Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year for 2016

Sunny and around 50 degrees...  a little respite from the Global Warming heat wave we've been having.

A Thoughtful Gift

Yesterday, my son, Chris, and his wife, Kathleen, presented me with a framed color photograph showing my "newly-found"  grandmother standing in the midst of the beautiful flowers that she cultivated.  Very nice!

OXFORD Dictionary Word of the Year for 2016

The Nation magazine cryptic puzzle for February 27, 2017 contained nine of the ten words that the editors of the Oxford Dictionary selected as new and potent words that were in almost universal English usage in 2016.  They were tasked with picking the most appropriate word.  Here are all ten words in contention:

ADULTING - Behaving like a responsible adult.

ALT-RIGHT - An extreme conservative and reactionary viewpoint.  Having deliberate controversial content.

BREXITEER - A person in favor of the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union.

CHATBOT -  A computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet.

COULROPHOBIA - Extreme or irrational fear of clowns.

GLASS CLIFF - Related to a woman or member of a minority group ascending to a leadership position that has high risk.

HYGGE -  Quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality allowing a feeling of well-being. (A characteristic of Danish culture.)

LATINX - A person of Latin American origin or descent.  This is the gender neutral alternative to
Latino or Latina.

POST-TRUTH - "Belonging to a time in which the specified concept has become unimportant or irrelevant."  (Huh?   Better... read as "after the truth was known.)

WOKE  -  Alert  to injustice in society, especially racism.  (United States slang.)


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And the winner was...............  POST-TRUTH.

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What words or phrases would you have picked?  Alternate/alternative  Facts?
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Crossword Clues; Taco; Docents; Simpson; Brain; Language; The President; Wait, Wait

It's getting hotter.

Miscellaneous Stuff

As a typical Mensa member, my thoughts and actions bounce around constantly and everything seems to interest me.  Therefore, most of my blogs do not stay on one subject for very long, for instance:

Crossword Puzzle Learning

I found an interesting crossword puzzle in a free newspaper.  It caused me to think a bit and I got acquainted with some things that I did not yet know.

Taco

I thought this was a Mexican delicacy... but it also is the name of a famous German song and dance man.  Why I didn't know that, since I read a German newspaper, is amazing to me.  One of Taco's famous bits is his version of "Puttin' on the Ritz."  Fred Astaire he's not, but he is good, in my opinion.  His 'Ritz performance can be seen online, and one can see the part of it that had to be censored.. He had some fellow dancers apply "blackface," which was offensive to many people.

Guideline?

Apparently, when one volunteers to act as a docent, one is given the following rule to follow:

"The decent docent doesn't doze."  Makes sense to me.

Homer Simpson?

I have made it a self-imposed rule never to watch certain TV shows, that I have read "slamming" reviews about.  The Simpsons is one of them. I know, I'm probably missing a lot of good entertainment.  At least, that is what my son says.

Anyway, the crossword clue was:  "Physical attribute of Homer Simpson."

Answer: Beerbelly

Well, if he likes beer that much, he must be ok, and maybe I should watch his show.

Tricky Clue

Largest facets of many diamonds.

Answer:  Outfields.   (boo!)

Stupid me.. it took me a long time to figure this one out.

 Segue 

According to Sherry Stick, Harvard Health Publications came up with some "tips" to keep your tired old brain active:

1.  Keep learning throughout your life (languages; piano; etc)

2.  Use all of your senses
3.  Believe in yourself
4.  Economize your brain use (keep a place for everything, to minimize searching)
5.  Repeat what you want to learn (and write it down)
6.  Use mnemonic devices to help you remember (like Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge)
7.  (I forgot this tip!)

Language Learning

As I mentioned, I have been relearning German through 30 minutes study each day.  However, my learning is through my reading aloud.  It would be better to relearn by using a tutor, who could interact with you through conversation.

The Week magazine says: "... adults learn the rules of grammar and pronunciation and use them to put sentences together -  little kids learn language by talking."

El Presidente

I'm sorry, but I feel a need to continue remarking about our president.  He is so newsworthy.  In fact, no matter what news program I plug into, any time, whether on radio or TV.  Everyone is talking about President Trump.

Mr. President, please remember that "ready, shoot, aim"  doesn't always work.

