streetpolo

Pop Goes the Culture

2012-01-30T21:20:00.002-05:00

Okay, this really won't take long, and then I will feel better. Maybe you will, too. An item in this morning's paper sort of set me off. It stated something like this: "Angelina Jolie snubs Stacy Keibler on Private Jet". This caused me to stop chewing my cereal and ponder who in the world would need to read beyond this headline. Does anyone need the deep facts behind the snub? And how far has American journalism come when some editor decides to devote precious ink to this breaking, unfolding story? This, in the age of the shrinking newspaper, where fewer stories are picked up, and fewer paragraphs are devoted to each story. Right now, some editor is probably pondering: "Hmm, Europe's economy teetering on the brink of collapse, or, no..wait a minute! Pretty sure that's a new hair color for Justin Bieber. Run with the Bieber!"

I am aware that the National Enquirer and its ilk have been around since I was a small pup, and TV shows like Hollywood Extra or TMZ or whatever it's called populate the pre-primetime hour, and enough people turn in their Arbitrons or Nielsons saying they watch this stuff to generate advertising dollars and keep the shows running. I am also aware that there has always been this fascination with our glamorous Hollywood "royalty", and the lives of the millionaire celebs. I get that.

What I don't get are the objects of our fascination. I will grant that the aforementioned Angelina Jolie has some acting acumen and in some quarters she is viewed as a humanitarian for taking on half the third world as her personal family. So I am not so much pointing this discussion at her (except to note, again, that I do not understand why anyone would care who she snubs on a private jet, unless maybe it is the Pope, and even then, actually, I don't really care, although I may be a tad curious about the booking of THAT flight).

Back in the olden days, people were fascinated by the like of Grace Kelly, who gave up a pretty distinguished acting career to marry a Prince and become the Princess of Monaco. Now, to me, that is interesting on several levels. What movies did she appear in? How does one throw that heady lifestyle and one's home country away? Where is Monaco and how does an entire country exist mainly by providing a gambling venue for James Bond?

Now, however, the masses appear to follow a different breed of celeb. I offer as Exhibit A the picture at the top of this post. These people I understand to be known as the Kardashians, a seemingly solid Armenian surname. I also understand that millions of people follow their nearly every move. I have yet to understand the nature of their contribution to human progress, or the arts, or philanthropy, or the sciences. I don't get out to the movies much, but have I missed some cinematic magic in which one or more of them appear? Someone may say: "But the mom married Bruce Jenner." Okay...THAT provides some basis for much further discussion and fawning!

Here is what the Kardashians have contributed, as far as I can research it: They have partially averted America's thirst for celeb news away from Paris Hilton. And for that, I'm here to offer my teensiest bit of gratitude.

I would go on, but it would inevitably lead to a discussion of the whole "Snooki" thing, and I'd rather just not go there.

BYE-BYE BUILDINGS

2012-01-09T21:34:00.000-05:00

Two iconic area buildings are being reduced to piles of rock and memories of better days. Yesterday, hundreds gathered around the boat basin up in Huron, Ohio, to watch some Idaho-based demolitions experts detonate enough strategically placed explosives to force the seven-story Con Agra building to implode and fall to earth. The City made a festive day of it, with fireworks beforehand, t-shirts, reserved seating for ticketholders, and lots of tailgating and partying. The building site, which is prime waterfront real estate, will be developed into some mix of private business and public river access.

A different mood prevailed at the site of the Seneca County Courthouse in Tiffin, Ohio, this morning. Various people and organizations had tried to piece together enough funding to save and preserve the courthouse, but their efforts fell short, and the County Commissioners voted (2-1) to demolish the building and, when times are better, build anew. Offices had already relocated and the building has sat empty for some time.

I drove by the courthouse this morning after a couple meetings in Tiffin, and snapped what may be one of the last pictures of an intact courthouse (with protestors and their signs in view). Later this afternoon, a crane with a large wrecking ball began pounding the southwest corner of the courthouse. A picture from the Toledo Blade attests to its initial damage.

The Seneca County Courthouse, still intact, and its supporters, as I drove by this morning.

Later this afternoon, as the wrecking ball went into action..

I have been around both buildings over the years, and had meetings in the courthouse many years ago. I suppose the failure to be able to spend extra funds to renovate and reuse the courthouse is a sign of these austere times, and it probably makes economic sense to do away with a white elephant such as this, but it still feels like an important former source of pride is now gone forever, and Seneca County has lost an important part of its identity.

Wrapping Up 2011: "You Can Go Home Again"

2012-01-01T16:51:00.001-05:00

It is always a pleasure to take to the Turnpike and point the car back home. It is not just a change in scenery to head home - it is a trip back in time. I can pick up discussions with my sister, father, friends, wherever they were left off last time. Evidently I can still get whupped in a game of Go with my dad. It is also good for this country boy to get back to his suburban roots. I have always pretty much seen the good in urban and rural environments - I like them both. I like the silence and solitude here in northern Ohio, but I also get a charge from that urban pace of life, all the people moving around presumably going somewhere important, and all the things to do and see and eat and hear.

This trip allowed a mere three full days in the Baltimore region. Just opportunity enough to see the family, and maybe one friend who goes way back to a time when our ages were one digit. And we had time for a frenetic trip to the mall to pick up some necessities (and to determine that, with the demise of many book and music stores, even one of the nicest malls in the country really does not really hold much appeal to me).

We were able to get out into the city for a day, to eat the required "best crab cakes in Baltimore", to eat the required diner dinner (and bring over half of it back home in a box), and to have some discussion with Dad, and silliness with Sister. It's all cathartic; all good.

We spent a few hours on the last day walking around Ellicott City, which has been visited by this blog in the past. Initially settled early in our country's history, home of the terminus of the first rail line in the country, now full of cool little shops, antique malls, and restaurants. it has much going for it. Its appearance is worlds away from that in nearby Baltimore. The hillsides formed by the Patapsco River and its tributaries add a lot of character to the place.

One of the best experiences of the week occurred by chance when son William and I walked up a hillside road, mainly to avoid the inevitable shopping expedition fomented by others, but also out of curiosity. And man, was my curiosity satisfied! As we walked by what appeared to be an abandoned church, a woman walked up and asked if we were in town for the day.

I responded, "Well, a couple hours, anyway"
"Would you like a brief history of the town? I am the county historian."
Then, "Would you two like a personal tour of the county museum?" (the "abandoned" church")
"Absolutely!"
The tour ensued, and included a chance to play the still-installed church organ and a small, portable, bellows-operated keyboard sitting nearby. The historian/curator was as enthusiastic about her work as we were about the contents of the place. It was a fun hour or so, and we were not missed by the shoppers.

My current wish for 2012 (aside from world peace, good health, and a bull market) is for more little chance events like that to pop up and make things interesting.

Some pictures:

Looking up in the Inner Harbor Barnes and Noble. An adaptive reuse of a former power plant. Cool

The National Aquarium back there to the left.

A shopping space downtown.

Busy space in the city.

Big, loud fun in the Howard County Museum.

Looking down on Ellicott City from a street well above the flood line.

A very small hotel called the "Obladi". It has four rooms - can you guess who they are named for?

This is just a bit of nostalgia for me. This game was spotted in an antique mall.

We had this game when I was a kid. Does this make me an antique?

Street scene in Ellicott City. The museum curator said the town was presumably supposed to remind the visitor of a Welsh town, but she frankly does not see it herself.

Two family members at my sister's. Bella (the pug, facing the camera)

and Athena (the Boston lookin' the other way.)

sounds of the season

2011-12-15T22:51:00.000-05:00

Being a music nut, I have to admit that the music is a big part of my Christmas. There are songs I enjoy, and then there are songs that need to be expunged from America's radio waves forever. Christmas music (and music that I associate with Christmas) can be sorted into several categories.

First and perhaps foremost, there are the old favorites, the carols that we sang as children and many of us still carry on with, relying on the old hymnal for those sixth and seventh verses that no one really knows or cares to remember. I still love the old songs. I think my favorite over the years, and still today, is "Silent Night". One of the best features of this song is that there are a gazillion ways to play the song with oddball chords. We practiced a homemade (by our drummer, the music major) version tonight with all these crazy minor sevenths and such - if you sing right over it with the normal tune, it sounds just right.

I used to pretend to be a purist, claiming to prefer Adeste Fidelis - in Latin. I am not much of a singer, but I have also always harbored a secret desire to crash one of these all-community Handel's Messiah Sing-Alongs and get in on the Hallelujahs. Perhaps it would not be the best idea. Anyhow, I am not quite this old school today, but I does like me some carols.

The second category of Christmas tune would be the "contemporary Christian" take on Christmas. These songs are not classics yet, and some should never attain that status. But some are, in my humble opinion, very good, and some even quite moving. A couple that our band is doing over the coming couple of weeks are "Mary Did You know?" and "One King". I like 'em both a lot.

The third category is probably the best-known lot of tunes out there. These are the "secular", if you will, pop culture Christmas tunes from past and present. These are the songs that, frankly, I tire of quickly. Some should never be heard. Some should be retired forever and dropped in a flaming pit. My son wrote on Facebook today that he wished to never. ever. hear the song, "Santa Baby". I am not sure I am familiar with that ditty, but based on the wretched title alone, it should be banished.

Some in this category are quite decent and I enjoy hearing them for, say, the first twenty times each year. I like it when John Lennon sings in that fine, nasal voice that can only be his, "and so this is Christmas" and I have even come around to like the McCartney song with the really, REALLY cheesy synth. I am on the verge of being annoyed by Elvis and his Blue Christmas, and some of the novelty numbers (Alvin, Grandma's unfortunate reindeer incident) are losing their luster over time. I have an issue with the concept of having yourself a "merry little Christmas". That seems condescending and limiting. Why not go for a humongous Christmas?

I could go on, because there are a zillion of these songs. Even songs that we all associate with Christmas but which really have nothing to do with the birth of Christ, or Santa Claus, or even world peace. I present as exhibit a: Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron by the Royal Guardsmen. Exactly where does an aerial dogfight involving an actual dog have a place in Christmas lore?

This leads, sorta, to my final category: music that has no connection to Christmas except in my head. For example, I received, as did a friend or two, a copy of the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" one Christmas, so this, for me, has become Christmas music. I played it today, in fact, and it helped put me in the holiday spirit. I am sure the psychologists would drone on about transference or some concept, but, hey, it works for me. I also recall the year that my friend Gerald showed up to join me on campus over Thanksgiving, and seeing as how my college was out in the middle of nowhere and essentially shut down for Thanksgiving, he brought me four albums I had requested (and paid for upon delivery). So since I played them a lot between that white Thanksgiving in rural Ohio and Christmas, I think of each of them as holiday or seasonal, if not Christmas, music. These include LPs by Harry Chapin, Dan Fogelberg, the Genesis epic, "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", and the one that I still bust out and play at Christmas because it somehow works for me as a little Christmas season drama, the Electric Light Orchestra's "Eldorado". Someone on one of the B-grade cable networks should commission a holiday movie making "Eldorado" into a fine little musical. It would be great!

I leave you with what has lately been one of my favorite holiday records, although I cannot vouch for its theology, but I just enjoy it. That is, Jethro Tull's Christmas Album. The cover is even pretty nifty, and there, down in the lower left-hand corner, is a little Ian Anderson, still doing the one-legged flautist thing. This is, in fact, Jethro Tull's last studio album, and late word is that the band is "on ice", which means they are skating away on the thin ice of a new day, so this may be Tull's swan song (or songs), I fear.

Anyhow, whatever your preferences, I hope you are hearing or making the sounds you like this "holiday season".

The Neighborhood Band

2011-11-29T19:38:00.003-05:00

Tonight was one of those perfect evenings to walk the dogs. A bit of cold creeping in, rain subsided but giving way to a lively wind that played the trees and sent the scattered clouds up across the crescent moon. The dogs didn't take much note of the weather, which I believe is immaterial to them. They were out walking and that was good enough.

We took the usual path, down to the neighborhood park, back by another road. All the popular trees were properly sniffed; olfactory news was obtained, and Ollie made his frequent entries in the discourse; a dog's version of a tweet, I suppose.

When I am alone with the dogs, the pace is about as brisk as the dogs allow. Of course, they break my stride to explore or cross paths or do what dogs do on walks. But they have gotten better as a team; Ollie in the left and Chloe on the right seems to suit them, and they resume that formation after straying.

On the way back, we passed a house that, as I understand it, is home to a working band, known as the Womack Family Band. I like the name, especially since no one in the band is named Womack. I know they tend to go out on tours, reaching far-off towns. They recently took along another local talented guy named Chris Castle on what they called the "Drenched Earth Tour", perhaps a play on Bob Dylan's '60s Scorched Earth Tour which, if I am not mistaken, included members of The Band, a fairly generic-sounding outfit that included Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, and some others.

The Band lived and recorded in a somewhat famous house that became known as Big Pink. I guess the house by the park is the Womack's Big Pink, although, thankfully, it is not pink. Regardless, I think bands, especially fairly mellow ones like this, make good and interesting neighbors, and I wish them success. Should you want to check them out, they have several pretty neat videos on Youtube; a more artful one that was partially shot at our local reservoir (which appears fairly frequently on this URL), can be accessed by clicking here.

The Kick at the Finish

2011-11-20T16:39:00.012-05:00

When I used to run the half-mile in track, there was always supposed to be that "kick" at the finish where everyone sped up and gave it their all. I believe 2011 is taking a lesson from the world of track, because there seems to be a "kick" at the end of it as well, speeding toward the finish. Kind of a shame, really, because there are parts of this season to really savor.

A plus, from my viewpoint, is that Christmas shopping does not hold the place of prominence it once did. I mean, it is still important to get nice things for various loved ones, but it gets easier when you realize you cannot even hope to buy acceptable clothes for the kids who are now twenty-somethings. Gift cards become great options for those who really want them - and it seems that many do.

Here are a handful of pictures representing the blur that has been the past couple of weeks.
My wife's work carving the Halloween pumpkin featuring our two dogs.
Fall scene.
This was the view through the skylight at a friend's house in Michigan.
Our Ollie got attacked by a killer bee-gle on Halloween.
And below, I am pretty sure it was one of a pair of cormorants out at the Conservation Club a while ago.

It was meant for Squirrels

2011-10-29T15:50:00.002-04:00

We had an Occupy Squirrel Feeder movement going on in the back yard this morning. I guess the birds figure they are the other 99 percent. So I say, "have at it!"

100K

2011-10-24T20:27:00.003-04:00

About ten miles from home tonight, the ol' Impala's odometer hit 100,000 miles. Funny; I still think of it as the "new car". And it is not that old; I probably put upwards of 30K on it every year.

The most recent repair was a minor one, but a small victory nonetheless. It needed a new low beam headlamp. I decided this was low enough on the mechanic aptitude scale that I could take on the challenge myself. Bought the bulb and got out the manual. Made the requisite three to five trips into the house to get the right tools (I overthought it, bringing out the entire socket set, two Phillips screwdrivers and three or four "regulars"). The project went quite well, as projects go, and I got the new lamp in the socket and put the assembly back in place with no spare parts sitting around.

Which was a good thing, as I was driving in the wet darkness this morning on my way to run a 7:30 meeting about 45 minutes from home. The meeting went well, but I had hoped to take some pictures around that town after the meeting, to embellish a report I am writing for them, and, let's just say this morning would have gotten the Carpenters down, if you know their oeuvre.

Of course, I got back to the office and the sun popped out and stayed out for the rest of the day. It was so nice that when I pulled in the driveway tonight, I aimed the camera up at the old maple out by the street and she was lookin' good. I believe peak color has pretty much peaked, though, so I had better get back and get those pictures if I don't want things to look too bleak.

I am also perturbed by the conflicting weather forecasts I have been hearing. Yesterday, it was all "It's going to be 70 degrees by the end of the week". Now, today, they are invoking the "S" word. How does the weather forecast drop by 40 degrees that quickly?

On the other hand, I always get a laugh out of all of our reactions around here when we hear about s--- in the forecast. We are so astonished that such a forecast could possibly be bestowed upon us here in, oh yeah, Northern Ohio, near Lake Erie, which also borders, oh yeah, CANADA. Let's face it, this time of year, s--- happens. But for now, before all these leaves are knocked senseless and left to drift onto our lawns, to be raked or blown into piles and sent off to muncipal compost piles, let's enjoy what color is left.

On the Cusp of Recovery...Maybe?

2011-10-20T22:07:00.008-04:00

My work has recently taken me down to the Ohio Valley in eastern Ohio. It is a different world from my comfort zone of the flat farmlands of northwest Ohio. For decades, the lure of the moving water and underground resources brought coal mining, steelmaking, and energy production to the once tranquil valley. In recent years, much of the industry that operated on such a grand scale has been downsized - scaled way back, leaving hulking, vacant monstrosities of buildings and countless Brownfields where thousands used to hold down grueling but relatively well-paying jobs.

So it was surprising to tune into the ABC news a couple nights ago and watch a piece on "Steubenville: Boomtown". I've gotten to know a few folks in Steubenville, and they are not expecting a miraculous turnaround anytime soon. What they do expect is a large number of temporary jobs, followed by a long period with modest gains over today's job scene. And they'll take it.

