Cancel?

NEXT 4 WEEKS THE RAMBLINGS WILL BE ON HIATUS!!! Out of country travel means I have little choice. See you in late June.

Happy Saturday morning. And face it, no matter what, mine is ‘light-years’ better than Kentucky’s Governor’s morning was yesterday. He woke up to an aide saying: “Sir, we just arrested and placed into cuffs, the number 1 golfer in world as he approached our PGA tournament’s entry gate.”

I hope Andy Beshear’s morning coffee was a double espresso – if not, it should have been.

But, carrying on, yes, Morning has Broken this by keyboard legend Rick Wakeman, today on this his 75th Birthday.

Marcia keeps on promoting – her insight that people say these weekly Ramblings are a bit lengthy. Huh? These Ramblings have never become a ‘chapter’ read. But there is a purpose in being a wee bit more expansive.

What I’ve concluded over the past decade of this epistle is that just quickly detailing a point can actually be counterproductive.

See, should you embark on a bit of, as Ricky Ricardo famously said, ‘splaining’.  Then you’ll discover, in short (pun) order I might add, that coming to grips by calling out ‘uncle’ does have a purpose – it teaches decision time; stop short or plod on.

As proof, read or listen to most anything uttered by a politician. Read a legalese disclaimer accompanying any new purchase. Listen to anything put out by a group wanting to achieve something requiring your pocketbook – be it a new park, a new stadium, even in increase for education. Then you’ll quickly discover that they have fully mastered the fine art of ‘splainin’.

See, there is value in all of this.

“WHAT?”    “HUH?”

Spotted on ‘’X’ — When a fly falls into a cup of coffee:

The Italian – throws the cup, breaks it, and walks away in a fit of rage.
The German – carefully washes the cup, sterilizes it, and makes a new cup of coffee.
The Frenchman – takes out the fly and drinks the coffee.
The Chinese – eats the fly and throws away the coffee.
The Russian – drinks the coffee with the fly, since it comes with no extra charge.
The Israeli – sells the coffee to the Frenchman, sells the fly to the Chinese, sells the cup to the Italian, drinks a cup of tea, and uses the extra money to invent a device that prevents flies from falling into coffee.
The Palestinian – blames the Israeli for the fly falling into his coffee, protests the act to the UN as an act of aggression, takes a loan from the European Union to buy a new cup of coffee, uses the money to purchase explosives, and then blows up the coffee house where the Italian, Frenchman, Chinese, German and Russian are all trying to explain to the Israeli that he should give his cup of tea to the Palestinian.

Apolitical – As most of you know, I am quite apolitical. So, this is nothing about politics.

With all the never-ending court cases in New York and in Georgia regarding a prospective national candidate, I made an observation.

When all this hoopla first started, I remember this little guy being rolled around the neighborhood in his little pram. My, my, how time does fly.

Our Nation’s Aunt – Ever notice how the ‘hamster-wheel’ news-cycle spins faster and faster. Especially when they get a hold on whatever the subject ‘du Jour’ is. Then obscene things can happen.

This event happened a few years ago, but now the ‘what’ and ‘how’.

Over the last few years, the BLM hucksters got a lock being able to proscribe to the general population what could and could not be uttered, seen, or promoted – they held a lock on it all.

During the fever pitch height of the ‘movement’ politics busily erased all memory of Aunt Jemima of the pancake mix fame to future generations.

There were several ‘aunts’, most notably one Nancy Green who was born a slave in Kentucky (1834). At age 56 she was hired as the marketing face of the pancake brand. Her debut at an exposition in Chicago, and over the years traveled across the country. On tour she would be the hit of the event with storytelling, making pancakes by the hundreds, to such a point that often extra security had to be brought in.

She earned a great income and was awarded a lifetime contract. Throughout, her financial independence allowed her to become a leading advocate against poverty and in favor of equal rights for all. She passed away in 1923 at age 89. Nevertheless, her image had to disappear.

Isn’t it a shame that we’re so hell-bent on erasing our past, and give little mind as to how disrespectful this is? Cancel culture is a horror.

Ben’s Idea – Just in case you were unaware, Benjamin Franklin developed a new alphabet. He added a couple of vowels and dropped six consonants (c, j, q, w, x, and y). If you have difficulty deciphering the sentence below, you’ll understand just how well Franklin’s efforts took hold.

“?i am, m?i diir frind, iurs afeks??netl”i, — (I am, my dear friend, yours affectionately), taken from a letter Franklin wrote.

Having said that, the Tongan alphabet has just 17 letters – think they co-opted Franklin’s idea?

QUOTATION:

“All that we don’t know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing.”
and
“Sheer Playfulness and Deadly Seriousness are my closest Friends.”

Phillip Roth ~ American Author (1933 -2018) Novelist and short-story writer

May Peace prevail! Shalom.

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Question, which one of these Ice Cream flavors is NOT in the top ten of popularity for 2024?

1) Butter Pecan
2) Chocolate
3) Vanilla Chocolate Chip
4) Mint Chocolate Chip
5) Strawberry
6) Black Raspberry
7) Rocky Road

Plans Awry

Happy Saturday morning. A lot of things are labeled as “fluid” these days. Most I view as claptrap. But the ongoing morning ‘fluidity’ coffee provides is something to celebrate.

For my part, I didn’t manage to see the aurora. I thought about heading up to our roof garden at around about three AM. Two problems with that plan. First, I didn’t get passed ‘go’ (got sidetracked by the bathroom). Two, the building’s roof garden hasn’t been planted yet.

Did any of you see the Northern Lights this morning? For many northern states and Canada last night and this night are supposedly the best since 2005.