Tom Nichols, a Naval War College professor and supposedly not a Trump fan, says: "(the immigration order) is not actually a Muslim ban" and the "takeover" of the Voice of America was also dictated by law.  (Scary)

Rachel Madow suggests that one should treat the current administration as a silent movie.  Don't listen to the talk; watch the action.

Did Sean Spicer say that the President doesn't own a bathrobe?

Did someone say that members of the new administration could not find out how to turn on the lights in the East Wing?

Elaine's young granddaughter is studying equations in school, and she made up this one:

T= RUMP > Burnie

Elaine suggests that the Oval  Office should now be called the "Rumper Room."  

(I assume everyone knows about the Baltimore based TV show for kids with the title:  "Romper Room.")

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me

I was wrong about WAMU airing of this show.  It is still airing on Saturday and Sunday.  But my stupidity allowed my technically proficient son to show me how to get it as a PodCast.  The ability to get PodCasts has opened the door to many hours of enjoyment.  I love that son of mine.

Show excerpts that caught my attention:

A New York winery is selling wine made especially for cats.  Someone named it "cat bernet."

Monopoly will no longer use a thimble as one of its pieces.  (Was it because it would remind people that women used a thimble to sew, when they were subservient servants to their domineering husbands?)

Remember to try Goat Yoga, that fun exercise and enlightening procedure developed by Lainey Morse in Albany, Oregon.   (Someone argued that Albany is in New York... not Oregon... and not Georgia!)

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Enough for now, mes amis.

Bye Bye Cursive; Joint Replacement; Shakespeare; Lye Soap; Wine; Houston; Bad Pills; Bro's; Ten Commandments

Spring weather continues... sunny and not quite so warm... 54 degrees... a bit above normal I'm sure.

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Cursive

My German newspaper reports that German handwriting is disappearing.  I've mentioned this before... even though I am an American.. I am able to read and write German script... handwriting.  It's a bit hard to learn for an American, but little German kids have learned it for ages... but not for long.  I feel that is a shame.

Breakthrough Operation

Dave Barry swears this is true.  He writes in the Funny Times for February 2017:  "Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital ... have performed the first successful penis transplant in the United States.  The patient's name: ... Manning."

No Way!

Harper's says that the Oxford University Press co-credits three of Shakespeare's plays to Christopher Marlowe.

Grandma's Old Fashioned Lye Soup

Scientists have now decided that the old bar soap is much better for you to use than current anti-bacterial soaps and washes which contain "endocrine disrupting" chemicals.  When I was a boy, my great grandmother would make this strong-smelling lye soap that she gave to us to use.   I hated it. It smelled bad and was tough enough to scrub your skin off, so as soon as I had a few cents, I would buy nice-smelling soap for me to use. When we moved into her house upon her demise, we found cases of this strong soap, ready for dispensing to family members.

Wine Snob?

Poor Joe Lentini tried to impress his girl friend by ordering a nice bottle of wine.  He asked the waitress for her suggestion.  She recommended a 2011 bottle of  Screaming Eagle" for just "thirty seven fifty."  At the end of the meal, Joe almost fainted when he saw the bill: the wine cost $3,750 instead of $37.50!  The restaurant reluctantly lowered the bill to $2,200.  (Joe didn't even like the wine.)

Magic Numbers

I'm probably wrong about this, but I believe that I heard NPR  say there are 165 golf courses in the greater Houston, Texas area.  That was in 2011.  In 2017, I heard another person on NPR say there are 170 languages spoken in the Houston area.  These figures boggle my mind.

Speaking of Houston, Kate Murphy is a journalist in Houston that writes often in the New York Times. She recently wrote about New York baker, Jim Lahey, and one of his favorite books is "Assholes: A Theory" by Aaron James.  Sounds intriguing; I'll have to check for it on Kindle.

Amazing (to me) Information

The Funny Times for July 2016 printed some items from Harper's Index.  I found all of the items interesting, but these two more than others:

At least 150,000 Beijing residents live in underground bomb shelters.

In a class action suit alleging that Subway's Footlong sandwiches were not really a foot long, each member received an award of $500.

Pills

Elaine and I take lots and lots of pills.  The Public Citizens's Health Research Groups, in the Worst Pills, Best Pills News, says that we should NEVER take the following pills, that we take:

CELEBREX

GLUCOSAMINE AND CHONDROITIN
'
SYNEPHRINE

TRICOR

I'm not sure we still take the last two pills, but we did (either Elaine or I)

Donnie and Bebe

Check  out this picture from the New York Post.  What is Bebe trying to say by his smirk?

