Justin

Justin is the young Coot with a Cantankerous Soul who continues to be educated by older, more cootish Ralph and Bob. His Cantankerosity is his own.

Feb 232015
 

Hello All.   Today I am going to write again about cantankerousity.  I have good reason to believe that the most cantankerous animal will be revealed here.

Now, I can make a good case for Ralph, he is bringing us cantankerousness and leading the charge here at Cantakerous Old Coots.  He only gets an honorable mention today though.

I have been reading a book that was written in the early part of the 20th century by a British Soldier who lived most of his life in India.  The man is Jim Corbett and the book is called the Maneaters of Kumaon.  This book is about the authors treks through the wilds of India in search of todays most cantakerous animal, the man-eating tiger.

While this book sound like Great White Hunter vs lowly animal, it is not, in fact Corbett was a conservationist who would not shoot a tiger that was not proven to be a man eater.  One of the largest tiger preserves in the world is in India and named for him.  This book is a great adventure story and reading it I keep hearing the voice of my Great Grandfather recounting his stories.  Check this book out, it is good.

Now onto the Cantankerousness… Tigers are huge, powerful animals.  They are designed to be one of the ultimate predators.  Zoo tigers cannot compare to the yarns spun out by Corbett about the intelligence and cunning of the tiger.

Further research shows that they are, or were depending on populations, the apex predator in several of the jungle regions of Asia.  Leopards are close.  Tigers are just magnificent.  Now I am going to get comments (hopefully) about lions, crocodiles and sharks being the most cantankerous.  Maybe they are in their spheres, but in a fair fight, (impossible for sharks) I would put money on the tiger.

Their intelligence is obvious from the fact that they can be trained for the circus and other acts.  Their cantakerosity is obvious, just ask Sigfreid and Roy.  I think they will be your friend until they are hungry.  Then you are just meat.

Which is what the book is about.  The tigers in this book were hunted and shot by Corbett on behalf of the Indian (dot not feather) Government.  All of these tigers were Man-Eaters.  And, just as an aside, most of them were female….Many similarities to human females…but that is another post.

Between 1907 and 1938 Corbett hunted and killed 19 tigers and 14 leopards, all proven to be Man-Eaters.   All together these cats were responsible for the deaths of more than 1200 people.  One tiger, by itself was responsible for 436 documented deaths.  Who knows how many it killed that were not documented.

These tigers were later proven to have physical problems that prevented them from hunting other prey and so they turned to something easier, people.  Many of these tigers had broken teeth or claws, old gunshot wounds that healed badly, and a good many had deeply embedded and infected porcupine quills that kept them from being natural hunters.

Tigers are smart as I have said before.  They know how to stalk within feet of people without being seen.  They attack quickly, and they are strong enough to drag away their prey quickly.  They hold grudges.  They remember people and situations.  They don’t give much of a crap if you yell or wave your arms.

I have learned much about tigers and their inherent cantankerousness.  Something to strive for when pursuing Cootness.  Heck my Chinese zodiac sign is the tiger, most of those say beware of the monkey, I say the monkey better watch his ass.

What are some of the most cantankerous animals you can think of?  I would love to know.

Later, Justin

Justin

Justin is the young Coot with a Cantankerous Soul who continues to be educated by older, more cootish Ralph and Bob. His Cantankerosity is his own.

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Feb 232015
 
Angry Birds

Angry Birds (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before you start thinking that this title means something deep or is a description of my character in World of Warcraft (do they still play that? I don’t.)  it isn’t.  This title is the truth.  I am sure this topic has been covered and you are most likely to click off of this post and leave the Coots site right now.  But hold on a second, you need to be logged in for a few more seconds for it to count.  Really Hang on.  Just a bit longer.

Have you ever noticed those videos over in the sidebar?  How about clicking on our personal blog sites?  maybe Facebook?  Click that link and head to Amazon.com and get yourself something nice and we can make a couple of pennies.  Ok are you good?  See what I did, I just took something normal and easy and managed to waste a bunch of time doing it.

