7/2/08
A leap forth of faith or The first Fourth
TRI-O’s:Oddities, observations & opinionsBy Herb Kandel
The BH (Better Half) and I were rummaging in a quaint antique store. There among the distressed furniture and curios was this beat-up wooden chair with a high back on which were some carved initials worn smooth. After a quick dusting, it provided a surprisingly firm and solid seating.
On each side were levers, much like the ones on modern recliners, three on the right and two on the left. The right arm rest had embedded in it three rows of dials, the left had two similar ones. Each dial had a pointer which rotated to the barely visible markings on the circumference of the dial.
Curiosity soon took hold. The creaky levers were shifted about and the rusted pointers, in need of WD-40, were turned. I closed my eyes and, as if by magic, my journey started. Come along with me to where this chair, now turned chariot, transported this rider.
The day was pleasant with a slight breeze. “What city is this?” I asked a man in knickers passing by.
“You are in Philadelphia, brother.”
“Can you tell me what that building is and why all the activity of folks milling around here?”
“You must be a newcomer to our city. That’s the State House and those men entering it, in the weskits, ruffles and wigs are the delegates to the Continental Congress. Two days ago, on Tuesday, July 2, they endorsed the idea of a Declaration of Independence. Today the Congress is to approve a final, edited version of the document.”
My newfound friend, Percy, and I went to the open window of the State House and listened to the debate conclusion and the morning vote. It was about 11 o'clock. Twelve colonies voted for it, and New York abstained. It was then ordered that the document be authenticated and printed. Only two people signed.
“That’s John Hancock, the president of Congress. The other is Charles Thompson, the secretary,” whispered Percy.
The Congress went on to other mundane business.“Percy,” I said in amazement, “they just passed the Declaration of Independence freeing us from the king and proclaiming a new country, the United Sates of America. Why are there no shouts and celebration?”
“Oh, they will when it is read aloud to the public on Monday, July 8 in the State House Yard. There will be parades, cannon discharges, drums, bonfires and bells clamoring.
"But you should have been here this past Monday and Tuesday. Monday was when John Dickinson, delegate from Pennsylvania, fought against a separation from England and wanted a reconciliation within the framework of the law. He abstained from voting and signing the document. He said of independence that it would be 'to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper.'
“He was opposed by John Adams, delegate from Massachusetts, who desired independence from the mother country even if it meant bloodshed. Adams’ impassioned speech (some say the greatest in his life) had Jefferson say ‘[it spoke] with a power of thought and expression that moved us from our seats.’
“Two crucial things then happened Tuesday, July 2: Caesar Rodney, Delaware delegate, a swing vote for independence showed up. One side of his face was covered by a silk scarf to hide the ravages of cancer, he had ridden 80 miles on horseback to vote to free his country. The other event was the two empty chairs belonging to John Dickinson and Robert Morris. Without their dissent, Pennsylvania voted for independence. So, at last, with the words and the votes the colonies declared their independence.
“Yes indeed, Adams later said that 'The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America … to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other from this time forward forever more' ”
“And here I thought all along that this July 4 in 1776 was the day of tribute and celebration. What about the heat and flies we were told about?”
“Well we did have some scorchers, and there were plenty of horseflies from the stable nearby. In fact Tom Jefferson observed, 'That it is not at all unlikely that this debate will be ended not by the sharp logic of the delegates but by the even sharper bite of the horseflies,’ ”
Percy laughed at this and tapped me on the shoulder for emphasis. The tapping continued.
“Honey, wake up.” I opened my eyes. There was the BH’s hand on my shoulder. “You dozed off while I was gone. How could you do that in such an uncomfortable looking chair?”
“It wasn't so bad,” I said as I stepped away from the wooden relic. It was then that I more closely inspected the carved initials on the back piece, “HGW.”Nah, it couldn’t be! Me, a time traveler!!
Note: Though the trip was imaginary but the events are factual from “John Adams” by David McCullough.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/07/02/columnists/doc486a8968eb5f8913655322.txt
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
6/18/08
Thinking Out Loud In The Silence
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Thinking Out Loud In The Silence
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Here is another of an occasional meandering, putting on paper the ricocheting thoughts that flash randomly inside one’s skull during the quiet wee hours before sleep sometimes turns them into dreams.
- I get a satisfying feeling when I stop at a traffic light and pull up next to the car that passed me a few miles back as if I was tethered to a stump.
- Red cars traveling on the highway always seem to be in a hurry and angry.
- Why do audiences find it funny when young children and even toddlers utter vulgarities?
- Do carousels still offer brass rings entitling its holder to a free ride?
- I still feel “Fat-Free Half and Half” is an oxymoron.
- It is a major oversight that Peter O’Toole never won an Oscar, with the exception of an honorary one.
- Why will dogs roll in the grass, and whatever matter lies in it, right after they are bathed?
- Blueberries among broccoli florets remind me of hydrangeas.
- Bob Costas is to sport casting what William F. Buckley was to news commentary: articulate, eloquent, erudite, witty, knowledgeable, and classy.
- You know you are in bad circumstances when your doctor, drug store, dentist, and cable service are on your telephone speed dial.
- Why is it when you drip paint performing a house project you are an awkward klutz, but when Jackson Pollack did it he was a genius?
- I can't imagine anyone approaching a person who has body piercing and not think of the pain involved.
- We’ve come a long way from the days of Edward R. Murrow, for if I am seeing right, one of the Mobile weekend TV anchors has a tongue stud. Yumpin’ Yimminee!
- If Barack Obama chooses Hillary Clinton as his running mate, it means that Bill will have no need to explain this Vice.
- As a master of sardonic and wry humor why does David Letterman resort to facial contortions to get laughs, and why does the audience respond with such enthusiasm? Can it be from the urging of the “Applause” prompt sign flashing?
- The same goes for Conan O’Brien with his opening frog jump and body schtick. He has some outstanding parodies and sketches but it seems his openings are there just to consume some time.
- I fear the day will be coming in the very near future when one person will say to another, “I remember when gas was only $5.50 a gallon.”
- Since wearing sandals most of the time donning socks and tying shoes is becoming a lost personal procedure. Neckties too went that same route years ago.
- It is written that John McCain, because of his POW imprisonment tortures, can not raise his arms to even comb his hair but if he has it his way he will have no problem placing his left hand on the Bible while elevating his right.
- Since the Constitution states no requirement that any book be used to administer the inauguration oath of office, sacred or otherwise, I guess the incoming President may or may not use the customary Bible.
- Some choices for inauguration texts on which to take the oath by a variety of contenders: John McCain, Red Badge of Courage; Barack Obama, No Country for Old Men; Al Gore, The Sun Also Rises; Hillary Clinton, Excuse Me, But I Was Next; John Edwards, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; George W. Bush, Take Me To Truth: Undoing the Ego; Bill Clinton, Pinocchio or Playboy.
And now, at last, to sleep.
*************
To see the column online click below
Http://WWW.baldwincountynow.Com/articles/2008/06/19/columnists/doc48573598df90f814529990.txt
Friday, June 06, 2008
6/4/08
Herstory history
Tri-O's by Herb Kandel
Here we are again in an imaginary voyage to the celestial heavens. There sits Frederick Douglass chatting with Victoria Woodhull.
Douglass: Vickie do you see what is happening down there?
Woodhull: Indeed I do, Fred. Can you believe that it took 136 years for them to catch up with us?
Douglass: Right you are. Old Ulysses S. Grant was running for a second term in 1872 when we challenged him. That was a swell time. The Equal Rights Party nominated you, as the first women to run for President of the United States, and me, the first African-American, as your running mate. We sure raised a lot of eyebrows.
Woodhull: Although women could not vote. We still fought for the right. Remember when------( harp strings play ascending notes)
They said that there was a world of difference between men and women. For instance, we were “frail”, and our physical weakness would make us vulnerable when we had to make contact and mingle with the sometimes unruly crowds, and if there was a brawl we would be the ones to suffer. We would also make the country appear to be weak which would lead to foreign aggression. Another factor to take into consideration was that we could hide extra ballots in our baggy sleeves and stuff them into the ballot box. "Their delicate emotional equilibrium could easily upset by a strain---like voting." and "When women generally vote and hold office, nervous prostration, desire for publicity and 'love of the limelight' will combine to produce a form of hysteria already increasing in the United States." they concluded, “Remember - Eve got what she wanted and we've had trouble ever since.” For all those reasons, said the anti-suffragists, women should not be allowed to vote.
Even the Supreme Court supported this view. “The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator.” Wrote Justice Bradley in his concurring opinion in 1872 denying a woman membership to the state bar.
In 1870, the 15th Amendment was adopted, granting African-American men the right to vote. On June 4, 1919 (almost 50 years later) the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, passed the U.S. Senate.
The crusade for the female right to vote started back in the summer of 1848. The suffragists were spearheaded by Lucretia Mott, a Quaker teacher who organized women's abolitionist groups, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, also a reformer and abolitionist who gathered a group of similar thinkers to Seneca Falls, New York. There they drafted The " Declaration of Sentiments” which mirrored the "Declaration of Independence": "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.". It was at those meetings where they met Susan B. Anthony who shared an almost identical background. Stanton evolved as the “go-to” person for putting ideas into writing while Anthony, unmarried, became the organizer, the person who was on the road giving speeches and becoming the target for the misogynists.
Another group, was formed by Julia Ward Howe (author of The Battle Hymn Of The Republic) and Lucy Stone in the same year in Boston. It wasn't until 1869 when women’s suffrage had its first success when the territory of Wyoming gave women the vote. In 1890, when they were admitted into the U. S. As a state, Wyoming became the first state with women suffrage.
In 1900 Utah, Colorado, and Idaho joined Wyoming in giving women the franchise. In 1912, the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party of Theodore Roosevelt became the first national political party to recognize the women’s efforts by including a plank supporting their suffrage in the party platform.This was a “bully” beam of light for this long uphill tunnel of obstacles they were navigating.
By this time American society was experiencing a far-reaching change in the role of women. There were more women in the work force, getting better education, penetrating professions denied them before, bearing fewer children, and increasing the ranks of voices seeking equality. In 1916 both the Democratic and Republican parties were ready to embrace female enfranchisement.
It was Tennessee, in 1920, that became the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment of the previous year (by one vote) thus providing the two-thirds majority to make it officially the law of the land -------- ( harp strings play descending notes)
Douglass: Ah, yes, we've come a long way, Vickie. Look down there again. You can realize the apex of these hard fought amendment intentions. A current recipient of the each of those constitutional rights is now vying for the office you sought. Do you think that Hillary and Barack will replicate a page of our history and team up?
Woodhull: Who knows? But I sure wish them better results than we had. And maybe someday there will be a Hillary R. Clinton likeness on a dollar coin.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/06/06/columnists/doc48459d0ab3cd0771952021.txt
Herstory history
Tri-O's by Herb Kandel
Here we are again in an imaginary voyage to the celestial heavens. There sits Frederick Douglass chatting with Victoria Woodhull.
Douglass: Vickie do you see what is happening down there?
Woodhull: Indeed I do, Fred. Can you believe that it took 136 years for them to catch up with us?
Douglass: Right you are. Old Ulysses S. Grant was running for a second term in 1872 when we challenged him. That was a swell time. The Equal Rights Party nominated you, as the first women to run for President of the United States, and me, the first African-American, as your running mate. We sure raised a lot of eyebrows.
Woodhull: Although women could not vote. We still fought for the right. Remember when------( harp strings play ascending notes)
They said that there was a world of difference between men and women. For instance, we were “frail”, and our physical weakness would make us vulnerable when we had to make contact and mingle with the sometimes unruly crowds, and if there was a brawl we would be the ones to suffer. We would also make the country appear to be weak which would lead to foreign aggression. Another factor to take into consideration was that we could hide extra ballots in our baggy sleeves and stuff them into the ballot box. "Their delicate emotional equilibrium could easily upset by a strain---like voting." and "When women generally vote and hold office, nervous prostration, desire for publicity and 'love of the limelight' will combine to produce a form of hysteria already increasing in the United States." they concluded, “Remember - Eve got what she wanted and we've had trouble ever since.” For all those reasons, said the anti-suffragists, women should not be allowed to vote.
Even the Supreme Court supported this view. “The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator.” Wrote Justice Bradley in his concurring opinion in 1872 denying a woman membership to the state bar.
In 1870, the 15th Amendment was adopted, granting African-American men the right to vote. On June 4, 1919 (almost 50 years later) the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, passed the U.S. Senate.
The crusade for the female right to vote started back in the summer of 1848. The suffragists were spearheaded by Lucretia Mott, a Quaker teacher who organized women's abolitionist groups, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, also a reformer and abolitionist who gathered a group of similar thinkers to Seneca Falls, New York. There they drafted The " Declaration of Sentiments” which mirrored the "Declaration of Independence": "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.". It was at those meetings where they met Susan B. Anthony who shared an almost identical background. Stanton evolved as the “go-to” person for putting ideas into writing while Anthony, unmarried, became the organizer, the person who was on the road giving speeches and becoming the target for the misogynists.
Another group, was formed by Julia Ward Howe (author of The Battle Hymn Of The Republic) and Lucy Stone in the same year in Boston. It wasn't until 1869 when women’s suffrage had its first success when the territory of Wyoming gave women the vote. In 1890, when they were admitted into the U. S. As a state, Wyoming became the first state with women suffrage.
In 1900 Utah, Colorado, and Idaho joined Wyoming in giving women the franchise. In 1912, the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party of Theodore Roosevelt became the first national political party to recognize the women’s efforts by including a plank supporting their suffrage in the party platform.This was a “bully” beam of light for this long uphill tunnel of obstacles they were navigating.
By this time American society was experiencing a far-reaching change in the role of women. There were more women in the work force, getting better education, penetrating professions denied them before, bearing fewer children, and increasing the ranks of voices seeking equality. In 1916 both the Democratic and Republican parties were ready to embrace female enfranchisement.
It was Tennessee, in 1920, that became the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment of the previous year (by one vote) thus providing the two-thirds majority to make it officially the law of the land -------- ( harp strings play descending notes)
Douglass: Ah, yes, we've come a long way, Vickie. Look down there again. You can realize the apex of these hard fought amendment intentions. A current recipient of the each of those constitutional rights is now vying for the office you sought. Do you think that Hillary and Barack will replicate a page of our history and team up?
Woodhull: Who knows? But I sure wish them better results than we had. And maybe someday there will be a Hillary R. Clinton likeness on a dollar coin.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/06/06/columnists/doc48459d0ab3cd0771952021.txt
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
5/21/08
Flip the tassel, YOSOHK ’08 grads
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
Thank you once again, Ye Olde School of Hard Knocks, for the invitation to address the graduating class for the third time. As before, I will make this message brief, but not quite as fast as the rising price of gas at the pump.
Facing you in this ritual reminds me of when Mario Cuomo, the former governor of New York, in a similar position as commencement speaker compared that role to that of a corpse at an Irish wake. Both bodies need to be there in order to have a celebration but no one expects it to say very much.
Your BS, Batchelor of Survival degree, was earned by hard work traversing through life experiences. Most of you are approaching middle age and go out each day into the work force in order to provide a better and more fulfilling quality of life for yourself and your family. Of late it has become more difficult to do so. Last year at this time unemployment was 4.5% today it is 5.1%, crude oil was $64 a barrel now it is $126, and a poll of peoples confidence for a secure retirement has shrunk from 41% to 29% in that short span. Headlines along with lead stories on TV, radio, and Internet blogs shout pessimism and gloom when they report on war in Iraq and Afghanistan, home foreclosures, food shortages and rising prices, global climate change, recession, terrorism threats, tumbling stock markets, illegal immigration, the Arabfication of America, outsourcing to foreign manufacturers, drugs, teenage pregnancy, the crisis in health care, and the decision making in the forthcoming presidential election. Whew! It’s no wonder that hair coloring is the fastest growing service in the salon industry today.
Yet despite all the above mentioned worrisome situations Newsweek magazine, in an excerpt from “The Post-American World” by Fareed Zakaria, cites a group of scholars from the University of Maryland who have tallied the number of deaths due to organized violence. They concluded “that wars of all kinds have been declining since the mid-1980’s and that we are now at the lowest levels of global violence since the 1950s. ……80% of those casualties come from Iraq and Afghanistan which are really war zones with ongoing insurgencies and the overall numbers remain small.”
