Jesus in the Clouds! - The Short Version

I was starting to get dark, the weather looked ominous, and the O's game was starting.  I decided to forgo the first few innings and meditate.  Was thinking about Prince, my own death, and my recently renewed commitment to Faith and to Church.  While contemplating all of these things and questioning my commitment, I picked up a beer and leaned back in my chair and took a big drink.  With my head back coming forward,  I noticed something happening in the sky. The wind had picked up and the clouds appeared to move rapidly.  I felt like something was happening.  Was Jesus about to answer my doubts?  And there it was, I could not believe my eyes, a huge penis!  No wait that can't be right!  Leaning back further and as the clouds continued to move,  it appeared to be an arm and I followed it to what looked  like the side profile of a man.  I identified this as Jesus!  Frantically,  I tried to process the entire image, but finally reached for my phone and took a picture.  After, just a few seconds later all was calm.

The Picture does not do it justice.  It all happened in seconds and the image was huge.  It was all of the sky I could see with my head bent all the way back.  Part of the image appears to have already been distorted and leaves me with a mystery.

Full and crazy version of this story here: http://bit.ly/236kkNQ

Jesus In Sky with Michelob Amberbock Dark Lager?

The Beer

Where should I start?  With the beer?  Okay, I was out Friday looking for some beer.  Reviewing the endless variations of craft beers when over in the adjacent fridge I found a real bargain!  Hey look its my old friend Michelob for $6.99 a six pack.  Back before craft beers you were a nice change with a distinct taste of drinking through camp fire smoke filter.  It used to be in that cool lady bottle with gold label and game piece tab  that if you rip off  and take out the Es in the world beer you just might be lucky or get lucky or maybe a kiss or something else entirely?   Then, I noticed that it was not normal Michelob, it was Amberbock, but the label with its 3 gold coins, suggests it won some awards 100 years ago.  What the hell it's on clearance and cold.  I will drink a few of these in the backyard.

The Backyard

The backyard scene was questionable.  It was cloudy  and maybe it was going to rain.  My instincts told me no and I can fit in a few beers in the yard.  The beer was great, I ate a spicy jumbo big bite with chili and cheese and the beer paring was fantastic.   I have also found Michelob to mix well with mango ice cream.  So good in fact, that I dumped a beer in the Ice cream container (after eating most of it) and created a Michelob Mango ice cream float!  I still remember it fondly!  It was great, I was wearing my Body by Beer Shirt and everything!   I need to get that shirt back in my rotation.  Today, I will have a new Michelob Memory.  Lets reset this thing again.

The Jesus

Finally, it was starting to get dark, the weather looked ominous, and the O's game was starting.  I decided to forgo the first few innings and meditate while guzzling down some beer.  Was thinking about Prince, my own death, and my recently renewed commitment to Faith and going to church.  While contemplating all of these things and questioning my commitment, I pick up the Michelob leaned back in my chair and took a huge swig of about 3/4 the bottle.  With my head back coming forward,  I noticed something happening in the sky. The wind had picked up and the clouds appeared to move rapidly.  I felt like something was happening.  Was Jesus about to answer my doubts?  And there it was, I could not believe my eyes, a huge penis!  No wait that can't be right!  Leaning back further and as the clouds continued to move,  it appeared to be an arm and I followed it to what looked  like the side profile of a man.  I identified this as Jesus!  Frantically,  I tried to process the entire image, but finally reached for my phone and took a picture.  After, just a few seconds later all was calm and I could not believe what had just happened.  I grabbed another Michelob and chugged that sucker down!

The Research 

The Picture does not do it justice.  It all happened in seconds and the image was huge.  It was all of the sky I could see with my head bent all the way back.  Part of the image appears to have already been distorted and leaves me with a mystery.  What is in front of Jesus' hand?  What did it all mean?  I have come to find that Jesus with his palm down in artwork normally represents the dammed.  This can be seen in the last supper where Jesus has palm down in the direction of Judas.    That scared  me and I even looked up the story of the Black Jesus statue in a cemetery in TX,   Scared the hell out of people cause they swear he goes palms down on them at night.  However, this palm down image I have also seen in healing and blessings.  At church this week  the priest made this same gesture when greeting children and patting them on the head or shoulder.

The Meaning

What does it mean?  First, of course it means,  I should continue to go to church and to be a better christian.  Many aspects of my life are a mess and I suffer from sloth and a great desire to lay back and amuse myself to death. Forget that, I'm going with Jesus In Sky with Michelob Amberbock Dark Lager or  JISMADL?  I just thought of this while typing and I feel comfortable with it.  The message is:

Jesus IS MAD - Love one another

LOVE one another was part of this weeks homily and I immediately thought of this image upon seeing the priest greet the children receiving their first communion.

