A Perfect Christmas

I am as tired as I've ever been. On Christmas day I played too hard with my Grandson Denver. I only get to see him twice a year and this is the first time he remembered me as his Grandpa Vollrath. I finally found something I'm a expert on. I am a good grandfather. No I'm not perfect at it but I try to be the best Grandpa I can be. All grandchildren are miracles of imagination.

My favorite Moment of the year is when I take a picture with my two Grandchildren on Christmas Day. The pictures are never perfect but the moment is always perfect.

The Real Bridges To Nowhere

The first bridge to nowhere is that bridge to the 21st Century.

Then there is that bridge between the Corporate Campus of Microsoft. Welfare for the rich always goes nowhere. The taxpayers of America were used to fund half the bridge in a system of bribes.

Whale Wednesday; A Nation of Eco-Terrorists?

A new boat to fight the Whale Wars is called Godzilla or the Japanese version of that name. Is Japan a nation of eco-terrorists for killing whales? Is being human make us killers of nature? Are all nations eco-terrorists?

The Snake Story

Part of me thinks the above video is funny and another part of me thinks it's just painful to hear. Turn your volume down if you dare listen to The Snake Story. This is the first visit from my Grand Daughter since she got her glasses, that she's worn the pink goggles for the whole visit. I love you Cordelia.

The Cordelia & Grandpa Show will have a set in part two. It will be a closed set too.

I come from a family of story tellers and the stories flow freely:)

My Little Mouse

I was killing myself trying to make a movie with only two people but then I stopped everything and took time out for Halloween.
It was a cold night so Cordelia was a warm mouse.

30 Seconds

I have had little sleep over the past few weeks to enter a contest on Youtube. All my other projects are suffering for 30 seconds of a mini-movie. The above photo is of the alien backdrop painting for Epic Space. I'll try to get a link up tomorrow but for now you can find it on my channel on Youtube called RobertVollrath.

Caged Lightning

I wasn't going to write another blog entry but being in a car hit by lightning is a very strange thing to have happened. It was like my car was in a cage of lightning and I was blinded by white light for a few seconds as I drove. I didn't even think about stopping the car. I guess I was in shock but I didn't get shocked and I can find nothing wrong with my car. I saw the lighting around my car and heard the thunder at the same time. I don't know why I didn't run off the road.

9/11 and the Truth

What happened on 9/11, 2001? I know what happened, my future for my country was stolen. I don't believe in all the wild stories on the edited out of context movies on YouTube. Sorry I've worked on a lot of propaganda movies and I know all the tricks of the trade.

Do we know all the facts? I'm sure we don't but that doesn't mean reality fits into our own narrow view of the world. I believe we all have a narrow view of the world. I'm not God and anyone reading this isn't God. We are at best a pinprick of God and can't know all things.

I am taking a break from blogging until November 1, 2010.

Birthday Girl

A picture of Cordelia and her cousin on her birthday.

Epic Fail

I stayed up two days working on the bashed together doll house I put together for my Grand Daughter Cordelia. I wanted to have it finished for her Birthday. I finished the basic construction and put a primer coat of paint on the plastic model. I borrowed my parents van as the dollhouse was too tall to fit in my car. On the way up to the party the dollhouse fell apart as I used the wrong type of glue on it.

The above picture is of the dollhouse after I glued it back together. Oh well now it's going to be a Christmas present.

5:13

"It's amazing the tree fell at 5:13 just as we looked at the clock on the courthouse,"

"Robert it's not 5:13 yet, you mean 3:15."

"Yeah, you're right the tree fell on the house at 3:15."

I look at my Daughter-In-Law Amanda with a dumb look on my face and think to myself; Stupid broken brain.

3:15

My Daughter-In-Law called me.

"Robert, do you want to come up early and go to the carnival with Cordelia and I?"

I'm so tired and my mind is starting to fall apart in what I call a memory drop. Every few months I forget just about everything for a few days. Why did I have to break a steering wheel off with my face all those years ago?

"Sure I'll come"

I hang up the phone. I'm too tired to dive but it's my grand daughters birthday. No that's not it. Something bad will happen if I don't go. Damn the crazy spirit stuff in my head. Hell, I'm too tired to go. The last time I drove when I was this tired I had a car wreak. Damn why do I believe in this junk? Why can't I be normal?

Then I think of the hundreds of times I predicted near term events. Then I think of the thousands times I predicted things that never happened. I don't have a vision. I just have a gut feeling. I can prove nothing, so I'll tell no one. I drive towards my Grand Daughter's house thinking I shouldn't be driving this tired.

I should stop to eat. No then I'll be late and something bad will happen. "You're an idiot Robert!" I say to myself but I drive on.

I get there and we walk to the carnival with Aunt Torrie. I eat bad overpriced food. Like a idiot I run out in the road to save a bag of marshmallows that little Cordelia drops as a hot wind picks up.

I'm hot and tired and want to go back but I can't ask because it's too soon. I don't don't know why but it is.

"What time is it?"

