Earth, But No Prince, Day

Today is Earth Day. So, it is really lucky that all of us actually live on Earth, right? If it was Venus Day, we would have much less to celebrate. Still, that calls for a comment from today's 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said calendar:
How old do I think the Earth is? I don’t have any idea. I think it’s pretty old.
Texas governor Rick Perry


By now, everyone has heard that Prince died yesterday. I didn't listen to him much, but I did like a couple of his most commercial songs. I do not have any of his songs in my iTunes library. RIP (Rest in Purple?), Prince.

Have you ever heard of George M. Cohan? Beginning with Little Johnny Jones in 1904, he wrote, composed, produced, and appeared in more than three dozen Broadway musicals. Cohan published more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including the standards "Over There", "Give My Regards to Broadway", "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and "You're a Grand Old Flag". Anyway, they have this statue there in the middle of Times Square. RIP to him, too, even though he died in 1942.

Here, I zoomed in on the billboard in the upper right of that last photo (above Cohan's left shoulder). I liked the clever ad line of 'Don't Miz out!'. We didn't.

While we were there, I had to get a shot of the Times Square Ball, since I will not be back there at New Year's Eve.

You shouldn't do this anywhere, but three men ordered a water in AR and then filled the cups with soda. When confronted, two of them did empty out the soda, but the third has been charged with felony robbery. He also hit the manager with his car in escaping. He is now in custody. Just don't do it.

Working your core can protect you from low back pain — and yes, it’ll tone your abs, too. One of the best core exercises out there is the plank. This means your obliques, or all-around abs (where you’ll find those lovehandles), and transversus abs (the deepest layer) will tighten up. Plus, you'll work your shoulders and your legs at the same time. Yahoo shared an easy-to-follow 30-day plank challenge that will get you results quickly. You’ll start by planking at an incline (try leaning against a wall, chair, or the back of your couch), which is easier for beginners. Then, as you get stronger, you’ll move to the floor and work your way up to holding a plank for three full minutes. Here are the specifics. I think we can do that for 30 days, right?

Apparently, the Sony World Photography Awards are a thing. Not only are they a thing, the winner is such a cool photo that I thought it was digital fakery. Fakery, I say. I guess it is not, though. Take a look at this dust-covered Rhino in Namibia.

Not as amazing to me, but still really cool because it also looks fake (Fake, I say) is this shot of fireflies in Japan.

OK, people are here, and it's Friday so I want to finish early, and the GRANDS are coming over tonight. No time to waste, people. Let's add in today's Clarity of Vision.

And let's get today started so we can get today ended. Have a great weekend.