This particular e-MEGA-zine edition was posted on 05.28.07 and (as you certainly MUST know by now!) is published afresh each and every Monday morn.
Today is Memorial Day, so be sure to pause for a moment and give thought to all those young men and women ‘’over there'’ who are constantly putting their lives on the line so you and I (and ‘’ours'’) can have a safe, secure and pleasant ‘’holiday.'’ At least, as you well know, that is the Administration’s PR line for justifying the whole horrible, exorbitantly expensive and mis-guided tragedy - in human and financial terms.
Just for ‘’the record:'’ I personally do NOT support the WAR - did not from day one - SuEllen DOES - and did so from the get-go. Had to hold her back from grabbing a couple of her shotguns and heading for the Mideast on 9.11.01! I thought then - as I do now - that we should FIRST make certain who and where the real culprits were. ‘’Back then'’ I felt like the proverbial ‘’cult of one'’ whereas, these days that seems to be the favored opinion of some 63% of the American public.
However, no doubt we ALL share a mutual concern for the health and well-being of those troops who have thus far managed to remain alive, as well as the ones who have come back banged-up for life.
So . . . please display your American flag prominently today, put some flowers on the graves of folks who were near and dear to you (military or civilian), barbecue some dead animal flesh, make a few DAX Perfect Martinis and have a really great day! (Add a cruise on the ‘DAX-LIFE’ Yacht and some hammock time, and you pretty much know MY schedule for the day . . . )
Later, if you get a chance and are bored, email a friend or two and tell ‘em about THIS site, okay? Just copy and paste our URL into an email and send it to them - and THANKS! www.DAXRICH.com
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A DAX ‘SMUCKLE:’ Thanks For Nothing, Imus!
We are informed that there will be one less contestant in the Miss Black America Contest this year, because no one wants to wear the banner that says IDAHO . . .
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DEAN’S RANT: ‘’Ho, Ho, Ho'’ - And It’s Not Even Christmas Time!
MONEY-MAKING: Eat & Grow Rich!
TEST YOUR LITTLE GRAY CELLS: Puzzle The Kids With These!
WATCH YOUR BACK: High Roads Media, Inc. - Yet Another Outfit You May Want To Avoid!
DAX-YAX: Dad’s Unfortunate Phone Call . . .
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DEAN’S RANT: ‘’Ho, Ho, Ho'’ - And It’s Not Even Christmas Time!
During the Imus dust-up a few weeks ago, one of the women, who managed to insert her ‘’two-cents'’ worth on a popular ‘’talking heads'’ show, expressed how awful it was, in her mind, that Imus had used the (now) well-known, three-word, derogatory phrase that set off the firestorm. Well, actually as we all clearly know, it was the two headline-grabbing ‘’Reverends'’ - those great and good guardians of our national moral compass - who ACTUALLY poured the starter fluid on the dry leaves . . .
Regardless, back to the incensed lady: She went on to say, ‘’How dare he say that! Women are NOT whores! And no one should refer to them that way!'’
We agree with part of that statement: It IS wrong for anyone to say nasty things about others - if it isn’t true - but . . .
Let’s look at some salient facts: There are 300 million people in the U.S. according to the most recent census. Presumably, about half of ‘em are female. That gives us a starting figure of 150 million females. No way to know, but let’s guesstimate that half of them are children - girls, that is. We’re down to a conservative net number of 75 million grown women.
Now, go do a little GOOGLING! You’ll find, depending up what you enter into the search box, well over a half BILLION separate websites that feature pornography of ALL kinds - from the relatively benign (known in the industry as ‘’soft porn'’) to the most outlandish - containing stuff that only the Germans can appreciate - and if YOU understand the meaning of THAT then, either you are a ‘’porn pro'’ or have done a bit of this sick research on your own! (The folks I assigned to do the research on this project have sort of turned an icky shade of green from the effort.)
So. Each website, on average, has at least 10 pages plus 20 to 30 additional links. If you spend even a few minutes on line looking at all that crap you will quickly learn that there are tens of millions of grown women (and sadly, many who are NOT so grown!) that appear naked, engaged in every sort of sexual practice one can imagine (and several, I must admit - even at 67, I had never thought of!)
