Back Home Again In Tucson

     

Tucson Weather Today

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O.K. -- Here I am back in my snug little apartment on the Northeast side of busy, noisy, traffic-jammed Tucson. Of course, the heavy traffic only affects me marginally since I no longer drive a motor vehicle. I'm too old and uncoordinated for such  a grave responsibility, which I discovered when I turned 70, four years ago and had a few sudden and frightening close-calls on the highway.

But that's an old story, reported here on the blog [too] many times before.

I am really looking forward to my morning walk to Fry's Market and back. I missed it while temporarily residing outside the city limits, and missed the greetings of my friends I meet along the way... Roger who lives at Edgewood Apartments halfway between my home and Fry's, and Cedric who also lives there... and Haika, the happy handsome produce clerk who always cries out and wraps her arms around me in a big hug whenever I've been away for any length of time... and Marta who always calls out my name whenever she sees me in the store... and, of course, Jennifer, the beautiful, young, energetic, bouncy, smiling Customer Service clerk from whom I always eagerly buy my twice-weekly lottery tickets. And, whichever somewhat disheveled, dolorous, conversation-starved, homeless person that happens to be holding down the loafer's smoking-bench outside the store's entrance.

Yes, I miss my daily routine, and am always glad to return to it.

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TRIVIA

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 2012, 16 members of a dissident Amish group in Ohio were convicted of federal hate crimes and conspiracy for forcibly cutting the beards and hair of fellow Amish with whom they had religious differences. The government classified the ruthless attacks as hate crimes because beards and long hair have important religious symbolism to the Amish, who are known for their pacifism, plain style of dress and refusal to use many forms of modern technology.

The men and women convicted in the attacks belonged to a group of about 18 families who lived on an 800-acre farm owned by their leader, Samuel Mullet Sr. The perpetrators -- sometimes wielding shears meant for horse manes—restrained victims and in some cases hurt those who came to their aid. Afterwards, the attackers took photographs in order to further humiliate the injured parties.

On September 20, 2012, the 66-year-old Mullet was convicted along with three of his sons, one of his daughters and 11 other followers. On February 8, 2013, a federal judge in Cleveland sentenced Mullet to 15 years in prison. His co-defendants received sentences ranging from one to seven years behind bars.

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WORD FOR TODAY

dolorous
adjective
Marked by or exhibiting sorrow, grief, or pain.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Kristen Johnston

(born September 20, 1967)

Kristen Johnston is an American stage, film, and television actress. She is most famous for her two-time Emmy Award-winning role as Sally Solomon in the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun. She also starred as Wilma Flintstone in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. She currently appears as Holly Franklin in the sitcom The Exes.

Sophia Loren

(born September 20.,1934)

Sophia Loren is an Italian actress. In the late 1950s, Loren's five-picture contract with Paramount launched her career as an international movie star. Notable film appearances around this time included; Houseboat, That Kind of Woman, and It Started in Naples. Loren's deglamorized performance as Cesira in Vittorio De Sica's Two Women confirmed her status as an acclaimed actress. Later notable films include Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Marriage Italian-Style , Sunflower and The Voyage.

Her first starring role was in Aida (1953), for which she received critical acclaim. After playing the lead role in Two Nights with Cleopatra (1953), her breakthrough role was in The Gold of Naples (1954) and Too Bad She's Bad.

Over the next three years she acted in many films such as Scandal in Sorrento (1955) and Lucky to Be a Woman (1956). In 1957, Loren's star had begun to rise in Hollywood, with the films Boy on a Dolphin (her U.S. film debut), Legend of the Lost with John Wayne, and The Pride and the Passion in which she starred opposite Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra.

In later years she has appeared in American blockbusters such as Grumpier Old Men and Nine.

Anne Meara

(born September 20, 1929)

Anne Meara is an American actress and comedian. She and Jerry Stiller were a prominent 1960s comedy team, appearing as Stiller and Meara, and are the parents of actor and comedian Ben and actress Amy Stiller.

Spencer Locke

(born September 20, 1991)

Spencer Locke is an American actress who is known for her role as K-Mart in the Resident Evil film series. Prior to appearing as Candida on Phil of the Future, she had a recurring role as Bitsy on season one of the Nickelodeon series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.

Locke has also guest starred as Brandee Case in Without a Trace in the episode "Wannabe", Kayla in That's So Raven in episode "Mad Hot Cotillion", and as Jenny in the animated film Monster House. She appeared in the 2007 film Resident Evil: Extinction as a girl found in the ruins of a K-Mart, hoping to find a safe haven in Alaska. Spencer reprised her role as K-Mart in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife, released September 10, 2010. She also has appeared as Amber Bradley on The Vampire Diaries.

