Who is Ken (stickman) ?

Some sites are just fun.  There is a website called   www.sticksite.com .    It's gonna be tough to explain this one, but it's wirth it;

Website:   www.sticksite.com
Owner:     Mr Ken (StickMan) and his Family

Before I go into what the site is about, I regretfully have to inform us that the site is being managed by his loving sister because Mr. Ken (StickMan) passed away.

As a visitor to their site, obviously they never new me personally.  But when someone puts that much caring into their site,  it's hard not to feel like they are  my friends. All of us will eventually pass away.   So I don't think there is any reason to shy away from admiring the website that he and his family spent (and continue to spend) so much time taking care of. I will try to Email  administrators of his site, If they would rather keep the site as "stand alone",
without external links to it, of course I will remove this post immediately.

Mr Ken (StickMan)  is a hobby-ist who turned wood (sticks as he jokingly called them) into USEFUL artistic items.
What do I mean ??  well, how about  walking canes, picture frames and things of that nature.
His site explains it better than I can.  

Something that really let's me know he's my kind of guy, are the sections he devoted to Senior Citizens
and Disabled people .  The pages for Seniors are soooo funny. When I saw them I said, "GIMME YOUR BLOG !!!" and that's why I'm the GimmeYourBlog-Monster  !!!!   Give a look at his page segment below then head immediately over to his website !!!






Normally I have a second entry in my posts, but this time - I think a song might be more appropriate.  So here is something that  I'm dedicating to Mr. Ken (stickman) AND his kind Sister  - hope you like it
it's Dr Hook  -  Better Love

GYB-M Goes to Broadway

I think the GimmeYourBlog-Creature needs to get out more.  He needs to be more lively - sort of speak.  I think I found something to help him out.  It's a wonderful website called   43Things.com - and it's great.

43Things.com  is the world's largest goal-setting community.
I think original ideas are rare, but they got one.   And here's the fun part. 

Memberships are FREE.  and they not only have very caring and helpful members but they also have an informative forums community that even provides a section on "how to" - I mean anyone who asks how to acheive a particular goal will get loads and loads of expert advice,
that actually works - here that GYB-M  ??
                     
It's always easier to achieve a goal when you have a support system - and these guys are great  !!  

All of us who take life with increasing seriousness, will benefit from 43Things.com






Now if there is one thing that picks me up,  it's a Broadway Musical Play.
Believe it or not,  I found a website that lists all of the Broadway plays EVER CREATED - no kidding.

The website:    www.musicals101.com
owner:            John Kenrick


This is the The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theater, TV and Film.
If this doesn't pick up GYB - M,  nothing will !!  

John Kenrick,  put the pro in professional.  Listen to this:  He is a Professor at NYU, and NYC.
Devoted years and years of research, talking with celebs, teaching, writing - you name it.
And all because of his love for the stage.   His site really is an encyclopedia of musical theater.

If I had to guess,  he probably has 2 gigabyte of information on his site - that's a lot.
And it's in all media - Videos,  MP3's , text AND photos (my personal favorite).

How do you explain what's in an encyclopedia ??   I don't know - guess you have to see it
to believe it.

One Writer, One Ghost - Vol 1

All of us have blogs, even GYB-Critter (I mean Creature) has this one.  This series, One Writer   -  One Ghost, is about blogs created by Writers, whose writings stand out in the crowd.

Some say that our ancestors are ghosts from the past.  But in some ways I feel that we are ghosts, of our ancestors  future selves.  for any  who dost study history, one begins to understand that they (those from the past)  do not repeat the things we do,  but surely we repeat the things they have  done .

Our first blog:      innerramblings.com
Owner/Writer:    J. S. Millard


Apart from being a blogger J. S. Millard is also an established Author AND winner of the prestigious NaNoWriMo Award, if you don't know what this acronym means pay a little visit to their blog for details.

Wonderful writing style,  each post reminds me of letters to a close friend. Sometimes a simple description of a visit to the family doctor reveals more about ourselves, than a complicated murder mystery
filled with plot twists.   less is more. 





And so I followed a trail of previous writers, with similar writing styles,  as far back as I could.
This path lead me to Elinore Pruitt Stewart.   a woman homesteader who lived in Wyoming in 1909.

