To my dear old friend Stan who lives in Cape Town whom I've known for 50 years.

Dear Old Timer

My brother Phil has asked me millions of times “How come Stan has lived for 97 years and seven months?” He goes on “Most of his peers pegged it at the end of the 19th Century!” My answers to his questions are always pretty much the same “He gets up at 5.30 am, drinks 5.7 litres of Hout Bay water (unfiltered) before anything else...sits down for 15 minutes and does gentle meditation on his prayer mat – facing east.”

And so we continue our conversation:

Jon “he then puts on his gym slip and raises his arms above his head and clasps his hands together in the Charles Atlas method of tension against tension. This is continued until his deltoids become much larger...he then proceeds down his body with this tension method to his toes. He then goes back to bed for an hour and rests. As he is already in his gym slip he goes for a very gentle walk to Hout Bay, about 100 yards, and chats to the local fishermen.”

Phil “Is that all, nothing more severe than that?”

Jon “No, no, there's a lot more to it than that.” I continue “The Hout Bay water and the walk stimulates his bowels and so he ablooots on arrival back home and cleans out all his intestines and colon...there is absolutely no crap left”

Phil: “Yes, I heard of that where cleansing the inside makes you feel wonderful especially after all the junk food we eat. I do recall our Uncle Graham eating almost every night what he used to call “sticky pudding” which consisted of sugar, saturated fats, mega doses of lard and other unmentionable stuff closely related to plastic. It must have surely glued his colon to his appendix!” “Remember the post-mortem guy saying he had solid waste akin to mortar in his colon weighing no less than 40 kg's! Amazing!”

Jon: “Yeah, I remember, he was a bit of an asshole though and quite insensitive saying that nasty stuff about Graham – he should have been a bit more subtle.”

Phil: “getting back to Stan, what did he usually eat which may have given him this longevity?”

Jon: “Gosh, I am not sure but I know he eats raw oats for breakfast will large dollops of honey, a bit of toast and downs the lot with coffee. Sometimes he does cook the oats but only when he has an spike in his energy levels. So it is basically doing a little exercise, sleeping about 12 hours a day and eating horse feed. The latter is probable one of the major contributors to longevity.

Phil: “Jeeeez, I could not do that, especially the horse feed!”

Jon: “There's another thing that is quite important. Stan is very much involved mentally with creating things like his model airplanes, he loves Sopwith models, the old De Havilland models and especially the German Messerschmidts – model 401K – a two seater fighter powered by Rolls Royce Merlin engines. He used to joke say the British supplied the Germans with these engines to level the playing fields. Look Phil, I don't know if these ever flew or if they are just hanging above his bed as decorative ornaments BUT, it keeps the mind active which is important. “

Phil: “Well, I will certainly try some of his methods but it is great he has lived 97 years and still looks in his fifties, it is quite amazing.”

How To Begin Your Essential Drawing Skills

How to Begin Your Essentail Drawing Skills

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

These are the fundamentals of drawing from step one through to several intermediate steps, where drawing skills can be developed to master the art of drawing. Without knowing these basics, a drawing will lack rhythm and style.

Steps

1. Some of these initial steps may appear to you far too basic, but try them anyway because it may lead you to discover other aspects you can use whilst developing your drawing skills.
   
2. You've probably heard many times “I can't even draw a straight line” and a straight line is rather mechanical so use a ruler if you want straight lines. The important thing about lines in a drawing is direction as all lines go in specific directions—or multiple directions--to give character to a drawing.
   
3. All paintings have form, value (light to dark), tone and color. If you strip all these away you are left with an outline of the forms with lines surrounding colors and values. So now you are left with a two-dimensional outline drawing. You can look at these as “boundary marks” which run in all directions. Some of them will be fairly straight and others curved.
   
4. Accuracy is less important than a sense of direction and that means varying distance and space between your lines especially angular forms. Without these in place your drawing will lack rhythm and structure.
   
5. Another important point about lines is they must have sensitivity which is the thickness or thinness in which your lines are drawn. Putting more pencil pressure on your paper gives a thicker or thinner line, a lighter or darker line. You will find in most beginners a lack of this sensitivity.
   
