Signs Of Christmas

     

Tucson Weather Today

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George Will has some interesting thoughts on the wisdom of whether or not the government should raise the minimum wage.

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While walking along Speedway Boulevard toward Fry's Market yesterday, as I approached Mesquite Valley Growers Nursery I noticed that they had their Christmas display set up. Each year they try to have something a bit different.

This Year A Bale Of Turtles Are Pulling The Sleigh

Side View Of The Sleigh And Its Contents

Side View Of The Sleigh Pullers

Last year it was a group of flamingos pulling the sleigh.


At Fry's, along with a few staples, I picked up four large bags of frozen fruit, the good kind, the kind that was picked, packed, frozen, and shipped immediately to retailers. One bag is labeled Triple Berry Medley (blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries), another is Tropical Smoothie Blend (strawberries, mango pieces, and pineapple chunks), a third bag is of whole red raspberries, and finally, a bag of Handpicked Dark Sweet Cherries. (Yum, my favorite).

The cashier at checkout asked me if I was going to make fruit pies or just eat it plain. I said eat it plain. He said he had been telling himself to do that too, because he needed to start eating more wisely. I asked him to put the groceries into two double-bags because I was walking, not driving, and I like to balance the load using both hands to carry it. He said, "Sure... no problem."

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Did You Know . . .?

If you try to say the alphabet without moving your lips or tongue every letter will sound the same.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1773, a group of Massachusetts colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British tea ships moored in Boston Harbor and dump 342 chests of tea into the water. Now known as the "Boston Tea Party," the midnight raid was a protest of the Tea Act of 1773, a bill enacted by the British parliament to save the faltering British East India Company. The British tea dumped into Boston Harbor on the night of December 16 was worth more than $700,000 in today's currency.

Parliament, outraged by the blatant destruction of British property, enacted the Coercive Acts, which closed Boston to merchant shipping, established formal British military rule in Massachusetts, made British officials immune to criminal prosecution in America, and required colonists to quarter British troops. The colonists subsequently called the first Continental Congress to consider a united American resistance to the British.

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WORD FOR TODAY

skint
adjective
Having no money; broke; poor.
Entomology A variant spelling of the word skinned, as in, so broke that even one's skin is shaved off. Earliest documented use: 1925.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Anna Katherine Popplewell

(born December 16, 1988)

Anna Popplewell is an English film, television and theater actress. She began acting professionally in the TV production Frenchman's Creek in 1998. She made her film debut in 1999 in the film Mansfield Park and has since appeared in supporting roles in films like The Little Vampire (2000) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) with Scarlett Johansson. In 2001 she appeared as Victoria in the BBC serial Love in a Cold Climate. Her first major role was in the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) where she played Susan Pevensie.

Benjamin Bratt

(born December 16, 1963)

Benjamin Bratt is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order and his appearances in the movies Miss Congeniality, Demolition Man, Blood in Blood Out, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Traffic, La Mission, Despicable Me 2, and Piñero. He recently portrayed Dr. Jake Riley on the medical drama series Private Practice.

Krysten Alyce Ritter

(born December 16, 1981)

Krysten Ritter is an American actress, musician, and former model. Ritter is best known for her roles as Jane Margolis on the AMC drama series Breaking Bad and Chloe on the ABC comedy series Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. She has appeared in films such as What Happens in Vegas (2008), 27 Dresses (2008), Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), and She's Out of My League (2010). She has also appeared in the television series Gilmore Girls, Gossip Girl, Gravity, 'Til Death, and Veronica Mars.

Hallee Leah Hirsh

(born December 16, 1987)

Hallee Hirsh is an American actress known for her roles as Daley in the children's series Flight 29 Down and as the second (and final) actress to portray Rachel Greene on ER. Starring alongside Kristen Stewart, Hirsh portrayed the role of Rachel Bruin in Speak.

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"It's not true that life is one damn thing after another -- it's one damn thing over and over." 
-- Edna St. Vincent Millay

This Is Who I Am

   

Politics, TV Networks, Etc.

Tucson Weather Today

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According to Saturday's Washington Post online the Sunday Morning TV News shows will feature the following:

NBC’s Meet the Press: Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-Md.); Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va.); Chuck Todd, NBC; Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed; Ted Cruz, Republican U.S. Senate nominee; E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post and Brookings Institution; Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal.