You will also notice, as you cruise around that, seldom - if ever - do you see the SAME woman ‘’performing'’ twice! It is noteworthy however, that very frequently you WILL see the same men - but always with different females! The ratio of worthless men engaged in the porn industry must be, conservatively, one to 100 women! Each and every website - all of the millions upon millions of pages in the aggregate - feature DIFFERENT females - not the same ones repeatedly.
As they say, ‘’do the math!'’ We are talking here - literally - about many tens of millions of women who are engaged in various forms of illicit or at least, inappropriate sexual behavior - some of which is serious enough to legally put them away for a good many years. But the preponderance are probably just viewed by most as ‘’Girls gone wild'’ (And the counter argument would be) ‘’Boys will boys!”‘
Now, ’tis unlikely that very many - if any - of those women are doing all those ‘’nasty things'’ just for the fun of it. They are getting paid something. If you buy into the ‘’Oprah theory'’ that it’s their husband or boyfriend who has conned them into doing (whatever) - because, how after all, could any large number of her faithful viewers engage in such despicable activity - then, I would submit that no doubt, they’re getting room or board or the promise of SOMETHING tangible in return. Marriage? Celebrity? The proverbial ‘’big show-biz break?'’
Come-on! No self-respecting female is going to do all that down ‘n dirty stuff for naught - she’s being compensated (or promised big-time) in one way or another.
Guess what: That’s what the dictionary definition of a whore IS! ‘’1. A woman who engages in promiscuous sexual activity for pay. 2. To sell oneself, one’s talents, etc., for base purposes.'’
It becomes clear then, that the lady who earlier in this article ‘’protesteth too much'’ was simply . . . dead wrong. Statistically, it would appear that women are, in numbers greater than 50% of their half of the sexual equation, indeed, ‘hos!’ Sorry (VERY sorry, actually!) - ’tis just a FACT!
And in case you think I’m going all moralistic all of a sudden - think again! I do NOT really care one whit what anyone does with THEIR personal life, their body or their reputation, but I surely do get ticked royally when others make excuses for bad behavior or lie about it or distort the facts. Now, at first blush you may feel that I have distorted the facts in the above matter. If so, do this:
Do some research, as we did! Add up the numbers. Dig even deeper. IF you discover that our figures and conclusions are askew - let me know! I’ll be more than happy to learn that in the year of 2007 the preponderance of our society’s females are NOT hos - and will so report!
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This past Friday, the 25th of May, marked the 28th anniversary of the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 at O’Hare Airport in Chicago.
Fortunately, for me - and I will be so bold as to say that I’m fairly certain for a number of others (maybe, even you?) - yours truly did not use the advanced-purchased ticket for that flight but instead, at the last minute cancelled in order to conclude negotiations with the late John W. Lane, whom I had earlier met at a seminar I was conducting Washington, D.C.
He was interested in purchasing the foreign rights for DAX products for his Hong Kong operation and wanted to complete our contract before heading back there.
I was reminded of all this recently, when the History Channel ran an hour-long feature on the Flight 1-9-1 disaster - revealing that human error, shared by mechanics, pilots and the FDA, rendered the entire incident wholly unnecessary - as well as the deaths of 273 men, women and children who perished that fateful day.
Included, were two friends of mine who owned the popular Jocundry’s book store in East Lansing. We were all headed for the American Booksellers Association convention in Los Angeles. In my case, to promote my (first) novel, ‘’The Big Dream,'’ which had just been published by Lyle Stuart, Inc. in New York.
Something I only recently learned was this: The seat that I vacated was taken by a gentleman named Sokel. Occupying ‘’my seat'’ - he, of course, died - as did 100% of all other passengers - the greatest loss of life of any single airplane disaster in U.S. history, to date. Horribly, his parents - both of them - also perished on another American Airlines crash about 16 years earlier - also on takeoff - from New York, when the craft overturned and fell into Jamaica Bay.
So, what’s all this mean? Nothing, probably - except truly, we do not have much personal control over our fate - but there certainly are a few things we can do to enhance our lifestyle and increase the possibility for longevity and so far, I continue to think that it’s imperative that we each strive to do all of that - for ourselves and for those around us!
