Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Friday, October 8, 2010
"Soccer Anyone?"
This is my grandsons school playground.
And this is the equivalent in Sao Paulo
Yah! No shit. That is actually an elementary school with the recess facilities on the roof.
Makes you wonder why they are better at soccer than us eh? Or then again maybe it explains it.
"This soccer she is a man's game."...Anononymous Italian player
love
peter
Friday, October 1, 2010
"You Want To Buy What?"
An alpaca
A what?
An alpaca
Al Who?
No, an Allll....paca!
What the f@$ks an alpaca?
It's an animal.
An aminal???
Yah.
What kind of animal?
Well it's kind of like a little camel but without the hump.
Holy cow!
No not like a cow, like a camel
Wow, does it spit like a camel?
Well yah, but not very often.
Can it go across the desert without anything to drink?
Well nooo.
Well that ain't much good!
But it can stay outside all winter.
Outside? All winter?
Yup!
Well that's kinda good I guess. How come it can stay outside?
Well because it has the densest, warmest fleece of almost any animal alive.
Wow, they must get hot in the summer?
Nope, because in the summer you cut their fleece off.
Sounds like lots of work?
Well, a little, but you can sell the fleece.
Sell it? Really?
Yup!
Wow! That's good I guess. So that's why you want an alpaca, to sell the fleece?
Well that yah, plus they're really cute.
Cute? Alpacas are cute?
Yah, just ask Kylie.
Oh, so now it comes out....Kylie think they're cute...and cuddly I suppose?
Well actually they are.
Are what?
Cute and cuddly.
You gotta be kiddin me?
No they are very nice fluffy, friendly, furry things.
Oh and how do they smell?
Not bad...well until they pee at least.
So let me get this straight. You want to buy an aplaca? A fluffy furry friendly animal that's like a little camel without a hump, that spits at you and can stay outside all winter, and who's fleece you can sell, just because Kylie likes them?
NO! I like them too!
Yah Yah whatever. Where did you learn about these alpacas?
At the ploughing match.
The ploughing match? They let women go to the ploughing match now?
Piss off...I'm buying a fu$%in alpaca!
Fine. Buy an aplpaca! I don't suppose they can cost much and I suppose if they can stay outside all winter they won't need much care.
That's right. You can get a little one for about 1500 bucks.
Whaaaatttt?
And yah they can stay outside all winter but they should at least have a little building to go into so you'll have to build something.
Whaaaatttt?
And of course you'll have to build a six foot fence with that tight weave stuff so the coyotes don't get them.
The coyotes? The coyotes will get them? Eat them? Do they taste good?
Well only if they can get inside the fence. And I don't know what they taste like. They're not for eating. They're for keeping.
So you never eat them?
Nope! You keep them for as long as they live.
No way! Really? So what? Five to seven years?
No more like twenty to twenty five.
No shit!? So if you buy an aplace now it could easily outlive me?
Well I suppose. But your odds of living for a while will go up significantly if you just build the fence and the building, and of course we'll need water in there and maybe some lights for the winter time.
How will that increase my life span?
Easy. I want some alpacas and if I have to choose between you and them I can't make any promises.
Okay okay. Fine fine. Don't have a bird! So you want some alpacas. How do you propose to pay for them at 1500 bucks a pop?
Again, easy, I'll sell my bike?
Your custom painted high tech aluminum road bike?
No stupid! Of course not. I'm talking about my Harley!
You would sell your Harley to buy some alpacas?
Yes I would!
Ok, and what is Kylie gonna ride when she turns sixteen? I know you've thought about that haven't you?
How do you know? Besides with all the money I'll make selling alpaca fleece I'll just buy her another bike in 12 years.
Well I hope she likes Japanese bikes cause you ain't buying no Harley with alpaca fleece!
You don't know nothing! I've checked it all out and you can get a samll fortune for the stuff. Try buying a pair of alpaca socks. See how much they cost!
I suppose I'll need a pair if I'm gonna be out there fence building in the middle of winter eh? God have mercy on me.