Why then does it seem we are living in such treacherous times with disaster lurking around the corner? Zakaria alleges, a theory with which I concur, that the information “explosion” provides scenes of the immediacy of events 24/7 from around the world. It wasn’t too long ago when we had only the radio and newspapers to keep us up to date. The radio had its 6 and 11 o’clock news for only 15 minutes. That pretty much limited itself to the more important events leaving the local happenings to the community stations and papers. There was no TV bombardment of national/global reporting, around the clock, with the preponderance of incidents leaning toward the sensational, scandalous, or shocking happenings. Then repeating it over and over ad nauseam. Don’t let the talking heads mesmerize you into their world. Listen and look, if you want to, but think for yourself, keep true to your hard won principles. Go, turn off the TV, and then hug your spouse and kids.
Two generations have grown up behind yours. Most of you graduating now are of Generation X, born between 1965-1979. You were preceded by the Baby Boom Generation, 1943-1965. Generation Y, sometimes called the Millennials from 1980-2000 followed you. Now the current generation, very likely your children, born since 2001 is being touted as Generation Z (just because it is alphabetically next) or Generation 9/11. I propose either Generation T-M (text messaging) or the still better, Generation I. “I” standing for Internet, iPhone, Ipod, or just plain I -- personal pronoun first person singular. Why? Just observe the egoism of any of the reality shows and watch how self-centeredness eclipses common sense, consideration, courtesy, and kindness. Participants rationalize, “It’s just a game”, but basic instincts do surface, the narcissism is apparent, and their actions tend become the “norm” for emulation by Gen I viewers. Make some of the values and virtues of your Gen X rub off on your offspring and don’t be afraid to separate the cemented cell phone from the ear of your kid.
In conclusion, look forward with anticipation to the coming years in your chosen work and profession utilizing your experience and optimism. Keep in mind that the typical peak earning period is from age 57 to 65. So for personal security contribute the max, if you can, to your 401k (where else can you get a 50% return on investment?).
Finally, two quotes to take with you : from Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or think you can't -- you are right”……..and from me, “Remember to floss.”
Congratulations Class of 2008
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/05/21/columnists/doc483322793b4c7215000806.txt
Flip the tassel, YOSOHK ’08 grads
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
Thank you once again, Ye Olde School of Hard Knocks, for the invitation to address the graduating class for the third time. As before, I will make this message brief, but not quite as fast as the rising price of gas at the pump.
Facing you in this ritual reminds me of when Mario Cuomo, the former governor of New York, in a similar position as commencement speaker compared that role to that of a corpse at an Irish wake. Both bodies need to be there in order to have a celebration but no one expects it to say very much.
Your BS, Batchelor of Survival degree, was earned by hard work traversing through life experiences. Most of you are approaching middle age and go out each day into the work force in order to provide a better and more fulfilling quality of life for yourself and your family. Of late it has become more difficult to do so. Last year at this time unemployment was 4.5% today it is 5.1%, crude oil was $64 a barrel now it is $126, and a poll of peoples confidence for a secure retirement has shrunk from 41% to 29% in that short span. Headlines along with lead stories on TV, radio, and Internet blogs shout pessimism and gloom when they report on war in Iraq and Afghanistan, home foreclosures, food shortages and rising prices, global climate change, recession, terrorism threats, tumbling stock markets, illegal immigration, the Arabfication of America, outsourcing to foreign manufacturers, drugs, teenage pregnancy, the crisis in health care, and the decision making in the forthcoming presidential election. Whew! It’s no wonder that hair coloring is the fastest growing service in the salon industry today.
Yet despite all the above mentioned worrisome situations Newsweek magazine, in an excerpt from “The Post-American World” by Fareed Zakaria, cites a group of scholars from the University of Maryland who have tallied the number of deaths due to organized violence. They concluded “that wars of all kinds have been declining since the mid-1980’s and that we are now at the lowest levels of global violence since the 1950s. ……80% of those casualties come from Iraq and Afghanistan which are really war zones with ongoing insurgencies and the overall numbers remain small.”
Why then does it seem we are living in such treacherous times with disaster lurking around the corner? Zakaria alleges, a theory with which I concur, that the information “explosion” provides scenes of the immediacy of events 24/7 from around the world. It wasn’t too long ago when we had only the radio and newspapers to keep us up to date. The radio had its 6 and 11 o’clock news for only 15 minutes. That pretty much limited itself to the more important events leaving the local happenings to the community stations and papers. There was no TV bombardment of national/global reporting, around the clock, with the preponderance of incidents leaning toward the sensational, scandalous, or shocking happenings. Then repeating it over and over ad nauseam. Don’t let the talking heads mesmerize you into their world. Listen and look, if you want to, but think for yourself, keep true to your hard won principles. Go, turn off the TV, and then hug your spouse and kids.
Two generations have grown up behind yours. Most of you graduating now are of Generation X, born between 1965-1979. You were preceded by the Baby Boom Generation, 1943-1965. Generation Y, sometimes called the Millennials from 1980-2000 followed you. Now the current generation, very likely your children, born since 2001 is being touted as Generation Z (just because it is alphabetically next) or Generation 9/11. I propose either Generation T-M (text messaging) or the still better, Generation I. “I” standing for Internet, iPhone, Ipod, or just plain I -- personal pronoun first person singular. Why? Just observe the egoism of any of the reality shows and watch how self-centeredness eclipses common sense, consideration, courtesy, and kindness. Participants rationalize, “It’s just a game”, but basic instincts do surface, the narcissism is apparent, and their actions tend become the “norm” for emulation by Gen I viewers. Make some of the values and virtues of your Gen X rub off on your offspring and don’t be afraid to separate the cemented cell phone from the ear of your kid.
In conclusion, look forward with anticipation to the coming years in your chosen work and profession utilizing your experience and optimism. Keep in mind that the typical peak earning period is from age 57 to 65. So for personal security contribute the max, if you can, to your 401k (where else can you get a 50% return on investment?).
Finally, two quotes to take with you : from Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or think you can't -- you are right”……..and from me, “Remember to floss.”
Congratulations Class of 2008
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/05/21/columnists/doc483322793b4c7215000806.txt
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
5/7/08
With energy for all
TRI-O’s:Oddities, observations & opinions
By Herb Kandel
Well here we are at our friendly neighborhood gas station. Just look around and you can almost feel the anger from fellow pumpers as the money gauge dial goes into fast forward, stopping at a price that used to buy you a nice dinner for two along with wine and the ability to leave a generous tip. Now just to fill up your four-cylinder, mid-size sedan tank costs half a hundred dollars! How did we get here in just a few short months?
Go back to 1973 when oil was selling at $3.15 per barrel. Then OPEC increased prices to $3.65 together with cutting back production. The Arab states, bitter over being defeated in the Yom Kippur War, also placed an embargo against the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan for their support of Israel. Marketers and the oil brokers knew that the demand for oil decreases very little when price increases. When lower production met the higher prices it triggered President Nixon to sign the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act that mandating price, production, allocation and marketing controls. Results: a gallon of gas vaulted from 30 cents to over a dollar, a “windfall profit tax” was charged to oil producers, a new speed limit of 55 mph was imposed, there were long lines at the pump some bearing signs “SORRY NO GAS”, and more federal bureaucracy (energy control was born). Reality bit in the form of the realization that energy was something we could no longer take for granted and that it is not infinite.
Currently, to defray some of the gasoline price increases, Senator Clinton has joined Senator McCain calling to suspend the federal tax on gas through the summer months, a savings of 18.4 cents a gallon. Senator Obama sloughs off this approach claiming it will save individuals very little while it will cost thousands of construction jobs as the tax money goes toward repairing roads and bridges.
We all know there are sources of energy other than petroleum. Solar, wind, and hydro-electric power have been around for a long time, and they will continue to be explored, expanded and experimented with. On the horizon is the prospect of providing sources of energy that are just as sustainable. When current sources are gone they are gone, i.e., shale oil, natural gas and coal. Some renewable (and therefore sustainable) sources besides the above (solar, wind and hydro-electric) are derived from waves, tides, wood and fusion.
All the sources listed thus far lie in the realm of the esoteric scientific domain. It got me to wondering what we, as concerned ordinary citizens, can contribute to the thinking of these technical innovators, providing them new potential avenues to explore. For instance:
Capture the power of the hummingbird. These birds, in proportion, are powerful; they have been described as flight muscles covered with feathers (30% compared to 5% human pectoral muscle weight), their wings beat about 80 times per second, they fly 500 miles non-stop. If our wizards can find a way to capture the energy of this tiny “Incredible Hulk” it won't be just for the birds.
Ever see the energy of a two year old baby? There is no stopping them.
Ask their moms if they would relish a two hour respite each day by dropping baby in the lab while the nanny scientist harnesses the kilowatts that the kid generates on some type of movement machine. This can be done by just kidding!
When my BH (Better Half) walks our untrained four legged children it takes a lot of alternate restraining and pulling on the leads. I'm sure others dog walkers face the same situation, Having a device somewhere on the leashes to channel this expenditure of energy could power an electronic pooper-scooper that pick up, bags, ties, and disposes its’ contents in a bio-degradable way. This would be a step in the right direction.
Speaking of steps, we all walk. Why not capture that miniscule sudden wind surge generated by our foot step? Each stride forward could propel a small fan blade in the toe or heel to produce power to a rechargeable battery for a flashlight or a computer. As long as you keep walking it will keep going and going providing needed exercise also.
Sports too can play a part. If we can swallow a pill sized camera and have it take pictures as it passes through our body why not miniaturized capacitors to hold onto energy acquired by the swing of a golf club, tennis racket, baseball bat, skateboard, bicycle, skis, fishing rod, football helmet, etc? The accumulated built up energy can be discharged later into running household appliances. Now when you are on the golf course you can tell yourself you are really helping your BH with the vacuuming.
There you have some thoughts about how to beat the energy crisis. Do not dismiss them so quickly remember when caveman Oog mocked his friend, “Hey Glug, rounding off the corners of those square wheels is a waste of time.”
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/05/07/columnists/doc4820bebea9801773893863.txt
With energy for all
TRI-O’s:Oddities, observations & opinions
By Herb Kandel
Well here we are at our friendly neighborhood gas station. Just look around and you can almost feel the anger from fellow pumpers as the money gauge dial goes into fast forward, stopping at a price that used to buy you a nice dinner for two along with wine and the ability to leave a generous tip. Now just to fill up your four-cylinder, mid-size sedan tank costs half a hundred dollars! How did we get here in just a few short months?
Go back to 1973 when oil was selling at $3.15 per barrel. Then OPEC increased prices to $3.65 together with cutting back production. The Arab states, bitter over being defeated in the Yom Kippur War, also placed an embargo against the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan for their support of Israel. Marketers and the oil brokers knew that the demand for oil decreases very little when price increases. When lower production met the higher prices it triggered President Nixon to sign the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act that mandating price, production, allocation and marketing controls. Results: a gallon of gas vaulted from 30 cents to over a dollar, a “windfall profit tax” was charged to oil producers, a new speed limit of 55 mph was imposed, there were long lines at the pump some bearing signs “SORRY NO GAS”, and more federal bureaucracy (energy control was born). Reality bit in the form of the realization that energy was something we could no longer take for granted and that it is not infinite.
Currently, to defray some of the gasoline price increases, Senator Clinton has joined Senator McCain calling to suspend the federal tax on gas through the summer months, a savings of 18.4 cents a gallon. Senator Obama sloughs off this approach claiming it will save individuals very little while it will cost thousands of construction jobs as the tax money goes toward repairing roads and bridges.
We all know there are sources of energy other than petroleum. Solar, wind, and hydro-electric power have been around for a long time, and they will continue to be explored, expanded and experimented with. On the horizon is the prospect of providing sources of energy that are just as sustainable. When current sources are gone they are gone, i.e., shale oil, natural gas and coal. Some renewable (and therefore sustainable) sources besides the above (solar, wind and hydro-electric) are derived from waves, tides, wood and fusion.
All the sources listed thus far lie in the realm of the esoteric scientific domain. It got me to wondering what we, as concerned ordinary citizens, can contribute to the thinking of these technical innovators, providing them new potential avenues to explore. For instance:
Capture the power of the hummingbird. These birds, in proportion, are powerful; they have been described as flight muscles covered with feathers (30% compared to 5% human pectoral muscle weight), their wings beat about 80 times per second, they fly 500 miles non-stop. If our wizards can find a way to capture the energy of this tiny “Incredible Hulk” it won't be just for the birds.
Ever see the energy of a two year old baby? There is no stopping them.
Ask their moms if they would relish a two hour respite each day by dropping baby in the lab while the nanny scientist harnesses the kilowatts that the kid generates on some type of movement machine. This can be done by just kidding!
When my BH (Better Half) walks our untrained four legged children it takes a lot of alternate restraining and pulling on the leads. I'm sure others dog walkers face the same situation, Having a device somewhere on the leashes to channel this expenditure of energy could power an electronic pooper-scooper that pick up, bags, ties, and disposes its’ contents in a bio-degradable way. This would be a step in the right direction.
Speaking of steps, we all walk. Why not capture that miniscule sudden wind surge generated by our foot step? Each stride forward could propel a small fan blade in the toe or heel to produce power to a rechargeable battery for a flashlight or a computer. As long as you keep walking it will keep going and going providing needed exercise also.
Sports too can play a part. If we can swallow a pill sized camera and have it take pictures as it passes through our body why not miniaturized capacitors to hold onto energy acquired by the swing of a golf club, tennis racket, baseball bat, skateboard, bicycle, skis, fishing rod, football helmet, etc? The accumulated built up energy can be discharged later into running household appliances. Now when you are on the golf course you can tell yourself you are really helping your BH with the vacuuming.
There you have some thoughts about how to beat the energy crisis. Do not dismiss them so quickly remember when caveman Oog mocked his friend, “Hey Glug, rounding off the corners of those square wheels is a waste of time.”
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/05/07/columnists/doc4820bebea9801773893863.txt
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
4/23/08
Pop, goes the question
Tri-O’s
Oddities, Observations and Opinions
By Herb Kandel
Here we are heading for the merry month of May and June brides are right around the corner. But wait, contrary to urban legend June is not the most popular month for marriage. Many years ago (in the 70’s) we performed a survey in New Orleans to find out the best times in which to promote keepsake boxes for the preserving of bridal gowns. To our surprise we found there were more weddings in August than in June. This trend has continued. According to the Association for Wedding Professionals International in 2005 and 2006 both August and September had more brides than did June.
With these statistics in mind during the next few weeks and months many guys will be pondering unique methods as to how and where to “pop the question”. There are ways other than surprising her by putting the ring on the pepperoni pizza, in the crème brûlée, or the bottom of a champagne flute.
The following are some unusual approaches that have been used and a few that should never be attempted.
In Atlanta the couple did the crossword puzzle as a daily routine. The 58 Across clue read “Question that pops up,” and when the letters finally filled the empty squares the answer that sprang up spelled, “WILL YOU MARRY ME”. Then he assumed the position -- getting down on one knee and offered her the ring. She responded with a three letter word beginning with “Y”.
The buzz of conversation quieted in the Toronto restaurant when the diners heard the clatter of the knight in full shining armor approaching the table of the young lady. He bent down with a clang on his metal padded knee, lifted his slotted squeaking mask and implored her to grant him his wish. She acquiesced and most likely squirted some WD-40 in his visor, as he felt somewhat unhinged.
He wanted to surprise her with a lofty proposal but this Londoner got more than he bargained for. He had the $12,000 ring placed in the helium filled balloon that was intended for his loved one. As he exited the store a gust of wind blew the lighter than air latex sphere out of his hand and it went up up and away into the wild blue yonder never to be seen again. She now refuses to speak to him until he replaces it. The question remains: Will their love too be gone with the wind?
Some “not so good” approaches in “popping the question”:
Do not propose at a funeral. In Raleigh a guy asked for her hand in front of his brother's casket because he knew his brother had been looking forward to seeing him get married. We think his request was stiffly laid to rest.
Another no-no is to tape the ring to the toilet seat and leave it up. For when she lowers it she may not notice the diamond band and the desired answer might be flushed away too.
It will not promote bonding if you superglue the ring in the box and watch her try to pry it out (and never try this with a short tempered prospective fiancée).
For goodness sake when you are in a nice restaurant do not pretend you are choking then lean over a chair to perform a fake Heimlich maneuver and “cough” up the ring. Totally unappetizing.
Do not e-mail your question; but if you do, on no account have it say it also was sent to ‘undisclosed recipients’.
Other traditional and non-traditional approaches to making the proposal have been in Scrabble games, Trivial Pursuit, jig-saw puzzles, rose petals arranged on the floor or bed reading “Marry Me”, a plane pulling your sign, a billboard message, a jumbo board at a sporting event, a simple note attached to a floral bouquet, or inside a box of chocolates. It can be in a boat, a limousine, a hot air balloon, a roller coaster, a horse drawn carriage, or a grocery store; on a mountain, a beach with a message in a bottle, at the top of a city skyscraper, even under water, or at the place where you had your first date.
