GRANDFATHER SURPRISE

The man you see in this video is an only child. So is his grown son. Watch his reaction when that son and his daughter-in-law tell him he is going to be a grandfather.

THE RACE HORSE ARTIST

Metro Meteor is a retired race horse. A very successful race horse. Like many humans do in retirement, he has taken up oil painting.

Metro Meteor got a big story in The New York Times this week and he's been featured on the Today show. Take a look.

ELDERS GIVE GOVERNOR SCOTT AN EARFUL

It is no secret that Florida Governor Rick Scott doesn't like Obamacare and he likes to tell anyone who will listen how it will hurt them.

Last week, he went to a senior center in Boca Raton to collect horror stories about the Affordable Care Act. It didn't quite work out the way he expected.

There is no video from the meeting so John Iadarola of The Young Turks online news service (TYT Network) read some of what the old people told the governor as quoted in the Sun Sentinel.

Tom Delmore was the first reader to tell me about this one.

EPIC BOOK OF MIND BOGGLING TOP 10 LISTS

I am such a sucker for this kind of thing. It is pure, deep silliness, piles of useless information. Wonderful stuff.

Everyone likes lists and this two-inch thick paperback has a load of the funniest, oddest, weirdest ones around – 164 of them. Okay, a few have only eight items but who's counting.

One I like is “Classic Toys and Games That are Older Than You Think.” Did you have any idea that the ancient Greeks played with yo-yos? I didn't. And that there was a version of paintball called wax dueling that involved pistols and wax bullets in the early 20th century?

Another list I like is the “Top 10 Criminals Caught Thanks to their Own Stupidity.” In one case, a pair of men in Colombia used the computers in an internet cafe for awhile then pulled out guns and robbed the place. They were nabbed because one of them forgot to sign out of his Facebook account.

This stuff is addictive and I'm going to spend way too many hours (days?) going through it all. The title is Listverse.com's Epic Book of (Mind-Boggling) Top10 Lists by Jamie Frater and it is available at all the usual book outlets.

CYBERSENIORS DOCUMENTARY

If you've been reading this blog for more than a couple of days, you know how much I believe in the internet for old people. Now there is an upcoming documentary from some people who feel just like I do. Here is the trailer:

A screening of Cyber-Seniors is being held at the local theater in my town in late May or June, is being shown in a variety of places throughout the U.S. and more venues are being added.

You can find out if it will be available near you at the website.

DOVE MAGIC

Darcy Oakes is a magician who uses a lot of doves. He appeared not long ago on Britains Got Talent. That's all you need to know. Prepare to be amazed.

(I cannot remember how I found this video so if I owe anyone a hat tip, do let me know.)

DAVID BLAINE AND HARRISON FORD MAGIC

Let's have some more magic – this time of a smaller scale but no less amazing.

For reasons we are not privy to, magician David Blaine was visiting at actor Harrison Ford's home. In the kitchen, Blaine pulled off some fruit magic and Ford reacted. Take a look.

CATS THINK HUMANS ARE JUST BIG CATS – DUMB ONES

The New York Times reported on a book titled Cat Sense from British biologist John Bradshaw which, says the Times, “provides the best answers that science can give for the time being” about what cats are thinking.

In the book, Bradshaw explains that unlike dogs, cats have not been bred for domestication so they have not changed as much as dogs from their wild ancestors.

And in fact, according to Bradshaw, 85 percent of all cat matings (presumably in England anyway – the NYT doesn't say) are arranged by the cats themselves between ferals and housecats.

”As for cats’ attitudes toward their owners, Dr. Bradshaw thinks they regard them not as kittens but as a combination of mother-substitutes and larger, nonhostile cats.”

You can read the entire review here.

DEEP SEA DIVING – IN A WHEELCHAIR

This video has been all over the interwebs this week and there is a good reason. The footage of performance artist, Sue Austin, is mesmering.

Here is her TEDtalk that includes her video of her underwater exploration in her wheelchair.

Interesting Stuff is a weekly listing of short takes and links to web items that have caught my attention; some related to aging and some not, some useful and others just for fun.

You are all encouraged to submit items for inclusion. Just click “Contact” in the upper left corner of any Time Goes By page to send them. I'm sorry that I probably won't have time to acknowledge receipt and there is no guarantee of publication. But when I do include them, you will be credited and I will link to your blog if you have one.