6. To start your line drawings, draw many lines flowing in all directions on your paper. Your lines should go from very light which you will obtain by pressing very lightly, to the darkest line where your pressure is very heavy—not too heavy that it breaks the lead. For these effects use a medium pencil, not too hard (HB) or too soft (4B) but something in between. Always, always keep you pencils sharp for crisp, clean lines.
   
7. Let's start off by putting together items you have around the house that are straight. A mug, a broomstick, a few books. Lean the broomstick against the table or bookcase so you have a few angles to play with. Get your angles correct by comparing one angle to the next.
   
8. Look for the negative shapes, that is not the actual shape of the object itself but the shapes between the objects. By comparing these, you will discover your drawing will be quite accurate. Follow along on WikiHow for how to develop more basic drawing skills.
   

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Begin Your Essentail Drawing Skills. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Achieve a Masterful Drawing - wikiHow

Achieve a Masterful Drawing - wikiHow

How to Achieve a Masterful Drawing

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Some basic rules for creating masterful drawings whilst giving you freedom of expression.

Steps

1. There is no right way to draw, the only way is what suits your needs and what your main objective is. You have many choices which gives you freedom of expression.
   
2. Basically there are only three approaches to a masterful drawing;
   
3. Rudimentary – from specific detailed drawing to general outlines such as contour drawings;
   
4. Academic drawing as seen in the Old Masters where you find detailed drawings of human anatomy and;
   
5. A combination of these first two methods.
   
6. Students must be aware of the value of visual aids: using a plumb line, a framing rectangle with marks to indicate the center and other proportions, and a sighting rod like a pencil to measure. There are many other devices used over the centuries by the old masters to obtain accurate drawings.
   
7. One has to be intimate with how to see things as they are - not what you might think is there which is a common mistake by the beginning student. We tend to scan things from left to right (and right to left in the Muslim world) and our eyes only pause or rest on focal points. When looking at a web pages the eye always tends to look at the pictures on the page first, then the text. This is useful data to know to guide your visitors eyes across your web page. The old masters use this technique with great skill to guide the viewer into and around the painting.
   
8. Ultimately drawing cannot be separated from painting or design – they are an integral part of the overall effect. Talent is a little old fashioned in developing drawing skills. The masters developed their skills from day one by looking closely at the human form and observing how one form interlocks with the overall form.
   
9. The real professionals warm up by quick gesture drawings, 15 – 30 seconds, which is basically scribbling outlines. Rembrandt was probably one of the best for obtaining spontaneity in these quick sketches which somehow came alive under his quill.
   
10. A student can gain confidence by starting with simple gesture drawings by looking at the overall forms and applying unrestrained lines to create a masterpiece. You draw what you feel and see and combine the two for an emotional effect. There should be no effort whatsoever and it has to be a lot of fun--if it's not, your drawing will show it.
    
11. An important part of gesture drawing is to fit it into the picture plane – like a frame or to the outside edges of your paper. Draw a quick rectangular shape and keep the gesture sketch within that frame.
    
12. You see things in three-dimensional form and draw it in two dimensions. Your task would be to make your drawing more towards three dimensions so it has weight and form—it can feel light in some areas and heavy in others whilst the form is projected into deep space. Once you can achieve that you are becoming a master. An easy way of doing this is to get a ball of yarn and wrap it around a friend's torso, leg or arm and observe how the lines of yarn recede into space. Make your pencil lines follow the same contours as the yarn.
    
13. This will give you a basic idea of how the figure is constructed without knowing complex anatomy.
    

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Achieve a Masterful Drawing. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Kids Activities Can Blend With The Magic of Family Fun

Kids Activities Can fit in with family life.

It has often been said that kids are the most creative creatures on Planet Earth. Well, they may well be – but they can also be the biggest pain up the butt!

