Stroope

Mobile post sent by ronstroope using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3

Stroope

Mobile post sent by ronstroope using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3

Trip

I'm going to use utterli or at least try to send out mini-podcasts when I'm on the road.

Mobile post sent by ronstroope using Utterli.  Replies.

More Books About Golf and History

Yesterday was Mother's Day but I went to visit my Mom on Saturday since we expected our kids to come by on Sunday. They did and after their visit, we went shopping. My mom gave me a check, an early birthday present, and it was burning my pocket so we went to Dick's Sporting Goods and looked around at the golf equipment, balls, clubs, putters, bags, and all the related items to golf. They had lots of good sales going on but I was more interested in a particular golf book by Hank Haney called "Hank Haney's Essentials of the Swing". I didn't find it there so went went down the street to the local Barnes and Nobels bookstore. I knew they'd have the book and sure enough, I went straight to it. My golf swing is not too good so it's something I wanted and needed to get some good knowledge about from the best golf trainer of them all. He's the man who guides Tiger Woods so I know I'll learn something if I apply the principles of his book. Some of the chapters are: The Grip, Stance, Posture and Alignment,and The Backswing. You get the idea. So far, I've read chapter one I've already learned quite a bit. I'd recommend this book if asked. Well, I think I just did.
Next, as I was strolling through the bargain section, I came across the book "Einstein" by Walter Isaacson, a great writer. Only 9.95...what a bargin and it's the hardback edition. I watch this section because I love hardbacks. You can get them for a fraction of the orginal cost. The down side is that you might have to wait a year or two to get one. Then I found a book about Abe Lincoln by Michael Lind, "What Lincoln Believed". I can't wait to get into this one.

So, on the bright side, my wife and I had a great Mother's Day.

THE INNOCENCE OF A CHILD

I enjoy spending time with my grand kids. I believe that to a child "TIME = LOVE". That's something I read a while back in an article I got in an email promoting a book. I only wish I'd thought of it myself. If we are going to change the world, I think it has to start with the children. I'm not talking about being in their presence but talking to them, and relating on their level. Listening to what they have to say is important. They are full of questions and even though we give them answers it seems our answers only fuel more questions. That's a good thing to me. In a coversation my wife had with our eleven year old grandson, he asked her why we ( the United States ) didn't get all the hungry people of the world and bring them to the USA and feed them. That was a tough question from a young boy whose heart is still innocent. It's a shame that crops of food are grown and plowed under because farmers can't get "the right price" they want. I call that GREED. We have more then enough to feed the world.

ART LINKLETTER WAS RIGHT

Parker, my grandson, spent the day with me with the intention of spending the night. However, this afternoon we went to visit my mom. He was so funny. As soon as we got out of the car, Mom came out the back door and greeted us. Then he says to Mom, in his 3 year old big boy voice, " How are you today? " Of course, Mom ate that up. He did all the cute things kids do to impress adults. He sang, he danced, he rolled his eyes and followed Mom around making every step she made. He even asked her to let him see the inside of her car. Why? I have no idea, but she did it. She put him behind the steering wheel and let him play a few minutes. After that, he asked for a Sprite for me and one for himself and proceeded to eat a handful of Hershey's Kisses. While watching a country music show on RFD-TV, some guy came on and started singing the old Bobby Bare song, " I Wanna Go Home". I guess the sad song got to his little heart. He looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said, " I want to go home Pawpa Ron, (pause ) to my house. I want to see my Daddy. " I was surprised, because he's never changed his mind about spending the night that I remembered. So, after a few more minutes we headed home. After getting back to my house, I thought he'd forgotten about it. He was fine for about 10-15 minutes and then asked me again to take him home. I asked him why he wanted to go home and he responded, "I don't want to hang out with you now." After calling his dad, I put him in the car and headed south to Keithville. When we arrived he climbed out of his car seat. My wife, A.J., handed him his bag and a couple of toys. He looked at her and said, " I only have two hands, I'm not an octopus ".

Art Linkletter was right, "Kids say the darnest things". I know you're asking "Who is Art Linkletter? If you asked Parker, he'd probably answer, "Google it".

