Casey-Twenty Years Later

The Bugville Team was surely up against a rocky game;
The chances were they'd win defeat and undying fame;
Three men were hurt and two were benched; the score stood six to four.
They had to make three hard-earned runs in just two innings more.
" It can't be done," The captain said, a pallor on his face;
"I've got two pitchers in the field, a mutt on second base;
And should another man get spiked or crippled in some way,
The team would sure be down and out, with eight men left to play.

"We're up against it anyhow as far as I can see;
My boys ain't hitting like they should and that's what worries me;
The luck is with the other side, no pennant will we win;
It's mighty tough, but we must take our medicine and grin."
The eighth round opened; one, two, three; the enemy went down;
The Bugville boys went out the same, the captain wore a frown;
The first half of the ninth came round, two men had been called out,
When Bugville's catcher broke a thumb and could not go that route.

A deathly silence settled o'er the crowd assembled there.
Defeat would be allotted them; they felt it in the air;
With only eight men in the field 'twould be a gruesome fray,
Small wonder that the captain cursed the day he learned to play.
"Lend me a man to finish with," he begged the other team;
"Lend you a man?" the foe replied;  "My boy, you're in a dream;
We want to win the pennant too-that's what we're doing here,
There's only one thing you can do-call for a volunteer."

The captain stood and pondered in a listless sort of way;
He never was a quitter and would not be today!
"Is there within the grandstand here"-his voice rang loud and clear-
"A man who has the sporting blood to be a volunteer?"
Again that awful silence settled o'er the multitude;
Was there a man among them with such recklessness imbued?
The captain stood with cap in hand, while hopeless was his glance,
And then a short and stocky man cried out, "I'll take a chance."

Into the field he bounded with a step both firm and light;
"Give me the mask and mitt," he said, "let's finish up the fight.
The game is now beyond recall, I'll last at least a round;
Although I'm ancient you will find me muscular and sound."
His hair was sprinkled here and there with little streaks of gray;
Around his eyes and on his brow a bunch of wrinkles lay.
The captain smiled despairingly and slowly turned away.
"Why, he's all right," one rooter yelled.  Another, "Let him play/"

"All right, go on," the captain sighed; the stranger turned around,
Took off his coat and collar, too, and threw them on the ground.
The humor of the situation seemed to hit them all,
And as he donned the mask and mitt, the umpire called, "Play ball!"
Three balls the pitcher at him hurled, three balls of lightning speed;
The stranger caught them all with ease and did not seem to heed.
Each ball had been pronounced a strike, the side had been put out,
And as he walked in towards the bench, he heard the rooters shout.

One Bugville boy went out on strikes, and one was killed at first;
The captain saw his awkward pose, and gnashed his teeth and cursed.
The third man smashed a double and the fourth man swatted clear,
Then, in a thunder of applause, up came the volunteer.
His feet were planted in the earth, he swung a warlike club;
The captain saw his awkward pose and softly whispered, "Dub!"
The pitcher looked at him and grinned, then heaved a might ball;
The echo of that fearful swat still lingers with us all.

High, fast and far that spheroid flew; it sailed and sailed away;
It ne'er was found, so it's supposed it still floats on today.
Three runs came in, the pennant would be Bugville's for a year;
The fans and players gathered round to cheer the volunteer.
"What is your name," the captain asked? "Tell us your name," cried all,
As down his cheeks great tears were seen to run and fall.
For one brief moment he was still, then murmured soft and low;
"I'm might Casey who struck out just twenty years ago."

S.P. Clarence McDonald
1908 The San Francisco Examiner

Casey's Revenge

There were saddened hearts in Mudville for a week or even more;
There were muttered oaths and curses-every fan in town was sore.
"Just think," said one, "how soft it looked with Casey at the bat!
And then to think he'd go and spring a bush-league trick like that."

All his past fame was forgotten; he was now a hopeless "shine,"
They called him "Strike-out Casey" from the mayor down the line,
And as he came to bat each day his bosom heaved a sigh,
While a look of hopeless fury shone in mighty Casey's eye.

The lane is long, someone has said, that never turns again,
And Fate, though fickle, often gives another chance to men,
And Casey smiled-his rugged face no longer wore a frown;
The pitcher who had started all the trouble came to town.

All Mudville had assembled; ten thousand fans had come
To see the twirler who had put big Casey on the bum;
And when he stepped into the box the multitude went wild.
He doffed his cap in proud disdain-but Casey only smiled.

"Play ball!" the umpire's voice rang out, and then the game began;
But in that throng of thousands there was not a single fan
Who thought that Mudville had a chance; and with the setting sun
Their hopes sank low-the rival team was leading "four to one."

The last half of the ninth came round, with no change in the score;
But when the first man up hit safe the crowed began to roar.
The din increased, the echo of ten thousand shouts was heard
When the pitcher hit the second and gave "four balls" to the third.

Three men on base-nobody out-three runs to tie the game!
A triple meant the highest niche in Mudville's hall of fame;
But here the rally ended and the gloom was deep as night
When the fourth one "fouled to catcher" and the fifth "flew out to right."

A dismal groan in chorus came-a scowl was on each face-
When Casey walked up, bat in hand, and slowly took his place;
His bloodshot eyes in fury gleamed; his teeth were clinched in hate;
He gave his cap a vicious hook and pounded on the plate.

But fame is fleeting as the wind, and glory fades away;
There were no wild and woolly cheers, no glad acclaim this day.
They hissed and groaned and hooted as they clamored, "Strike him out!"
But Casey gave no outward sign that he had heard this shout.

The pitcher smiled and cut one loose; across the plate it spread;
Another hiss, another groan, "Strike one!" the umpire said.
Zip! Like a shot, the second curve broke just below his knee-
"Strike two!" the umpire roared aloud; but Casey made no plea.

No roasting for the umpire now-his was an easy lot;
But here the pitcher whirled again-was that a rifle shot?
A whack! a crack! and out through space the leather pellet flew,
A blot against the distant sky, a speck against the blue..

Above the fence in center field, in rapid whirling flight,
The sphere sailed on; the blot grew dim and then was lost to sight.
Ten thousand hats were thrown in air, ten thousand threw a fit;
But no one ever found the ball that mighty Casey hit!

Oh, somewhere in this favored land dark clouds may hide the sun,
And somewhere bands no longer play and children have no fun;
And somewhere over blighted lives there hangs a heavy pall;
But Mudville hearts are happy now-for Casey hit the ball!

James Wilson 1907
(pseudonym of Grantland Rice)

Casey At The Bat

It looked extremely rocky for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood two to four, with but an inning left to play.
So, when Cooney died at second, and Burrow did the same,
A pallor wreathed the features of the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go, leaving there the rest,
with that hope which springs eternal within the human breast.
For they thought: ""If only Casey could get a whack at that,"
They'd put even money now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, and likewise so did Blake,
And the former was a pudd'n and the latter was a fake.
So on that stricken multitude a deathlike silence sat;
For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a "single," to the wonderment of all.
And the much-despised Blakey "tore the cover off the ball."
And when the dust had lifted, and they saw what had occurred,
There was Blakey safe at second, and Flynn a-huggin' third.

Then from the gladdened multitude went up a joyous yell'_
It rumbled in the mountaintops, it rattled in the dell;
It struck upon the hillside and rebounded on the flat;
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place,
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face;
And when responding to the cheers he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt,
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt;
Then when the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance glanced in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped;
"That ain't my style," said Casey.  "Strike one," the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm waves on the stern and distant shore.
"Kill him!  kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;
And it's likely they'd have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult, he made the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two."

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and the echo answered "Fraud!"
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed;
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let the ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lips, his teeth are clenched in hate,
He pounds with cruel vengeance his bat upon the plate;
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville:  Mighty Casey has struck out.

Casey At The Bat by
Ernest Lawrence Thayer 1888

World Series

Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians are the teams playing this year. It has been 108 years since the Cubs made it to the Series and 68 years for the Indians. Of course there is lots of national interest, and truth be told, a wonderful break from the calamitous 24/7 hour presidential campaigns.

