Before Dawn

Rising before dawn into a cold house I wait for the warmth of the furnace and the smell of coffee to invigorate me. I gaze at snowflakes floating down from a still dark sky joining an already covered winter landscape and I feel a moment of nostalgia, common to men of my age. It's a feeling of settling in for a brain that is torn between memories of friends and family departed, and the peace and serenity of here and now, a stopping place of unknown duration where I can amuse myself with today's technological wonders. At arms length I have a modern television of gigantic size that will transmit to me movies that I saw first run at the movies on Saturday mornings sixty some years ago; a computer whose wonders and unfathomable amounts of information I've yet to skim the surface of; and the latest miracle, a library capable of holding 3500 books, a library the size of which would be a prize for even the richest of us in bygone days that I can hold in one hand called a Kindle. It is indeed a wondrous age to live in and I am glad I will be able to spend some time enjoying it for as long as I am allowed.

photo: unknown subject or photographer

Happy Face Balloon

Not significantly newsworthy. It's happy face hopefully will make your face light up a little.

First measurable snow

Almost like a Hollywood script December 1 arrives and a measurable first snow of the season arrives. If all the migrating birds haven't headed south it is time to do so.

Undersea sculpture

The artist sculpts cement life size models and submerges them into a South American body of water where they will become coral encrusted and provide hiding places for fish and other sea creatures. This picture is one of many. Check them all out and read the small piece that comes with it. I find it eerie, beautiful, and shows the artists ingenuity and talent.

What has happened to us?

Read Jack Cafferty's commentary and better yet read the feedback from his listeners. Read Ken from California, I think he is spot on, it distresses me to say.


November 29, 2010
Black Friday stampedes, arrests and fights; what's happened to us?
Posted: 05:00 PM ET



FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

The holiday season is upon us - and by the looks of things, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves.

Some of the behavior on display as Americans hit the stores for Black Friday deals was downright disgusting, including stampedes, arrests and fights. And it’s all in the name of buying holiday gifts for our loved ones.

Here are some reports from what happened at stores around the country:

In Georgia, a Marine reservist was stabbed when he tried to help stop a suspected shoplifter. The Marine was one of four servicemen stationed outside a Best Buy collecting Toys for Tots.
In Los Angeles, California, the Sheriff's Department had to temporarily put part of one shopping mall on lockdown after a fight in the food court.
An Indiana woman was arrested after fighting with other shoppers at a Walmart checkout. Police say customers were fighting about a person accused of cutting in line.
Another woman was arrested in Wisconsin. Police say she threatened other shoppers while waiting in line at a Toys R Us store. They say she tried to cut pass several hundred shoppers waiting in line. When she was confronted, the woman threatened to get a gun and shoot the other shoppers.
At yet another Wisconsin Toys R Us, thousands of people waiting in line rushed the doors when they opened. The store's employees had to lock the doors and call police. Customers waiting for hours reportedly chanted "end of line" to those just showing up.
Merry Christmas!

Here’s my question to you: In light of stampedes, arrests, and fights on Black Friday, what has happened to us?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?


Ken in California writes:
The great experiment called the United States seems to be failing. We are not the American family capable of tolerating our neighbors' race, religion, language and, culture. The fact is, Jack: we don't like each other, starting with the halls of Congress whose members are from Blue states and Red states. There is a foreboding of disaster, a sinking feeling about our nation as those who represent us drive wedges between us. If we can't fix our government, let the chaos begin. It is already showing up in it the stores.

Will in Mississippi writes:
Department stores are jam-packed with people willing to wait hours just to purchase that very special gift for a family member or loved one. But if another shopper intrudes in any way, it's time to pull out the boxing gloves and exhibit the Christmas spirit.

Ken in New Jersey writes:
Welcome to America. We are rude, obnoxious, and violent. Just ask the countries we bully and attack every day. Shoppers are no different than our elected officials. WikiLeaks proves that.

Rahn in Minnesota writes:
What has happened is that our country has gone from "the greatest generation" to the "worst generation" in my lifetime. I have a feeling that if my grandparents' generation had an idea what has become of the country they sacrificed so hard for, they just MIGHT have NOT made those sacrifices in the first place. And our world would have been that much worse of for it.

Jerry in Silver Spring, Maryland writes:
Whatever it is it applies to only a small segment of the U.S. population. Contrary to what the media claim, the majority of Americans avoided stores last Friday.

Al in New Jersey writes:
We did better than last year; nobody was killed. That's movement in the right direction.

Ralph in Corpus Christi, Texas writes:
Sounds more like a Black and Blue Friday.

Filed under: Holidays •Spending

A little scientific fun

The result of your experiment reminds me of kaleidoscopes that were toy's in my generation.

Pearl Harbor

In just about a week it will once again be the anniversary of the day which will live in infamy, as FDR said in his declaration of war. This film by National Geographic tries to figure out why Japan did what they did.

Watch more free documentaries

A very short motivational film, take a look.

Times Change

In the fifties our children were dressed as miniature adults complete with ties and suits. It changed though in the next decade, the sixties big time.




