The Perfect Age

Jimio at age 12

Jimio at age 30

Jimio at age 56 with nephew Mark

What is the perfect age if you could stay there? I think it depends on who you ask and what age they would enjoy being for however long they wanted to. For some people I suspect they would like to be age 12 forever. Having a golden childhood might enhance their selection. I had a decent childhood but I would never want to be eternally set at age 12. Can't drive or go anywhere you want, when you want. I feel the perfect age is 36. You are not too immature to know the finer things in life and still young enough to participate in rigorous endeavors. Young enough to play a few pranks on friends yet old enough to take on adult responsibilities. At age 56 I think was not the perfect age for me. For   many it is a time of a higher living standard and a better position [hopefully] in one's career, but who wants to live with the aches and pains, the root canals, the pharmacy visits and screaming grandkids forever. I guess on the plus side your own children are grown and have their own jobs and the grandchildren are not over every day. So I can see some trade-offs, and blurring of the decades along the edges.

Can you Walk like a Zombie?

Fresh is always better than frozen or canned

The Jackson Michigan Zombie walk was October 13, a nice unlucky number and a dreary rainy day for a Zombie Walk. The rain added that nice gruesome touch. We can't have Zombies walking around on a gloriously sunny day now can we? I'm sure real Zombies didn't use umbrellas either but who wants all their bloody makeup washed off? This years walk was a mind curdling success. At least 350 zombies signed up at  the Coffee Shop while a band played Death Metal [ Quite good I might add. Very crisp clear chords and sharp drumming ] There was a Cadillac Hearse to lead the walk. A skeleton looked out the back window and it eerily reminded me of the Grateful Dead. Well I beat the walkers to the Michigan Theater due to riding a bicycle. I could have beat them walking since many were dragging a damaged leg or stopping to try to eat human flesh. In West Africa a Zombie's Soul was captured in a bottle and sold to clients for luck,healing or business success. In Southern Africa a dead person can be turned into a Zombie by a small child. Also some Witches [Witchcraft VooDoo types I suppose] could turn persons into Zombies and possess them and force them into slave labor. After rail lines were built to transport migrant workers, stories came about  of "Witch Trains" which looked normal but were stuffed by Zombie workers controlled by a Witch. The trains would abduct a person boarding at night and be turned into a Zombie or beaten and thrown from the train. I guess they weren't good Zombie material. Also there was some drug or potion one could ingest that gave the appearance that one looked dead, only to wake up hours later. This had to have helped the Zombie craze not to mention some Schizophrenics thinking themselves to be dead while still walking around. One of the earliest Zombie books was "Magic Island" by William Seabrook in 1929. That spawned the movie "White Zombie" starring Bela Lugosi in 1932. The modern Zombies as we know them seem to have been born by the book "I Am Legend" written by Richard Matheson. Soon after that the movie "The Night of the Living Dead" by George Romero in 1968 crawled from the Grave. Songs about Zombies have been done by Fela Kuti in 1976 and by The Cranberries in 1994. Who cant remember the rock band "The Zombies"!

Zombie Priest

A Zombie Family that stays Together

A Grandfather's Letter to his Grandson

Howell - Charles - James - Geraldine

John - Howell - Charles - James and Geraldine in front who got kicked by a playful Colt