The song, 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game' was written by Jack Norworth and Albert von Tilzer, who had not seen a ball game prior to writing the song. Referred to as a Tin Pan Alley song because it was published by one of the popular music companies between New York's West 28th Street and 6th Ave, the area where the sound of so many cheap pianos being played sounded like the banging of pans.

The 1908 version is no longer sung, but the chorus is still popular and is traditionally sung during the middle of the 7th inning. Fans usually join in.

Chorus
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win its a shame.
For its one, two, three strikes you're out,
At the old ball game.

Dictionary Definitions

Once upon a time, when I was in the fourth grade, the teacher taught the class how to use the dictionary, and we were allowed to leave our seats without permission when ever we needed to look up the meaning of a word.  The dictionary was a heavy, thick book on a stand across the room from my desk, alongside the wall of windows where play grounds and recess areas were visible.

I think I used the freedom of going to the dictionary more than any other classmate, making numerous trips per day.  I actually did look up the meanings of words, but I also took sneaky peaks out the windows to see what was happening outside.  Sometimes it really did take a while to leaf thru pages and scroll thru the alphabet to find the word I was looking for. You would think with all that effort, I might have learned to spell. 

Some words I've recently checked in the dictionary:

Deception: act of deceiving, state of being deceived, trick, stratagem, ruse, hoax, fraud, artifice
Artifice:  a clever trick or stratagem, crafty, expedient, wile, cunning, contrivance, subterfuge
Subterfuge: deception to achieve an end, a stratagem employed to conceal or evade, an expedient used to evade a rule or escape consequences

Election Stress Disorder

I'm suffering from election stress disorder from the, "he said", "she said" stuff in the campaign speeches of the two most disliked nominees in history; both wanting to be president.  After listening to their last scheduled debate, my stress level has skyrocketed!

Where did we go wrong?

Bring me a person to match my mountains.
Bring me a person to match my plains.
A person with empires in their purpose and new eras in their brains.

paraphrased quote of Sam Walter Foss

Undercover Boss

In the television program, Undercover Boss, CEO's of companies that depend on the satisfaction of the public they serve, disguise themselves and work incognito along side employees to see for themselves just how well the company is doing.  After working in several  capacities and at various company locations for a week or more, they report back to the executives at the home office.  The CEO then invites the employees that he worked with to come to the home office where they learn about the deception.  Of course the employees are surprised.  After their conduct is discussed, the episode ends on a high note; some get compliments and a raise, some get bonuses, and some get an all expense paid vacation to a place of their choice. 

During the episode that highlighted White Castle hamburgers, I was reminded of the many vacation trips when the family  traveled from the Midwest thru southern states to visit relatives.  On one of the trips we discovered a White Castle.  It was a new experience for us.  The town we lived in did not have a hamburger stand. We did have two lunch cafes that listed hamburgers on the menu, but they primarily sold things like hot beef sandwiches.  One of the cafes did a big business selling milk shakes, fried ham sandwiches and coca cola.  This was long before McDonalds or Burger King. 

We were delighted to find White Castles and we looked for them as we drove from town to town.  Looking for them became a game second only to stamping white horses every time you saw one in a field as we drove by. To stamp a white horse, you moistened the tip of your thumb, tapped it on the palm of your hand, then tapped the palm with a closed fist to seal the stamp. 

It has been many years since I ate a White Castle burger.  I don't remember what towns they were in, but as Undercover Boss filmed the one in Covington, Kentucky, I like to think we might have stopped there for burgers on our way to Louisville, Kentucky, our primary vacation destination.   

Will He or Will She?

When I was growing up and became upset over some trifle, my grandmother would tell me, "in a hundred years it won't make any difference". It annoyed me no end when she would say it, but I would grudgingly realize I was probably creating a tempest in a teapot. Now I've decided to apply her advice to the campaigns being run by the two people running for president of the United States.

I've stopped listening to the coverage of the campaigns since it has been reduced to an endless recitation of the insults nominees hurl at each other. Instead, I've turned my attention to reading about a long ago city with a population of 40,000 that existed in the Mississippi valley more than a 1000 years before European contact. Cahokia, a pre-Columbian Native American City, was located directly across the Mississippi river at St Louis, Missouri.

Cahokia was a complex and sophisticated society sustained by a three fold agriculture, corn, beans and squash. It was larger than London in 1250. The people of Cahokia began mound building sometime around the 9th century. The original site contained 120 earthen mounds over an area of 6 sq. miles, but only 89 remain. Many of them destroyed by later farming. To achieve this, thousands of workers, over decades, moved an estimated 55 million cubic ft. of earth in woven baskets, creating a network of mounds and plazas that covered 14 acres and topped by a massive 5000 sq. ft. building 50 ft. high. A mound called Monk Mound has 4 terraces and is 951 ft. long, 836 ft. wide and covers 13.8 acres. It contains 814,000 cu yard of earth.

Anthropologists think the original idea, that Cahokia may have had a warrior-male structure, is a misunderstanding. New discoveries in Mound 72 the highly decorated grave site may have clues to the politics and culture. Cahokia was abandoned around 1300 and not re-occupied by indigenous tribes. The fate of the people remains a mystery. The site may have become unhealthy with polluted water ways, over hunting, deforestation and flooding. In 2015, evidence was found of two severe floods occurring: one in 1100 and one in 1260.

Cahokia is a UNESSCO Heritage Site. The Illinois State Historical Site maintains the park along with the Cahokia Preservation Agency. It's open to the public with tours and events listed on the Illinois web page.

Kokopelli

I'm late to the party....I only recently learned about Kokopelli.  I had admired a beautiful shirt my son was wearing.  The fabric had an unusual repeating design that my son said was the mythical Hopi music god, Kokopelli.  Of course I was off to the internet to find out more about this Hopi god. 

Kokopelli is the only anthropomorphic petroglyph to have a name, an identity and an established gender.  Depicted as a hunch-backed playing a flute, Kokopelli is a symbol of fertility, music, art, healer and story teller.  The images of Kokopelli are derived from ancient Anasazi glyphs found throughout the American southwest.  They appear on Hohokam pottery, but petroglyph carvings precede the Hohokam, dating back 3000years,

The god has always been a source of music, dancing and spreading joy to those around him.  He carries a bag of unborn babies which he gives to women wanting a baby, and he also carries seeds for planting.  He brings rain for successful harvests.  Traveling from village to village, playing his flute to announce his arrival, he trades old songs for new ones, and the nights are spent dancing. 

Due to Catholic missionaries influence, the image of Kokopelli was 'cleaned up' and the emasculated version has been adopted as a broader symbol.  Modern images of Kokopelli always show him with a flute and a bag, which makes him look hunched-back. 

Kokopelli history, photos of petroglyphs and art work can be found on the internet.  I discovered that his image is a popular decoration , especially on men and women's clothing, dishware, coffee mugs, bedding, pillows and towels.

Castles

Castles come in all sizes, shapes and forms.  They are spectacular structures, some remembered for historical reasons, some remembered from fairytale stories about castles and knights.  But the castles I find most astonishing are castles, also known as human towers.

I had never heard of them.  It never even crossed my mind that anyone would have considered such a feat as building a human tower.  Oh, the little circus pyramids with a few people standing on the shoulders of one another... ok, but a tower?  It just goes to show you how far some people will go to try and prove something. 

I learned about human towers while watching a PBS program about the forces of nature.  Gravity, being a force of nature, is a factor in building these cultural phenomenon, particular to Catalonia, which are called Castells.  The tradition originated at the end of the 18th century when rival groups of people began to construct different kinds of human towers.

A castle has three definite parts: pinya (base), tronc (trunk), and pom de dalt (crown).  All the accumulated weight rests on the horizontal base, which stabilizes and strengthens the erected structure- and also softens the fall of climbers if a break in the tower causes it to collapse.  The trunk is crowned by children, who are more agile and light-footed.  The youngsters are in charge of climbing to the top, raising an arm and saluting the public.

There can  be several levels of supporting structures, each being added in a precise order with an allotted station for everyone within the group.  Building the tower is accompanied by special music as the last climber crowns the tower and raises an arm in salute.  The job is not finished with the crowning.  It has to be brought down safely to be considered completed.