Oh thanks dear...you're so good to me. Thanks a lot!
Hey, Hey...hold on. Thanks for what? I never agreed to anything.
Oh yes you did! Besides...either we buy some alpacas or I'm tellin Kylie that you said she couldn't have them.
Please Grampa?
Welcome to Roo and Associates Alpaca Farm.
Tomorrow I will discuss the relative merits of owning a high class, internationally renowned, anniversary edition classic Harley Davidson or a fuckin alpaca!
"Something tells me I'm getting hosed....or should I say fleeced?"---Peter W Rooyakkers
love
A what?
An alpaca
Al Who?
No, an Allll....paca!
What the f@$ks an alpaca?
It's an animal.
An aminal???
Yah.
What kind of animal?
Well it's kind of like a little camel but without the hump.
Holy cow!
No not like a cow, like a camel
Wow, does it spit like a camel?
Well yah, but not very often.
Can it go across the desert without anything to drink?
Well nooo.
Well that ain't much good!
But it can stay outside all winter.
Outside? All winter?
Yup!
Well that's kinda good I guess. How come it can stay outside?
Well because it has the densest, warmest fleece of almost any animal alive.
Wow, they must get hot in the summer?
Nope, because in the summer you cut their fleece off.
Sounds like lots of work?
Well, a little, but you can sell the fleece.
Sell it? Really?
Yup!
Wow! That's good I guess. So that's why you want an alpaca, to sell the fleece?
Well that yah, plus they're really cute.
Cute? Alpacas are cute?
Yah, just ask Kylie.
Oh, so now it comes out....Kylie think they're cute...and cuddly I suppose?
Well actually they are.
Are what?
Cute and cuddly.
You gotta be kiddin me?
No they are very nice fluffy, friendly, furry things.
Oh and how do they smell?
Not bad...well until they pee at least.
So let me get this straight. You want to buy an aplaca? A fluffy furry friendly animal that's like a little camel without a hump, that spits at you and can stay outside all winter, and who's fleece you can sell, just because Kylie likes them?
NO! I like them too!
Yah Yah whatever. Where did you learn about these alpacas?
At the ploughing match.
The ploughing match? They let women go to the ploughing match now?
Piss off...I'm buying a fu$%in alpaca!
Fine. Buy an aplpaca! I don't suppose they can cost much and I suppose if they can stay outside all winter they won't need much care.
That's right. You can get a little one for about 1500 bucks.
Whaaaatttt?
And yah they can stay outside all winter but they should at least have a little building to go into so you'll have to build something.
Whaaaatttt?
And of course you'll have to build a six foot fence with that tight weave stuff so the coyotes don't get them.
The coyotes? The coyotes will get them? Eat them? Do they taste good?
Well only if they can get inside the fence. And I don't know what they taste like. They're not for eating. They're for keeping.
So you never eat them?
Nope! You keep them for as long as they live.
No way! Really? So what? Five to seven years?
No more like twenty to twenty five.
No shit!? So if you buy an aplace now it could easily outlive me?
Well I suppose. But your odds of living for a while will go up significantly if you just build the fence and the building, and of course we'll need water in there and maybe some lights for the winter time.
How will that increase my life span?
Easy. I want some alpacas and if I have to choose between you and them I can't make any promises.
Okay okay. Fine fine. Don't have a bird! So you want some alpacas. How do you propose to pay for them at 1500 bucks a pop?
Again, easy, I'll sell my bike?
Your custom painted high tech aluminum road bike?
No stupid! Of course not. I'm talking about my Harley!
You would sell your Harley to buy some alpacas?
Yes I would!
Ok, and what is Kylie gonna ride when she turns sixteen? I know you've thought about that haven't you?
How do you know? Besides with all the money I'll make selling alpaca fleece I'll just buy her another bike in 12 years.
Well I hope she likes Japanese bikes cause you ain't buying no Harley with alpaca fleece!
You don't know nothing! I've checked it all out and you can get a samll fortune for the stuff. Try buying a pair of alpaca socks. See how much they cost!
