Rants, Raves and Riots
There is a lot that happens each day that makes me think, wonder, criticize and applaud. Hopefully, I can do the same for all of you.
Saturday, January 01, 2022
To: 2022 From: Tim
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Although it's more focused on my "professional" writing and musings, you can follow my latest work here:
https://tkwriterinme.wordpress.com/
Enjoy !
Tim King
Freelance Copywriter and Marketing Consultant
Scarborough, Maine
http://www.linkedin.com/in/timkinglinkedin/
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
A Note
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Unreleased Material From Jimi Hendrix Reflects A Life Of Music And Money Woes : The Record : NPR
I love when new versions of tunes (especially acoustic or un-distorted versions) come out. It's so clean and pure, I wish it didn't have to get muddied up by this dispute every time. Goes to show that you need to hope for the best and prepare for the worst - or someone else will make the decisions for you.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Big bear hunted, killed in PA
But reading this news item recently really did not sit well with me - and I'm not sure why. Was it the age (17) of the bear? (and how did they find that out?) or its size (879lbs) which was also so delicately re-stated as "field dressed @ 744lbs"? I guess it might have been the fact this bear had been well known in the area for years- even tagged by wildlife researchers - and had (seemingly) caused absolutely zero harm, damage or threats to anyone. To be sure, if the hunter had simply taken out his camera instead of his bow, and taken a photo of the bear, would The Pocono Record (and the rest of the WWWorld) thought his story to be newsworthy.
In the vein of "no opportunity wasted" I would hope that the killing of this animal will be somehow vindicated by putting its meat, hide to some good use. I'll be disappointed to learn that its only use turns out to be a trophy for the lucky SOB who happened to be at the right place at the right time.
I'm reminded of a line from the movie "Jurassic Park" that has stuck with me over the years, when the scientist questions why dinosaurs were ever brought back to life from DNA sealed in a drop of resin. "We were so busy trying to figure out if we could - we never stopped to think if we should."
Indeed, this hunter had the same choice. He did what he did because he could. It's a dam shame there wasn't anyone around to question if he should. I'll be interested to see how he withstands the inevitable court of public opinion as undoubtedly this story will be publicized and debated over the coming weeks.
Forgotten
Will I ever see, something as sad
As a tree?
A tree barren of leaves still laden
With fruit.
A tree full of promises kept
But left untouched.
Many go hungry and doctors prescribe.
Still, no one sees.
Scattered below, apples in states
of decay.
Slowly, sadly, go away.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
It's not what you say - but how you say it.
I believe that facts, figures and terminology can all be be learned in short order. However, as any chef, brewer or conductor will tell you, having the best ingredients is only half the battle. Identifying and communicating both the effort and unique characteristics - the steak and the sizzle - is what often leaves a lasting impression. That's what "sticks". ~ Tim
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
MediaPost.com Article: Reviving The Dead
A MediaPostPublications.com article sent to you by: editorial@mediapost.com
Some good tips on cleaning up your outreach. Why waste time, money and energy reaching out to folks who have moved on ? ~ Tim
Reviving The Dead
Morgan Stewart
Guess what? If your company sent out a commercial email today, there is a good chance that some of those emails went to dead people. Not just "inactives" or "unengaged subscribers" or whatever term-du-jour we want to use, but real, bona fide stiffs. People who, God willing, are looking down from heaven and wondering, "What else do I need to do to stop getting emails from those people?"
Read the whole story on the MediaPostPublications.com website.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
A nice place to spend a honeymoon
--
Tim King
Scarborough, Maine
Be true to your work, your word, and your friend. ~ Henry David Thoreau
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=553903&trk=tab_pro
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The Boston Buddha
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/morning/the-boston-buddha-20101025?ref=nf
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Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Bring Back Archie Bunker
Friday, October 01, 2010
Cool Hunting Showcase - A Unicorn For Drunks / T-shirt
http://showcase.coolhunting.com/product/42546/tshirts?cl=8
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Wednesday, September 29, 2010
When Loons Cry
Turns out that loons are HIGHLY territorial/aggressive and the calls we hear are basically the male loons yelling "HEY, THIS IS MY SIDE OF THE LAKE. STAND THE HELL BACK!!!" to each other. Kind of like border patrol. The stronger the call, the tougher they sound...and the more likely that the girl loons will come check them out too.
What they are looking at is when lakes have high levels of mercury (mostly from dirty rain that comes up to Maine from coal plants out west) that get into fish and then into loons. Mercury acts as a depressant somehow and that makes the male loons not yell as loud - allowing other male loons to invade their turf a little easier. the trouble is these new loons eventually succumb to the same mercury poisoning and eventually the whole "population" of loons becomes less strong.
I didn't have enough time to ask him "So what?" but I think we'll be meeting with him again at some point down the road.