Towers of 8 story were built in the '80s, but in 1995 a 9 story castle was given the name Cathedral due to overcoming the great difficulty when built and successfully completed.  On April 11,2012, China attempted to build the tallest 9 story castle, but failed when it collapsed.  India is also very active in building castles. 

Originally they were only built on Sundays, but over time they have become so popular that they are constructed on any day of the week, at festivals and at competitions in other countries.  Its fascinating to watch the many attempts on YouTube, and even more so watching the videos on how the base is constructed.  Its truly a heart pounding experience to watch a very small child climb a tower, crown it, then scramble back down to safety.   

Marathons

I just did a marathon.  Not the running kind.  A television replay of the series, Downton Abby, which aired for 6 seasons from 2011-2016 on PBS.  It was a take off on the famous Up Stairs, Down Stairs, a story about how the landed gentry of England lived in contrast to the servants that catered to them. 

Downton Abby depicts the years between 1912 and 1925, years before and after the first world war.  Relationships, behavior and hierarchy delineated what was acceptable and what was not.  Conventions, rigid rules and traditions comprised the structure of society, but the ride of the working class changed the stability of the aristocracy. 

Melodramatic emphasis on weddings and deaths (discord and intrigue in between), elaborate rituals of dining with glittering silver and glistening wine glasses, appropriate attire for men and a stunning array of women's fashion, helped build the theme of Downton Abby.  Written by Julian Fellowes, Downton Abby is not an historical film, but much of the filming was done with an eye to authenticity.  It was amusing when the script introduced 'modern ' conveniences like the telephone and radio, but even during my childhood, those conveniences were still relatively new to our daily lives.

My family had one of he few telephones in town.  Back in those days, it was common for families with a phone to receive calls from people out of the area, or in another state, trying to reach a neighbor with important news. Someone would run to fetch the neighbor and to come as fast as possible.  We also used the phone as a news service. When the town fire whistle sounded at any time other than its usual Friday 12 O'clock test time, we knew there was a fire in town and we used the phone to ask a telephone operator where it was.

Until the invention of automatic toasters, forgetting to turn the slice of bread so it would toast on the other side, always burned the bread and smoked up the place.  One of our earliest radios had a huge horn that funneled the sound.  Then radios became more box like with dials and a built in sound system.  Radios along with newspapers kept us informed of world events.  Today, radios are so common, its hard to imagine an auto without one.

King Cobra

The other evening during the National News broadcast, a reporter told of an escaped King Cobra in Needville, Texas.  The 23 year old owner, who holds all the proper permits allowing him to keep venomous snakes, discovered it was missing about 7 in the morning.  He told authorities that he takes care to securely lock all the cages, and he doesn't know how the Cobra escaped. 

The venom from a single bite could kill an elephant, or 20 men.  A Dr. toxicologist in Houston, Texas was notified and an intense search for the Cobra began.  During the search, a Sheriff's  deputy shot and killed a  snake that turned out to be a Cottonmouth.  After 9 hours of searching, the Cobra was found and captured by a snake wrangler.

When this story aired, several of us started telling our own snake stories.  I do not like these slithery critters and make every effort never to come in contact with one.  At one point I would not even touch a magazine page if there was a picture of a snake on it.  When I was in high school, Biology was my favorite subject and I thought of becoming a Biology teacher, but I could never get pass the fact that I would have to be more knowledgeable about snakes....even having to touch one.

Years passed with my avoidance of same until I moved to Texas.  Then I came to the realization that I had to overcome my fear, at least to the point of not panicking at the sight of one.  Eventually I did reach a point where I only reacted with a moment of fright if I unexpectedly came across one.

At that time my parents and I lived in houses on either side of a long driveway.  On my parents side of the driveway were huge, ancient Oak trees.  On my side of the driveway were huge Pecan trees.  There was a footpath leading from my kitchen porch, crossing the driveway, to my parents kitchen porch.  The path was shaded by a long, upper branch of an Oak tree. 

From time to time we knew that snakes were in the trees after bird eggs when we heard birds screeching and flitting about as squirrels squawked.  One day we a snake that had staked out territory along the branch right above the pathway,  We could see it move in and out of a hollow hole in a side branch, but generally stretched out along the branch above the path. 

I had heard of snakes falling on people and I didn't like the idea of it possibly falling on me as I walked the pathway.  I telephoned the city hall where all the town officials had offices and asked for someone to come and shoot it.  They explained that it was illegal to shoot a gun within city limits, but they would see what they could do.  The next day one of the men that worked in the water department came with his gun and said he had been chosen to shoot the snake because he was known to be the best shot. 

He could see the head of the snake and said it would be a very difficult shot, but he'd try.  We all gathered around and were very quiet as he walked around to get the best view.  He said it would have to be shot on the first try because the snake would move back into the hole and he'd not get another chance.  When he finally aimed the gun, he just held the position for what seemed a long, long time.  We all held our breath, not daring to breath a sound.. Suddenly, there was an ear splitting gunshot and we saw the snake fall to the ground.  Afterward the shooter told us it had been an almost impossible shot, and that he was just lucky.  We knew he was being modest, but in truth, it was an exceptional accomplishment!  

Games

Games are such an important part of our lives, we must have a game gene.  we even start playing games within hours of being born; our fist game is called peek-a-boo.  During the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, 28 different games were played.  An additional 5 games will be included in the 2020 Summer games.

Each Olympic game is represented by an International governing body or Federation and the International Olympic Committee determines which games will be included in the events.  For any game to be part of the Olympics, they must be widely practiced in at least 75 countries, spread over 4 continents.

All sports are considered games, but not all games are sport.  The difference being sports have an athletic or physical element.  While I watched the various Olympic events, I realized many of our favorite games include playing with a ball.  There are probably more, but here are some I thought of:

baseball, soccer, basketball, football, golf, tennis, ping pong, catch, doge ball, jacks, bowling, jai alai, croquet, billiards, soft ball, la cross, cricket, field hockey, and water polo.  One thing leads to another and I thought about how we use sticks to play:  golf, fishing, baseball........ENOUGH  ALREADY  !!!!!

My Latest

My latest food fad is Mediterranean pita bread.  I get the pita rolls from a restaurant that bakes there own.  The round flat rolls are larger than a saucer, and have to be cut open for filling.  They are so good I often eat them without cutting them open and stuffing them with left-overs.

My latest preferred TV commercials are the Lincoln ads with Matthew McCaughey telling his dogs they can't have barbeque for supper, and the Capitol One ad with Samuel L. Jackson.

My latest read is a book by Laura Bates, Shakespeare Saved My Life.  Its a memoir reflecting the author's recollections of her experience teaching Shakespeare to prisoners in solitary confinement for a period of ten years.  She describes how the prisoners lives were changed and how her life was affected thru working with prisoners. 

The author completed her PhD at University of Chicago.  Although her academic training was Shakespeare, she taught introductory level classes in English Literature to inmates in a maximum security prison in Chicago. Earning a reputation for her work with prisoners, the Indiana State University Correction Education program arranged for her to teach Shakespeare to prisoners in solitary confinement in the maximum security unit at Wabash Valley, Indiana.  The 2 hour class was held one evening a week.

The prisoners, ages between 20 and 35, were locked in individual cells.  The doors had waist high apertures for passing food and handcuffing.  Voices could be heard, but their faces were only partially visible if they crouched down at the aperture.  During the class, Laura sat alone on an improvised chair in the corridor, the prisoners in cells on each side of the corridor.  The prisoners, considered the 'worst of the worst' had been in solitary  for various lengths of time; one had been in solitary for ten years. 

Amazingly, the prisoners  were attentive and always polite as they shared opinions and carried on discussions about  the emotions characters in the plays experienced, especially those in Macbeth, Hamlet and Othello.  They told how they related to Shakespeare as the author and the various characters.  They analyzed their own lives and even translated the plays into their street language.

Championships

I've been watching Olympic games. Only the worlds best athletes compete for Gold, Silver or Bronze medals. The games are very exciting to watch, and one has to admire the ability of the participants even when they lose. The contestants determination to win, plus rivalry between countries create nail biting moments in each sporting event.

