Even in absurdity, sacrament. Even in hardship, holiness. Even in doubt, faith. Even in chaos, realization. Even in paradox, blessedness
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"Life expands or shrinks in proportion to one's courage." ~Anain Nin
100-year-old decides it’s time to retire  Awwww... Winston retired this week after 75 years of cleaning and then supervising the maintenance of first, Los Angeles trolleys, and then buses. He never took one sick day and only missed one day of work — when his wife passed away. jaybird found this for you @ 12:53 in Interesting People | | permalink
Stories about good people - Pt. I  Royalty, celebrities and thousands of ordinary people owe a huge debt of gratitude to Cedric Robinson. For almost half a century, he has guided countless groups of people over a safe path across the potentially treacherous Morecambe BayAnd he has done it for a "salary" of just £15 a year. Cedric is preparing for his 43rd year as the Queen's Guide to the Sands - and despite being 72 years old, he has no intentions of retiring. He has lived in the Morecambe Bay area his entire life and became the 25th official guide when he was given the job. Born in the village of Flookburgh on the south Cumbrian coast, he was fisherman, cockler and coastguard before taking up his current role of organising the now-famous cross-bay walks which can involve up to 600 people. jaybird found this for you @ 09:02 in Interesting People | | permalink
The Big Man's always happy to see ya: Kid From Brooklyn 
I would like to take the time to introduce myself to you. My name is Michael Caracciolo. I am the president of a ticket company in New Jersey. However, although I have been in the ticket business for many years, I am certain that I am in the wrong profession. I should be an actor instead. I believe that I possess all the qualities necessary for success as an actor. I am a very conversational person, my voice easily projects, via my six foot six inch 400 pound amplifier! I also sing. My unique background, persona and life’s experience truly qualify me as one of a kind .The material recorded here is ad-libbed, improvisational and spontaneous. It contains profanity which is offered only in support of demonstrating my dramatic intensity and the context of the material. I am certain that after watching it once you will immediately want to contact me. jaybird found this for you @ 20:30 in Interesting People | | permalink
Sweet: From Skid Row to Disney Hall For months, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers had been excited about an invitation to see the Los Angeles Philharmonic in action at Disney Hall. "The anticipation is horrible," he told me a week before the designated day. He'd started showering daily at a shelter, he said, to gussy himself up as much as possible. Nathaniel was a music student more than 30 years ago at the prestigious Juilliard School when he suffered a breakdown. Today, as he continues to battle the schizophrenia that landed him on skid row, music is one of the few things that inspires and consoles him. He plays violin and cello for hours each day in downtown Los Angeles, lifting his instruments out of an orange shopping cart on which he has written: "Little Walt Disney Concert Hall — Beethoven." jaybird found this for you @ 17:03 in Interesting People | | permalink
The man who wakes up in a ditch... then goes to work at Sotheby's At 6am Hugh Sawyer wakes up to the persistent ring of his alarm clock. He rolls over with a grimace and flicks on Radio 4's Today programme. He gets up, has a wash and a shave, grabs some breakfast and rushes down to the bus stop to commute to London. When he gets to work in the bids department of Sotheby's he is always spotlessly turned out in a Gieves & Hawkes suit, a stylish tie and polished shoes. The Oxford law graduate is a regular at the gym and often meets friends for drinks in the capital's bars. In short, Sawyer leads the archetypal city life - with one exception. When his counterparts return home to their Shoreditch loft conversions or Notting Hill maisonettes, Sawyer heads to a ditch in the woods near Oxford. jaybird found this for you @ 20:55 in Interesting People | | permalink
Homo exhibitionist takes over zoo's Bear Mountain  We may be watching evolution in action. Or, we may be watching eight intrepid volunteers shivering their way through an inclement August Bank Holiday as part of the world's first "human zoo". They will live in an open enclosure for three days (though in a nod to the insulatory inadequacies of fig leaves, they will be allowed home each night) as part of a project designed to demonstrate man's impact on the environment and reveal his fundamentally atavistic nature... jaybird found this for you @ 20:06 in Interesting People | | permalink
