Dayglo Red and his stories.
Enjoy!
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/johnparrothead/episodes/2017-03-24T07_28_55-07_00
To my followers, accidental viewers, and even my few "Somewhat North of Disorder" blog friends, some nearly inconsequential news. Not to me, however. To me, it's very consequential.
As of today, I'm introducing a new facet to my career as an internet radio entertainer, Trop Rock music aficionado, and freestyle blogger.
Starting today, I'll be publishing podcasts of what I contend are interesting and/or entertaining musical programs. Some will be the regular weekly radio broadcasts I do for www.ShoreLifeRadio.com. Mostly, however, they'll be specially packaged shows to honor and celebrate specific musicians.
To kick it all off, I'm introducing an artist with musical creds stretching back a few decades but who's new to the Trop genre.
Go to the link below, and get to know Dayglo Red, and his new concept, "American Reggae". You'll hear all the tracks from his new "American Reggae" CD, introduced by the artist himself. You'll love Dayglo Red and his stories.
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/johnparrothead/episodes/2017-03-24T07_28_55-07_00
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Sunday Morning at "Roadkill Cafe"
Sunrise, as seen through the window of the Roadkill Breakfast & Lunch Cafe in the East tower of the Wormgear Mall, is a splendorous sight. I'm at the RBLC having a heart-healthy breakfast of goose eggs, over easy with garlic & onion home fries, unnamed meat sausage, & veggie juice made with a blend of home grown cabbage, dandelions, & beets.
The gossip from the kitchen this morning is all about fence sitting international diplomacy in the Middle East, chef Earl's pregnant goat, & the "huge immigrant problem" in Sweden. Bertha Wright just came in and said that VP Pence tracked the Bowling Green Massacre terrorists to Sweden, and they've blown Stockholm up before doing themselves in.
The diners seem split about the fake news we're watching on TV. Seventy percent of the munchers believe that an 18 wheeler ran over the bank on I-88 & flipped, 'cause they saw a video of it on the tube. Thirty percent say it didn't happen, 'cause they heard Jim Bob, a local 'possum trapper, say he "knows it never happened", 'cause he didn't see it. He says the mayor assures him that there's never been a truck accident on the highway. "Safest road in the world," Mayor Billy Jim says. On another note, the word is there's no NASCAR from Daytona today. It was mentioned on the fake news, so we all know it's a lie.
We just found out the sausage is venison. Fairly fresh meat, just scraped off the bumper of the truck that didn't hit it on the Interstate. The same big-rig that didn't swerve to miss it, and isn't hooked to the giant tow truck out in the Cafe's back parking lot. We know it's not out there because that damn lyin' blonde anchor on the morning news said it is. No need to check it out.
Bon appetite!
We just found out the sausage is venison. Fairly fresh meat, just scraped off the bumper of the truck that didn't hit it on the Interstate. The same big-rig that didn't swerve to miss it, and isn't hooked to the giant tow truck out in the Cafe's back parking lot. We know it's not out there because that damn lyin' blonde anchor on the morning news said it is. No need to check it out.
Bon appetite!
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