And the pain can start from day one, ask any mother. After all the hoopla is over and the praises are sung, then comes the really hard work for Mom. Diapers changed every hour and maybe two hours if she is lucky. Then there comes the wake-up call which starts around midnight and continues intermittently till dawn. Dad sleeps in the other bedroom "Because I have an important meeting tomorrow and I have to be awake for some hours and coffee doesn't cut it." So bleary-eyed Mom has to get the other kids off to school, make sure their lunch is packed and their hair looks reasonable but would not pass any lower grade kids inspection.

You are feeling yuk because you've had no sleep for the past 48 hours, you have to keep the house clean so there's that chore to do. Then comes the march to the store to pick up provisions for the next few days. You've got no help at all and if the older kids who are around 7, 9 and 11 they should muscle-in and do their bit to take the load off your shoulders. Hey, but do they? You've asked them millions of times to do this or that and they just yawn as if tomorrow is another day. Life really sucks sometimes and nobody seems to care. What to do with the kids? Well, switch on the TV or let them watch a movie as you have about 250 DVD's collected over the past few years (and some are pirated, but who cares?) as long as it can keep the kids occupied while you take a break.

Your new baby Jena starts to cry and you wonder if its hunger, sleep or a poop change. Yeah, it smells like it and you changed the mite's bum only half an hour ago. You shrug and think you might be able to get away with it for just another half hour. You then toss that thought right out of your mind, other mothers would not do it so why should you?

The other three kids now come home from school and they are hungry. Their first trip is to the fridge where there's lots of yummy stuff to snack on – especially the sugary eats. It gives them a 'high' and so the fun begins. They start fighting as two of them gang up on the younger one. There's a helluva racket going on and Baby Jena starts to ball to increase the decibel count to around 250. Your head is beginning to pound and you need a little space from all the noise and activity.

You calm the three kids down by threatening them with extinction but immediately soften with "Go and watch one of your favorite movies." All three yell with delight. But soon a squabble begins as they can not decide on what movie to watch.

You are tired, you have a headache, the TV is blaring and baby Jena starts to howl, she's hungry and Mom is a bit dry for breast feeding and Jena hates off-the-shelf stuff. Wouldn't you?

Don't make a rod for your own back. In other words, don't do something that is likely to cause problems for you in the future. Give the kids something to do that they have a passion for. There are countless activities for kids of all ages you can find on the internet. Kids crafts and science projects are one of the most well-loved from among the common selection of kids activities. Do a search and keep your kids active and your pounding headache will vanish. Go Here for Family Fun: http://tinyurl.com/l7lt6t

Vampires Can Be More Than a Laughing Matter

Here is a tongue-in-cheek article I have written recently for Ezine Articles. Please add your comments about it.

"If it is dark, don't go outside unless you see lots of lights. If it is windy these blood sucking creatures love to glide through the wind; this also helps them gather speed where they can float up out of sight above the lights.

You know a lot of these vampires take on human form as well as more grotesque shapes to really scare the pants off you. I live up in the mountains where it is pitch black at night and I would not venture one foot outside the house. I've often heard a "swooshing" sound and that aint bird noises - more like "vampires of the night."

It has often be said that vampires live amongst us and we don't even know they are sitting right next to us. Apparently if they are close by, they drain all your energy and you begin to feel lifeless. This is a danger sign so move out of their space before you have no space at all.

What can they do to you? Ha! I am glad you asked. Beside the usual Dracula stuff of sucking blood with their sharp fangs, they will 'attach' part of themselves to your body and you won't feel a thing except you 'feel' you are being controlled by them. You won't see them around you but you will be doing horrible things to upset those folk around you - and you know what? You will be asking yourself "Why did I do that?" It won't make sense to you and meantime, Grandma is bawling her eyes out and Grandpa is looking sternly at you.

When these horrible creatures attach part of themselves to you, they can control most of your thoughts and therefore your actions. Haven't you ever wondered why you did certain things which were totally alien to you? That chatter, that incessant chatter that goes on in your mind all day and sometimes drives you wild--you think it is you, it aint. It's that 'orrible creature trying to take control of your life.

Don't believe it? Ha! You know a bit of truth when your see it, even your dog knows the truth when he barks and there is nothing there, he can sense this vampire creatures' vibrations.