No matter wherever, whenever, or how the presentation is made it should be one of the most memorable events of a lifetime and as Rick tells Louie in the movie ‘Casablanca’, “….this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” and with luck and love, infinitely beyond.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/04/23/columnists/doc480e3e0be0535476867387.txt
Pop, goes the question
Tri-O’s
Oddities, Observations and Opinions
By Herb Kandel
Here we are heading for the merry month of May and June brides are right around the corner. But wait, contrary to urban legend June is not the most popular month for marriage. Many years ago (in the 70’s) we performed a survey in New Orleans to find out the best times in which to promote keepsake boxes for the preserving of bridal gowns. To our surprise we found there were more weddings in August than in June. This trend has continued. According to the Association for Wedding Professionals International in 2005 and 2006 both August and September had more brides than did June.
With these statistics in mind during the next few weeks and months many guys will be pondering unique methods as to how and where to “pop the question”. There are ways other than surprising her by putting the ring on the pepperoni pizza, in the crème brûlée, or the bottom of a champagne flute.
The following are some unusual approaches that have been used and a few that should never be attempted.
In Atlanta the couple did the crossword puzzle as a daily routine. The 58 Across clue read “Question that pops up,” and when the letters finally filled the empty squares the answer that sprang up spelled, “WILL YOU MARRY ME”. Then he assumed the position -- getting down on one knee and offered her the ring. She responded with a three letter word beginning with “Y”.
The buzz of conversation quieted in the Toronto restaurant when the diners heard the clatter of the knight in full shining armor approaching the table of the young lady. He bent down with a clang on his metal padded knee, lifted his slotted squeaking mask and implored her to grant him his wish. She acquiesced and most likely squirted some WD-40 in his visor, as he felt somewhat unhinged.
He wanted to surprise her with a lofty proposal but this Londoner got more than he bargained for. He had the $12,000 ring placed in the helium filled balloon that was intended for his loved one. As he exited the store a gust of wind blew the lighter than air latex sphere out of his hand and it went up up and away into the wild blue yonder never to be seen again. She now refuses to speak to him until he replaces it. The question remains: Will their love too be gone with the wind?
Some “not so good” approaches in “popping the question”:
Do not propose at a funeral. In Raleigh a guy asked for her hand in front of his brother's casket because he knew his brother had been looking forward to seeing him get married. We think his request was stiffly laid to rest.
Another no-no is to tape the ring to the toilet seat and leave it up. For when she lowers it she may not notice the diamond band and the desired answer might be flushed away too.
It will not promote bonding if you superglue the ring in the box and watch her try to pry it out (and never try this with a short tempered prospective fiancée).
For goodness sake when you are in a nice restaurant do not pretend you are choking then lean over a chair to perform a fake Heimlich maneuver and “cough” up the ring. Totally unappetizing.
Do not e-mail your question; but if you do, on no account have it say it also was sent to ‘undisclosed recipients’.
Other traditional and non-traditional approaches to making the proposal have been in Scrabble games, Trivial Pursuit, jig-saw puzzles, rose petals arranged on the floor or bed reading “Marry Me”, a plane pulling your sign, a billboard message, a jumbo board at a sporting event, a simple note attached to a floral bouquet, or inside a box of chocolates. It can be in a boat, a limousine, a hot air balloon, a roller coaster, a horse drawn carriage, or a grocery store; on a mountain, a beach with a message in a bottle, at the top of a city skyscraper, even under water, or at the place where you had your first date.
No matter wherever, whenever, or how the presentation is made it should be one of the most memorable events of a lifetime and as Rick tells Louie in the movie ‘Casablanca’, “….this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” and with luck and love, infinitely beyond.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/04/23/columnists/doc480e3e0be0535476867387.txt
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
4/9/08
Beware-Danger Lurking
Tri--O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
After you read this you may not regard your toothbrush in the same way. Do you recall several seasons ago on the TV show “Big Brother” when one of the house-guests, miffed at another, took his toothbrush and used it to clean the toilet before putting it back in the holder? Yuk! Well, what I learned was not that gross……. But I get ahead of myself and once again my BH (Better Half) proved right, and I am now glad she was.
Let me take you back a few months to the Holiday season when my BH presented me with a gift. I first thought of it as being an eccentricity, just another quirky stocking stuffer to be used once then stored on the shelf next to the bread baking machine, super juicer, and pasta maker. It was accepted with a “Thank you, it was just what I wanted”, and a smile knowing full well there was going to be a forthcoming visit to our storage room.
She knew that several decades ago my dentist told me that I was a candidate for periodontal disease (I since learned an estimated 80 percent of American adults have some form of the disease). It seemed my gums were exhibiting the red flag of inflammation and had deep pockets (no, not the kind meaning vast wealth but the gap between teeth and gum which harbors the nasty bacteria that cause the distress). After the deep-cleaning, called scaling, and root planing together with a re-education on better dental and oral hygiene I maintain a nightly regimen to keep the pearly whites. The choppers have a long way to go before they need replacement and the use of Polident.
My activity consisted of eight steps, until recently. Indeed, from initial dental water jet to final tongue scraper takes a lot longer than the two minute brushing and flossing as recommended by dentists. I am a virtual “Adrian Monk” (the obsessive-compulsive TV detective) in front of the bathroom mirror.
Now there is an added ninth step.
In the May issue of “Prevention” magazine it states the worst place for your toothbrush is on the bathroom sink. The article quotes germ expert Chuck Gerba, PhD, a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona, “When you flush, aerosolized toilet funk is propelled as far as 6 feet, settling on the floor, the sink, and your toothbrush. ‘Unless you like rinsing with toilet water, keep your toothbrush behind closed doors--in the medicine cabinet or a nearby cupboard’ ” The piece went on to say, “There are 3.2 million microbes per square inch in the average toilet bowl”
After reading this I scurried to the shelf in the storage room and cleaned the gift of three months of the settled dust.
My thoughtful BH had given me a VIO, a toothbrush sanitizer that uses Ultra-Violet light to destroy micro-organisms. This ninth step now resides in the beneath the sink cabinet. I sleep sounder knowing that the ten minute eerie blue glowing light that shuts itself off has aided in thwarting the harmful bacteria lurking in the air and living on my toothbrush.
You, dear reader, are now duly apprised to what lies in wait in the confines of your bathroom, so be ever vigilant. Monk, who pours boiling water over his toothbrush, would be proud of you.
Speaking of toothbrushes…….it is said that the credit for its invention was a hill-Billy. Why, you ask? Because if it was invented by anyone else it would have been called a “teethbrush”. Ouch!!
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/04/09/columnists/doc47fbcd7b52d88428812122.txt
Beware-Danger Lurking
Tri--O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
After you read this you may not regard your toothbrush in the same way. Do you recall several seasons ago on the TV show “Big Brother” when one of the house-guests, miffed at another, took his toothbrush and used it to clean the toilet before putting it back in the holder? Yuk! Well, what I learned was not that gross……. But I get ahead of myself and once again my BH (Better Half) proved right, and I am now glad she was.
Let me take you back a few months to the Holiday season when my BH presented me with a gift. I first thought of it as being an eccentricity, just another quirky stocking stuffer to be used once then stored on the shelf next to the bread baking machine, super juicer, and pasta maker. It was accepted with a “Thank you, it was just what I wanted”, and a smile knowing full well there was going to be a forthcoming visit to our storage room.
She knew that several decades ago my dentist told me that I was a candidate for periodontal disease (I since learned an estimated 80 percent of American adults have some form of the disease). It seemed my gums were exhibiting the red flag of inflammation and had deep pockets (no, not the kind meaning vast wealth but the gap between teeth and gum which harbors the nasty bacteria that cause the distress). After the deep-cleaning, called scaling, and root planing together with a re-education on better dental and oral hygiene I maintain a nightly regimen to keep the pearly whites. The choppers have a long way to go before they need replacement and the use of Polident.
My activity consisted of eight steps, until recently. Indeed, from initial dental water jet to final tongue scraper takes a lot longer than the two minute brushing and flossing as recommended by dentists. I am a virtual “Adrian Monk” (the obsessive-compulsive TV detective) in front of the bathroom mirror.
Now there is an added ninth step.
In the May issue of “Prevention” magazine it states the worst place for your toothbrush is on the bathroom sink. The article quotes germ expert Chuck Gerba, PhD, a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona, “When you flush, aerosolized toilet funk is propelled as far as 6 feet, settling on the floor, the sink, and your toothbrush. ‘Unless you like rinsing with toilet water, keep your toothbrush behind closed doors--in the medicine cabinet or a nearby cupboard’ ” The piece went on to say, “There are 3.2 million microbes per square inch in the average toilet bowl”
After reading this I scurried to the shelf in the storage room and cleaned the gift of three months of the settled dust.
My thoughtful BH had given me a VIO, a toothbrush sanitizer that uses Ultra-Violet light to destroy micro-organisms. This ninth step now resides in the beneath the sink cabinet. I sleep sounder knowing that the ten minute eerie blue glowing light that shuts itself off has aided in thwarting the harmful bacteria lurking in the air and living on my toothbrush.
You, dear reader, are now duly apprised to what lies in wait in the confines of your bathroom, so be ever vigilant. Monk, who pours boiling water over his toothbrush, would be proud of you.
Speaking of toothbrushes…….it is said that the credit for its invention was a hill-Billy. Why, you ask? Because if it was invented by anyone else it would have been called a “teethbrush”. Ouch!!
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/04/09/columnists/doc47fbcd7b52d88428812122.txt
Thursday, March 27, 2008
3/26/08
Triangle of death
Tri-O’s
Oddities, Observations, and Opinions By
Herb Kandel
It seems we all take for granted the environmental, zoning, and occupational hazard laws. Many did not usually evolve by dint of foresightedness but rather through tragedy. A case in point involves one that happened 97 years ago this week. It was Saturday March 25, 1911, about 4:40 in the afternoon. In five minutes the bell would clang on top floors 8, 9, and 10 to let the workers know that they could leave their sewing machines and other operating equipment. The overtime pay was a welcome addition to the employees who usually earned $6 a week. This was lower Manhattan in the Asch building and this factory made and assembled women¹s tailored shirts. The employees were mainly immigrant women, some as young as 15, mostly Italian, Jewish, Russian, and German. There were about 500 employed on those three floors and they worked for the Triangle Shirtwaist Company.
Then someone on the 8th floor shouted "Fire!"
The combustible materials burned rapidly and torched the overhead racks of the shirts in process. Smoke billowed out of the windows and fire quickly spread. The 27 water buckets proved useless in dousing the increasing flames. There was a rush to the two passenger elevators and the stairway. The door to the stairway opened in, not out. With the rush to get there the crowd defeated itself temporarily by blocking the space necessary to swing it in. They later were able to escape to street level some with clothes smoking others suffered major burns.
Meanwhile the 10 passenger elevator kept bringing down 12 -15 people at a time but the ring of fire on the upper floors still threatened hundreds. The elevator operator would later testify as he was descending in the shaft he heard the thumping of bodies hitting the top of the car. They plummeted from the 9th floor whose door was pried open. Police would later remove more than 30 corpses from atop the elevator, all were women.
Acts of bravery were reported. Three men formed a human chain from the 8th floor window to the adjacent window next door. Some girls were able to cross over on the backs of the three. But then the men lost their balance. All three fell 80 feet to join those on the pavement. At first bystanders thought that bolts of fabric were being tossed out of the windows to save the material but the bolts were soon realized to be bodies.
On the 9th floor the stairway doors were locked (it was said to prevent materials from being stolen). The fire escape was useless and collapsed under the load of the workers. The inferno there was the area that claimed the most lives. The firefighters arrived from six blocks away. Within 15 minutes it became a four alarm fire. Pumps did not have the power to propel the water to the top floors. Ladders were extended which only reached the mid 6th floor, some jumped toward them in hope of grabbing a rung near the top. None did.
A New York Times report described five girls by a window, "They leaped together, clinging to each other, with fire streaming back from their hair and dresses".
Lifenets were stretched but multiple bodies landing at the same time proved a disaster. It seemed to be raining girls as they chose the window exit rather than burn alive. Again, the New York Times, "Few of the girls that fell from the windows on the ninth floor, it was learned, jumped of their own accord. They were pushed forward by the panic stricken crowd in the room behind them." The report continued, "The crowd yelled 'Don't jump!' but it was jump or be burned the proof of which is found in the fact that fifty burned bodies were taken from the ninth floor alone."
Those on the 10th floor fared better. They escaped to the roof. Next door was New York University Law School. It was 15 foot higher than the Asch building. Seeing the commotion on the roof a teacher and his students found ladders left by painters. They lowered them to the roof below allowing the 70 or so workers to climb to safety. All but one person survived from the 10th floor.
The fire was under control in less than 30 minutes. It claimed the lives of 146 people. The building itself, steel and concrete, showed hardly any signs of the disaster yet it had experienced four recent fires and had been cited as unsafe because of the deficiency of exits. There is still no definitive cause of the fire, most believed a cigarette or match landed on the cluttered floor. The owners were acquitted of wrongdoing. In civil suit they were made to pay $75 to each of the twenty three families who had sued them.
This workplace disaster was the largest in New York history until 9/11 but because of it new laws were enacted: fire codes, safety and occupational standards, workers compensation, and a myriad other statutes for the benefit and welfare of the public along with stiff penalties for non-compliance. It still sadly exemplifies why government mandate Law in the wake of catastrophes such as Triangle Shirtwaist Company.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/03/26/columnists/doc47e97564451b2651060365.txt
Triangle of death
Tri-O’s
Oddities, Observations, and Opinions By
Herb Kandel
It seems we all take for granted the environmental, zoning, and occupational hazard laws. Many did not usually evolve by dint of foresightedness but rather through tragedy. A case in point involves one that happened 97 years ago this week. It was Saturday March 25, 1911, about 4:40 in the afternoon. In five minutes the bell would clang on top floors 8, 9, and 10 to let the workers know that they could leave their sewing machines and other operating equipment. The overtime pay was a welcome addition to the employees who usually earned $6 a week. This was lower Manhattan in the Asch building and this factory made and assembled women¹s tailored shirts. The employees were mainly immigrant women, some as young as 15, mostly Italian, Jewish, Russian, and German. There were about 500 employed on those three floors and they worked for the Triangle Shirtwaist Company.
Then someone on the 8th floor shouted "Fire!"
The combustible materials burned rapidly and torched the overhead racks of the shirts in process. Smoke billowed out of the windows and fire quickly spread. The 27 water buckets proved useless in dousing the increasing flames. There was a rush to the two passenger elevators and the stairway. The door to the stairway opened in, not out. With the rush to get there the crowd defeated itself temporarily by blocking the space necessary to swing it in. They later were able to escape to street level some with clothes smoking others suffered major burns.
Meanwhile the 10 passenger elevator kept bringing down 12 -15 people at a time but the ring of fire on the upper floors still threatened hundreds. The elevator operator would later testify as he was descending in the shaft he heard the thumping of bodies hitting the top of the car. They plummeted from the 9th floor whose door was pried open. Police would later remove more than 30 corpses from atop the elevator, all were women.
Acts of bravery were reported. Three men formed a human chain from the 8th floor window to the adjacent window next door. Some girls were able to cross over on the backs of the three. But then the men lost their balance. All three fell 80 feet to join those on the pavement. At first bystanders thought that bolts of fabric were being tossed out of the windows to save the material but the bolts were soon realized to be bodies.
On the 9th floor the stairway doors were locked (it was said to prevent materials from being stolen). The fire escape was useless and collapsed under the load of the workers. The inferno there was the area that claimed the most lives. The firefighters arrived from six blocks away. Within 15 minutes it became a four alarm fire. Pumps did not have the power to propel the water to the top floors. Ladders were extended which only reached the mid 6th floor, some jumped toward them in hope of grabbing a rung near the top. None did.
A New York Times report described five girls by a window, "They leaped together, clinging to each other, with fire streaming back from their hair and dresses".
Lifenets were stretched but multiple bodies landing at the same time proved a disaster. It seemed to be raining girls as they chose the window exit rather than burn alive. Again, the New York Times, "Few of the girls that fell from the windows on the ninth floor, it was learned, jumped of their own accord. They were pushed forward by the panic stricken crowd in the room behind them." The report continued, "The crowd yelled 'Don't jump!' but it was jump or be burned the proof of which is found in the fact that fifty burned bodies were taken from the ninth floor alone."
Those on the 10th floor fared better. They escaped to the roof. Next door was New York University Law School. It was 15 foot higher than the Asch building. Seeing the commotion on the roof a teacher and his students found ladders left by painters. They lowered them to the roof below allowing the 70 or so workers to climb to safety. All but one person survived from the 10th floor.