My Grandfather James

Letter from my Grandfather at age 80 written to me at age 11 in 1966: " The Gilded age I was born in was 1886. My Father had a Stock Farm with 120 head of race horses - blooded stock they said and a big family coach, painted in black and gold. Four horses - High Steppers they were, and my Father built a big brown stone four story house with family initials on the doors. Electric lighting had just come out and all the electric switches for the whole house were in one little room, like a pantry. They were knife blade switches - copper brass exposed. The door was kept locked. We had door bells, big bells one could hear all over the house. We had a big coal furnace in the cellar. I tried to run away and become a drummer boy in the Spanish American War but our boys died like flies with yellow fever. Guess it was a good thing my father and his colored work hands caught me and took me back. I remember we had a special kind of dog with lots of spots. He ran under our carriage where ever we went. I wore kilties and had long curls down my back like a girl and got in so many fights that Papa took me to Philadelphia and had my hair cut short and bought me a boys brown suit. Many bicycles had a real high wheel and a short wheel. The street lights were manufactured gas and a man came along every evening to light the lights. He had a step ladder and a long tapir. Then they invented the incandescent lamp. They were set high in the corners and a man came along every so often and put a stick of carbon in them. They arranged the lamps so they could be let down to the street level and raised in place again by ropes. Drug stores sold two kinds of ice cream. Vanilla and Chocolate. A nickle would buy a loaf of bread and it was 5 cents for a cigar - or a pocket full of candy. Tutti Fruity ice cream was sold by street peddlers for 1 penny a scoop. Bananas were sold by street peddlers as were vegetables and fruits. My Papa would spit on the apples and rub them hard with an old rag to make them shine. In Philly us boys used to go around in gangs of 25 to 50 teenagers and the gangs all had names like the "Boone Rippers" or the "Cannery House Gang". The "Stone Yard Gang" which I belonged to had a fort with a big fence around it and full of chipped stones. The telephone came out when I was a baby. My Mothers Father was called "King of the Commission Merchants" in Philadelphia. Philly had cable cars that ran all the time. When they started to move, they let down a grip which grabbed the cable through a slot in the middle of the car tracks. Every once in a while the cable broke and everything stopped. There were many big wagons in the streets all the time and there were quite a few traffic jams with so many horses and wagons and carriages. In New York, the street cars were pulled by horses and they charged 3 cents for children and 5 cents for elders. The seats ran lengthwise of the cars. Many men wore high silk hats and hard derby hats. I didn't see any felt hats until after I went West in 1907. The street sidewalks were all brick and the roads were all cobble stones. There was always a rumble and it was noisy. Men came along with street brooms and shovels, sweeping up the horse manure. There were many mules also. Mules were animals with a mare for a mother and a little jackass for a father. They are man made animals, not put here by God like other animals. They cannot breed and have young mules - only a horse can have a male baby. The horse manure was sold to farmers to use in their gardens as a fertilizer. Some fertilizers were ground up with dead fish and animal bones. My father, your Great Grandfather was a big strong man 6' 2" in his bare feet and his arms were as big around as my legs at the hips. He had black curly hair, blue eyes and red cheeks from his Irish mother. He was a great swimmer and a dead shot and seemed to fear nothing. He liked to shoot wild ducks and wild geese. He gave me a Martin-Henry 16 shot repeating rifle when I got old enough to hold it up and shoot it. When I went west, my sister and my brother Charlie hogged all the old things when the old residence was sold and I got nothing. Your Grandmother Eva did not want any of the old stuff. "

Why do certain things happen at the same time?

Woman taking her 2 Dogs for a stroll

Have you ever noticed when you see 1 kid flying a kite, the chances are good you will see another kid flying a kite? Sure, it probably because its a nice windy day outside. But what about things not so obvious? When I see a woman walking her dogs, I will see others walking their dogs and the more I look around, the more I will find walking their dogs. I have seen a car pulled over by an officer then maybe 2 miles away I see the same thing. It cant be the weather. It was not a holiday or weekend. If I see a plane in the sky, you betcha, I'll see a few more that day. I see a car with a flat tire, I'll see another one, or 2 or 3 with a loud exhaust. Even famous people seem to die in groups of 3's, well that maybe stretching it a bit, but it does seem that when a celebrity dies, its not long after another one dies. Something to wonder about. -Jimio

Most Fame Starts Locally

Contestant at Jackson MI Teen Idol

Before many get famous they hone their skills at churches singing gospel or at high school musicals singing and acting for a possible shot at double fame. Actually I'd have to say it even starts much earlier than this. At age 3 or 4 very enthusiastic parents steer their children towards promising careers. Some with good intentions and some with ideas of living vicariously through their offspring. While many children can benefit from this others probably are disillusioned and crushed by all the constant pressure. A good parent is one who will know when to back off if the pressure is changing their child negatively. Let the kid do his thing in his own time. If they are ready to fly then strap the wings on them :-] Even after finding fame they can still fall to corrupt managers and bad drugs. I have heard that drugs helped some musicians to be more creative. With the untimely deaths of many music stars , I would have to disagree with this approach. The risk is greater than the reward and when you are high or drunk, you only think you are being more creative. The American Teen Idol competition has grown along with the American Idol one. It seems odd to need a Teen Idol competition since American Idol contestants age can range from 15 to 28. Then again the Teen Idol might be born out of a desire for a more local contest. It brings in money to the community and had an even greater chance to find talent. After all the Olympic Gymnasts win gold medals at 13 or 14 years of age, why cant singers win a contest also? The Teen Idol I attended went off rather nicely, though a 5 minute downpour
interrupted a singer in the middle of his song. When the rain stopped, the judges, bowing to the strength of Mother Nature, allowed him to start his song over again. The Judges were all local people as were the teen singers. I suspect most of the audience was local as was I for sure. They even had cheering sections for their favorite singers. All in all a good time for a free event.