There is another Olympiad where 'Mental Athletes' also compete for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Set up as a sporting event, the tournament consists of memorizing exercises in individual competitions. The top 8 contestants go on to the championship round.

The American Memory Championship was started in 1997 by Tony Dottino, president of Dottino Consulting Group after he met Tony Buzan, a British educator who started the first Memory Championship in London in 1991. There are now established championships in a dozen countries, including China, So Africa and Mexico.

There are two kinds of memory. Internal, the kind we are born with, and External, the memory stored outside our brains. Medieval scholars memorized sermons and plays; Roman Senators memorized speeches. After Gutenberg invented books, we supplanted our own natural memory with an elaborate external system of preserving everything we consider valuable such as literature, music, law, politics, science and math. It was no longer necessary to practice memorizing. Its more important to know where and how to find history stored in books, photos, museums, digital media, etc.

Memorizing has become a curiosity trick, but Championship tournaments are rescuing the ancient art of using mnemonics in memory exercises that anyone with an average memory ability can practice. There are many web sites on the net that teach and explain how to practice mnemonic techniques. Journalist Josh Foer in his book, "Moonlighting With Einstein" tells in some detail how to create a Memory Palace, an imagined space wherein strings with elaborate encoding are imprinted on one's memory simply by engaging one's spatial memory in the act of remembering. A string of numbers, a shopping list or a long poem are retrieved as visual images that had been arranged in the imagined space.

The 19th USA Championship was held May 7th, 2016 in Hershey Pa. There were 3 events.

1. Spoken Words. Contestants had 15 minutes to memorize 200 words organized numerically in 5 columns, with 20 words per column on 2 pages. Starting with number 1, remember as many as possible consecutively. 15 seconds to answer.
2. Three Strikes You're Out. contestants had 15 minutes to listen and review written facts about 6 different people, their names, date of birth, where they lived, their pet, favorite 3 hobbies, favorite car, favorite 3 foods. After retention period, 15 seconds to answer.
3. Double Decks O'cards. Contestants had 5 minutes to memorize 2 decks of 52 playing cards, identical, previously arranged in the same exact order, but not mixed and with different colored backs. After the memorizing period, there was a 2 minute hiatus prior to recall, and 15 seconds to answer.

Dancing

Well!  What do you know?  I'm learning to samba.  Well....not really...just the basic steps...so far.  During the Olympics when the samba was introduced, I was amazed when the camera focused on a very young boy dancing the samba.  His footwork was remarkable, and from time to time, the camera focused on him would breakaway and pan the stadium to highlight various dancers, many of them doing very fast advanced steps.

I thought physical agility was required to do the dance, but the body movements seem to flow naturally once you learn to bounce and move the hips as one's weight is shifted. The dance steps look complex, but its easy to learn the basic steps.  I went to a web site teaching 'samba in 4 minutes'. 

Samba music is very fast, and it takes practice to do the steps fast.  Good samba dancers do the advanced steps and can twirl and strut without missing a beat.  I have no illusions about my becoming a good samba dancer.  I'll probably never get much further than the basics, but I'll have fun practicing.  And, who knows, maybe if anyone reading this is interested, they too can learn to samba from a YouTube.

Home Made

An acquaintance recently brought me a big pot of gumbo.  My friend is from Louisiana where they make the world's best gumbo.  When I suggested she could make some real money selling her gumbo to local catering services, she laughed and told me her Mother's gumbo is even better than hers.  I encouraged to think about it seriously as a side line to her regular accounting work. 

I told her about Mom's success at selling something home made.  It had come about quite by accident.  Mom had b baked a pie for someone.  A day or so later, a woman, who had eaten a slice of the pie, came to Mom and asked her to bake one for her. The woman was giving a special dinner and wanted to serve a pie like the one she had eaten and would gladly pay for it.  Mom agreed and the woman arranged to pick it up on her way home from work.  The next day she phoned Mom and said how everyone raved about the pie and would Mom bake another.  Within a couple of days, Mom was taking orders from several of the woman's friends. 

Requests for different pies, apple, berry and cream pies began to keep Mom busy in the kitchen and Dad began to help her.  It wasn't long before half the morning was used in baking pies.  Mom was so pleased to know that people liked her baked pies, and,  she liked having the extra spending money.  The word spread and orders for Mom's fresh baked pies increased.  The hours of baking started earlier and earlier each day and began stretching well into the afternoons. 

It wasn't long before baked pies covered the kitchen counters, the dining table and some makeshift counter space,  The baking of pies became labor intensive and I stepped in to help.  At each days end, after all the pies had been picked up, Mom, Dad and I would heave a sigh of relief and complement each other on how well the day had gone.  But, eventually, we began making off-hand remarks to each other that selling pies wasn't as much fun as it had been in the beginning.  Mom began having second thoughts about running a pie business, and decided to close up shop,  She stopped taking orders. 

Before the pie business started, she and Dad had been talking about taking a trip with Aunt Bessie.  After closing the pie business, they did take the trip.  Mom, Dad and Aunt Bessie drove from California to Florida.

Olympics

I'm looking forward to watching various athletic competitions in Rio, and I anticipate a spectacular opening of the games.  The traditional torch lighting and the parade of contestants is always exciting.  I find some of the sports more interesting than others.  Synchronized diving, swimming races and diving contests are my favorites.  I like curling, but it seems to take a back seat when more dominate sports take center stage. 

Recently PBS showcased the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.  As a child, the only thing I knew about the Olympics was that Jesse Owens won a gold medal which annoyed Hitler, who believed the superiority of Germans would excel.  I learned from the PBS program the detailed history of agreements and plans for the games in Berlin, including the proposed agreement that Jews would  be prevented from participating.  Eventually, after threatening to cancel the games, Hitler allowed one, a German woman to be part of the German fencing team.

Hitler used the games politically to foster his ideology of German superiority.  The stadium was the largest ever built for the games and the opening ceremonies more spectacular than those of previous games.  Ever since the 1936 games, each host country has emulated Hitler by building bigger and better facilities, and presenting grander openings; each succeeding one more awesome than the last.

Political Conventions

One down and one to go.  The Republicans had their convention in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Democrats will have theirs in Philadelphia, Pa.  Being a political junkie, I watch television coverage from beginning to end, and listen to all the speeches.  When panels of political experts with opposing views argue the pros and cons, I listen.  Aside from the political views, I pay attention to body language and how speakers appear on camera. 

There is a marked difference between how men and women give their speeches.  Women wear their hair in the latest fashion that often covers their face when turning their head, distracting viewers from the point they are trying to make.  They could take a tip from the Queen of England who never lets her hats, or other clothing prevent the public from seeing her face.

As I watch and listen to speakers, I become critical of men and women who constantly wave their hands and bounce their heads in attempt to illustrate their point.  Women tend to talk with their hands more than men do.  The sound of a speakers voice is also something I note.  Some women speakers have a shrill voice which becomes a screech when reinforcing a point of view or when an argument gets hot and heated.

I take notice of the suits and neckties men wear.  Tailoring and choice of tie gets my attention.  I compare fabric designs as well as color when several men are on camera.  I'm less critical of women if they look 'professional' meaning they are appropriately dressed and not looing as if they are dining out on a date.

My critical evaluattions of speakers won't stop me from watching all the political speeches.  I'll be sitting thru the Democratic convention just as avidly as I did the Republican one.  And when the conventions are over, there will be several months of debates and speeches to listen to.  Of course we won't know the outcome until November when a final vote decides who our next president will be.

E Gads!

Has the country gone to Hell in a hand basket?  There's trouble in river city.  What to do Percy?  What to do?
It seems as if everyone in the country is angry over something.  We are in the middle of a presidential election year.  The campaigns of the two opposing parties, seeking to win the election, highlight all the social ills of the country, and blame each other for having created them. 

As if that rhetoric and emotional turmoil wasn't enough, two separate incidents of police killing a black man, once again brought wide spread protests.  Whether or not, the killings were justified, emotions reached a fever pitch when protests against police escalated into ambushed killings of police officers. 