BEER is proof that God LOVES us and wants us to be Happy!
Remember the Ben Franklin quote?  Its hanging in my Kitchen.  I hear he actually said something a bit more eloquent, but the same sentiment:

 "Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy."

You want to see picture?  I have enhanced and outlined since my incredible riviting  FB status.
"I think I just saw the image of Jesus in the sky. Do you see him? That's some good beer."

The Picture of JISMADL

I tried a few things using PhotoScape.  Finally, I did some outlines and made a GIF with Original.

Michelob Mango

Earth Day 2016!

Earth Day 2016!  Went back to grab some old pictures that remind me of the earth and the environment around me that we must protect!

http://www.earthday.org/

I Took a Walk

I took a walk today.  Normally, I don't, but I saw somewhere you should take about 10,000 steps a day.  That's a lot of steps!  During a work day,  without taking a walk, I doubt I would crack 1,000 steps.  Even with a short walk, I'd be lucky to get 5,000.  As a matter of fact, my phone tells me that the only time I went over 10,000 was the day I mowed the lawn and worked in the rose garden!

Where to walk?  It's all just a bunch of parking lots.  There is a an empty field to the back, but that is surrounded by a fence.  To the west is interstate 95 and to the south is a wooded area with interesting valley with an old train track at the bottom, but no trail to walk.  Finally,  its  occurred to me that I have never walked north in the parking lot along the fenced in area.  I see people walking that way all the time. I was thinking maybe there is something down here to see?  I walk as far as a can down the parking lot and though the woods I see a fairly deep valley and some water.  Yes, I know this place.  I had seen it on a map and from the road it appears as a big grassy hill hiding the valley.  This is where the geese like to play.  Always new there was some water over there and never cared to look.  Seems to be just some type of rain water runoff.  

Okay, so I walk through the lot and around a building to the road.  Here I stand in front of the big grassy hill.  I had seen some county workers walk up there before.    For a second I think maybe I'll fall down the valley and die!  No one would ever know I walked there!  Should I walk up there and take a peek?  Just at the top of the hill was a Gateway Goose.  The Goose appeared to be guarding something.  As I approached a bit closer, the Goose began to squawk and squawk, now I had to walk to the top.  I will take that as a welcome greeting.

Finally, I have reached the summit!  Here,  I scan the horizon and look across the valley and down over the water!  Immediately, I feel transported to another place and time!  The geese are still squawking, but fading in the distant valley.  Small birds fly past over the hill and by my feet!  The wind is gusting through the valley brushing back my hair.  I stand there concentrating and looking out in the distance with the wind in my face like I'm conjuring up a spell or some miracle is about to happen!  This only lasts for a few seconds as one slight movement of my head brings the office building back into focus.  For a moment,  I think is there a way to walk around the valley?  And again I see the buildings calling me.  The feeling comes over me that I don't belong here anymore.  This place is for the geese and that squawk was no welcome.  This is where the geese play.

I'm sure this place was not so great, but in my daily life of traffic, parking lots, cubicles, phones, computers, and buildings, it felt as though somehow,  I discovered paradise for those few seconds.  Will probably never feel that way again.

That daily life description?  Many of that is the good stuff, I left out the bad and evil things as I continue to amuse and entertain myself to death.

Paradise for a second

Private Goose Beach, KEEP OUT! SQUAWK! SQUAWK!

You know what?  It was probably more of a honk.

HONK! HONK! HONK!

Black Aggie

Video from the Travel Channel click here! they will no longer allow it to be embedded.

I'm obsessed with this sculpture.  Video and Picture below.    

‘Black Aggie’: From Baltimore to Washington

Excerpt From the above Washington Post linked article:

Buy this Black Aggie Shirt!

Henry was bereft. To memorialize Clover, he turned to one of America’s greatest sculptors, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Henry had become fascinated by Eastern religion and, as art historian Cynthia J. Mills recounted in a 2000 article in the American Art journal, he asked the sculptor:

“to design an ideal figure embodying ideas similar to the Buddhist concept of nirvana: release from the cycles of life and death, desire and pain— an extinction of the passions, leading to inner quietude.”

The sculpture is know as the Adams Memorial.  Details are in the article link above. There are a few copies I wish to visit, The one that interests me the most is the unauthorized copy refereed to as Black Aggie.  There are at least 3 versions in DC to visit.  Maybe one day I will visit.  They should just give it to me since its unauthorized and the Smithsonian would not keep it.

Black Aggie Courtesy of vr4Sweet

Another link to a blog I read - Washington DC's Haunted Statue