Graffiti Rocks

Graffiti Rock at Michigan Center High School

Graffiti Rock at Vandercook Lake High School

Graffiti Rock at Concord High School

Graffiti Rock at Jackson High School

When I was in High School we never had a Graffiti Rock and now I see them at almost every high school. I started "Googling" around and found that the Graffiti Rock tradition seems to have started at University of the Pacific in the 1960s two engineering students brought a large boulder and put in on the front yard of the Engineering and CS Building. A few years later a second boulder was put near that one. Students started sneeking out at night and painted graffiti on these rocks. I guess over time this custom spread to other Universities and then to High Schools. Just Google: University of the Pacific Graffiti Rock - a set on Flickr  , and you will see quite a few of their graffiti rocks over the last few years. oberlinrocks.com is another nice site showing the graffiti rocks for birthdays, anniversaries, proposals,just about anything.

Do Ice Cream Stands really make money in a Heat wave?

Jimio cooling down on a 100F Day

On these 100F plus days I have always wondered how busy an Ice Cream Stand can be. I suppose if you have to get out in this heat, an ice cream cone can cool you off for a bit. But that's the rub: "A Bit". Unless you order a 3-scoop cone it wont last very long [If you try to make it last, a lot of it ends up on the ground]. So its a balance of melting versus licking fast. I'd guess the smart people just purchase super-sized drinks because the ice lasts longer than any old ice cream cone will. I like eating ice cream cones because it reminds me when I was 5 years old and my first cone landed in the dirt. I take extra special care these days so I don't repeat that horrifying incident 55 years ago and every completely finished ice cream cone feels like an incredible victory. I think the reality is, most of the smart people are staying indoors in the AC so no wonder I'm the only one here. Probably being outdoors in a 100 degree plus day is no different than riding a bicycle in a foot of snow on a 20 below zero day. Either way I'm just as crazy! =B-]

A Worldwide Memorial

Section of World Trade Center at Cascades Falls Park, Jackson Michigan

When I went to take pics at our annual July 4th Fireworks at Cascades Falls, I had no idea this Memorial was there. As you can see the steel beam is twisted and torn and badly burned. I thought to myself: "If my little city has this WTC section, I wonder how many other Cities, Towns, Villages and Special Arenas or Parks have sections?" Well a little Googling has found me an article that says 13,000 linear feet of steel from the WTC was donated to about 1,300 places. Google 911memorials.org  to see a list of sites with 911 Memorials. These Memorials are located Worldwide since the entire world has felt the impact of 911.

Color Coded Buses

City Buses lined up to take Commuters Home

I love art and I love things with lots of bright colors in them. Sometimes colors can help us. In the Hospital they have different colored stripes on the floor to help guide you to which department of specialized medicine that you needed. You just kept following the blue, red, yellow or green line till it ended. Now Buses being color coded might be helping those who cant read the sign on the bus and can maybe go by which color it is, providing the same color bus always goes on the same route. Bus is derived from the Latin word "Omnibus" meaning "For All". One of the first bus stations was in Nantes France and the Store was called "Omnes" which is Latin for "All" , so the stores patrons started called the horse drawn carriges that carried lots of passengers, "Omnibuses". After the buses becaome motorized, they were called "Autobuses" Some Buses are called "Coaches" which have reclining seats that are very comfortable and usually a restroom on board. The first known public bus line was in 1662.

Race Weekend

This is what you get after drinking 1 Million gallons of Coca-Cola

I found this in a giant Wheaties Box

I never knew my Toy Cars were Real!