The catalyst? All that natural gas lurking underground, in amongst what they call the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. They have to inject high pressure fluids and chemicals down there to fracture the rocks and drive the gas out. They call it "fracking". It is somewhat controversial, and the industry types and environmentalists have been duking it out in New York and Pennsylvania for some time. Now Ohio's turn has come, and with a little trepidation, the Ohio Valley is excited to see the "next best thing".

Panacea for the Valley? Nah. Good jobs for a decent number of people? Yup. Drilling rights and steady income for landowners? Could be. More wealth to be spent in the Valley, at the corner deli, local restaurant, car dealer? Definitely. So, though I hug the occasional tree, I cannot scoff at this as a shot in the arm, not to mention the rock, of the region.

I was down in the area yesterday. I have visited twice during our usually-gorgeous Fall Foliage Season. Both days have been gloomy though, with too much pouring down rain. Despite the gloom, here are a handful of pictures from my day in the Valley.

Massive power plants coexist with the river valley, all along the Ohio border
from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati.

A pretty impressive church in Steubenville, from back in the day when they built 'em to impress man and God.
Scene along Route 7 - a pretty interesting ride.
I just wanted to document that I got to see some blue sky. Actually, this was just about it for the whole day, just as i was crossing the border into Jefferson County (where I was headed; note the welcoming sign). A good omen?
Driving along 7, sometimes I just pointed the camera out a side window and snapped a random shot. I like this one, with the houses dwarfed by the huge plant behind them. The size of so many installations along the river is amazingly immense.
And last, despite civilization's incursion into the Valley, not to mention cutting big pathways into the rock to route the traffic, there is plenty of beauty to be found.

fall, that fleeting blur of color on the way to something else

2011-10-10T20:49:00.010-04:00

If autumn would hang around and just be like it was this past weekend, all would be well. But we know what follows, which makes it all the more precious, and we watch the leaves fall like sand in the hourglass (sounds like an old soap, dunnit?). It's not "peak color" around here yet, but it is getting close. We had a chance to get out in the weather and the leaves on Saturday. Then on Sunday we drove down to Columbus to see (a) an old college friend; (b) our son, hanging out with us at a coffee shop; (c) a friend who had some furniture she wanted to part with, and which our daughter could use; and (d) Linda's mom, on the way home. Pretty good, jam-packed itenerary. The sunset on the way home as we traveled up Route 23 was spectacular; the camera only caught a portion of the entire show.
Before we took in all this autumnal beauty, Linda did her annual gig giving away books at a "fall fun fair" put on by our County Soil and Water Conservation Service. The book give-away was courtesy of a thing called "First Book", which strives to put books into the hands of kids, many of whom I suspect may not have any otherwise. A sad comment, but I would bank on it being true in many cases.

Oh, and there was a petting zoo. With a llama. And a horse-drawn wagon side.
I hope you are enjoying your fall - while you can!!!

If You Have To Be At A Work-Related Training Event All Weekend...

2011-09-28T22:13:00.013-04:00

...you can hope it is at a place like the one I just spent my last weekend, from Friday at dinner time until Monday at noon. The venue was the 2,500 acre home base of the Edward Lowe Foundation near Cassopolis, Michigan. Evidently Mr. Lowe made a significant pile of money in his time, and generously spent it developing this treasure. It seems he was the inventor of Kitty Litter, and there was big money resulting from purveying the stuff to the world's cat owners.

The sleeping accommodations are a little off the beaten track. Boxcars. But cleverly converted ones, each able to sleep eight, with a nice bathroom and a central sitting room. I guess the designing hand of Mr. and Mrs. Lowe are all over the place. Here are the boxcars, inside and out.

There was a nice fire pit in the middle of the boxcars, and those in charge had a nice fire going every night I was there. The first night involved making s'mores.

On the way from the boxcars to the conference building is Billieville, a simulation of a small downtown from the turn of the century. I guess Mrs. Lowe's middle name is Billie... This is what Billieville looks like.

Then there is the "cabin" that overlooks a valley and pond. I could happily spend a week here with binoculars, enough books, and it wouldn't hurt to have the food service that spoiled us this weekend...

The foundation is serious about good environmental practices, and their 2,500 acres and its plant and animal inhabitants are well cared for. They follow several best practices in maintaining the environmental integrity, and I only wish I had more time to explore the place.

That last picture is for my sis.

Another Circle Closing

2011-09-13T19:36:00.005-04:00

You have probably heard about how Glen Campbell recently made public that he has been diagnosed as being in early stage Alzheimer's. As a result, he has released a "final" studio album, depicted above, and is embarking on what is likely to be a final tour.

Glen is one of those icons of my youth. He was pounding out the hits, several of which were artfully penned by Jimmy Webb, who was one of those 60's "hit factories". I can still recall Glen's boisterous intro to his variety TV show: "Hello, I'm Glen Campbell and this is the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour!!!"

His voice was eminently distinguishable - and still is. I just sampled the new album, "Ghost on the Canvas", and it is unmistakable Glen (and on a few tracks, if I am on target here, unmistakable Jimmy Webb, too.)

It is interesting watching the lauded artists of my youth aging. It is amazing how many are still hanging in there. for example, 69-year-old Paul Simon put out a wonderful collection of songs last spring, and rendered an unforgettable, solemn reading of "The Sound of Silence" in his beloved NYC on 9/11.

It is also sad when one of my favorites is struck down. I saw a piece with Glen and his wife on TV not long ago and his memory was definitely challenged while he tried to remember events from his past, words from his songs... But I give him high marks for taking it on the road one more time. And, even when he is forced to retire, with the collection of hits he has in the hopper, his voice will be aired on Oldies Radio for decades to come, evoking pleasant memories of his mention of places like Wichita, Galveston, Phoenix...

Comic Animal Relief

2011-08-25T21:58:00.013-04:00

Wow. The east coast is taking intermission between the 5.9 temblor and the imminent Irene. Back here in the "peaceful" midwest, we had our own fun with a little event I like to call midnight tree topping. It seems a cool front packed a 70 mph wind burst punch and took out trees all over the west end of one town near here. In fact, we got to awaken around 1:30 to two ominous things: blinking lights from police cars and the sound of a chain saw. It seems a good portion of a neighbor's tree crashed down on the street and stopped traffic. The good news is there is basically NO TRAFFIC on our street at 1:30 a.m.

Anyhow, between that and the roller coaster ride our economy is taking, and the seesaw ride our national politics is taking, and all the rest of the drama and uncertainty, as a public service to you, the reader (and at this point, this blog may just be speaking to you, yeah, YOU, as "the reader"), we bring you some photos taken a handful of weeks back when, while on vacation, we again visited the African Wildlife Safari. Longtime readers of this site will recall previous such photo collections. Those who know their animals will wonder why the place is billed exclusively as "African".

Anyhow, here they are, providing you with some escape from the worries of the day.

The End

An Evening's Escape: Lakeside

2011-08-06T15:01:00.009-04:00

There's probably some neat name for this pavilion.
I don't know it, but I like the thing.

Still trying to keep the vacation vibe going, we escaped to nearby (45 minutes) Lakeside last evening. We had gotten some tickets to a concert up there, and took advantage of the opportunity.

Lakeside is this self-contained community, full of cottages and happy families. It is a "Chautauqua" community, based on the adult education, culture, and spiritual blend of the daddy of them all, Lake Chautauqua, NY. So, in other words, there is stuff going on all the time.

Last night was this performance by the Lakeside Orchestra, which a friend informs me is actually a decent group - lots of summering musicians from the likes of the Columbus and Cleveland Symphonies. So they know their scales.

The Lakeside Orchestra takes the stage.

It was a relatively light, "pops" type show - a history of Broadway tunes and such. But the music director - conductor tossed in a lot of history and made it interesting. It was a good show.

Just being in Lakeside for a while is quite entertaining. There are blocks and blocks of well-kept cottages. A central business district where we ate dinner on a patio. The historic Hotel Lakeside. I believe the rooms still do not have televisions - bravo to that, as it seems true to the spirit of the place. And then the waterfront.

The historic Hotel Lakeside. Or is it Lakeside Hotel?

There is a slow pace at Lakeside. I believe I could pass a whole summer there, reading books, hitting the various lectures and movies and concerts, meeting some people and maybe challenging them to a game of shuffleboard (a big hit at Lakeside - which tells you something about priorities and, to an extent, demographics - although there were a lot of young families on the streets.) Even pretending I was on set for an episode of the old Patrick McGoohan series, one of my favorites ever, "The Prisoner". (You'd have to know the show to get the connection.)

Out on the pier, enjoying a warm Friday evening.

There was a sort of funny out-of-context moment for me as I looked around at the greying crowd settling in for the concert, then noted that the very next night, the featured act was the band, "Starship", which you may know evolved from its interplanetary origins back in the 60's as Jefferson Airplane. Now, none of the original Airplane members are still on board the starship. Grace Slick, Jack Cassidy, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, and various vintage others have all moved on. And under the new ownership, the Starship is more prone to love ballads and such, as opposed to preaching revolution and alluding to Alice in Wonderland psychedelia. But at first, the concept amused me. Then it dawned on me that many of these "senior citizens" surrounding me were likely in their 20's and 30's when the Airplane took off, and could probably recite some Airplane hits. Hmm.

All in all, a wonderful escape for a Friday evening, and a third chance within a one-week span to enjoy one of the Great Lakes.

Well-kept properties in the high-rent district (good view of the lake, park, etc.)

If I were around for another day, I'd have one of those boats out on the water.

A Week at the Beach

2011-08-02T21:08:00.014-04:00

A week away in mid-summer does good things for your mind and soul. Our family is not known for just going somewhere for a whole week and staying put. Our vacations are typically more like that of Bedouins - on the move, pulling up the proverbial tent pegs every morning and moving on to the next encampment (or actually, hotel or lodge. We are not much for actual camping.)

So this was an oddity - a cottage surrounded pretty much by water. The water was not of a super- exotic sort, being Lake Erie, but it was warm and wet and just fine. Where we stayed, we could open a window and just listen to the gentle waves lapping at the shore. I love that sound. I need a tape loop that endlessly makes that sound. Actually, somewhere, I have some electric device that makes "nature sounds" at the push of a button - babbling brook, waves and seagulls, and so on. But it is not the same as the real deal, with the random seagull squawk tossed in intermittently.

The kids were able to join us for a couple days and I am not sure if there is anything finer for the "empty nester" than a period of time when the old family unit (plus son in law - in the new, expanded family unit) is back together, having fun.

I took a few hundred pictures last week, and will only bore anyone coming across this post with a choice few. But the highlight of the whole week, for me, was a simple little activity. Ever since our daughter saw the movie, Tangled, she was enthralled with the music and the scene where hundreds of sky lanterns are released to the sky. Linda got her one of those lanterns for her birthday, and on the last night where everyone was together, we released the lantern. I had approached the thing with trepidation, envisioning the lantern setting down in some super-dry corn field and setting the thing ablaze.

Despite my misgivings, our son, William, lit the fuel pack on the bottom after several matches were blown out in the beach breeze. We all huddled together against the breeze to help with the ignition, and finally it was lit. Then the "kids" held the inflatable bag vertically to fill with hot air. It slowly and partially filled, and our son coaxed it down onto the beach, then up and over the jetty, and finally it made its way up into the atmosphere. My fears were allayed as the lantern soared up over the water in an odd, northwesterly direction, toward Michigan. Meanwhile, our son in law played the Tangled theme song on his iPod to complete the experience. It was quite a scene as we stood there, awed as the sky lantern climbed toward the heavens. I cannot explain it, but those five or six minutes were powerful for me, and not necessarily due to any Disney tie-ins. Just one of those Dad moments, if there are such things?

The other hugely impressive feature for me was the nightly show the sun and clouds put on as the sun set over some far-away trees on a distant shore. I try to limit the use of the word "awesome", but I am busting it out big time in this case - The sunsets were AWESOME.

Anyhow, without any further ado...

Sun setting on the first night.

We got a laugh out of how the seagulls lined up on shore,
respecting the personal space of each bird up and down the shore.

Our buddy, Boomerang (as my wife called him, because he kept coming back). This jetty was his base of operations. He would launch his daily fishing operations from here.

Here he is, initiating a fishing expedition.

A look down the beach.

Ho, hum, another day, another sunset. (Actually, I could never tire of these!)

The side trip to our old fave, the African Wildlife Safari Park, is worth a post of its own, so this will be the only picture from that trip in this post. Anyhow, here is what they bill as the largest rodent there is. Know the name of this particular specimen? Want one for a pet?

Launching the sky lantern.

...and there she goes.
Another family enjoying their day at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Are they tourists, or are they one of the attractions, eh? I am not sure.

...and one last sunset.

Sidebar: I've been back at work two days now and, I've got to say, as I review these pictures and remember those gentle, lapping waves, I'm ready for a vacation.

People Gathering Together

2011-07-11T22:09:00.009-04:00

So "people gathering together" has been an odd theme that has followed me around this summer thus far. There was the sad yet celebratory service remembering the life of Tom Phillips (a previous post), an event that packed the house at the Methodist Church on the order of the prime-time Christmas Eve service. Then there was the Fourth of July, really the only day I know when townfolk of all stripes and clans gather in one place, first along a parade route, and then at the Fairgrounds to watch and hear what modern pyrotechnics has wrought.

Yesterday, we went over to an interesting gathering at the nearby Alphonsus Parish church, where they were having their annual do all over the place. There was a softball tournament going on, and food and drink available everywhere, and games and so on. My wife was most interested in the silent auction, and that took some time for her to make some strategic bids.

Most interesting to me, nestled in among the church and social hall and residences, was a restored log cabin-like structure, dating back to 1878 or something, commemorating the presence of John Neumman, the first American Bishop to be canonized into sainthood (by Pope Paul VI in 1977), reassembled amongst the cornfields of the St. Alphonsus parish. The history of the place and its settlement by German families, with the site selected virtually by accident, was quite interesting to this non-Catholic.

Anyhow, the unimposing log structure is dedicated as a prayer center, and there is a feeling of peace and quiet within its confines. It was well worth the side trip, as well as any money my wife dropped on the silent auction, and it reminded me of how many treasured points of interest there are within easy reach.

In fact, we had intended to make it up to the Village of Milan to possibly take in their museum on Sunday, but I chose to take an extended nap instead, evidently...

Friday presented another very important (in my view) example of people gathering together for a common cause. This was the evening of our community's Relay for Life (and to those reading this who responded to my "annual shameless request", another huge "thank you". As well as an "it's not too late..." aside...) This event, the eighth or so that we have attended, never fails to move me, with its spirit of hope and happiness, despite the time taken to remember those who fell to cancer in recent memory.

For those who have never attended, Relay for Life is a good time! There are sights, sounds, food, camaraderie, and that pervasive feel that money is being rounded up to fight one of the most important battles on Earth. A couple years ago, I always made the point of sticking around and staying all night with my son and, usually, a coterie of his friends. He has moved on and is no longer so readily available, and I miss those woozy three o'clock frisbee tosses and four o'clock poker runs around the track. OK, I do not miss the runs around the track so much. Perhaps I miss the ability to survive multiple laps with minimal damage.

The "survivor lap" - applause all the way around.

Anyhow, Linda and I head home around midnight now, once our team has sold our last hot dog and the last ice cream sundae, and the bounce house has been deflated, and the team's tent battened down for the night. It's not quite the same as making it all night until breakfast burrito time time at six, but on the other hand, any feeling of sad nostalgia is usually overcome by the soft bed and central air that greets us at home.

The next gathering on the docket is a couple days with friends from Linda's college years and assorted others - a group that has managed to get together somewhere in Ohio or Michigan on a nearly monthly basis since 1977 (well, actually before that, but that was the year I entered the picture). I guess this gathering together stuff is pretty intrinsic, pretty essential. I think some of the finest things people have done have probably resulted from gathering together for a cause, a purpose, or a desire.

-----------------

After the busy-ness of the St. Alphonsus festival, we found the absolute opposite of a gathering in the serenity of our local conservation club last night. The only gathering we found there were a gaggle of seven or eight geese beating a retreat when we showed up on "their" beach. You can just see them in the center, nearly at the trees.

Finally, I liked this picture I took with the cell phone, shooting at the upside-down reflection of trees and clouds in the water. Sort of a Van Gogh-ishness to it, eh?

Scenes from the 4th

2011-07-05T22:16:00.013-04:00

We had a marvelous weekend. Three-dayers are always good. For the first time in about five years, I got to watch the parade from the sidelines. It was about the same as it was five years ago, but it is still a pleasant tradition to see the community parade in front of you.

The fireworks were a good show. The steak on the barbie was especially tasty. And best of all, the family unit was all together for a few hours here and a few hours there. Here are some pictures from yesterday's festivities in Small Town USA...
I guess this old car is the last one of its kind - and it has a connection to our town, where it was made. And the ones below are not exactly right off the production line...
My wife points out to me that the kid was not reaching out with affection for the eagle. The kid was probably reaching out to get some candy being tossed his way.
Ah, the rural Midwest, with its collectors of toy farm implements...
A flurry of kids from the local little league program...
Our daughter's patriotic chocolate dipped pretzel sticks; our chocolate dipped strawberries...
Does anyone know of any other place where the fireworks show includes these fireball things? You can feel the shock wave of heat when these things go off.

Hope you had a great Independence Day!

Long Time No Blog

2011-06-29T21:36:00.007-04:00

The old clock on the wall keeps ticking away. Actually, it's battery driven and it doesn't really tick. It hums a little until the batteries run down, then it twitches. I hate it when the second hand cannot make it uphill from the six toward the twelve. It looks so pathetic, like time itself is in its death throes. Which, come to think of it, is a fairly fascinating concept in itself. The death of time. Then what?

My point is that we are past the solstice and into summer proper now. Yes, I know; the days are getting shorter already. But I made the most of it yesterday, cleaning a small forest and wonderfully fertile soil out of the rain gutters on the east side of the house. Then I attacked some moss growing up on the roof. As I noted on Facebook (which has taken me, more than I would like, away from this beloved blog), I had looked at an interview with Elton John during lunch hour when I walked over to the library. Then there I was that evening, as I.. "sat on the roof, kicking off the moss." This, of course, started an uneasy chain of Elton John lyrics suitable to the occasion.

Anyhow, I hope you are enjoying the summer thus far. The weather here in northern Ohio has been gorgeous. and I a hoping it isn't going to be as hot as they say it might.

We are adjusting to the two dog lifestyle. Chloe has settled in and she and Ollie have learned to play together - hard and well. I am learning the techniques involved in walking two dogs while avoiding the braiding of the leashes. And we established a pen area back beyond the deck where they can run around a bit, untethered.

I should report there was a marvelous memorial service for Tom, my friend, guitarist in our band at church, and all-around great guy, this past Sunday. I do not exaggerate when I estimate that 400 or 500 people attended the service. Our band played everyone out to pay respects to the family, and we went a good ninety minutes before the place was reasonably cleared out. I guess that is a pretty good measure of the mark that Tom left.

Let me see if I can round up any pictures that represent life over tha past two weeks.
Here is the new order around the house. Left to right: Chloe, Ollie. Both dogs came with their names. I get a bit tongue tied calling them both.
The pictue may not do it total justice, but this is a meal the kids prepared for me/us the week before Father's Day. They couldn't be around for that day, but they more than made up for it with this meal - William's special spicy meat loaf, and Emily's potato au gratin dish. A great meal.
there was a period of a couple days where we were boarding five dogs, including (of course) our own two. It was nuts.
This is just a troll's view of a bridge in Toledo, bridging the mighty Maumee River.
Another view of the bridge - is it the Brent Spence bridge? Something like that? Anyhow, we were on our way to a do at the Hungarian Club in Toledo, celebrating a friend's birthday and her one-year mark since a breast cancer diagnosis. Always ready to help someone celebrate bein' a survivor!

So that's about all there is to bring us up to date. Perhaps there will be some fireworks or quaint small town parade pictures in the next week or so, eh?

Tom

2011-06-14T22:27:00.004-04:00

Along with many, many others, I lost a friend Monday after an especially challenging fight with cancer. As I understand it, over two years ago, he went to the doctors to get over a persistent cough and was given a diagnosis of stage four lung cancer. So certainly, the deck was stacked pretty hard against him right out of the gate.

You would never know it with Tom. During the intermittent two years, any time I was talking to him, he really was not talking about his challenges unless someone asked him about it. He was pretty much interested in living his life, learning and experiencing new things, and doing what he could to get over his hurdles. And "doing what he could" for a while involved flying to Boston for a twice-weekly experimental protocol, staying there for three or four days as necessary, and flying home. And while there - he explored Boston, checked out a music store, took in a game at Fenway. Life went on.

My most notable shared experience with Tom over the past two or three years has been our participation in a band at church. Tom played guitar very well, and could be seen offering suggestions for fingering to others in the band from time to time, always learning how to make a good sounding song better.

Lately, he had taken to charging into a twelve-bar blues improv during that period of the service when the pastor has everyone getting up to say hi to those in the neighboring pews. He'd start it out, look over at the rest of us, and smile as I picked up the thread on keys, while the bass and drums fell in. It was golden.

Tom's faith in God was unshakable, as far as I could tell. The way he handled his last couple of years, with their ups and downs, CAT scans and chemo regimens, was exemplary; an amazing witness. He seemed to face each new twist and turn as just another experience along the journey. In two-plus years, I never heard Tom complain or assume the "why me?" posture - even though I, along with what I suspect were many others, were doubtless pondering "Why Tom?"

Tom seemed, to me, to have a signature introduction: "Good to see you." That sounds like a standard salutation that anyone may slip in, almost mechanically, without really meaning much except to say "hello". But Tom backed it up with solid eye contact and a ready smile; he meant it. And in return, it was always good to see Tom. There was a period where we three older guys in the band, Tom, Dale, and myself, would sit around after a Thursday night practice and chew the fat, talk about music, whatever was going on in our lives, or what our far-flung kids were up to, and just enjoy the quiet conversation after ninety minutes of working on our "joyful noise". Those were special times for me.

I have nothing but good memories of Tom - and I respect and admire his wife and three sons who are all good friends of my son's (and of ours). A goodly portion of our town has been praying for Tom, and indeed that radiant prayer has been turned toward the family in their time of grief. And I am sure that Tom is doing fine now, reuniting with people he had lost and greeting them with a boisterous "Good to see you!"

Five Dog Night

2011-06-10T20:33:00.003-04:00

So, how's your quiet little Friday night going...?

Historic Town Becomes Prog Rock Hub

2011-06-07T21:29:00.011-04:00

My decade-long tradition of heading to Bethlehem, PA for a thing called NEARFest ground to a halt when the fest was canceled this year. Sales were lagging; it is not all a cake walk on easy street, so to speak, when you are following a musical niche populated mainly by middle aged people (overwhelmingly guys) who were enamored of the odd metered and intricate music of the 1970s' Genesis (when Phil Collins was known almost entirely for his...drumming), Gentle Giant, ELP, Crimson..

Flash forward to the 21st century and those bands that filled large venues are pretty much over with, replaced by, among other things, these esoteric weekend festivals that bring 8 or 10 acts to a stage in front of 500 or so appreciative fans.

So with NEARfest canceled, I accompanied my childhood bud and fellow music nut Gerald to historic Gettysburg and the lovely, historic Majestic Theater right smack downtown in the center of gettysburg, to take in the wonder that was ROSfest. The ROS standing for "Rites of Spring". Whatever. It's about the music. ROSfest accomplished what I had hoped it would - I enjoyed a weekend transported into the netherworld of great music, known and unknown, simple and complex. Anyhow, here is a brief rundown of the eight acts we caught over a Saturday and Sunday. In between, we rushed out to the historic battlefield, which I have already summarized about two posts ago.
Half of Osada Vida, from Poland. Good, solid music that few over hear had ever heard before. (By the way, because of my seat's position and that of other items like most bands' keyboards, I seldom could see a drummer behind his kit, so neither will you).

Part of the band, Phideaux, named for its leader and songwriter, Phideaux Xavier (two X's in one name!) The guy with the guitar. Ironic that a band with an album named "Doomsday Afternoon" was playing on the afternoon of May 21, when indeed we were supposedly facing such an afternoon. Anyway, although Phideaux's music is loaded with songs about our self-imposed doom (or so I think), I love his stuff.

The guy at the keyboard is Erik Norlander. He plays this array of crazy old Moog and other analog synthesizers and he works at shaping the most awesome sounds out of those things. Note the guy in the back playing with the patch cords and knobs on the various oscillators and thingies associated with the Moog synth. That bunch of electronic boxes in the back is known as the "wall of doom".
More Moog mania. This is Claudio Simonetti, the man behind the Italian band Daemonia. He has scored a lot of scary movies in his time, fronted a band named Goblin, and I believe that is his niche. His band played a variety of keyboard-led music, both scary and quite pleasantly melodic. Started by playing the Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

Ah, Mars Hollow, a California band that just lays down well-constructed music, great songs that run the range from up to down. Well done, lads. Possibly best of show.

Also possibly best of show - District 97, from Chicago. These guys (and gal) look like kids but play like the prog rock monsters that they are. They just about brought the house down, and vocalist Leslie Hunt was fully capable of dancing around on stage to the beat, whether it was in 4/4, 7, 13, or some larger prime number.

After the manic, metallic, sometimes quirky music of District 97, the sounds of Britain's The Reasoning seemed to bring a little more conventionality to the stage. Good songs well sung, and vocalist Rachel Cohen is pursuing a PhD in something or other...

We ended as we began, with a Polish band - Quidam. Interesting, eclectic blend, covering a couple well-known songs, but mainly playing their own stuff. They had it all - good bluesy guitar player, excellent violinist and flautist, great guy on keys... A good finish to a very fun fest.

Down the Trail

2011-06-01T21:48:00.009-04:00

The weather was unusually perfect tonight, as opposed to tornado-laden a week ago, so we took advantage of it and took a walk down the trail made possible by our local Rails-to-Trails group. This trail passes over a river valley, and the group recently completed a nifty little observation deck along the way, to view the river and look back at the old railroad bridge now supporting the trail.Here's a look back at the great old arched railroad bridge that now supports the trail...

Then there is the flora along the side of the trail

And a little bit of fauna...

And, coming out of the woods, here are some amber waves of grain,
or green waves of grass, whatever...

Hallowed Ground

2011-05-24T21:35:00.015-04:00

I had studied up on Gettysburg before I visited it with a friend this past weekend. We were in Gettysburg for a music festival (more on that later), but here we were in Gettysburg, so we made a few side trips to the nearby battlefield.

I had watched the (highly recommended!) 4 (plus) hour movie about the battle. I also read a short book about the battle by renowned Civil War historian James McPherson. And the preparation was valuable, so I came in knowing a little about the battle logistics and some of the comings and goings, but no amount study can prepare you for being there on site where, nearly 150 years ago, 75,000 Confederate and 90,000 Union soldiers converged on this town of, at the time, about 2,400 people. The casualties were horrific: 11,000 died on this battlefield, another 29,000 were wounded (many of whom would not survive), and about 10,000 more went "missing". It is hard to reconcile those numbers with the natural beauty of the place while walking around on a gorgeous spring day.

Here are just a few of the pictures I snapped while making the rounds.

If you saw the "Gettysburg" movie, you likely remember the scenes involving Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a former Bowdoin College Professor who commanded the Twentieth Maine brigade. His men were tasked with maintaining the left flank of a long line of Union soldiers. The picture above is a portion of the line the Twentieth Maine defended. They repelled repeated waves of Confederate soldiers with their ammunition. When yet another surge of Confederates approached them, the Twentieth was virtually out of ammo; Col. Chamberlain, knowing the importance of holding this high ground, proceeded to order his men to "fix bayonettes!" That they did, and they held their position.

This picture is looking down from Little Roundtop toward an area known as Devil's Den, where a particularly bloody battle raged for about 90 minutes, with scores killed.

This picture, also from atop Little Round Top, gives you some idea of the terrain which the soldiers had to traverse.
There are hundreds of monuments in the national park. The sheer number of monuments is a bit overwhelming. This one was erected to commemorate the 91st Pennsylvania infantry. And of all the monuments, to my eyes the most spectacular is this monument to the Pennsylvanians:

As I turned away from this monument, I noticed an unusual group of people walking past. There are reenactments going on fairly routinely in the park, cannon blasts and all. I cannot imagine fighting a war in the early July heat (this battle stretched out to three days, July 1-3, 1863) in the clothes these soldiers wore. But I suppose the heat was a relatively minor worry.

In the movie, there are scenes of Union strategists surveying the battle from the tower of the Lutheran Seminary in town. The seminary still stands, and I believe this is the tower with the strategic view.
The line of cannon below are along the western "Seminary Ridge" where the Confederates were lined up.
Below is a picture taken from an observation tower along Seminary Ridge. In the background are Little (l) and Big (r) Roundtop. The Confederates were given the order to cross the fields and farms in this picture, toward the Union stronghold along Cemetery Ridge.

On the third day of battle, Virginia's Major General George E. Pickett led the charge across these fields. The line of Confederates was a mile long, condensing to some 600 feet, in multiple waves, as it approached the Union forces. As James McPherson put it, "It was an awesome spectacle that participants on both sides remembered until the end of their lives - which for many came within the next half hour."

Another couple of examples of the monuments at Gettysburg.
This may not be the battle or the war that most readily comes to mind at Memorial Day, but it was a vivid reminder to me of the price paid by soldiers to defend their cause, and the realities of casualties on the battlefield. My hat is off to all those who followed and especially those who, like those buried at Gettysburg, did not make it home.

Road trips

2011-05-14T21:52:00.016-04:00

Had to take a work-related drive with three co-workers to Bradford, PA, a city of 9,000 people in NW Pennsylvania. We took our time getting there Thursday, eating in this lovely Victorian style restaurant in little Waterford, PA.
We did not eat at the "Dinor". What's up with that spelling?
We drove on through the Allegheny National Forest - had to stop somewhere along the trip to let five deer cross the road. The fifth one, a youngster, had to think about crossing the four lanes for a while, but finally dashed across to our applause. Sorta wish I gor a picture of that crew.

Made a stop for a photo opp at the Kinzua Dam, along the Allegheny River, deep into the forest. Lots of water spilling out of that thing. Note the intrepid fishermen in the lower right corner...
Bradford has an interesting history. It once produced 87 percent of our nation's oil courtesy of the country's first petroleum refinery. I sort of wish it still did. It is also home of the Zippo museum, operated by those lighter makers. It is the big industry in town, evidently. Here are pix of the museum, an odd vehicle on the museum grounds, and downtown Bradford...
Notice those street lights.
liked the architectural detail on the building below, but its condition reflects the local economy and that of dozens of midwestern towns much like Bradford.
And here is Bradford's "skyscraper"...
Meanwhile, back home, today, we took a little side trip up to Vermilion, a fairly charming town on Lake Erie, home of a maritime museum, and a nice place to check out once in a while. We had lunch at a place called the Woodstock Cafe. They feature live music at night, and carry out a sorta hippie theme with their decor. We watched a couple dogs chasing sticks at the public beach, then the rain and fog came, so we moved on. A nice little diversion for a couple hours...

The Great Lakes Historical Society Inland Seas Maritime Museum

Inside the Woodstock Cafe. That odd light thing appears to be constructed of coffee filters...

Downtown Vermilion and (below) a bleak day for boating, eh?

Big ol' Catch Up Post

2011-04-26T22:06:00.017-04:00

I am getting recalcitrant around here. Way too recalcitrant. I may have never used that word before, but now i have used it twice. Anyhow, I am as unfocused as ever, so I will just toss in some random photos and try to make sense of them - or at least most of them. First, let's do "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" This suet cake attracts a bird or two, recently including a really fine looking red bellied woodpecker, but it is also getting popular with mammals. This morning, for the entire time that I enjoyed my breakfast inside, this squirrel (second picture) was having at the suet. And last night, our nocturnal suet fan, "Rocky", paid a visit.
Meanwhile, inside the house, with the warmer (finally!) spring weather, it's sheddin' season. This dog of ours is a world class shedder. I can just pick clumps of fur out of his hind legs. Fortunately, he actually enjoys getting a vacuum treatment. If we are vacuuming a room, he comes up and basically asks for a going-over.
OK, back to squirrels for a moment...What is going on with the local squirrel gene pool? Is this a trendy dye job or the real deal? Squirrel Gaga? A tail graft? What?

My wife had a birthday last week and I was determined to bake her a cake, which I have rarely if ever done before. She likes the German chocolate; the kids, who were visiting over Easter weekend, not so much. So - no problem! I baked (or, more precisely, iced) a half-and-half; sort of like that squirrel and its tail.
Then there is the weather, which has been a great source of aggravation this "spring". I put "spring" in quotes because until the last couple of days, I was wearing my winter coat. Anyhow, the rain has been falling with such volume and frequency that a goodly portion of our yard has been submerged. Here I am enjoying my new-found waterfront property. I wonder how much our property values are boosted. I have friends on Facebook saying I should stock the thing and drop a line in. I am waiting for the ducks, geese, and other waterfoul.

Finally, I had to drive about 320 miles today. On the way home, to break up the monotony, I tried that little exercise where I pull out the cell phone (didn't have my camera) and snap a picture every ten miles, just to see what shows up on that tenth mile. I am not going to bore any readers still hanging onto this post with all 17 or so pictures, but just pull out a handful that I found of at least some interest. (When you snap these pictures throughout America, it becomes apparant that most of our great land is pretty much rural, considerably undeveloped, and just hanging there by the highway, unspectacularly). OK, here goes:

A typical "side of the road" down in southeast Ohio, where they have actual hills. That is pretty exciting for a Northwest Ohio flat-lands dweller. I am sure fellow NW Ohioan Daisy would back me up on this.

I sort of like this shot of the bridge, just floating up there, and with ethereal raindrops on the windshield. It is too hard to try to coordinate taking pictures with windshield wipers, so they have to stop for picture taking.

I also liked this picture, for the simple horizontal lines. The flooded property in the background is fairly interesting, too. Here is another one of water that is not usually so predominant:

When you are traveling up through Wayne County and its neighbors, you get a lot of this; vehicles whizzing by Amish buggies. Fortunately, along this stretch of US 250, there is a nice, wide shoulder for the buggies and horses. Any pedestrians on the shoulder should watch where they are walking, if you know what I mean.

And to wrap this trip up, a couple small towns that came along during the ten mile marks. The first is Mt. Eaton, deep in the Amish country; the second is Rowsburg, between Wooster and Ashland, and it is not New Pittsburg.

Finally, and with no explanation from me at this point, here we have some square dancers dancing with pie pans affixed to their heads, and eggs rolling around loose in the pie pans. The picture, like its subject, is fuzzy.

early spring

2011-04-13T22:37:00.007-04:00

Scraped ice off the windshield this morning. That is not indicative of a nice, long, lasting spring. Is this going to be one of those years of winter-right-int-summer? That would be too bad because spring is one of the finest times of the year. It is nice to do a little work out in the yard without sweating it. It is nice to be able to comfortably walk the dog without his tongue dragging on the ground.

Anyhow, we can hear the spring peepers at night now, and the birds are making more of a racket outside, which is nice. And the buzzards have been around for a month or so. Not sure when their time-share up in the neighbor's pines expires.

I have taken only a handful of photos since February. The weather has been...uninspiring, and the opportunities and free time very limited. But here is what I've got from the past couple of weeks.
I am hoping that with a little sunlight and heat, things will start popping around here, the wildlife will become a little more activated, and we will have something to see. I can feel it getting closer...

The Cell Phone Series

2011-03-28T22:44:00.008-04:00

I have had more opportunity to shoot a quick pic with the cell phone lately than with the Canon - that darn camera has just not been at arm's reach when a picture presented itself. So, at the expense of megapixels and resulting sharpness and so forth, here are a few recent shots.
My favorite of the lot. Crossing the mighty Maumee River on I-280 in Toledo, Ohio. A rare cloudless day. First time I had been on that bridge, and it has been up for a few years now.
Ollie was sitting in the kitchen and the sun was glinting off a crystal in the window, sending a spectrum onto his snout. The cell phone caught the blue, anyhow.

A really excellent sunset captured while walking around the block with Ollie.

I was coming out of the library in Fremont, Ohio, a couple weeks ago, and saw these "blossoms" of snow on a tree. Tried hard to pretend it was cherry blossom time. The temperature indicated otherwise.
Out for a lunchtime walk. A lone Norfolk Southern locomotive crossing the Sandusky River. A sure sign of spring: the fishermen and women are starting to line the banks of the Sandusky, fishing for white bass. Or is it perch first? I can never remember which is which.

And finally: They're baaaack! A bunch o'buzzards hangin' out this evening on a tree about a block from home. We get 'em every year. They stick around for a month or so, flying off each morning to do whatever it is that they do (I would prefer not to know), returning to roost each night in a neighbor's tall, thick pine trees. But before bed, several of them like to gather up here to enjoy what little warmth they can gather from the setting sun.

So I guess this is "green"because I am recycling someone else's words

2011-03-23T22:56:00.002-04:00

I know this is sort of a cop out since I have not posted in ages, and here I am just pasting in someone else's words, but I liked this. And the sad part is, I guess I am one of the geezers who now remembers most of what the guy is talking about. So here goes....

It’s All About the Green Thing

By Jim Knowles

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

That’s right, they didn’t have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But that old lady is right. They didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

How Do You Respond?

2011-03-06T11:14:00.003-05:00

At about 6:00 a.m. Monday morning, just south of town, a 51 year old mother and wife, on her way to work, headed around a curve and down a familiar hill, right into a newly-formed body of deep and swift-moving water. Eight inches of melted snow had combined with an all-night driving rain to swell and flood the creeks and rivers of northern Ohio. Her Volkswagen convertible was buoyant enough to be carried 300 yards down the now-raging water, but within a very few minutes it sank in more than twelve feet of water.

The driver made a 911 call, and the dispatcher, by all accounts, handed the call well, sending rescue personnel on their way immediately. Eventually, three fire departments responded, as well as other emergency personnel and the state department of natural resources.

I understand that the sirens of the approaching vehicles could be heard near the end of the 911 call. Search procedures were begun, until the water craft rescue effort had to be called off because of the danger imposed by the unusually swift currents. Sadly, although personnel continued the search on land and, when allowed, by water, even searching under flood lights overnight, the car could not be located and hoisted out of the water until first light the next morning, when the receding water revealed the location of the car.

I have heard that rescue personnel have not taken this event easily, and I am sure there is a lot of second-guessing and "what-if's" going around. It appears, though, that the entire event was handled as well as possible, and that decisions (such as whether the driver should stay in the car or attempt to swim for shore) were made wisely, based on all known facts at each moment.

What I found extraordinary is how the community responded to Monday's tragedy. Calling hours were held at a local funeral home on Thursday night, and those in line waited as long as three hours to pay their condolences. On-line condolences poured in, and the next morning's funeral service was moved to our church sanctuary to accommodate the large number of attendees. Clearly, a large portion of those who came to the visitation did not know the woman or her family. It just felt right, to them, to go.

This was one of those events that touched nearly everyone in the community. The woman was a well-liked nurse at our region's best-known cancer center. I do not recall ever meeting the unfortunate woman, but her mother lives on our street. In smaller communities, virtually everyone seems to be, at most, two or three degrees of separation from everyone else so, like the REM song says, everybody hurts. I believe it is safe to say that it was a tough week for everyone in town.

I just realized that I have no real conclusion or ending for this post. I guess it is just an observation about how people can be touched - painfully, sometimes - by the things we have in common, and by the value and honor we can ascribe to someone's life, whether we know them or not.

Songs I've Liked #4 & #5

2011-03-04T21:34:00.004-05:00

I was heading across town tonight when the Sirius satellite radio station I was listening to started plugging a temporary "Simon and Garfunkel Channel" over on channel 38. This brought back a wealth of memories, and I immediately tuned it in.

The first LP I ever bought was Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence". Got it at the little Hutzlers Westview record department down on the basement level, by the escalator. It probably set me back about $2.50. I remarked to my friend at the time "At these prices, I probably won't be buying many more of these." HA! Hundreds of LPs, hundreds of CDs, and now hundreds of MP3 downloads later, here I am.

Anyhow, I have a pretty good memory from every S&G single that was released, so I am picking a couple of their "mid period" tunes as my favorites here. In both cases, I bought the 45 single, then got them again in the "album" format.

"At the Zoo" was released in 1967 and reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was pretty typical Paul Simon lyrics for the time; full of metaphorical animal imagery. Sort of an "Animal Farm" set to music and full of political allegory that shot right over my head. I always thought the tune was pretty catchy, regardless of the cleverness of Mr. Simon's wordplay, starting jazzily around a major seventh, and building toward the last verse where the animals are described, one by one.

I was babysitting my sister the night after I bought the single, and I recall playing the song continuously, maybe twelve times.

Then there is "A Hazy Shade of Winter", with that common, catchy, declining chord progression, and a bit of the ol' Simon angst as he wonders what's become of himself as time passes on. Catchy tune, making it to number 13 on the charts in 1966, and, much later, covered more edgily by the Bangles, who took it right up to number two. And again, there was Paul singing about how those leaves that were green turned to brown, time marches inexorably on, etc.

These two songs are memorable to me, but they are probably not even my favorite S&G tune. That would most lilely be "The Boxer", one of their last efforts as a working duo. But they are the two that came to my mind first as I was flipping over to the S&G channel just in time to catch, of all things, "Hey School Girl", a very early effort that was a regional hit in New York City, when those two teenagers called themselves "Tom and Jerry", and their extraordinary careers (Paul Simon's continues with a new release sometime soon) were just taking off.

Five Oddball Things in our Kitchen

2011-02-25T16:20:00.009-05:00

This picture is just tossed in extraneously. It would have been a more soothing photo if the photog's hand were not holding the dog's head down. The animal was unharmed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I have been derelict in my blog citizenship lately, letting days, if not weeks, slide by. I finally got a sort of "day off" today, when a rather intimidating snow storm hit our part of the world, and I decided to compensate for already having worked over 40 hours this week. Anyhow, in my down time, I noticed that some time last week, my sister put up this post asking people to show off five odd things that can be found in their kitchens.

Well, those who have been in our house know it is a museum of sorts, so this was no big challenge. I give you: the Kitchen Kollection (some of which has been featured in long-ago posts about Weird Objects).

1. THE BIG HAMMER. This inflatable hammer was "won" by this writer in some seminar where they presented the information in the form of a game of "Jeopardy". Somehow I won, and the prize was this hammer. It makes a little squeaky sound when you wallop someone with it. Kind of amusing.

2. MICHAEL JORDAN NERF BALL HOOP. Remove the hammer, and you discover that its holder is another artifact. You can tell this thing is ancient. Not only is Michael in uniform and playing, but he has HAIR in the backboard picture.

3. FISHER PRICE ACTIVITY CENTER: Ever since our kids were babies, we have had this "busy box" or whatever they call 'em on a closet door, down at cherub's eye level. The kids are all up and out of here, but this thing remains, occasionally used by a visiting toddler.

4. WIND-UP TOY COLLECTION: My wife loves wind-up toys, and displays a good bit of her collection in this converted spice rack in the kitchen.

5. COW PIE BINGO RENDERINGS: And finally, this piece takes a little 'splainin'! Once evening, our son and a friend drew these lovely diagrams on post-it notes. Have you ever gone to a county fair or a charity function where they play what is affectionately referred to as "Cow Pie Bingo?" Where they grid off a field with a couple cows, let people bet on a selected square in the grid, and then let nature run its course? That is what these drawings are attempting to portray. Why, I dunno. But I think they may fetch some big money at Sotheby's some day. For now, they "hang" in our kitchen "gallery".

Sunday Ramblings

2011-02-13T17:49:00.010-05:00

somewhere down in there is our drinking water, chilled to perfection

Cabin fever kicked in a couple weeks ago; it is at full tilt now. The promise of the mercury hitting the upper 30's drove me - and I drove the dog - out to the reservoir, just to be SOMEWHERE. The scene was still pretty desolate, but there is a promise that this white stuff has limited time left in frozen form. And the dog had a good time.
This is one of Ollie's favorite activities - sticking his snout (or whole head if he can manage it) into the snow. Then he likes to propel himself forward by kicking with his hind feet. I am not sure exactly what the big rush is for him, but he seems to work one or two major face plants into every walk when there is snow available.

We didn't see any critters along the walk, but we saw evidence of them...

And actually, we did see the big guy who left these. And his rider...

Stopped at the stand of pines in the next picture, and listened for a while as the wind whistled through them. That is one of my favorite sounds in the world.
Today's other highlight was "acoustic Sunday" at the early service. Five of us busted out the acoustic guitars and strummed some of the classics, like Kum By Yah. It was a lot of fun, but I suppose I will be back to toting in the heavy keyboard next week. I think there are only so many songs with my limited range of chords in 'em. But I did also work in am 18-note solo on this bad boy, the recorder from my youth...

A Tail to Warm a Heart on a Cold Night?

2011-02-01T19:47:00.003-05:00

I was down in Columbus last night. I had just finished the creme brulee, following an amazing entree of salmon with asparagus and potatoes, and enjoying the company of my fellow staffers at our annual dinner meeting. The cell phone buzzed and it was my wife. She just had a short story for me (mind you, we had chatted for quite some time a couple hours prior).

It seems a neighbor down around the corner, a 97-year old woman we know from church, had answered "yes" when Linda asked if she would like a visit on a night when there was no doubt that she was not venturing anywhere. She added to that affirmation: "and please bring your dog".

So Linda leashed up the lab and they headed over. Once inside, Ollie pretty much immediately walked over beside the octogenarian's chair and sat. She reached over and scratched him on the back. My understanding is that, for the remainder of the visit, perhaps half an hour, Mrs. Limmerman continued to scratch Ollie on the back, and he sat lower and lower, finally just lying on the floor right next to her.

When it was time to go, Ollie got up, and off he went with Linda.

I know it's a silly little scenario with no plot and no action, but the image of the elderly woman, so content to simply scratch a visiting dog while he just sat there (and the dog, definitely content to hang around and be the scratch-ee), stayed with me for the rest of my time in Columbus. In fact, I returned to my table mates and told them about it - and received a chorus of "aawwwww's".

I'm guessing that we will return to Mrs. Limmerman's house, all three of us, one day pretty soon.

Songs I've Liked #2&3: Strawberry Fields & Penny Lane

2011-01-21T23:19:00.008-05:00

I can still remember being down in the basement listening to a transistor radio when the DJ announced that they were playing, for the VERY FIRST TIME, the Beatles' new double-sided single. Then the world of musical possibilities exploded again as the first sounds of the fluty mellotron introduced Strawberry Fields Forever.

The mellotron has been a fascination of mine since I first heard it, and when first hearing actually occurred is debatable. It could be in February '67 when the Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane double-whammy-single dropped. Another big early proponent of the mellotron, after they dropped an actual orchestral accompaniment for the likes of "Tuesday Afternoon", was the Moody Blues. Later on, King Crimson brought a majestic and ominous use to the instrument. And then many more bands adopted the distinctive sound.

The mellotron simulates orchestral sounds (and choruses, too) by playing recorded tapes of strings, or flutes, or people, back and forth, one tape for each key on a keyboard. This very mechanical process lends itself to trouble and break-downs, and the temperamental instrument actually found itself in some legal trouble, too, when musicians claimed that it was putting them out of work. Although it has found its way back, most modern bands shelve the thing in favor of a digital sample on a modern keyboard.

Paul McCartney's mellotron work was but one source of fascination for me on hte new Beatles single. The disc showed pretty clearly the yin and yang between Lennon, who wrote the autobigraphical "psychoanalysis set to music", the "hazy impressionistic dreamworld" of Strawberry Fields Forever, and McCartney, with the easy melody and high brass of Penny Lane.
Both songs were nostalgic recollections of the songwriters' past, recalling places from the Beatles' Liverpool youth. And now the songs are drenched in nostalgia for me. In their time, they burst through the bonds of the basic pop tune, so much so that they purportedly led Beach Boy Brian Wilson to throw up his hands and set aside his "Smile" project, which only saw the light of day as a complete work in the last decade. Both songs were recorded along with those that made it onto "Sgt. Pepper", and some people (including George Martin) feel it was a mistake that the songs did not make it onto that landmark LP. Instead, here in the U.S., they were tacked onto the "Hits Side" of our domesticversion of "Magical Mystery Tour".
"Strawberry Fields Forever" took considerable work to record, and the production was about as high tech as things got back in the day. The Beatles recorded two fairly dissimilar takes, in different keys (like a C and a B-flat). John pronounced both versions worthy, and asked George Martin to fuse them together. And he did, by speeding one up a bit, slowing the other down a smidge. The artificial resulting tape speed added to the ethereal sound of the song.
For me, and really for about everybody I know, the era of the Big Release of a Single is long gone. This Beatles blockbuster was folliowed, pretty much the next week, by the Turtles rolling out "Happy Together", an eminently memorable ditty that was also, interestingly for me, on the first pop or rock album I ever heard in stereo. For me, really, another "big release".

Another interesting factoid about the Beatles' one-two punch: In England, they recorded sales for each of the songs separately, somehow, and while Penny Lane made it to number one, Strawberry Fields peaked in second place, nudged out by Engelbert Humperdinck's "Please Release Me". Some noted that the Beatles twofer, in total, sold nearly twice as many copies as Mr. Humperdinck's single.

Sundries

2011-01-11T21:32:00.012-05:00

A little catch-up is necessary. I have been busy with this computer, but doing a variety of things. Facebook, for example. But also, I got this slick USB vinyl-to-MP3 player, and my latest project involves converting a lot of my hundreds of LPs in the basement to electronic signals and binary codes and all that stuff. The setup looks like this:
I am learning to work out some of the bugs, but it is coming along.

I need to update the wildlife report out in the back yard. Our new squrrel feeder pretty much fails to get any species to sit in a chair properly, but over the past few months we have had a few "customers", and the squirrels are warming up to the concept.
Then, late one night recently, my wife caught a flying squirrel at the feeder. This was after midnight, when that particular type of animal seems to come out to eat.
Took the ol' tree out Sunday. Figured it was about time, Epiphany over and all. Plus, this tree was ready. Check out the rich carpet of needles left behind. (And yes, the tree was replaced yesterday by the computer, etc., in the top picture). We have never had a tree give up the needles like this! And trust me, it was generously watered!
I have mentioned previously, I think, the seven dogs with which I spent some time over Christmas. Now there is an eighth. Our neighbors have taken on a new pup, a Rhodesian Ridgeback or some such thing, named Kenly or Kenlee...it's an amalgamation of a couple kids' names. Anyhow, K. came over and had a bit of a play date with Ollie a couple days ago. She is substantially smaller than our dog...NOW.
I close with a shot of a botanical miracle. This is the mother in law's tongue, as they call it, that graces my windowsill at work. This thing has survived my care for maybe 15 years. I water it every Friday, and that's about the extent of my TLC. It is a fine example of perseverance, I guess.

Gathering No Dust

2011-01-03T21:46:00.013-05:00

holiday self-portrait

Well, here we are nearly one whole percent done with 2011 already, and about three-fourths of the Christmas lights are already darkened in our neighborhood. We, however, are never willing to part with the festive spirit of the season, and our lights blaze on crazily, illuminating the dead pines gathering at the street's edge awaiting the final ride to the chipper.

The "holiday season", as some like to call it, was the usual whirlwind, but a very fulfilling one nonetheless. I did not capture it very well with a camera, or even the cell phone, and some of the pictures I did manage to take have little to do with the actual main events of the season. I tend to refrain from tossing up group photos without warning and first right of refusal to all participants, so you will not find any of the gatherings 'round the tree; at least not those involving humans.

I counted seven dogs that I spent some serious (or, better put, extensive) time with between Christmas and New Year's. That would be the Grand Dogs (Ana, fox terrier resembling chihuahua; and Lily; one of those Puggles where God broke the mold after this one was designed); sister's knucklehead dogs (Athena, a Boston terror...I mean terrier...really, she calms down and is pleasant enough after the initial bark-down; and Bella, a pure Pug - also Moxie, new Boston on the block owned by my niece); and Auggie, the schnauzer that we dog-sit from time to time. And, of course, our Ollie.

Saw a lot of people, too, including a third cousin whom I did not know existed until the wonders of Facebook brought her into view. It is pretty exciting and fun meeting relatives this far along in life.

Christmas itself was wonderful; our band played a Christmas eve service, the Sunday morning service, and a couple pieces leading into the more formal, later-in-the-evening Christmas eve service. Fairly rigorous, but really fulfilling and fun, too. Christmas Day itself was filled with my time-honored tradition of failing to get out of the PJs, and being extremely lazy.

We used to stay at my Dad's house when we went to visit my old stomping grounds. Now we stay with my sister and her family (and the aforementioned Athena and Bella, who many of you are familiar with courtesy of her blog, plus my niece's pup, Moxie). She and her husband are excellent hosts, and the arrangement has worked out well (we hope they feel the same...). However, there is some sense of loss and change as we drove by the old house and found a cadre of contractors hard at work, transforming it into a more salable property, which will end up being very little like the house in which I grew up. But it is all for the good, as no one in our family needs the albatross of a vacant property, and the rejuvenated house should make a fine home for its next occupants.

OK, here are some really random pictures that do not really lay out the feeling of holiday cheer and Christmas charm, but since we are already three days and one full work day (and counting) into this new year, who's looking back?
One of my introductions to the world of blogging was "Weird Object Friday", which was a lot of fun. This little stocking stuffer would be a good candidate. A group of us had a big laugh over this gift. I will not keep you in suspense - It is an egg cracker and separator. It does not work very well, at least in our experience as novices, but it makes a good conversation piece, and I am just glad it is not some sort of arcane medical device for poking or prodding...

That is pretty much a fail right there...

Here, below, is my favorite oddball shot. We have some fish in the basement that winter over down there because our pond tends to freeze all the way down. We brought the aquarium up near the back door so a neighbor could feed them easily while we were away. This shot is technically not very good, but for some reason, I like it. It looks like something went very wrong...

And let's bring on the Dogs of Winter...

Ollie and the Grand-Dogs, awaiting another handout.

I am pretty sure that bone chewing could, if harnessed properly,
provide one fine an alternative energy source.

Who can do this with their tongue?

The Dogs of the East: Moxie, Athena, and Bella, just hangin'.

Knowing how to show us a good time, my sister Margaret took us to the local Costco. Being a transplant flyover bumpkin, I had never been in one of these establishments. The enormity of the place, the size of the inventory, all stacked up to the warehouse-scale roof and gleaming brightly in those suspended industrial strength lights, was just overwhelming. I tell you, I was in awe. Judging from the bustle in that place, I feel emboldened to proclaim that we Americans just might be turning the corner, economy-wise. Way to go, consumers!

Finally, I end where we began. We kicked off the Christmas break with a visit to our daughter and son in law's, where we took in their church service and ate at one of those TGI Fridays. Partook of their special where for a decent price you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Now, I know the saying that presentation is everything, but if they really feel the need to bust out the large plates for my desert, it seems like they could toss a couple more slices on the plate in lieu of that artistic slime trail, eh?

I have no pictures of this, but I also got out to a (vinyl, old school) record store with my son, who swears by LPs as the only way to go, and a more contemporary independent CD shop with childhood bud Gerald (and with whom "flipping the bins" is a sacrosanct tradition going back to a long walk in the snow to E.J. Korvettes to purchase the Beatles' White Album, and even earlier), and the brother in law (who later on paid for the oven-fired pizza, for which I am grateful) and son (who is now back at his graduate studies and complaining about how, for the first time in his life, he has to suffer the indignity of not one or two or three, but four 8:00 a.m. classes.

Anyhow, all told, I hope you had a nice break, and that you can think back to some fond and lasting memories. However, we now return you to 2011, already in progress.

Amidst the Holidays

2010-12-26T22:58:00.002-05:00

It gets weird when the kids get big, grow up, become adult-like. They are no longer within your grasp. They come and go; free will seems to be at work. Anyhow, we went and visited the daughter and son in law, an hour away, two days before Christmas. It was a nice visit, and we were introduced to the X-Box Kinect, an interesting piece of technology that seems to know what you are doing out there, flailing about in the middle of the living room, chairs pushed safely aside. Well, almost safely, but that's another story.

The son came with us, and he has been back here around the house for most of the time. The daughter and son in law showed up late Christmas eve and stuck around for Christmas morning and the opening of the gifts, returning later for a game and a laugh.

Now we are contemplating a trip back to my homeland, abbreviated to only two full days, but still worth the drive, just to see my small family back in the land where I grew up.

Linda has suffered through Christmas with a bad cold (as if there are good ones). Let's say a vicious cold. Missed the Christmas Eve service. Missed the service this morning. Missed the quick, fast-food breakfast with the kids after church. But she's up and moving about now, packing and committing to making the trip.

Trips back "home" are always fun affairs, staying up late, sleeping in, then running around to make the most of the remaining hours. The return trip is usually kind of bittersweet - great recent memories recalled, a return to the comforts, pets, and Christmas presents abandoned all too soon for the road. Of course, our son will shortly be on his way to the bright lights and the big city, which is only right; not too long ago, we spent New Year's out for the night with sizable groups in that very same city.

I guess today is the eye of the holiday hurricane; a little recuperation, a little tinkering with my new toy (a USB turntable, for converting my considerable LP collection to MP3s).

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that you are in a position to be looking forward to 2011.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot

2010-12-15T21:43:00.003-05:00

No, that's not my house. It's a few blocks away, and every year we circle around the loop to gawk at it, at least three or four times. Ohio Edison is very fond of these people. They do it up big wattage style.

Seems like a new fad on the scene is musical lights. There are at least two houses within a block of us that are treating their neighbors to the sights AND sounds of Christmas, piping out electronic bleep versions of the old chestnuts. I am okay with it, since the volume is kept pretty low, and hearing any Christmas tune chord progression tends to implant the song in my head for more than a few minutes, which is fine with me, as it often blots out those creeping thoughts of stressed-outedness.

'Tis the season, and if you let it, it can wear you down. We all have our checklists and try to move through them as best we can. On top of that, however, I have a couple deadlines at work which require a concentrated effort. Fortunately, the family has gotten easier and easier to shop for over the years, and sometimes a big package from some far away place only accessible via the World Wide Web can take care of someone's "list". And Linda and I seem to get easier to please, too, as there is some recognition that a house full of "stuff" does not really beg for more "stuff". A couple good books, the newest World Almanac, something to do with music, a sweater, and maybe one surprise, and I'm pretty well pleased.

I think I have at least all the major events leading up to the 25th charted in my internal Blackberry brain. The square-dance party Saturday; potential in-law meal on Sunday. See the daughter and son in law next Thursday. Work in a band practice or two for the flurry of activity at the church between the Christmas eve services and the Sunday morning-after (Boxing Day for the Canadians and British Empire affiliates among you) service-as-usual.

Christmas Day at our house is, as far as I am concerned, as it should be. I go nowhere; dinner has already been ordered, picked up, and put in the fridge for the re-heat. Getting dressed involves sweats and slippers. It is a day of peace and quiet, which is part of the point. An oasis of rest between the gift purchases and the gift returns. A time to ponder the whole Christmas story, read the silly poems, but also perhaps a gospel chapter or two; get out the book about the dog that had a Christmas eve adventure; play a game; work on a jigsaw puzzle. Enjoy the solitude with the family; a little snowfall helps embellish the whole scene. In many respects, it really is the best day of the year. Nothing fancy; nice, plain, and simple, like a birth in a manger.

pictures don't do it justice

2010-12-08T22:11:00.005-05:00

Had to make a road trip to a town along the Ohio River today. Picked up a co-worker around Akron and took a succession of back roads I have never seen in my life. It is amazing how much there is to the Buckeye State. It is also interesting to be in an area with towns named Lisbon, Calcutta...

I recommend the Route 7 trip along the Ohio River valley. The panorama presented is an odd mix of natural topographic beauty and icons of an industrial age that has largely passed. One particularly fascinating icon for me was the W.H. Sammis power plant. Its smokestack, at 305 meters, is one of the tallest in the world. Plus, Route 7 tunnels right under the plant's baghouse, the part of the plant that filters out much of the noxious stuff. Barges with coal on the adjacent river were offloading as we drove by, but I could only safely keep the camera phone trained on the plant directly ahead of me...

That stack on the left is MASSIVE!

Perhaps next trip I will try to capture some of the more pristine natural beauty in between the electric plants and abandoned mills...

The Kindness of Strangers

2010-12-05T18:27:00.003-05:00

I guess we've always gone to Christmas tree lots that handle a decent mix of urbanites or neophytes or whatever you want to call us. Places that wrap the tree up to make it slender so you can pop it in the trunk of a sedan and get it home safely.

This time we went down into the more rural reaches of our county, and got a tree for a very reasonable price. It was overgrown and the lot owner wanted to part with these monstrosities for cheap.

Armed with a tree saw, I faced a formidable task. Well, down there on that lot, people are a bit more wise about how to acquire a tree. They come prepared with (a) chain saws and (b) pickup trucks. We, on the other hand, had a hand saw and a labrador retriever who just wanted to meet everybody and, if we had let him, leave a little something on some of the trees.

We found a tree that suited us, and one of the chainsaw brandishing customers offered to cut it down, size it up, and trim off some of the unnecessary lower branches for us. He felled the pine and held it up, asking if it was to our liking. We said yes and offered him a few bucks for his time; he wouldn't take any money.

Then I began to realize this baby was not the typical pliable pine I have always gotten. It held rigidly to its ridiculous girth, and the sight of the tree and our meager trunk looked like an absurd optical illusion. We gave it a shot, but even with rope, there was no way this was going to happen. About this time, kindly stranger number two came along with the requisite pick-me-up truck. We were pretty far from home, but our daughter's brother in law's family lives about a mile from the tree farm, and this fella was happy to deliver the tree up there for us. I think he didn't mind sitting in his warm cab for a while, while his family was making a selection out among the pines.

So he followed us up to their house, where we left it. We are pretty sure a member of that family, with a pick up truck, heads to our town in the morning, and they are willing to complete the journey of the pine for us.

I was fairly perturbed about this whole experience, and we rushed home to a childrens' Christmas program at the church. We are of the age where we have no dog in this fight, and know fewer and fewer of the little cherubs up front, but there is something about the tiniest of the kiddies in their little angel outfits, reciting Christmas poems to the best of their ability, that takes the edge off of silly little scenarios like our tree procurement. And if the carols with the kids didn't work, the potluck dinner that followed completed the task.

So now, attitude adjusted, I am looking at the whole thing as a big plus. My faith in humanity, soured lately by the likes of North Korean wackos with weaponry and that Wikileaks guy, has been reasonably restored by all these people who just up and volunteer when they see someone who, appearing perhaps too "citified" for their own good, is in a bit of a pickle. I can only hope that I can pay it forward sometime when someone needs a more urban-style favor.

Songs I 've Liked #1: Eight Miles High

2010-11-23T21:40:00.003-05:00

It was 1965 and things were still pretty subdued in the popular music scene. Along came this crazy Rickenbacker 12-string from outer space, spazz-jamming to the unmistakable harmonies of the Byrds. Those vocals just seemed to glide out there over those staccato stabs, melody-over-harmony, vaguely referencing the band's good and bad experiences playing England.

Commercial airliners do not reach an altitude of eight miles, but the Byrds achieved that lofty height. And yeah, the alleged (ok; they eventually admitted it) drug reference yielded a ban from the AM radio world, back in those innocent days. I admit I was a naive kid back then, or maybe more accurately, blissfully oblivious. I liked the song for what it was.

What it was - was unconventional. It was longish by AM "hit" standards. Its purported influences have ranged from Coltrane to Shankar. It reached #14 in the USA and Britain. It was also Gene Clark's swan song with the Byrds, and the band would never chart top twenty again.

I kept following the Byrds as they morphed through their spaceman, cowboy, and simultaneous spaceman/cowboy phases, Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker weaving a common thread through their long descent from the lofty eight-mile altitude, culminating with "Chestnut Mare", a long ditty about a horse.

1965 was the dawn of an era of experimentation, stretching the bounds of music. Later would come the likes of Sergeant Pepper, Pink Floyd echoes and animals, concept albums and rock operas. But when I heard the those high-altitude harmonies wafting out of that transistor radio back in March 1965, it felt like some musical doors were being opened.

falling back while hurtling forward

2010-11-15T20:52:00.006-05:00

Well, quite a few days got by me between posts. 2010 has been all like that. No way to just freeze time or slow it down. Saw the movie, Inception, over the weekend, with the daughter and son in law. I was able to completely suspend my disbelief and get into the odd dreamworlds created by the ground rules of the movie. My wife was not. "How can you use a real, physical object while in a dream?", she asks. I get her question and all that, but prefer to be wowed by the things that went on in that movie.

Anyhow, without spoiling things too much for the uninitiated, there were levels of dreams, and time could elapse more and more in each succeeding one relative to the preceding level. A few seconds at level two may get you ten hours a couple levels later. This seems like a great resource to tap if it is only possible, and I would be diving down to a seventh or eighth level dream right now to get everything done that needs to be done by the end of the year if this really worked as presented.

Well, as too many people remind us, "nobody dies with an empty in box". To which I would mumble a reply that some folks sure seem to have pretty skimpy in boxes, something to which one can only aspire.

The to-do list (aside from work and home maintenance and all that reality stuff that ain't going anywhere until you actually deal with it) lately has consisted of watching the slow, younger maples release their leaves in batches, then raking or sweeping them, waiting for the next batch to drop. It was unseasonably warm (or is 60 degrees the new 40, Al?) this past week, so I spent a little contemplative deck time watching the leaves in the breeze. I swear there is some sort of telepathy going on up there; someone is getting out the message: "release another 4,000 leaves....NOW!" I am happy to say we are at the 85-90 percent released level at present.

Also got a perfect day on Veterans' Day, and I managed to walk the dog clear around the reservoir. Did not get a perfect day yesterday, but we got out to our favorite orchards, finally, and got ahold of enough Fuji apples (and a bag of mixed varieties) to keep the doctor away for the rest of the year, knock on wood.

"Rest of the year". Yeah, right, like that amounts to all that much. We are clearly, if you believe your television and your super-overloaded Sunday paper, in the throes of the peak of the holiday shopping season. The sales are on NOW, folks; no need to set that Black Friday clock for 2:30 in order to be able to reach out and TOUCH the door as the intrepid sales staff unlocks that door and backs off quickly in a primordial fight-or-flight spasm of self-preservation. No need to be part of that stampede, folks! The sales are on NOW. And anyway, many of my peeps are really into gift cards or even more pliable cold, hard cash, so this "brick and mortar store" thing doesn't really hold much sway in my shopping plans.

Oh, I do like to get out to the malls once per season, not really to shop so much as to just experience the joys of American retail commerce, observing that whole hustle and bustle thing. But once is enough, and to be honest, I do shop, but with a list and a fairly rigid plan with specific measurable goals. There is no art to my shopping, and little science. Get in, get out, check 'em off.

And lost in the shuffle, this being, as I said, part of the peak of the Christmas season (for those who, unlike me, do not procrastinate), is the fact that a perfectly good and honorable holiday is coming up just next week. I am a reasonably big fan of Thanksgiving. It seems to be as good a holiday as any for reconnecting with family and planning shared experiences (minimally, a large meal; for extra credit, the whole post-meal, tryptophan-induced, football-accompanied state of shared inception, if there are enough comfortable couches, La-Z-Boys and other overstuffed chairs to go around).

But enough rambling. Here are highlights of the past week caught on camera and cell phone:
Well, you can't really see it, and it's a cell phone picture so the resolution is not spectacular, but the actual object of this picture was cracking me up. They put out these decoy geese at the reservoir to attract the real deal on the days that the hunters are allowed to thin out the flock, and anyhow, here was this bird spreading out its wings, standing right atop one of the decoys.
The only other thing I have to offer is the lovely sky through the trees yesterday up in Edison Woods, which consists of hundreds of acres of forest and such donated or horse-traded to the Erie County Metroparks by the local power company. The land was originally going to be used to site a nuclear power plant, which in my view would have been okay, as I am not sure that we have really trumped nuke with anything else, but I have to say the sky looked really attractive through those trees.

God paints the autumn sky

2010-11-05T22:26:00.006-04:00

...or so it seemed as I drove home from Salt Fork state park in southeast Ohio on Wednesday. Some examples of the changeable sky, all within minutes...

Moving Along

2010-11-01T19:13:00.011-04:00

Whoa. When I started this whole "blog" thing, the goal was to check in and post with some regularity. I see where some time has elapsed since the last post. A lot of leaves have fallen since that walk down the path. A lot of leaves remain yet to fall.
Still quite a bit of color out there, but it is going fast. I am at the point in our yard where I can rake a little now and a little later, or slack off now and deal with a whole bunch later. I have chipped away at 'em, but the bulk remain on the ground or up in the trees, mocking me.
When our daughter visited a couple weeks ago, we took a three-dog trip out to the reservoir to see what was going on out there. It was one of those pleasant, decently warm days that I am beginning to miss.
SOMEBODY thought it would be cute for the doggies to have matching bandanas (festooned with electric guitars - I am not sure of the connection, but they're colorful). So there we are...
Halloween came and went. My wife became Tweety Bird (as someone said on Facebook, "Trick or Tweet"...) Tweety brought interesting reactions - the toddlers were a bit apprehensive, the older kids reciting "I tawt I taw a putty tat..." The adults in tow gave knowing glances.

And I have to mention here that of the 170 or so kids that graced our porch that evening, almost all of them were quite polite - most saying "thank you" without a prompt from Mom or Dad down in the shadows. And what the heck - kudos to the moms and dads who were along, trying to instill that politeness in their kiddies.

I always look for trends in the costumes - what (or who) is in, what's popular. I have to say I did not see any trend this year - no hero leapt out and stole the show. There was broad diversity. I think if there was any trend, it was toward the kids (and parents) doing the home-made thing, rather than buying costumes off the shelf. I would attribute that to the still stinky economy around here.
Finally, a friend gave me this two-seater squirrel feeder for my birthday a while back, and I finally got around to screwing it ("Hillbilly style", my daughter admonished) into the highest reach of our dead redbud tree that I cannot just cut all the way to the ground yet because birds around here love to use it as their staging area as they prepare to attack the birdbaths or various feeding stations. Anyhow, I love how squirrels are now going to do anything but actually sit in the chairs, human style. This guy found the chair back to be a more than adequate perch.
So now we're caught up and, like the little guy up there, I'm outta here...

Happy Trails (no, no; this is not the last post...)

2010-10-17T20:46:00.005-04:00

Basically, one the times when I am happiest is when I am hiking or just walking on a trail somewhere. It is one of my favorite things to do. There is something about not knowing what's around the next bend.

Well, the trail we were on this afternoon does not lend itself to bends, since it is one of those "rails to trails" deals where trains once rode along the trail. So, not so many hairpin turns or abrupt changes in elevation.

Another thing I like about trails is it tends to bring out the best in people. We passed maybe twelve people today - not a lot, but the point is, they all said hello. A couple teenagers started chatting with us in detail about the railroad bridge we were looking at. When I am downtown, or in a mall, or anywhere in "civilization", I do not get 100 percent "hello". Not even close. People on trails just seem to have this loosely affiliated comraderie. Maybe because everybody out there is pretty much there by choice - they want to be there, they are getting some good old exercise, and it's great to be out in an attractive place.

So, anyhow, a handful of pictures from our hour or so on the trail...

The Change

2010-10-11T22:33:00.006-04:00

The TV's a-squawking about the changes either being made or that are promised to be made, depending upon whom you vote into office in three weeks. The changes that were promised two years ago may or may not sit well with the electorate, and big changes are being proffered by those on the outside looking in. It's a pretty volatile time in the hallowed halls of the nation's city halls, county courthouses, state houses, and the white building on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Meanwhile, out at the Conservation Club, change is coming, too. You wouldn't know it from the temperature, still peaking out in the mild and highly comfortable 70's. There is barely a breeze stirring the water, but the leaves tell the tale of a changing season.
Those leaves seem to be clinging to the trees like we are clinging to the notion of summer. The deluge and the pressing need for a rake just hasn't happened yet. At church yesterday, the youth director announced the cancellation of the day's planned leaf raking project - and its postponement until nature ran her course, and the leaves let go.

Yeah, I hate to let it go, too. The place just looks better with leaves on the trees. But, Mother Nature knows what she's doing, and I am sure the trees can weather the wet snow and chilling Alberta Clippers much better when stripped down to streamlined branches.

So, change is occurring and there is nothing you can do about it short of moving to one of those regions where they don't know what the four seasons are all about. Like most great things, the beauty of autumn is far too fleeting; I recommend getting out and gawking while you can.

Not much time left for the luxury of floating around,
catching the warm sun on the water

"YOU DON'T KNOW BLACK" - OR DO YOU???

2010-09-26T17:27:00.027-04:00

Sadly, it is the last of the color blogs in Jen's eight week meme. This is it. Time to strike the set and turn out the lights and all that's left is...black.

So, here is my last of these color quizzes: fun for most, pain in the brain to others. See how well you can do - I think this one is fairly easy (except for perhaps one or two obscure ones...)

It's the last one, so we went into overtime with 23 clues for you to identify.

AND NOW IT IS TUESDAY, SO THE ANSWERS FOLLOW AT THE END OF THIS POST

1. Name the actress
2. Avoid this spider. 3. Remember this old thriller?
4. What's her married name? (They don't get easier than this...)
5. Doesn't everyone have one of these in the family?
6. Ozzy's old band
7. A figure of speech
8. Nice kitty
9. This was a bad day at the stock market
10. Name the movie
11. These are symbols of this practice..
12. A band that you probably don't know if you're not 20-something, but you never know.
13. A good thing if you're in Vegas
14. Reverse the words from #13 and you get..
15. This guy's "supreme"
16. I hate it when I get sucked into one of these things...
17. Name the confection..
18. Another popular musical group has led to some individual careers too.
19. I understand the woman on the left was quite the rage in Britain back in the '60's. Who is she?
20. OK, there have been some tough ones after all, so here's your "gimme" - don't let this guy cross your path...
21. Name the bird22. Communication device
23. Name the movie...or the book...or the horse...

1: KAREN BLACK 2: BLACK WIDOW SPIDER. 3: BLACK SUNDAY 4: SHIRLEY TEMPLE BLACK 5: BLACK SHEEP (YOU KNOW, LIKE THAT UNCLE WE DON'T SPEAK OF...)
6: BLACK SABBATH 7: THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK 8: BLACK PANTHER
9: BLACK MONDAY 10: MEET JOE BLACK 11: BLACK MAGIC 12: THE BLACK KEYES (DID ANYONE KNOW THIS? I WOULD NOT HAVE) 13: BLACKJACK (21)! 14: JACK BLACK
15: SUPREME COURT JUSTICE HUGO BLACK 16: BLACK HOLE 17: BLACK FOREST CAKE (YUM!) 18: BLACK-EYED PEAS 19: CILLA BLACK 20: BLACK CAT 21: RED WINGED BLACKBIRD 22: BLACKBERRY 23: BLACK BEAUTY

AND JUST FOR THE HECK OF IT, I MAY RUN A QUIZ IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO BASED ON "WHITE" SINCE A COUPLE COME TO MIND IMMEDIATELY ("SNOW", ANYONE?) UNTIL THEN, IT'S BEEN A FUN RIDE ON THE RAINBOW...

IS NOTHING SACRED????

2010-09-21T20:55:00.003-04:00

We could go on and on about what a dysfunctional mess American politics has become, or how popular culture is reduced to finding out how many hours Lindsay Lohan will have to spend in the slammer THIS TIME. Or how airline flight attendants get berated by irate passengers, then expletive delete the whole airplane, grab a frosty adult beverage, and hit the shoot for the tarmac. But no, it's worse than that.

I refer to this past weekend's Ohio State rout of Ohio University. The game, rout that it was, was played with a decent modicum of decorum. But on the sidelines, Oh My!

This dude, Brandon Hanning, served OU as its mascot, Rufus the Bobcat. Mind you, Mr. Hanning does not even attend Ohio University. But that' s beside the point. Mr. Hanning has plotted, evidently for a good long time, to take out the sacred OSU mascot, Brutus Buckeye. He waits for his moment, then tackles the hapless Buckeye not once, but twice.

Talk about forethought; Hanning said of the twin tackles, "It was the whole reason I tried out last year, and I wanted to tackle Brutus."

As the Columbus Dispatch reports:

As several players watched, Hanning took down Brutus from the side at midfield, then chased him into the north end zone, climbed on his back and rode him to the ground. The two then tussled, with Rufus punching the Buckeye in his oversized head.

After each tackle, Brutus got back to his feet with arms spread wide as if to say, "What's up with that?" Then he put his hands on his hips.

Hanning eventually trotted toward the stands with his arms raised in celebration. Fans - presumably OSU fans - booed him.

Well, justice has been served after a fashion, and Mr. Hanning is pretty well banned from donning the Rufus Head and besmirching another mascot forever.

But I have to ask: What kind of sick society produces a mind that thinks this way? How can this poor excuse of a representative of an esteemed (party) school sleep at night? I am pretty sure that Rufus the Bobcat was probably steeped in wonderful traditions. And now, all that wonderful lore is dashed to the ground, along with poor Brutus.

Where do we go from here? Will we be mowing down cheerleader pyramids? Taking out the tuba that dots the "i"? I fear for our children. And their children.

How well do you know your BROWNS?

2010-09-19T15:44:00.025-04:00

OK - IT'S ANSWER TIME! IN CASE THERE ARE ANY LATE COMERS, WE WILL PUT THE ANSWERS WAY DOWN AT THE BOTTOM SO AS TO NOT RUIN YOUR FUN.......

It's Brown's turn in the parade of color that is this meme started by Jen, who holds the list of participants you can check out at your leisure.

Meanwhile, no time for leisure here! Put on your thinking caps and see how many of these links to BROWN you can identify...

1. This:or this:or this: (starting out REALLY easy!):
2. A kind of house, most often associated with NYC:
3. What's she doing?
4. Avoid these!!!!!
5. Name the bird
6.
7. name their song with the word in it...
8. From the world of science...what's this depicting?
9. He was in old comedy movies. As I recall, he yelled a lot when in trouble.
10. Gov. Moonbeam
11. Ladies and gentlemen, the hardest working man in showbusiness! 12. P.M.
13. He had a big song with the word in it, back in the day (his first name rhymes with "Dan") .
14. Author of a best selling novel; movie starred Tom Hanks (his name rhymes with "Van")
15. The local football "team" in my neck of the woods..
16. Who's the guy on the left?
17. Yet one more guy who had a big hit song with the word "Brown" in it: Name the singer and the song...

18. And finally, everybody gets a point for this one, am I right?

ANSWERS
1. BROWNIE (I STILL HAVE AN OLD KODAK BROWNIE AROUND SOMEWHERE)
2. BROWNSTONE
3. BROWN-BAGGING IT!
4. BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER
5. BROWN PELICAN
6. MURPHY BROWN
7. "MRS. BROWN, YOU'VE GOT A LOVELY DAUGHTER" (PRONOUNCED "DAW-TA")
8. BROWNIAN MOTION - I BELIEVE IT IS THE MOTION A PARTICLE MAKES AS IT IS HEATED UP. IT IS FAIRLY RANDOM LOOKING.
9. JOE E. BROWN (OR IS IT JOEY BROWN?)
10. JERRY BROWN
11. JAMES BROWN, THE GODFATHA OF SOUL
12. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN
13. VAN MORRISON'S "BROWN EYED GIRL"
14. DAN BROWN (THE DA VINCI CODE, ETC.)
15. THE CLEVELAND BROWNS
16. BUSTER BROWN (THE LOVELY DOG WAS NAMED TIGHE OR TIGE)
17. JIM CROCE'S "BAD, BAD LEROY BROWN"
18. ...AND GOOD OL' CHARLIE BROWN

A FUN 24 HOUR GET AWAY

2010-09-14T22:31:00.009-04:00

So we had the high bid at a church auction for a 24 hour stay at a bed and breakfast about an hour from the house. We finally got to go Friday through Saturday. It is a former home, converted to a B&B and day spa, situated on the Sandusky River. It is called Eagle Isle, and for good reason. On the property (they have 80 acres or so) is an inhabited bald eagle's nest. I was fortunate to see an eagle about six times during our stay, but could I get the camera out in time? Sadly, no.

But I got a bunch of pictures of the other fowl in the area, including a crazy bunch of white herons (or cranes?) who were fishing up a storm and appreciating the low level of the river. (They are featured on the current header picture up on top there).

Our daughter and son in law were able to join us for a few hours on Saturday - so it was a great little respite. Here are some pix from the get-away:
Goin' fishin', above, and the Bed and Breakfast building at night
An interior shot:
Keepers of the Dock
Meanwhile, back in the backwaters:
I guess we missed the big lily bloom by a week or two

how well do you know PURPLE?

2010-09-12T19:25:00.013-04:00

Well, it was tougher coming up with a decent quiz for purple, but our crack team of researchers has delivered at least something. So have at it.

SPOILER ALERT: I HAVE STUCK THE ANSWERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST.

1. What movie did this artist write and star in?
2. an old hit song was named for this dude.
3. Military honor.
4. Smoke on the Water", etc.
5. Know this plant? Extra credit: name the band with this plant in its name.
6. Oprah was in this movie.
7. Name the bird...
8. Big song by this guy...
9. ???
10. And we would be remiss without including this fellow.
We are celebrating all things purple with a meme originated over at Jen's blog. Give it a look!

ANSWERS:
1. PURPLE RAIN
2. ONE EYED ONE HORNED FLYING PURPLE PEOPLE-EATER
3. PURPLE HEART
4. DEEP PURPLE
5. PURPLE SAGE
EXTRA CREDIT: NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE
6. THE COLOR PURPLE
7. PURPLE MARTIN
8. JIMI HENDRIX'S "PURPLE HAZE"
9. PURPLE COW. OBVIOUSLY.
10. BARNEY

NOW GO STUDY UP ON ALL THINGS "BROWN"!

BLUE MONDAY

2010-09-05T20:17:00.020-04:00

Actually, it is a great Monday because it is a holiday and we're seeing our daughter and son in law (and their wonderful dogs...). But Monday means color day thanks to Jen's meme, and this week's color is BLUE. And since last week's edition, in which we asked you to guess as many of the "green" references as you could, seemed to be fun, we're doing again with blue. How many of the following seventeen (nice round number, eh?) references to something with the word "blue" (or "blues") can you name?

1. What band's song was being played during the classic Sat. Night Live "More Cowbell" skit with Will Farrell (below), Christopher Walken, et al?
2.
3.
4.
5. Here's a gimme for those not sleeping under rocks. What movie featured these blue people?
6.7. Go ask a kid, if you are unfamiliar with this one.
8. When you think of (what kind of music?) you think of (who is this guy?)
9. Old doo wop song
10. Who are these guys?
11. No, I never saw this movie.
12. Can you name the actor AND the show?
13. Name the singer and the album...
14. Their only hit (that I know of) was "Summertime Blues"
15.16. The theme song is playing in my head right now...
17. And last but not least...
Next week is what, purple? I doubt we will pull off a complete quiz over that color (the artist known most places as Prince comes to mind..) but you never know. Stay tuned...

Minding Their Own Beeswax

2010-09-01T22:34:00.011-04:00

On the way back from a jaunt to Michigan this weekend, before stopping at our daughter and son in law's for a home cooked, dee-lish dinner involving much use of their new grill, we stopped at our much-enjoyed Toledo Botanical Gardens. I became somewhat caught up in the work being carried out by a legion of bees. They were workin' the flowers hard. Here is a summary of what I saw. (Truth be told, I think I was getting a kick out of sticking the macro lens in their faces).

I guess I can't let the post pass without adding a bird, since there are so many there (the header up above was taken at the same place on Sunday).
And, okay, one shot of Grand-Dog Lily, hanging out on the couch.

I am mulling over a little motivational, devotional type thing I read today about about a guy who lived by two words: "get to". The idea was, he didn't "have to" do anything; he "got to". I'm working on adopting that attitude the best I can, especially during the challenges when I "get to" get up to go to work, and I "get to" drive six hours round trip tomorrow for a two-hour meeting. Ah, well, I think the concept can work even in that case. It's all good, or it can be if you work at it a little.

GREEN QUIZ ... AND ANSWERS!

2010-08-29T22:14:00.020-04:00

In doing my research here in the Streetpolo Labs, I found there was so much GREEN stuff out there in pop culture that we're going to have us a little green quiz here. How many of the following GREEN something or others can you name? Answers will be posted Wednesday or thereabouts, for those who care to check back. Get 'em all, and you're a green expert!
ANSWERS ARE NOW ADDED IN CAPS

extra credit for the little guy on the right...
THE JOLLY (HOHOHO) GREEN GIANT AND LITTLE SPROUT.

I WOULD NOT EAT GREEN EGGS AND HAM, SAM I AM

GREEN DAY

Green acres is the place to be
Farm living is the life for me
Land spreading out,
so far and wide
Keep Manhattan,
just give me that countryside.

What song is Kermie singing?
IT'S KERMIT AND GORDON IS PROBABLY RIGHT THAT HERE HE IS CROONING "RAINBOW CONNECTION". BUT FOR OBVIOUS REASONS I WAS THINKING OF "IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN"

THIS WOULD BE THE GREEN LANTERN, WITH WHICH (OR WHOM) I AM NOT FAMILIAR

In the picture above, it's the guy on the right, not the Capt....
I GREW UP WITH THESE GUYS...CAPT. KANGAROO AND THE INESTIMABLE MR. GREEN JEANS

THE GREEN HORNET - ALSO UNFAMILIAR

THE GREEN MILE - AS SUZY SAID, SAD BUT REALLY GOOD

OK, the word "green" is not in his name, but dang it, he's pretty green.
IF YOU DID NOT GUESS SHREK, I AM AMAZED

And their biggest hit was...
GREEN TAMBOURINE. THE FOLLOWUP WAS "RICE IS NICE" AND IT DID NOT SCORE VERY HIGH ON THE CHARTS.

THE HOUSE OF GREEN GABLES

A SCENE FROM "HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY"

NEXT WEEK: WE ATTACK THE BLUES!

THANKS, JEN, FOR THE MEME-ORIES

this week's color: YELLOW

2010-08-22T20:42:00.012-04:00

From the collection at Geppi's Entertainment Museum (read on...)

Well, unlike Orange last week, I could not pin down some major life-changing era that involved the color yellow. My past is littered with a few yellow items, such as (my sister reminded me of this one) our elementary school bus. We lived a little too close to the school for free transport, so our parents paid a full dollar per week so we could ride what was affectionately known as the "pay crate". Yeah, it was an old bus, with an old driver, who even had an old bus driver type name: Mr. Meekins. The only notable "pay crate" experience I can recall is when we would round a corner some days, and we'd all crowd over on the "outside" side of the bus to see if we could tip it over. Never came close. They build those things pretty much kid-tip-proof.

More recently, we just got back from a vacation to my homeland (Baltimore) with a brief stop on the way in the Pennsylvania Laurel Highlands area. Their Ohiopyle State Park is a very nice blend of hills, woods, and waterfalls.

While in Baltimore, we met some friends at one of those outdoor "lifestyle centers" that have overtaken malls. In the center of all the stores and restaurants was this fountain that turned yellow at night.
Also in Baltimore, we checked out a thing called Geppy's Entertainment (Popular Culture) Museum. There were some yellow things there, so they will have to do as far as photographic representation goes. On the way in, we were met by this yellowish nature scene amongst the lantana.
Now, on into the museum. One of the first exhibits, from earlier history, was practically a whole room devoted to a character known as "The Yellow Kid". I guess he was part of his creator's contribution to what became the first regularly featured comic, Hogan's Alley. I am hoping that my son does not read this post (pretty good chance he won't) because this character quite creeped him out...and for good reason. I won't get into his whole history, but it involves some social commentary and the little booger seemed to lead young 'uns into a life of drink, smoke, and severe mis-spelling. He looked like this:
Let's move on. Remember "Jeep" from the Popeye cartoons? Well, here he is in all his glory:

Who wouldn't want a plush Ms. Pac Man of their own? And in this liberated age, what kind of a name is Ms. Pac Man, anyway? Should it not be Ms. Pac Woman?
And finally, I think this product right here pretty much summarizes all that is great about American popular culture. I am certain that we hit a cultural peak, an apex if you will, when the Quaker Oats folks signed the contract with Mr. T to roll these bad boys out.
Just for the heck of it, here are a couple more pictures from the trip, just because. Have a great week; for more yellow goodness, visit Jen's blog.

ORANGE MEMORIES

2010-08-13T21:46:00.006-04:00

I know I am going to be away from this blog for a few days, so I had better take care of the next color in the spectrum right now. Last week, Jen started this meme where we do something about a different color each Monday. Last week was red; this Monday's is orange...

Ah, orange, the color that started it all, or at least my new life here in northern Ohio. I had taken a job up here knowing nobody. The landlord told me there was this young schoolteacher who had just moved in downstairs. I got around to meeting her and, before we knew it, we were out on the town on exciting dates at, say, the laundromat, or the bowling alley.

Anyhow, at the time, she APPEARED to be quite the fan of the color ORANGE. Her apartment reeked of the color: big ol' orange shag carpet.

Entertaining my college room mate in the apartment with the orange carpet, circa 1979.
Note the orange curtains. I'm on the left, dapper in the hat.

Her car, a bright orange Chevy VEGA. Yes, it was a laughable model and not a highlight in the annals of the history of General Motors, but next to my ancient, rusting Volkswagen Beetle complete with holes in the floorboards and a dubious heating system, it was a fine ride.

Off we go on our wedding day in that car of dreams, the mighty orange Vega...

Well, it turns out that she is (thankfully) not really a big orange fan; that's just what was happening in the late '70s. We are more into blues and natural wood and such now, although we still have the orange piano bench that came with the piano we bought the night before the blizzard of '78. It is orange's last hurrah around here, at least outside of Halloween.

SEEIN' RED

2010-08-09T20:28:00.003-04:00

Word is out that Jen has initiated a new meme dealing with color and basically working through the spectrum. So today it's Red Monday. So here is a picture of something red:
The caboose: retired vestige from a railroading past. I remember a short line train that used to squeak its way past our neighborhood twice a week. Usually maybe three or four boxcars and a caboose would follow the tired old switcher. Kids from down the tracks would hop on and ride the caboose into town. That's something that doesn't happen anymore, for a variety of reasons.

Now the railroads tack a tacky little blinking light on the last boxcar. Nobody to wave to, no romantic thoughts of riding the rails into the twilight. Just a blinking light wearing a battery down amidst all the very artful but illegible graffiti.

This particular caboose is on display in a park in North Baltimore, Ohio.

two pictures

2010-07-30T22:02:00.004-04:00

Two quick items to take care of tonight. First, there is this thing going around where people take their photo file that corresponds to their birth month, then the picture that corresponds to their birth day. So if I go to my ninth file and take the 21st picture, I get this:
Explanation: Well, my ninth file happens to be a file of my son's trip a few years ago to El Salvador, where he hung out at an orphanage run by a Cleveland transplant and her Salvadoran husband. This would be one of the residents of the orphanage and one of the college students who went on the trip. I am not sure what's up with the chair.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Second picture: We took a little hike in the woods not too far from home tonight and came upon this stump, and all I could think of was something like:

Sure, they may cut you down, but you just get back up and
hang in there!!!

Our Town

2010-07-28T20:28:00.002-04:00

Went over to Oberlin last night to see a production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town". Oberlin has a really laudable theater group that puts on free plays in the summer. Their mission as they see it is to allow folks and families of any income level the opportunity to take in a live play. They get a handful of real equity or guild (or whatever they call them) actors, but also cast their productions with Cleveland region people who have been on a few stages in their time, so the quality is quite excellent. And a few foundations and generous donors help foot the bill.

At least "Our Town" doesn't have much of a budget for set design. The stage is stark, with a couple trellises, two tables, some chairs...that's about it. And the construction of the play itself is pretty uncommon. The first act takes you through a typical day, at least through the eyes of a couple families and some passers-by who live in Grovers Corners, New Hampshire, with a population of a couple thousand people, give or take. The second act walks you through the courtshup and marriage of the son and daughter in the two spotlighted families. Just so I do not spoil things any further, I will just mention that the third act takes on a hue of its own, and is a bit more sad and reflective. It presents quite a comment on the human condition - but left me feeling a challenge somewhat akin to that presented in my last post about finding God in the ordinary. In this case, the challenge is to realize that all those details in life are what make up this life, so we should all pay attention and appreciate it while we are here on Earth.

I had never seen this play, so it was good to work it in. It was well done. The play debuted in 1936, so it has been around, but it has that timeless quality that speaks to us now as well as it spoke back in the 30's. The Oberlin company only diverted from Wilder's script in that Dr. Gibbs' family was played here by African Americans. The great thing about this was that it had nothing to do with the plot, and I never gave the racial angle a second thought.

Steve Miller is Right

2010-07-26T22:17:00.006-04:00

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future

-Steve Miller, "Fly Like an Eagle

Yeah, Steve seems to have it right when it comes to summer. We are moving right along. We do not have school aged kids anymore - haven't for some time - but I still cringe when I see the "Back to school" sale ads start up. And started, they have, to put it in Yodaspeak. Can the halloween candy be far away?

Relay for Life 2010

We have breezed through a Fourth of July full of activities, an evening of Relay for Life (as depicted in the out-of-focus picture way up top there), got to a square dance club picnic, and this past weekend we had 11 people and three dogs under roof, having a great old time celebrating some birthdays, including daughter Emily's. Our son William made her a personalized "cornhole" set that she believes may vie for the "best birthday present EVER." He did somehow capture the essence of Lilly, the puggle, in an uncanny fashion. Sometimes home-made is the best.

The Artist and his work

And just to keep us busy (and really, disgustingly sweaty, given the temperatures lately), Linda and I power washed, primed, and painted with the good glossy stuff, then installed on the existing posts, a set of cut-to-specs, pre-owned wooden railings for the deck. As of tonight, I pronounce the deck "substantially completed", as the contractors say. Some would no doubt declare it's about time we got around to doing SOMETHING about that deck.

Substantially Completed

Well, there's more to come as this summer barrels along. A trip back east, a week of dog-sitting the grand-dogs, possibly a play tomorrow night (a free offering of "Our Town" in Oberlin), visitors from Omaha, free tickets to the Toledo Zoo, and so on.

I hope you are enjoying your summer. I also hope we all canfind the time and place to take up our Pastor's challenge from last Sunday, if you wish, to slow down a bit, pause, and see if you can sight God and His work out there amid the bustle and madness. I plan to do that in a moment, out in a chair on the deck, dog at my side, cool glass of water in my hand, just listening to the crickets and locusts and watching the moon make its way up there behind the neighbor's pines.

A-Z Munchin' Monday - The Final Post?

2010-07-18T20:38:00.003-04:00

So we made it up to Z, and I scanned the food options for this final letter and came up with, well, pretty much zilch. I like zucchini bread, had some good ziti not long ago, and am no fan of zweiback, however you spell it. But none of these really rang my bell.

So I will use this final foodie post to note how happy I am with the Coca Cola company since they came up with Coke Zero. It is, in my view, a decent facsimile for the venerable old Coca Cola (as opposed to the failed "New Coke"). I have a couple twelve packs of it around here now.

Yes, I am one of those hypocrites who throws caution to the wind when eating - grabbing a burger and fries at least once in a while if at a fast food place - but I will ask for a Diet Coke, as if the lack of calories in that drink will somehow rub out the damage done by the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, large tub o'fries in lard, or what have you.

There was a time when high-test Coke was the pause that refreshed my buddies and me. In fact, one or two of them were serious coke-a-holics. We used to buy those eight packs of returnable bottles and would check the bottom of each bottle after ingesting the 16 ounces, reading out the name of the bottling city. I think we even kept track, being wowed by some of the more exotic or uncommon locales.

Then there was a guy named "Big Ralph" who, after downing a few Cokes, could belch out a "double Rumplestiltskin". We were in awe.

I led a pretty sheltered childhood, unlike many families of today where the coke, pepsi, dew, crush, or whatever is readily available. Our parents did not have pop (midwestern) or soda (eastern) or soft drinks (also east coast) around much. They would host a bridge club maybe twice a year, and then there might be some soda water around (yuck), and also some 7-Up. Other than that, it was a big deal to walk up to Gino's with the neighborhood kids and plunk down fifteen cents for an orange drink (my fave at the time).

Do you remember those promotions where, for example, Coca Cola printed all fifty states on the inside of their bottle caps, and if you collected all fifty, you could redeem them for prizes? I remember collecting them, but I kept the collection. We'd walk down to Linde's Sunoco and get the guy there to open his Coke machine and give us all the bottle caps from people using the bottle opener on the machine. Man, I sound like I am narrating some ancient history here!

I came to really like root beer, and still do enjoy one from time to time. Sometimes there is nothing better than a root beer float. Am I right?

In a restaurant that provides self-serve drinks, my latest trick is to pour about 5/6 of a glass of the diet cola of choice, and then top it off with root beer. It tastes quite a bit like the root beer.

I am glad that I never became a huge Mountain Dew fan. I know several who are. I have a feeling that stuff does nasty things to your innards, not to mention your teeth.

I know there is this whole Pepsi vs. Coke thing that has divided our nation for decades. And yes, I come down on the Coke side, although I never sigh audibly like some do when they ask for a Coke, hear that the place only serves Pepsi produces, and find that totally unacceptable. Pepsi is ok in my book; I just like Coke better - less sweet or something.

That's about all I can share regarding the world of soft drinks. I can take them or leave them pretty much, and I often prefer a raspberry iced tea, but I do like the occasional cold glass of Zero.

A big round of applause for Jen, who got this whole A-Z food thing going. I hope she's scheming up another one of these A-Z thingies, because they are pretty fun. And thanks to all who participated, whether from the very beginning or later on.

A-Z Munchin' Monday: How to deal with Y?

2010-07-11T13:47:00.002-04:00

Well, I have looked at some lists and nothing leaps out at me. Sure, I like yogurt; i tend to eat a lot of it at continental breakfasts at hotels. And yams and yellow squash are ok, but y'know, just OK.
So what we will do with Y is make a YUMMY list of some of the favorites ever, and to balance it out, a YUCKY list of stuff I would not or do not like to eat.

THE YUMMY LIST

1. A seafood platter I had with Linda at her Aunt's in Tom's River, NJ, many years ago. It was on the ocean, and the seafood was amazing. Not that deep fried stuff. Just wonderful.

2. Princess chicken served up at the House of Hunan somewhere on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Delicious and just hot enough. The guys I was with ordered something much hotter; their foreheads were perspiring but they were happy.

3. A hamburger I had as a high school aged kid in Ocean City in the off season. Just some hamburger joint made it, but I still recall it as excellent.

4. A really fine Italian meal some friends set up for us in a restaurant in Little Italy in Baltimore a few years back. Our friend Diana was sorta like a concierge at the time, and had some excellent connections - probably still does. The restaurant did something with romaine lettuce that was fairly incredible - sorta cooked it in the salad.

5. Linda's marble cake she makes for me without fail every birthday, topped with a couple scoops of (usually) vanilla ice cream. While we are on the topic of deserts, Linda's Mom could whip up a pie of excellence, working from experience and not recipes. There have been some true winners over the years.

6. Kudos also to my sis, Margaret, and her husband, who always ply us with wonderful meals when we visit. They have quite the touch in the kitchen. Just had a fine filet/shrimp salad/fruit salad/pasta/dinner rolls/appetizers/what am I forgetting? meal there last month.

7. This list could go on forever, but I will close with crabcakes. I would not be a true product of Baltimore without slapping those bad boys on the list. And more specifically, the cakes produced by G&M restaurant in Linthicum Heights, MD.

THE YUCKY LIST:

We have covered some of this ground over the weeks of A-Z, so sorry if I repeat myself.

1. Never will understand the South's fascination with hominy / grits. I just don't get it.

2. As much as Mom tried, I never acquired the taste for beets. I guess they are manageable when they are heavily pickled or something. But just the natural beet flavor does nothing for me. Cool color, though.

3. Then there's parsnips. Not sure God intended it as a food.

4. I tried escargot once. I did not become an escargot aficianado. Chalk it up as one of those inexplicable things the French like to do.

5. As a kid, I wanted no part of asparagus or scallops, two other items that Mom would serve up far too frequently (which could have been once a year for all I cared.) Funny how tastes change, though. Now I am a moderately big fan of both, if they are cooked enough and the texture is "right".

6. And speaking of texture, nothing is much worse in my view than a way undercooked sweet potato that is hard to chew and then has that "stringy" thing going on. On the other hand, it is hard to beat a properly cooked sweet potato with the butter and maybe cinnamon and/or brown sugar, etc...

Progressive Rock Utopia

2010-07-07T22:18:00.012-04:00

A couple weeks ago I made my ninth or tenth...who's counting?...pilgrimmage with a fellow music appreciator and childhood bud to the Northeast Art Rock Festival, or NEARFest, in Bethlehem, PA, on the beautiful campus of Lehigh University. If you are old enough to recall Yes and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and Jethro Tull, and Genesis back when Phil Collins was an excellent drummer and Peter Gabriel sang most of the stuff...well, that's at least part of what I am talking about. A lot of pretentiousness and bombast, but mostly people trying to follow their muse and the "different drummer" in their head. Anyhow, I enjoy the music that pushes some boundaries. So anyway, for those two or three of you who are still reading with any interest, bless you, and here is the wrap up.

Last things first: Eddie Jobson was the last headliner. He has a long resume and has been associated over his career with Frank Zappa, Roxy Music, Jethro Tull, a spot of King Crimson, and probably some more stuff. Anyhow, he wields an odd plastic, luninescent violin, but I really like his keyboard work. He brought a powerhouse band with him, including two drummers who got into an interminable "drum-off", and Billy Sheehan, who was subdued on bass. It was a good, kinda muscular set, but Eddie put out a "no photos" message and I obeyed.