This country has faced many challenges and will undoubtedly continue to do so, but this challenge of racial intolerance is going to require a lot of talking and understanding to arrive at a peaceful and respectful relationship. 

Reading upside down update

I've finished Alexander McCall Smith's book, 'In The Company Of Cheerful Ladies'.  I still have to spell and sound out some words, but its getting easier.  I have trouble deciphering names of people and towns and have to peek at the words to verify the meaning.  This has been a 'pick up' task I gave myself, and I did keep a steady move forward.

Although I had read this book in2004, I was surprised to find myself looking forward to the next page.  The chapter endings didn't continue in the beginning of the next chapter.  In my memory, the story unfolds in a continuous fashion, but in reading it again, I discovered that it took little jigs and jags as details of location, new characters and traditions were added to the story. 

I found the book just as charming this time around as it was the first time I read it.  It was slow reading,, and I noticed that when I had to peek at a word, I had trouble finding my place again.  But constantly finding my place further down the page than I thought, I realized that my reading pace was picking up.

I've chosen a mystery for my second read.  'Hard Christmas' by Barbara D'Amato.  There are 30 chapters and 282 pages.  It may well be Christmas before I finish.  Reading upside down is a brain game and I plan on continuing the game.  Incidentally, two acquaintances have started reading upside down since they learned about my project.  I'll report my progress and update it from time to time. 

Empires

Empires come and Empires go.  I've witnessed the disintegration of one such during my life.  At one time, the sun never set on the English Empire, but with the loss of India, the 'Jewell in the Crown' as Queen Victoria called it, the Empire was diminished.  Now, since the United Kingdom's Brexit (shorthand for Britain and exit) vote to leave the European Union, its highly likely that Scotland will vote for a second Independent referendum, and Northern Ireland will be able to vote on reunification. 

The European Union is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries.  It was started after WII on the premise that trading countries would avoid going to war with each other,  It has grown to such an extent that it has its own parliament setting rules for environment, transport and consumer rights, including such things as mobile phone charges.  No one knows how the vote will affect treaties and trade deals.  These agreements are so tangled; merging and re-merging in a way that leaving the EU will affect the rise and fall of global currencies. 

When the dust settles, there may be a smaller England, but we have to remember history repeats itself.  Empires fall and new ones appear on the scene.  When I visited Italy, I had a moment of 'history enlightenment' when I walked among the fallen marble columns where the Roman Forum used to be.  I had never cared much for history, thinking it dull and boring, but after seeing the Roman Forum, history has been my favorite reading material.  

We may not like the results of the UK vote and the changes it will bring, but there's no denying that we'll be watching history in the making.   

My New Favorites

My new favorite hot-weather drink is Jamaica.  I first learned about this refreshing drink when I visited Mexico. Jamaica is made with dried Hibiscus flowers, brewed like tea leaves.  Its a beautiful ruby red color, sweetened to taste, and often spiced with a cinnamon stick and a few slices of ginger.  Sometimes a splash of lime juice is added or a fizzy drink which makes a bubbly version.

As the years passed, I brewed it less and less frequently, but when the daytime temperature reached 100 degrees, and the forecasts of 100 plus degrees days were soon to follow, I began thinking of chilled lemonades and iced teas.  Then out of the blue, I remembered Jamaica.  Instead of making only a glass at a time like I used to, I now keep a jar of concentrated Jamaica in the fridge and dilute it with chilled water. 

Another new favorite is an old favorite once remembered, Key Lime Pie.  A restaurant here specializes in Key Lime Pie and a serving lasts me four days!  The graham cracker crust is so thick, its a dessert by its self.  The pie is served with a huge tea cup size strawberry, with its stem still attached,  on the plate.  It definitely requires a take out box to bring home.

My new favorite comedian is Kate Mc Kinnon of Saturday Night Live.  Her satirical portrait of Hillary Clinton is priceless!  I like the other characters that she plays, but her 'Hillary' is worth a 24 carat gold star!

My new favorite book is by Michael Sims.  Its a collection of Victorian Detective Stories.  The title, The Dead Witness, is taken from the title of a story in the book.  The collection depicts the evolving character of a detective from the first detective story published in 1837, the year Victoria became Queen, to the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Sherlock.

Carpet of Flowers

The other day while I was looking at some 'step by step' photos on how to make a Decahedron Himmeli Mobile, I scrolled down the page and became fascinated with a photo that didn't have anything to do with Decahedron mobiles.  It was a photo of a flower carpet in Brussels on the Grand-Place.  The huge, brilliant colored design was awesome, and seemed to be on a higher level than the ground people walking on.  Of course my attention was diverted from mobiles to what and how this display was created.

The photo led me to Brussels official web site where I learned the following about the flower carpet, its history and how its construction.  There is also a webcam focused on the Grand-Place which I plan to watch when the 2016 carpet is laid in August.

Every two years the Grand-Place of Brussels is covered with a carpet of begonias for only 1 weekend free to the public.
The first carpet was in 1971 on the Grand-Place.  It was the work of landscape architect E. Stautemans who was inspired by other carpets in diverse Flemish cities.  The peculiarity of the Brussels flower carpet is its place on the Grand-Place. It measures 77 meters by 24 meters. 

The carpet is planned one year in advance.  A committee of non-profit illustrators, graphic designers and landscape architects plan each edition around a theme.  Scale reproductions of the subject is realized in several project stages.  Quantity and number of flowers, and combinations of color are determined.  Shapes and colors of cut flowers are calculated in the hundreds and thousands and reserved long in advance.  A life size drawing is put on a transparent plastic sheet. 

On the day before opening, the spaces between flower motifs are filled in with rolls of sod.  When the carpet is laid, 120 volunteers install the million begonias within 4 hours.  Each edition has a composed musical theme and concerts are played every evening, accompanied by a light show and fireworks. 

The fragrant tuberous begonias used in the display are native from the West Indies and resistant to all weather conditions, intense sun, violent winds, rain, and cold.  The colors range from vivid to delicate pastels.  When the carpet is made, they are placed close together, (300 per square meter) to prevent then from being blown away.  They create their own micro-climate.  If there is a heat wave, the sod is watered to prevent wilting.  If the weather is too wet, the grass grows 4 to 5 centimeters within 3 days and the flowers remain fresh, preserving their splendor during the 4 days of display. 

The 20th edition in 2016 is scheduled for Friday August 12 to Monday August 15.  It will celebrate 150 years of diplomatic relations and friendship with Japan.  Brussels Grand-Place is considered the most beautiful central square in the world and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Its construction commenced in the 15th century.  It was razed after 3 full days of bombardment by the French Army in 1695, but was rebuilt in less than 5 years later.

Minding My P's and Q's

I'm making progress in my project of reading a book upside down, but I really have to pay attention to some of the characters.  Especially the letters P and Q.  They are easily mistaken for B or D.  The same goes for A and E, although distinguishing A and E have become easier as I get more practiced.  Those letters appear more often.

I still have to spell out some words to understand them.  I also tend to anticipate the next word, often incorrectly, consequently not getting the right tense or meaning.  Example: detect, detective, detected, detects, detection and detecting.  I've also discovered that when I put the book down and pick it up again many hours later, I have to re-orient myself to think upside down, but after reading several words or a sentence, it becomes easy and I can read more quickly. 

I remember that names of font designs used to be printed on the fly leaf of books, but as long as the printing was legible, I didn't care what font design was used.  They may not even be mentioned in publications any longer, its not listed in the book I'm reading.  Whatever the design in my book, the letters f and i join in some words so it looks like an h.  I have to back track to decipher the meaning of the word.  Examples: 'first' and 'find'.

I am gaining an appreciation of art work in font design!  Its amazing the things one notices when trying something new out of the ordinary.

Moving Buildings

I recently watched a television film documenting the relocation of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.  Because shoreline erosion threatened the lighthouse, it was moved 2,900 feet from its original 1890 location, to a place where it will be safe for a hundred years.  When the decision was made to move the lighthouse, a year was spent in planning the move.

I was spellbound as I watched the preparations for the maneuver to take place.  When the moving actually began, the lighthouse was pushed along a track system as it rested on horizontally mounted jacks.  It only moved in 5 feet increments, then the jacks were reset along the grid beams.  The incredulously difficult undertaking took 23 days to finally place the lighthouse in its new location in July 1999.  I have tremendous admiration for those who have the knowledge to attempt such a feat, and then actually do it.