This year - to celebrate those additional 28 years of living on this planet - SuEllen and I went to Bristol, a little town in Northern Indiana and I broke my ‘’vegetarian fast'’ long enough to enjoy the largest, tastiest, medium-rare prime rib available in these parts - at the River Inn Restaurant - overlooking the St. Joe River. Took home about half of it and as we speak, it reposes in the refrigerator seductively calling my name . . .
-Dean
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MONEY-MAKING: Eat & Grow Rich!
I guess it’s no secret - I love to eat! Perhaps, you do, too. Finding new restaurants - of all types - is just about my favorite pastime. Has been for a very long time. Whenever we travel, MY focus is on local eateries and we always try to frequent as many as possible.
When I first met SuEllen about 17 years back, I said, ‘’Okay, here’s the deal: I really like to go out and eat - often. However, I also just like to eat good food - anywhere. So, you must agree that whenever possible, #1 you and I will cook at home, together - because I also love to cook. #2, we will go out and eat at as many different restaurants as humanly possible - as often as we can.'’
She agreed. In fact, we made it our goal to eat at least once at each and every restaurant in Michigan - and aside from ‘’side trips'’ to Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna and other places in Europe, PLUS a never-ending dizzying array of eateries in the good ol’ U.S. of A. - I think we darn near have met our goal.
My huge bonus: Turns out S.E. is a veritable gourmet cook in her own right - and over the years I picked up some pointers from her, researched and developed my own and discovered that cooking is one of my own favorite vocations.
In our popular 8-cassette tape series (developed for the 30 minute TV Infomercial) called, ‘’Personal Success™ Strategies of Today’s Young Millionaires!'’ we covered in-depth the Zagat phenom whereby, two former attorneys created a New York City restaurant-rating service - using the facilities and data provided by a vast network of unpaid fellow diners who enjoyed reviewing the places where they ate.
To my mind, that’s about ‘’as good as it gets!'’ You go out and eat - often - you then report on your experience and generally, you can even charge off your expenses legally! Wow!
In the past five years since moving to BLUE HERON POINTE we have joyfully explored our ‘’new'’ area of living - in Southwestern Michigan and Northern Indiana. I started writing reviews of each place - just for the heck of it.
Whilst doing so, I was reminded of the need for a comprehensive service whereby those of us who do dine out regularly (many millions of folks) would have a quick reference with unbiased data on each and every restaurant, bistro, country club, diner - you name it - so as to ensure that one’s time (and money) is expended in a sensible, judicious manner.
To that end: In your locale you might find it profitable to start up a newsletter or perhaps, a periodic guide of some sort wherein you will publish the clear and unvarnished facts about each of the principal eateries in your immediate area.
You could give it a proper title such as one I would use IF I were to do the deal: ‘’Dean & SuEllen Dine Out in Southwest Michigan.'’ Or, Northern Indiana. Or perhaps, Grand Rapids, or Kalamazoo. In short, you could publish several - even many - different and separate booklets to inform each of the areas of interest.
Furthermore, you could realistically expect to sign on local sponsors whose ads would appear sprinkled throughout your publication. Frankly, and this goes against most things we have discussed in the past, I would opt for NON related sponsors so as to avoid any conflicts of interest. Jewelers. Car dealers. Appliance stores. Electronics purveyors, etc. Mid to upscale merchants whose messages would appeal TO those folks who regularly ‘’dine out.'’
The format should be kept simple - but elegant. A bit of humor - maybe - but essentially, ‘’Just the facts, ma’am - just the facts!'’ Here are some (actual) reviews I recently did for some area restaurants that were published on the Internet via the auspices of AOL:
RED CEDAR GRILL (Williamston, Michigan)
This elegant bistro replaces a tired, good-ol’-boy type bar and diner that dragged folks in from as far away as the state capital for many years. Politicos would gather in small clusters to make deals, discuss policy or just while away the afternoon - often in a dimly lit corner of the room.
Nowadays, visitors will find a very clean and bright atmosphere with a cheery young staff eager to please and serve from a menu offering numerous delicious and unusual selections. Dean loves the gourmet meat loaf (mixed with herbs and mushrooms) whilst SuEllen generally opts for a fish entree. The wine list is surprisingly extensive. We hope this restaurant thrives as it is one of the best in the immediate area - especially, now that the somewhat quirky (but delightful) Roof Top Landing (with its small collection of live Rein Deer) is kaput.