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Depression is rage spread thin.
--George Santayana

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

Crime Does Not Pay... Does It?

     

Tucson Weather Today
 

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There was a blackout in New York City in July of 1977. The city went dark at about 9:30 p.m.  New York was in the middle of an economic crisis, and unemployment rates were high. There was also a serial killer, who called himself "Son of Sam," on the loose, (see below) and the city was in the grip of a brutal heat wave. It was the worst time for a catastrophic blackout; the city was a powder keg.

In the 25 hours that it took workers to fully restore power, more than 1,600 stores were looted, more than a thousand fires were set, and nearly 3,800 looters were arrested. Damage was later estimated at $300 million.



David Richard Berkowitz (born Richard David Falco; June 1, 1953), also known as the Son of Sam and the .44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer convicted of a series of shooting attacks that began in the summer of 1976. Perpetrated with a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver, the shootings continued for over a year, leaving six victims dead and seven others wounded. As the toll mounted, Berkowitz eluded a massive police manhunt while leaving brazen letters which promised further murders. Highly publicized in the press, the killings terrorized the people of New York City and achieved worldwide notoriety.

Berkowitz has been imprisoned since his arrest and is serving six life sentences consecutively.

The New York legislature enacted new legal statutes, known popularly as "Son of Sam laws", designed to keep criminals from profiting financially (books, movies, etc.) from the publicity surrounding their crimes.

Crime does not pay.

Right?


J.K. Rowling’s ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ jumped to the top of the bestseller list after she was revealed as its author. I wonder if I would like it. I tried reading one of her Harry Potter books and couldn't finish it. Didn't like it at all. So I never even tried to read another.

To me, the Harry Potter story premise was ridiculous, because, I imagine, it was aimed at a juvenile crowd. I have asked around for opinions of others as to the new one's quality and entertainment value, and am looking forward to more responses.

So far, all of the feedback from my query has been positive.


Over the years I have noticed that the most overly used lines by an attractive female in crime or suspense movies have been: "Help! Somebody help! Please, help me!" I wonder if there has been a study of how many times those lines have been voiced.

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TRIVIA
Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time. (That's hard for me to believe, and I wonder how anyone can possibly know it as fact.)

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, July 17 in 1938, Douglas Corrigan, the last of the early glory-seeking fliers, took off from Floyd Bennett field in Brooklyn, New York, on a flight that would finally win him a place in aviation history. He took off from Floyd Bennett field, ostentatiously pointed west to California.

However, a few minutes later, he made a 180-degree turn and vanished into a cloudbank to the puzzlement of a few onlookers. Twenty-eight hours later, "Wrong Way" Corrigan landed his plane in Dublin, Ireland.

 

WORD FOR TODAY

felon [fell-uhn]
noun
1.  a person who has committed a felony.
2.  (law) A person who has been tried and convicted of a felony.
3.  (archaic) a wicked person.

A person convicted in a court of law of a felony crime is known as a felon. In the United States, where the felony/misdemeanor distinction is still widely applied, the federal government defines a felony as a crime punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year. If punishable by exactly 1 year or less, it's classified as a misdemeanor. The individual states may differ in this definition, using other categories as seriousness or context.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Donald McNichol Sutherland
(born July 17, 1935)

 

Donald Sutherland is a Canadian actor whose film career spans nearly 50 years. Some of his more notable movie roles have included offbeat soldiers in popular war movies such as The Dirty Dozen, MASH and Kelly's Heroes, as well as a diverse range of characters in other noted films such as, Fellini's Casanova, Klute, Don't Look Now, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, JFK, Ordinary People, Pride & Prejudice, and The Hunger Games.

He is the father of actor Kiefer Sutherland.

Phyllis Diller
(July 17, 1917 - Aug. 20, 2012

 

Phyllis Diller was an American actress and comedienne. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired and eccentrically dressed housewife who made self-deprecating jokes about her age and appearance, her terrible cooking, and a husband named "Fang", while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder.

James Francis Cagney, Jr.
(July 17, 1899 - March 30, 1986)

 

James Cagney was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing tough guys. Cagney's seventh film, The Public Enemy, became one of the most influential gangster movies of the period. The film thrust Cagney into the spotlight, making him one of Warners' and Hollywood's biggest stars. In 1938, he received his first Academy Award for Best Actor nomination, for Angels with Dirty Faces, before winning in 1942 for his portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Camilla Parker Bowles
(born July 17, 1947)

 

Camilla Parker Bowles is the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Instead of taking the title "Princess of Wales", she is styled through her husband's secondary titles as "Duchess of Cornwall" and, in Scotland, "Duchess of Rothesay". The secondary titles were used because of the strong association of the primary title with her husband's first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales.