A birthday party for David Eisenhower, grandson of President Dwight Eisenhower. In attendance were movie and television stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.
By Abbey Rowe, Washington, DC, March 31, 1956
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, National Archives and Records Administration
(62-187) [VENDOR # 123]

the stuffing now, and then the gravy,

Save Room

As meals go, Thanksgiving dinner
Is always a feast--a five star winner.
Here comes the salad, dressed just right,
The golden brown turkey--a savory delight;

The stuffing now, and then the gravy,
The jello mold, all wiggly and wavy.
Take some cranberry sauce and candied yams;
Is there room for fresh made rolls and jams?

More dishes tempt me; ah, but I
Must save some room for pumpkin pie!

By Joanna Fuchs

The rich get richer and some don't

As you can plainly see by the looks of that uniform, a whole lot of money wasn't spent on the world champion Cleveland Indians. Not much has changed in ninety years. There was an awful lot of money made by the owners until free agency came about. Even now there is not a lot of money spent on product in some franchises. Picture courtesy of JIGGSY.



Smoky Joe Wood, Cleveland Indians professional baseball player wearing a Worlds Champions uniform, 1920. Wood was an outfielder and sometime pitcher for the Indians when they won the World Series in 1920. Bain News Service, publisher. LOC original medium: glass negative.

Baseball Disgust

It occurs to me that back in the fifties the Milwaukee team was municipally owned. Perhaps it was expansion time, I'm not sure and am too lazy to check it out. But the point I want to make is what can be done if a owner of a MLB team does not have, or refuses to shell out any money to field a competive team?

The Cleveland team has one of the lowest payrolls in all of baseball and recently the GM stated that the team could not enter into the free agency market because they did not have any money to do just that. In other words the team does not intend now or in the future to spend any of the owner Dolan's money to improve the baseball team. I read in one of the forum's that if that was the case then the Indians fortunes would rely exclusively on luck.

The bottom line then is the team is making a profit even though they are the lowest in attendance. They are making a bundle from their television station and merchandizing the Indians brand. So it seems that two facts are sure things, one they will not improve the team, and two they will not sell the franschise.

Since the Dolan's are a member of the owner's club albeit the really cheap wing of same that follows the motto, Keep your nose out of my business, it does not look good at any time in the near future that Cleveland fandom will get their dearest dream, a new owner.

To compound the dreary outlook, the commisioner of baseball, stays out of the way of his owners in order to retain his job. Obviously in the commisioner job description there is no standard of performance that each team must maintain. Cleveland is the prime example of that. It is a baseball joke and pretty much a truism that they have become a feeder and developer of young talent to be made available to other clubs through free agency or one sided trades.

It is also obvious that nothing is going to be done short of a nudge from those people in Washington that businesses that represent municipalities must be maintained up to some level of competiveness among other like businesses.

But now we've brought politicians into the fray. Now Cleveland Indian fans plight if that happened would be in the hands of big business, politicians, and big baseball. Things are not looking good.

Here endith the most recent fairy tale from a battle weary, and a little battle scarred in the head Cleveland Indian fan.

McSorley's

Ah, it looks like the Buckeyes have come from behind and will win again. This time over Penn State. It's time for a cold brew. So says most of the population. But for me I just don't much like the taste of beer. After one, I'm done. But McSorley's Bar is known for hospitality, a sort of early day Cheers.

Memories can make her anyone's grandmother

Memories are wonderful things. Photographs can evoke moments in our far past. This photo is from 1x.com. The memory it evokes is of Hazel's grandmother, an immigrant from Switzerland. The family lived in New Jersey and through time several family members broke off and moved to Ohio. Grandmother was one of them. On occasions she would take a trip back to New Jersey to visit her relatives. On one such time Grandma was put on the train by her son at the local railroad station. She found her seat and started to put her coat on the overhead rack and settle in with her luggage and such. She became so engrossed in the exercise she was completely oblivious to the fact that the train had started moving and the family was standing and waving and yelling goodbye as the train moved farther and farther down the tracks. Hazel remembered this all her life in good humor. She wondered how far toward New Jersey she got before she realized that the family had left to return home. Speculation is fun, but memories mixed with love is sublime.

Well done daughter

A public word of praise for my daughter. A bit of background is necessary. She and her husband have one son two years old. They now also have a newborn second son. The husband has landed a new job in Washington D.C. that keeps him there most of the time and my daughter is at home in New York to care for the little people, and try as well as she can to prepare for the move in just a few weeks. Her mother-in-law helps out when she can, and her mother and I spent several days there recently helping to do the mundane things that have to be handled in the home, while she handled the newborn and the two year old. Motherhood does not come natural to every woman, but I must tell her that her mother and I were impressed with her patience and ability to slow time down when she has to attend to a another dirty diaper which seemed to me, the grandpa, to being generated at a record setting clip.


She is not able yet, which is normal, to know that one day when she has time to reflect back that these next years will be remembered as the happiest time of her life.

Try to remember daughter when Ewan generates another one of those dirty diapers he is just adding one more happy memory for mama to smile about in twenty years or so.

When our parents wish to end their life

Getting old is not for sissies was a buzz line a while back for bumper stickers, it was funny but it ended there. Although when you reach a certain age it takes on a whole different slant, it becomes very serious. This article from the New York Times is about a mother who asked her daughters to assist her in ending her life. Many older people entertain this thought when a life ending illness becomes too painful to endure.