CBS’s Face the Nation: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Senate majority whip; Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor; Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; Neera Tanden, president of Center for American Progress.

ABC’s This Week: Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.); Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Mass.); Neil Barofsky, former special inspector general of the Troubled Assets Relief Program; Austan Goolsbee, former chairman of the Obama Council of Economic Advisers; Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform; Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal; Kevin Madden, Romney senior adviser; Stephanie Cutter, Obama deputy campaign manager.

I am growing more and more disappointed with these shows. That's probably because I am now convinced that the majority of guests interviewed never tell the truth but only repeat variations on their Party's policy. Even the panelists and the roundtable participants are so steeped in party priorities that the loyal viewer almost always knows what each of them is going to say.

And as for the politicians being probed, well, I am a firm believer that the term 'honest politician' is an obvious oxymoron. And an elected official is first and foremost a 'politician.'

Most of the reporters and other media-based mini-celebrities in attendance to discuss the latest news events who are supposed to be unbiased are actually as closed-minded as the politicians. Except, of course for George Will, who is quite obviously a conservative but is always able to focus on and explain his view, forcibly make a valid point, whenever, that is, he is not interrupted by some pushy, loud-mouthed know-nothing party hack.


Oh Good Gravy! Here I go again, doing what I keep telling myself not to do: not to write about politics or religion, the two subjects one can never change another's mind about, no matter how right I am or how wrong my listener might be.

Will I never learn?

Well, you can't go wrong when reading George Will's column. His latest at The Washington Post is titled Why doom has not materialized and as always, it makes the reader think, and to question the sanity of the human animal.

George Will's Column

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WORD FOR TODAY


Noodling
noun

Noodling is fishing for catfish using only bare hands, practiced primarily in the southern United States. The noodler places his hand inside a discovered catfish hole. Many other names, such as catfisting, grabbling, graveling, hogging, dogging, gurgling, tickling and stumping, are used in different regions for the same activity.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Bill Clinton


Born Aug 19, 1946
Age: 65 years old.

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III) is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation. Clinton has been described as a New Democrat. Many of his policies have been attributed to a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance.

Willie Shoemaker

Born Aug. 19, 1931

Died Oct. 12, 2003

William Lee "Willie" Shoemaker was an American jockey. For 29 years he held the world record of number of professional jockey victories.

   Gene Roddenberry


Born Aug. 19, 1921
Died Oct. 24, 1991

Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer. Roddenberry flew 89 combat missions in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and worked as a commercial pilot after the war. He later followed in his father's footsteps, joining the Los Angeles Police Department to provide for his family, but began focusing on writing scripts for television.

   
Matthew Perry


Born Aug 19, 1969
Age: 42 years old.

Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He is well known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running NBC television sitcom Friends. While known primarily for his comic roles, Perry has carved out a career in drama as well, particularly in his portrayal of Associate White House Counsel Joe Quincy in Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing.

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"I only make movies to finance my fishing."
Lee Marvin

Ugliness Abounds . . .

Tucson Weather Today

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George Will has written another pointed column titled Blowing the whistle on the federal Leviathan about how the federal government attacks and persecutes innocent citizens through mindless bullying and bureaucratic stupidity.

Below is the first paragraph of the nearly unbelievable story:

The huge humpback whale whose friendliness precipitated a surreal seven-year -- so far -- federal hunt for criminality surely did not feel put upon. Nevertheless, our unhinged government, with an obsession like that of Melville’s Ahab, has crippled Nancy Black’s scientific career, cost her more than $100,000 in legal fees -- so far -- and might sentence her to 20 years in prison. This Kafkaesque burlesque of law enforcement began when someone whistled.

Read this column here


Good Gravy! Almost every day I admonish myself for my enduring negativity, commanding my self to look for positive subjects to write about in the blog. Somehow I always seem to fail in that endeavor. Bad things happen to good people. And bad things happen to bad people. If good things ever happen to good people, these events seem to be hidden from my futile search. There seems to be so much more bad stuff out there than good.

Or perhaps I really am just a grumpy old curmudgeon and only seek out the sordid, the scandalous, and the gloomy side of human activity.

Yeah . . . that's probably it.

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WORD FOR TODAY

corrugate
v.tr.
To shape into folds or parallel and alternating ridges and grooves.
v.intr.
To become shaped into such folds or ridges and grooves.

