Saturday morning, and we’re on the ‘doorstep’ of the Merry Month of May. Is it me or is time no longer creeping but has begun to accelerate into a full sprint?

Word of the Day: Torschlusspanik: The fear that time to act is running out.

In any case, enjoy the weekend and since it’s still dark here feel free to tape your eyelids open to read The Ramblings. An accompanying mug of coffee should also do you well.

We are so in tune with the realization that we’re in the midst of the allergy season; I noticed that we magically now have a shelf-full of Kleenex. From the book of survival Marcia has alerted me that; “its bad form to throw dirty garments into the wash without first checking for used tissue”.

What a dinner – we had last Sunday. This to celebrate and honor Viliami and Jason’s Birthdays. Carefully chosen was Gyu-Kaku Japanese Barbeque (meaning “Horn of the Bull” in Japanese). Selected was a private space, large table and two in-table grills.

Food was great. One minor ‘hiccup’ was some difficulty getting one of the grills operational. Twice a young Asian person had to dive under the table to perform some magic. For a moment, only momentarily mind you, I envisioned us watching a ‘Rick Pitino moment’. Soon all was fine and we had a blast – the photo of Marcia absolutely proves it.

A sad occurrence – should this proceed. At the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill 673 professors signed a letter of protest. Reason? The North Carolina legislature has legislation which would mandate all public university students to take a 3-credit course that focuses on the history of America and its founding.

The course has as required reading “the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, no less than five essays from the Federalist Papers, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King’s letter from the jail in Birmingham.” (House bill 96, as reported on by American Greatness)

The letter by the 673 professors states such a law would violate the school’s “academic freedom.”

Stop providing a new generation of leaders the pertinent details of American exceptionalism and in short order we WILL be doomed continuing as the extraordinary nation that we are.

The Bailey – Mid-week Jason and I headed out to the new soccer stadium to catch a FC Cincinnati soccer match from on ‘The Bailey’. In case you missed it, The Bailey is an all-aluminum, 3000 ‘rabid’ fans strong, standing room only area. At a 34-degree angle it became an amazing place to be. Even standing for a complete soccer match was not noticeable as the time flew by.

The short video clip does give a sense of just how frenetic the experience was, with drums, flags, song, cheering, smoke, and beer. I made video shortly after our boys scored the game winning goal. Enjoy! We did!

Dante’s Inferno – Dante Alighieri, nearly 700 years ago, was exiled from his residence in Florence. Through the remainder of his life he traveled about and stayed with friends as a guest.

It was during his exile where he used his time to write an epic poem which has become a standard in literature, The Divine Comedy. The poem, an allegory, details an imaginary passage through the afterlife; hell (the Inferno), Purgatory, and heaven (Paradise) meeting up with friends, loved ones, and enemies.

This week we lost Jerry Springer and likewise I envision Jerry, somewhere, busily writing away his own epic life’s poem, his own Divine Comedy.

Born in London, his parents had escaped the Holocaust. He become a city council member here in the ‘Nati, staying until a prostitute displayed a check for ‘service’ rendered payment.

The net result was him becoming the Mayor of Cincinnati. Next was a climb to the number one TV news anchor in the city – closing each broadcast with a short bit of philosophy.

A hiatus (actually it was a failed run for the Ohio Governorship) and he was on to Television, First a legitimate format (it died) and on to create the nation’s number one hillbilly fight garbage TV show – a show which made him a multi-millionaire. RIP Mayor Springer

“Jerry-Jerry” – “Jerry-Jerry”

Thanks a Lot ‘Tuckah’! – Mark Steyn giving homage to Tucker Carlson. Seems both of them, true additions to the national discourse and wellbeing, were canned for being just a wee bit too vocal.

Carlson was a mainstay of my listening/viewing repertoire. Now I’m trusting he’ll be back in some format bigger and better and without constraint. Enjoy a piece of Steyn’s reflection:

Care to listen to Steyn’s whole show (it’s quite good)? Follow this LINK.

Fin –

• As most countries are busily scooping up their citizenry in strife-torn Sudan, am I wrong or is Captain America missing? Shades of Afghanistan maybe?

• Not my photo, but I came across this wonderful photo of the town of Houten in the Netherlands. What is interesting is that the main road through the town was first laid out by the Romans.

• The end of decade’s long entertainment provided by Australian comedian Barry Humphries; always in character as Dame Edna came this week. Humphries died at age 89. Hunt up some of the video clips, these pass the test of time in comedy.

• Dinah is racing this weekend in Saratoga, New York at the Toga-Invitational. I’m told that the rowing athletes are amongst the very fittest athletes in any sport. Go Dinah!

• And, a very Happy Birthday to Marlene. Catch up soon (in the meantime, say hello to Clair LePaige!)

• We know that the WOKE advertising scheme by Anheuser Bush blew up in their face. Think this WD-40 advert better?

Now it’s organizing for a morning excursion to Ikea – actually, if we wait a bit we could grab lunch at the place (possibly a salmon gravadlax salad plate?).
Anyhow, ciao. Stay happy, stay connected, stay involved. Be safe and be healthy.

Keep on storming the castle. Pray for Peace.

Dirk