Well here we go again. This Magical Mystical time of the year when traffic jams last for 5 hours and you run out of Sunscreen. What! You forgot the Umbrella? If you don't like the idea of burning to death at the race, you can always come to town and partake of many exciting events, like listening to live music, eating great greasy foods and last but not one bit least, *Guzzling the Sudz!* Cheers! The Weather could not be better. Ninety Nine Degrees and 80% Humidity. I sure hope the guitar amps don't melt. Honestly tho-If you like the race, please enjoy it to your heart's content but don't forget to mosey into town for some NightLife.

Psychedelic Castle

Underground Ink Tattoo Parlor

Talk about Eye-Catching. This is self-advertizing at its best. This old innovative building is located right on a curve and I wonder how many car accidents it must have caused with all the drivers turning their heard to get a better look at such a Day-Glow Monstrosity. Maybe it glows in the dark! A Full Moon would help also. Be great to hold Halloween Parties in. I don't often see many brightly colored buildings in this area. Most are in New Orleans or in Europe so it was refreshing to see this. Not sure if this place helps or hurts property values but being a Tattoo Parlor as it may, I suppose the customers can be a problem especially if they are not happy with their tattoos. I wonder what business this building held before Underground Ink came there? Making cannonballs? :-]

Clowning around with Beauty

Ronald McDonald with Rosequeen and the Runnerups

On Sunday June 3rd 2012, Jackson Michigan held its Rosequeen Parade and Ronald McDonald happened to stop by and pay a visit. I just happened to catch him posing with the Rosequeen and her other contestants. I  never knew Ronald was such a Ladies Man. He even told them the best eyeliner to use that wouldn't smudge. Remember, he must put on his makeup hundreds of times a year, so having a quality brand is imperative to keep one's face from cracking up. The Rock Group KISS realized that a good exquisite exotic cosmetic is necessary to save one's skin. Ronald certainly did not forget his core Fans: The kids. He posed many times with the children along the parade to give them a memorable keepsake forever. This Jimio saying: "If you have a local parade near you, check it out. And take a camera!"

A Good use for a Tree Trunk



Giant Wood Eagle in front of home near where I live



History has a "Little Surprise"



Top Statue "Defense of the Flag" Bottom Statue "The Child, theParent and theBook"

While taking a photo of the bottom pic at my local library, I just thought I would do a little research on it. Come to find out the man who designed The Child the Parent and the Book went to Jackson High School and graduated in 1947. Now, the statue in the top pic was by Lorado Taft and was paid by General Withington, a civil war general from Jackson Michigan to honor the men from Jackson who served in the Civil War, I think the 1st and 17th Infantry of Jackson. Well Freeman Schoolcraft who designed the Library statue met Lorado Taft while he was in town to dedicate the Foote Memorial. Schoolcraft showed Taft some of his work and Taft was so impressed that he gave Schoolcraft an Apprenticeship in Chicago. Schoolcraft remained in Chicago for 40 years teaching at Art Institute of Chicago,the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. In 1982 the Director of the Jackson Library asked Schoolcraft to make a sculpture for the library. Schoolcraft completed the clay model but died in 1983, however his wife took the clay model and had it made into a statue with help from a Foundry in Yipsilanti. What I find interesting is the "Defense of the Flag" statue by Taft is only about 200 feet west of Schoolcraft's statue and I never knew that the student had decided to design a statue so close to his teachers statue. Sort of like Honoring the teacher, himself and the library all at the same time.

Classics and all that Jazz

Jackson Sympony Orchestra

Every town needs an Orchestra to give it that Classic appeal. Hearing the Greats is a wonderful experience especially in a fantastic accoustic hall. All those strings and woodwinds and blaring brass and the pounding of the drums and timpani. Our Jackson Orchestra has been around since 1949. They play classical along with opera, jazz, blues and rock music. The current Director is Stephen Osmond a Yale graduate and University of Michigan Professor. He has performed in New York's Carnegie Recital Hall. Artists like Dizzy Gillespie, Ralph Votapek, Mannheim Steamroller, Ann Murry and Manhatten Transfer have performed at the JSO. What's great is they have programs for under-priviledged children in which around 350 kids participate. Jackson Symphony also has a Home Schooled Orchestra where kids meet twice a week. I remember taking my Mom back in the early 1980s to hear the Jackson Symphony Orchestra perform Vivaldi's 4 Seasons. She was crazy about classical music and she enjoyed this concert very much. During the summer JSO gives free concerts outside in the Amphiteater out on the lawn. The sounds are great going into the sky and then swirling around inside your cranium. :-] This is Jimio saying treat yourself to a Classic Concert this Summer!