"Now the immense ocean . . . sensed the change. Its surface rippled and corrugated where sweeping cloud shadows touched it"
--John Updike

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Wil Wheaton

Born July 29, 1972

Age: 39 years old.

Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me, Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers and his recurring role playing himself on the sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. As a writer, he is best known for his blogs Wil Wheaton dot Net and WWdN: In Exile.

   
Clara Bow


Born July 29, 1905
Died Sept 27, 1965

Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shop girl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol. She appeared in 46 silent films and 11 talkies, including hits such as Mantrap (1926), It (1927) and Wings (1927). She was named first box-office draw in 1928 and 1929 and second box-office draw in 1927 and 1930. Her presence in a motion picture was said to have ensured investors, by odds of almost 2-to-1, a "safe return". In January 1929, at the apex of her stardom, she received more than 45,000 fan letters. After marrying actor Rex Bell in 1931, Bow ended her career in 1933 with the film Hoop-La, becoming a rancher in Nevada.

Peter Jennings

 Born July 29, 1938
Died Aug. 7, 2005

Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM was a Canadian American journalist and news anchor. He was the sole anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 of complications from lung cancer. A high-school dropout, he transformed himself into one of American television's most prominent journalists.

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Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
--P. J. O'Rourke

The Cost Of Higher Education

Tucson Weather Today

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Subprime college educations is the title of George Will's latest column in The Washington Post and speaks of the value and the quality of a college education in today's world. Below is the first paragraph:

Many parents and the children they send to college are paying rapidly rising prices for something of declining quality. This is because "quality" is not synonymous with "value."

He then goes on to disclose:

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor, believes that college has become, for many, merely a "status marker," signaling membership in the educated caste, and a place to meet spouses of similar status -- "associative mating."

I found the column insightful, perhaps because it echoes some of my own thoughts and feelings regarding college education as it has affected university graduates I have known personally. And, as always, George Will dives right into the subject, writing directly and clearly. It's a fairly short column and well worth a read.

After reading the column, some of the comments are also well worth pursuing. Such as this one submitted by tbarksdl, who wrote:

I seldom agree with George Will about anything, so when we do agree, It must be true. This column nails it about education. I long ago concluded that our educational system, from K-12 through, universities, has become the most corrupt and incompetent enterprise in the United States. (Wall Street runs a close second). The escalating costs are beyond belief, but weighed against the ultimate product, they become obscene. Not even the Defense Department could get away with this level of sheer waste.

Will accurately points out the main impetus to the rising costs: ballooning bureaucracies and the outrageous salaries paid to the bureaucrats, including college presidents and chancellors. Add to that nepotism and old boy networks linking the administrators and their political allies, and you have a system programmed for waste and abuse.

Trust me: we could fire every college president and chancellor in America and not a darned one of them would ever be missed.

Even worse than the corruption is the abysmal product these incompetent nitwits produce. What human being of normal intelligence believes our students are receiving a real education? The dumbing down of the curriculum is apparent and appalling. Higher education has become four years of partying and binge drinking. The pervasive drunkenness offers proof positive of the lack of any intellectual challenge. And the professors and administrators could care less.

The net result? Business leaders in survey after survey tell us that the average college graduate is woefully unprepared to enter the market place.

But most shocking of all: all of this takes place in plain view, with no attempt to impose accountability or oversight. You would think by now, the American taxpayer, legislators, and parents and students overburdened with those escalating costs and dismal results would have risen up in rebellion and demanded reforms. But this Frankenstein's monster just keeps lurching forward.

Can someone please tell us why?


LINK


I admit that I had little to do with the above beyond simply copying and pasting the thoughts of others into this blog entry. But I feel that it is more valuable than anything I could offer in the way of insight. And, as always, if the original authors object to the pasting I will immediately remove them.

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WORD FOR TODAY

encomium [en-KO-mee-uhm]
Noun
A speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly.

More about encomium

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Judy Garland


Born June 10, 1922
Died June 22, 1969

Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm) was an American actress, singer and vaudevillian. Renowned for her contralto voice, she attained international stardom through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. She would be most identified and most remembered for her role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

ALSO


Hattie McDaniel


Born June 10, 1895
Died Oct. 26, 1952

Hattie McDaniel was an American actress. McDaniel was the first black person to win an Academy Award. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939).