My mother when she was getting older and her health was going south just mentioned it in passing. I think just to see what my feelings were about the subject. I think a goodly amount of old folks at least think about ending it on their terms. I was not a sympathetic ear and told her to not ask me to assist to that end. My mother liked to say shocking things from time to time, and maybe this was just one of those times.

Getting older seems to add articles like this one from the Times in our required reading. Time moves unrelentedly on and how we wish to end our life here on earth is certainly important.

The COLA law needs to be rewritten

Senior citizens or in a more militant time they were called Gray Panthers, listen up. For those who don't remember, the Panthers were a pressure group of seniors who united and lobbied their congressmen and senators to help get legislation passed that would be beneficial to older folks.

Sound familiar? The Tea Party of current fame in unseating a few congressmen, and making a bunch more very uncomfortable in their plush seats on Capitol Hill is leading the way in showing how effective a grass roots organization can be. I think it also shows that perhaps the Gray Panthers should start showing their strength through numbers. There are an awful lot of us seniors out here with computers, and there are an awful lot of congressmen, and congresswomen (we don't want to forget them), who seem not to care much that the COLA law is depriving seniors of a little help to offset blazing inflation and medical cost increases. It will probably take a law change to reinstate a cost of living amendment. Do you think our good people in Washington will take it upon themselves to correct something that should be corrected without a threat to vote as a bloc in the next election. It worked this time for the Tea Party, why not the Gray Panthers next time.

I write the Public Reader, my name is Jim Kittelberger, and I approve of the above message. Isn't that what all politicians good and bad say on the boob tube?

A good team is better than a bad team

It's amazing how a little success can get you some press time. The Cleveland Browns have been laboring through a lot of unsuccessful seasons mostly anonymously, even the hometown press couldn't find much good to write about. But this year, one of those wait until next year years that has finally arrived, they have gotten out their chemistry sets and conjured up a team to be taken seriously. This morning in the New York Times they have a story on Rob Ryan, a Cleveland assistant coach and a son of Buddy Ryan, and his brother on a competing team, the New York Jets, having fun preparing to face off against each other this coming Sunday. So that is how you get in the New York Times, you have to be at least a little successful. But it might be that the Browns will be playing a New York team. Oh well let's get on with it.

Red Umbrella shots

I'm a sucker for red umbrella shots.





Photo Credit-Sahir ABACI

Wing walker Gladys

Gladys Ingle you were one courageous woman. I hope you retired from the wing walking business and went home to rock on your porch. You earned a long life.

The war was almost over

VJ (victory over Japan) day was in September 1945. This magazine had an issue date of August 18, 1945. It was all over but final surrender by that time. Everyone knew it was over, finally over. The well known Jeep would be converted for peacetime use. The cover illustrates a family still intact after four years of fear and angst whenever the doorbell would ring. I can only imagine if they were a real family what thoughts would have gone through their minds. How anything, how any dream is now possible to dream.

I AM AS I AM

Did the poem I am as I am come first or did Popeye? Well it was the poem written by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the early fifteen hundreds. Did popeye steal from Wyatt? After four centuries, who cares?
I am as I am the poem; and then there was POPEYE:

Ewan Davidson

Duncan Davidson, my grandson, who was an only child until just a little under a week ago is checking out his new brother Ewan (you-un) old scottish name, Davidson and I suspect wondering how this new guy will effect his position within the family structure. All will be well I am sure.

Is civility dead? Or more alive than ever?

MSNBC-Today asks the question: Is civility dead or more alive than ever?

Some years ago I could have answered that without thinking. Of course civility was dead, that didn't take a genius or a lot of thought to come up with that answer.

Regular manners dropped away and everyone could see that. Holding a door for a person, deferring to a woman entering a premises. It took a little longer for it to turn generational. Young people dropped any pretense of courtesy to anyone but their own generation, and even then it would be hard to recognize it if they showed any. Clerks in stores were rude and sullen to customers. Most people returned the rudeness so transactions were completed silently and without comments.

But I am so very glad to tell you that something has happened, things have changed. What is it you say that could cause a seismic change, and yes that is what it is. What has changed is I have gotten old and for some reason peoples attitudes have changed.

Were we living in this country fifty years or more ago it would be a given certain manners would be observed. Why did we stop observing those good manners? They were rules that made us all a little more civilized.

But things have changed, maybe because I'm older, I hope not exclusively because of that, but whatever. People hold doors for me; today as I was pumping gas the man at the next pump started up a conversation with me. Not a big deal? It is. People don't do that anymore. People have become more insular, chit chat is not something we do anymore. Privacy is big. People talk into cell phones all the time. The purpose I think some times it's because they don't want to have any social contact with a stranger. Maybe. I don't know but I want to believe that it is getting a little better a little more civilized.

China has fastest computer

China now has the fastest computer in the world. USA is number two. We were number two before when Japan took over. I have no idea what this means in terms of anything. The USA will have to try a little harder to regain the number one status.

politicians: a bad lot.

Political season is thank God coming to an end. We will very soon be able to put the reprehensible practitioners of the game out of our minds for a while.

