Never end our sentences with a preposition

On my 70th birthday, I got a gift certificate from my wife. The certificate paid for a visit to a wise man living nearby who was rumoured to have a wonderful natural cure for erectile dysfunction.

After being persuaded, I drove to see him, handed my ticket to the wise man and wondered what would happen next.

The old man slowly, methodically produced a potion, handed it to me, and with a grip on my shoulder, warned, "This is powerful medicine and it must be respected.You take only a teaspoonful and then say '1-2-3.'  When you do that, you will become more manly than you have ever been in your life and you can perform as long as you want."

I was encouraged. As I walked away, I turned and asked, "How do I stop the medicine from working?" "Your partner must say '1-2-3-4,' he responded. "But when she does, the medicine will not work again until the next full moon."

I was very eager to see if it worked so I went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine, and then invited my wife to join me in the bedroom.

When she came in, I took off my clothes and said, "1-2-3!" Immediately, I was the manliest of men. My wife was excited and began throwing off her clothes. And then she asked, "What was the 1-2-3 for?"

And that, boys and girls, is why we should never end our sentences with a preposition!

ONE COULD END UP WITH A DANGLING PARTICIPLE

Rockin' Rollin' Rockabilly

Growing up Rockabilly was one of my favorite types of music. I was shy in school, so I never learned to dance, but I would go and watch the dancers at the shows when the stars would come to town. I finally got over my shyness in my first year of University and learned to dance. 

Not as good as these couples but watching them brings back some great memories. Enjoy the dancing in the video. I think this is based on early rock, from the fifties, not the sixties, but I could be wrong.

Nature's greatest artist

Nature is amazing when we take the time to look. This short video shows what some males have to do to attract a mate. Well worth the three minutes it takes to view this.

Dealing with Stress? Try this

Stress is dangerous if we don't manage it, but how do we start to manage our stress? We all know we need to manage stress. When things get difficult at work, school, or in our personal life, we can use as many tips, tricks, and techniques as we can get to calm our nerves.

Here is one idea, use music. Sound therapies have long been popular as a way of relaxing and restoring one's health. For centuries, indigenous cultures have used music to enhance well-being and improve health conditions.

Now, neuroscientists out of the UK have specified which tunes give you the most bang for your musical buck. Researchers at Mindlab International in the U.K. wanted to know what kind of music induces the greatest state of relaxation. 

The study involved having participants try to solve difficult puzzles — which inherently triggered a certain degree of stress — while connected to sensors. At the same time, participants listened to a range of songs as researchers measured their brain activity, heart rate, blood pressure and rate of breathing.

What they found is that one song — “Weightless” — resulted in a striking 65 percent reduction in participants’ overall anxiety, and a 35 percent reduction in their usual physiological resting rates.

Interestingly, the song was specifically designed to induce this highly relaxed state. Created by the Marconi Union, the musicians teamed up with sound therapists to carefully arranged harmonies, rhythms and bass lines, which in turn slow a listener’s heart rate and blood pressure, while also lowering stress hormones like cortisol.

In fact, the music is so effective, that many of the female participants became drowsy — to the point where lead researcher Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson advises against listening to it while driving.


But don’t take their word for it. Experience it for yourself here: