Old Friends

It was my good luck to see an old friend tonight who had introduced me to the infamous Helen Thomas, Sr. White House correspondent, a number of years ago. I was fortunate enough to sit next to her through a luncheon where she was speaking and her insights into the various presidencies were priceless. She definitely had her favorites as well as her arch enemies. And I'm sure each of those presidents knew exactly which side of her line they fell on too. When she spoke about JFK, there were truly stars in her eyes, she honestly felt he could have done so much more for our country. Knowing that she worked from the administration of FDR all the way through GW (who booted her out because he was afraid of her and/or intimidated by her).

I hate to admit I have her book but have yet to read it. Actually, I think I loaned it to someone and need to find it again so I can read it. I have no doubt any books about her life will be fascinating. All hail women who speak their minds and stand up for what they believe, regardless of the lame brain they oppose.

Anyway, it was great to see my prior co-worker again although he was more interested in talking to my daughter about her recent trip to Morrocco since he is interested in seeing Fez and she had just been there. He had just returned from India where he went to work in some schools. Apparently that's how he spends his time on these trips, by going to schools and helping out with English pronunciation and conversational teaching. He was in Bangkok recently as well. Quite the retirement plan. He is actually heading back to Washington, D.C. next week and will have dinner and drinks with Helen yet again. He's what you would term a real character but great fun to talk to. Last I knew he kept a flat in London...I can't relate.

I'm off to work out now before I collapse. A demain.

Feeling Groovy

For those of you too young to know, the famous song "Feelin' Groovy" by Simon & Garfunkel was also known as "The 59th Street Bridge Song", hence this photo is pertinent...fooled you!

So, I'm thinking this will be a good (groovy) weekend by virtue of the fact that it is a weekend and this last week qualified under full moon status for sure. Every kind of bad behavior and poor decisions that could be made occurred last week (can you tell I work with people?) and I'm hopeful the weekend will purge all this bad behavior and next week will be a whole different world, ha, ha aka fat chance.

One of my new year's resolutions this year was to take time for me, specifically to set aside more time to spend with my friends and family and to restart piano lessons, both of which I have begun. Another sub-resolution I had was to reinvolve myself in the community. This next week I will officially join the Board of the Portland Festival Symphony founded by Lajos Balogh. But he's not only the founder, he is also the director and the conductor of the symphony. Lajos, for whom this has been a labour of love, considers the concerts his group performs in Portland's city parks as a gift back to the country who gave him a new life. This is the 26th year of the symphony and I am going to work with them to collect and document their history into a usable format for the purpose of filing for grants, endowments and as part of their public relations in general. But most of all, I'm looking forward to attending their concerts with the fam.

I have work to do today and lots of house-related stuff, which I have to fit around another visit with fam, and for the first time in my lifetime, I plan to miss the Academy Awards. I was thinking about this earlier today, what with the notable absence of the real talent like the Katherine Hepburns, the Gregory Pecks, the Audrey Hepburns, the Cary Grants, the Lana Turners, the Clark Gables the Bette Davis's, the Jimmy Stewarts, the Elizabeth Taylors (early years only), the Spencer Tracys, the Grace Kellys...you catch my drift ~ the class, the dignity, the golden, bigger than life essence of the event have been completely and totally lost. Not only that, I don't believe it is the best of pictures or actors who win anymore, it's the studio who does the best job of promoting, advertising, and schmoozing in general. The whole thing just turns me off so they have officially lost my interest and my attendance. Chances are good, I won't be the only American who tunes it out. Am I right?

The Banana Man; I told you he was real.

For years, I have been asking people if they remember The Banana Man from Captain Kangaroo. No one has ever known what I was talking about. He was a guy who never said anything but oh, ah, ewh, wow and other similar vowel sounds, and he wore a huge coat with even huger pockets. So, I just discovered that I am not the only one who remembers this guy, here he is! If you still don't believe he was for real, go to Google Images and type in, Banana Man on Captain Kangaroo. There is an entire film strip of all the different parts to his act. Why now, you ask? Why does anyone care or me at least; I guess I finally feel vindicated somehow. Like my entire childhood was not a sham but had substance, wierd substance but substance nevertheless. Meaning I came by my fondness for big pockets honestly.

P. S. I read the "valedictory" of George Washington. My only question is, why aren't I able to write as cleverly as he did. Well, maybe the cleverness should be attributed solely to Alexander Hamilton but either way, they had a real way with words. I look at this and wonder if we even speak the same language. I do love the way he says "Here perhaps I should stop" (on item #7), then proceeds to continue on through item #51. I guess you'd call that a teaser.