The fire was under control in less than 30 minutes. It claimed the lives of 146 people. The building itself, steel and concrete, showed hardly any signs of the disaster yet it had experienced four recent fires and had been cited as unsafe because of the deficiency of exits. There is still no definitive cause of the fire, most believed a cigarette or match landed on the cluttered floor. The owners were acquitted of wrongdoing. In civil suit they were made to pay $75 to each of the twenty three families who had sued them.
This workplace disaster was the largest in New York history until 9/11 but because of it new laws were enacted: fire codes, safety and occupational standards, workers compensation, and a myriad other statutes for the benefit and welfare of the public along with stiff penalties for non-compliance. It still sadly exemplifies why government mandate Law in the wake of catastrophes such as Triangle Shirtwaist Company.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/03/26/columnists/doc47e97564451b2651060365.txt
Saturday, March 15, 2008
3/15/08
Bananas going ?
Tri-O's
Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
Last week I gleaned the “to read” e-mail from the spam on my computer. After deleting all the pixels notifying me I was the heir to vast Nigerian bequests and entreaties for enlarging body parts I found an interesting one from a friend. It extolled the benefits of eating bananas. The nutritional values are said to be numerous and the report maintained they helped maladies such as Depression, PMS, high blood pressure, hangovers, ulcers, and even warts, to name a few. For all I know it may be the true elixir of life. What a wonderful way to remedy and maintain health -- ingesting the delicious yellow fruit shaped like a comma!
Then I heard an interview on NPR‘S program “Fresh Air”. Host Terry Gross was talking with Dan Koeppel, who spent three years researching and writing “Banana, The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World”. He claims that the banana may be an endangered fruit in the next 10 to 20 years.
Facts: Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. It is a seedless, sexless fruit that does not really reproduce but is a genetic duplicate of the next generation, in essence what the world eats are clones. The same type banana, the Cavendish, is the same in Europe and China as it is here. Since they all are genetically the same they are susceptible to the same blights. There was a another strain of bananas, Gros Michel (Big Mike), that was obliterated in the 1960’s by a soil fungus which attacks the roots, called Panama disease. Another fungus, black Sigatoka, is a leaf fungus which also destroys the plant.
The same fate may be in store for the Cavendish, says Koeppel. More about this later.
Millions of people rely on the fruit for sustenance. Here we may regard it as a snack or a sliced addition to our breakfast cereal, but in Africa and other parts of the world it is a staple (in Uganda the word for “food” and the one for “banana” are the same). After rice, wheat, and milk, bananas are the fourth most beneficial food in developing countries as an excellent source of carbohydrate, fiber, vitamins and minerals. It is estimated that 500 million poor people, from Brazil to Indonesia, would be adversely effected if “Yes, we have no bananas” were to become a reality.
It is uncertain as to how bananas evolved or where they developed. Some claim, in translations of the Bible, that it was really a banana that Adam was tempted with by Eve (maybe that snake knew about nutrition). But in recent times whole Central American countries had their fates dependent on the fruit. The United Fruit company mushroomed (so to speak) in that part of the world. Its influence played into politics, industry, labor, and overthrew governments in banana republics.
Koeppel is now shining the spotlight on genetic engineering and warning about the fruit’s demise. Without genetically modified (GM) harvests this food source would be eliminated. There is a rush now to save the Cavendish or morph it into another strain by developing them in test tubes since it has no seeds or pollen and is therefore sterile. A team of scientists inserted a gene from rice which they say provides protection for the banana from black Sigatoka with no danger to humans or the environment. According to them the GM banana reduces the need for pesticides. However the Panama fungus is still to be reckoned with. Organic bananas sold in the West are grown without pesticides but the yield is greatly reduced.
Some opponents of GM consider it “frankenfood”, and there are other nay sayers who contend the situation is not dire. They are almost as adamant as those folks who claim that global warming is a hoax. Indeed, even the sources at Snopes.Com (an investigative site exposing urban legends) maintain that there are other disease control alternatives such as “the development of plants resistant to the main diseases, the employment of friendly bacteria, fungi, and other micro-organisms”. They recognize the threat of a banana plague but feel it is not imminent and that it can be avoided with strict enforcement that prohibit of the export of pathogen infected soil and banana suckers to new plantations and growing fields.
It is a strong case that Koeppel makes about the threat of extinction being real. In addition to the above information about science, genetic codes, political intrigues, and globalization, he also looks into the banana trade, marketing, cultural aspects, injustices with violence, historical lethal events in the harvesting and transporting, and economic imperialism.
Who knew that this iconic golden fruit, which has so much to offer the world, has such a history and who’s future is now a mystery? Certainly not I. But if I don’t slip on a banana peel Koeppel’s book will be my next read.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/03/15/columnists/doc47daeaf1c08e1843317824.txt
Bananas going ?
Tri-O's
Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
Last week I gleaned the “to read” e-mail from the spam on my computer. After deleting all the pixels notifying me I was the heir to vast Nigerian bequests and entreaties for enlarging body parts I found an interesting one from a friend. It extolled the benefits of eating bananas. The nutritional values are said to be numerous and the report maintained they helped maladies such as Depression, PMS, high blood pressure, hangovers, ulcers, and even warts, to name a few. For all I know it may be the true elixir of life. What a wonderful way to remedy and maintain health -- ingesting the delicious yellow fruit shaped like a comma!
Then I heard an interview on NPR‘S program “Fresh Air”. Host Terry Gross was talking with Dan Koeppel, who spent three years researching and writing “Banana, The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World”. He claims that the banana may be an endangered fruit in the next 10 to 20 years.
Facts: Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. It is a seedless, sexless fruit that does not really reproduce but is a genetic duplicate of the next generation, in essence what the world eats are clones. The same type banana, the Cavendish, is the same in Europe and China as it is here. Since they all are genetically the same they are susceptible to the same blights. There was a another strain of bananas, Gros Michel (Big Mike), that was obliterated in the 1960’s by a soil fungus which attacks the roots, called Panama disease. Another fungus, black Sigatoka, is a leaf fungus which also destroys the plant.
The same fate may be in store for the Cavendish, says Koeppel. More about this later.
Millions of people rely on the fruit for sustenance. Here we may regard it as a snack or a sliced addition to our breakfast cereal, but in Africa and other parts of the world it is a staple (in Uganda the word for “food” and the one for “banana” are the same). After rice, wheat, and milk, bananas are the fourth most beneficial food in developing countries as an excellent source of carbohydrate, fiber, vitamins and minerals. It is estimated that 500 million poor people, from Brazil to Indonesia, would be adversely effected if “Yes, we have no bananas” were to become a reality.
It is uncertain as to how bananas evolved or where they developed. Some claim, in translations of the Bible, that it was really a banana that Adam was tempted with by Eve (maybe that snake knew about nutrition). But in recent times whole Central American countries had their fates dependent on the fruit. The United Fruit company mushroomed (so to speak) in that part of the world. Its influence played into politics, industry, labor, and overthrew governments in banana republics.
Koeppel is now shining the spotlight on genetic engineering and warning about the fruit’s demise. Without genetically modified (GM) harvests this food source would be eliminated. There is a rush now to save the Cavendish or morph it into another strain by developing them in test tubes since it has no seeds or pollen and is therefore sterile. A team of scientists inserted a gene from rice which they say provides protection for the banana from black Sigatoka with no danger to humans or the environment. According to them the GM banana reduces the need for pesticides. However the Panama fungus is still to be reckoned with. Organic bananas sold in the West are grown without pesticides but the yield is greatly reduced.
Some opponents of GM consider it “frankenfood”, and there are other nay sayers who contend the situation is not dire. They are almost as adamant as those folks who claim that global warming is a hoax. Indeed, even the sources at Snopes.Com (an investigative site exposing urban legends) maintain that there are other disease control alternatives such as “the development of plants resistant to the main diseases, the employment of friendly bacteria, fungi, and other micro-organisms”. They recognize the threat of a banana plague but feel it is not imminent and that it can be avoided with strict enforcement that prohibit of the export of pathogen infected soil and banana suckers to new plantations and growing fields.
It is a strong case that Koeppel makes about the threat of extinction being real. In addition to the above information about science, genetic codes, political intrigues, and globalization, he also looks into the banana trade, marketing, cultural aspects, injustices with violence, historical lethal events in the harvesting and transporting, and economic imperialism.
Who knew that this iconic golden fruit, which has so much to offer the world, has such a history and who’s future is now a mystery? Certainly not I. But if I don’t slip on a banana peel Koeppel’s book will be my next read.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/03/15/columnists/doc47daeaf1c08e1843317824.txt
Saturday, March 01, 2008
2/27/08
George, Abe, and La-Z-Boys
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
Last week was President’s Day. It used to be the day honoring Presidents Washington and Lincoln but has evolved to days of hawking furniture and mattress sales. Here we are in the midst of a heating up presidential nomination race followed by the upcoming campaign of the chosen nominees. The field is narrowing down as the each state tallies it’s votes. Whomever the winner may be he/she will be scrutinized minutely and findings will be reported.
Long before all those bedroom suites and recliners started getting advertising space previous persons holding the presidential office were examined also, but the findings were not as widely broadcast. Here are some little known facts about the presidents for whom this day was named.
Washington:
In the winter of 1775 General George Washington wrote to John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, warning of bioterrorism. He was concerned that his troops might become the victims of smallpox spread by the British. He sent this message to members of Congress also. His contention was never proven but during the period between 1775- 1782 there were more deaths attributed to smallpox than those who died in battle.
Tales of Washington having wooden teeth are false. At his inauguration he had only one tooth, however at other times he had dentures made of human teeth, animal teeth, ivory, and lead.
He was the only president elected unanimously, and the only president who didn't live in Washington, D.C. During his presidency. He was 6’2’’ tall, weighed 200 pounds and had size 13 shoes. All his achievements were done with no formal education.
Luck was with him as he had, before he was 30, smallpox, pleurisy, malaria, and dysentery. He fell off a raft in an icy river and came close to drowning. He was shot at. His coat bore four holes which bullets had punctured and two horses were shot from under him.
February 22 was his 276th birthday.
Lincoln:
Lincoln was the tallest president at 6’4’’; Madison the shortest at 5’4’’
In his tall stovepipe hat Lincoln at times carried letters, bills, and notes.
He was an outspoken nonbeliever and never belonged to an organized religion. The only time he made reference to it was in his 1846 congressional campaign. He said, “ That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general or of any denomination of Christians in particular.”
In 1849 he obtained a patent for his invention of a device for lifting ships over shoals using “buoyant air chambers”. He was the only patent holding president .
He did not trust the accuracy of the press. In his “House divided” speech he personally went to the newspaper office to proofread the galleys of the speech.
At his inaugural reception in 1865, Fredrick Douglass, the former slave and outspoken abolitionist, was Lincoln’s invited guest but was forced out by a policeman at the entrance. Douglass tried again this time catching Lincoln’s eye. “ Here comes my friend Douglass,” exclaimed Abe as he left guests and took Douglass by the hand to lead him in.
Twelve years before the 1st women’s rights convention in 1848, Lincoln as a State legislator, endorsed extending the vote to women.
He and his wife participated in séances in the White House after the death of his son Willie. They wanted to communicate with him.
February 12 was his 199th birthday.
Other presidential trivia:
There have been eight presidents who were not born American but were British subjects Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J. Q. Adams, Jackson, and W. Harrison.
Being a Harvard alumni is the best bet for the office. Five presidents studied there, J. Adams, J. Q. Adams, T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, and Kennedy. (Clinton -Yale, McCain- U.S. Naval Academy, Obama - Harvard)
So as we check all the ads for sofas and dining room furniture we should remember that it was George and Abe that made it all possible.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/02/27/columnists/doc47c4804abf3e6239634811.txt
George, Abe, and La-Z-Boys
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
Last week was President’s Day. It used to be the day honoring Presidents Washington and Lincoln but has evolved to days of hawking furniture and mattress sales. Here we are in the midst of a heating up presidential nomination race followed by the upcoming campaign of the chosen nominees. The field is narrowing down as the each state tallies it’s votes. Whomever the winner may be he/she will be scrutinized minutely and findings will be reported.
Long before all those bedroom suites and recliners started getting advertising space previous persons holding the presidential office were examined also, but the findings were not as widely broadcast. Here are some little known facts about the presidents for whom this day was named.
Washington:
In the winter of 1775 General George Washington wrote to John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, warning of bioterrorism. He was concerned that his troops might become the victims of smallpox spread by the British. He sent this message to members of Congress also. His contention was never proven but during the period between 1775- 1782 there were more deaths attributed to smallpox than those who died in battle.
Tales of Washington having wooden teeth are false. At his inauguration he had only one tooth, however at other times he had dentures made of human teeth, animal teeth, ivory, and lead.
He was the only president elected unanimously, and the only president who didn't live in Washington, D.C. During his presidency. He was 6’2’’ tall, weighed 200 pounds and had size 13 shoes. All his achievements were done with no formal education.
Luck was with him as he had, before he was 30, smallpox, pleurisy, malaria, and dysentery. He fell off a raft in an icy river and came close to drowning. He was shot at. His coat bore four holes which bullets had punctured and two horses were shot from under him.
February 22 was his 276th birthday.
Lincoln:
Lincoln was the tallest president at 6’4’’; Madison the shortest at 5’4’’
In his tall stovepipe hat Lincoln at times carried letters, bills, and notes.
He was an outspoken nonbeliever and never belonged to an organized religion. The only time he made reference to it was in his 1846 congressional campaign. He said, “ That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general or of any denomination of Christians in particular.”
In 1849 he obtained a patent for his invention of a device for lifting ships over shoals using “buoyant air chambers”. He was the only patent holding president .
He did not trust the accuracy of the press. In his “House divided” speech he personally went to the newspaper office to proofread the galleys of the speech.
At his inaugural reception in 1865, Fredrick Douglass, the former slave and outspoken abolitionist, was Lincoln’s invited guest but was forced out by a policeman at the entrance. Douglass tried again this time catching Lincoln’s eye. “ Here comes my friend Douglass,” exclaimed Abe as he left guests and took Douglass by the hand to lead him in.
Twelve years before the 1st women’s rights convention in 1848, Lincoln as a State legislator, endorsed extending the vote to women.
He and his wife participated in séances in the White House after the death of his son Willie. They wanted to communicate with him.
February 12 was his 199th birthday.
Other presidential trivia:
There have been eight presidents who were not born American but were British subjects Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J. Q. Adams, Jackson, and W. Harrison.
Being a Harvard alumni is the best bet for the office. Five presidents studied there, J. Adams, J. Q. Adams, T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, and Kennedy. (Clinton -Yale, McCain- U.S. Naval Academy, Obama - Harvard)
So as we check all the ads for sofas and dining room furniture we should remember that it was George and Abe that made it all possible.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/02/27/columnists/doc47c4804abf3e6239634811.txt
2/13/08
Love. Ah, sweet love
Tri-O’s
Oddities, Observations, and Opinions By Herb Kandel
A recent cover story in TIME magazine was “The Science of Romance”. Many scientific theories were put forth as to how and why we humans love. They went in depth about studies which show how our senses come into play while seeking partners. One of the more significant (and primal), they say, is that “a possible partner smells right”, along with how they look, sound, and ‘taste’ (a compound in saliva is another trigger) . But it is in the brain where all the pieces of the five senses meet then combine with natural opioids and surging hormones to generate the glowing overall ‘feel good’ phenomenon.
Let’s put aside this analytical explanation along with the microscopic approach and be like Annie Oakley (in “ Annie Get Your Gun”) by --"Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" and rely on the tried, true, and tested way of expressing emotions to the recipients of our Valentine greetings.
Sure, all those cards,flower bouquets, and chocolate bon-bons are effective but the ones that make the point are those tiny colored conversation heart shaped candy pieces with a message on each one.
The NECCO (New England Confectionery Company) has been making Sweethearts ® Conversation Hearts since the Civil War and manufactures eight billion hearts each year making them the #1 non-chocolate Valentine’s Day candy (they say if placed back to back the line would go from New York to Los Angeles and back again, 5924 miles of pastel colored line).
NECCO introduces 10 new sayings a year all printed in upper case. You can make up your own (but you will have to buy a production run of about 1.7 million candy hearts). This reminds me of the story I heard of unrequited love where in fifth grade little Johnny gave curly haired Jenny a pink candy heart which said “BE MINE”. She in turn searched through her package, picked out a green one, handed it to him, and he wilted. It said, “GET LOST”. Which leads me to the “heart” of this piece--What would certain people put on the candy heart to give to someone else?
Hillary to Barack: NO YOU CAN'T! -- Barack/Hillary: YES I CAN!