ALSO


Sasha Obama


Born June 10, 2001
She is 10 years old

Sasha Obama is the youngest daughter of  the 44th President of the Untied States Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Her formal name is Natasha, but she is most often called by her nickname, Sasha.

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I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.
--Michel de Montaigne

Sesquipedalian Is Polysyllabic

Tucson Weather Today

 

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What single item is worth $119,900,000?

The Scream

Sotheby's New York sold Edvard Munch's 1895 "The Scream" for $119.9 million on Wednesday night, May 2, 2012, setting a record for the most expensive artwork sold at auction.

Good Lord!

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WORD FOR TODAY

sesquipedalian
adj.
1.   tending to use very long words
2.   (of words or expressions) long and ponderous; polysyllabic
noun
3.   a polysyllabic word

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

George Will

Born May 4, 1941

 

The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary 

was awarded to George Will in 1977.

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Some parents say it is toy guns that make boys warlike. But give a boy a rubber duck and he will seize its neck like the butt of a pistol and shout "Bang!"
--George Will

A Palpable Absence . . .

 Tucson Weather Today

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WORD FOR TODAY

palpable [pal-puh-buhl]
adjective
1.
readily or plainly seen, heard, perceived, etc.; obvious; evident: a palpable lie; palpable absurdity.
2.
capable of being touched or felt; tangible.
3.
Medicine/Medical . perceptible by palpation.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Willie Nelson

Born April 30,1933

ALSO

Eve Arden

Born April 30, 1908

Died Nov. 12, 1990

Eve Arden played the part of English teacher Connie Brooks in Our Miss Brooks on radio from 1948 to 1957, and in a television version of the program from 1952 to 1956. I remember both... I remember them well.

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The difference between death and taxes is that death does not get worse every time Congress meets.
--George Will

Give It To Me. I Want It. NOW!

Tucson Weather Today

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Good ol' George Will.

The drug legalization dilemma is a Washington Post column by George Will.

George's columns always makes a fella think.

Not always a pleasant undertaking.


I have a great deal to say about alcoholism, about cigarette smoking, overeating, and other such forms of addiction, including my own views on addictive personalities. But now is not the proper time to chronicle my opinions.

The proper time may never come.

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Word For Today

widdershins
adv.
anticlockwise; backwards, in the reverse order or direction to normal.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Billy Dee Williams

(Lando Calrissian}

Born March 6, 1937

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For every prohibition you create you also create an underground.
--Jello Biafra

A Word About Politics . . . Ugh!

Tucson Weather Today

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George Will's Obamacare constitutionality column in Sunday Washington Post exposes some points that the Supreme Court just might take into consideration... or then again, it might not. It seems to me that these points are valid, and should not be ignored.

But that's just my opinion.


Bob Schieffer announced that starting next Sunday Face The Nation expands to a full hour.

'Ugh!'

And that's my last word on the subject of politics.

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Word For Today

maar
n. volcanic crater without a cone, usually filled by a lake.

The maar at Birkat Ram, the Golan Heights

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Sarah Jessica Parker

Born March 25, 1965

On May 19, 1997, she married actor Matthew Broderick
(May 19 is my birthday.)

Sarah Jessica Parker and spouse Matthew Broderick

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"Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher."
--Flannery O'Connor
Note:
I found the above quotation at The Writer's Almanac

A Bit Of A Hotchy-Potchy

Tucson Weather Today

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In The Writer's Almanac I read that Robert Goddard received a grant from the Smithsonian Institution that enabled him to do research and publish a paper on "A Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes" in 1920. In the paper, he speculated that rockets could be used to reach the moon. The New York Times heard about his paper and ridiculed him. He went from being a relative nobody to a laughingstock literally overnight. But he persisted, and on this date, March 16, 1926, he completed the first successful launch of his liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts.

Perseverance sometimes conquers all sorts of interference from outside forces, or so it seems to me. But persistence in the ever-sneering face of self-deprecation is surely the most difficult of obstacles to overcome.

God! I am such a weakling. Such a whining, shiftless, incompetent, wastrel. A quitter. Gutless.

A writer? Me? Hah!