Back to the beginning. A band called Astra took the stage and channeled Echoes era Pink Floyd among other things. They capture the classic essence of Mellotron drenched prog excellently and it was a great set.
Something from France called Forgas Band Phenomena, next lent their blend of fusion to the affair. A nice blend of instruments, kicking of the "year of the violin/fiddle".
Third up on Saturday was a personal favorite of mine. Called Iona, they hail from Ireland and are named for an island off the Emerald Isle that was settled by Celtic Christians centuries ago. Many of their songs echo the beliefs of that ancient group. Best uilleann pipes ever (over on the left). ONLY uilleann pipes ever.
Last up Saturday was "Three Friends", a tribute band of sorts to Gentle Giant, a '70s band that crafted complex music that included things like recorder trios, odd a cappella madrigals, and xylophone passages. This band included original GG guitarist Gary Green and drummer Malcolm Mortimore. They reproduced the original music quite well, even though I understand the vocalist was called in at rather the last minute.
Sunday started with Moraine, a sort of avant music band that stretched into some ethnic things like regional Chinese music and such. It helped round out the weekend's music and the low-frequency sax was quite effective in holding up the bottom.
Back to relative mainstream music with The Pineapple Thief, a band of youngsters who could probably position themselves in more popular genres, kinda of going after the Radiohead/ Porcupine Tree crowd. But here they were, and I really enjoyed at least a couple of their tunes.
This brings us to the next-to-last band, and I have already covered the last. This was the Enid, a couple members of which had been around back in the 70's. They were sort of an after-the-fact band back in the day, trying to ride the coattails of some of the greats I listed up front. However, after a computer glitch that took them down for a few minutes, they launched the most pretentious (and I mean it in a good way), orchestrated set I have heard in a long time. The band founder (over on the left) played a keyboard connected to who knows how much software in order to play like a complete orchestra, with strings followed by flutes followed by brass, as needed. I have no idea how one pulls this off. Then there was the bass/xylophone/huge drum/tympani player (the guy on the right)... Quite a set.
Quite a weekend.

A mellotron. Makes sounds by running a tape of prerecorded strings, or flutes, choir, etc.,
in the corresponding pitch for each key. Really old-timey technology. I don't care. I want one.

A-Z Munchin' Monday - X, the Challenging Letter

2010-07-04T15:23:00.004-04:00

Well, this is a stretch, but anything is when you have to come up with something that begins with the letter X. I looked on some wiki answer site for "foods beginning with X" and came up with the word, xiangcaojing, which is Chinese for VANILLA. Like I said, it's a stretch.

But, hey, now we're talking food that matters! For most of my childhood, I was perfectly happy to get a bowl of VANILLA ice cream! Perhaps this was before the era of Moose Tracks and Ben and Jerry's crazy menu (Cherry Garcia, anyone?).

Vanilla was my fave, probably because you could dump practically anything on it, topping-wise, and it would complement it nicely. I still fancy a cone or bowl of vanilla ice cream, be it hard-as-rocks outta the freezer, or that "soft-serv" stuff you can extract from the machine at the finer all-you-cab-eat steak houses and Chinese buffets (look for the sign that says "xiangcaojing"). I really like that chocolate "shell" stuff you can pour on some vanilla ice cream, and it hardens around the scoops. Excellent! (Or, this week, x-cellent).

And since we already took care of watermelons last week, it seems to me that a bowl of vanilla ice cream (not French vanilla, mind you) is perhaps one of the next-best patriotic, American things to ingest over this weekend, up there near hot dogs (of which I had one today, nitrate-free - is that still American enough?) particularly if topped with red, white and blue sprinkles.

So I hope you all have a great Fourth of July weekend, what's left of it, and that we can all escape the acrimony and the bad news of the day and remember that, even if we Americans don't appear to have a very good handle on the affairs of state all the time, the founders seemed to have some great ideas regarding how to kick this country off, keep it going, and for the most part, that recipe has served us pretty well for centuries, and I daresay it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

A-Z Munchin' Monday: What Else?

2010-06-27T21:43:00.006-04:00

After what seems like WEEKS of travel, it is good to be back here at Streetpolo World Headquarters on a Sunday night to take care of business. And this week's letter, as we creep toward the end, is W. So I figured, with Independence Day USA coming up this July 4, and all the picnics and backyard barbecues and such taking place, what better food to symbolize our patriotic picnicing than the WATERMELON? Who doesn't enjoy it when you dig into one of these green and red babies and discover that perfect texture and sweet, sweet taste? Plus, in the standard, traditional version, you get those slick little seeds that are great spittin' if you are, indeed, outdoors somewhere, and wantin' to rile up Betty Jean over there by shootin' a seed into her hair.

They have come up with seedless versions. In my experience, those mutations are usually just not as good and sweet as the seedy kind. I usually find it worthwhile to abide by the seeds.

Remember when the big news was the Japanese coming up with a cubic version of the watermelon, easy for stacking and storing? Somehow, I do not believe those little boxes of goodness ever really caught on, or maybe they are priced too high. In any case, I have never actually seen one, and I view it skeptically as man messing with something that nature has already perfected. Maybe as a cheap building block or something.

Japanese cubic watermelons

I cannot conclude my W report without a shout-out to one of nearby Lake Erie's finer products, the Walleye. It's a fine sport fish up there, and pretty good eating too. A couple counties away, up in Port Clinton, every New Year's Eve, they lower this twenty foot, 600 pound walleye for their big Walleye Drop. Gimmicky, perhaps, but a fine way to start the new year. So here's a toast to the Walleye.

Port Clinton Walleye Drop

For those so inclined, have a Wonderful Fourth (and all the other days this week, while you're at it!). And check out other Wonderful food concepts via Jen's blog.

A-Z Munchin' Monday - way early - V

2010-06-17T19:39:00.008-04:00

V this week stands for VERY HOT FISH. While up in Wisconsin's Door County, we enjoyed the thrill of a uniquely local custom called a FISH BOIL. They've been doing this up there for 150 years or so. They heat up this kettle of freshly caught Lake Michigan Whitefish, potatoes, and nice mild onions. Then after 25 minutes or so, the man in charge hollers "Overboil!" and tosses some fuel upon the fire, making a mighty volcano out of the whole thing. They remove the food from the kettle, and serve up one heck of a delicious meal. I understand a lot of butter and salt is involved...Anyhow, I believe the pictures tell the story, so here it is.

I've been home 24 hours and have to ramble on again, and leaving my computer home for others to use, so I am posting this now, since I may not have another chance before Monday.
Happy Weekend!
-fin-

GOATS ON THE ROOF!

2010-06-15T12:21:00.006-04:00

What a brilliant marketing poly. This restaurant out here in, I think, Sister Bay, back in 1973, went for a sod roof, and loaded some goats up there to graze as tourists walk by, note the goats, pull out cameras, and more than a few decide to stop in and eat. And no, they do not serve goat meat. These guys are for show only.

Munchin' Monday: U

2010-06-13T23:22:00.008-04:00

I admit it; I am stumped as to a good "U" food. So, I am just going to report on my utterly, ultimately, ultra-fine dinner I just had downtown in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin up in Door County. It was baked salmon with just the right amount of butter and spices, a baked potato, and a nice mix of veggies (hmm..."veggies"...next week?) They talked us into splitting an Unbelievably fine desert too, a sort of chocolate bundt cake with some ice cream, but it doesn't start with a U either, except for being uber-tasty!

Meanwhile, down the block, they were wrapping up this weekend music festival which raises money to save their old steel bridge across Sturgeon Bay. This kid couldn't have been more than 10 or 12, but they introduce him and he strolls up to the microphone, says "This first song is called "Crossroads", and he proceeds to rip into the old Robert Johnson blues standard. I'm thinking "He's maybe twelve. How has he felt the blues enough to pull this off?" But he did. Followed it up with a Jimi Hendrix song, too.
Here's a shot of the steel bridge fest venue with the object of the fest in the background...
..and a little bit of our more peaceful surroundings up here...

The Badger Comes in to Port

2010-06-12T13:50:00.005-04:00

The Badger is the last of the steamers to ply the waters of the great Lakes, making the Luddington MI to Manitowoc WI round trip twice daily. We watched it dock in Manitowoc this morning.

The New (to me) Athletic Center at Kenyon College

2010-06-10T21:30:00.010-04:00

Checked it out at the reunion last weekend - the place is awesome. The reunion was fun, too.
Always good to get back on "the magic mountain"...

A-Z Munchin' Monday: Grandma's Toll House Cookies

2010-06-07T21:24:00.003-04:00

I knew all along what I had to pick for the letter T: Toll House Cookies. And not just any toll house cookies. These would be the toll house cookies baked by my Grandma back on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

We spent much of our childhood summers at Grandma's house in the woods, on the water, and there was lots for a bunch of cousins with fertile imaginations to do, inside and (mainly) outside. But at the end of the day, when we were tired and weary from a day of hard play, there was absolutely nothing better than to sit down in the kitchen with a glass of cold milk and a plate of Grandma's fresh-out-of-the-oven toll house cookies. That was the best.

Actually, so was Grandma. She was the embodiment of that old adage, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything." Except she never, to my knowledge, had anything bad to say anyway. To Grandma, pretty much, it was all good.

And so was the time at her house in the woods, on the water. It was pretty much an idyllic place to visit while growing up. She eventually moved to a ranch style home in town. Easier to get around, and no need for that drive in to shop or take care of business. But the cookies were still just as good.

In the fall of my freshman year of college, the universally sought-after "care package" arrived one day. It was toll house cookies from Grandma. They were beat up a bit, smacked around and crushed into small, bite-size pieces. But it didn't matter at all - they tasted wonderful. It was a huge boost to a freshman missing some of the comforts of home.

To this day, I love it when I come upon a plate of toll house cookies, especially if they come close to resembling Grandma's. Not only do they taste great, but they have the power to transport me, at least in my mind for a moment, to a certain house in the woods, on the water.

Random Ohio

2010-06-02T21:23:00.015-04:00

I saw a feature in a magazine ("American Demographics", it was called) once where a guy drove across the USA in an old Lincoln and took a picture every X miles (I forget - maybe every 10 or 20). It turned out the USA is pretty boring when you randomly slice it up that way, but today I found myself 130-some miles from home, with a camera. So I figured it would give me something to do (besides drive...) if I snapped a picture every 10 miles. The rule was it had to be when the trip odometer hit the exact multiple of 10.0.

Oh, also, this is the quickest way from McConnelsville (in SE Ohio) to my house (in NW Ohio), and it happens to be mainly along 2 lane state highways. It took three hours, almost even.

Mile 0.0. We start in the town square here in McConnelsville. I've grown to really like this little town. It is an island unto itself, out in the middle of nowhere.

Mile 10.0. Just happened to be crossing the county line into Muskingum County (as depicted on the sign there). This is State Route 60 headed north. The Muskingum River is just out of sight to the left, paralleling the road.
Mile 20.0. Further up 60, headed for Zanesville. Lots of little extraction businesses around here, mining the sand and gravel out of the earth.
Mile 30.0. This last leg got us pretty much clear through Zanesville. I was hoping for a shot of some City sight, like crossing the river, or the big ol' Genesis hospital I passed, but you gotta play by the rules. This is the "outer reaches" of the city on the northwest side. That smear on the windsheild was bothersome; I took care of it when i gassed up in Mount Vernon.
At mile 40.0, I shot this picture on the fly through the right window. There in the middle of the field, walled like a fortress, was someone's family cemetery. You can see one of the larger obelisks (?) poking up there. Kind of odd, I thought, how history treats places like this.
Mile 50.0 Nothing spectacular; just an intersection somewhere south of Mount Vernon.
Mile 60.0. Closing in on Mount Vernon. I passed through the small town of Martinsville or Martindale; never can remember what follows "Martins". Maybe it's Martinsburg. Yeah, that sounds right. Anyhow, here we have "Yoder's Cider Barn", out the left window. Sounds Amish, and Amish abound in the area, but with these trucks sitting around and what looks like an RV over there on the right, I'm thinking it is not very high order.
Mile 70.0 and over halfway home. Ah, the urbanity of it all! The sprawl of it all! Coming into Mount Vernon. It is that city's bad fortune that my random odometer reading came up in this relatively ugly,nondescript, could-be-anywhere location, rather than a mile back, with lovely old homes and Mount Vernon Nazarene College, or a mile further, in their lovely central business district. I do have some emotional attachment to this area though, as it is roughly the location of what was Beck's ice cream establishment. In my college days, bunches of us would visit Beck's for the best ice cream sandwiches I've ever had. Now it's Golden Arches, kids.
Mile 80.0. Inexplicably, around Fredericktown, State Route 13 goes all four lane, limited access on you. Not sure why; the traffic counts are not spectacular. It just blosssoms into a highway of some note, then four miles or so later, it's back to the two-lane again. This cannot be due to the incredible local traffic generated by Fredericktown; trust me on this! But someone must have known a Congress person or something around here to get this feat accomplished. Pork!
Mile 90.0. Drove right through Belleville, a nice little town that used to have a smorgasbord everyone knew about, famous for its frogs' legs. The place is out of business now, and the Belleville frogs are sighing in relief. Anyhow, here we are north of Belleville on the road to Mansfield.

Mile 100.0 even. Coming out of downtown Mansfield. It was a roll of the dice with this place; could have shown some unsavory areas, or could have seen the fairly nice central park area. All told, for Mansfield, this ain't too bad a shot...
Mile 110.0. back in the "sticks" again. A fine little slice of Americana here further up 13.
Mile 120.0. Oh, the hours I have spent over my lifetime waiting at this particular crossing! They are slated to build an overpass here some day, but evidently not soon, since they are in the process of paving the road right now. The trained eye will spot the pavement texture indicating that it has been stripped for a new coat of asphalt.
Last shot at mile 130.0. This little guy was welcoming me home, I guess. Not that this barn or farm is home. But I live less than ten miles from this spot, so the random experiment in capturing Ohio was over right here.

I draw few conclusions from the whole enterprise, aside from the fact that it sort of kept me occupied and made the trip go a bit faster. I do not recommend it to anyone, as I suppose there is some danger in photographing the landscape while piloting a car hurtling along a country road at 55+ miles per hour. I didn't really work too hard at looking at the image on the screen, and pretty much just took what I got; I've done this a lot over the years, for various reasons.

I guess one conclusion is that, for the most part, this state is pretty dang rural, acreage-wise. I could have taken the Interstate, but it zig-zags to get up where I needed to be, not very much as the crow flies. Maybe a severely impaired crow that had imbibed a bit too much of the corn squeezin's. Anyhow, along the Interstate, you still would have seen woods and fields in most shots; just a lot more concrete and a lot more traffic.

A-Z Monday: A Smorgasbord of S Foods

2010-05-30T15:29:00.008-04:00

The letter S presents a challenge to this food series. There are so many great S foods, yet there is no one in particular that leaps out at me as being THE "S" food. So I must list a handful of the ones that, if they are not leaping out, they are at least limping forward.
First, in honor of Memorial Day, great summer-like weather, and grills being fired up everywhere, we salute the STEAK. What carnivore doesn't like the occasional steak, whether rare ("moo") or well done (charcoal). I prefer somewhere in the middle.
Next up is SPAGHETTI. It is not my favorite Italian dish, but I am always agreeable when Linda says "How about spaghetti tonight?" It's fun. And always entertaining to watch the dog eat a spaghetti noodle.

Then there is the plethora of "S" SEAFOOD: You have your SHRIMP (my sister used to love shrimp on her birthday, for years) and SCALLOPS (my mom used to love scallops, not necessarily on her birthday), and, well, we just had some really tasty SALMON patties.

The salmon patties were helped out, so my son and I thought, by some SALSA. In this case, some salsa verde, you know, the green kind. I got familiar with S.V. during a trip to New Mexico a number of years ago. I noted that the Wendy's in Santa Fe would slather salsa on your burger if so ordered. Salsa is good on lots of things, and not just Mexican food. I am a big fan, although "medium" is about as far as I go, hotness-wise.
A nod to STRAWBERRIES. They are ripening soon if not already around here, and Linda and I will undoubtedly make our annual trip to someone's strawberry patch and pick 'til we're sick of the whole process.
A shout out to the typical lunch menu choices of SOUP, SALAD, and SANDWICH, though we will have to wait until W to cover the increasingly popular Wrap.

Finally, S has the corner on bad breakfast meats. I refer to SPAM, about which the Monty Python troupe wrote a wonderful tribute, and SCRAPPLE, which, along with SAUSAGE (which I admit that I enjoy once in a while), fits into the "don't ask/don'tell the ingredients" category.
To end on a healthful note, we just picked some SPINACH leaves and, along with the salmon and salsa, they helped make a delicious sandwich.

It's Bloomin' Nuts Out There

2010-05-25T20:38:00.015-04:00

We usually get our flowers blooming sequentially -
one species, then another, and then another.
But this crazy, sultry summer weather has caused a bunch of 'em to pop,
as evidenced below.
The heat and a good walk gets the dog's tongue to pop as well...