You know that Michael Jackson died recently at a very young age of 50, he was possessed by not one vampire but many vampires. Have a look what he did to himself and others' around him. Sure, he had talent, and great talent that was too, few entertainers ever came near to his ability on stage. You can say it was really magic stuff. His life in later years was totally possessed by these evil creatures and I guess he often asked himself "Why did I do that?" (like hanging his baby over the balcony)

Vampires do aim for high profile people, the famous, the infamous, the baddies (as they are easy meat) and also those high on drugs or alcohol. Inevitably drug addicts have a short life span, also to a slightly lesser extent, alcoholics. Perhaps you do not believe this? Well, have a look at the statistics and you will discover there is some truth in this.

Okay, so how does one get rid of these unloved vampire creatures especially if you know you have one or two attached? As you may not know, everything in this physical universe has a certain vibration, you do, your dog does, your koi fish do -and guess what? Even your house. Take a look, or should I say 'feel' ?

Ever been at a party and some new person walks in and you think "gosh, I don't like him!" Know why? His vibrations, and also the space around him. He collapses people's space nearby. You know what I mean by that? Some people have NO space at all and they go right up to you, one inch from your nose and you begin to feel uncomfortable - they are collapsing your space, intentionally. They are controlled by one or more vampires.

So how do we start? The first thing you should do (gradually please) is gain the ability to hold your space. Pretend you are in a large invisible box and it has eight corners, you are in the middle of this box with several feet all around you. With this box all around you, you 'hold' all the eight corners including those behind you. Whilst you are doing this concentrate only on the eight corners. Those thoughts that come into your mind will eventually cease - but only after a little practice. Vampires do not like this at all…they like less space, not more. Try it, and get rid of those darn vampires!

Visit http://www.familyfuncartoons.com for my kid-friendly site - and more humor.

Being a Family Guy is The Toughest Job in the World

Being a Family Guy is The Toughest Job in the World

A friend of mine has the toughest job in the world. We're in the same business and even work for the same company, but he has what I regard as the most difficult and demanding job. You see, in addition to working here with me, my friend Jim is a real family guy.

I don't just mean some fellow with a wife and kids. Lots of guys have those. I mean my friend Jim's purpose in life seems to be to ensure the welfare and happiness of his family. By my standards his family is huge. He has a wife, four kids--two in elementary school and two in high school, a mother-in-law, his own mother, two sisters, and two brother-in laws. Long ago I lost count of his nieces and nephews. On my desk I have a Rolodex with the names of my business contacts. Jim could fill his own Rolodex with just the names and birthdays of his family.

Over the years there have been occasions when I've accompanied Jim after work. Even a simple trip home usually means at least one stop at the grocery store and more often than not a stop at the high school to pick up a teenager who stayed late for sports practice. It's not just Jim's constant movement, constantly being on-the-job and looking out for others, that astonishes me. It's also the amazing feat of memory. How does he keep track of so many people?

Jim's care and affection doesn't stop with just his immediate family. Once he was worried that his mother-in-law might be getting depressed after a surgery so he moved her across several states to put her up in a spare bedroom in his house. He also plowed up, destroyed, a patch of his beautifully tended back lawn because he knew his mother loved to garden. Once his brother-in-law was in danger of losing his apartment. Jim took time off from work to go and have a discussion with the landlord. And it seems the spare room at his house always contains an uncle or aunt on an extended visit.

I've often wondered how Jim always seems to remain in a good mood. That's not to say he doesn't get sad or angry. Once I saw him arrive at work with sort of a dazed expression. In his right hand he held what looked like a lock of blonde hair. It seems his youngest discovered scissors. That was three years ago and the lock is still bound together on his desk at work. And just this morning I overheard him having a telephone conversation with his sixteen-year-old son. His voice was patient, deliberate, and final. When he got off the phone he looked over at me and said, "I love that boy. He's silly and misdirected. He's still got a lot to learn. But I love that boy." I wanted to ask him what the kid did, but I'll probably find out later. See, tonight is Jim's wedding anniversary, and Jim asked if I'd come to his place and spend time with his kids while he takes his wife to a restaurant.