Hillary to Barack: WAIT YOUR TURN -- Barack/Hillary: WAITING SUCKS
Barack to Hillary: HERE I COME --Hillary/Barack: START PLAN B (BILL)
Bill to Hillary: NEGATIVE POSITIVELY? -- Hillary/Bill: POSITIVELY NEGATVE!
McCain to Romney: DROP OUT -- Romney/McCain: OVER AND OUT
McCain to Huckabee: I'M A MONKEY’S UNCLE -- Huckabee/McCain: NO, YOU'RE NOT!
G.W. Bush to G.H.W. Bush: READ MY QUIPS --G.H./G.W: WHO’S YOUR DADDY?
Rush Limbaugh to Al Gore: COOL IT --A/R: LEARN TO SWIM
Tom Brady to Eli Manning: 18 GOING TO 19 -- Eli/Tom: 17 TO 14! NA NA
Al Sharpton to Don Imus: NO MO’ HO -- D/A: YO, BRO, I KNOW
Don Siegelman to Bob Riley: LET ME OUT! -- B/D: CONSPIRACY WORKS, RIGHT?
Barry Bonds to Hank Aaron: PUMP ME UP -- H/B: SWING NATURAL
Scarlett to Rhett: DRAPES TO DRESSES -- R/S: DAMN CERTAIN CURTAINS
Mary Todd Lincoln to Abe: NO PLAY TONIGHT -- A/M: SHOWTIME!
Q. Elizabeth Barrett Browning: HOW DO I LOVE THEE?
A. Elvis: LOVE ME TENDER
James Bond: SHAKEN NOT STIRED
Larry King: WHAT’S THE QUESTION?
Dick Cheney: MASS DESTRUCTIVELY
Joan Rivers: WITH NIP & TUCK
Fred Thompson: LAWFULLY & ORDERLY
Rudy Giuliani: LEADER TO LOSER
O.J. Simpson: LIKE A GLOVE
Biggest Loser: COUNT THE WEIGHS
Homer Simpson: EAT MY SHORTS
We've gone from deep probing science to concise wording on candy just to wish you a requited Sweet and Happy Valentine’s Day.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/02/13/columnists/doc47b203fd12255488009633.txt
Love. Ah, sweet love
Tri-O’s
Oddities, Observations, and Opinions By Herb Kandel
A recent cover story in TIME magazine was “The Science of Romance”. Many scientific theories were put forth as to how and why we humans love. They went in depth about studies which show how our senses come into play while seeking partners. One of the more significant (and primal), they say, is that “a possible partner smells right”, along with how they look, sound, and ‘taste’ (a compound in saliva is another trigger) . But it is in the brain where all the pieces of the five senses meet then combine with natural opioids and surging hormones to generate the glowing overall ‘feel good’ phenomenon.
Let’s put aside this analytical explanation along with the microscopic approach and be like Annie Oakley (in “ Annie Get Your Gun”) by --"Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" and rely on the tried, true, and tested way of expressing emotions to the recipients of our Valentine greetings.
Sure, all those cards,flower bouquets, and chocolate bon-bons are effective but the ones that make the point are those tiny colored conversation heart shaped candy pieces with a message on each one.
The NECCO (New England Confectionery Company) has been making Sweethearts ® Conversation Hearts since the Civil War and manufactures eight billion hearts each year making them the #1 non-chocolate Valentine’s Day candy (they say if placed back to back the line would go from New York to Los Angeles and back again, 5924 miles of pastel colored line).
NECCO introduces 10 new sayings a year all printed in upper case. You can make up your own (but you will have to buy a production run of about 1.7 million candy hearts). This reminds me of the story I heard of unrequited love where in fifth grade little Johnny gave curly haired Jenny a pink candy heart which said “BE MINE”. She in turn searched through her package, picked out a green one, handed it to him, and he wilted. It said, “GET LOST”. Which leads me to the “heart” of this piece--What would certain people put on the candy heart to give to someone else?
Hillary to Barack: NO YOU CAN'T! -- Barack/Hillary: YES I CAN!
Hillary to Barack: WAIT YOUR TURN -- Barack/Hillary: WAITING SUCKS
Barack to Hillary: HERE I COME --Hillary/Barack: START PLAN B (BILL)
Bill to Hillary: NEGATIVE POSITIVELY? -- Hillary/Bill: POSITIVELY NEGATVE!
McCain to Romney: DROP OUT -- Romney/McCain: OVER AND OUT
McCain to Huckabee: I'M A MONKEY’S UNCLE -- Huckabee/McCain: NO, YOU'RE NOT!
G.W. Bush to G.H.W. Bush: READ MY QUIPS --G.H./G.W: WHO’S YOUR DADDY?
Rush Limbaugh to Al Gore: COOL IT --A/R: LEARN TO SWIM
Tom Brady to Eli Manning: 18 GOING TO 19 -- Eli/Tom: 17 TO 14! NA NA
Al Sharpton to Don Imus: NO MO’ HO -- D/A: YO, BRO, I KNOW
Don Siegelman to Bob Riley: LET ME OUT! -- B/D: CONSPIRACY WORKS, RIGHT?
Barry Bonds to Hank Aaron: PUMP ME UP -- H/B: SWING NATURAL
Scarlett to Rhett: DRAPES TO DRESSES -- R/S: DAMN CERTAIN CURTAINS
Mary Todd Lincoln to Abe: NO PLAY TONIGHT -- A/M: SHOWTIME!
Q. Elizabeth Barrett Browning: HOW DO I LOVE THEE?
A. Elvis: LOVE ME TENDER
James Bond: SHAKEN NOT STIRED
Larry King: WHAT’S THE QUESTION?
Dick Cheney: MASS DESTRUCTIVELY
Joan Rivers: WITH NIP & TUCK
Fred Thompson: LAWFULLY & ORDERLY
Rudy Giuliani: LEADER TO LOSER
O.J. Simpson: LIKE A GLOVE
Biggest Loser: COUNT THE WEIGHS
Homer Simpson: EAT MY SHORTS
We've gone from deep probing science to concise wording on candy just to wish you a requited Sweet and Happy Valentine’s Day.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/02/13/columnists/doc47b203fd12255488009633.txt
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
1/30/08
California streaming
TRI-O’s:Oddities, observations & opinions
By Herb Kandel
We have all heard the theory of the “six degrees of separation,” which asserts that anyone can be connected to any other person through a chain of acquaintances that has at most six others. Stretching this premise to include the past and six plus degrees of similarities: How do the events of 160 years ago relate to Arnold Schwartzenegger, governor of California, today? Let’s connect some dots.
It started when Johann was born in Germany of Swiss parents. He later changed his name to John and gave himself the title of captain (falsely claiming to have been an officer in the Swiss Guard). He became an adventurer, a planter and a big land owner. He was Swiss, American, Mexican and then again American by repeated naturalizations. He fled Switzerland, and his creditors, leaving behind a wife and children, promising to bring them over as soon as he was able. It was 16 years later that this pledge was kept.
America was his hope for opportunity and wealth. From New York he went to Kansas City, Mo., where he started a trading company between there and Santa Fe, N.M. His wanderlust eventually took him to Vancouver, Hawaii, Sitka, Alaska, Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) and Monterey, the capital of Mexican California. Always the opportunist he became a Mexican citizen, a Roman Catholic, an overseer of the Indian residents and a civil official of the Mexican government. He did all this in order to obtain a land grant of almost 50,000 acres. Another requirement was to establish a permanent settlement. So up the Sacramento River he and his entourage sailed to create the first non-native/Mexican presence in the Sacramento Valley. He named the area New Helvetia (New Switzerland).
In addition to the mud brick huts, he built a sturdy fort as a protection from the Mexican government because they had arrested some new immigrants on slim charges and to give the perception of castle-like security to prospective new settlers, for he knew the value of his land would increase in direct proportion to their numbers — not to mention that they would have to buy all their supplies from his trading post. Using New Helvetia as collateral, he bought more trading outposts. In July 1846, the Mexican flag was replaced by the Stars and Stripes over California. John by this time had a distillery, a tannery and a flour mill. The westward march was started, now a sawmill was necessary to provide the lumber for all the new homes. He gave it his name. It is still called Sutter’s Mill.
It was here on Jan. 24, 1848 that yellow nuggets were discovered near the mill site and the Gold Rush was on!
The land was soon teeming with squatters and rouges who overran the land. They killed his cattle and laid waste the progress in their mad pursuit of gold; 40,000 prospectors trampled the grounds he could not defend. John Sutter sued the government for $50,000 for his losses. He was to die before any settlement was made. In his diary he states, “By this sudden discovery of the gold, all my great plans were destroyed. Had I succeeded for a few years before the gold was discovered, I would have been the richest citizen on the Pacific shore.”
So, where does all this fit in with Gov. Arnold in six plus degrees of similarity?
Both were born near the same geographic locality.
They were from middle class families and sought new opportunities in America.
Each had four children.
Personality-wise both they share the common traits of amiability, making friends, ambition, optimism, business savvy and being politically connected.
They both relied on Hispanic residents for support and industry.
Both were candidates for governor (only Arnold succeeded).
Schwartzenegger holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Austria. Sutter had several.
Financial independence for both came as a result of successful investments, business projects and real estate.
They had titles. Arnold won Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia. Sutter anointed himself captain and was appointed major general by the California Convention.
And lastly, both took chances. Arnold was involved in two motorcycle accidents along with being in countless close calls in the movies. Sutter put himself in many threatening situations. One can just see him emerging from a dangerous circumstance and voicing in in that menacing guttural tone, ala Arnold, “Ah’ll be bahk.”
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/01/30/columnists/doc479f9899a454a448276989.txt
California streaming
TRI-O’s:Oddities, observations & opinions
By Herb Kandel
We have all heard the theory of the “six degrees of separation,” which asserts that anyone can be connected to any other person through a chain of acquaintances that has at most six others. Stretching this premise to include the past and six plus degrees of similarities: How do the events of 160 years ago relate to Arnold Schwartzenegger, governor of California, today? Let’s connect some dots.
It started when Johann was born in Germany of Swiss parents. He later changed his name to John and gave himself the title of captain (falsely claiming to have been an officer in the Swiss Guard). He became an adventurer, a planter and a big land owner. He was Swiss, American, Mexican and then again American by repeated naturalizations. He fled Switzerland, and his creditors, leaving behind a wife and children, promising to bring them over as soon as he was able. It was 16 years later that this pledge was kept.
America was his hope for opportunity and wealth. From New York he went to Kansas City, Mo., where he started a trading company between there and Santa Fe, N.M. His wanderlust eventually took him to Vancouver, Hawaii, Sitka, Alaska, Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) and Monterey, the capital of Mexican California. Always the opportunist he became a Mexican citizen, a Roman Catholic, an overseer of the Indian residents and a civil official of the Mexican government. He did all this in order to obtain a land grant of almost 50,000 acres. Another requirement was to establish a permanent settlement. So up the Sacramento River he and his entourage sailed to create the first non-native/Mexican presence in the Sacramento Valley. He named the area New Helvetia (New Switzerland).
In addition to the mud brick huts, he built a sturdy fort as a protection from the Mexican government because they had arrested some new immigrants on slim charges and to give the perception of castle-like security to prospective new settlers, for he knew the value of his land would increase in direct proportion to their numbers — not to mention that they would have to buy all their supplies from his trading post. Using New Helvetia as collateral, he bought more trading outposts. In July 1846, the Mexican flag was replaced by the Stars and Stripes over California. John by this time had a distillery, a tannery and a flour mill. The westward march was started, now a sawmill was necessary to provide the lumber for all the new homes. He gave it his name. It is still called Sutter’s Mill.
It was here on Jan. 24, 1848 that yellow nuggets were discovered near the mill site and the Gold Rush was on!
The land was soon teeming with squatters and rouges who overran the land. They killed his cattle and laid waste the progress in their mad pursuit of gold; 40,000 prospectors trampled the grounds he could not defend. John Sutter sued the government for $50,000 for his losses. He was to die before any settlement was made. In his diary he states, “By this sudden discovery of the gold, all my great plans were destroyed. Had I succeeded for a few years before the gold was discovered, I would have been the richest citizen on the Pacific shore.”
So, where does all this fit in with Gov. Arnold in six plus degrees of similarity?
Both were born near the same geographic locality.
They were from middle class families and sought new opportunities in America.
Each had four children.
Personality-wise both they share the common traits of amiability, making friends, ambition, optimism, business savvy and being politically connected.
They both relied on Hispanic residents for support and industry.
Both were candidates for governor (only Arnold succeeded).
Schwartzenegger holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Austria. Sutter had several.
Financial independence for both came as a result of successful investments, business projects and real estate.
They had titles. Arnold won Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia. Sutter anointed himself captain and was appointed major general by the California Convention.
And lastly, both took chances. Arnold was involved in two motorcycle accidents along with being in countless close calls in the movies. Sutter put himself in many threatening situations. One can just see him emerging from a dangerous circumstance and voicing in in that menacing guttural tone, ala Arnold, “Ah’ll be bahk.”
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/01/30/columnists/doc479f9899a454a448276989.txt
Thursday, January 17, 2008
1/16/08
Some of the sum of parts
Tri-O's
Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Some say it was Aristotle who originated the phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” while others attribute it to the Gestalt School of Psychology. Regardless of where it came from, the epitome of this virtual cliché is my longtime friend Dan (all names changed).
He got me thinking about it when he asked for my opinion, which in itself is unusual for he has so many strong ones of his own. Last week I found him sitting with a far away look in his eyes, you know the kind where someone seems to be drifting to a place other than the here and now.
“Dan, is something wrong?”
“Do I look different to you?” he asked back.
“Other than your shirt with the buttons in a button hole one above where they should be, no. Why do you ask?”
As he re-aligned his shirt buttons he said, “This morning Stella (his wife) said I didn’t look like myself. She said I appeared somewhat peaked, more pooped than usual. And I got to thinking, maybe it’s about time that some parts of me started the aging process, too.”
“What do you mean by that?” was my snappy reply.
Whereupon he vented, “I got to thinking that from the time I open my eyes in the morning, I see through new lenses that took the place of my cataracted ones. Then I leveraged myself from bed to a sitting position with a repaired shoulder rotor cuff. I stood up braced on my artificial knees, balanced by my ceramic hips, and straightened a fused spine where a herniated disc once was. Afterward, I used a long handled shoehorn to put on a pair of slip-on orthotic shoes for my flat feet.
“Stella had the TV playing but I could not see or hear it clearly until I inserted my contact lenses and hearing aids.“I shaved using my carpal tunneled hand, which left a few nicks on my face. Then I combed my Rogaine-enhanced hair, touched up with Just for Men, before crunching my breakfast cereal with a set of teeth that has several bridges, silver fillings, and a gold crown.
“My pacemaker jolted me with a kick in the chest when it got my ticker back in sync again. I was now ready for the day.
“So I ask again: Do I look any different?”
I knew about some of Dan’s ailments and tried not to look stunned by the anatomy inventory recitation.“Dan,” said I, “I think you are a walking wonder. Not only have you survived all those procedures and are able to function near normal but just think of all the possibilities you present both now and in the future. When you become frustrated, you can truthfully declare that you were ‘beside yourself,’ or that you’re not ‘feeling like yourself.’ If you were to be cremated, you would not be able to fit into a standard urn, but you would become a treasure-trove to a used prosthetic collector.
“All joking aside, I do believe you are the living proof that the whole IS more than the sum of its parts. For without some of the parts provided by modern medical technology, you may not have still been here. Just think of a bunch of microchips, circuits, wires, transistors, and batteries — all by themselves they are junk or less, but put together properly they can be a computer, a GPS, an MP3 player, or a Bill Gates. So like the old song says, consider yourself fortunate “to be in the condition your condition is in.”
“I guess you’re right,” he said thinking it over. “And I’ll walk you back to your car as soon as I shake off this restless leg syndrome.”
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/01/16/columnists/doc478d20e08f780487991213.txt
Some of the sum of parts
Tri-O's
Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Some say it was Aristotle who originated the phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” while others attribute it to the Gestalt School of Psychology. Regardless of where it came from, the epitome of this virtual cliché is my longtime friend Dan (all names changed).
He got me thinking about it when he asked for my opinion, which in itself is unusual for he has so many strong ones of his own. Last week I found him sitting with a far away look in his eyes, you know the kind where someone seems to be drifting to a place other than the here and now.
“Dan, is something wrong?”
“Do I look different to you?” he asked back.
“Other than your shirt with the buttons in a button hole one above where they should be, no. Why do you ask?”
As he re-aligned his shirt buttons he said, “This morning Stella (his wife) said I didn’t look like myself. She said I appeared somewhat peaked, more pooped than usual. And I got to thinking, maybe it’s about time that some parts of me started the aging process, too.”
