September 29th, 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 215 days since Russia attacked Ukraine.
This week I learned some stuff:
• I had another meeting with my oncologist last Friday. He spent a lot time clarifying what he said the week before. His tone was positive.
• It appears last week, that I failed to update the Today in history part of what I learned. Please forgive the oversight. This weeks section has been updated correctly.
• September 29th is the 272nd day of 2022. Just 86 days till Christmas! Today in 1789, the United States Department of War first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men; On this day in 1907, the cornerstone is laid at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (better known as Washington National Cathedral) in Washington, D.C.; Today in 1885, the first practical public electric tramway in the world is opened in Blackpool, England; In 1923 on this day, the First American Track and Field championships for women are held; On this day in 1940, Two Royal Australian Airforce, Avro Ansons collide in mid-air over New South Wales, Australia, remain locked together, then land safely; Today in 1975, WGPR becomes the first black-owned-and-operated television station in the US as part of the CBS network; In 1990 on this day, construction of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (better known as Washington National Cathedral) is completed in Washington, D.C. just 83 years after the cornerstone was laid on this day in 1907; John Roberts is confirmed as Chief Justice of the United States on this day in 2005; Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, English admiral was born today in 1758; Born today in 1895, Roscoe Turner, American racing pilot and owner of a pet lion named, Gilmore; Today in 1956, Debby Boone, American singer, actress was born; Gene Autry, American singer, actor, and businessman was born today in 1907; Born today in 1904, Greer Garson, English-American actress; Stanley Kramer, American director and producer was born today in 1913; Col Harry Shoup, the man who created NORAD’s Santa Tracking system, was born today in 1917; Born today in 1920, Peter D. Mitchell, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate; James Cronin, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate was born today in 1931; Born today in 1935, Jerry Lee Lewis, American singer-songwriter and pianist; Larry Linville, (AKA M.A.S.H.’s Maj. Frank Burns) American actor was born in 1939; Madeline Kahn, American actress and singer and Jean-Luc Ponty, French violinist and composer were both born today in 1942; Gary Wetzel, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient was born today in 1947; Today in 1948, Mark Farner, Grand Funk Railroad. American singer-songwriter and guitarist and Mike Pinera, Blues Image, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer were born; Rudolf Diesel, German engineer, invented the diesel engine passed away today in 1913; Casey Stengel, American baseball player and manager passed away today in 1975; Charles Addams, American cartoonist and creator of The Adams Family passed away today in 1988; Tom Bradley, American lieutenant and politician, 38th Mayor of Los Angeles died today in 1998; Tony Curtis, American actor passed away today in 2010; And lastly, today in 2020, we lost Helen Reddy, Australian-American singer, actress, and activist.
Website Update:
This week:
• Last Week for our New Vocabulary Quiz
• A New Musical Trivia Quiz!!! !Yeah!!!
• No new recipes this week but we did have a wonderful midweek dinner of home made Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We also tried yet another variation of my Stuffed Poblanos – this time we used befriend beans with green chilies and lime! Yum! Yum!
• The Home Page quote this week is from Lt. General Lewis “ Chesty” Puller, USMC., “Alright. The enemy is on the right. They’re on the left. They’re in front. They’re behind us. They can’t get away this time” Chesty remains the most decorated Marine in history.
Writing, Ceramics, Bonsai Trees, Stained Glass and Painting Update:
• Got serious about the “never-ending stained glass project from hell. I may even finish it this week. I had better, I have a lot of work to do before Christmas.
• 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:
FLASHBACK !! Do you remember Toody and Muldoon? They were the heroes of “Car 54 Where Are You?”. It was a black and white TV series that ran from 1961 – 1963 on NBC starring Joe E. Ross and Fred Gwynne as NYC Patrol Officers Toody(“Ooo! Ooo!” – not too bright) and Muldoon (straight laced) respectively. As a 10 year old boy it was a never miss show from my brother and I. Sometimes we would laugh so hard, my mom was afraid we were going to wet our pants. You can find some episodes online. They did a movie of the same name in 1994 – no, I never heard of it either. Remembering those times watching TV after dinner with my Mom, little brother and sometimes Grandma Margret, made me smile. Do you have any connections like that?
This week it occurred to me that I have been doing this UJT thing for awhile now but I wasn’t exactly sure just how long it has been. So I searched for the first UJT Update. The UJT Archive in the Kitchen Drawer only captures the Updates from January 2016. I lost a lot of the earlier content when my hosting provider eliminated the tool I was using forcing me to convert the entire site to what I am using now. This party started long before that. The earliest one that I can find was published on August 23rd, 2013. I know that is not the first one because of references to earlier information. I was a bit surprised with the content. It was a couple of paragraphs about some the photos I was taking to paint and other stuff. The music section was kind of amazing. For each song I wrote a paragraph setting the context for the song musically and personally. I was interesting. I think I will republish it on August 23, 2023.
This week’s UJT Radio Program:
• Adele — Someone Like You — Its been awhile since since I have heard this song. Her voice is so beautiful and this song is so sad. This was the first song I ever heard from Adele. This one comes from her album “21” released in 2011.
• Sting — If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free — This a great cut from his first solo album after leaving the Police in 1985.
• Billy McLaughlin — Hurricane Bob — This another beautiful instrumental from a gifted musician. You folks having tough in Florida this week can play this in your headphones to drown out the sound of muther nature’s chaos going on outside. This one comes from his “Stormseeker” album released in 2001.
• Tommy Bolin — Dreamer — Tommy’s story of great talent taken from us too early. This is a song from his solo album, “Teaser” originally released in 1975. This cut is of a remastered version “Teaser Deluxe” released in 2011.
• Braddigan — Guitarra — Have you ever ended up with a fairly crappy album because you really liked the one cut you heard. This is one of those. This cut is from their, “Live At Goucher College” album released in 2006. The guitar work reminds me bit of Jerry Garcia’s work.
• Taylor Swift — The 1 — This a thoughtful, nostalgic “road not taken” pondering that we have done from time to time. This song was conceived, written and recorded at her home studio the summer after COVID hit. She collaborated with her producers virtually recording the songs at home and sending them to New York for mixing and production. This is from her “folklore” album released in 2020.
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!