i missed the list Eccentricity is necessarily defined relatively. For the purposes of this article, an eccentric is someone whose behavior, beliefs and/or hobbies deviate in a significant way from the accepted norms of their society, but otherwise can function largely as normal in society. He or she may be regarded as strange, odd or at least unconventional, irregular and erratic. Other people may regard the eccentric with apprehension but also with amusement. jaybird found this for you @ 15:41 in Interesting People | | permalink
waiter rant I’ve given my heart and soul to being a priest for four years. I’m supposed to go abroad to study theology next year. Now, for the first time, I realize it isn’t going to work out. “God doesn’t want you to be unhappy,” the priest says. “Then why drag me here and put me through all this for nothing?” I whisper. “I don’t know.” “God’s a real asshole sometimes isn’t he?” I say sadly. The priest leans back and smiles. “A gigantic asshole.” jaybird found this for you @ 11:50 in Interesting People | | permalink
Ped Dispenser  How long could you survive without your car? For the many Americans who think nothing of driving 10 blocks to buy a gallon of milk, the answer is obvious. But before any of you dedicated pedestrians and die-hard cyclists start feeling smug, try this question: How long could you survive without talking? Chances are, nowhere near as long as John Francis did. After a massive oil spill polluted San Francisco Bay in 1971, Francis gave up all motorized transportation. For 22 years, he walked everywhere he went -- including treks across the entire United States and much of South America -- hoping to inspire others to drop out of the petroleum economy. Soon after he stopped riding in cars, Francis, the son of working-class, African-American parents in Philadelphia, also stopped speaking. For 17 years, he communicated only through improvised sign language, notes, and his ever-present banjo. The environmental pilgrim says he took his vow of silence as a gift to his community "because, man, I just argued all the time." But it may have been Francis who benefited most of all. For the first time, he found he was able to truly listen to other people and the larger world around him, transforming his approach to both personal communication and environmental activism. jaybird found this for you @ 23:51 in Interesting People | | permalink
jaybird found this for you @ 08:38 in Interesting People | | permalink
A British performance artist has been living like an earthworm for more than week as part of a contemporary art event in England... Paul Hurley has been in plastic wrap slithering through muddy holes in Devon, United Kingdom, as part of the event. His series of performances, "Becomings Invertebrate" investigates humanity in the natural world. jaybird found this for you @ 15:41 in Interesting People | | permalink
An Affected Provincial’s 25-Step Guide An Affected Provincial’s 25-Step Guide to Social Success: How to become a Bon Vivant Do not find yourself: create yourself. Refine and embellish that which is best in you, then present it to the world.... One must be persistent. Do not be discouraged by the initial reproaches and ridicule you will doubtlessly encounter at first, as you must allow time for the mass-marketed public to acclimate themselves to your unique radiance. The first cavemen threw rocks at the sun, so this sort of thing is to be expected from the rabble (of which you were once a member, but keep that to yourself). In time, they will come to love you. jaybird found this for you @ 11:23 in Interesting People | | permalink
Rent A Peasant: Living History Rent A Peasant: Living History With Livestock ...a variety of options to suit outdoor and indoor events at historic monuments, school visits and adult education. Both the Peasants and the livestock have been used for television work. The Peasants are suitably humble and will gladly consider slightly unusual requests, such as Witches for Hallowe'en. jaybird found this for you @ 14:58 in Interesting People | | permalink
Man Has 20-Feet Long Hair; Man Has 20-Feet Long Hair; Hasn't Been Cut In 30 Years Hay, 67, is a traditional medicine practitioner from southern Kien Giang province, some 220 miles southwest of Ho Chi Minh City. He provides free treatment to villagers in the region. jaybird found this for you @ 11:54 in Interesting People | | permalink
Jack Parsons was one very Jack Parsons was one very interesting, if dangerous, human being. Using the whole six degrees of separation thing, I am only 3 from this immensely colorful, disturbing man. jaybird found this for you @ 17:36 in Interesting People | | permalink
