June 10th, 2021
“Mwauka bwanji?”, or “Good Morning!” in Chichewa, a Bantu language spoken in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The language is known as Chewa (chicheŵa) in Malawi, and Nyanja (chinyanja) in Zambia and Mozambique.
Today, our granddaughter Chloe will be joining us here in California from her home in TX. We (well, mostly others) have spend that last couple of weeks doing spring cleaning. Grandma has exploded into more than a few of her famous cleaning frenzies intermixed with recovery time. We are all looking forward to her visit. She is so pretty and impressive in her abilities (she cooks, does art. plays piano, guitar, basketball, etc,) She is just scary to a professional couch potato such as myself. We have arranged for some fun things to do and see while she is here. I think we have her for a whole 3 weeks! And Asa will be visiting soon too!
This week I learned some stuff:
• A new or maybe a retuning Wren family has moved back into the bird house that the Texas branch of the family gave us again this year. It is so lovely, just to leave the sliding glass door open in the mornings and listen to them twitter greetings as the fly food in and out for first the mom sitting on the eggs and then the baby birds.
• Tuesday was National Best Friends Day!!! I did not know that which is kind of strange in that I have been blessed with a richness in best friends throughout my life. We share an openness, respect and love that allows us to have different religions, political views and tastes in everything from people to music. Every time we meet or converse it feels like we just left off no matter how long it has been or how far apart we are. That is a gift I strive to be worthy of always. Thank you!
• June 10th is the 133rd day of 2021. Just 198 days till Christmas! Today in 2692, Salem witch trials: Bridget Bishop is hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem, Massachusetts, for “certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries”; Today in 1898, Spanish–American War: In the Battle of Guantánamo Bay, U.S. Marines begin the American invasion of Spanish-held Cuba; On this day in 1935, Dr. Robert Smith takes his last drink, and Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio, United States, by him and Bill Wilson; Today in 1944, 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the youngest player ever in a major-league game; the Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex, was signed into law by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program today in 1963. I wonder why it didn’t work?;Today in 1964, the United States Senate breaks a 75-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, leading to the bill’s passage; The Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a cease-fire today in 1967;Hattie McDaniel, American actress and first African American woman to win an Academy Award, for her roll as Mammy in “Gone with The Wind”, was born today in 1895; Howlin’ Wolf, American singer-songwriter and guitarist was born on this day in 1910; Saul Bellow, Canadian-American novelist, essayist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate was born today in 1915; TPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was born today in 1921; Judy Garland, American singer, actress, and vaudevillian was born today in 1922; Today in 1992, Kate Upton, American model and actress was born; Jack Johnson, American boxer and first African American heavy weight champion pass away today in 1946; Louis L’Amour, American novelist and short story writer died today in 1988; And finally, Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor passed away today in 2004.
Website Update:
This week we made the following changes:
• Week two for the new Vocabulary Quiz
• A New Musical Trivia Quiz YEAH!!!!
• No new recipes this week. I came up with a new dish I am going to try with my granddaughter but haven’t gotten it down as recipe yet.
• This week’s Home Page quote comes from Mahatma Gandhi, “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.”
Writing, Ceramics, Stained Glass and Painting Update:
• My creative gear box has been and still is stuck in neutral. I haven’t figured out how to push start this particular VW!
• I didn’t attend watercolor classes this week via zoom. I hope we can go back to the classroom soon.
• Grandpa Stories is still not re-published.
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
• I had the ‘bejeuzzus” (as my mom used to say) scared out of me on Sunday. I am not a day trader or anything like that but from time to time I do log in to my Fidelity Accounts to see if I can afford to eat next week. So I was starting my prep for this weeks UJT and getting the what happened on June 10th tidbits I always include for you folks, when I impulsively went to my Fidelity portfolio page. I gasped and gulped and was working up to an epic “oh woe is me..” whine before I noticed the system message at the top of the page saying that they were having some system issues and that balances would not be available until later. But those $0.00 images and the panic they inspired did not fade quickly.
Music Update:
Once again, yours truly takes you on another meander through the dusty cobwebs of my music library.
This week’s UJT Radio Program:
• Natalie Merchant — Carnival — I was first hypnotized by this lady back when she was just one of the 10, 000 Maniacs. This is her first big single from her debut solo album, “Tigerlily”, released in 1995. A woman by the name of Jennifer Turner, plays the heavenly guitar leads and haunting back up vocals on this song about discovering the wonders of NYC. Just a great song!
• Bruce Cockburn — Foxglove — This is a very pretty instrumental by a songwriter known for his completely excellent and thoughtful lyrics. This cut is from his, “Speechless” album of wonderful guitar instrumentals released in 2005.
• Neil Young — Rockin in the Free World — This is another one of those anthem songs by our friend from Canada. This cut comes from his 1989 album, “ Freedom”.
• The Beach Boys – Sail on Sailor – This song is very special for me. Of course, like every other boy who fell off surfboards in the pitiful bumps we called waves at South Beach in Miami, I had heard the Beach Boys anthems to high school, surfboards and sunny beach days. But I didn’t really fall in love with them until 1973 when they released this song on “Holland”. The band I was mixing sound for had a deep and abiding love for the boys, so after I got out of the Navy, being a sailor in 1974, I rode the Beach Boy love wave till I returned to the sea in 1975. Anyway, its a great example of Brian Wilson’s brilliance as a song writer. Enjoy!
• Dave Brubeck Quartet — Blue Rondo à la Turk — From his classic 1959 release, “Time Out”. Dave and the boys at their tightest.
• Zephyr — Chasing Clouds — From the Vinyl!!! This was a great band out of Colorado that included a teenaged Tommy Bolin on guitar and Candy Givens on piano and vocals. I loved every song they played. They are both gone now but their music lives on. This one is from their “Sunset Ride” album released in 1972.
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; And always remember … The best is yet to come! As always, thank you for being my friend!