You know, I am fairly good at it as well.  If I actually spent half the time writing as I do screwing around I would be able to say I write for hours and hours every day.  Unfortunately, I don’t seem to have that luxury.

I can spend time doing crap that doesn’t mean anything and why?  Am I afraid of the actual writing? No.  I usually justify it by saying if I start to write something I will just get interrupted and my wife will need something so I may as well not bother.  Before you know it Netflix and Angry Birds are calling you from that seductive corner of your computer.

I try to leave the computer completely but then my kindle beckons with that book I am having a hard time putting down….Damn, I should have washed some underwear instead.  I need more sleep.  Now the discussion needs to shift towards what needs to be done about it?  I think I have proven that the “Just Write” argument is out the window…gotta kill some pigs.

Cerebral Cortex location

Cerebral Cortex location (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is just a niggling in the back of my cerebral cortex that says I can’t do this same old same old anymore.  We are heading to Florida in June and I thought this morning, “Well I guess I will just neglect the blogs some more” while I am gone.  and then, “No!  I can pre write some posts!”  and then, “Yea right, I can’t write the regular ones.”  That in turn inspired this post.

So I am going to reward myself when I write something by being able to shut off that damn Adele song for more than 10 minutes.  The wife got a hold of that song and the kids play it and she plays it and the radio plays it and it never seems to get out of the *explicitve deleted* repeat loop!

But I digress….how do you fellow monkeys fight the urges that keep is from doing actual work?  How do you more efficiently waste time so that you can still work?  Inquiring minds want to know….and if you remember that you are as old as me….

-Justin

PS. The podcast is going to be revived on this blog very soon.  If anyone has an idea about something you want to hear about or want to be a guest, let me know.

I am thinking of using a new format and maybe a “What can the Coots be Cantankerous about”  much like the “What can’t Adam Complain about” segment on the Adam Carolla Podcast.

Give me some topics…and vote for Ralph in the CNS leader poll already.  His fragile ego can’t handle one lonely vote.  And I don’t want to write the CNS any more than I have too.

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Justin

Justin is the young Coot with a Cantankerous Soul who continues to be educated by older, more cootish Ralph and Bob. His Cantankerosity is his own.

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Feb 232015
 

Hey folks.  I was sitting here thinking about the CFBTN and looking at some stats.  I don’t know if it is being valued.  No comments, not much readership, I would like some real feedback at the end of this post or I may just shelve it for a while.  Ralph is still going strong with the Coots News Service on Sundays and maybe 2 news days are just too much.  Besides, most of the news lately is funny anyway.

Mao Sugiyama Cooks, Serves Own….

You know what, there are things I am not going to put on here.  Now where is that link to the see through swimsuit…..

Dumb women more attractive – study

Now here is some nice solid scientific evidence of the No Duh!  Ok I like smart women but smart women, like my wife, are not being sought out by the magazines.  Let’s face it, in America we like our eye candy dumb so we can appreciate the smart ones in our homes.

"'A man may be down but he's never out!' ...

"'A man may be down but he's never out!' Home Service Fund Campaign. Salvation Army. May 19 — 26 1919." Salvation Army poster. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rigged device explodes at Salvation Army; 2 hurt

There are two ways to go with this.  First, a training accident at the Salvation Army!  Maybe they should get some real Army guys in there to train them.  Second, who the hell benefits from blowing up the Salvation Army???  A charitable organization that fixes up things for the underprivileged and helps all over the world.  Lets kill some of them huh?  Yea, sounds like a good idea.

 

Bear falls safely from tree after police tranquilized it (PHOTO)

While the title says it all, you have to see the picture.  It is priceless.

 

Prison Food or School Food?

I had a hard time with this one….it all looks so….so….well…..you have to decide.

 

Now folks here is the poll, answer and be helpful.