--
Tim King
Scarborough, Maine
Be true to your work, your word, and your friend. ~ Henry David Thoreau
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=553903&trk=tab_pro
Monday, September 20, 2010
The 3000 Mile Oil Change Myth Debunked
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/UsedOil/OilChange/
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Friday, September 10, 2010
Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Tries to Build an Eco-Friendly House - WSJ.com
The truth hurts sometimes...and sometimes its very funny too. ~ Tim
PlantLife - 9/10/10 "Learning to Let it Bee"
One of my very observant little neighbors stopped by the other day to inform us that there was a “huge bees’ nest” in one of the large oak trees in our yard. Being one of the more imaginative kids in the neighborhood, we at first took her claim with a grain of salt.
However, after taking a look at her discovery – with its busy inhabitants going in and out – we realized she wasn’t exaggerating, much.
Looking back now, as we first ventured out into the yard, I half expected to hear the low, basal toned drumming of thousands of insects winding up for an attack. Almost instantly after hearing about the nest, the word “killer” and images of John Belushi dressed in a yellow and black leotard came flashing into my head. Damn pop culture.
Next, the image of Mr. Belushi was replaced (thankfully) by somebody literally covered with thousands of buzzing insects.
We’ve all seen TV programs with people who have covered themselves from head to toe with bees in order (I guess) to show the rest of us that bees are not aggressive by nature, rather only lash out against outside aggression or threats. However, rather than passivity, I see this more as a calm before the inevitable storm.
Like a balloon in a needle factory, one wrong move and “pop!” goes the beekeeper.
For me at least, the understanding that bees are a critical component of our ecosystem, does little to supplant the simple fact that a bee sting hurts - a lot! There’s an old saying that my father used to use when explaining the business of sales to me. It said “the bitter sting of poor customer service lingers longer than the sweet taste of a low price.”
Clearly a painful bee sting has left more of an impression on me than any sweet voiced Nasonex® spokesbug could ever replace.
I’m a little ashamed to admit that while I can appreciate and understand the very important role that bees play in pollination and all things green, my first response to an unplanned buzzing in my personal space is to track, smack and scamper – fast!
Go ahead, call me a bee NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) but whenever I see bees, along with their ill tempered cousins the wasp and hornet, I instantly feel the need to protect (or at least inform) those around me. Who among us has not, with a mild expression of terror or at least discomfort, alerted a total stranger to the proximity of some yellow jacketed intruder? I know I have.
So it was these first, “natural” impulses that I have been trying to quell for the last few days.
After all, the many residents of this gray, papery nest (roughly the size of a basketball) have obviously been active for the entire summer. To my knowledge, they have dutifully refrained from any strategic attack or rampant abduction of small children, pets or errant tourist visiting our neighborhood.
It seems they have a job to do, and they are singularly focused on doing it.
Plus, at more than 50 feet in the air, I’m sure that the bees traveling incessantly back and forth to parts unknown are as equally unaware of the activities in the yard below, as we were once of them.
If not for the keen eye of an inquisitive youngster, I may have remained forever blissfully ignorant to this entire population cohabitating our little patch of earth.
Perhaps, if they become a nuisance or if the nest grows to size that my neighbors or I become uncomfortable with, I may have to have them removed. But for now, I feel sort of lucky that out of all the oak trees, in all the world, these little guys flew into mine.
And that’s the bee’s knees in my book.
Tim King is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association who sees the forest and the trees from his home in Scarborough, Maine. He can be contacted at sylvan.sauntering@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Active Travels | get up & go!
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Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Americans Use Too Much Laundry Detergent - WSJ.com
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A cleaner image for energy from trash?
http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MzgyMDM
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Fenway Park Grass Seed & Fertilizer | Major League Turf
http://www.scotts.com/smg/templates/index.jsp?pageUrl=mlb_boston
T-Mobile Says Co-Branded Fender Entry Struck a Chord
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Thursday, April 08, 2010
Just dandy in Scarborough: Young performers learn the value of practice, friendly competition | The Forecaster
http://www.theforecaster.net/content/s-scardandies-040910
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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Spare a Square ?
sits down, but says nothing.
The Priest coughs a few times to get his attention
but the drunk continues to sit there.
Finally, the Priest pounds three times on the wall .
The drunk mumbles, "ain't no use knockin', there's no paper on this
side either!"
--
Tim King
Scarborough, Maine
Be true to your work, your word, and your friend. ~ Henry David Thoreau
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=553903&trk=tab_pro
Robins
--
Tim King
Scarborough, Maine
Be true to your work, your word, and your friend. ~ Henry David Thoreau
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=553903&trk=tab_pro
Friday, March 26, 2010
Broadturn Farm: The Beans of Scarborough Maine
http://broadturnfarm.blogspot.com/2010/03/beans-of-scarborough-maine.html
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Smart Water Meters Take Hold in California - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/smart-water-meters-take-hold-in-california/
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Good Wine Under $20: Primitivo from Puglia
http://goodwineunder20.blogspot.com/2009/04/primitivo-from-puglia.html
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Fire Can Be Good For Global Warming : NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124980708&ft=1&f=1025
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