November 25th, 2021

“Glædelig Helligdag”, or “Happy Thanksgiving” in Cin Danish, a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Denmark.

This week is one of the times each year when I focus on how fortunate I have been. I am humbled by my good fortune and grateful for the people who have made my time here so rich and rewarding. The gratitude I feel towards the people who matter in my life does not end with their passing. I remember and feel enriched by those memories. It is important that in the hustle and bustle of our day to day lives we don’t take the most important gifts live has provided for granted. The Heartline Study gave me an assignment to explore a Gratitude Journal as a way of enriching my life. I have heard about the benefits of this habit before but never really pulled the trigger on it. I am going to give it a try.

This week I learned some stuff:
• I bet you are tired of hearing about the new TV shows I have discovered! This week was a bit different in that they show I found I would not recommend to anyone. The writing is iffy and the acting, well .. is just acting but the reason I am enjoying it is the film locations! Its a show about an international cooperative police unit that is set in Europe, Amsterdam to be precise. It seems that crime seems to frequent many of the places I have traveled. The filmed in my hotel in both Paris and Moscow!! And I am familiar with many of the locations in the NL too. Its like having flash backs without the drugs 🙂
• November 25th is the 329th day of 2021. Just 29 days till Christmas! By this day in 1621, diseases brought to the new world with the Pilgrims had killed over 50 percent of the Wampanoag tribe attending that first Thanksgiving; On this day in 1915, Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences; In 1947, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Committee on UnAmerican Activities established The “Hollywood Ten” to be blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios; Agatha Christie’s murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on this day in 1961. It will become the longest continuously-running play in history.; Today in 1963, President John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery; Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist was born today in 1835; Carrie Nation, American activist , was born on this day in 1846; Augusto Pinochet, Chilean general and politician, 30th President of Chile, was born today in 1915; Today in 1920, Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican-American actor, singer, and director, was born; Dave Brubeck Quartet member and composer of “Take Five”, Paul Desmond, American saxophonist and composer, was born today in 1924; Born today in 1947, John Larroquette, American actor; Owen Wilson, American actor, producer, comedian and screenwriter, was born today in 1968; Under the heading of best name ever, Crescent Dragonwagon, American author and educator was born today in 1952; John F. Kennedy Jr., American lawyer, journalist, and publisher was born today in 1960; Upton Sinclair, American novelist, critic, and essayist, passed away in 1968; Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., American businessman and diplomat, 44th United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, passed away today in 1969;. Jim Jones, American cult leader, founded Peoples Temple committed suicide with 918 of his coerced followers today in 1978; And finally, Fidel Castro, Communist leader of Cuba, and revolutionary passed away today in 2016.

Website Update:
This week:
• Week 2 for our new Vocabulary Quiz
• Last week for our new Musical Trivia Quiz
• I have some new recipes for you this week – Roasted Vegetable Salad, Shrimp Creole and Grandpa’s Pecan Brittle. Yum!
• The Home Page quote comes from another of my favorite characters brought to us by Robert B. Parker, Jesse Stone: “I would rather regret the things I have done than the things that I haven’t done.”

Writing, Ceramics, Stained Glass and Painting Update:
• No change on the painting or stained glass front this week.
• Grandpa Stories is once again making progress towards being republished.

Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
• Remember the picture of John-John saluting the casket as the horse-drawn caisson carrying his fathers battered body for burial passes him, his sister and mother on Pennsylvania Ave? I never knew that John F. Kennedy Jr., American lawyer, journalist, publisher and son of John F. Kennedy attended his fathers funeral on his 3rd birthday. So sad.

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:
• The Bambi Molesters – Lazy Girls Hangout – This one is another instrumental from this serious northern European surf band. Released in 2010 on their “As the Dark Wave Swells” album.
• Joe Walsh – Rivers (of the Hidden Funk) — I forget what I was doing but somehow I ended up on this rock and roll review article from back in the day that critiqued the album and this song in particular. It features a guitar duel between the tragically underrated Don Felder and Joe. This was written for an Eagles album but got left off so Joe released it on his solo album “There Goes the Neighborhood” released in 1981. This is a great record featuring some of the old Barnstorm gang mix up with a couple of wayward Eagles.
• Charlie Hunter — Gentlemen, I Neglected to Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid — The be some sweet jazzy guitar work for you. This comes from his 2010 release of the same name. Check it out.
• Sarah Jarosz — Take Me Back — I found this one when I was attending my little brother’s funeral. The visit afforded me a chance to visit with some old friends who live in the same area. As they patiently, let me grieve they played me some beautiful music so I got to meet this sweet lady. This one is from her, “Undercurrent” album released in 2016 and is about a pretty a song as you can sing.
• Eric Clapton — The Old Man and Me (feat. Tom Petty) — From his, “The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale” album released in 2014. I think it is Tom singing.
• Eric Clapton/Santana — The Calling — This is a truly remarkable performance of these two Titans of guitar. This was captured on Santana’s 1999 release, “Supernatural”. Enjoy.

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!