A Butterfly Emerges !

Every once in a while, tucked between the usual daily media doses of politics, crime and other sordid news reports, a heart warming story comes to the forefront and makes the top news story of the day. News with good results such as the the recent freeing of Captain Richard Phillips and the successful landing of the U.S. Airways jet piloted by Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger into the Hudson River come to mind.

Such is the case of 47 year old Susan Boyle, a contestant on Britain's Got Talent, the UK version of American Idol. During auditions for the show this week, Susan Boyle of the village West Lothian walked on to the stage to snickers from the audience and an eye-roll from Simon Cowell.

After she unleashed a perfect rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables," she left with the crowd on its feet. Boyle received three perfect scores and is the early favorite to win on the hit reality TV series. In just three days, the clip of Boyle's stunning performance has notched 2,605,000 views on YouTube.

Television and movies do not paint a realistic picture of the the average man or woman and sadly, it often sets goals that the average person cannot live up to or hope to attain. The reality of it all is that everyone has his or her flaws and most of us do not have the luxury of having make-up artists, hair stylists and photographers with their magic air brushes at our beck and call.

That fact notwithstanding, I cannot tell you how happy and pleased I was to see Ms. Boyle stand up amid the snickers and snide glances to show the world that one should never judge a book by its cover. Score one for the average citizen and put that in your American Idol pipe and smoke it. In case haven't seen it, you can see Ms. Boyle's performance on YouTube or by simply typing her name in your web browser and follow the links.

My Pal, Garnett, alerted me to the fact that in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion, and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed, and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country and our banking system to the same nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling whiskey.

The Cat's Ass Trophy (CAT) Award is alive and well and my pal, Linda from slowly warming Washington State has not one, but two deserving nominees for the CAT Award.

The first nominee is Hulk Hogan. Rolling Stone magazine reports that his wife Linda dumped him, forced him out of his $18 million mansion, allegedly started spending his money at the rate of $40,000 a month and dating "some shaggy-haired pool boy 30 years her junior."

Hogan told the magazine that, "I could have turned everything into a crime scene, like OJ, cutting everybody's throat. You live half a mile from the 20,000-square-foot home you can't go to anymore, you're driving through downtown Clearwater and see a 19-year-old boy driving your Escalade, and you know that a 19-year-old boy is sleeping in your bed, with your wife . . . I totally understand OJ, I get it."

The second nominees are Kristy and Michael, the two bonehead employees of Domino's Pizza who filmed themselves doing gross things to their customer's food and then were stupid enough to put the video on YouTube. Both of these yoyos are in their thirties, so it's not a case of a teenage prank, just stupidity. Both Kristy and Michael have been fired and are facing charges. There's medical remedies for just about everything, but you can't fix stupid!

It's Friday and a trip to AREA 51 is the order of the day. Maybe tonight I'll go to a karaoke bar and hang out. Who knows? Maybe I'll be "discovered."

This Date In History: 1521; Martin Luther appears before the Diet of Worms prior to his ex-communication. 1951; The Peak District becomes Britain’s first national park. 1961; US-backed Cuban exiles land at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro's government. 1975; Khmer Rouge guerrillas capture Cambodia's capital, Pnomh Penh. 1980; Zimbabwe gaims independence from Britain.

Picture Of The Day: The beautiful butterfly is the end result of what begins in life as a caterpillar. Although we are all butterflies at heart, the reality of life is that most of us remain being caterpillars and never morph into butterflies, at least superficially. The occasional exception is Susan Boyle, who may not fit the definition of a butterfly, but those of us who watched her emerge from life's cocoon know a true butterfly when we see one.

Birthdays: Henry Vaughan, Welsh poet and mystic 1622, Artur Schnabel, Austrian pianist and teacher 1882, Isak Dinesen, Danish writer 1885, Nikita Khrushchev, first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, who concurrently held the post of Soviet prime minister 1894, Thornton Wilder, American author 1897.

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) I have come to the conclusion that I get the majority of my exercise by sitting down, getting comfortable, then realizing that I forgot something in another room. 2) I've seen it all, done it all and I can't remember most of it. 3) I am enjoying Facebook and the ability to search out and find old friends and acquaintances. 4) I don't like to be told what to do unless I specifically ask for aid or instruction. 5) I'm told that 77 per cent of all the mentally ill live in poverty. Actually, I'm more intrigued by the 23 per cent who are apparently doing quite well for themselves.

The Hits Just Keep On Coming:

An Indian boy goes to his mother one day with a puzzled look on his face, "Say Mom, why is my older brother named Storm Cloud"? His mother answered, "Because he was conceived during a mighty storm." Then he asked "Why is my sister named Spring Water"? "Well your father and I were lying beside a beautiful river when we made her."

He then asked "And why is my other sister called Running Deer"? His mother said, "We were lying in the forest when she was conceived." The mother paused and said to her son, "Tell me, Two Dogs Humping, why are you so curious?"

One day a man was driving home when he suddenly realized that it was his daughter's birthday and he hadn't bought her anything. Out of the corner of his eye he notices a shopping mall. Knowing that it was 'now or never', he pulls his car through three lanes of traffic, finds a parking bay and runs into the mall.

After a frantic search he finds a toy store, goes inside and attracts the attention of the shop assistant. When asked what he'd like, he says, "a Barbie Doll." The shop assistant looks at him in a condescending manner and asks, "So Sir, which Barbie would that be?"

The man looks surprised so the assistant continues, "We have Barbie Goes To the Ball at $19.99, Barbie goes Shopping at $19.99, Barbie goes Clubbing at $19.99, Barbie Goes To The Gym at $19.99, Cyber Barbie at $19.99 and Divorced Barbie at $249.99."

The man can't help himself and asks, "Why is Divorced Barbie $249.99 when all those other Barbies are selling for $19.99???" The clerk says "Well Sir, the Divorced Barbie comes with Ken's house, Ken's car, Ken's furniture.....

That's it for today, my little butterflies. Have a great weekend and more on Monday.

Stay Tuned !