“What do you mean by that?” was my snappy reply.
Whereupon he vented, “I got to thinking that from the time I open my eyes in the morning, I see through new lenses that took the place of my cataracted ones. Then I leveraged myself from bed to a sitting position with a repaired shoulder rotor cuff. I stood up braced on my artificial knees, balanced by my ceramic hips, and straightened a fused spine where a herniated disc once was. Afterward, I used a long handled shoehorn to put on a pair of slip-on orthotic shoes for my flat feet.
“Stella had the TV playing but I could not see or hear it clearly until I inserted my contact lenses and hearing aids.“I shaved using my carpal tunneled hand, which left a few nicks on my face. Then I combed my Rogaine-enhanced hair, touched up with Just for Men, before crunching my breakfast cereal with a set of teeth that has several bridges, silver fillings, and a gold crown.
“My pacemaker jolted me with a kick in the chest when it got my ticker back in sync again. I was now ready for the day.
“So I ask again: Do I look any different?”
I knew about some of Dan’s ailments and tried not to look stunned by the anatomy inventory recitation.“Dan,” said I, “I think you are a walking wonder. Not only have you survived all those procedures and are able to function near normal but just think of all the possibilities you present both now and in the future. When you become frustrated, you can truthfully declare that you were ‘beside yourself,’ or that you’re not ‘feeling like yourself.’ If you were to be cremated, you would not be able to fit into a standard urn, but you would become a treasure-trove to a used prosthetic collector.
“All joking aside, I do believe you are the living proof that the whole IS more than the sum of its parts. For without some of the parts provided by modern medical technology, you may not have still been here. Just think of a bunch of microchips, circuits, wires, transistors, and batteries — all by themselves they are junk or less, but put together properly they can be a computer, a GPS, an MP3 player, or a Bill Gates. So like the old song says, consider yourself fortunate “to be in the condition your condition is in.”
“I guess you’re right,” he said thinking it over. “And I’ll walk you back to your car as soon as I shake off this restless leg syndrome.”
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/01/16/columnists/doc478d20e08f780487991213.txt
Saturday, January 05, 2008
1/5/08
Dear Santa - belatedly
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Not too many folks know it but Santa receives letters all year long not just the approaching Christmas season. Oh, he too sometimes runs late. That is why the “After Christmas Sales” were established (also those cards and gifts labeled “belated”). This year was no exception. Want to see some of the ones Santa received after December 25th and how he responded? Let’s peek through the open flaps:
Dear Santa, Sorry to be late this year, I was kind of busy checking Obama’s wish list he made in 3rd grade. The crayon markings were smudged so it took more time to interpret than I expected. Do you know that he wanted to be POTUS ( President of the United States) almost before he was POTTY trained? I think ambition is a good trait to have but not when it becomes an obsession. All I want this coming year is to win a few caucuses. Iowa and New Hampshire would be a nice start. If you could just help me to keep Bill from internalizing his desires (and vice versa), for my election and let him just keep focused on being becoming First Laddie (his choice of title), I would love you even more than I do my new found cleavage. Oh, yes, and forget about all those high viewing ratings I wished for Oprah last year (who wants a president with the initials B.O. Anyway?) (signed) HRC
Dear Hillary, It was nice hearing from you again. You wrote to me last year when you were up for re-election but the time before that was in 2000, the first time you ran for senator. Are you just using me? To quote Don Imus, “Ho, ho….just joking“. A few of your opponents got their lists in before you, sorry to say. John Edwards traded in his comb and brush for an additional watch so he could keep time with each America. Bill Richardson got in early too. He made double sure I received his message by pressing ‘2’ for Spanish. Joe Biden said he wasn't concerned about transplanted foreigners as long as no one interfered with transplanted follicles. Barack Obama was the earliest bird who asked that a “skinny, tall kid, whose ears stick out” (who remained nameless) not be left behind when votes were counted. But being benevolent to all, I say, “We shall see” (or should that be "Si“?) (signed) Santa
Dear Santa, I know I'm late but, shucks, a fella can't be everywhere driving an old red pickup and diapering a baby too. You know I gave up Hollywood “Law & Order” to try fixin’ universal law and order. This is one ole’ Tennessee boy who may start out last and slow but sure don't want to segue to fade after the close-up. Sure, Rudy boasts of his management skills on 9/11, McCain his ’Nam imprisonment, Mitt his business acumen, and Huckabee his humble beginnings, but name me the only candidate who has the complete set of Jack Daniel’s commemorative decanters from 1913 on? That’s right, Santa, this Bubba respects the maven of moon shiners. Now I'm not asking for any special favoritism in the voting but I also came from a poor background and worked myself up the monetary ladder as a senator, lobbyist, and actor (not that there is anything wrong with that). Keep me in mind just as you did that other politician/actor Ronald Reagan in 1980, and let’s win this one for The Sipper. (signed) FDT
Dear Fred, Thanks for thinking of me when I know that you and your wife Jeri are on the campaign trail. Seems to me she was enough of a gift, and challenge (some called it ’trophy’) when you two got hitched. Even though she is two years younger than one of your daughters I know you think that your opponents are jealous and hold this against you. But consider it a blessing, for as you plod along no one has made it an issue, and just think if Hillary had married a ‘hottie’ and had two more babies - she would have been ridiculed (not to mention tired), or if Mitt Romney had another wife (let’s not go there). So, Fred just give thanks to be who and where you are and you if you are lucky you won't finish the race as your favorite Jack Daniel’s …….Old No. 7 (signed) Santa
Dear Santa baby, Was delayed because of jail-mail restrictions, forgivey-poo. All I want for Christmas is my two frontal lobes. PWH
Dear Paris, Some things even Santa cannot do.!
And a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/01/05/columnists/doc477e93ceddefc938416601
Dear Santa - belatedly
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Not too many folks know it but Santa receives letters all year long not just the approaching Christmas season. Oh, he too sometimes runs late. That is why the “After Christmas Sales” were established (also those cards and gifts labeled “belated”). This year was no exception. Want to see some of the ones Santa received after December 25th and how he responded? Let’s peek through the open flaps:
Dear Santa, Sorry to be late this year, I was kind of busy checking Obama’s wish list he made in 3rd grade. The crayon markings were smudged so it took more time to interpret than I expected. Do you know that he wanted to be POTUS ( President of the United States) almost before he was POTTY trained? I think ambition is a good trait to have but not when it becomes an obsession. All I want this coming year is to win a few caucuses. Iowa and New Hampshire would be a nice start. If you could just help me to keep Bill from internalizing his desires (and vice versa), for my election and let him just keep focused on being becoming First Laddie (his choice of title), I would love you even more than I do my new found cleavage. Oh, yes, and forget about all those high viewing ratings I wished for Oprah last year (who wants a president with the initials B.O. Anyway?) (signed) HRC
Dear Hillary, It was nice hearing from you again. You wrote to me last year when you were up for re-election but the time before that was in 2000, the first time you ran for senator. Are you just using me? To quote Don Imus, “Ho, ho….just joking“. A few of your opponents got their lists in before you, sorry to say. John Edwards traded in his comb and brush for an additional watch so he could keep time with each America. Bill Richardson got in early too. He made double sure I received his message by pressing ‘2’ for Spanish. Joe Biden said he wasn't concerned about transplanted foreigners as long as no one interfered with transplanted follicles. Barack Obama was the earliest bird who asked that a “skinny, tall kid, whose ears stick out” (who remained nameless) not be left behind when votes were counted. But being benevolent to all, I say, “We shall see” (or should that be "Si“?) (signed) Santa
Dear Santa, I know I'm late but, shucks, a fella can't be everywhere driving an old red pickup and diapering a baby too. You know I gave up Hollywood “Law & Order” to try fixin’ universal law and order. This is one ole’ Tennessee boy who may start out last and slow but sure don't want to segue to fade after the close-up. Sure, Rudy boasts of his management skills on 9/11, McCain his ’Nam imprisonment, Mitt his business acumen, and Huckabee his humble beginnings, but name me the only candidate who has the complete set of Jack Daniel’s commemorative decanters from 1913 on? That’s right, Santa, this Bubba respects the maven of moon shiners. Now I'm not asking for any special favoritism in the voting but I also came from a poor background and worked myself up the monetary ladder as a senator, lobbyist, and actor (not that there is anything wrong with that). Keep me in mind just as you did that other politician/actor Ronald Reagan in 1980, and let’s win this one for The Sipper. (signed) FDT
Dear Fred, Thanks for thinking of me when I know that you and your wife Jeri are on the campaign trail. Seems to me she was enough of a gift, and challenge (some called it ’trophy’) when you two got hitched. Even though she is two years younger than one of your daughters I know you think that your opponents are jealous and hold this against you. But consider it a blessing, for as you plod along no one has made it an issue, and just think if Hillary had married a ‘hottie’ and had two more babies - she would have been ridiculed (not to mention tired), or if Mitt Romney had another wife (let’s not go there). So, Fred just give thanks to be who and where you are and you if you are lucky you won't finish the race as your favorite Jack Daniel’s …….Old No. 7 (signed) Santa
Dear Santa baby, Was delayed because of jail-mail restrictions, forgivey-poo. All I want for Christmas is my two frontal lobes. PWH
Dear Paris, Some things even Santa cannot do.!
And a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2008/01/05/columnists/doc477e93ceddefc938416601
Friday, December 21, 2007
12/19/07
Chestnuts roasting @ I-musinf
Tri-O's
Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Music, especially this time of year, evokes special memories. Here we are in the era of cyberspace where information is a click away. Why not combine the two as a sort of “do it yourself” to start a new a new tradition of music and information, let’s call it “I-musinf”
We all know that Mel Torme and Bob Welles wrote “The Christmas Song” and Nat “King” Cole delivered the classic vocal rendition. Well, now we too can sing along knowing not only the lyrics but also how to grasp the unembellished quintessence of them. As you read, sing, or hum along remember that each link listed is a live one so keep your speakers on as we recall the familiar melody:
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
How to roast chestnuts: www.ehow.com/how_9918_roast-chestnuts-open.html
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Frostbite prevention: www.surviveoutdoors.com/reference/frostbite.asp
Yule-tide carols being sung by a choir
Learn choir songs: www.choirsongs.net/
And folks dressed up like Eskimos.
Eskimo costumes: www.yandy.com/Eskimo-Cutie.php
Everybody knows a turkey
Turkey nutrition : www.nebraskapoultry.org/turkey_nutrition.htm
And some mistletoe
How mistletoe works: www.christmas.howstuffworks.com/mistletoe1.htm
Help to make the season bright
Where to get Christmas lights: www.christmaslightsetc.com/
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
How eyes shine? www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/5103/wildman/eye.htm
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.
Sleeping aids: www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleeping-pills/SL00010
They know that Santa's on his way
Trace Santa’s route: www.earth.google.com/santa/
He's loaded lots of toys
Santa toy factory: www.santafty.com/
And goodies on his sleigh
Jingle bells on a sleigh ride: www.horsesforhire.net/sleigh.htm
And every mother's child is gonna spy
Obtain spy and security items: www.spyitems.com/
To see if reindeer
A guide to reindeer information: www.reindeer.ws/info.htm
Really know how to fly.
Learn to fly: www.beapilot.com/
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
The blue book of grammar and punctuation: www.grammarbook.com/
To kids from one to ninety-two
Child development: www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/
Growing and learning: www.suddenlysenior.com/
Although it's been said
Everyday sayings explained: www.brochuresonline.net/sayings/
Many times, many ways
High frequency words: www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/frequent.html
Merry Christmas to you.
Merry Christmas in over 360 languages: www.flw.com/merry.htm
So, however you may celebrate the Holiday Season we wish it to be safe, joyous, and harmonious .….. as well as informative.
CLICK
As a special treat, hear Nat Cole and view a montage of the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaxDGfA7evA
To see and hear Nat Cole himself: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oj3jixMGaw
P.S. And, alas, this Christmas stress survival guide may come in handy: www.hubpages.com/hub/Holiday-Stress-Survival-Guide
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/12/19/columnists/doc4768282d1988c232582392.txt
Chestnuts roasting @ I-musinf
Tri-O's
Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Music, especially this time of year, evokes special memories. Here we are in the era of cyberspace where information is a click away. Why not combine the two as a sort of “do it yourself” to start a new a new tradition of music and information, let’s call it “I-musinf”
We all know that Mel Torme and Bob Welles wrote “The Christmas Song” and Nat “King” Cole delivered the classic vocal rendition. Well, now we too can sing along knowing not only the lyrics but also how to grasp the unembellished quintessence of them. As you read, sing, or hum along remember that each link listed is a live one so keep your speakers on as we recall the familiar melody:
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
How to roast chestnuts: www.ehow.com/how_9918_roast-chestnuts-open.html
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Frostbite prevention: www.surviveoutdoors.com/reference/frostbite.asp
Yule-tide carols being sung by a choir
Learn choir songs: www.choirsongs.net/
And folks dressed up like Eskimos.
Eskimo costumes: www.yandy.com/Eskimo-Cutie.php
Everybody knows a turkey
Turkey nutrition : www.nebraskapoultry.org/turkey_nutrition.htm
And some mistletoe
How mistletoe works: www.christmas.howstuffworks.com/mistletoe1.htm
Help to make the season bright
Where to get Christmas lights: www.christmaslightsetc.com/
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
How eyes shine? www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/5103/wildman/eye.htm
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.
Sleeping aids: www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleeping-pills/SL00010
They know that Santa's on his way
Trace Santa’s route: www.earth.google.com/santa/
He's loaded lots of toys
Santa toy factory: www.santafty.com/
And goodies on his sleigh
Jingle bells on a sleigh ride: www.horsesforhire.net/sleigh.htm
And every mother's child is gonna spy
Obtain spy and security items: www.spyitems.com/
To see if reindeer
A guide to reindeer information: www.reindeer.ws/info.htm
Really know how to fly.
Learn to fly: www.beapilot.com/
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
The blue book of grammar and punctuation: www.grammarbook.com/
To kids from one to ninety-two
Child development: www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/
Growing and learning: www.suddenlysenior.com/
Although it's been said
Everyday sayings explained: www.brochuresonline.net/sayings/
Many times, many ways
High frequency words: www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/frequent.html
Merry Christmas to you.
Merry Christmas in over 360 languages: www.flw.com/merry.htm
So, however you may celebrate the Holiday Season we wish it to be safe, joyous, and harmonious .….. as well as informative.
CLICK
As a special treat, hear Nat Cole and view a montage of the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaxDGfA7evA
To see and hear Nat Cole himself: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oj3jixMGaw
P.S. And, alas, this Christmas stress survival guide may come in handy: www.hubpages.com/hub/Holiday-Stress-Survival-Guide
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/12/19/columnists/doc4768282d1988c232582392.txt
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
12/5;07
Miracles 101, Again
Tri-O's oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
Well here we are again, the time of year when we share the Holidays with family and other loved ones. And also the time we hear of Christmas miracles. Positive outcomes from dismal beginnings with unaccounted explanations as to how they occurred. Sometimes we credit a higher power and sometimes just plain luck for the intervention. But there are those who can attribute their ³miracle² to their personal efforts. Here are a few examples.
On a hot August day in 1982 Thomas Chen landed at Kennedy Airport. It was a long flight from Taiwan for the 27 year old. With little cash, he knew only one person in this new land, and he spoke no English. Fast forward 25 years: Chen is president and one of the co-founders of Crystal Window & Door Systems which booked $62 million in sales and has some 450 employees working at offices in eight states it is one of the top 60 manufacturers of replacement and new construction vinyl and aluminum window and door products in North America. How did this happen?
It took him two weeks before he landed the job for a moving company. Within a month he was studying English. First with adult classes then spending his wages on private tutoring and group classes. As his language skills improved so did his employment. As a former metal worker in Taiwan, who had never been to college, he decided to invest his savings on what he knew: welding.
He formed steel into window bars and gates in his basement apartment, then sold the safety devices to local customers in Chinatown and Flushing. He continued to read and studied business management. In 1987 he, with two partners took the plunge by starting Crystal. He also believes in "giving back". Crystal provides free English classes for employees. He also has given a local Community College an endowment to provide scholarships so immigrants can enroll in the school's English classes for free.
Then there was the lady who was a single mother on welfare. It was 1993, the flat where she lived was unheated and rife with mice. She was fighting poverty and depression. So she nursed espresso at the café at the rate of two hours a cup as she wrote in the notebook while the baby slept in the carriage. The idea for the story came to her on a delayed train while going to London three years before, it would take four more years before the idea became a book.