I ask and Amanda looks to the clock tower on the court house.

"It's 3:15."

I think to myself, It's time to go back. Everything is OK now.

We walk back and a tree has fell in the back yard. Big limbs are on top of the house and in the front yard where Cordelia plays are two large limbs laying across her wagon.

A neighbor tells my son later that the tree fell at 3:15.

Mermaid Monday: Her First Mono Fin

On her third birthday party the little girl got her first mono-fin.

The above image was bought by the parents and myself and does not belong to a third party.

Mermaid Monday; The Cove

I finally saw the movie "The Cove" last night and it effected me deeply. Hannah Fraser was in the movie and even without her fish tail she is a Mermaid in her heart trying to protect Dolphin from cruel death at the hands of cruel men with lies filling their hearts.

To Japan; killing Whales and Dolphins makes your country very tiny.

My Favorite Thing

My son Micheal turned 27 years old on August 25th and I drove my parents to Olive Gardens in Lee's Summit Mo for my son's family dinner in celebration of his birthday. My asthma was bad that day and Cordelia was extra sweet to me wanting me to take her for a little walk outside so we could talk.

"Grandpa, my favorite thing is talking to you."

My favorite thing is my family and here are some pictures both old and new of my extended family.

Cordelia, if this blog survives till you're old enough to explore it, know you have been a great joy in my life. I will always love talking to you

Honor Killings and Terrible Secrets I Carry

Honor, can you kill for it? Wives and Sisters have been killed in the name of honor. When I was getting divorced some of my friends asked if I was going to hurt my wife.

"There has been enough hurt, I wish her all the happiness in the world now."

The two men that stood before me were tough strong men that did the hard labor of working in a warehouse. They would have killed for honor. They couldn't understand what I said.

It doesn't matter what part of the world you grow up in, the world is full of honor killings. Men killing women to protect a lie in their hearts. You can't own women they are not your property and yet women lose their last names in marriage and never pass their family name to their daughters.

My Grand Daughter would be no less my Grand Daughter if she didn't carry my last name.

Too many ugly dark secrets in my mind. Too much hate in the world on gender lines. Was God made a man by men to make women less? What is wrong with worshipping the Goddess or the One Soul?

A day ago I learned more ugly secrets about the world. I fought a battle for a friend with love and truth and risked my own freedom and safety to do the right thing. It was for real honor.

When Grandma Dated Grandpa

90 years ago when my grandfather Oliver English was dating Lois McDonald the 19th amenment passed and woman had the right to vote in America.

Son of the End of the Rainbow

My son leaves a message on my cell phone.

"Dad, something something Crazy something something Rainbow!"

I can only understand three words in the message, Dad, Crazy and Rainbow. My youngest son must be buying something for my grand daughter. Some kind of rainbow toy. I call my son Michael and he says he didn't call and I forget about the message.

About a week later my oldest son Mark calls and tells me he made the message. This is the first time I have ever made the mistake of thinking Mark was Michael on the phone. Mark has almost no Missouri accent and Michael has a thick Missouri draw to his voice like me.

Mark tells me he drove through the end of a rainbow and his car was full of color like mine was years before. Mark had called me when it was happening to him. Mark told me he didn't believe me till it happened to him.

Unless it happens to you I don't expect you to believe me. Sometimes tall tales are replaced by tall truths.

Mermaid Monday; On Tuesday

Crystal St Romain

She is a Mermaid to me because she swims through the dangerous ocean of life. She is a friend and I even think of her as part of my extended family. She is the bravest person I know. I feel I can't tell you why I think she is so brave at the writing of this post.

If I had a daughter I would want her to be like Crystal. May the One Soul bind you to all the love in the universe Crystal and may happiness roll out before your feet.

Imagination versus the Ugly Ego

For twenty years I thought about designing a Sea Town. Not a town by the sea but a free floating sea town that was part of the sea. I am working on three feature length movie scripts as I write this and the sea town is part of the movie but never spoken about because it is a dream too big for the girl genius in the scripts to dare hope for.

Beside this blog and one of my other blogs (Pardon my Politics) I posted the above photo collage/drawing/painting on two other sites. The Venus Project and Wikia Micro-nations. Positive feedback on The Venus Project but a pretend Dictator using a fake name removed all my postings from Wikia. I knew this was a possibility but from a ugly little ego that plays with hate speech said my work wasn't good enough. No one on the site said anything to him about saying he liked to burn children.

The internet can be beautiful even with all the ugly egos that play in it.

Bang, Bang, Bang!

My parents got a new roof. Three days without rain. Missouri is having a second wet summer in a row. Three dry days and the roofers got the roof finished in three days. Beautiful job but I went a little insane with all the noise. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Great job Early Bird Roofing.

The insurance company (State Farm) didn't treat my parents so well. A lady from Columbia Missouri told my mother in harsh terms she didn't follow the rules to file a clam for hail damage. I picked up the phone to hear what she was saying to my mother and was shocked to hear the hate in the lady's voice.

"I'm her son, don't call back if...."

