December 22nd 2022
“ Dobroho ranku”, or “Good Morning!” in Ukrainian, an Eastern Slavic language spoken mainly in Ukraine. I have decided that the UJT will remain focused on Ukraine until we can all rejoice in the end of hostilities. It has been 292 days since Russia attacked Ukraine.
This week I learned some stuff:
• It’s nice having an office that is not completely disorganized and cluttered. I am not sure I mentioned before but when I started doing stained glass the weather was perfect for doing stained glass in the back yard while listening to audiobooks on my phone. But taking every thing out and then back in each time I worked on a stained glass project was tedious. So I created a mobile stained glass shop. It’s a 3 shelf cart that I can roll in and out at will. It almost everything one would need to work on stained glass. Anyway, I now have a parking space for it in my office. I am just so proud! 🙂
• The Prostate Adventure continues… No change in status this week.
• December 22nd is the 356th day of 2022! Just 3 days till Christmas! Today in 1810, Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy; The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City today in 1937; On this day in 1945, U.S. President Harry S. Truman issues an executive order giving World War II refugees precedence in visa applications under U.S. immigration quotas; Also today in 1971, the international aid organization Doctors Without Borders is founded by Bernard Kouchner and a group of journalists in Paris, France;U.S. President Gerald Ford creates the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to the 1970s energy crisis today in 1973; “Subway vigilante” Bernhard Goetz shoots four would-be muggers on a 2 express train in Manhattan section of New York, United States today in 1984; Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany today in 1998; Today in 2010, the repeal of the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama; Dick Parry, English saxophonist (Pink Floyd) was born today in 1941; Barry Jenkins, English drummer (Animals) was born today in 1944; Rick Nielsen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Cheap Trick) was born today in 1948; Also born today in 1949, Robin Gibb, (Bee Gees) Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer; George Eliot, English novelist and poet died today 1880; Beatrix Potter, English children’s book writer and illustrator passed away today in 1943; Samuel Beckett, Irish author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate passed away today in 1989; Butterfly McQueen, (AKA Prissy in Gone with the Wind) American actress and dance passed away today in 1995; We lost Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter today in 2014; Simcha Rotem, last survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprisingd died today in 2018; Ram Dass, American spiritual teacher and author passed away today in 2019.
Website Update:
This week:
• Last week for the Vocabulary Quiz
• A new Musical Trivia Quiz!! WhooHoo!!!
• This week I captured my Beef Stroganoff recipe. It was delicious!
• The Home Page quote this week is from Albert Einstein, “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters”.
Writing, Ceramics, Bonsai Trees, Stained Glass and Painting Update:
• I did a little work on the stained glass project but no painting got done this week.
• I am continuing my streak of slacking off on the paper edits of Grandpa Stories. I just haven’t carved out any time for more chapters.
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
I bought our holiday turkey this week using Walmart’s curb side pickup process. When I got home and unloaded, i found that instead of the one turkey that I ordered, I had 2 birds. So I packed up the additional bird and took back to Walmart. It wasn’t a return exactly so I just waited out in the parking lot and pounced on the lady who brought me stuff earlier. When she figured out that I wasn’t complaining about something she did and just wanted to return the extra bird she gave me this very strange look. As I was leaving, a group of the curbside people had gathered around my extra turkey and were pointing at me. Hmmm…
Music Update:
This week I am celebrating my good fortune with some remarkable music.
This week’s UJT Radio Program:
• Savoy Brown — Sunday Night — Last week we lost Kim Simmonds, lead guitarist for this great band. This one is from their album, “Looking In ” released in 1970.
• AC/DC — Thunderstruck — This is just another one of those special genre of rock and roll I call Ass-Shaker songs. I was reminded of this particular one watching Battleship again, this week. This was a huge hit from their 1990 release, “The Razors Edge”.
• Procol Harum – Whiter Shade of Pale — Remastered in 2007 this amazing song still haunts me. We skipped the lights fandango, turning cartwheels ‘cross the floor… the room was humming harder as the ceiling flew away… as the mirror told its tale that her face at first just ghostly turned a whiter shade of pale “.. hmmm I remember…. This was their biggest hit .. a single from 1967.
• Bruce Springsteen — Streets of Philadelphia — Bruce tells so many stories with his music and he tells them so well. This story of a Geoffrey Bower’s confrontation with his own death from a disease that is trying to kill an entire community while also dealing with the injustice and prejudice in his workplace. It’s an academy award winning sad song rom the great soundtrack from the movie of the same name released in 1994.
• Jimmy Buffett — Twelve Volt Man — Another one from “Songs You Don’t Know By Heart” that came out in 2020. This is an old time favorite of mine. As much as I loved it when it came out in 1983 on “One Particular Harbor”, this elderly version makes me smile with a tear in my eye.
• Jethro Tull – Cross-Eyed Mary — This is one of my favorites from Aqualung released in 1971. It has been a long while since it came up in my song list. I had forgotten just how impressive the imagery is in this song. Vivid!!! And of course, the music is excellent!
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; Always remember… The best is yet to come! As always, thank you for being my friend!
James
W: https://jfmccann.com
E: james@jfmccann.com
P: (858) 952-4241