Category: People

  • Robin Williams Peace Plan

    Robin WilliamsOne of the funniest men alive, wearing a shirt that say’s “I love NYC” in Arabic, delivers a stand-up comedy routine to the troops stationed in Iraq during a USO tour.
    Note: It’s been brought to my attention that Robin Williams may not have said any of the following suggestions and that this blog article may be derived from a hoax email sent to me. However, some very pertinent points are made in this monologue, you decide whether it’s funny or not? or if Robin Williams said it?
    BTW: Here’s a quote from an interview with Robin Williams by USA Today about his USO comic routines;

    Williams said he’s “never been censored,” but the USO has asked him to tone down off-color jokes. He said his stage banter is “something from home that’s kind of wild, not your standard USO show.”

    “I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I haven’t heard of plan for peace yet. So, here’s one plan for peace”

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  • What Me Worry?

    Ever wonder Where Alfred E. Newman Went? Alfred E. Newman

  • Shelley Anne Day

    It’s my sister’s birthday today and I tried calling her but she was out-to-lunch (no pun intended). I’m blessed with a great family and love both my sisters, as they’re so magnanimous, clever, and enthusiastic. Shelley is particularity feisty, almost to the point of being stubborn, but has great sensibilities and incredible values.

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  • Point of Life

    For several years I’ve been subscribed to a Newsletter by a man from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, named Michael Levy. I really can’t even remember how I came about to be registered, because it’s been so long. Perhaps through “Science of Mind” as I attended the services regularly for many years when I lived in South Florida, and met lots of interesting people.
    At any rate the description of the newsletter called “Point of Life Global Spirit” is as follows – Always:- Thought Provoking – Stimulating – Energizing – Refreshing – Inspirit. It arrives in my in-box about once per month and I always seem to enjoy it, and most often get some benefit from it. Today I received a new issue, which is why I was thinking about it tonight, and recalled that it provided me some amusement.

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  • Body by design

    Body by design

    Aaron on Big Rock Brazil - Pedra Grande and Body by designMy girlfriend has pictures around our house from the good old days, when I was some 20 pounds lighter than I am now. Without trying to sound like a diet-sales-spam, I’m going to use the cliche “I’ve struggled with my weight for most of my life”. I suppose I’m lucky that I’m not obese, and never have been, but my issue is how easy I put the extra weight back on, after I work hard to loose it, especially these days. Now I want a body by design.

    Being older it stands to reason that my metabolism burns less calories than it used to, therefore I have to be more pro-active to drop pounds than I used to be.

    It feels rather odd to be writing about something so personal, but let’s face-it, all aspects of our lives are effected by a healthy body, and the image in the mirror is one that we wish would match our own ideal perception, of how we should look. If we’re not happy with what we see in the mirror, then how can we expect other people to like us enough to believe in our abilities? It’s so easy to let the body get out of hand and then the self-esteem is dragged down with it, like an endless cycle.

    Sure I know that our outward image is not the core of happiness, yes being obsessed with looks is a sure sign of vanity, but what about the lack of energy from poor nutrition? and just the feeling of being overweight? when the clothes don’t fit well and an obvious craving for caffeine and/or sweets interrupts our work? as the body runs tired trying to burn off all the toxins ingested the previous night. Again, and endless cycle, not to mention the simple discomfort of having the added bulk on the frame.

    Ok, it’s obvious the time has come again to make changes and enact some self-improvements. Despite the plaguing knowledge that this year alone I’ve embarked upon at least 5 earnest efforts to gain control over my personal eating habits. Having kept a journal with a diary and an ink pen, which by the way seems novel, in this day of high-technology and with all these blogs, but no-one but me reads my journal, whereas I’m not sure who reads this Blog. Anyway, I’m using this Blog to improve-myself and hoping that baring my soul a little will further motivate me to remain more disciplined about my health regime.

    What I have learned from looking back in my ink and paper journal, is that it’s relatively easy for me to drop the first 4 kg (weight is measured in kilograms here in Brasil), and once I lost as much as 7, but then I always broke the good patterns and quickly put the weight back on. So this time, I’m aiming for 10 kg loss by January 1, which is about 22 lbs. and makes an average of 3 lbs per week. This is realistic for me, and according to my knowledge of nutrition, shouldn’t cause any health risks or leave me with too much diminished energy and could give me a body by design.

    Update – March 11, 2019 – I’m more fit and active as ever and managed to get a grip on eating habits, which as much as anything meant eating much, much less and attempting to sustain longer periods of fasting and try to eat just enough to sustain myself, so I can eat some sweets, croissants, and cookies with my coffee, which I drink too much of.

    The road to success is paved in coffee

    Since I started taking Vancouver Island Ormus and Super Foods in Green Extracts I’ve been able to enjoy more energy and feel stronger. Admittedly I get my protein from meat and dairy,  plus have taken to drinking milk but without a doubt the single biggest thing is no beer for one year and zero alcohol, so once I adjusted to being sober, it was a cinch. ~ Cheers!

    November 20, 2020 – I stopped eating meat altogether about 60 days ago and haven’t noticed any adverse effects. Also, Hawaiian Spirulina and MCT Oil with the Ormus, plus much more fruit, mostly oranges apples and bananas but plus lots of berries and grapes. Totally enjoying learning to wok tofu and discovering new veg for stir fry. Now I eat fish much more than ever before and now I’ve been able to keep my weight in a 10 pound range, for several years.