Oh - how could we forget: The absolute BEST and most astonishing treat at the Red Cedar is the Carrot Cake! If there are two of you - order just one - it’s large enough for four, but each of you will gobble up half. You might want, as we do, to ask them to ‘’nuke'’ it for ten seconds before bringing to the table. Dee-licious!
-Dean & SuEllen
PETE’S PATIO (Niles, Michigan)
A delightful surprise! We were a bit put off when we were seated in what seemed like a windowless basement area, but who cares?! The food was absolutely fabulous and very inexpensive. The Red Snapper was the best either of has ever had in the U.S. or abroad. Highly recommended and we cannot wait to get back and try other menu items. -Dean & SuEllen
SPAGNUOLO’s (Okemos, Michigan)
We frequented this establishment a number of times during the years we lived close by in Williamston. We kept waiting and hoping for a menu improvement - or even a CHANGE - but it never materialized. There is precious little for the vegetarian and virtually nothing for the popular Atkins diet devotee.
Nevertheless, we each found something to our taste: The Sicilian anti-pasto salad and the traditional spaghetti. No real offering of varied desserts: The last time we were there we asked the waitress (a surly sort) ‘’how about some of those cannolis?'’ She answered, ‘’No!'’ and was serious. (Apparently each server must defrost their customer’s dessert order - and she was not in the mood).
One bright spot is ‘’Pat'’ - a charming waitress/bartender who is congenial, makes a marvelous martini and a mean Manhattan. She was on a 4 1/2 month hiatus for back surgery - has now returned and may ‘’save the place.'’ Want great Italian food? Best to head west into Lansing to Emil’s - the ‘’best of the best'’ in the mid Michigan area.
Plus, they’re open Sundays - as ALL eateries should be! However, if you ever find yourself in South West Michigan with a hankering for Italian - head to La Cantina in Paw Paw (Michigan.) Unmatched (so far) in our travels!
-Dean & SuEllen
With those 78 million Baby-Boomers now hitting the trail seeking interesting ‘’feed bag joints'’- this DAX Money-Maker™, started in your own community - at little or no cost - may form the solid ba$i$ for stocking your own larder!
I mentioned ‘’Personal Success™ Strategies of Today’s Young Millionaires'’ above. That terrific and HUGE program is still available - not on the teevee anymore - but via DAX directly. Originally, $299.50 + S&H, it’s now just $179.50 + $7.00 s/h. Order directly from DAX, Box 447, Centreville, MI 49032-0447.
This is a terrific program - real spiffy LOOKING as well as providing an extraordinary amount of all sorts of $$$-Making data. Statistically, MOST genuine DAX-DOERS already have it, have listened to it and are profiting from it. I hope that includes YOU!
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TEST YOUR LITTLE GRAY CELLS: Puzzle The Kids With These!
Here’s the first one that is especially fun for the kids: See if they can come up with the answer to this:
‘’How can you cause another person to be absolutely unable to lift his or her left foot off the floor and keep it there - without you or anyone else touching the person in any way?'’
Answer: Ask the person to stand against a wall with the right shoulder and right foot touching the wall. It is impossible to raise the left leg, let alone hold it off the floor. Note: The victim is NOT allowed to engage in any bracing with the left arm - so make sure the wall is not in a hallway or other confined space.
Another quick one for the kiddies: ‘’I know a word of letters three - add two more, but fewer there will be! What is the word?'’
This is what we used to call a ‘’groaner:'’ The answer is the word ‘few.’
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WATCH YOUR BACK: High Roads Media, Inc. - Yet Another Outfit You May Want To Avoid!
On the way home from a recent dinner with our best friends Floyd and Marie I asked him if he had ever read Napoleon Hill’s ‘’Think And Grow Rich.'’ He said that he had never heard of it, and I explained how important it was in my own life when, as a 16-year-old married young man struggling to support a family and discover some way to do a little better than just THAT - I stumbled upon the book.
It belonged to the owner of the small chain of Southwest Michigan theatres where I was the projectionist/janitor/marquee-changer/advertising and marketing fellow - working 7 days a week - including all holidays - for three years. (Got a hundred bux-flat per week - which in the mid 1950’s was actually pretty good: My father, who worked for 50 years as a linotype operator was making $85.00 but then, he only had to work 5 1/2 days per week!)
