November 7th, 2019
“Gumåron” or “Good Morning” in Elfdalian, a North Germanic language spoken in central Sweden.
This week we turned our clocks back. A lot of us wrongly believed that Ben Franklin invented “Daylight Saving Time” (not Savings by the way). In 1794, Franklin was the US envoy living in Paris. He found being awaked at 6am by the sun to be irksome and wrote a satirical piece suggesting that the French would save millions if they adapted their sleep schedule to use sunlight in stead of candles. Invented by a Brit in 1905, but Germany enacted Daylight Saving Time first in 1916, to save on electricity. In wasn’t until 1918 that the US enacted Daylight Saving over the strenuous objections of agricultural interests. A national policy on daylight savings was so unpopular that it was repealed in 1919. And President Wilson veto was overridden in Congress. What followed was a “chaos of clocks” to quote “Time” magazine, as state and local ordinances adopted the practice or not as the case maybe. By 1965 there were 23 different start and end times in Iowa alone. Those taking the 35 mile bus ride from Stubenville, OH to Moundsville, WV passed through 7 time changes. It wasn’t until 1966 that the Uniform Time Act standardized things, sort of. More recent studies have challenged the notion that Daylight Saving time actually saves energy over the standardized alternative practice of not moving the clocks. Now that I am officially old, I found it makes no difference to me, I wake up about the same time each day and go to sleep at about the same time, those times may look different on the clock but me and dog ignore it for the most part. So far, I have woken up at 4:30am two days in a row.
This week I learned some stuff:
• In preparing for my denuding of my backyard, I had to buy some plastic sheeting to cover the pond while the bamboo was removed. To do that I was forced to visit my local Lowes lumberyard, where I fell into the evil clutches of the Bar-B-Q salesman! While it is true my current outdoor cooking set up, while still essentially performs the tasks asked of it, it is literally disintegrating a bit more with each use. So long story too late to be short, I bought a new “island type” grill. Now my current configuration is clever adaptation of decorative landscaping bricks supporting the stainless grill that was formerly supported by an rolling undercarriage that rotted out. Annnywwwaayyy! It worked but with a new “designed for an island” grill, I needed to build or at least change what I currently have. So this week I designed a new island and will build it over the next few weeks. It will be made of redwood and cedar and should look pretty cool and work very well. The reason I regurgitated all this for you is to tell you about my lowes.com experience. I ordered all the materials for my island online and they will assemble my load and email me when all my stuff is ready to pick up at the local Lowes. On top of that I get at 10% Veterans discount on everything I buy in the store or online. So if you have any projects, I would encourage you to check out Lowes , especially if you are a Veteran. And, keep your fingers crossed about my island!
• November 7th is the 311th day of the year (only 48 days till Christmas!). On this day in 1837, Elija P. Lovejoy, abolitionist, was shot dead in Alton, IL trying to defend his printing shop from an angry mob; In 1874, a cartoon by Thomas Nast was published in Harpers Weekly, that used an elephant to symbolize the Republican Party for the first time; on this day in 1893, women in the state of Colorado were given the right to vote, the second state to do so; In 1908, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid are reported killed in San Vincente Canton, Bolivia; 1910, the first air freight shipment from Dayton to Columbus, OH, is undertaken by the Wright Brothers on behalf of storeowner, Max Moorehouse. “The New Republic” magazine publishes the first issue in 1914;1916, Jeanette Rankin, is the first women elected to Congress; in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art opened in New York City; Fiorello H. La Guardia is elected as NYC’s 99th Mayor; In 1967, Carl B. Stokes is elected mayor of Cleveland, Oh, the first African-American elected mayor to a major city;On this day in 1967, LBJ sings the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting;In 1991, Magic Johnson announces that he is HIV Positive;1996 NASA launched The Mars Global Surveyor; 2000 presidential election results are so close and controversial that they were decided in the Supreme Court in the Bush v. Gore case, electing George W. Bush 43rd President of the United States; in 1887, Marie Curie, polish chemist and Nobel Prize laureate was born on this day;Leon Trotsky, founder of the Red Army is born in 1879;1913, Albert Camus, French novelist, philosopher and journalist and Nobel laureate was born; Al Hirt, American Trumpet player was born 1922; 1952, American 4 Star General and Director of the CIA was born; On this day in 1962, we lost Eleanor Roosevelt, humanitarian, politician and 39th First Lady of the United States; 1980 Steve McQueen, American actor passed away;2004 Howard Keel, American actor and singer died; In 2016, we lost Leonard Cohen, Canadian singe- songwriter and poet; Lastly, Janet Reno passed on this day in 2016. Janet haled from Miami, FL and became a local, state, and federal prosecutor and ultimately, the Attorney General of the United States.