I suppose I'll need a pair if I'm gonna be out there fence building in the middle of winter eh? God have mercy on me.
Oh thanks dear...you're so good to me. Thanks a lot!
Hey, Hey...hold on. Thanks for what? I never agreed to anything.
Oh yes you did! Besides...either we buy some alpacas or I'm tellin Kylie that you said she couldn't have them.
Please Grampa?
Welcome to Roo and Associates Alpaca Farm.
Tomorrow I will discuss the relative merits of owning a high class, internationally renowned, anniversary edition classic Harley Davidson or a fuckin alpaca!
"Something tells me I'm getting hosed....or should I say fleeced?"---Peter W Rooyakkers
love
peter
Sunday, September 26, 2010
"Daytime Running Lights"
And how they've changed our society.
I thought I would sneak a little post in just to see if anyone noticed. You see I had this brilliant thought while running yesterday and needed to put it down somewhere. Now those who have read my blog in the past may argue that while I may have accidently had a brilliant thought at some point in my life, this would certainly be the first time I expressed it via this medium or any other medium for that matter. To all of those people I simply say "up yours" and stop reading now!
But enough. Here's the proof either of my brilliance or lack thereof.
Do you remember when all the cars in a funeral procession would turn on their headlights and snake through town, not stopping for any red light or stop sign on the way to the cemetary? And every vehicle, every pedestrian and every stray dog would respectfully delay their own progress to make a small gesture to the faithful departed? Yah well I remember!
And that just doesn't happen any more because you know why everyone stopped for the procession? They had their lights on! That's how you knew it was a funeral, and that was your cue to stop at a green light for 2 minutes while they passed. Now everybodys lights are on all the time and so either you don't notice the funeral, or at least you can pretend you don't.
But who cares you may ask? After all the guy is freakin dead so he don't care, and everbody else in the procession is either too greived to care or on the opposite end, never liked the guy anyway.
Well guess what my friends. It ain't about the dead guy and how it affected him that everyone took a time out to consider his death. It's about the 2 minutes you(the live one) were forced to take and what most human beings would do during that 2 minutes. I probably don't have to tell you. You would instinctively consider your own mortality and that of your loved ones, and I would be willing to bet that most people would suddenly not be in so much of a hurry, and for at least the rest of that day would be a little kinder and a little slower to bitch about something.
So if you add up all the funerals and multiply that by the amount of people who were forced to stop and thereby were a little kinder and a little gentler for an entire day you would have a lot more decency in this world!
I rest my case. That is how daytime running lights have changed our society for the worse.
It also occurs to me that if we didn't have day time running lights we would have a few more car accidents, resulting in a few more deaths, and the accompanying compassion it would bring to our world via the funeral procession would be a very good thing. Perhaps the seat belt law needs reconsidered as well huh?
....and how fitting is this quote? It's good to know that I can always defer to Emily if I need a little brilliance...
"Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me.
The Carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality"---Emily Dickinson
com muito amor
peter
I thought I would sneak a little post in just to see if anyone noticed. You see I had this brilliant thought while running yesterday and needed to put it down somewhere. Now those who have read my blog in the past may argue that while I may have accidently had a brilliant thought at some point in my life, this would certainly be the first time I expressed it via this medium or any other medium for that matter. To all of those people I simply say "up yours" and stop reading now!
But enough. Here's the proof either of my brilliance or lack thereof.
Do you remember when all the cars in a funeral procession would turn on their headlights and snake through town, not stopping for any red light or stop sign on the way to the cemetary? And every vehicle, every pedestrian and every stray dog would respectfully delay their own progress to make a small gesture to the faithful departed? Yah well I remember!
And that just doesn't happen any more because you know why everyone stopped for the procession? They had their lights on! That's how you knew it was a funeral, and that was your cue to stop at a green light for 2 minutes while they passed. Now everybodys lights are on all the time and so either you don't notice the funeral, or at least you can pretend you don't.