I'm afraid I wasn't very nice to the lady. I didn't talk long or use curse words but how America treats old people is very sad. She didn't talk down to me but I believe she was trying to bully my mother into keeping her insurance with State Farm.

My mother cried for three hours after the phone call.

The photos are the roofers starting the job and my mother and aunt in the front yard. My aunt is one of the hardest workers I know.

Whale Wednesday: A Whale of a Tale

At 12:30 PM my daughter-in-law called.

"Hi Robert, would you watch Cordelia today?"

"Sure I miss her."

I take her to see Toy Story 3.

At the movie she was an angel. After the movie not so much but I still had fun. I don't want to have a perfect grand daughter, that wouldn't be fun at all.

"Cordelia do you know what Whales are?"

"Yes Grand Da, I know they real!"

"How do you know they are real?"

" I saw them swim with mermaids on the video."

My mind is dumb founded and I begin to laugh.

Mermaid Monday; Nerdy Grandpa

On my 52 birthday I had a conversation with my grand daughter.

"You know Cordelia, I write emails to mermaids."

"You're nerdy grandpa!"

How right my grand daughter is.

I Love My Grandson

The last time I talked to my oldest son Mark he put my grandson on the phone.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, you are my Grandpa and I love you."

My heart melted.

Whale Wednesday; City in the Sea

Whales In Need of Kind Souls. Winks the micro-nation created to save whales.
A floating city to give aid to the whales.

Mermaid Monday: Imagination for the Sea

The top drawing is on the envelope of my birthday card. Drawn by the bravest woman I know. She lost twins in childbirth and is brave enough to be pregnant with a girl as I write this. My grand daughter asked her to draw those mermaids and she can draw in a way I can't, she can draw like a child.

The second drawing is of my concept for a sea city called Winks. The country of Winks will have a mermaid to protect sea life and to teach children to swim.

Saturn Saturday; The Long Way to Saturn

He transfered all his winkers to his sons. It was strange to handle paper money but when the micro-nations and micro-corporations took over the Solar System they put in place laws about the large transfer of money.

Winks

The first flag of Winks made out of poster board.



The forming of a Micro Nation is a silly thing and I feel I have captured that moment of stupid power mad ego with the above photo. In that moment of devine creative spirit I came up with the name of my mighty nation and the future flag of a not so great super powerless. I am the only citizen of Winks but I have high hopes as I have named my country Winks and not Wink.

Our motto is; We believe in everything but not at the same time!

Doll House Bash

Burned out on writing and painting yesterday, so I started to combine three plastic doll houses. I cut off the broken front porches of two of the doll houses and scaled back the clock tower and put it on top of the bashed together doll house.

Whale Wednesday; Baby Blue Space Suit

Photo Nat Geo

I've decided to put my Baby Blue Whale in a space suit. I think I can make it cheaper than trying to make realistic whale skin.

Mermaid Monday; Linden Wolbert

Photo Copyright Mermaids in Motion / Linden Wolbert.
Used with permission by Linden Wolbert.

I'm a day behind on everything! I'm writing Mermaid Monday on Tuesday. I've written a new mermaid scene in my second feature script of the summer. This time the mermaid has a scene with a robot the size of a horse. I've started building this giant robot puppet but that is another story. This story is about Linden Wolbert a real life mermaid.

I don't know Linden Wolbert but I'm a fan of work. I've exchanged a few emails with her about my current movie project which has a mermaid scene (now scenes) in the story. I've never shot an underwater scene and I first contacted her about doing some consulting work on the movie. This story isn't about my movie project, it about how Linden and all the real life mermaids of the world help young girls learn to swim.

I never engaged my sons when they were little in the fairy tale world. They never believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy and we never talked about mermaids at all. My grand daughter of two years old believes with all her heart and soul that mermaids are real. Linden Wolbert made me believe in mermaids. To see a twinkle in my grand daughter's eyes as she watches Linden swim in the ocean in one of her many videos as a real life mermaid is priceless.

My grand daughter loves the water and went to a beach on the Gulf of Mexico this summer to look for mermaids with her parents and Aunt Torrie. I see her play in her small pool in her front yard with her mermaid dolls in the water with her and think how important that belief in mermaids really is. The water is her friend and mermaids made the water safe in her young mind.

She'll never have the fear of water as I did when I first learned to swim. Mermaids like Linden showed her the way to the waters edge. To the Northern Queen of Mermaids Linden Wolbert thank you for living your dream and bringing a little joy to my grand daughter.

Please take a peek at the web site Mermaids in Motion.

Two New Puppet Concepts

Here are two new full size drawings.

Saturn Saturday; Space Lottery

Behind on everything. Will update all three Saturn Saturdays on Sunday.

Doll House Project

My Grand Daughter came over today and wore me out. To keep her out of things I started the Doll House Project in January of this year. I bought her several dolls on sell or at thrift stores. Then I bought her one very used plastic doll house and her parents found three more free plastic doll houses and being the very silly grandpa that I am I'm working on combining all four of the doll houses into one big doll house.