CUTTING THE CORD

I had a thought early this morning as I was waking up. What would happen if I cut the cord? By that, I mean, how would I be affected if I were to leave Twitter, Facebook and all the other social media including podcasting? Just simply walk away to a more simple lifestyle. Could I live without the internet? I've been on the web since the first browser appeared and was one of the first in my town to get online and have a website. Looking back I see how far we've come yet looking forward wondering "how far can we go?" What's next? Social media opens up your life and exposes it to the world. I no longer have local friends, I have global friends. Will I walk away from my email? After all, doesn't almost everyone have email? It might be like going to a deserted island in the middle of the ocean and watching the ship leave, never to return again. Can't change your mind now. Once you lose your contacts in the cyber world, if you went back, say five years later, would you be able to find them? Technology will be so far advanced that you might regret having missed being a part of the change. Is it possible to walk away? I don't think so, but if you don't see me for a while, don't fret, I don't have a boat.

THE QUESTION ?

What's the question:?

If one knows in their "knower" that they know something but can't explain how they know it, who put it in their "knower"? Do you know?

Have you ever known something in your "knower", your heart, inner voice, or whatever you want to call it, that you knew something was a fact and no one could change your mind? Then how did it get there? Who put the "know" in you? Someone supernatural perhaps? Could it be "God"? But, I've heard God is dead and if he is alive, he doesn't really care about me, right?

Or, perhaps it's the voice of the universe or the cosmic powers of beyond but not God...right?

Or, is God the one behind the energy of the universe or cosmic powers? Questions, questions, questions.

I suspect that God is alive and well, and still speaks to men in their hearts. I mean "knower". You know?

ALICE COOPER GOLF MONSTER

Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock 'n' Roller's 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict is one of the best books I've read in a while. It's about the rock star and his addiction to alcohol and how golf played a big role is saving his life. It's a fast read with lots of good stories of how the band Alice Cooper came into being. Later the band split and Vince became Alice Cooper. ( forgot his real last name) He legally changed his name to Alice Cooper and the rest is history. He also talks about when he became a Christian and how it changed his life and show. It's not preachy, but he tells how that came about and how he overcame alcohol and saved his marriage. If you like golf and rock and roll, you'll enjoy this book.

A LONG TIME

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything so I just thought I'd bring you up to date. Peyton stayed in the hospital for a week and then went home. He's doing fine. Caitlyn and Parker are also doing good and back in school.
Peyton has been accepted in a Magnet school for next year and he's excited about that. ( I wish I was that smart )

Health wise, I seem to be doing better but still have an occassional pain in my upper left stomach area. Possibly an ulcer?

I bought a set of golf clubs. They were the PineMeadow display clubs at a local Academy Sports store. Got them for 59.00 and the week before that bought a Nike 5900 Sumo driver for 150.00, also at Academy. They sell for 200.00 everywhere else in town as well as the internet. So, this Saturday, April 25th, I'm playing golf with a friend. Last Tuesday we went to the driving range to try out the driver and clubs. Whew, that was an experience. I'm a bit sore. It's only been about 8 years since I've played any golf. I did go to the dirving range last year to teach Peyton how to swing a club and had some clubs cut down for him. I'm hoping he'll enjoy the sport so I'll have a partner. I think he'll make a great golfer.
I'll post the results of my golf game here so you'll want to come back for a good laugh. See ya!

Meningitis

All three of my grandchildren were sick this week. Caitlyn has pneumonia and an ear infection, Parker has the flu, and Peyton has bronchitis and now has meningitis and is in the hospital. Peyton spent Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday with me. He stayed with me while Caitlyn and Parker stayed with their mom's grandmother, because the parents couldn't get off work. All three would have been too much for her. Early Sunday morning, around 4:00 A.M., Peyton was crying with back and neck pain so he was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with meningitis. Chris called me at 8:00 A.M. to let me know. Then Peyton called me on his mom's cell phone from his room to tell me all about it. He was given a spinal tap and told me it didn't hurt. Several years ago his dad, Chris, had meningitis and a spinal tap and said it was extremely painful. The doctor was amazed at Peyton's behavior during the procedure. The doctors are waiting for Peyton's culture to grow so they will know if it's viral or bacterial.

All this time, Anna Jean, my wife, was staying at the hospital with her mom who had surgery on her jaw. Her mom's jaw bone had to be replaced due to taking the drug Fosamax which caused the bone to be destroyed. It literally rotted away. She now has a metal jaw which has to be taken out in about 3 or 4 months and replaced with real bone. If the surgery had not been done her face would have become disfigured. She's 82 years old. The doctor said she's healing like a 4 year old and has the vitals of a 62 year old. I'm sure there was a lot of infection in her body caused from this as well. She wouldn't eat or talk about being in pain so we think it could have affected her mind. Since she's off the medication now she is beginning to act more like herself. I estimate that she lost at least 40-50 pounds over the past year. She came home from the hospital yesterday and A.J. went to her home to check on her this morning.

I'll keep everyone up to date with the progress of both Peyton and Meme.