But who cares you may ask? After all the guy is freakin dead so he don't care, and everbody else in the procession is either too greived to care or on the opposite end, never liked the guy anyway.
Well guess what my friends. It ain't about the dead guy and how it affected him that everyone took a time out to consider his death. It's about the 2 minutes you(the live one) were forced to take and what most human beings would do during that 2 minutes. I probably don't have to tell you. You would instinctively consider your own mortality and that of your loved ones, and I would be willing to bet that most people would suddenly not be in so much of a hurry, and for at least the rest of that day would be a little kinder and a little slower to bitch about something.
So if you add up all the funerals and multiply that by the amount of people who were forced to stop and thereby were a little kinder and a little gentler for an entire day you would have a lot more decency in this world!
I rest my case. That is how daytime running lights have changed our society for the worse.
It also occurs to me that if we didn't have day time running lights we would have a few more car accidents, resulting in a few more deaths, and the accompanying compassion it would bring to our world via the funeral procession would be a very good thing. Perhaps the seat belt law needs reconsidered as well huh?
....and how fitting is this quote? It's good to know that I can always defer to Emily if I need a little brilliance...
"Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me.
The Carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality"---Emily Dickinson
com muito amor
peter
Sunday, August 1, 2010
"Do You Ever Wonder Why?"
That when a little kid sees this...
While us wise and experienced adults know very well they are only weeds. And if those flowers/weeds can be representative of the human condition can it also be true that they only look like weeds because of the eyes we see them with? Perhaps the ugly part of the plant represents all the things that went wrong; all the things we screwed up; all the tough times; all the guilt and shame we carry with us. Why does it seem I see only the weeds when they put the flower right on the very top?? The other day Kylie wanted to pick one of those ugly white things to take to her mother and I stopped her, suggesting we could find something better. We never did find anything and she eventually forgot about it. Pretty sad eh? Have to work on that I guess.
"This being human is a guest house.
Or this....
Or even this....
They see only flowers?
While us wise and experienced adults know very well they are only weeds. And if those flowers/weeds can be representative of the human condition can it also be true that they only look like weeds because of the eyes we see them with? Perhaps the ugly part of the plant represents all the things that went wrong; all the things we screwed up; all the tough times; all the guilt and shame we carry with us. Why does it seem I see only the weeds when they put the flower right on the very top?? The other day Kylie wanted to pick one of those ugly white things to take to her mother and I stopped her, suggesting we could find something better. We never did find anything and she eventually forgot about it. Pretty sad eh? Have to work on that I guess.
I know there are weeds in my life...but my god....the flowers!!!!
"This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness.
Some momentary awareness.
Comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes,
because each has bent sent
as a guide from beyond"---Rumi
And another one that hit me...
"Dwell as near as possible to the channel in which your life flows"---Henry david Thoreau
muito amor
peter
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
"Things I Take For Granted...part 3"
Being able to get in my car and drive where I want to, when I want to, and with who I want to.
Sao Paulo has dedicated lanes for buses and unlike what you may see in Canada they do not come every 15 minutes. They come constantly! As fast as people can get on or off the bus there is another one waiting. It is a continuous parade. For a large part of the population it is the only reasonable way to get around the city.
"You gotta, go where you wanna go
Do what you wanna do
With whoever you wanna do it with"----The Mamas and the Papas
love
peter
Monday, July 19, 2010
"Things I Take For Granted...part 2"
Space....
The city of Sao Paulo has 2 million more people than the Netherlands and as such they are stacked on top of each other.
These are taken from the office tower that I work in. Fortunately they have not yet disturbed the Catholic Church you see in the foreground. With this many people they need to have 7 masses every Sunday, and so they do!
"Space: The final frontier"---James Tiberius Kirk
love
peter
The city of Sao Paulo has 2 million more people than the Netherlands and as such they are stacked on top of each other.
These are taken from the office tower that I work in. Fortunately they have not yet disturbed the Catholic Church you see in the foreground. With this many people they need to have 7 masses every Sunday, and so they do!
"Space: The final frontier"---James Tiberius Kirk
love
peter
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