She submitted the manuscript to three British publishers only to receive rejection slips. A fourth publisher signed her up and it was published under her initials because they feared that boys would be put off if they knew it was written by a woman. That was how J.K. Rowling got "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" into U.S. print in 1998. More books followed as well as the enchanted movies. Her wealth soared like a wizard on a broomstick. It is reported that Rowling is now worth $444 million -- more than the Queen of England.
A hot cup of coffee spills in your lap. What to do?
Solution 1: Sue and collect damages just like the Grandma Vs. McDonald's.
Solution 2: Find a better way to solve the problem and profit by it.
When Jay Sorensen¹s company left town he dabbled in real estate, he "wasn't very good at it." Sorensen was doing his best to support his family and looking for more ways. The "eureka" moment came when he spilled coffee and chose Solution 2.
He observed that coffee-house customers were holding the cups between their thumb and forefingers to avoid burning their hands. Sorensen's solution? A sleeve that would fit around the coffee cups. He developed the idea, then offered it to Starbucks. They wanted exclusive rights and were stalling in making a decision. So Sorensen took it on his own. He scraped together finances to found his company, Java Jacket, hire a patent attorney, and had 100,000 coffee cup jackets made from waffled, recycled cardboard.
Sorensen returned to the cafe where he had originally spilled the coffee. While waiting for the owner he read about a coffee trade show to be held a week later. He had no money to attend. The cafe owner was his first sale. The money was used to attend the trade show, where he got 150 orders. He followed that up with hand-written notes and a sample sleeve to the other 3,500 trade-show attendees. Sales of this family-owned company is now between 20-25 million sleeves a month, to local cafes to national chains.
According to FORBES magazine "Almost two-thirds of the world's 946 billionaires made their fortunes from scratch, relying on grit and determination, and not good genes."
Or waiting for miracles.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/12/05/columnists/doc4755d47be1a04155602953.txt
Miracles 101, Again
Tri-O's oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
Well here we are again, the time of year when we share the Holidays with family and other loved ones. And also the time we hear of Christmas miracles. Positive outcomes from dismal beginnings with unaccounted explanations as to how they occurred. Sometimes we credit a higher power and sometimes just plain luck for the intervention. But there are those who can attribute their ³miracle² to their personal efforts. Here are a few examples.
On a hot August day in 1982 Thomas Chen landed at Kennedy Airport. It was a long flight from Taiwan for the 27 year old. With little cash, he knew only one person in this new land, and he spoke no English. Fast forward 25 years: Chen is president and one of the co-founders of Crystal Window & Door Systems which booked $62 million in sales and has some 450 employees working at offices in eight states it is one of the top 60 manufacturers of replacement and new construction vinyl and aluminum window and door products in North America. How did this happen?
It took him two weeks before he landed the job for a moving company. Within a month he was studying English. First with adult classes then spending his wages on private tutoring and group classes. As his language skills improved so did his employment. As a former metal worker in Taiwan, who had never been to college, he decided to invest his savings on what he knew: welding.
He formed steel into window bars and gates in his basement apartment, then sold the safety devices to local customers in Chinatown and Flushing. He continued to read and studied business management. In 1987 he, with two partners took the plunge by starting Crystal. He also believes in "giving back". Crystal provides free English classes for employees. He also has given a local Community College an endowment to provide scholarships so immigrants can enroll in the school's English classes for free.
Then there was the lady who was a single mother on welfare. It was 1993, the flat where she lived was unheated and rife with mice. She was fighting poverty and depression. So she nursed espresso at the café at the rate of two hours a cup as she wrote in the notebook while the baby slept in the carriage. The idea for the story came to her on a delayed train while going to London three years before, it would take four more years before the idea became a book.
She submitted the manuscript to three British publishers only to receive rejection slips. A fourth publisher signed her up and it was published under her initials because they feared that boys would be put off if they knew it was written by a woman. That was how J.K. Rowling got "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" into U.S. print in 1998. More books followed as well as the enchanted movies. Her wealth soared like a wizard on a broomstick. It is reported that Rowling is now worth $444 million -- more than the Queen of England.
A hot cup of coffee spills in your lap. What to do?
Solution 1: Sue and collect damages just like the Grandma Vs. McDonald's.
Solution 2: Find a better way to solve the problem and profit by it.
When Jay Sorensen¹s company left town he dabbled in real estate, he "wasn't very good at it." Sorensen was doing his best to support his family and looking for more ways. The "eureka" moment came when he spilled coffee and chose Solution 2.
He observed that coffee-house customers were holding the cups between their thumb and forefingers to avoid burning their hands. Sorensen's solution? A sleeve that would fit around the coffee cups. He developed the idea, then offered it to Starbucks. They wanted exclusive rights and were stalling in making a decision. So Sorensen took it on his own. He scraped together finances to found his company, Java Jacket, hire a patent attorney, and had 100,000 coffee cup jackets made from waffled, recycled cardboard.
Sorensen returned to the cafe where he had originally spilled the coffee. While waiting for the owner he read about a coffee trade show to be held a week later. He had no money to attend. The cafe owner was his first sale. The money was used to attend the trade show, where he got 150 orders. He followed that up with hand-written notes and a sample sleeve to the other 3,500 trade-show attendees. Sales of this family-owned company is now between 20-25 million sleeves a month, to local cafes to national chains.
According to FORBES magazine "Almost two-thirds of the world's 946 billionaires made their fortunes from scratch, relying on grit and determination, and not good genes."
Or waiting for miracles.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/12/05/columnists/doc4755d47be1a04155602953.txt
Friday, November 23, 2007
11/21/07
When Biscuits met Gravy
Tri-O's oddities, observations, and opinions
by Herb Kandel
Perhaps you’ve forgotten the story. It happened in November 2004 at about this time of year. It was in all the newspapers and TV. But I can’t fault you for not remembering…..so many other things were happening like Afghanistan, Iraq, the economy, and blow-out bargains at stores (so….what else is new?). It all began with President Harry Truman back in 1947. Now, it’s not everyday that one gets to meet the president of the United States in person, especially those from such humble beginnings. But I’m getting ahead of myself. So, let me tell you how this particular meeting came about.
They came from a small farm in the town of Mahias, West Virginia. It was a large family. The first difficulty encountered when entering the world was learning how to drink and swallow. It was no easy task to master. The process in achieving this was fraught with danger. Were it not for those nurturing hands of those caring for them at the time, they would no longer be here. Because they were so fragile the temperature had to be carefully controlled ; too hot and they had a fit of panting, too cold led to uncontrollable shivers and possible smothering. Because of their skin condition they were susceptible to other maladies such as external parasites. Later ramps were necessary for them to gain room access. They overcame each obstacle and became healthier because of it as they grew. Even their food had to be prepared in precise nutritional proportions to aid in their well being and proper growth. And grow they did.
Everyone pitched in with the work and the days were long. They had small creature comforts but nothing elaborate, ornate, or expensive. It was not easy going, for at times when production was down and there were more mouths to feed they divided everything equally. There was a complete lack of privacy as many had to share the frugal surroundings, but there was never a time they went hungry or suffered from lack of supervision. In fact they were kept under constant surveillance for monitoring as well as their own protection. Because of the past traditions, recommended care, and circumstances both felt that they could never “spread their wings”, so to speak.
Not many long survive the rigors of such beginnings for most become just another statistic on federal reports and items on a grocery list to get checked off. But as fate would have it, through extra special attention such as the hand feeding of their supervised diet, being coddled by caring individuals, and not having to tolerate the grit and gravel of the usual existence, they prospered. So much so that they not only gained in health, and stature but also in prestige among their peers. They were now the leaders in the pecking order of things.
Thanksgiving time was approaching. It was a long standing tradition that the major caretaker had to go among the many offspring to make a selection as to who this year would be invited to the White House dinner. All the siblings flocked around him when he entered their space. Most were deserving and eager to be selected, but there were some dumb clucks who could not care a feather of a fig if it was them. But choices had to be made and they were.
In 1947 the first National Thanksgiving Turkey was presented to President Harry Truman and this marked the 57th anniversary of the event. President Lincoln and other presidents intermittently received live turkeys but not in an official presentation. This was how, in 2004, President Bush and the First Lady officially met Biscuits and Gravy.
They were 22 weeks old, broad-breasted, and each weighed about 40 pounds. As mentioned they were periodically hand fed a careful diet of corn and soybeans along with a continuous source of fresh water. A lot of human interaction was provided in order for them to be “properly presented” during the Rose Garden ceremony. In fact they did so well that they were granted a Presidential “pardon”. The reason two are chosen is just in case one becomes ill and cannot participate, just like the “First Runner-Up “ in a pageant.
After the “pardon” Biscuits and Gravy retired to a replica 1930’s farm, Kidwell Farm in Frying Pan Park, Fairfax County, Virginia. There they joined all the Thanksgiving Day Turkeys and their alternates of the past 15 years, received a lot of attention at this petting zoo and molted happily ever after.
So now we are thankful that these “birds on the land are better off than those two in the Bushes”
Happy Thanksgiving
www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/11/23/columnists/doc474217ad5fdf5185561221.txt
When Biscuits met Gravy
Tri-O's oddities, observations, and opinions
by Herb Kandel
Perhaps you’ve forgotten the story. It happened in November 2004 at about this time of year. It was in all the newspapers and TV. But I can’t fault you for not remembering…..so many other things were happening like Afghanistan, Iraq, the economy, and blow-out bargains at stores (so….what else is new?). It all began with President Harry Truman back in 1947. Now, it’s not everyday that one gets to meet the president of the United States in person, especially those from such humble beginnings. But I’m getting ahead of myself. So, let me tell you how this particular meeting came about.
They came from a small farm in the town of Mahias, West Virginia. It was a large family. The first difficulty encountered when entering the world was learning how to drink and swallow. It was no easy task to master. The process in achieving this was fraught with danger. Were it not for those nurturing hands of those caring for them at the time, they would no longer be here. Because they were so fragile the temperature had to be carefully controlled ; too hot and they had a fit of panting, too cold led to uncontrollable shivers and possible smothering. Because of their skin condition they were susceptible to other maladies such as external parasites. Later ramps were necessary for them to gain room access. They overcame each obstacle and became healthier because of it as they grew. Even their food had to be prepared in precise nutritional proportions to aid in their well being and proper growth. And grow they did.
Everyone pitched in with the work and the days were long. They had small creature comforts but nothing elaborate, ornate, or expensive. It was not easy going, for at times when production was down and there were more mouths to feed they divided everything equally. There was a complete lack of privacy as many had to share the frugal surroundings, but there was never a time they went hungry or suffered from lack of supervision. In fact they were kept under constant surveillance for monitoring as well as their own protection. Because of the past traditions, recommended care, and circumstances both felt that they could never “spread their wings”, so to speak.
Not many long survive the rigors of such beginnings for most become just another statistic on federal reports and items on a grocery list to get checked off. But as fate would have it, through extra special attention such as the hand feeding of their supervised diet, being coddled by caring individuals, and not having to tolerate the grit and gravel of the usual existence, they prospered. So much so that they not only gained in health, and stature but also in prestige among their peers. They were now the leaders in the pecking order of things.
Thanksgiving time was approaching. It was a long standing tradition that the major caretaker had to go among the many offspring to make a selection as to who this year would be invited to the White House dinner. All the siblings flocked around him when he entered their space. Most were deserving and eager to be selected, but there were some dumb clucks who could not care a feather of a fig if it was them. But choices had to be made and they were.
In 1947 the first National Thanksgiving Turkey was presented to President Harry Truman and this marked the 57th anniversary of the event. President Lincoln and other presidents intermittently received live turkeys but not in an official presentation. This was how, in 2004, President Bush and the First Lady officially met Biscuits and Gravy.
They were 22 weeks old, broad-breasted, and each weighed about 40 pounds. As mentioned they were periodically hand fed a careful diet of corn and soybeans along with a continuous source of fresh water. A lot of human interaction was provided in order for them to be “properly presented” during the Rose Garden ceremony. In fact they did so well that they were granted a Presidential “pardon”. The reason two are chosen is just in case one becomes ill and cannot participate, just like the “First Runner-Up “ in a pageant.
After the “pardon” Biscuits and Gravy retired to a replica 1930’s farm, Kidwell Farm in Frying Pan Park, Fairfax County, Virginia. There they joined all the Thanksgiving Day Turkeys and their alternates of the past 15 years, received a lot of attention at this petting zoo and molted happily ever after.
So now we are thankful that these “birds on the land are better off than those two in the Bushes”
Happy Thanksgiving
www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/11/23/columnists/doc474217ad5fdf5185561221.txt
Friday, November 09, 2007
11/7/07
A Long And Winding Road
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
It was only six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On June 3, 1942 their aircraft struck again at the U.S. Installations at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Island Chain. Yes, the same Dutch Harbor from which those vessels launch to catch the Alaskan king crabs (that we see on “The Deadliest Catch”, airing on The Discovery Channel). The Japanese also captured Attu Island and Kiska. Not since the War of 1812 had American territory been occupied by an enemy. It took a year of fierce fighting costing many lives to recapture those territories.
The military had realized the threat of such an invasion through Alaska. For had the Japanese established a base near Anchorage the whole of Alaska would be at peril, “and thus place great pressure upon cities like Seattle, Portland and Vancouver..…..the invasion from Asia was underway” said James A. Michener in his novel “Alaska” .
Three months before the Dutch Harbor attack the U.S. Army had started construction of a road that could transport troops, food, and supplies to tactical points in Alaska. On March 8, 1942 the first shovel was turned into what was to become the Alcan Highway. It was an awesome undertaking. Again, Michener in his description about one of the men involved in the road’s creation writes, “July and August 1942were the closest to hell that he would experience on this earth, for his fifteen-and sixteen hour days were spent in an exhausting routine: drive through that copse of trees in a straight line, flattening evergreens big enough to produce spars for ships, attach wire ropes to stumps and yank them out, push in topsoil from the surrounding areas, level the whole, ride back and forth in the interminable dust to compact the surface, fight mosquitoes all day long and especially at night, to eat lousy food………..[then] finish off four miles before turning in to an exhausted but sometimes sleepless night.”
It took more than 10,000 U.S. Troops in cooperation with Canadian troops and independent contractors to complete this remarkable engineering task. Among those soldiers were four units of the Army's Black Corps of Engineers. They made up over 1/3 of the U.S. Troops but ironically were first considered unfit for these duties because most were from the South and were thought incapable of working in the northern frigid temperatures. When the highway was complete, many were decorated for their efforts and achievements and then transferred to active duty in Europe and the South Pacific. The Army's Black Corps of Engineers were members of the 93rd, 95th, 97th and 388th units.
Eight month and twelve days from that first shovel-full of soil the Alaskan-Canadian (Alcan) Highway was dedicated. This November 21st marks the 65th anniversary of the official dedication. During it’s completion it took the lives of 22 men, and seven airplanes attempting to deliver supplies had crashed. There were numerous and severe injuries for each mile laid. In 1946 the Canadian portion of the highway was transferred to Canada.
It is now spans 1520 miles. Mile 0 is in Dawson Creek, BC, and it leads in a northwesterly direction through Yukon Territory to mile 1520 at Fairbanks, AK. There are 1,190 miles in Canada. It is also connects to the Pan-American Highway system, which means you can drive from Fairbanks to Ushuia (near Cape Horn) at the tip of Argentina. According to Wickipedia “29,800 miles in total length. Except for a 54 MI. Rainforest gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's longest 'motorable road' "
In June of 1943 the Army Signal Corps completed the radio-telephone line which linked Washington, D.C. To Alaska. It’s 2,000 mile long extension would make it the longest communication system of its kind in the world at that time.
So now we have a long and winding roar that is eligible for Social Security. And just as any senior citizen can attest some days can be creamy smooth while others are rocky road. Almost all of the two-lane highway is surfaced with asphalt but don’t expect to put your cruise control at 65. Some stretches are narrow and curvy missing ample shoulders and at times center lines. Lots of loose gravel can star windshields and “corrugated” areas where “frost heaves” occurred will put a stammer in your speech as you traverse the “washboard”. Sure there can be steep grades, dust, mud, snow, and those darn mosquitoes but with modern vehicles and their comfort accessories the ride is easier. But now it can be considered a “freeway” as compared to what it was when first built. Initially it was a 32 feet wide, singe lane, a muddy twisting trail for trucks and earthmoving equipment built with a single purpose - a lifeline to defend and protect, and that it has.
Happy birthday, Alcan.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/11/08/columnists/doc4730c954060dd789826904.txt
A Long And Winding Road
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
It was only six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On June 3, 1942 their aircraft struck again at the U.S. Installations at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Island Chain. Yes, the same Dutch Harbor from which those vessels launch to catch the Alaskan king crabs (that we see on “The Deadliest Catch”, airing on The Discovery Channel). The Japanese also captured Attu Island and Kiska. Not since the War of 1812 had American territory been occupied by an enemy. It took a year of fierce fighting costing many lives to recapture those territories.