It may seem profane to mix my blog between The Banana Man and George Washington but I simply think it demonstrates my appreciation of diversity of subject matter. I don't hesitate to jump between the ludicrous and the lofty. So, I wonder if George Washington would have considered a guest spot on Captain Kangaroo if he had lived 200 years later? Eh, probably not.
Maybe he would have on Laugh-in though, after all, Nixon did...as a matter of fact, I think his script was, "Sock it to me". Little did we know how prophetic this little phrase would be. You have just got to love the 60's/70's. I wouldn't have traded it for ANY other time.

OK, I'm way over my time limit. Ta ta!

The Meaning of It All

You may all think today is about, shopping, visiting, going away for the weekend, relaxing or for those who are less fortunate, working. But no, today is about two famous and important men in our country's history. Of course, I'm never sure just how important George Washington (unfortunate name currently) was in the big scheme of things. Are we actually celebrating the fact that he was simply the first president or the fact that he was a great general (similarly to Eisenhower), or because he had a nice house, or did he actually DO something important. This is a mystery I may never solve (because I don't really care enough to actually read about him).

Lincoln, of course, had a way with words and had the vision to know what was best for the country. He also had the courage to stand alone to make it happen. It was a bloody, severe time in our history but civil wars aren't all that unusual in the histories of many countries. My greatest concern is that we didn't learn all the lessons that we should have from that experience.

But, you know what, this is far too heavy of a subject for today. So now I'm going to go do all those other things I mentioned in the note above, as in workout, practice piano (lesson later) do some work (ick) and a little shopping later. Another busy day off (so to speak). Ta, ta.

Baby Stuff

So I was asked to host a surprise baby shower for someone who is having a little girl but doesn't want anything pink or frilly. I'm trying to figure out just how you do that. And no, this baby isn't her because she isn't going to be born until March. But this one is darned cute and she's not in green or pink!

Well, we are doing baby advice and cupcakes (green icing on chocolate cake) and I'll guarantee you that no one will get her pink. Almost everything on her registry was sage green. I may be wrong but I think that will get old a few months down the road. Anyway, I had to be a rebel and bought her a blue & green flowered onesie sunsuit kind of thing, so there! You watch, her little girl will grow up to be the most feminine, dress-wearing little thing ever, simply because her parents don't like it. Funny stuff...

To Do Lists

Right now, my mind is focused on all that I have to do which is so much it can't even fit on one list which is why a doodled to do list makes so much sense, right?

Honestly, this is how alot of my notes pages at work end up because I have a minute to doodle here or there linking this letter to that one, etc. and pretty soon, you have a mess with components to it that you still need to check off.

I wonder if I will ever get to the point that I don't have enough to do in a day to even warrant a list. Hmm, maybe if I move out of my house into a tiny, furnished studio apartment (utilities included) with no yard, no plants, no pets and only have three outfits of clothes, one pair of shoes and my own little stackable w/d. And I'm retired with no outside responsibilities. Then, maybe I would have very little to do and wouldn't need a list.

Sounds like a sad, lonely life doesn't it? I guess being busy isn't so bad after all.

Quickie

So, I type in reincarnation and this picture of Mark Twain appears in Google Images. So I say, okay someone or something wants me to talk about Mark Twain not reincarnation so I will. (Now I want to read through Mark Twain's writings to see what he had to say about reincarnation - I say again, I adore Google Images.)

So Mr. Twain, aka Samuel Clemens, was well known for any number of writings and his general wit but I chose to share just a few here. First and foremost, you have your Tom Sawyer and your Huck Finn. Do kids even read these stories anymore? Probably not since they don't come in a video game format. I don't even want to think about it.

Of course, Tom and Huck spent the majority, if not all their time on or around a very famous river that I have actually seen from its banks in New Orleans (before it got so royally messed up). It is one huge, rolling river as the song lyrics say (or something like that) and it's easy to stand in front of some of the old plantation properties and imagine what it was like when that river was a major source of transportation and entertainment. It certainly played a major role in this country's history simply by its existence and strategic location.

The Mississippi River, what a great watery stage for Twain's many tales.

Just one of many interesting sights we can see without even leaving the country. I believe the casino riverboats still travel back and forth on the Mississippi although I'm certain the poker disagreements resulting in shootouts have significantly decreased over time.

But this wasn't the only body of water Twain featured in his writings.
The Stanislaus River and valley in northern California was home to the famous...
that's right, the Jumping Frog Contest of Calaveras County; gold mining country, very beautiful and very rugged. He definitely felt most inspired to create his fabulous stories in picturesque areas but also areas that differ greatly from each other.

I'm not sure where he was when he wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court but that's probably one of my favorites. He is definitely someone I would love to be able to sit down to talk to for a day. Who would you choose?