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If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
--Albert Einstein

NASA TV
    

Crime . . . And Punishment?

     

Tucson Weather Today

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While out for my daily walk, I espied a bird coming in for a landing on one of the buds of a tall Saguaro Cactus, so I pulled my little Canon camera out of my pocket and snapped a few shots. The first captured the bird, but it was too far away. So I dialed up the telephoto lens and took another one. But the bird had flown by then.

Bird On Cactus Flower

Cropped From Above Photo

Flowers Atop A Saguaro

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Either the crime rate in both Tucson and in the U.S. is getting higher, or the TV news shows are concentrating more heavily lately on crooks and criminality. Every day, it seems, reports of a murder or theft or the police apprehension of drugs and drug smugglers abound on the television screen.

Evidently, crime in all its varied nuances does pay; it pays the Media; it is supremely entertaining, you see.

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TRIVIA

A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, June 23 in 1992 Mafia boss John Gotti, who was nicknamed the "Teflon Don" after escaping unscathed from several trials during the 1980s, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on 14 accounts of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering. Moments after his sentence was read in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, hundreds of Gotti's supporters stormed the building and overturned and smashed cars before being forced back by police reinforcements.

Gotti was sentenced to multiple life terms without the possibility of parole.

While still imprisoned, Gotti died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002.

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WORD FOR TODAY

mafia
noun
-  A secret criminal organization operating mainly in the United States and Italy and engaged in illegal activities such as gambling, drug-dealing, protection, and prostitution.
-  Any of various similar criminal organizations, especially when dominated by members of the same nationality.

According to the classic definition, the Mafia is a criminal organization originating in Sicily. However, the term "mafia" has become a generic term for any organized criminal network with similar structure, methods, and interests.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Melissa Ivy Rauch
(born June 23, 1980)

Melissa Rauch is an American actress and comedienne. She is best known for her role as Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Clarence Thomas
(born June 23, 1948)

Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court. Since joining the Court, Thomas has taken a textualist approach, seeking to uphold what he sees as the original meaning of the United States Constitution and statutes. He is generally viewed as the most conservative member of the Court.

Valerie June Carter Cash
(June 23, 1929 - May 15, 2003)

June Carter Cash was an American singer, dancer, songwriter, actress, comedian and author who was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash.

She played the guitar, banjo, harmonica and auto harp, and acted in several films and television shows. Carter Cash was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2009. She was ranked No. 31 in CMT's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music in 2002.

Randall Darius "Randy" Jackson
(born June 23, 1956)

Randy Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, entrepreneur and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. Jackson has won a Grammy Award as a producer.

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The cure for crime is not the electric chair, but the high chair.
--J. Edgar Hoover

NASA TV
 

Out With The Old, In With The New

There was a young girl's Body Found in a park less than a mile from my home. Then for most of the evening a helicopter was cruising over my rooftop and back and forth across the neighborhood. Searching for some perpetrator who'd been seen in the region and reported by some civic-minded citizen.

That's not the first time, either. I've started to get used to the sound of that copter clamoring overhead. Crime, crime, crime. It's rampant in Jacksonville, FL no matter what trend the accumulated statistics might be allowed (by political manipulators) to indicate.

Yesterday morning I thought that it should be easy to get some serious novel writing done that day. Nothing else appealed to me at all. Didn't much want to do anything, especially anything physical. I figured that I would just paste my butt to the chair and pound away at the keys.

Things did not turn out that way though. About all I got accomplished was that I sorted and packaged for shipment most of my old photo albums and all those loose pictures from the past scattered about in lidless shoe boxes and tucked away in old faded manila envelopes.

Well . . . no, I did achieve one other thing. In a sudden fit of miniature melancholia (some sort of emotional reaction to a trivial bit of microscopic rage I suppose) I threw out all my old original manuscripts. The first drafts of all I'd written throughout my lifetime that I had saved for years and years.

Reminders of the myriad failures and of the painfully slow process of self-teaching of English composition and How-To-Write learned by trial-and-error that I had saved since the 1970s -- ALL of them -- some written in pencil and pen and others typed on old key-clogged manual portable typewriters -- saved for all those years, survivors of many moves from state to state, city to city.

And along with them I callously tossed in my huge collection of moldering rejection slips. A lifetime's worth. All of them. All of those cold stark and ugly printed form-letters along with the hastily penned little personal notes from thoughtful editors.

All of them are now resting to rot in peace in discarded flimsy plastic grocery bags in the bottom of my curbside trash can awaiting final burial in a landfill by the 'pall-bearers' -- the city sanitation workers who will arrive in the darkness of early morning this coming Monday well before the light of day.

The past is the past and no longer exists except in memory.

Out with the old and in with the new.

. . .