THE SCARY GUY

I joined The Scary Guy's social network a couple of days ago. http://www.scaryguy.ning.com . I met him a while back when I found his website and decided to send him an e-mail. I've very impressed with his work. See below:

Who is The Scary Guy?

The Scary Guy is quite possibly The Most Powerful Agent For Change on the Planet Today!
His sole mission is ‘The Total Elimination of Hate, Violence and Prejudice Worldwide.’ These were the first words that Scary spoke when he began his mission in 1998. Since that day, Scary has worked with over 7 million people around the world promoting peace through the teaching of Love and Acceptance of all people. His audience consists of both youth and adults on an individual, community and society level, unaware of how they are using negative energy to meet their needs.


Quite a task for one man but it's something he's not afraid to do. Recently his biography was released and can be ordered in paperback or downloaded. I chose to download it because I wanted to start reading right away. The writer, Mark David Hatwood, takes you on a 5 day journey to the schools in England as The Scary Guy presents his message to the school children and teachers. You'll read stories that will tug on your heart, of kids whose lives have been damaged by other kids bullying them. You see how The Scary Guy starts his "show" to get the attention of the young and sometimes rebellious audience. He holds them under his spell with some really serious facts and once he has them in his grip, he starts to be funny, and soon talks about giving hugs. He'll coax some unsuspecting kid up, shake his hand and teach him or her how to hug, with permission. By the time the session is over the hall ways are full of kids hugging and treating their fellow classmates with respect. He does this day in, and day out. It's his life, his hobby, his love, his lifestyle. Once he leaves a school, he goes back to the hotel for some food and rest and prepares for the next day. Once that's out of the way, he answers e-mails from kids, sometimes 25 or more, that have his special coded email address. These are the ones that need help the most. Sleeping about 5 hours a night and catching a nap between sessions sometimes, is all the sleep he gets but he's quick to tell you it's all he needs. Not every school responds, not every teachers gets behind his work but he continues regardless. After all, his life is is mission.

Oh, did I mention he has tatooes over 85 percent of his body including his head, neck and face. Now, that's why he's called The Scary Guy. In fact, The Scary Guy is his legal name. I suggest you visit his site at http://www.thescaryguy.com/ and read about him, watch the videos and listen to the interviews before you decide to write him off as just another gimmick freak show. You'll be glad you did. Then go buy a copy of the book for yourself, read it, and then ask yourself, " What can I do to change my world?".

.

New Podcast ....Perhaps

Thanks to Marice Zondag for his kind comments about the ZipCast. One reason I chose to stop the podcast was so I could do some heart searching and research about what I really wanted in a podcast. I've been so impressed with the work of The Scary Guy, because he's changing the world, that I felt too that I would like to do something worthwile. I played music, talked about my life and family, and sometimes talked about my beliefs. Not too world shaking but was a lot of fun but left me feeling empty. I wanted to put out some really life changing content or at least offer people something to take home and think about. I believe in change and that it's good, if it's right. Change for the sake of change is not good. In my next Podcast, whatever the name of it will be, I hope to share some insites about life and share some thoughts and truths that anyone can apply to help with their existience. ( I hope that's spelled right ) I don't have all of the answers, but I've discovered a few that I'd like to share. If would be fun if you'd share with me what you've learned as well. Life is a journey until you decide that it's not. When you give up, don't try and give it, life becomes a burden. Don't give up, keep traveling that road. Find out where you want to go and head in that direction. Don't settle for the well traveled road, take the path that few follow. It's there you'll find the adventure you've dreamed of.

2009

Brrrrr, Jan 16, 2009

It's cold in the southland today. In Shreveport the low was 22 degrees. I know that's not very cold considering that the rest of the country is below freezing but to me 22 degrees is cold. The sun is out and the high will be 40 so I can live with it.

By now everyone should have heard about the plane crash in the Hudson River in NY. Was that a miracle or what? It was so strange watching the people standing on the wings of the plane waiting to rescued. I can only imagine how they grateful they felt.

WHAT NOW? NAILS

As of the first of this year, 2009, I've decided to no longer publish The Daily Zipcast Podcast. Although I do enjoy podcasting I felt it best to stop and try other things. New year, new projects like blogging more. Blogging is a thought process and will probably take a little longer then simply recording a podcast. Not that I didn't think about the process and content of the podcast but I do admit sometimes it was just too easy to put out a lot of nonsense than to think the project through. At least here, you won't hear me say, "you know" like Caroline Kennedy or use "uh" over an over. I'm sure I can find other ways to get your attention.