Hutzpah!

Chuck Shepherd reports about Peter Jensen of Athol, Idaho, who filed a lawsuit against the State transportation department when his license to drive was canceled because he did not have a license plate on his car.  He is suing for almost 6 million dollars in damages because "there is nothing about 'license plates' in the Ten Commandments."
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German Stuff

Ah! Spring is here!  Well, at least for  yesterday and today.  70 degrees and sunny.  I accompanied our cat on our back deck.  We sat in the sun, absorbing Vitamin D until it got too hot.... imagine that.. it's still February.

German Stuff

My news sources are:

The New York Times (Sunday edition)
The Week magazine (But Elaine hogs it)
BBC News on DC's WAMU
The Carroll County Times (Local news)
The Baltimore Sun (on my Kindle)
The Washington Post (on my Kindle)
The Sunday Talk Shows (on CSPAN)
The New Bedford Standard Times (on my Kindle)
CNN News Shows on TV
MSNBC News Shows on TV
CBS News Shows on TV
Fox News (yes, even Fox News)

(please note that Internet news is usually false, so I sometimes read it, but usually discredit it)

But... even with all of these sources (glut), something is missing.  Yes.. you guessed it: A view of the world's news by European eyes.  I think that I get that viewpoint from a German newspaper, even though published in the United States.

Some of you know that I majored in Germanic Languages and Literature at Boston University.  At one time, I thought in German and translated to English.  Through disuse (non-use) my German skills deteriorated until I have become a neophyte when it comes to the German language.

Lately, many gerontologists suggest that to ward off Alzheimer and Dementia, a good  way is to study a foreign language.  So, since I knew German once..  I will now try to learn it again, and one way to do so is to subscribe to a new news source: Amerika Woche, which is a German language weekly, as the name suggests: A weekly view of the world  published in German in the United States of America.  Here are some of the contents of the latest edition:

A report that a deep-sea video filmer found the wreckage of a German U-Boat 900 meters deep in the waters off Azores.  The submarine was sunk by a British Destroyer in February 1942.

Lots of information about Turkey politics and German interaction with Turkish officials.

Information about how to take advantage of methods to save energy.

Scary words about "The Moslim Brotherhood" and the fear in parts of Germany about the implementation of Scharia law.

Information about Austrian elections.

An article about the Cowboy Church  going "big time" in Fort Worth, Texas.

Information on sanctions placed against Russia by the European Union.

A report that Chetchen (sp?) purchased 20 German tanks... to protect themselves from Russian oppression.

Surprising statistics, for example:  In Graz, Austria, every third school child is Moslem.

News about a 70 year old Swiss woman who attacked a car that was attempting to take her parking place.  She bashed it with a broom.

Information about Six Swiss soldiers who were disciplined for stomping a German Cross in the snow and then giving  a "Hitler Gruss mit ausgestrecktem Arm."  (That's the old "Heil Hitler" greeting.)

News from Edinburgh, Scotland about a new Winter drink, consisting of Gin, Tonic and Coffee.  One should drink this after meals.

News that Copenhagen, Denmark, has opened a movie theater for 250 patrons, who can watch a show with their shoes off, reclining on couches.

A report on the Zapp family that has been traveling around the world for 17 years in their 80-year old Graham-Paige automobile.

An article about the Mapuche indigenous people in Chile and Argentina who are fighting the good fight over their land rights.

News that a  Roman shipwreck was found 70 meters deep off Mallorca.  It appears that it was transporting lots of wine in amphorae ...   1800 years ago... when it sank.  Divers found it when they came upon a "mountain of wine containers."

A story about life in Antarctica.

A section containing "Not very nice things" being said about President Trump from Frankfurt, Brussels, Turin, Paris, and Madrid. (It sounds to me that folks in Europe think Mr. Trump is not right for the job.)
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Now... tell me... where could I get this input from an American source?

Also... My German newspaper has puzzles that I like: for instance:

This is the German equivalence of our daily crossword puzzle.  I find such puzzles fun to do, while increasing my knowledge of the language.

This is called a Nuernberger Trichter for some reason.  As I show, one starts with a letter and then adds another to it based on the clues.  These are a bit harder than the daily puzzle type above.

This is called a Magische Figur (Magic Figure)... it's similar to some of our American puzzles, except for the double clue for one of the numbers.  Also fun to do.