I've seen houses being moved and its always an amazing event.  Years ago, one of my uncles worked for a company that moved houses, and he often related stories about moves that were particularly difficult.  I've even seen houses being moved down the highway with police on motor bikes directing traffic, and I always marveled at the slow but sure progress being made.  Several years ago, a neighbor had a house moved from a nearby town to a lot across the street from me.  It was to be placed on the slope of a hill, some distance from the street.  To my untrained eye, it looked like a ticklish job and I wondered how the men would achieve the move without incident.

The house and workers arrived on my street in the morning, planning to have the house on its final location by the end of the day.  The street was blocked off preventing any traffic entering, and also preventing those living on our block from driving their vehicles in or out.  Aside from the owner, there was a man in charge with a crew of about 7 or 8 Mexican who spoke only Spanish.  It was a very hot day and the work was tedious, exacting and non-stop, but the work progressed smoothly; the men worked carefully and in a choreographed manner.  I was one of many onlookers and we all were impressed at how hard the men worked.  When the final push came to set the house on the planned spot, the men worked fast and furiously to place the house exactly in the right spot.  It was amazing how deftly it was done, And, in one day!

My New Project

My new project is one that will take some time to accomplish: I'm reading a book upside down.

I had read that reading a book upside down was a "brain game" so I decided to give it a try. I browsed through my books looking for a font that would be easy to read upside down, but all my books had the same size printing. I selected 'The Stranger' by Albert Camus, a translation from the French by Mathew Ward and began reading, but it wasn't long before I decided it would be better as a beginning upside down reader, to choose something a bit lighter.

After sorting through the books, I picked an Alexander McCall Smith book, 'In The Company Of Cheerful Ladies' which is a charming book with engaging characters, and one of his series about 'The NO. 1 Ladies Detective Agency'. We are so practiced in reading that we intuitively understand meanings of words and sentences without checking the dictionary, but in reading upside down, I often have to spell out a word in order to decipher it and know its pronunciation.. Consequently, I can't anticipate the next word in a sentence. I also have to pay attention to punctuation in order to keep the thread of the story making sense.

Its slow going and it will be some time before I can sail through the pages like I do reading right side up. It will be a while before I actually finish chapter 1... and there are 21 chapters total. I'll update my progress from time to time.

Neurobics

One of the most fascinating books that I've read lately is Keep Your Brain Alive written by two authors, Lawrence C Katz and Manning Rubin. They say that when we occasionally change the way we perform daily routines, we create Neurobics which is an additional way of nourishing the brain. The authors describes in detail how memory cells are created and stored in various area of the brain, and how Neurobics help create memories. Unlike logic puzzles and memory tests, Neurobics uses the senses of touch, smell, hearing, spacial memory and emotional sense.

Representations of events, people and places are associations and are stored in many areas of the brain. Incorporating Neurobics into ones life is not a quick fix, but will give your brain a good workout by making new associations and activating circuits that increase and strengthen associative cells that prevent mental decline.

There are three conditions required for creating Neurobics.

1. involve one or more of the senses in a novel way.
2. break routine activity in unexpected and non-trivial ways.
3. engage your attention.

The book includes numerous ways that are easy to practice and that do not entail lots of time.

The following are some of the suggestions.

• Change your writing hand
• Change your olfactory association of waking to coffee by keeping a container of favorite aromas bedside for a week such as vanilla, peppermint or rosemary
• Shower with your eyes closed using tactile associations
• Read out loud or listen to someone reading
• Brush your teeth with your non-dominate hand
• Read upside down
• Learn Braille
• Start a new hobby
• Keep a cup of coins in the car cup holder. At stop lights determine denomination by feel alone
• Grow a garden
• With eyes closed using spacial memory, unlock the car door, sit and buckle the seat belt, insert the ignition key and locate the radio and windshield wipers

These ideas sound simplistic, but having had personal experience of being forced to practice several of them due to temporary physical limitations over the last several years, I found them surprisingly difficult.

A year ago I broke my right wrist and had to use my left hand to write letters to my sister, Esther. She had stopped using her computer and due to her profound hearing loss, we exchanged letters 2 or 3 times a week. I actually got very good at writing with my left hand. Presently I'm being forced to NOT use my left thumb due to surgery. The Dr. had zapped a spot of skin cancer on the knuckle just below the thumb nail. Because it became infected, the Dr. removed the nail. It's almost well, but my thumb is extremely sensitive and I've had to use my fingers in a way to hold things. I no longer look like I'm trying to hitch a ride, and my thumb is almost well enough so that I can start knitting again.

Now I practice reading upside down when I'm in a waiting room with magazines. So far I've only read magazine advertisements, but one of these days I'll might try reading a regular book.

The OH SHYTE Presidential moment by KimB

So... Here we are. On the brink of exercising our US voting rights (ahem, ahem... well, some of us are) and voting in a New President. Prospects are looking pretty grim. The winner of the Kentucky Derby looks to be a better candidate for the Triple Crown than any of the current crop of Presidential Hopefuls are for President. This season's Presidential Post Parade is particularly ugly.

Not that many years ago, I posted about what the election of Barack Obama meant to me. About how he appeared to embody all the best of America: Honesty, Integrity and his sworn oath to uphold the Constitution of the USA. He was portrayed as a constitutional lawyer and professor.

I figured: who better would understand the requirements and the empowerment of that document than a person who has seen both sides of how it CAN be used and how it SHOULD be used. You know, the We the People, sort of thing.

The Change We Can Believe In quickly became the Change I Couldn't Believe Was Happening.

As I've moved into the more mature category of life, I often wondered what actually happens to makes someone do a 180 as soon as they hit public office. Corruption, bribes, PACs, SUPERPACs, sweetheart deals and paybacks are part of the landscape but this particular U-Turn was more hurtful than others.

No one expected Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, to do a 180 on his Trickle Down/Supply Side economics, when Milton Friedman was a regular on the TV talk show circuit describing how all that wealth at the top of the pyramid was going to trickle down to the homeless, poor and hungry at the bottom.

What Milton said was true, in a way. The money did trickle down but not to the bottom of the pyramid.

It over-flowed into fake corporations, tax doge havens and flooded into hidden bank accounts located in places like the Bahamas, Panama, Luxemburg, Jersey (UK). For the stay at home tax avoidance group there is Delaware, Nevada, Wyoming and Oregon and other localities banking on a new growth industry: hiding the wealth of the 1%.

It flowed in and took up permanent residence. A stagnant pool of funds large enough to wipe out world poverty without ever bothering the 1% who can't even remember where they stashed it all.

But the corruption, incompetence and self-serving opportunism doesn't cover the whole ground. People do have some moral compass, although there have been claims that anyone who runs for President with the ability to annihilate the world in 3 seconds, by definition is NOT the person you want to be running the show and having that Red Phone follow them around.

[aside: I guess by now its a little red iPhone with an NSA tracker in it and the keypad lock code disabled. If they didn't disable the keypad code, the FBI might have to pay another $1,000,000 for the zero-day exploit to unlock the phone.

Imagine: having to push the damn button but the keypad is locked. Then having to pay a 3d party black hat to come unlock it for you...

How Embarrassing!!!

WWWIII postponed while we wait for the All Writs Act to force those Italian Black Hats to come open the phone for free.

No wonder Comey, Burr and Feinstein want to ban encryption. Maybe the President accidently locked the phone while playing Smurfs?]

There must be something else that happens shortly after election and becomes evident after the inauguration. Something no one expects. Something so horrible that it cannot be spoken aloud. Something so cataclysmic that people with good sense and judgment go completely ape-shit off the chart.

Well, now we know what it is: It's a meeting with:

Michael Hayden and the OH SHYTE moment.

How do we know?

Because Mr. Hayden told us. He told the world.

Just like he told us that there is never going to be a requirement for a warrant in the US, because warrants are only needed for UNUSUAL searches. If all searches are defined to be "USUAL", then no warrants are needed. (It's easy, when you know how to play the re-definition game.)