Halloween Week Begins

This is Halloween week. Last night our local garden center, Kingwood Horticultural Center, presented their first GREAT PUMPKIN GLOW which featured hundreds of carved pumpkins displayed throughout the grounds. To add to the eeriness it rained on us but the temperature was in the seventies and it was pleasant enough. Taking night shots is not the easiest thing to do but this one is pretty scary I think.



Photo credit-Hazel

The Battle of Agincourt

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the BATTLE OF AGINCOURT in 1415. It was one bloody mother of a fight in a newly plowed field that had been through a rainy night so the battle was fought in mud. The English were outnumbered and left with mostly archers, but the English would prevail. The scene below from the movie HENRY V is Henry himself working his troops into a fighting frenzy. Check out this to get a more complete history of the battle.

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Hazel's favorite tune of the moment. Somewhere over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole

Lonesome Dove

Words-Ode on Solitude
Music-Theme from Lonesome Dove

BOY DIES (Johnny Sheffield)

How in the world can I be looking at the obit of BOY, Tarzan and Jane's ward. I remember the three of them swimming in their jungle pool with Cheetah squealing from an overhanging limb and hearing an occasional lions roar or an elephants trumpeting an hello to the kings of the jungle. Seeing Boy passing at age 79 is like reading my youthful companions obits in the paper. I spent many a Saturday mornings in the darkened theater watching the jungle family living what seemed a world of fun and freedom.

Man Cave

Hazel and I frequently watch HGTV to see the people haggle with each other and the realtor about why this house or that house just will not do. I am especially happy to see the kids that are just out of kindergarten make their criticisms a matter of public record. It's usually something like needing an extra bedroom for Spoofy the family dog to keep his dog bones or something of the sort. Another one that is new to me is the need for the man or boy of the house to have a 'man cave' so he and his buds can have somewhere to watch some sporting event and I guess throw things on the floor or whatever you do in a cave.

Anyways, I decided I should have a man cave also. I'm 73 years old and maybe that's a little too old for a full fledged cave, but maybe just an area off to the side in a room that has access to the television.

I now have one, and here it is. It is a little different from the young mans man cave, mine is open and on the same floor where Hazel holds sway. It is also open and accessible just in case I get too excited watching the Indians or Browns or the Cavs lose another game, and in case I really get too excited it has free access for the rescue squad to cart me off to the emergency room. An accommodation the young people on HGTV don't have to worry about.

COFFEE

I cannot tell you who wrote this, but I found this and other great things at everything2.com. Thank you whomever you are.

Coffee, have I ever told you just how much I love you? I may have murmured in the heat of the moment how grateful I was that you alone were there for me, but I've never specifically set time aside for just the two of us, just to let you know just how special you are.

Coffee, you excite me. When I'm at my lowest, the thought of holding a steaming cup of you is the only thing keeping me from falling asleep standing up. Even when I can't stand the burned, stale mess the Sugar Shack makes of you, just sitting in there, your aroma wafts over the counter, putting a spring in my step and some small measure of alertness in my apathetic gaze. The smell of coffee and donuts sticks in the seams of my hooded sweatshirt, reminding me even now of your everlasting presence.

When I finally find a half-decent mug of you in my hands, you wash everything bad out of my mind. The world is wonderful for a few minutes. There's only you and me. I take that first sip, scalding my tongue, suddenly remembering I don't even LIKE coffee, but just as quickly I forget again as warmth and caffeine and that sweet sugar rush spreads all the way to my fingertips. Ah, sweet coffee-induced bliss. There's nothing like that injection of pure caffeine and sugar, nothing in all the world. It's the best legal high there is.

And in the hottest days of summer, you're there again - confections of crushed ice and cream and sugar syrup and flavoring and that small but utterly crucial shot of very strong coffee dance in my dreams. On those rare but lovely occasions I actually find one in front of me, that decadent, sticky coolness coats my throat, refreshing as nothing else in the world could ever be.

Ah, coffee, you miraculous beverage, existing only as the least-diluted carrier form of caffeine known to man. I am forever indebted to the sheer nervous energy you've brought to my life, to the masses of calories I've burned just from my hands twitching. You brighten my days, lengthen my nights, and make my life just that much more energetic. I love you.

I don't need no stinkin badge

I found this painting, and the first thing that I thought of was the line from a Bogart movie "I don't need no stinkin badge". The painter of this piece is I think Juan Manuel Rocha.

I can identify only one

Two days ago we took an hour to stroll the gardens at Kingwood Center. I can tell you the first picture is MARIGOLD; The other two I have not a clue to their names. I snapped them because of their beauty which it is said is in the eye of the beholder.

bikes for sale by the hundreds

Great sales idea. The bike shop put over a hundred bikes on the side of their building. It sold, but the neighbors as you would figure frowned on the idea. Check out more of the pictures here.

George Carlin on baseball and football

George Carlin on BASEBALL AND FOOTBALL

Baseball is a 19th century pastoral game.
Football is a 20th century technological game.

Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park . . . the baseball park.
Football is played on a gridiron in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall, when everything is dying.

Football is played in any kind of weather--rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog…
In baseball, if it rains, we don't go out to play.

In football, you wear a helmet.
In baseball, you wear a cap!