Where is Winter?

All ready for Night Hockey on Gilletts Lake

Does anyone know where winter went? I don't think it ever came to Michigan this year. Winter decided to stay in Canada I suppose. Here's the weather temps for Feb 20-24 Monday high 45F low 28F- Tue high 43F low 30F - Wed high 48F low 32E - Thu high 52F low 32F As you can see, not the kind of temps that produce ice, so no skating this year unless we get a few cold weeks in March as a Last Blast, tho I'm not counting on it. Night Hockey was a blast but it did take a while to find the puck if it got away from you. My trusty Coleman Latern I got in Christmas of 1972 lit up an entire rink for endless hours of dark time hockey. Even just skaking around the lake [I called it going Cross Country] with my latern was a thrill and chasing snowmobiles kept my adrenelin levels up. This is Jimio saying "This is either an Early Spring or it was a very long Fall"

Jimio's Icecapades

Jeff - Joe - Jimio - Mike

Many Groovy Winters were had on Gilletts Lake. There were many things to do [not as many as summer time but almost]. I remember just free skating over the entire lake stopping at each fishing hole to see how many fish were caught. Those poor guys, it must have been a horrible death freezing and flopping on that ice and having dogs come up and sniff you. Some Ice Shantys had all the comforts of home - TV -Icebox full of beer and a table to play poker on. I saw a guy spear a pike once. That was cool and those fork tips are really sharp! It was fun chashing the dogs on skates, we would get going fast in a straight direction then turn sharp and watch those dogs trying to turn on the ice was hilarious. Some of the Moms would have their pooches pull their kids on the ice while sitting on sleds. [Wish I had gotten pics of that] One year a friend named Kevin, his dad brought out an old Renault car on the ice and pulled us. We used water ski tow ropes and got up to 60 mph. It was ok if we fell, we had hockey kneepads on and the smooth ice kept you from rolling over and over. But when the snow did cover the ice was the best time to make our hockey rinks. In the early years our goals were nothing except a pair of shoes or boots and the puck had to go between them to score but during my junior or senior year I built a goal with 3 sections of 2x6's and it worked out swell. Night skating was the best for me, chashing snowmobiles with my coleman latern. That latern could light up an entire rink so our hockey games could proceed into the late-night hours. I learned how to identify the constillation Orion while laying on the ice late at night and always think of night skating whenever I see it. Some days it snowed so heavy that by the time we shoveled off the rink, we had to start shoveling the other end again and even if it was -20F out, you could get pretty hot and sweaty under your coat and you would have to take your coat off for a few minutes. On the south side of the lake was a different school district than ours and these 8 guys challenged us to a game and even though there were only 4 of us, we won. It was also a blast going down by the deserted ends of the lake were the swamps were and making Bonfires. It got pretty hot near them flames and though I thought we would burn a huge hole in the ice, it never hardly hurt the ice. Thats because heat is not very hot hear the base of the flames. A few years we had "Black Ice" which is very smooth clear ice. It was really groovy skating along and looking down, you could see the bottom and the fish swimming around. You could actually chase the fish around by the Sandbar where it is very shallow. And watching a lot of thick weeds just under the ice seemed creepy. You can tell how thick the ice is by looking at the cracks to see how far down they go [providing the ice is fairly clear] I only fel in once and it was only 1 leg up to my knee in front of my house. I test the strength of the ice with my hockey stick. apparently it was safe near shore but farther out it hadn't frozen quite long enough. Our lake is pretty shallow and out front by my house its only like 4 feet deep so I was not too worried. Its best to stay in shallow areas on new ice. In town at Loomis Park they used to flood the ground for ice skating. One year the figure skaters were complaining about the hockey skaters so the park flooded 2 areas and all were happy. Also at the Cascades Park there is a nice pond to skate on which also have 3 or 4 connecting ponds attached to it. Cross-Country skiiers also are also near the pond due to a golf coarse in the park. I also had some cross-country skiis and loved using them on Gilletts Lake cause it was a nice flat terrain. If you ever get out to the lake or a pond try your hand at skating, play a little hockey or put on some cross-country skiis and above all - [Take a Camera]  -This is Jimio saying *Happy Wintering*