March 16th, 2023
“ 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 385 days since Russia invaded Ukraine.
This week I learned some stuff:
- The Prostate Adventure continues. My old body is still struggling with the effects of the radiation. They said the symptoms would be cumulative but I guess I took that to mean worse on the last day of treatment than the first day. But it’s been a week and I still feel like crap most of the time. My friend who went through this a couple of times, says it’s weeks not days before you feel normal again. And so it goes…But I did have my final MRI for the study this week.
- Murphy gets better each week. We are meeting with K( training people this week to maybe send Murphy to doggy college.
- March 16th is the 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US–Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa; Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts. today in 1926; On that same day, in 1966, Gemini 8 is launched with astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott. It would perform the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit; Today in 1968, My Lai Massacre occurs; between 347 and 500 Vietnamese villagers are killed by American troops.; Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time today in 1978; Today in 1984, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Lebanon, is kidnapped by Hezbollah; he later dies in captivity; Today in 1988, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States; The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people today in 1988; Today in 1995, Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865; James Madison, American academic and politician, 4th President of the United States was born today in 1751; Also born today but in 1839, Sully Prudhomme, French poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate; Josef Mengele, German physician, NAZI captain and mass-murderer was also born today in 1911; Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American sociologist and politician, 12th United States Ambassador to the United Nations was born today in 1927; Today in 1936, Fred Neil, American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist; Jerry Jeff Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist born on the same day but in 1942; “Judge” Roy Bean, American justice of the peace and devout fan of Lilly Langtree, passed away today in 1903; T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist died today in 1975; Arthur Godfrey, American actor and television host passed away today 1980; Today in 1998, Derek Barton, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate passed away; And lastly, Dick Dale, American “The King of Surf-Rock Guitar, singer, and songwriter passed away today in 2019.
This week’s Website Update:
- Last week for our Vocabulary Quiz
- A New Musical Trivia Quiz !!!! Yeah!
- This week I didn’t create any new recipes to post.
- The Home Page quote for this week is from perhaps America’s greatest poet – the 4 time Pulitzer Prize winner, Robert Frost, “Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say but keep on saying it”.
Writing, Ceramics, Bonsai Trees, Stained Glass, and Painting Update:
- No painting or stained glass work yet and my Bonsai are in drastic need of pruning. I will try to get something creative and productive maybe later 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:
- For quite a while now, my most used phrase in any dialog is some version of, “ Sorry I didn’t hear that, could you say it again?” Or in order to hear the dialog on a TV show I have to jack up the volume so that when the commercials come on, the windows rattle. So I took my old ass, to the ear doctor (“Finally!” according to my daughter), and guess what I have substandard hearing now. I feel like that old dog sunning in the yard that the cats pick on because he is easy to sneak up on – he can’t see and won’t hear them coming, And they always escape after they attack because it takes him several minutes to get up after them. So I am now in the market for some hearing aids.
Music Update:
Here we go again, following my musical taste buds through space:
This week’s UJT Radio Program:
- Eric Clapton — Cajun Moon — This is a deep cut from his celebration of his friend, J.J. Cale’s life, “The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale” released in 2014. Eric puts his own stamp on this song and I love it. J.J. Cale was a long-time favorite of mine but I didn’t realize that in he and I were both in San Diego the day he passed away in 2013.
- Wham — Everything She Wants — This is from their best-selling album, “Make It Big” released in 1985. Magnificent vocals and composition.
- Tedeschi Trucks Band — Everybody’s Talkin’ — This cover of Fred Neil’s song which Harry Nilsson made a number-one hit from the soundtrack of Midnight Cowboy is just so soulful it is like a different song. My friend double D turned me on to this one and another cut from their 2012, “Tedeschi Trucks Band Live “ album.
- James Gang – Midnight Man — This is a great demonstration of Joe’s guitar virtuosity. He makes this very strange tuning work. This is a deep cut from their, “ Thirds” released in 1971.
- Mike Oldfield — Tubular Bells — This version was made famous as the theme for the movie, The Exorcist. The actual song is a whole side of an album of the same name that began recording for Virgin Records this week in 1973. The most impressive thing about this song and work is that all of the instruments on the record(except flutes and string bass) are played by Mike Oldfield.
- Henry Paul Band — So Long — I have no idea where I found this but I like it.. nice harmonies. This cut comes to us from Jame’s 1979 release, “Grey Ghost”.
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!