Football is concerned with downs. What down is it? Oh, it's the last down.
Baseball is concerned with ups. Who's up? Are you up? He's up! I'm up!!

Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.
Football has the two minute WARNING.

And, of course, the objectives of the games are also completely different.
In football, the object is for the quarterback, sometimes called the field general, to riddle the defense with his aerial assault, by hitting his targets with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use the shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.

In baseball, the object is to get home . . .and to be safe! Safe at home.

Two pretty amazing facts

The inferno inside a jet engine is hotter than the surface of the sun and would melt the turbine’s blades if not for clever management of airflow...(I didn't know that)


At its height, the British Empire had more Muslim subjects than any other empire ever. It counted as subjects over one in three of the world’s Muslims.
(O.K. for crying out loud, what did the Brits do to tick them off so badly?)

Amazing facts found at Arts and Letters Daily.

Op Ed illustrations from the NYTimes

The old saying goes 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. This short video (ten minutes) illustrates the point in the New York Times Op Ed page over the last forty years of drawings.

Mark Twain supposes

Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.

Luckies account

This is a commercial for Luckies before the Draper (MAD MEN) firm took over the account I'm sure. It was an ad in 1948 and the fictional Draper advertising company was set beginning in the fifties I think.

Hagar the truth sayer.

Fall Photo's

Fall photos. The one on top came flying in with hundreds of others. I think it is a beech, but not absolutely sure. Am I absolutely sure of anything?



photo credit-Hazel

What every man (or woman) wants in their beds.

Grabbed this from Chris Pirillo on Twitter with the title WHAT EVERY MAN WANTS IN HIS BED. Watch it and tell me that most women aren't as techie as most men

High Speed Rail, I like it but it ain't gonna happen

High speed rail has become a political hot potato so there is no chance it will come to pass in the USA. I only have one point and it is pretty simplistic. Is it really necessary, except as a people mover. I am thinking of business, do people have to be face to face to get things done? Our high technology already allows people to talk face to face on computer systems projected on screen larger than a room. Point: High speed rail will not make business easier or more cost effective. Outlook: as above in the title, it ain't gonna happen.

Howard Stern and the Economy

I think that the economy has gotten better. Although what I earn on my big splash in the money game is pretty minuscule, and you wouldn't really know it.

But there are some who just keep on making the big big money. Like for example Howard Stern. The shock jock signed a 5-year, $500 million contract with Sirius XM in December 2005. That contract is due to run out at the end of this year and the talk is about what will he do? Oh my is this a problem Stern has? Whatever.

This blurb from the same piece from CNN seems to suggest that we all should cut Obama a little slack when it comes to the economy and his handling of it. Here is the blurb:

Sirius has been a classic turnaround story. The big run this year is largely a reflection that it's no longer on the brink of bankruptcy thanks to a recovery in the economy and key investment from John Malone's Liberty Media (LCAPA, Fortune 500) last year.

Here is the story from CNN Money.

Slavery and the White House

This scene from John Adams, seen last year on HBO, is a grim reminder that slaves built our White House. It is not a secret, but it certainly is not something our country is proud of.

Even though it happened two centuries ago and Mr. Lincoln took the lead in correcting the inequities it still seems like a family secret that we in the family know what happened but we don't really want to talk about it. Well it did happen in America, but what also has happened in America, we have elected to lead us for the next four years a black man. That is progress. It is not redemption of the wrongs perpetrated on the black race two centuries ago, that can only happen in each of our hearts, but it is a start Americans, it is a start.

Abstract Art-Ten minutes of sight and sound that is strangely relaxing.

The Ice Cream Headache

Do you get ice cream headache? I am sorry to say I do especially when I visit the DQ in the summer and buy a yummy treat called the MOOLATTE. I'm not sure that is spelled right, but I am sure it is one delicious treat. It contains chocolate and coffee and other great stuff. But it also contains something that makes it very very cold, and causes me to get the ice cream headache every time. Since of course it was my duty to research this phenomina I tried it several more times this past summer. Alas each time ice cream headache.

Here is a little more information on the headache from a doctor.

Able to walk again

How great something like this is. The first thing I think of though is if they make it available to the people who need it, how many of them will be able to afford it?

Advantage of being color blind

No Future

I see them every day and grieve in my impotency to do anything about it.

OMG, Mite dung?

OH MY GOD! I've been reading a review of a new book by Bill Bryson. He's the writer of A WALK IN THE WOODS, about walking the Appalachian Trail. His new book is called AT HOME from which I read this, and I'm not sure I'm glad I did. He takes us on a tour of his house in England and in his comical way explains in depth each room and it's contents would be worth looking into, EXCEPT this blurb where he is writing about bedrooms.

Consider the contents of the bedroom: “It has been calculated that if your pillow is six years old (which is the average age for a pillow), one-tenth of its weight will be made up of sloughed skin, living and dead mites, and mite dung.”

If enough people read this book I fear there will be a terrible run on pillows in stores around the nation. I'm thinking about visiting my local home furnishing store today.