What is their connection ??

>> "We are all engaged in the task of peeling off false selves."  << 
Layer by layer, we re-trace our private moments, in order to solve the puzzle.

 A trip to the post office,  a stranger on the street,  ...  the mystery of the me.

Look at  this breif statement by Elinore Pruitt Stewart (1909)  -

                  "I raised a great many flowers and I worked several days in the field
                  I just love to experiment, to work, and to prove out things"


and now this one by Millard (2014) -

"The lettuce is still growing well, and the cucumbers are yielding about 2 a day.
The tomatoes are starting to come out, and I think the eggplant and broccoli aren’t too far behind.
I love being able to walk outside and pick a salad for dinner every night."

Their connection is that they are ... following the same clues, and solving the same mystery.
The mystery of the Me.



Credits & Sources:
--------------------
Book Title:       ****The Journey Inward - Women's Autobiography
Authors/contributors:
        Eudora Welty, Elinore Pruitt Stewart, Zora Neal Hurston,  Isadora Duncan,  Margaret Mead
Website (pdf):
      www.okhumanities.org/Websites/ohc/Images/Programs/LTAIO/journey_inward.pdf


Book Title:     Letters of Elinore Pruitt Stewart  
Website:     www.gutenberg.org/files/16623/16623-h/16623-h.htm
addendum for Gutenberg.org:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

The Actors Obsession

All actors/actresses are obsessed with hiding who they really are.
That is what acting is. Steven Thompson has figured out a way to maintain their privacy yet capture glimpses of the true person.

it's called:       bookstevebijou.blogspot.com
created by:     Mr Steven Thompson


I'll try to describe his site. it's not just any old blog. Every time I click on a different post, he brings in a different medium. The window below shows Newspaper clipings. Not just any old clipings. Someone (I guess it's him) spent a lifetime carefully cutting out rare news articles about all the tv stars I've ever heard of. These are real articles. The stories within these articles are breath-taking. These are the real lives of are favorite stars.

Their real lives are always more thrilling than the movies they play in. This always was. The characters that all actors play, pale in comparison to the actor himself.
And the greatest mystery of all, can we ever really know the actor - or is it yet another performance.

      Well, bookstevebijou.blogspot.com is probably as close as we'll ever get.
      Mr Steven Thompson has spent un-told hours trying to peel back
      the curtain BEFORE the actor has finished putting on The persona.
      Leaving him half masked, half exposed.




The downside of having the GYB-monster as my best friend is that, He sort of does whatever he wants.

He's not totally uncontrollable, but he has his moments.
I can't get him to turn the television off, He likes to watch the Brady Bunch. Hey, perhaps if I right a blog about tv shows from the 70's he will get distracted and i can turn it off. Let's give that a try.

Well when I think of tv shows from the 70's, one that is high on the list is The Brady Bunch. Even GYB-M likes this one.
So I found a blog that is truly devoted to the Brady family.

      that blog is: veryBradyblog.blogspot.com
      created by: Mr Johnny Dimsdale

This site is sooo wonderful. full of pics and videos from his personal collection. no kidding he owns footage that is available no where else. 
How did he do That ??
He's not telling and I don't blame him. I'm just glad he is sharing it with me and GYB-M. 
Actually GYB-M prefers to be called a creature, instead of a monster.   Sorry GYB-C.     Anyway, back to The Brady Bunch.

The stars are:       Mike brady (father) - Robert Reed
            Carol Brady (mother) - Florence Henderson
            Alice Nelson (co-star) - Ann B. Davis
            Greg Brady (oldest son) - Barry Williams
            Marcia Brady (oldest daughter) - Maureen McCormick
            Peter Brady (middle son) - Christopher Knight
            Jan Brady (middle daughter) - Eve Plumb
            Bobby Brady (youngest son) - Mike Lookinland
            Cindy Brady (youngest daughter) - Susan Olsen



please visit veryBradyblog.blogspot.com and be prepared for endless entertainment, fun facts and superior pics and video.

**special note: The Brady Bunch is not the only sitcom on his site. there are
     many, many others e.g. The Love Boat, Mannix, on and on...