I've found that if I get stuck (often)  in a German puzzle, I can type the clue into Google, add the word "Kreuzwortraezel"  and get access to sites that may point to the correct German answer.

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So... if you are getting older and want to have some fun while holding off Alzheimers... why not try to learn German.  Subscribing to Amerika Woche  could help.
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Auf Wiedersehen!

Lewis Carroll

Sunny and a little cool.  Supposed to be 70 degrees this weekend.

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
   " To  talk of many things;
Of shoes. - and ships - and sealing wax -.
   Of cabbages - and kings -
And why the sea is boiling hot-
   And whether pigs have wings."

Yesterday, I reread a book called Diversions and Digressions of Lewis Carroll...
edited by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood....(Lewis Carroll's "real" name was
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.)

This book was originally published under the title The Lewis Carroll Picture Book.. and there are over one hundred copied photographs contained in the book.  Mr. Carroll was a "master photographer" at a time (late 1800's) when few people knew how to take a "photo portrait." Remember that in order to get a good picture, one had to hold a pose for a long time.  I was told that this is why most people look grumpy in such old photos.

Lewis Carroll was also quite a mathematician, with theories on the value of "pi."  He also discovered new ways to do long division and multiplication.  His "steps" to solution were quite well thought out, but, to my mind too much trouble to put into effect.  I think that it would be better just to do the math the old way.  (I wonder what he would have thought about pocket computers.)

He also discovered the magic number 142857

285714 twice that number
428571 three times that number
571428 four times that number
714285 five times that number
857142 six times that number
999999 seven times that number

(Begin at the "1" in each line and it will be the same order of figures except for the last line.)

Mr. Carroll invented "doublets".. one of the puzzle types that I like to work on.  Here is an example:

Change one  letter in each link until you reach the end word:

HEAD
-------
-------
-------
-------
TAIL

Carroll's solution:

HEAD
HEAL
TEAL
TELL
TALL
TAIL

You know, of course, that Mr. Carroll wrote "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass."  These books are supposed to be for kids, but as a book called "The Annotated Alice" reports, there were lots of hidden "inside"material within those stories.

And, Mr. Carroll was the inventor of words, remember:

"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe."

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
the jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
 Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Banderswnatch!"

Mr. Carroll does give some clues about his words, and I mess around here with a few of them:

"brillig" comes from the verb to bryl or broil. "The time of broiling dinner, i.e., the close of the afternoon."

"slithy"  a compound of slimy and lithe.

"tove"  a species of badgers... with smooth white hair, long hind legs, and horns like a stag.  They were reported to subsist on cheese.

"gyre"  "to scratch like a dog

"gimble"  .. from gimblet "to screw out holes in anything."

"wabe"  from swab and soak... meaning the side of the hill soaked from the rain.

That's enough, don't you think?

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P.S.  Here is my favorite Lewis Carroll poem:

"How doth the little crocodile
   Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
   On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
   How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
   With gently smiling jaws!

This poem probably was the inspiration for this song: (First stanza)

Never smile at a crocodile
No, you can't get friendly with a crocodile.
Don't be taken in by his welcome grin
H's imagining how well you'd fit within his skin.

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TIME

Still unseasonal... 50 degrees.

TIME

Time flies like the wind
Fruit flies like bananas.

The New York times book review for February 12, 2017 discusses the book (Why Time Flies  (A Mostly Scientific Investigation)  by Alan Burdick.  Alan says that our brain, body and cells all keep track of time in ways that we do not understand. "Time is not only something we live immersed in, like fish in water, but also an element of our lives with which we constantly struggle, which drives us crazy..."

I'm anxious to find out why I always seem to know what time it is without looking at a clock.  I hope to learn this from Alan's book.  Also, why does time seem to travel faster as we age.. like the sand in an hour glass speeding up when the sand is almost all transferred from top to bottom.

It's funny how we talk about "time"....

American Slang:

"I'm having a good time."

"I wouldn't give him the time of day."

"I need some time off."

The Romans:

Horace:  "When evil times prevail, take care to preserve the serenity of your heart."

Horace: "Immortalia ne speres, monet annus et almum Quae rapit hora diem. "

"That you hope for nothing to last for ever, is the lesson of the revolving year and of the flight of time which snatches from us the sunny days."

Shakespeare:

The Rape of Lucrece:

"Time's glory is to calm contending kings,
To unmask falsehood, and bring truth to light."