Racism and the Movies

I watched the movie THIRD FINGER LEFT HAND this week. It stars Melvyn Douglas and Myrna Loy. It was made in 1940, and it is a film I would recommend heartily. Heartily for the stars and the enjoyment of the movie, but more for another reason. More indeed. Following is a review of the film by another viewer:

While this comedy is about the romantic complications facing a woman executive and the artist who loves her, "Third Finger, Left Hand" provides a rarely seen dignified Black role. When first we see Sam (portrayed by veteran African American actor, Ernest Whitman) he is a train porter speaking in an 'uneducated' manner - employing the type of language structure used by script writers of the time to reinforce negative racial stereotypes. Later, however, Sam is revealed to have taken college correspondence courses for years and to be someone quite knowledgeable in matters of Law: able to quote court rulings and present effective legal arguments on behalf of his client, the artist. Ultimately, Sam is the hero of "Third Finger, Left Hand", making it possible for the protagonists' love to triumph.

I've thought about the movie now for a couple days, and my minds eye keeps coming back to Ernest Whitman's role in the movie. He was a black man with a college background in law who had a job as a porter on the railroad. That certainly could have been true, but what thrilled me was the the verbal joking back and forth between Whitman and Melvyn Douglas and the formulation of a plot to save Douglas's marriage. It's a great scene and one more at the very end when Whitman springs the surprise on another white actor Lee Bowman and joining in the laughter as an equal plotter in the movie. Corny? Maybe but this was 1940 folks. Segregation was alive and festering in the good old USA as the coming war would would illustrate, but perhaps in a small way this particular movie might have had a small nudge in the right direction.

too much traffic

"Who'd a thunk it", some famous unknown person said sometime or another. But the taco spaghetti recipe site I cited in the last post is overwhelmed with traffic it can't handle.

Oh well, it's not that big a deal but for a quickie item for your menu it might be worth a try. My culinary expert in the house said when I mentioned it and I quote: UGH. I bow to her expertise in the field, but I wonder still. I guess it will remain an unknown taste.

Spaghetti Taco with Italian sausage and peppers

I was perusing the NY Times this morning and came across this little article that caught my attention. Why did it catch my attention? because it was talking about food. Now this food is a little different. It does not come from any famous chef, but from evidently a kid's tv show. The recipe was for a spaghetti taco which didn't exactly bowl me over. But this recipe kind of made my taste buds quiver just a little. I have not presented it yet to my wife who rules the kitchen, a right she has earned by turning out 'good stuff' for a lot of years, but I'm gearing myself up to do just that. I expect a response like 'has senility set in this morning?' said in a kindly way of course.

But really it sounds good to me and could all these kids be wrong. Well yes I suppose so, but here it is. Decide for yourself.

Sunday Book Lists

Sunday is a day for kicking back and spreading the newspaper here and there, and sharing articles with each other. I herewith submit one of my favorite Sunday offerings, the book lists. Listed today in hardcover best sellers at number ten is one of my favorite authors Stuart Woods latest, SANTA FE EDGE.

Undecided? Sure you are.

Election time is approaching and I will probably vote although I said I would not. I lied. If you are not a registered democrat or republican and would vote for anyone who has a D or a R by their name, then you are confused probably like this comic illustrates. It just occurred to me, I should add the designation TP. Are the TP's good for us or bad? I really wish we were all I's then on election day not one vote could be taken for granted by the pol's. Oh there I go again, talking crazy.

What the cool people might be wearing on vacations this winter. As advertised in Architectural Digest, with this description:

Shwood Eyewear

Shwood’s Canby sunglasses, $95, are a unique take on classic wayfarers, with frames made of exotic hardwoods—maple, East Indian rosewood or zebrawood (pictured)—sustainably harvested from authorized plantations in various African countries. All of the models have Carl Zeiss lenses, imported from Italy, and offer 100 percent UVA/UVB protection. Polarized lenses are also available.

Eisenhower identifed it and named it, he saw it up close and in full operation

Well that's half of the military industrial complex identified, now if we could just do something about the Halliburtons of the world we might find some funds to do what is necessary, besides waging wars.

Hollywood Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky" is a poem of non-sense verse written by Lewis Carroll, originally featured as a part of his novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1872).

I Remember and I Smile

Millions of moments, just moments accrue to all of us in our lifetime.

An unexceptional occurrence, just a moment from my past that made me smile then and still does today. A happy time.

Today is Sunday, a day that most men and boys in America celebrate by watching professional football. My Sundays for quite a while were no different. Our favorite team then was the Washington Redskins for the unexceptional reason that we lived in the Washington vicinity, Alexandria, Virginia to be exact. My son Michael who had attained the age of maybe ten joined me in rooting for a team that was just then turning the corner from a bad team to a very good team. It was the time of coaches like Vince Lombardi, George Allen, and Joe Gibbs. Players of the caliber of Sonny Jurgenson, Billy Kilmer, and John Riggins.

We lived in a 'garden' apartment off the Mt. Vernon Parkway located between Alexandria and Mount Vernon. A location where my wife and I concur was our 'happiest place'. Down the street was the usual drugstore. It was either a Drug Fair or a Peoples drug, I can't remember which. where one day Mike was running an errand for his mother. You really could in those days send a young boy on an errand and be confident that he would not be kidnapped or that something equally as bad would befall him. But the next thing his mom heard was Mike flying into the apartment reporting news that he could not believe. It was too unbelievable and the news didn't take long to spill itself out. One of the Washington Redskins lived in our vicinity and Mike spotted him in the drug store. What he was buying left Mike in a small state of shock. Chris Hanburger, a big Redskin lineman was standing in the checkout line with a package of cigarettes and a package of pink rubber gloves. He was very quick to report to his mom that they were certainly for his wife. Hanburger remained one of Mike's favorites but thinking that he perhaps had feet of clay like the rest of us mortals made him think a little more I am sure.