Website Update:
• Week 2 for the “New” Vocabulary Quiz!
• Last week for our “New” Music Trivia Quiz !!
• This week I cooked a couple of new things that turned out to be worthy of your consideration. I made a new pasta dish that was delightful, mostly healthy and filling – Creamy Asparagus Pasta – Good Autumn fare! I also created a Spanish Stew that was so tasty, it even inspired my soup/stew hater daughter to go back for seconds. Its important to get real Spanish chorizo sausage (as opposed to Mexican chorizo). This is a great dish to serve with Tapas! If you don’t have a local store that sells Spanish ingredients – chorizo, bocarones, jamon serranom, cheeses, almonds and olives, you can find all of them online. Lastly, this week I have a reciepe for some very tasty Korean BarBQ-Style Meatballs that I served with fried cabbage and rice. This recipe features a Korean condiment that you may not have tried before. Gochujang has a very interesting sweet sour and spicy flavor set. It is also rich in protein, antioxidants and vitamins, but low in fat and calorie content. This is a very easy, quick and tasty meal that you might wish to try!
Writing, Ceramics and Painting Update:
• I glazed my house sign. In the process, I managed to knock off a letter, a few roof tiles and a peice of the border. I decided to proceed with firing anyway. I figured if it looks ok, I can epoxy the broken parts back on if not I can still throw it away. I made another simply awful little box. My new teacher told me not to worry, most of his students suck for the first few hundred things that they do. I am starting a new painting from a beautiful autumn photo I found on facebook. I even made some copies for my fellow students.
• Grandpa Stories is still not re-published.
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
• Americans and many other cultures wear their wedding bands on their left hands. This practice originated from Roman times when the Romans thought there was a vein in the fourth finger of the left hand that went directly to the heart. They spread this belief throughout the empire including most of today’s Europe including the United Kingdom who spread the practice when the British Empire spread.
• I saw a posting on Facebook about a dog who served in the Pacific during WWII mostly in prison camps but made it through with his human back to England where they were both awarded medals for what they had done. I didn’t know that England had an equivalent to the famous Victoria Cross medal for brave deeds done by animals as well. I thought that was a very decent thing to do.
• A friend of mine, brings a little external bluetooth speaker to play Spotify playlists for us during art class. Last Fridays, class featured Jakob Dylan and I found his music refreshing and interesting. Over the weekend, I was searching for something to watch and stumbled over this “Echos in the Canyon” Netflix documentary by Jakob Dylan and Andrew Slater about the mini-musical renaissance that took place in Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and 70s. This film from beginning to end celebrates the migration of popular music from catchy lines to meaningful poetry and beauty. It is wonderful mix of great music, interviews with some of the participants in the moments. I recommend it to anyone who wants to get a glimpse of that was like to be alive in those days.
Music Update:
This week, I have created another very nice collection of song samples that I think celebrate life in a grand way!
Go to this week’s UJT Radio program.
• Echo in the Canyon Soundtrack – Questions (featuring Jakob Dylan and Eric Claption) — This old Buffalo Springfield tune (from their, “Last Time Around” album released in 1968) is dusted off and given new wings in this version. Stephen Stills plays on this version too, not sure why he wasn’t “Featured” too.
• Echo in the Canyon Soundtrack – In My Room (featuring Jakob Dylan and Fiona Apple) — Brian Wilson wrote this tune describing every mans need to find a place of solace and sanctuary. This was released on the Beach Boys 1963 album, “Surfer Girl”.
• The Beach Boys — I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times — This one hails from the iconic, “Pet Sounds” album released in 1966. This had to be the most introspective song on AM radio ever to that point.
• The Beatles – Fixing A Hole – It has been said that the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds inspired the work the Liverpool lads did on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club released in 1967. All of the Beatles had been spotted worshiping at the church of “alternative ways to record music” by the good Reverend Brian Wilson in their visits to California starting in 1966.
• New Riders of the Purple Sage — Panama Red — This the title cut from their “The Adventures of Panama Red” released in 1973. It was kind of an unsung anthem to those of us busy learning that there was more to life than the Mexican dirt weed we bought in matchboxes for $5.
• Jack Johnson — Questions — This song comes from his very unique album, “Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies For The Film Curious George”. Jack has a way of saying stuff in his music that always makes me think.
• Allman Brothers Band — Ode to Elisabeth Reed — From thier iconic, “Live at Filmore East” released in 1971, this is just an amazing instrumental for its time.
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!