    December 29, 2021 – I gradually became less and less strict and started drinking too much beer, then my cooking became less important. Manage to eat enough fruit and vegetables to maintain good health but it’s my fitness routine that makes me strong. Maximizing fresh air intake by taking the screens off my windows and opening all 8 of them to the max, even if the temperature is below zero I dress warmer and leave them open as much as I can. The Pacific coast air is super beneficial (in my mind).

  • Aaron Arthur Day

    My name is Aaron Day and I’m the Webmaster of Silicon Palms and Winning Streak. Since 1995 I’ve been involved with on-line Gambling and met my lovely Brazilian wife Paula, the love of my life, in Curacao in 1996, while installing the first Casino and Sportsbook online in that country (now there are hundreds).
    Originally born in Vancouver, Canada, I was always curious about what was over the next hill, so quit high school at 16 and set off to make my fortunes. Worked in the oil fields of northern Canada on big pipeline jobs, lived in hundred + man camps inside the Arctic Circle and planted trees in the Rocky Mountains. By the age of 19 I had a vision, while living in 40 degrees below zero climates, that I would be involved with the Internet and live somewhere warm, problem was that the web wouldn’t be invented for 12 more years and I didn’t know how to turn on a computer.

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  • The History of my Grandfather

    William John Kane – 1907-2000
    William John Kane was born in Dublin’s fair city in 1907. He was the offspring of Mary and William George Kane of -2 Chester Road Dublin, Ireland. Willie, as his mother called him, was born in Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital on the 21st of July 1907. He was a two-month premature baby and the smallest baby ever born in the Rotunda Hospital. His father, William George Kane, was not alive at the time of the birth. He died on March 9th1907 at the tender age of 25 years old. Apparently, after playing soccer one cold and rainy day he developed a cold which progressed into pneumonia and he died four months before the birth of his wee baby.
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  • Richest woman in the World

    Ruth Parasol is one of the founders of PartyGaming. A controversial figure, Ms. Parasol refuses to be interviewed. Listed as # 164 on the Forbes 400 List, with a Net Worth of $1.8 B.
    The British IPO of PartyGaming resulted in a storm of tabloid and mainstream press coverage of Ms. Parasol, which further clouded the background of the reclusive billionaress. However, it is clear that she was a member of the American Bar Association until the IPO and she had some involvement with the Internet porn industry prior to her work on PartyGaming.

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  • Brother and sister

    Shelley-and-Aaron

    My sister Shelley and I have always been close friends, and living here in Brasil I think about her often and miss hanging-out with her. Now the baby she’s carrying in the photo, has turned out to be a great little boy, my nephew Jacob. A couple of days ago I received pictures from Canada of the Thanksgiving Party at my Dad’s house, and Shelley was smiling, with her son Jacob, now about 7 years old. That means the photo was taken in about 1998.

  • My body, mind, and spirit

    My body, mind, and spirit

    Since I changed this Weblog from being more of a personal journal, formally called “a Canadian Living in Brazil”, and mostly about my observations from living and working here in Sao Paulo, Brasil, to a more corporate type Blog with articles about my various different web development projects, plus categories for stories about people and places. Now I added body, mind, and spirit because these are things that really matter to me, and I enjoy writing about these aspects of my life.

    Cachaça Caipirinha - mind, body and spirit
    This weblog helps me improve myself and my life. Let’s face it we’re all confronted with challenges in our lives, and sometimes the best way to work through them is to express yourself in words, or in my case webpages. From 44 years of living a fairly ambitious lifestyle, I’ve learned that the challenges related to most things can be overcome, usually with persistence or perseverance, and almost always with a good purposeful use of the mind. Perhaps the worst challenges are those related to the body or mind, and these would effect the spirit. However, having a good attitude might be the main key to overcoming any and all challenges. It’s not possible for me to go through life without reflecting on body, mind, and spirit.
    Your body is your temple, my mother would say.

    When I was younger there wasn’t much time (I thought) for philosophical debate about health and lifestyle, as I was too busy just living it. Now I’m starting to see and feel the effects of aging and find more time to reflect on the topic of my body. I enjoy good food and love sex, but who doesn’t? Also, in recent years I’ve been known to tip back a few beers, savor a good bottle of wine with friends, or even down a couple of powerful cocktails ie. the famous Brazilian “Caipirinha“. Each week my wife Paula and I try to run (or jog may be more like it) at least 4 days per week, play tennis and occasionally (not nearly enough) swim in the giant pool at our wonderful and massive Club. So, all that being said, you can understand why I’ve added those categories to this Weblog, and also why I think these are things that I most enjoy writing about.

    If you’ve just read all that, then I thank you for taking the time. The weird thing about keeping a Blog, is that sometimes it tends to get personal but I think that’s what keeps it interesting, at least for me. The idea is to add a little here and there everyday, and over time, an interesting type of story starts to unfold, which is different to every reader, as they mix and match the various different categories. But truthfully, I’m not doing this for your benefit, although I hope that you do benefit, but instead for my on self-therapy, and so I’ll have stuff to look back on.
    In closing I’d like to say, that even though I’m not a particularly religious person, I do believe in a higher, or universal power, for whom I’ve chosen to use the name God, which would make it evident that I believe in God, as I believe that I do. And having said that, I’ll take this opportunity, to thank God, for proving me with a good body, decent mind, and strong spirit.