Speaking of attention, I just realised that I'll need to cut my nails more often if I'm to type. I just cut them last week and it seems they already need cutting. I hate the sound of long nails hitting the keys. I'm a man. I don't grow my nails long but if they get past a certain length, I go bonkers. It feels that they are in my way. The disadvantage of short nails is picking up thin objects off the ground like coins or slivers of paper. Nails are useful for that but that's about it.

Editing. Now that's the other thing about blogging. You have to proff read. Oops! Make that "Proof" read, So, if I'm to "nail it" as a blogger, I have to be careful about what I say and proof read for mistakes. Good English is important too. I might need some help there but as I blog perhaps that will improve too. If it gets to be too much work, I might go back to podcasting.

IT'S OPEN, THE ZIPCAST STORE

The Zipcast Store is open for business. Here's the link.

http://www.zipcaststore.us

Shop til ya drop

The Zipcast Store

I'll post a link soon to my Amazon store I simply called The Zipcast Store. Once it's up and ready you should be able to reach it by clicking on zipcaststore.us . I feature the catagories I like.

Here they are: cameras, books, the Kindle ( an electronic reading device ), musicial instruments ( and other audio items ), and electronics.

Take a look around. There's always some good deals. I'm hoping to supplement my income by promoting the site on my podcast called The Daily Zipcast. Join me sometimes as I discuss the topics of the day and some down home chatter about whatever is on my mind.

You can visit zip71101.mevio.com or go to iTunes and subscribe. You can listen online or move the mp3 file to your media player. See you there.

Ron

RAIN TODAY

I'm home today because I woke up in the middle of the night with a bad headache. It kept me from getting back to sleep for a while. After an hour or so I decided to take some Advil and within a few minutes I was fast asleep. I woke up around 5:30 and the headache was still there but not as painful. I dosed for another hour and then got up to get ready for work. After bathing I decided I'd stay at home today. I've been so busy for the past two weeks that my body seemed to tell me that I needed to slow down. The headache is gone but I feel so sleepy now. About two hours ago I was sitting on the couch and begin to dose off as I listened to the rain and the pitter-patter of it on the roof. I slept so good I didn't want to wake up but when I finally forced myself to open my eyes my head had fallen to one side and was stiff. I slowly raised my head and stretched then walked back to my computer room to check my mail. After that I got a bite to eat and checked Twitter. Nothing interesting at the moment. Now I'm blogging hoping this will help me clear my head and get my day going but somehow I've got a feeling if the rain comes back, I'll go back to sleeppppppppppppppp.

The Daily Zipcast ZIP 71101

It's almost been 2 months that I've been doing my podcast ZIP 71101 - The Zipcast, as a daily show. I wasn't sure I'd last this long but so far, so good. I've found myself moving from a personal journal podcast to a topical podcast featuring my take on current world events, technology and music with my personal material included in the mix.

I've always loved technology. I can remember when I was 10 years old, taking the back off a new transistor radio just to see how it worked. I took basic electronics in high school and had a blast but after that moved on to other things. When I got my first computer I couldn't wait to learn all I could about it. That was probably in 1980-81. Now I can't go one day without one. Podcasting opened up a door for me to explore the world of "broadcasting" again and took me back to my high school days when I was known as the guy that wanted to be a DJ. Although I don't consider myself as a DJ, I do feel I'm fulfilling my dream to communicate.

KEEPING MY HEAD ABOVE WATER

Keeping my head above water is a full time job. I'm always into one thing or another, trying this and moving on to something else. I lose interest unless I really focus on what I'm doing. There are so many things to do, places to go and things I want to try. Will there be enough time in my life to try everything? The answer is no but if I really focus on what's in front of me now perhaps I'll have some success.
Podcasting is an area I've focused on this year. I'm trying to publish a show 5 days a week. It's getting easier but the subjects are getting fewer. I wonder what I'll do next? Video? Oops! too late, been there and doing that now as well. I'm looking at ooVoo now. http://www.oovoo.com . How can I use this for my video podcasting? Perhaps Ho! Agenda would be a perfect fit for it. Viewers could watch Tom and I talk for hours about how people waste their time talking and not doing. Whoa! hmm, so that's what we do. Well at least it's entertainment for us and you're invited to listen in. Here's the links.
http://hoagenda.podshow.com
http://truckertom.podshow.com
http://zip71101.podshow.com

From time to time we get together on Skype and just yap about everything from the atom to technology. Two great wanna be minds get together and share our vision for the world as we see it. After all, we're the kings of our domains.

I think I've blogged enough for now. See you in a few weeks, months or whatever.

Ron