As most projectionists still do, I spent a great deal of time reading whilst running the movies and was delighted when I found that particular book bound in burgundy leatherette with gold-lettering. It helped me a great deal - indeed, I have credited it with saving my life, as I was, on occasion, rather suicidal given the circumstances of my life, health and a few other assorted (and sordid) details that no longer seem so important . . .
Anyway, the guy who owned the theatres eventually gave me the book as a gift when he fired me AFTER I had spent a lot of time teaching his son-ion-law how to be a projectionist. You see, all his other theatres were union-staffed and he wanted to provide gainful employment for his wastrel son-in-law and could do THAT only in the one non-union place - which until then - was MY bailiwick!
Somewhere along the line - during various moves here and there - I lost or misplaced that original copy of ‘’Think and Grow Rich!'’ After all, I had originally gotten the thing over a half century ago! Thus, when I decided to find a copy for Floyd - with his 95th(!) Birthday is on the horizon - I also wanted to get one for myself.
Coincidentally - and I wrote about this in DEAN’S RANT - a longtime pen-pal emailed me because he had just received an email from the grandson OF Napoleon Hill! Anyway, he provided me with a source for the burgundy and gilded version of the book I wanted and I immediately went online and placed an order for two copies.
The company was called HIGHROADS MEDIA, INC. at (not surprisingly) HighRoadsMedia.com Gave ‘em the proper chargecard data, and got back a statement that said: ‘’The following message was sent to your email address. Order confirmation. Thanks for shopping at Highroads Media. Your total was $46.13 including taxes of $1.13. All shipping charges will be in addition to this total. Your order ID is 23. Please refer to this number if you have any questions about your order.'’
Well, despite what the above on-line message said, they did NOT send a confirmation email. I waited a couple days and emailed them with my inquiry plus the order ID number, etc. No response. Repeated the process a couple days later - same response - NONE! At about the 10 day juncture, I tried one last time to get a rise outta these buggers but again, naughty-nought!
Finally, I just got royally pissed and told the dinks to cancel the order altogether! NOW I get an email from the company and later from some other company - each trying to explain away some site changes that were responsible for their foul-ups. Okay, I do understand those type of problems - have a lot of ‘em around here. BUT we always return emails no matter what. Any company or individual worth their salt does NOT ignore customers - period!
Too bad these n’er-do-wells have sullied the good name of ol’ Nappy - as he would especially hate this sort of thing. But just as the book title ‘’Think And Grow Rich!'’ simply translates into, ‘’When you think positive thoughts - you will engender positive results'’ . . . when you run a business the way the HighRoads Media people do - negatively - you can well expect nothing but negative consequences!
I suggest you avoid these people unless they change their name to a more honest one, such as LOW Roads Media . . .
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DAX-YAX: Dad’s Unfortunate Phone Call . . .
Ringgggg! ‘’Hi, honey - this is daddy - is mommy near the phone?'’
‘’No, daddy. She’s upstairs in the bedroom with Uncle Paul.'’
A brief pause and then, ‘’But honey, you haven’t got an Uncle Paul!'’
‘’Oh yes I do, and he’s upstairs in the room with mommy right now.'’
Another brief pause: ‘’Uh, okay then. This is what I want you to do. Put the phone down on the table, run upstairs, knock on the bedroom door and shout to mommy that daddy’s car just pulled into the driveway.'’
‘’Okay, daddy - just a minute.'’
A few minutes later the little girl comes back to the phone. ‘’I did it, daddy.'’
‘’And what happened, honey?'’
‘’Well, mommy got all scared, jumped out of bed with no clothes on, then she ran around screaming. Then, she tripped over the rug, hit her head on the dresser and now she isn’t moving at all.'’
‘’Oh my God! What about Uncle Paul?'’
‘’He jumped out of bed with no clothes on, too. He was all scared and he jumped out of the back window and into the swimming pool. I guess he didn’t know that you took out the water last week to clean it. He hit the bottom of the pool and he’s still there.'’
VERY long pause, then daddy says, ‘’Swimming pool? We don’t have a swimming pool! Honey, is this 404-5734?'’
(DAX-Thanx to SuEllen’s former biz associate, Don, at EATON for that one!)
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