Interview with Dr. Clifford Pickover Interview with Dr. Clifford Pickover jaybird found this for you @ 15:01 in Interesting People | | permalink
Modern primitive: Oregon forest family Modern primitive: Oregon forest family had an elaborate camp among trees Rather than live on the streets and expose Ruth to alcohol and drugs, Frank said, they hiked deep into Forest Park and built a lean-to. The pair went into the city twice a week to stop by the bank, attend church, buy groceries and clothes from Goodwill. Frank, a devout Christian, said he taught his daughter using the old encyclopedias. They grew vegetables and used the nearby creek to keep clean. They stored perishable foods in a small pool of water at the creek's edge. jaybird found this for you @ 07:21 in Interesting People | | permalink
An interview with cosmic-gadfly Genesis An interview with cosmic-gadfly Genesis P-Orridge "They're real!" exclaims Genesis Breyer P-Orridge as he unexpectedly whips up his T-shirt, revealing his surgically implanted breasts. Sitting in the stylish Brooklyn apartment, surrounded by collectable 1960s furniture and rather gorgeous ambiguous artworks, I'm somewhat taken aback. Until now I'd assumed that the ample bosom apparent beneath his clothes was padding. jaybird found this for you @ 16:24 in Interesting People | | permalink
"Opening Night" Tonight was opening night for our silly little play; many things went very wrong on the tech end of things, and I felt rather off in my performance, but the audience ate it up and loved it. I'm very pleased to be almost done with this beast. The ironic thing is that I had to shave my nipple (!) for this show, and naturally, it's called "The Complete Word of God (Abridged)." Only in a show wirtten by a troupe of rowdy British theater queens, using the bible as comedy material, would an actor have to consider taking a razor to his very soft and sensitive bits for some Janet Jacksonesque laughs. "Pastie" pictures available for the highest (or craziest) bidder... jaybird found this for you @ 23:53 in Interesting People | | permalink
Backwards driver's peace mission An Backwards driver's peace mission An Indian taxi driver is planning to drive to Pakistan in reverse to help establish peace between the nuclear rivals. Harpreet Devi, from the state of Punjab, has been driving in reverse for two years. And he has even mortgaged his house to pay for the Pakistan trip. It is all part of his "reverse philosophy," built around his experiences since the day his car broke down. ...[the] idea of it was "that you can improve a situation by going into reverse." jaybird found this for you @ 16:49 in Interesting People | | permalink
Happy 31st, Wo! 
Happy Birthday, Jen Wo! Your music and your friendship are dynamic forces that transform and illuminate. Be ever proud in your achievements, even in the humility that contains the vast creativity and spunk that is your name. Be goofy. Be exceedingly goofy. May your laughter herald the awakening of sun and the budding of spring. Know that wherever you saunter toward your destiny, you will always be our mountain girl! Love always and beyond, Jaybird jaybird found this for you @ 21:41 in Interesting People | | permalink
A tribute to Bill Hicks He was sceptical, scatological, struggling for success on his own terms. Then suddenly life changed for comedian Bill Hicks: his work was being taken seriously - and, at 31, he was dying.My favorite Hicks quote: "I lay in a field of green grass for four hours, going 'my God, I love everything.' The heavens parted, God rained down gifts of forgiveness unto my being, healing me on every level, phycically, physically, emotionally... and I realised our true nature is spirit not body, that we are eternal beings, and God's love is unconditional and there's nothing we can ever do to change that. It is only our illusion that we are seperate from God or that we are alone.In fact the reality is we are one with God and he loves us. Now if that ain't a revolution, I don't know what is!" (from the classic rant, 'Heaven Comes out of a Cow's Ass') jaybird found this for you @ 19:34 in Interesting People | | permalink
Feeling "horny?" An French gentleman Feeling "horny?" An French gentleman performs a great variety of musical works with bicycle horns strapped all over his body. WMV file. jaybird found this for you @ 12:46 in Interesting People | | permalink