I don't know how this guy with the toughest job in the world, this family guy, does it. I guess he must love his work.

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For Those who Like to Laugh and Those who...

It has been said many times that laughter is the best medicine – and it is of course the best medicine because it relieves stress. As you know, stress is a killer and lurks behind most illnesses which you could term as being (almost) psychosomatic!

Do you laugh many times during your busy day? Sometimes it is not easy as you feel a bit down or out-of-sorts and laughter is the last thing you want. So you want to be miserable—well, that is your right to be yourself. But you know, it is easy to come out of feeling low; all you have to do really is to change your attitude—like changing your coat.

Try this; if you smile a bit even if you have nothing to smile about, you will almost certainly find something to smile about! Something will pop up for you to smile, grin or burst out laughing. So wax a smile and see what happens, you’re going to be surprised.

Have a look at ways to include laughter in your daily activities, maybe you could read some daily funny quotes on the internet? Scan through the paper for comic strips and one simple cartoon can spark off a thought about someone or something bringing a smile. Did you know if your heart is full of laughter you will live a lot longer? So laughter becomes no laughing matter.

Okay, I agree. Sometimes laughter takes quite an effort and can be "felt" by your family and friends…suddenly the phone rings and mom says “I was just thinking about you, are you okay?” It is almost ESP and there is the connection from your heart which mom picked up. "Nah" you say, "That's all a load of bunkum, I don't believe that for one moment." Well, try it--if it works for you that’s great. If it doesn’t that is also okay. Wax a smile and your personality stays intact.

If you are really gung-ho about life, fun will find you and so will fun people. It is something like a magnet as you connect to these humorous folk over the “airwaves.”

Go here for some wonderful funny quotes and sayings that pop up which should bring a smile or two.

Hard Work Putting Together my Family Fun Website

So it has been some time since I last wrote anything here. That is not because I am lazy although I like to loaf once in a while. Nope, I've been working flat out on my website, getting to know HTML code, putting together one minute movies I make for YouTube and writing up content for my webpages. That chews up many hours in the day!

My website target is to load at least one page a day which includes not only the writing but also getting my photos edited in Photoshop, checking the code, loading the page/s up and then checking it in various browsers. I am sure a lot of you know how much time it takes to put a 500-700 word content page together - especially webmasters.

With all this work I am pleased to say my unique visitor count is going up gradually and I think that has to do with interesting content.

I put a new page in today "How to Draw Animals" even though my website is more about Family Fun. These how-to-draw lesson are aimed at young children and families so parents can guide their kids to more creative interests rather than watching the tube.

My sister Shirley who lives in South Africa sent me these pics today, they are soooo good I thought you might like to see them here: Sorry, when I uploaded them Google gave me an error message so it will have to wait until the next posting.

Please write some comments here if you get a chance to see my website. It is not really cool at the moment but it will be as I climb out of the learning curve!

Creating 2 minute movies...

It is January 3rd today—a Saturday—and I can’t get wireless connection possibly because everyone in the neighborhood is online, so I’m writing this offline in Notepad ready to drop in as soon as we get connected.

The good news is I have found a writer at NAA (Need-an-Article) and I should be able to outsource all my writing except for blogs. Lynne, my new writer, has written up several articles recently and one of them is Funny Facts which is all about those trivia things that kids enjoy and learn a lot from. She is also writing up an article about Funny Kids and the crazy things they get up to. This should be worth reading ‘cause it is usually quite funny.

I am looking for an open source 2D animated software; if you know of an affordable one please drop me a line or email me through my email at http://FamilyFunCartoonsBlog.blogspot.com I’ve only looked at Opus and Retas Pro but they look complicated and they are expensive. I sometimes go to Amazon to check out the feedback on software and books, if it has less than a 3-star rating I do not bother to read it.

My goal is to create two-minute movies for YouTube which will be about characters who are slightly dysfunctional but they get on well with their siblings and friends but less so with strangers. They will play against each other in with a lot of humor added, some of it a bit zany and some outright crazy. I will leave my movie URL’s on this blog so please call back, email or go to my RSS feed either here or on my website.