The military had realized the threat of such an invasion through Alaska. For had the Japanese established a base near Anchorage the whole of Alaska would be at peril, “and thus place great pressure upon cities like Seattle, Portland and Vancouver..…..the invasion from Asia was underway” said James A. Michener in his novel “Alaska” .
Three months before the Dutch Harbor attack the U.S. Army had started construction of a road that could transport troops, food, and supplies to tactical points in Alaska. On March 8, 1942 the first shovel was turned into what was to become the Alcan Highway. It was an awesome undertaking. Again, Michener in his description about one of the men involved in the road’s creation writes, “July and August 1942were the closest to hell that he would experience on this earth, for his fifteen-and sixteen hour days were spent in an exhausting routine: drive through that copse of trees in a straight line, flattening evergreens big enough to produce spars for ships, attach wire ropes to stumps and yank them out, push in topsoil from the surrounding areas, level the whole, ride back and forth in the interminable dust to compact the surface, fight mosquitoes all day long and especially at night, to eat lousy food………..[then] finish off four miles before turning in to an exhausted but sometimes sleepless night.”
It took more than 10,000 U.S. Troops in cooperation with Canadian troops and independent contractors to complete this remarkable engineering task. Among those soldiers were four units of the Army's Black Corps of Engineers. They made up over 1/3 of the U.S. Troops but ironically were first considered unfit for these duties because most were from the South and were thought incapable of working in the northern frigid temperatures. When the highway was complete, many were decorated for their efforts and achievements and then transferred to active duty in Europe and the South Pacific. The Army's Black Corps of Engineers were members of the 93rd, 95th, 97th and 388th units.
Eight month and twelve days from that first shovel-full of soil the Alaskan-Canadian (Alcan) Highway was dedicated. This November 21st marks the 65th anniversary of the official dedication. During it’s completion it took the lives of 22 men, and seven airplanes attempting to deliver supplies had crashed. There were numerous and severe injuries for each mile laid. In 1946 the Canadian portion of the highway was transferred to Canada.
It is now spans 1520 miles. Mile 0 is in Dawson Creek, BC, and it leads in a northwesterly direction through Yukon Territory to mile 1520 at Fairbanks, AK. There are 1,190 miles in Canada. It is also connects to the Pan-American Highway system, which means you can drive from Fairbanks to Ushuia (near Cape Horn) at the tip of Argentina. According to Wickipedia “29,800 miles in total length. Except for a 54 MI. Rainforest gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's longest 'motorable road' "
In June of 1943 the Army Signal Corps completed the radio-telephone line which linked Washington, D.C. To Alaska. It’s 2,000 mile long extension would make it the longest communication system of its kind in the world at that time.
So now we have a long and winding roar that is eligible for Social Security. And just as any senior citizen can attest some days can be creamy smooth while others are rocky road. Almost all of the two-lane highway is surfaced with asphalt but don’t expect to put your cruise control at 65. Some stretches are narrow and curvy missing ample shoulders and at times center lines. Lots of loose gravel can star windshields and “corrugated” areas where “frost heaves” occurred will put a stammer in your speech as you traverse the “washboard”. Sure there can be steep grades, dust, mud, snow, and those darn mosquitoes but with modern vehicles and their comfort accessories the ride is easier. But now it can be considered a “freeway” as compared to what it was when first built. Initially it was a 32 feet wide, singe lane, a muddy twisting trail for trucks and earthmoving equipment built with a single purpose - a lifeline to defend and protect, and that it has.
Happy birthday, Alcan.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/11/08/columnists/doc4730c954060dd789826904.txt
Monday, November 05, 2007
10/24/07
Thoughts of notes
Tri-O's oddities, observations, and opinions
by Herb Kandel
It’s strange but not rare that one observation can trigger a series of thoughts that lead to memories long past. This happened to me again two weeks ago. It’s course went bumpity, bumpity, bump ---from a recent TV show to an almost forgotten college class. Follow this journey- start with David Letterman go to 50 Cent then to George Carlin, which leads to Rogers and Hart that reminds me of Kern and Hammerstein then Cole Porter, when up pops poetry wherein it lands me smack to a conclusion of a Sociology term paper turned in close to 40 years ago. WHEW! Let me ‘splain:
I was watching “The Late Show with David Letterman” his musical guest was the hip-hop rapper 50 Cent who ‘sang’ something I later learned was named “Ayo Technology”. It’s opening line was something like “She want it” repeated over and over. The repetitive ad nauseam chorus rhymed “hypnotized” with “hips and thighs”. For me it went further downhill and became 50 scents, none of them pleasant. George Carlin then entered the process when I recalled him recently saying that he “lived through the Golden Age of radio, television, movies and American popular standard music”.
How had the musical taste shifted from the once popular ballads of those talented people who scored and penned words which almost sing themselves off the page?
Read and listen -“I took one look at you/That's all I meant to do/And then my heart stood still/My feet could step and walk/My lips could move and talk/And yet my heart stood still”
“My Heart Stood Still” Music by Richard Rodgers , lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Or: “You are the promised kiss of springtime/That makes the lonely winter seem long./You are the breathless hush of evening/That trembles on the brink of a lovely song./You are the angel glow that lights a star,/The dearest things I know are what you are.”"All the Things You Are" Music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Or: “Night and day, you are the one/Only you beneath the moon or under the sun/Whether near to me, or far/It's no matter darling where you are/I think of you/Day and night, night and day”
“Night and Day” by Cole Porter
The marriage of those words and music seem as poetic as any of those from Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman. Which in turn jolted my memory to a term paper I had submitted for the term project of a Sociology class in my Junior year. It was entitled “The Times and the Tunes”.
The major thrust of the paper was to follow the course of the then popular songs/music to see if they correlated to the historical events of the times. After much research at many libraries, using the old 3x5 index cards (no Google or Ask then), and after many footnotes, references, and bibliography the conclusion was “Yes, the tunes did mirror the times in which they were popular”. From the Psalms of David to ancient ditties in the earliest recorded periods unearthed right up to the time when my treatise was submitted for evaluation.
If this be the case then the ‘standard’ popular musical taste has morphed from a ‘love’ song into a ‘lust’ song much as the transformers of today. Is it any better, will it survive or is it just a fad?
Music is still evolving . From the classics (forever music) to the trendy (here for now) to the ‘one hit wonder’ (“oh yeah, I remember that“). During the last half dozen decades we have listened to the scat of Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, the avant-garde of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton, and the innovation of Steven Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and their ilk provided a new twist.
The entire musical gamut has the capacity to embrace myriad genres. I like most of them, but I can’t help hoping that the ‘songs’ with incomprehensible (at least to me) lewd lyrics that denigrates women, coupled with a lack of melody, grace, and civility fade fast. I know that this too is a reflection of a part of this timeline of existence, yet I cling to the concept of a happier, optimistic, and more innocent view. It may be true that this generation considers the current hip hop prattle to be modern love songs, if this is so my only comment is, “They’re writing songs of love, but not for me.”
“But Not For Me” Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
There you have the encephalographic roller coaster, from David Letterman to King David to dissertation. But in the words of William Shakespeare, “There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
PS the term paper got an A-
End 799 words
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/10/24/columnists/doc471e538f416d3311777963.txt
Thoughts of notes
Tri-O's oddities, observations, and opinions
by Herb Kandel
It’s strange but not rare that one observation can trigger a series of thoughts that lead to memories long past. This happened to me again two weeks ago. It’s course went bumpity, bumpity, bump ---from a recent TV show to an almost forgotten college class. Follow this journey- start with David Letterman go to 50 Cent then to George Carlin, which leads to Rogers and Hart that reminds me of Kern and Hammerstein then Cole Porter, when up pops poetry wherein it lands me smack to a conclusion of a Sociology term paper turned in close to 40 years ago. WHEW! Let me ‘splain:
I was watching “The Late Show with David Letterman” his musical guest was the hip-hop rapper 50 Cent who ‘sang’ something I later learned was named “Ayo Technology”. It’s opening line was something like “She want it” repeated over and over. The repetitive ad nauseam chorus rhymed “hypnotized” with “hips and thighs”. For me it went further downhill and became 50 scents, none of them pleasant. George Carlin then entered the process when I recalled him recently saying that he “lived through the Golden Age of radio, television, movies and American popular standard music”.
How had the musical taste shifted from the once popular ballads of those talented people who scored and penned words which almost sing themselves off the page?
Read and listen -“I took one look at you/That's all I meant to do/And then my heart stood still/My feet could step and walk/My lips could move and talk/And yet my heart stood still”
“My Heart Stood Still” Music by Richard Rodgers , lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Or: “You are the promised kiss of springtime/That makes the lonely winter seem long./You are the breathless hush of evening/That trembles on the brink of a lovely song./You are the angel glow that lights a star,/The dearest things I know are what you are.”"All the Things You Are" Music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Or: “Night and day, you are the one/Only you beneath the moon or under the sun/Whether near to me, or far/It's no matter darling where you are/I think of you/Day and night, night and day”
“Night and Day” by Cole Porter
The marriage of those words and music seem as poetic as any of those from Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman. Which in turn jolted my memory to a term paper I had submitted for the term project of a Sociology class in my Junior year. It was entitled “The Times and the Tunes”.
The major thrust of the paper was to follow the course of the then popular songs/music to see if they correlated to the historical events of the times. After much research at many libraries, using the old 3x5 index cards (no Google or Ask then), and after many footnotes, references, and bibliography the conclusion was “Yes, the tunes did mirror the times in which they were popular”. From the Psalms of David to ancient ditties in the earliest recorded periods unearthed right up to the time when my treatise was submitted for evaluation.
If this be the case then the ‘standard’ popular musical taste has morphed from a ‘love’ song into a ‘lust’ song much as the transformers of today. Is it any better, will it survive or is it just a fad?
Music is still evolving . From the classics (forever music) to the trendy (here for now) to the ‘one hit wonder’ (“oh yeah, I remember that“). During the last half dozen decades we have listened to the scat of Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, the avant-garde of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton, and the innovation of Steven Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and their ilk provided a new twist.
The entire musical gamut has the capacity to embrace myriad genres. I like most of them, but I can’t help hoping that the ‘songs’ with incomprehensible (at least to me) lewd lyrics that denigrates women, coupled with a lack of melody, grace, and civility fade fast. I know that this too is a reflection of a part of this timeline of existence, yet I cling to the concept of a happier, optimistic, and more innocent view. It may be true that this generation considers the current hip hop prattle to be modern love songs, if this is so my only comment is, “They’re writing songs of love, but not for me.”
“But Not For Me” Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
There you have the encephalographic roller coaster, from David Letterman to King David to dissertation. But in the words of William Shakespeare, “There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
PS the term paper got an A-
End 799 words
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/10/24/columnists/doc471e538f416d3311777963.txt
10/10/07
The 3:10 to Seymour and the 7-11
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
As had been mentioned here in several past columns there are now more cameras recording street activity for surveillance along with those in commercial establishments and homes. We are also familiar with the digital cameras built into cell phones as well as ones as slim as pens or concealed in seemingly innocent items like clocks and vases checking on the nanny. It’s almost a daily occurrence to view crimes that were videotaped and shown on the nightly news for help in identifying the perpetrators.
I guess the first recorded misdeed was when the serpent enticed Eve with the apple or when the car insurance company maligned the caveman’s intelligence. Be that as it may, but we do have an early newspaper confirmed crime: It happened October 6, 1866. The first known train robbery occurred on an Ohio and Mississippi passenger train near Seymour, Indiana. Three members of the Reno gang (no relation to former U.S. Attorney General Janet, that we know of) boarded the choo-choo and made off with $10,000. The James boys (no relation to former Alabama Governor Fob, that we know of) perfected the scheme and put it into practice in 1873. There were no cameras to catch the action at that time but with the aforementioned technology there has been a spate in recent bizarre crimes that have been caught on tape committed by some folks whose IQ was less than the circumference of their wrist. For instance:
The guy in Colorado Springs was holding up the liquor store. After getting the cash he told the clerk to give him the bottle of scotch behind the counter. The clerk refused saying he was under age. Whereupon the genius proved that he was over 21 by showing his drivers license. He was caught soon afterward.
The wiggling movements gave him away. It was at the Las Vegas airport when he was caught smuggling lizards into the country. He should not have stuffed them into tube socks and put them in his underwear. Seems he is not the only endangered species.
In Stone Lake, Wisconsin this birdbrain in an SUV wearing camouflage clothes with a helmet and face mask, pulls into the drive-in window at the bank. He holds up a bag which he says contains a bomb and demands all the money. The teller says the money had been removed from the till but she offered candy and lollypops. He proved indecisive and drove away in frustration. “There, that will show them I'm no sucker”, he probably said as he sped off.
They thought they were stealing cell phones from the Babylon, NY warehouse but they turned out to be global positioning systems (GPS). The police activated the GPS systems remotely which led them to the home of one of three heisters. Which only proves that it’s still Location, Location, Location.
It was at the convenience store when he put the $20 bill on the counter and asked for change. The clerk opened the drawer then was ordered to hand over the cash or he would be shot. The clerk gave him the $15 that was there. The robber fled leaving the $20. Sometimes things just don't add up.
In England the burglar broke into a warehouse and loaded his truck with 18 pallets of copper and nickel. It weighed so much that the suspension collapsed and he was caught He was sentenced to two years which only goes to show you can't rock or roll when there’s too much heavy metal.
The next case on the docket was People vs. Steven L. Crook. The bailiff then shouted to the holding cell “Crook, come forward.” Five of the prisoners then entered. Moral: you can't tell a crook by his cover-alls.
Numbers Note: This marks the start of Tri-O’s 3rd year.
The 3:10 to Seymour and the 7-11
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
As had been mentioned here in several past columns there are now more cameras recording street activity for surveillance along with those in commercial establishments and homes. We are also familiar with the digital cameras built into cell phones as well as ones as slim as pens or concealed in seemingly innocent items like clocks and vases checking on the nanny. It’s almost a daily occurrence to view crimes that were videotaped and shown on the nightly news for help in identifying the perpetrators.
I guess the first recorded misdeed was when the serpent enticed Eve with the apple or when the car insurance company maligned the caveman’s intelligence. Be that as it may, but we do have an early newspaper confirmed crime: It happened October 6, 1866. The first known train robbery occurred on an Ohio and Mississippi passenger train near Seymour, Indiana. Three members of the Reno gang (no relation to former U.S. Attorney General Janet, that we know of) boarded the choo-choo and made off with $10,000. The James boys (no relation to former Alabama Governor Fob, that we know of) perfected the scheme and put it into practice in 1873. There were no cameras to catch the action at that time but with the aforementioned technology there has been a spate in recent bizarre crimes that have been caught on tape committed by some folks whose IQ was less than the circumference of their wrist. For instance:
The guy in Colorado Springs was holding up the liquor store. After getting the cash he told the clerk to give him the bottle of scotch behind the counter. The clerk refused saying he was under age. Whereupon the genius proved that he was over 21 by showing his drivers license. He was caught soon afterward.
The wiggling movements gave him away. It was at the Las Vegas airport when he was caught smuggling lizards into the country. He should not have stuffed them into tube socks and put them in his underwear. Seems he is not the only endangered species.
In Stone Lake, Wisconsin this birdbrain in an SUV wearing camouflage clothes with a helmet and face mask, pulls into the drive-in window at the bank. He holds up a bag which he says contains a bomb and demands all the money. The teller says the money had been removed from the till but she offered candy and lollypops. He proved indecisive and drove away in frustration. “There, that will show them I'm no sucker”, he probably said as he sped off.
They thought they were stealing cell phones from the Babylon, NY warehouse but they turned out to be global positioning systems (GPS). The police activated the GPS systems remotely which led them to the home of one of three heisters. Which only proves that it’s still Location, Location, Location.
It was at the convenience store when he put the $20 bill on the counter and asked for change. The clerk opened the drawer then was ordered to hand over the cash or he would be shot. The clerk gave him the $15 that was there. The robber fled leaving the $20. Sometimes things just don't add up.
In England the burglar broke into a warehouse and loaded his truck with 18 pallets of copper and nickel. It weighed so much that the suspension collapsed and he was caught He was sentenced to two years which only goes to show you can't rock or roll when there’s too much heavy metal.
The next case on the docket was People vs. Steven L. Crook. The bailiff then shouted to the holding cell “Crook, come forward.” Five of the prisoners then entered. Moral: you can't tell a crook by his cover-alls.
Numbers Note: This marks the start of Tri-O’s 3rd year.
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