This poll isn't going to end until I get some input!

Is the CFBTN flailing like a drowning rat and should it be put down?

View Results

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Have a great Memorial Day Weekend.

-Justin

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Justin

Justin is the young Coot with a Cantankerous Soul who continues to be educated by older, more cootish Ralph and Bob. His Cantankerosity is his own.

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Feb 232015
 
Utah in the United States

You can't miss Utah

The weather in Utah is legendary for changing at a moments notice.  Ok maybe not legendary, but at least known to the public here.  Give it a minute the weather will change is a mantra we live by in the spring.

So When this post was written we had just finished a day of heavy rains.  The weather forecast said it was going to be partly cloudy and warmer.  I washed a load of towels to hang outside on the line.  Just getting ready to hang them out, and it starts raining.  I am sure mother nature was just thwarting me.

I had a few choice things to say to Nature at that point.  I kind of wanted to be Captain Dan in Forrest Gump screaming at the storm.  But, I had kids at home.

There will be another snowstorm, that is almost guaranteed.  Except it will be 80 this weekend and I have to get the lawn mower out before the jungle sets in.  My Great Grandpa, who had a garden that should have been on a magazine, always said, “Don’t plant anything until after Mother’s Day.”  That is sage advice here, because you will just get your tomatoes growing and it will freeze.  It just does here.

I have never been disappointed with that advice, even with pressure from my wife a few times becasue the weather was nice.  Didn’t plant, didn’t get frozen.  So, do you all have some interesting weather thwarting stories to share with us?  I would really like to hear them.  You can’t beat Mother Nature completely but you may be able to slap some sense into her once in a while.  Well, probably not.

Have a great Weekend.

-Justin

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Justin

Justin is the young Coot with a Cantankerous Soul who continues to be educated by older, more cootish Ralph and Bob. His Cantankerosity is his own.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

Feb 232015
 

Hello folks.  It seems that there has been quite a resurgence of fairy tales lately on the old Television.  NBC and ABC are both putting up some dark fairy tale inspired shows.  But I will tell you something today that is not a fairy tale.

Veterans Day

Image via Wikipedia

Freedom.  It may sound like an ethereal concept to some but it is real, and here, the coots celebrate the freedom that we have to get on and rant.  If you haven’t noticed already, today is November 11th.  Besides some movie releases, today is also Veterans Day.

So from the coots, happy Veterans Day!  If you have served these United States at any time, thank you for your service.  Thank you for allowing us to keep the freedom that lets us write a silly blog like this one without worrying if the government is going to kick in the door and shoot one of us.  Bob may disagree with this, but that is his show to rant on.

If you are currently serving somewhere far from home, or even keeping the peace stateside, we thank you as well.  We spend a couple of holidays honoring those in the military: Memorial Day for those who paid for our freedom with their lives, and Veterans Day for those who made it home.  I like to add those currently serving to Veterans Day, they will be vets soon enough.

VETERANS DAY CEREMONY 2009 - US ARMY AFRICA - ...

Image by US Army Africa via Flickr

Last year I had a Veterans Day Podcast, you can listen to it here.  My sentiments have not changed.

So you may not be able to go to the bank and you don’t get mail, while you are railing against those facts, remember that it was brave men and women who allow you to get that mail and go to the bank anyway.

Go out and thank a Vet today.  That is Veteran not Veterinarian.  Fly your American flag proudly.  At 11AM  take a moment of silence to honor all of those who have made our country great, from the cooks and secretaries, to the Admirals and Generals who get all of the press.

Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for our freedom.

If you are a Vet, please leave us a comment below we would love to hear from you.

If you are here reading this, Vet or not, please use the share buttons below and promote this post and get our feelings out there to the internet.

Thanks for reading.

-Justin

Justin

Justin is the young Coot with a Cantankerous Soul who continues to be educated by older, more cootish Ralph and Bob. His Cantankerosity is his own.

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