So what is the OH SHYTE MOMENT?

That's when Mr. Hayden and his successors, take the candidate into the woodshed and scare the crap out of them for hours and hours. They put 'em on the toilet so they don't have to clean up the mess and tell them enough to keep them compliant and in line with the views of the security services, the military and a lot of other people who would be very very very unhappy if something changed.

Just as they are experts in interrogation, they also are experts in manipulation. No one is going to stand up to the unified onslaught.

... the intelligence agencies went one better by drawing Obama in with what Hayden calls the “aw shit moment” – a briefing that so alarmed the president with the enormity of the threats the country faced that he embraced the bulk of the NSA and CIA’s anti-terror programmes.

“National security looks different from the Oval office than it does from a hotel room in Iowa,” Hayden says. “It was the reality. So [Obama] gets rid of the black sites. But he keeps rendition. We still do it. He gets briefed on metadata and he keeps it.”

General Michael Hayden, retired.
Former head of the CIA, NSA and Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.
9 March 2016

So, imagine what you would do?

• Here's THE Button.
• You have 3 seconds to press it.
• Go ahead. Give it a go.
.
.
.

• We locked the keypad ....

Political Correctness

One often hears the term, 'political correctness' when remarks of politicians are quoted in television news broadcasts. It's an intuitive phrase so I never bothered checking a dictionary for a more meaningful explanation, until now. I'm starting to wonder if the term is being used to hide what a politician really thinks when he verbalizes the opposite.

According to Wikipedia, political correct language intends not to offend or disadvantage a particular group of people in society. Wikipedia also traces the history of the term from articles by New York Times and the writings of Allan Bloom's book in 1987, Roger Kimball's 1990 book, and the 1991 book by Dinesh D'Souza.

Presently the country is in the middle of a primary election to nominate a person or persons from the Republican and Democratic parties, who will eventually face a general election to decide our next President. As electioneering rallies, town halls, and TV interviews increase in frequency, scornful attitudes and accusative comments of political incorrectness are jabs hurled against rivals, highlighting traits that disqualify opponents from holding the office of President.

This particular election cycle is different in many ways from past elections. Half the Republican party is represented by angry, disillusioned voters, as is the Democratic party. Not only is the Democratic party divided, but for the first time in history, a very savvy political female is trying to win the nomination, and might actually win the general election. She is competing against the only Republican still in the primary, and her rival Democrat, who is leading the angry, disillusioned voters of her party.

The Republican rival happens to be an 'outsider' not a traditional politician, funding his own campaign, and constantly told he's political incorrect. But a lot of his comments mirror the Democrat rival of the woman seeking to become President. Examples: trade policies and acceptance of millions of dollars in contributions from those the public believe can and do buy the best government money can buy.

Obviously, political correctness can direct attention from substantive matters and also fight liberalism

Weather

For as long as I can remember, weather conditions have been an important topic of conversation in our family. During my childhood years my family lived in a small farming community in Iowa. It was a river town with shops catering to the many farms dotting the rolling hills of Iowa. Corn was the predominate crop and one could drive for miles and miles and see only rows of corn. During the growing season, the green stalks would be 'knee high by the 4^th of July'. By the first frosty days of autumn, the stalks would be higher than a mans head with tops of golden silk glistening in the sun.

My family lived on a small asparagus farm. Besides the 7 acres of asparagus, we had huge beds of black berries, raspberries, strawberries and numerous bee hives. We had farm animals, cows, hogs and chickens, but on a smaller scale than our farming neighbors. You can imagine how important it was to be aware of weather changes. Listening to the noon time radio broadcasts giving weather and stock prices was part of the lunch time ritual.

Exchanged letters with farming relatives in other states always included information about the weather and its' affect on the crops they grew, tobacco in Kentucky, wheat and corn in Kansas. During the years that we lived on the asparagus farm Dad continued his job with the telephone company. The phone company had transferred the family several times during his early years with the company, but we lived in our little river town for a number of years. It looked to be permanent, but when the company asked, and offered, a transfer from Iowa to San Francisco, the family left farming behind.

As my brothers and sisters married and moved to areas where their careers took them, I too found myself far removed from the daily concerns of an agricultural life. But rather than harvesting corn, milking cows and feeding chickens, I indulge in amateur gardening. I like propagating African violets, sprouting avocado seeds, and raising geraniums in hanging baskets. A small container garden is my pretense to owning farming genes passed on to me from parents and grandparents. As far as weather went, I only paid attention, in a hap-hazard way, to reports of weather temperature and rain fall.

Now global warming is forcing us to think about how to deal with climate change. Weather reports are more important than ever, and not just for farmers. The erratic and extreme weather patterns are playing havoc around the globe. Floods and tornadoes are causing destruction matching that of war torn areas where masses of humanity are fleeing war. It may be a dollar late, and a dollar short, but climate change is a crisis we can't afford to ignore. Hopefully our politicians will begin to publicize and plan for ways to help us live with the changes as they happen.

Mother's Day Suprise!

Real life has brought a number of changes and another year for the blog. 

This year I am learning to post directly to the blog for Mother's Day.  I don't think I'm supposed to have to work on Mother's Day but this looks more like fun than work!

Since I'm 94 and learning a lot of new things, please bear with me as I learn the ins and outs of posting!

A Castle and Family Secrets

The other day, when I was using my computer to browse online eBooks in the categories of history and auto/biographies, the title 'The Secret Rooms' by Catherine Bailey caught my attention. The cover photo of a turreted castle and comments declaring this is a 'true story of a haunted castle, a plotting duchess and family secrets' had me doing a double take of the photo and re-reading the declaration. Being a sucker for 'true stories', especially historic ones, I couldn't resist borrowing the book for 14 days.

The book is extremely well written and researched by Catherine Bailey, who read history at Oxford University, and is an award-winning television producer and director of documentary films.

Bailey, was given permission to write about the life of employees of Belvoir Castle , home of the Manner's family, and seat of the Dukes of Rutland. The castle's name means beautiful view, (pronounced bee-var by Norman invaders, but called Beaver by Anglo-Saxons). It was granted to Robert, 1st baron de Roos in 1257. When that family died out in 1508, the castle passed to George Manners, who inherited both castle and barony through his mother. His son was created Earl of Rutland in 1525. A John Manners was created Duke of Rutland in 1703, and Belvoir has remained home to the Manners family for 500 years, and seat of the Dukes of Rutland for over 3 centuries.

Bailey's gift for suspense in writing an otherwise dry historical record, begins when she encounters an employee who tells her about the five secret rooms. That's when she learns that John, the 9th Duke of Rutland had died in one of them. The fact that no one knew why he had chosen to spend his dying days there, alone, was a mystery not likely to be solved. Her discovery of 3 comprehensive gaps in family records, each occurring at different points of time was another mystery and unknown by the family.

Curious to find out why the correspondence was absent during these periods, the meticulous cross referencing of letters from friends, official records, castle household records and dates of events read like fiction. As one after another elusive clue was found, one mystery would be solved, only to create another.

Secret Rooms is a story full of intrigue, destroyed records and documents, plots thick with deceit, betrayed honor and ancient curses, hypocrisy, eccentricity and cowardly connivance of a decadent aristocracy reading like fiction, but is a shocking, although an enthralling tale of grief, pride and shame.



'The Secret Rooms'
Catherine Bailey

Charming Billy

Can she bake a cherry pie, charming Billy?
She can bake a cherry pie, quick as a cat can wink an eye
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

How old is she charming Billy?
Three times six and four times seven
Twenty eight and eleven
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

I thought of this old folk tune the other day when I browsed Chef John's recipe files. As I tried to remember some of the verses I began to recall other tunes my brothers and sisters and I sang as children.

Johnson boys eat peas and honey,
They have done it all their life,
It makes the peas taste mighty funny,
But it keeps them on the knife.

And of course there was 'Bile them cabbage down' and Barnacle Bill, the sailor who would black your eyes and eat your pies. On occasion we could coax Dad into singing

Darling Nelly Gray, they have taken her away
And I'll never see my darling anymore.
They have taken her to Georgia,
Just to work her life away,
And I'll never see my darling anymore.