The Tempest

"What seest thou else
In the backward and abysm of time?"

Milton

On Time

"Fly, envious  Time, till  thou run out  thy race:
Call on  the lazy leaden-stepping hours."

Lewis Carroll

Alice

I can't find it anywhere, but I think I recall the Queen telling Alice that it is "a queer kind of time that only goes one way."  But... think about that... why does time only go one way? What did Einstein say about that?  What did Isaac Asimov say about that?  Why is time travel impossible..... or is it?

The Mad Hatter: "If you knew Time as well as I do, you wouldn't talk about wasting it."



Oh Oh... I've run out of time.  Bye!

Cycle of Life; Generating Energy; ACLU; President Trump; Drugs and Guns; Quotations; Five Years Ago

Ahoy!  You landlubbers need to feather your jibs ...  windy!  Some breezes over 60 mph.  But the temperature is still at record highs.  At night, we listen to the wind whistling through the clapboards.. or was that in New England?.. here it just shakes the house.

The Great Cycle of Life

Today I went to another friend's funeral.  He was only 73 years old... these days.. that is not very old.  His father was one of the first specification checkers for the Apollo Space Missions.  His mother was a close friend to my late wife for years.  We watched the kids in this family grow up.  And now one is gone.... Time flies very fast.

A few days ago, I went to the funeral of another friend.  She was 90 years old, but her mind was still very sharp.  Maybe I mentioned this before... as an old Dude, I reserve the honor of repeating myself.  She had a the typical American family:  college educated children, now in their 60's and 70's and mostly retired;  grandchildren in the Arts, medicine  and manufacturing; great grandchildren in school.

Heterosexual; married; unmarried; gay; caucasian; African American; Protestant; Catholic; Jewish; Athiest; able and disabled.    As I said, a wonderful typical American family, just like mine.  As I said before, I love America for its diversity!

How about some Information from the Funny Times for March 2017?


Energy Generators

Raymond Lesser gives some tips on how to generate power:

1.  Get 10,000 little fans going at once. Use a big rubber band.
2.  Set up miniature wind turbines on our roofs.
3.  Put windmills on top of utility poles, schools and billboards.
4.  Build a flush-controlled turbine in everybody's toilet.
5.  Attach battery storage devices to hyperactive puppies.
6.  Attach generators to Grandmas' rocking chairs.
7.  Harness the hot air out of the mouth of politicians.
.
From Harper's Index

ACLU

In the week after the 2012 election, the ACLU received over $27,000 in donations.

In the week after the 2016 election, the ACLU received over $7,000,000 in donations.

El Presidente

Mr. Trump has managed to directly insult 160 people on Twitter since he declared his candidacy for the Presidency.

The President over estimates the height of the Trump World Tower by 19 floors.

Weird News

Chuck Shepherd reports:

DRUGS

Martin Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of the lifesaving drug Daraprim from $18 a pill to $750.  Australian high-schoolers duplicated the drug for $2 per pill.

Gunfight in the WalMart Corral

Two Dallas, Texas grandmothers got into an argument about child custody, pulled guns and fired at each other and a nearby policeman.

Quotes

Harry S. Truman:  "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician.  And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference.

H.L. Mencken: "Demagogue: One who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots."

From The Week Magazine: IN 2011

Tattoo

"A man charged with assault and battery appeared in a South Carolina court with a tattoo on his forehead that said: 'Please forgive me if I say or do anything stupid. Thank You!'"

How Things Change in Five Years!

"Donald Trump, whose 15 minutes as a viable Republican Party presidential candidate appear to be over.  The real estate magnate's poll numbers plummeted from 26% TO 8%, Pushing him from first to fifth place in the GOP field."

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Enough for now!

Dogs and Cats Together?; Alexa; Cussing; She Sheds; Male Hootlers; Super Bowl; Santa Look-Alike; Calendar Events; Clowns

Lots of warm weather again.  72 in DC; 71 in Westminster, Maryland.  Several records being broken.  Snow is scheduled for tonight... but the ground is warm so it probably will all melt right away.
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Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! 

It appears that this show will only be aired on Saturdays from WAMU, DC. That means that I will miss it some weeks.  Before, if I missed it, I found it again on Sunday.