Timeless Literature

Like all the other monsters out there, the GimmeYourBlog monster is not very well cultured.
But we BOTH love SparkNotes.com (created by SparkNotes LLC) - great site. Even the GYBM
occasionally enjoys fine literature. Here's a sample. This sample refers to the the classic
Lord of the Flies - I really love this one. Not only do they provide a chapter by chapter review,
but also chapter analysis by their professional editors AND user/member comments - WOW
This is Great. As we all know, Lord of the Flies is about a group of boarding school kids
who get stranded on an island. The society they attempt to create deteriorates into
savagery and ritual sacrifice. If that perks your interest - head on over to SparkNotes.com
to get the full commentary that this classic deserves. Be sure to checkout their MindHut - its fantastic !!


Website: SparkNotes.com
Owner: SparkNotes LLC











Few things bring (GYB) as much joy as a ugly house.

This time we visit a site named: uglyhousephotos.com
owner: John Hall


uglyhousephotos.com is a site that features the best of the worst.
It's a different and out of the ordinary blog. And also has a huge amount
of photos of real houses. The great thing is that no photoshop touch-ups were needed.
A real time saver.


So if you want a good laugh OR decorating tips, please visit uglyhousephotos.com
created by John Hall (thanks for the sweet memories ).

Best Websites 2013

Like all the other monsters, the GimmeYourBlog-monster gets a little "out of control" when he sees a great website.   Let's just say, he has "issues".
This year out of all the great web pages out there. Our creature-friends love 2 of them more than the rest.

These are:
                     http://theironsaint.com                       created by Morgan Rose

and               http://hobolobo.net                            created by Stevan Zivadinovic

you gotta see em to believe em     !!! 
 Originality:    Developing a great web page invovles thinking up a new multimedia concept
                     that ties all of the components together.  This is not easy.




Technical Skill:
After talking it over with the the Fab Five (WolfGuy, The Count , Frankster, 50 foot woman, GYB) we all agree that DHTML Design is difficult,  fluent HTML is not enough.  These days we have to know
 several programming languaegs (flash, javascript, xml...).   These Developers are some of the best !!





A  Strong  Stomach:  there is always the chance that all of your hard work will go TOTALLY UN-noticed.  This is common, but not easy to accept.  For a person to put forth the effort without knowing if it will be successful,  is quite daring.

Please visit theironsaint.com and hobolobo.net to get the full visualization of these sites. But, Beware, these sites are horribly magnificient.
screaming  or  running away won't help , just remain calm.

Classic Cinema review blogs of Classic Movies and Actors

So let's start with a Great movie review site:
moviepalace.blogspot.com
owner: Mr. Micheal.

Intelligent, passionate, reviews of cinema.  I see him as the night watchman of classic american culture. Please visit his site and maybe even become
a member of the Movie Palace ! below is a post from his site.






Well, you can't have movies without actors. our next site is:
harlowgold.tripod.com
owner: Mrs. HarlowGold.

her site has a sort of motion to it, yet nothing moves. She is like a curator of quiet moments. When I visit her site i feel like the actors are about to move - but they never do. I can't describe it - i just love this site. Maybe its.... who knows, just go there for yourself - maybe you can describe it. Please visit her site and maybe even become
a member of the HarlowGold ! below is a post from his site.

Ancestry - where I come from ...

Do you know where you come from ?    Wilma Campos does !
This time we visit a site named: The Ancestors of Wilma Campos
schloetzer.atwebpages.com
owner: Mrs. Wilma Campos

Time is one of the most valuable things we have. For someone to use thier precious time documenting the lives of thier ancestors, They just don't make people like this any more. We can all learn a great deal from Mrs. Wilma Campos, bravo.
below is a post from her site.


Well, our next site is:
freemidi.org
owner: ?? The free midi.org community

this is one of my secret get-aways. And EVERY TIME i visit this site, i play my favorite of all time. Theme from Room 222 ( a tv series from the e-a-r-l-y 70's) and i mean early. Here is the kicker, they have themes from hundreds of tv shows !!! the patty duke show, golden girls, the six million dollar man....
( i really tried to stream a song from thier site - for you to enjoy. until i figure out
how - "truck on over" to freemidi.org - give yourself a treat.)