One of my favorite memories is grandma W singing Jessie James for us.

“It was a dirty coward, that shot Mr Howard,
and laid poor Jessie in his grave”

On warm summer nights after all the small children were asleep in bed, we older ones would join grandma as she sat in a rocking chair on the porch, and we on the steps keeping her company. After we found out that she knew the words to Jessie James, we begged her to sing it for us. It took a bit of coaxing, but when she consented to sing for us, she sang all the verses.



Dulcimer Player

“What to do, Percy? What to do?”

The above refrain is from an old record of Swiss Family Robinson that our family listened to back in the late'50s and early '60s. Since then, when a perplexing problem arose requiring the opinion of an authority figure, (usually Mother), we always asked, “What to do, Percy? What to do?”

We might well ask the question now concerning the drinking water in Flint, Michigan.

Its unconscionable that people in the area have been drinking water polluted with lead, and that their complaints barely made a ripple in the nation's conscious. Have our elected officials, who swore to protect and defend, become so immune to the greedy machinations of those who slyly pollute our environment that nothing is done to correct the situation until the problem becomes a crisis?

"What to do, Percy? What to do?"



Water?

Curling, aka “chess on ice”

When surfing the TV for something interesting to watch the other evening, I came across a broadcast of the winter sport Curling. I always enjoyed watching the Olympic curling teams, so I stopped surfing and watched the game between the U S and Japan. Not really knowing much about the sport, I became aware that pushing stones across the ice toward a point some distance away required some deliberate cogitation rather than a chancy push, with fingers crossed for luck. Consequently, I went to the internet to learn more.

Curling is a game of strategy, tactics and skill. Its a sport played by both men and women. It has been an Olympic sport since 1998. There are both men and women tournaments as well as mixed teams with 2 women and 2 men per team. Its a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area of segmented 4 concentric circles. Two teams, each with 4 players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones called rocks, toward the circular target called the house. Each team has 8 stones with points being scored for stones resting closest to the center called the button. It can be played aggressively or defensively. Aggressive play puts a lot of stones in play and can be exciting, but also very risky but with great reward, as opposed to defensive play.

The process of sliding the stone across the ice sheet is called 'delivery' and its trajectory is influenced by two 'sweepers' to make the stone turn or curl. The typical rate of turn is 2 ½ rotations before resting. Sweeping reduces friction underneath the stone and decreases the amount of curl as debris is swept from the stones path.

Curling images also can be found in movies and ads, sometimes without the viewers realizing that they are looking at a bona fide sport.



Old Fashioned Curling Stone

Hello 2016

The early hours of the new year are still reflecting the high hopes for the usual health, wealth and happiness wished for when ringing bells signaled the new year.

On the personal level, there's the usual resolutions for dieting and exercising, but new concerns paramount in our lives also concern the country.

The spreading popularity of gun legislation, allowing 'open carry' of guns, replicates the old wild west when pistol packing cowboys walked with a chip on their shoulders and dared anyone to out draw them. I am not convinced that more guns in the hands of citizens is the answer to the threat of violence by terrorists or the brazen crimes committed by home grown criminals. There must be a gene in our DNA that triggers violent actions against each other. I just hope I'm not shopping for veggies in a grocery store if a shoot out takes place.

Hiding behind bins of oranges or watermelons just isn't going to work.



Oranges for Body Armor?

Winter Holiday 2015

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year!!

When the few remaining days of December tell us the old year is passing and a new one beginning, we send traditional wishes of merriment and hopeful anticipation for all good things in the coming year to family and friends. 2015 has been a year of challenges and changes in our personal lives and the country's as well, but I hope 2016 brings good fortune and an optimism that our wishes will come true.

Do we dare wish for a more Peaceful World

Happy Holiday 2015
Hope for a more peaceful world in 2016

My New Favorites

The other day a friend and I were comparing our food favorites when I realized that I had a lot of new ones. Surprisingly, one is sauerkraut.

Years ago, when I was growing up, home made sauerkraut was on the dinner menu every night. We usually had two huge crocks of kraut stored in the cellar where other canned and preserved foods were kept. During the winter months, at dinner time, Mom would send me to the cellar to get kraut for dinner. As we used up the kraut I'd let her know how much remained, but before the crocks were empty, I got weary of eating kraut every night and complained, “Not again!” Recently I ate a deli sandwich with kraut and rediscovered how tasty kraut could be.

Another new favorite is cucumber-lemon water.

It's served at one of the local restaurants and since I found out how to make it, I keep some in the fridge. Just put large chunks of cucumber and lemon slices in water and chill. Just replace the water after drinking some. As the flavor diminishes, add a fresh cucumber and lemon.

My latest new favorite is an open face cream cheese sandwich, generously covered with raw pecan pieces pressed onto the cheese.

Crystallized ginger, a forgotten favorite, is on my list again. I remembered it when I noticed that a piece of ginger root had sprouted.

Foods are not my only favorites.

My latest TV favorite is America's Got Talent.

If I hadn't seen some of the performances with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe them possible. Some athletic feats are beyond description with phenomenal strength and flexibility. Musical talents of participants are often amazing. Performances of many unusual abilities are shown, and acts combining the latest virtual technology with movement are elegant to watch.

My favorite late night comedian was Jay Leno, but since he retired, I haven't yet decided on one.

My favorite games are chess, mahjong solitaire, and Spite and Malice, a card game.

My sister Adeline had learned the card game many years ago and it became a family favorite. During any lengthy visit of family members, there will always be a Spite and Malice tournament.

I have favorite books but too numerous to mention. History books are top of the list with biography and autobiographical books a close second.

Over the years I've had many pets, favoring dogs over cats, however, Mimi, my cat that ran off with a river boat gambler during the hurricane Ike, was special.

I'll obviously continue choosing favorites as the current ones are replaced. Who knows what the next ones will be.



German Sauerkraut

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

MrsB

My Water Glass Garden

Water Glass Garlic

After cousin Loretta told me about her water glass garden, I graduated from just rooting avocado seeds in glasses of water to growing vegetables that will re-grow themselves. I knew that leaves would grow from the tops of carrots if put in water. Years ago I kept several containers of water growing carrot leaves on a kitchen shelf, but I didn't know that celery, garlic, ginger, basil, onions, pineapple, lettuce, scallions or bok choy and sweet potatoes would re-grow themselves from scraps if put in water.

Immediately after my phone chat with Loretta, I went to the kitchen and cut off the bottom two inches of a bunch of celery and placed it glass with water. I did the same with a garlic clove. I was astonished that within three days, the garlic had sprouted and the center of the celery base was showing green shoots.

I picked several sprigs of basil from the plants growing in out door containers, and following instructions found on the internet, I placed them in a glass of water. I expect them to root soon. I'm debating about growing sweet potato vines in water since I don't plan to grow sweet potatoes in soil, but I may grow the vines just for the beauty of a potted plant. Scallions, pineapple and bok choy are on my 'to do' list. My son gave me some pieces of ginger root from his container garden and I'll see what luck I have with that.

Re-discovering these gardening tips that our ancestors practiced eliminates the need for pesticides besides creating a re-occurring supply of veggies. Its a small effort balanced against the gain to be achieved. The images are from web sites describing how to grow various fruits and vegetables.



Water Glass Celery

Stop the World, I Want To Get off

It seems to me that things are moving too fast! I long for quiet hum-drum, monotonous days where daily routines never vary. The same old chores, the same old job, the same old hobbies, the same old meals and the same old friends sharing the same old gossip.

I don't really want to return to the 'old' days, but catastrophes of varying degrees are publicized in all social media outlets 24/7 with non-stop speculation over the least event exaggerating its importance in the public mind.

These occurrences are brought to the public mind so rapidly we hardly have time to digest the meaning of one event before another replaces it. There's a never ending report of wars between countries, climactic devastation, crimes of robbery and murder, corruption and malfeasance of public office and deadly power struggles between religious beliefs.

No wonder we find relief from these harrowing events by watching late night comedians on television. They teach us how to take these events in stride by poking fun at the perpetrators.



Laughing it Up
April 18 2014