Here are some items that caught my interest this week:

Show Me Your Cat

The (so-called 'snooty") Westminster Kennel dog show has decided to allow cats to attend. But, they will not be allowed to compete.  I'm anxious to see how this will work out.  I've been to a couple of dog shows in "our Westminster" and cats are very well behaved.  Will the dogs have the good sense to not chase any of the cats?  I doubt it.

The Voice of Alexa

Amazon now has Alexa to communicate with you and solve all of your computer and shopping problems.

Cussing is Getting Common

Since our President popularized "Locker room talk,"  lots of children's book titles are showing words that gentle folks hoped that their children would never come in contact with.  I will not be listing any titles, you can look for them online if necessary.

Glass Roof Shattered

Men have always had their "Man Caves."   Women now have their  "She Sheds."


Equal Opportunity

Hooters, "well known for two things... boobs".... has  integrated its wait-staff.  Now customers will have their choice of scantily-clad young ladies or scantily-clad young men... also "boobs?"

Super Bowl Gambling?

Before last Sunday's Super Bowl, someone told me that the President or Vice President would attend. I asked what they would be doing there... the reply was, "they would throw out the first football." I later learned that VP Pence may have tossed the coin at the opening of play.... I don't know if that really happened.  I did see newspaper pictures of Mr. Trump sitting next to the first lady watching the game on Mar Largo's "Yuge! Screen TV."

Reminds me of a bad joke:  

Husband seeking historical knowledge:  "Who was the first lady?

Wife: "You told me I was!"

Santa Baby!

The Week magazine mentions that a Texas man was asked to leave a Six Flags theme park for looking "too much like Santa Claus," and getting little kids mixed up. Jerry Henderson angrily retorted:  "This ain't a costume.  This is me!"

Some Weird 2016 Calendar Stuff

Dave Barry, in the Funny Times, listed two things that he said took place in  October 2016, which caught my eye: (I quote:)

The middle of October:  "In a chilling reminder of the nation's technological vulnerability, a series of cyber attacks disrupts popular Internet sites such as Twitter and Netflix, forcing millions of Americans to make eye contact with each other."

The end of October:  (and Dave says he's not making this up)  ".. FoxNews.com headline...'Some Florida Parents Plan to Arm Themselves While Going Trick-Or-Treating Over Clown Concerns.'"

(Painting by famous New Bedford, Massachusetts artist:  Joe Balestracci)

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A Fantastic Day

Getting warmer. Oh, Winter, where is thy sting?

A Glorious "Fantastic" Day!

Yesterday, my three "fantastic" children (adults of course) as well as two of their "fantastic" spouses (also adults of course), and two of my "fantastic" grandchildren (also adults of course) came to visit me at the Bistro in our village.  We sat around a long table and ate "fantastic" fried oysters and Reuben sandwiches.  And then... and then... we had the most deliciously "fantastic" chocolate/peanut butter cake in the world for dessert.  The only bad thing about the cake was .... it had candles that were bent into the numbers "8" and "3.  I'm not sure why.  (Since nobody smokes and carries matches anymore, the candles could not be lit... that made it real easy for me to blow them out!)

My family all sang (in key too) "Happy Birthday"  while lots of my village neighbors looked on and chimed in as well.   Very nice experience for this old man. (Why do us old guys cry a lot?)

They then surprised me with a beautiful birthday card and a "fantastic" calendar with twelve pictures of my three children (adults of course) in various poses, mostly appropriate to the time of year.  I love it!

Another reason they were here with me, was the fact that we are all excited about ancestry.., namely, who was my biological father?  We now know for sure who my biological grandfather was, but he had four sons who could possibly fit the bill as my father.  We are learning more and more each day.  DNA testing with Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com has come up with the names of a number of my biological cousins, uncles and aunts. They all seem like nice people.Pictures that a representative of that family sent to my son show that some of "their folks"  look a lot like some of "our folks."  I'm hoping that we can all get together someday... but, it's got to be fairly soon, because I'm not getting any younger.

During this get-together, my grandson, Jackson, played some "fantastic" piano.  He is self-taught, just like my mother, my aunt Hattie, my aunt Mary and my Uncle Allen.  So, even though his last name is not Vaughan, he is still upholding the musical Vaughan tradition.  His father, John, plays guitar for various venues in the Westminster area, so Jackson gets his talents from two families. As the Vaughan patriarch, I am supposed to carry on the musical tradition, but I never learned to play the piano, so I am very pleased that Jackson has.