Look who I ran into today.

Is Big Brother lurking?

Eric Schmidt talked with Charlie Rose. Charlie asked:

How does Google see the future?

Eric answered:

There's such an overwhelming amount of information now, we can search where you are, see what you're looking at if you take a picture with your camera. One way to think about this is, we're trying to make people better people, literally give them better ideas—augmenting their experience. Think of it as augmented humanity.

I love technology, but darn isn't it starting to sound more and more like Big Brother? "Augmented humanity" sounds a tad like thought management. George Orwell might be stirring in his grave.

A Day on the Farm

If Saturday's weather appears as billed, sixty degrees and sunny, and if my lady is free of any of those damnable side effects then we will be headed to Malabar farm for their annual Heritage days festivities. It's simple entertainment that a farm and perhaps a little music can provide.

We've been to many of the festivals, weather permitting, and always feel better after being there. I, of course, always feel good about the beginning also. After being transported to the farm proper from our parking space in one of the fields by a farm wagon drawn by a tractor I usually follow an aroma of doughnuts cooking in large kettles and coffee by the gallons brewing and ready for dunking or for the more genteel a few sips between bites of the cinnamon laden doughnuts. The picture I saw on Flickr reminded me of this.

Malabar was the home of author Louis Bromfield and he would be greatly pleased to see the turnouts that are usually generated. Weather is of course the key. Bromfield was a writer of great renown in the thirties and forties, a winner of a Pulitzer, and at one time thought of and mentioned in the same breath with Fitzgerald and other of his ilk. He was known as the man who had everything. Money from his fiction, and his books being turned into movies, the Rains Came being one. He was friends with all the great writers and actors from Hollywood. He invited many of them to the farm and they came. Life was wonderful and lucrative for everything he touched. He also wrote non-fiction about life on the farm He loved life at Malabar and had to be coaxed by his business manager to please write more fiction as money was running out. The joy went out of his writing and writings about the farm was not too lucrative. His wife died, his daughters married and departed to lives of their own and he contracted cancer. He ran out of money and his great friend Doris Duke saw to it that he was taken care of in his final illness.

Vivaldi Fall from Four Seasons

A bad photograph of a Praying Mantis and a follow-up photo of his New York Hi-Jinks

I'm not much of a photographer nor am I a great fan of wildlife. Last night I opened my inner door and there at eye level on my glass storm door is a very large praying mantis that had decided to rest for a while and I presume to make a meal of the multitudes of those flying insects my light attracts on these summer evenings. Not that I am in fear of my life from this creature, but let's say I wouldn't want him joining me for breakfast. Anything with a angular shaped green face I presume is on a specialty diet anyway.

So anyway I took a few shots with my trusty brownie and if I tell you that this is the best of my futile attempts of getting one decent shot you would probably suggest that as long as I don't do this for a living I'm o.k. That's it from the wild kingdom.



For any of you out there who are worried about the health and outcome of the mantis, perhaps the SPCA would be one, I can assure you that he left Ohio in one piece and in fact was photographed again by the paparazzi in New York engaging in after hours hijinks. He seemed to doing well indeed.

Ya Gotta Love Em

Ya gotta love em. The Indians managed to stay even with the Angels through nine. Top of the tenth the Angels do not score. Bottom of the tenth the Indians get a double and he is moved over to third on a fielders choice. One more out makes it two out man on third, up come Duncan who in recent games has come away a hero with a couple home runs which now causes a few ripples of expectation to go through the small assembly of folks remaining in the stands.

After a few pitches Duncan makes contact with the ball and it bounces undramatically toward shortstop; the crowd deflates. The shortstop charges the bouncing ball, picks it up and my Lord, he drops it.

Duncan speeds to first and the man on third dashes in from third and scores. The Indians win, they win, they win.

Duncan knowing that tonight he was one lucky so and so heads for the dugout, but the Indians young and hungry for victories grab him and start beating on him and jumping on him and each other. You gotta love it, they are all so young and so full of hope and desire to win. I loved it. So what they're close to ninety losses, it's baseball in Cleveland. Our team is full of kids who want so much to win that maybe if we believe with them anything might happen.

Forget about Scrooge Mcbaseballowner counting his money and figuring who else he can give away. Enjoy the kids giving their all and sometimes like last night coming away looking like pennant chasers. Another day, another dream who knows.

E reader Library

I like this cartoon by Jeff Koterba because it reflects exactly what we are up to currently. We are boxing up books and carting them to our local library. I'm not replacing them in my ereader, but if I want to own a book I look first to see if it is available for download to Kindle.

Beethoven's Opera

This ten minute video is obviously about Beethoven being deaf when he conducted his opera. I don't know anything else about it except that he indeed did go deaf. The video seems to be from a movie but I don't know that or any other facts about the video or if the video was based on a real incident or not.