The State of Things

I saw a movie the other day that I hadn't seen in many years. It was called, "Inherit the Wind", starring Spencer Tracy and it's rated 4 or 5 stars, top drawer. Best actor and best picture that year.

The movie is about the Scopes "monkey" trial where science was on trial, under attack by religion.

If you think about it, this is an ongoing controversy around here,


Science vs. Religion
How many arguments continue to take place over these two concepts, we can all name any number of them. Isn't it all about tolerance? Isn't that the core issue here? It's not so much that science isn't tolerant of religion but more that religion isn't tolerant of science.

Mr. Darwin was a courageous man to state what he so firmly believed, his theory lives on but the uproar has never died down.

Evolution is not only not recognized (let alone tolerated) by most if not all religions, it is resisted as valid subject matter in schools. Since when have schools become something less than an environment for learning. Who decides what children should or should not learn? This is science folks. Banning this kind of science, this kind of learning always takes me back to this picture, 70 years ago, that is burned indelibly into all our memories.

Heaven help us if we ever backslide to this kind of illiterate, fear-driven, unenlightened Hell again.

Amazingly Wierd Animals (Oh, and Birds)

This blog is strictly a matter of opinion. I would challenge any other blogger to create a wierder collection.


This blog exists simply to honor the wierdest animals in existence (oh, and birds). Even though you know how and why most of them evolved the way they did, they are each a sight to behold. Just in case you didn't figure it out on your own, they are in alphabetical order, not in order of importance or wierdness...
In many cases, you could say they have faces (and/or bodies) only a mother could love.

Hmm, there is a distinct similarity here? It's possible that it's merely skin tone and texture. Certainly they share an affinity for being underwater even though a hippo is still considered a land animal. So, were there hippo dinasours? Did hippo's evolve from the same species as rhino's? Are manatees the water versions of the same thing?

Just consider the three versions of birds shown here. Climates, environments and their appearances couldn't be more different.

Do you ever wonder things like how do these creatures sleep, how they mate (porcupines, hello), or what happens if they eat the wrong thing, especially the pelican or the flamingo? Does one of their pals perform a heimlich maneuver? Do they ever suffer from TMJ or excessively dry skin (or quills as the case may be)?

How exactly did the stripes on the zebra come to be so perfect and symmetrical? Did a horse type mate with a tiger type at some point in the past?
So many unanswered questions, and so many wierd animals. I've merely scratched the surface.

Recovering Absentee

Well, I'm back! Did you miss me? I missed me. This is an excellent release and it took me the longest time to get back into this silly new blogger. Anyway, at some point today I thought about Sgt. Pepper's and decided to use the picture. That's the end of the story though because I think I forgot why. Maybe it was that this album had a profound impact on me in 1967. I think this was when I started reading more about Haight Ashbury in Tiger Beat and wearing beads. Heck, I was making my own beads and for anyone else who wanted them. All the time. I know I was constantly saving money for new 45's and albums. Music was my life so when the Beatles took us in a new direction, I was right there with them. The stuff they did before this I could take or leave but this one was finally on the right track. I liked pretty much everything after this. I guess you'd call it the turning point for me.

I remember standing in front of the television on a Sunday night in 1963 when The Beatles were first on Ed Sullivan thinking what in the world are those girls screaming about. The guys were dressed in monkey suits, with stupid hair cuts and the songs they sang repeated the same stupid lyrics over and over (She Loves You, Ya, Ya, Ya, or the classic, I Want To Hold Your Hand, etc.).

So, anyway, I was still enamored of Elvis Presley at this point. My girlfriend, Julie, and I would spend hours writing novellas (on my portable Singer typewriter) where we met him, usually with the music from his newest album as the backdrop for the story. Those are something I really wish I had kept. Oh well. I mean, how can anyone argue with his image in Blue Hawaii or Harum Scarum, he was a hunk regardless of his private habits. On this subject, I will take no arguments. Yes, he became a bloated, sweaty drug addict later but at this point, in the mid-60's, he was what Gidget coined a "dreamboat". One of the funniest gifts I ever received from my Grammie was the Harum Scarum album. I was so excited to get it and I don't think she had ever even heard him sing. I believe the parental units gave her a big hint and sure enough, she hit the jackpot with me. I remember I had my arms around it and probably even slept with it. There was a big, color, glossy photo of him inside...I'm surprised I didn't faint. I'm sure my friend Julie screamed when she saw it. The odd thing is I don't remember her having any of these, they were all at my house. I punched a hole in the upper left corner of each album cover and hung them across my wall.

Well, that's enough reminiscing, I need to grab some vegies for dinner now that it's 9:30. It didn't take me long to get back to my old tricks. Anyway, I'm back!