During our Bistro sojourn, lots of my fellow villagers remarked how beautiful and handsome my family is.  How true!  Unfortunately, Elaine could not be with us because of a stomach problem.  I took her the last piece  of cake and this made her feel a lot better.

I know I'm missing a lot about yesterday's experience, but you must know the main thing... I loved being with my "fantastic" family!

Joe, the "Movie Star"..so..Cameron, could this be why I have a "fan club?".

Joe in Real Life

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On a serious note: my daughter, Elizabeth Murphy  is having a medical problem.  Today, she is going to join a "prayer circle" set up for her at a local church.  Please help her out by including her in your prayers.  Thank you.  Joe

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Groundhog Day; President Trump; Bernie Madoff; Mr. Ponzi; Secretary of Education; Diet Statistics and Tips

Groundhog Day.  Puxatawny Phil saw his shadow and now we will have 12 more weeks of Winter.  We haven't had much Winter yet anyway.  Global Warming.

Ain't life great!  So much to  blog about, but not enough time, especially since I have now decided to blog only every other day.

El Presidente!

I was really surprised yesterday and today to hear the reservations my Carroll County Republican friends now have about President Trump.  Everyone is uneasy, wondering what he is going to do next.  It is scary.  However, last night I saw a news show where the commentators were laughing very hard at things Mr. Trump said during the last few days.  Perhaps if more people laugh at him, he will begin to rethink some of his words and actions, because he sure as hell will not like people laughing at him

Have you followed the prison uprising at the Vaughn (no relative) prison in Smyrna, Delaware?  Some of the prisoners said that revolted was "because of all the things that Mr. Trump is doing now."  Yes, of course, prisoners can always spot a "con."  .

Con Man

Speaking of con men, The Week magazine mentions that Bernie Madoff is running a racket even while he is in prison.  He has bought up all of the "Swiss Miss" chocolate  in the prison commissary and he sells it to fellow inmates at a greatly increased price.  A journalist named Steve Fishman interviewed Bernie recently and reported this.


Where do want Your Kids to go to School? 

Speaking of cons.... Betty DeVos, the President's pick for Education Secretary is reported to be a billionaire member of the family that runs Amway.  If I recollect accurately, Amway is/or was under investigation on charges that it is a Ponzi Scheme, just like Messers Ponzi and Madoff practiced.  (I could be wrong on this.)  I just feel that private schools deprive children of a great opportunity to learn about people different from themselves.  I love and cherish diversity!

Diet Stats

I just completed a 26-week dietary plan, using "The Ultimate Diet Log,"  a great book that can be used to track your dietary progress... or non progress, as follows:

Jul 18, 2016  Weight -  201      Blood Sugar - 105      Blood Pressure -  142/45

Jan 15 2017   Weight -  217      Blood Sugar - 112      Blood Pressure -  134/58

So.. my diet was a complete bust!   Weight was up a lot and Blood Sugar was up a little.  Shame on me.   I'm recording these uninteresting figures so that it can motivate me to do better in my next six month program..

Diet Tips

These are things that I should have learned from the diet book I mentioned above.

o  Jumbo food packages prompt you to eat more.
o  One of Starbucks' chocolate chips cookie has 540 calories. (A big mac has 530)
o  Walking can lower your blood pressure and diabetes risk.
o  The average American adult in 2002 weighed 25 pounds more than in 1960, but was only one inch taller.
o  A Reuben sandwich contains 3,720 mg of sodium. (RDA is 2,300 max)
o  A Dunkin' Donuts salt bagel contains 4,520 mg of sodium.
o  Humans can survive six weeks without food.
o  Humans can survive only 7 days without  water.
o  Some deli sandwiches contain one pound of meat. (RDA is 1/3 of a pound)  Visit "Corn Beef Alley in Baltimore for pounds of that meat in one sandwich.)
o  Walking just 30 minutes a day is enough to increase bone density.
o  Half of all vegetable consumption in the U.S. ...potatoes, head lettuce, tomatoes and onions.
o  Chinese proverb:  "Sweet, sour, bitter, pungent ... all must be tasted."
o  The top-selling women's clothing size in 1985 was 8.
o  The top-selling women's clothing size in 2002 was 14!

To convince you that people are fatter today, just go to your local Wallmart Store and watch the customers.  There sure are some chubby folks out there (including me.)  And, when you are in line at the supermarket, take a look at what people have in their carts.  It always amazes me when I see people buying cases of regular Coca Cola. Somewhere I have recorded that each bottle of Coke has 32 teaspoonfuls of sugar.  (I could be a little wrong on that too.)