Another great parrot story: Once-homeless Another great parrot story: Once-homeless 'Birdman' now teaches experts about parrots. The famed Telegraph Hill flock of wild parrots may be a familiar sight on slopes of the Greenwich Steps, where Bittner has fed and cared for the cherry- headed conures for a decade. Even so, the spectacle of a feathery cloud of green descending anywhere makes one catch one's breath. "You see them and you have to love them," says Bittner, a gentle man with a unruly mop of brown hair tinged with silver, which makes such a fine roost it is immediately taken up by one of the conures. Another perches on his arm, while still another stretches from a branch to pluck a sunflower seed from Bittner's lips. Here's a link to Mark Bittner's memoir, "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill." jaybird found this for you @ 19:42 in Interesting People | | permalink
What Famous Leader Are
jaybird found this for you @ 20:17 in Interesting People | | permalink
Nogaye Gueye, 58, describes the Nogaye Gueye, 58, describes the day her sight was restored after two years. I didn't want to imagine what it would be like to see again in case the operation did not work. jaybird found this for you @ 16:30 in Interesting People | | permalink
In the name of God In the name of God By Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Winner. I believe, we should not only look at the empty part of a glass and complain but also look at the filled part. We should be thankful for the filled part. If we have this observation, then we realize that we can fill the empty part. jaybird found this for you @ 12:08 in Interesting People | | permalink
Fasting fakir flummoxes physicians Doctors Fasting fakir flummoxes physicians Doctors and experts are baffled by an Indian hermit who claims not to have eaten or drunk anything for several decades - but is still in perfect health. jaybird found this for you @ 16:49 in Interesting People | | permalink
Champions of Nonviolence , how Champions of Nonviolence Here are in the world many people who have fought great battles for social or political justice using the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. Five amongst them stand out strongly: Martin Luther King, leader of the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s; Nelson Mandela, who brought an end to apartheid in South Africa; the Dalai Lama, who seeks a peaceful resolution on Tibet; Aung San Suu Kyi, fighting for democracy in her native Myanmar (Burma); and César Chávez, who struggled to reduce exploitation of farm workers in California. Three of these—Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Suu Kyi—have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. All proudly acknowledge their debt to Gandhi. Via MeFi... thanks homunculus jaybird found this for you @ 06:54 in Interesting People | | permalink
US babies get global brand US babies get global brand names Children have been named after big brands as diverse as beauty company L'Oreal, car firm Chevrolet and designer clothes company Armani. jaybird found this for you @ 21:50 in Interesting People | | permalink
Man survives Niagara plunge The The man, whose name has not been released by police, is the first person known to have gone over the famous north American waterfall without any protective device and lived. jaybird found this for you @ 07:48 in Interesting People | | permalink
Tears as Blaine leaves London Tears as Blaine leaves London box "I have learned more in that little box than I have learned in years. I have learned how important it is to have a sense of humor and laugh at everything because nothing makes any sense anyway. I have learned how strong we all are as human beings. But most importantly I have learned to appreciate the simple things in life -- a smile from a stranger or a loved one, the sunrise and the sunset, everything that God has given us, I love you all so much." jaybird found this for you @ 23:08 in Interesting People | | permalink
RU Sirius, the transhumanist cyberculture RU Sirius, the transhumanist cyberculture gadfly, launches a new website about nanotech and human evolution. jaybird found this for you @ 18:21 in Interesting People | | permalink
Mother of the avant-garde: Maya Mother of the avant-garde: Maya Deren was a passionate 'visual poet,' student of voudoun, and a revolutionary in experimental film who was fascinated by modern dance and Shaolin martial arts... prodigious work for a Ukrainian immigrant in 1940's America. Crossposted to MeFi jaybird found this for you @ 20:19 in Interesting People | | permalink
Which Rat Pack Member Are Which Rat Pack Member Are You? I'm Joey Bishop. I knew I'd be Joey Bishop (I wanted to be Sammy). Meanwhile, here's a great read: Frank Sinatra has a Cold, recently dubbed the best Esquire story, ever. jaybird found this for you @ 17:47 in Interesting People | | permalink
Free Beer for Pub's Most |