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Word For Today

execrable [ek-si-kruh-buhl]
Adjective
Extremely bad or unpleasant.
Synonyms:
abominable - odious - loathsome - abhorrent - detestable

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Henny Youngman

Born March 16, 1906
Died on Feb 24, 1998

One evening back in the 1960s (I think it was) while strolling through the coffee shop at Las Vegas's The Mint casino, I spied Henny Youngman seated at a large table filled with drinks, surrounded of course by a bevy of beautiful female casino employees. I paused and eavesdropped on the conversation (monologue) for a minute or so. Sure enough he was easily as funny as he always had been on TV. And all of his jokes were snappy repetitions of the old reliables, such as "Take my wife... please!"

Note: I deleted the word "babes" and inserted "female casino employees" so as not to ruffle the feathers of overly sensitive feminists. As if I had any feminist (or any female) readers.

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George Will's latest Washington Post column reveals a possible halt to taxpayer funding of union salaries. Of course, if you do not care for the Washington Post or for George Will's opinions, you can just ignore it. But it is somewhat informative, in my questionably humble opinion.

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While admiring some of Dmitrii Lezine's beautiful photography I ran across the following phrase, "...because I thought it was cool and unique in its own way."

Since the maddeningly ubiquitous misuse of the word unique (which means one of a kind) is such a fiercely long-held obsession of mine, especially when adding a modifier of degree such as very unique (how can something be very one of a kind?) I was immediately driven to question the expression unique in its own way. So I hastened to get the opinions of others I trust for the question: Is unique in its own way grammatically correct?

Here is the most convincing response I received:

"Consider a stack of brand new one dollar bills. They all differ, but only by serial number. They are all unique in the same way.

"Now let Hanna von Goeler have one of the bills to work her magic on, converting the banal slip of linen into a bespoke art piece.

"Is this bill more unique than before? No, unique is unique... but in contrast to the rest of the stack, it is now unique in its own way."

That response was from the owner of Quarkscrew and in light of that clear and lucid explanation, I now believe unique in its own way is grammatically correct.

So, 'nuff said.


By the way, one of Dmitrii's many compelling photos caught me eye.

Seattle At Night

Photo by Dmitrii Lezine http://sillymonkeyphoto.com

(Click photo for larger view)

A truly magnificent sight to see is that striking photograph.

Don't you agree?

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For NASA, space is still a high priority.
--Dan Quayle
Note:
The quote was originally meant as ridicule.
But it's not so ludicrous these days - right?

TV Can Be Illuminating

Tucson Weather Today

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Can you imagine that human beings can be so uninformed that they would actually eat vomit?

Many people willingly do eat vomit... often. And they enjoy eating it. They revel in it; they pay high prices for it at their local supermarket.

You doubt this?

Watch the following video:

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I was disappointed this morning when George Will was absent from The Round Table on ABC's this week Sunday morning TV news show... Michael Gerson was okay, as were the two old has-been entertainers, Cokie Roberts and Sam Donaldson but none of them comes up to the common sense reportage of George Will. The interview with Colin Powell was (to me) uninspired. The interview with Matt Damon about his work to provide clean water to those who do not have it was inspiring.

Who is Matt Damon?

What is Water.org?

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I believe that most people believe the word disingenuous is a politically correct synonym for liar. But actually, the definition is: disingenuous: Not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does.

Not quite the same thing.

For some reason, the word disingenuous reminds me of Senator Chuck Schumer, who, by the way, is extremely fond of using the word very.

Senator Charles Schumer

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My new Journal is not ready yet. Only the opening page exists at this time, but it is not to be a daily journal. It takes me more than one day to put my serious thoughts into intelligible words. And I have no previously written postings to fall back on. When it is ready, it will be there.

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Thinking Up Titles Is Tedious

Tucson Weather Today

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Dodie, up in Maine, sent me the following yesterday;

Good example of a Brain Study: If you can read this you have a strong mind:

7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17, B3 PROUD! 0NLY C3R741N P30PL3 C4N R3AD 7H15.

That seems somewhat similar to those graphics in which you must unfocus your eyes to the hidden picture within.

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Another new word from the columns of George Will drove me by way of Google to the online providers of definitions:

minatory
Adjective:
Expressing or conveying a threat: "minatory finger-wagging".

Synonyms:
threatening - minacious - ominous - menacing - forbidding

I can't imagine why, when, or where I would ever use that word.It's strangely interesting to me though; I hope I can remember it

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Do not speak unless you can improve the silence.
--Proverb