He was not always deaf but he started going deaf around his late 20s and in a few years he was completely deaf but continued to compose by feeling the vibrations of his instrument.

Beethoven wasn't actually stone deaf as some would have you believe, however his hearing was seriously impaired. Here is one of the things that was written about his problem by him.
"It is curious that in conversation there are people who do not notice my condition at all; since I have generally been absentminded, they account for it in that way. Often I can scarily hear someone speaking softly, the tones yes, but not the words. However, as soon as anyone shouts it becomes intolerable"
Beethoven began to suffer from a very severe form of "tinnitus" (ringing in the ears) around the year 1796. He hearing gradually deteriorated until, it is believed, he lost nearly 100 percent of his hearing. It has been written that at the premier of his ninth symphony, he had to be turned around to see the tumultuous applause by the audience. Many people believe that he died of lead poisoning. The lead came from his drinking cup and not to mention they put lead in wine sometimes. All this was found out when a sample of his hair was analyzed in a lab just a few years ago.

He first noticed signs of deafness in his late 20s and he eventually went profoundly deaf. All the music of his late period was composed when he was totally deaf.

Not such a good idea

Someone, and I am very remiss in not remembering who, conjectured that the Indians might make a hit with their fans if they signed three former Indian hero's to contracts next year. The three are Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, and Omar Visquel. They also figured they could be signed for about two to three million apiece. They thought it might be doable.

I agree it might be doable, but I think most fans even though the idea is intriguing would not like to see it happen, and it would seem more like a traveling road show and would in fact distract from the business of molding a winning team consisting of the young kids they have assembled.

Blackberry Pie

Not world breaking news, but my stomach says maybe it is. Homemade blackberry pie was/is as good as it looks.

Langley automobile

photographer credits

What is the Hucklebuck?

At the conclusion of a very deep conversation of the deep thinkers, Ohio branch, the question was framed: What the heck is the hucklebuck?

Cancer Journal continued

A little catch up. It's been a while and Hazel is very glad to relate that there is nothing frightening or alarming to report. Indeed, the news is decidedly optimistic. The Arimidex regimen continues. She is tolerating it well. There are side effects, but that is to be expected. None of which are intolerable. She has an omnipresent slight nausea and a feeling of overall tiredness. Her old friend hot flash is back. She was so grateful when flash ran its course several years ago when she was going through menopause. But no, flash is back. Be prepared for him.

One piece of advice that she imparts is the selection of an oncologist. Don't just randomly pick one out of the phone book. Please if you have any sources who might be of help here, take it. This person you select to make the journey with you is really quite important. You will have questions and more questions cropping up almost weekly. This person that you select will be your guide who will answer all your million questions that will arise. If you have chosen correctly there will be no question that he cannot answer. If the medical person you are using as an oncologist cannot answer a question or makes a statement like, "I've never heard of that", you may have picked the wrong person. Your oncologist should be learned and current. You should be comfortable with your choice. After all you and this doctor are going to share and perhaps make decisions that could effect the length and quality of your life.

Helen Keller and the movie

Everything about this piece of film is astounding. First is that it is based on fact. Try as I can, trying to emulate being blind and deaf from birth is an impossibility. How absolutely lost and disconnected I would be. Then having an intelligence such as Keller did and having no input, no sound, no sight. I try to but find it impossible.

I have seen the scene above many times, but I am always awestruck that it really did happen and there was a person named Helen Keller and she really did start out life as described and a great dedicated teacher was able to make a connection and opened the world to her pupil. Fantastic in fact and in the interpretation for the movie.

The actors in the movie were so very good in interpreting how it might have been.

You Tube really is full of treasures

Eureka! The Internet is a bottomless wealth of things worth watching and reading over and over again. Then again it also abounds in amazing trash. Today I accidentally found two of the former at You Tube. One of my favorite books ever is TO SERVE THEM ALL MY DAYS by R.F.Delderfield, which also happens to have been adapted by Masterpiece theater years ago. I discovered it has been posted in ten minute pieces on you tube. While I was there I also discovered another of my faves, UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS. I will avail myself to a little rerun entertainment later today.

What a great hour or two for a holiday treat.

Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire
A new show debuting on HBO this month looks to me to maybe be a good one. It's a dramatic series about prohibition in the twenties. I'm not very good at picking shows, but this looks pretty good. Martin Scorsese directed the pilot.

Here is the write up from the New York Times

annoying orange is back

Washington Memorial Bridge 1931

We used to live and work in the Washington area. At the beginning of the video you will hear a plane flying over. We lived off the Mount Vernon Parkway just outside of Alexandria, Virginia and the planes landing at what is now Reagan National airport, then Washington National, used to make their final approach coming down the Potomac river. We heard their noise daily, but it never bothered us, it was just part of the scene.

In our early days in Washington we used to take advantage of the concerts given at the Watergate (not the Nixon Watergate, but the Watergate at the Lincoln memorial given free on weekends. Free was just the right price for us in those days.

The bridge was originally a draw bridge, but they changed it later. Just left of the circle around the Lincoln memorial they built steps down to the Potomac. They built a barge on the river, and the service bands would play. It was great.