I remember, when I was a teenager and would hang around a gas station with my unemployed friends.  Coke was only a nickel and we guys sure would put a lot of nickels in the Coke machine.  We loved it.. and guzzled it.  Some non teenagers still guzzle Coke.

As I've written before, although Coke was a nickel, beer at the Buttonwood Cafe was also only a nickel for a 4 ounce glass.  So, for a dollar, one could drink 80 ounces of beer.. more than the contents of a current 6-pack.  Of course, we teenagers didn't drink beer, but it probably would have been better for our health and complexions than sugary soft drinks.

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Enough!

The Baltimore Zoomobile

More Spring-like Winter Weather.  Elaine says that the grass is even getting greener. (yes.. but mainly on the other side of the street.)

Creatures

Yesterday, Elaine and I went to a presentation by the Baltimore Zoo's "Zoomobile."  The presenters arrived in a bright-yellow van, covered with pictures of wild animals.  They introduced us to a number of "cute" animals.

Panamanian Brightly-Colored Frog

This little guy is normally poisonous in the wilds of Panama.  Not so at the Baltimore Zoo.  This is because of what they eat.  In Panama, they consume poisonous ants and the toxin is exuded from the frogs' skins.  In Baltimore, they consume non-poisonous ants, and so, they are no longer poisonous.

These tiny frogs are very rare these days in their native country... in fact, they may be extinct there. The Baltimore Zoo apparently has a vital colony... at least that is what I thought I heard from the presenter.

Gray Parrot

This pretty bird is all gray except for its tail feathers that appear to be an orangey red.  The bird, like all parrots, had something to say in order to get a treat.

Later, I watched an old episode of Frazier in which Niles buys a parrot, which talks a lot and gets the Crane Brothers in trouble.  The parrot also gets a "death grip" on Niles' scalp.  After a vet finally gets it loose...it performs the same trick on Frazier.  Very funny episode.

I believe that my daughter, Elizabeth was once given a parrot by her ex-husband, but had to give it away because it talked all the time.

Chinchilla

Yum Yum is a 14 year old chinchilla who lives at the zoo.  I can see why ladies like chinchilla coats... the fur is very soft.  It bothered me to learn that one must "skin" 100 of these beautiful creatures just to make one fur coat.  These guys live high up in mountains; therefore, they need their fine coats to keep warm.

Turtle

A palm-sized turtle with great sand-like camouflage.  These guys are found in desert areas, but are hard to find because they blend in so easily.

(By the way, The Week magazine says that a "horny" turtle named Bert has now developed arthritis in his back legs and has been fitted with shell wheels that will take weight off of his legs and make his life less painful.)

Penguin 

The presenters showed a friendly 16-year old lady penguin, who actually flirts with humans, just like a 16-year old human girl.  I learned that the Baltimore Zoo has the largest colony of these "warm weather" penguins in the world.  They are native to Africa and not the South Pole.

Elephant Ivory

The presenters are regularly presented with Government confiscated elephant tusks, so that they can be used for educational purposes.  They showed a small tusk that had an African head carved into it. It is a beautiful piece, but illegal to possess.   Poachers would have killed an adult elephant to get a pair of ivory tusks similar to the one presented.  Elephants are being killed off because of this greedy desire to own carved ivory.  In fact, the presenters said that on average, one elephant is killed every 20 seconds by poachers!

National Geographic devoted most of one of their issues to the problem.  They claim that poachers are being hunted and arrested in most of Africa, and the elephant population in a couple of countries has remained steady.  Check out the article, it is very interesting, hopeful and depressing at the same time.

Leopards

The presenters showed a Government confiscated leopard skin, sewn in preparation to becoming a rung.  Like ivory, such skins are desired and procured by the rich.  Even though we are told that leopards are not in danger of extinction, they may become so if this poaching does not stop.

Well... that's a bit of information that Elaine and I learned at the Zoomobile presentation.  I may have my facts wrong here and there, but you get the idea.  I will try to get these folks to visit one of our AARP Chapter meetings.  I'm sure it would be very well received.  Meanwhile, visit the Baltimore Zoo.... or the New Bedford, Massachusetts Zoo... or whatever zoo is nearby.  The animals will have a great time observing you while you observe them.

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