My ‘friend’, Al, informed me that I might have an identical Voice Message from Dr. Kaplichnik waiting for me. One with Kaplichnik perchance substituting “Ramblings” for Comic Strip. Possibly a little on the ‘edge’, but effectively referring to authors such as Al and I; “crazier than a pair of Loons”, is far beyond the pale.

Marcia – had her 1-week post-op visit; and all is well. The key word of that day and visit was Patience. The medical definition of ‘patience’ means; we have no clue how long before all is as it was. Which in layman’s terms means that nerves operate on a totally independent schedule. Independent from medical intervention or owner’s deepest wishes.

But Marcia does love the breathable surgical tape strips they put on the incision. Thank you, 3M.

Thoughtful Quotation for these times – especially now that our Media’s daily barrage of video showing lots of impertinent ‘lost’ kids on College campuses is being pelted at us. I even saw one of the little dear’s ‘glamping’ on her University’s Square bemoaning the fact that the University wasn’t supplying her food and water.

As my cousin from France would have said: “Sooo Sorry.”

Anyhow, this is what the great satirist P.J. O’Rourke (1947-2022) once wrote especially well; “you can judge the momentum and heft of a political movement by how many attractive women attach themselves to it.”.

In 1968, it was reasonably clear that the anti-Vietnam set was full of the cool kids. But, as we would have said in the language of that time – these days, you don’t see too many ‘swell lookers’ in those keffiyehs.

Cicadas – Were you aware that two broods of periodical cicadas are emerging across the US? periodical cicadas burrow underground for up to 17 years. This year, for the first time in over 200 years, there is a special event.

This year, trillions of cicadas from Broods XIX and XIII—underground for 13 and 17 years — are surfacing together. This for the first time since 1803. Just think, the last time this occurred, Thomas Jefferson was our President.

The mid-west will host and Springfield, Illinois will be the epicenter. Day trip anyone?
This little video clip is well done and explains beautifully. It’s worthwhile watching. Enjoy:

My Flying Pig 5K – Monday morning a mail in my in-box exclaimed (loudly in Bold):

Congratulations on crossing the 2024 Flying Pig Finish Swine, Dirk!
Another Pig weekend in the books! Thank you so much for joining us, we loved watching each one of you soar across the Finish Swine.
We hope to see you at the next Flying Pig event!

But there is more to that story. I didn’t race. I did volunteer the next day for the full Marathon and that was a blast!

Boy, was I ready for the 5K. Mother nature was not. A 3-hour delay for the storms to clear happened. As luck would have it, that morning we also had a major backup in our bathroom.

3-hours to kill and a blockage to clear; PERFECT. I drove home, and got bathroom fixed

Then headed back into town. The first of my problems was that the FREE parking was now a pay lot as it was getting ready for a Reds game. Plus, long lines of Reds fans trying to get into the area.

My second problem was due to me outsmarting myself. ‘Save on weight’ I schemed; therefore, left my wallet at home – now no money to park. Meters were close enough to have made it back to the start in time, and I had plenty of quarters in the car. Problem, meters now only take credit.

Let it be said, I’VE HAD BETTER SATURDAYS!

Before I forget, have a very Happy Mother’s Day celebration.

At the same time, it might not be a bad idea to stop a moment to reflect on your special mom who might not be with us anymore.

Should you end taking Mom out for a Movie. Did you know that early on, Popcorn was banned in theaters? Today, with the price charged for the stuff it probably should be. Just thinking.

May Peace prevail! Shalom.

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Homo Sapiens historically have generated a lot of statistics. Which one of the following numbers is NOT correct?

1) We’ve been in existence on the Earth 0.0067% of its existence
2) Estimated number of people who have ever lived; 117 billion
3) Years Homo Sapiens have been the only human species; 40,000
4) Human Species that have lived on Earth: ~12
5) Fossils of early humans that have been discovered; 6,000

Pigs in Pink?

Happy Friday evening. It’s an early evening as I prepare for a busy weekend. Hence NO coffee. Still, let me point out that in one short week I’ve fallen in love with Cuban coffee (it’s almost a reason to move to Little Miami).

Marcia – surgery went well. Full anesthesia and still an out-patient procedure had us arrive at 7:00am last Monday and home shortly after 10:30 in the morning. My brothers mailed her a set of kneepads to help her get ready as her desire to scrub the floors returns. The ‘reveal’ as of today

Quote – “Never murder a man who’s committing suicide.” ~ Richard Nixon (37th President of the United States of America)

Our current President’s call-out was to return the nation to normalcy, this after the turmoil of the Trump Presidency and the pandemic. Might be good to take a close look just to see how well the new ‘normalcy’ is working out.

Building on all the aforementioned is a statement by psychologist and tenured Professor Jordan Peterson weighing in on the college campus happenings by saying: “The situation at the Universities is far worse than you imagine….The parasites and scavengers have taken over the whale carcasses.”

The Kentucky Derby – is always full of hype and hoopla. Louisville, being our downstream neighbor means we get a heavy stream (pun) of both.

Personally, I am tolerant of the sport. Throw a ‘Derby’ party and I’ll be there, if not, I might just forget that the event happened.

What I will complain about is our media’s proclivity to blur over the video with an ongoing, hyper and ‘uber’ loud, audio stream by the announcers, i.e., non-stop prattle – this goes for most any sport. Watch the short video to see how much more interesting a horse race is when the announcer remains a bystander who is merely conversant:

Jazz on First – was last Sunday. As time moves on, I find myself appreciating Jazz more and more, especially as performed by our local core of Maestros. Last Sunday the afternoon’s intimate performance setting was named: “Springtime in Paris.” This in honor of a French singer, Valérie Graschairek, a keeper of the great tradition of swing and scat. She’s an amazing and mesmerizing chanteuse. Valérie sang popular American traditional pieces, some of the best from Brazil done in Portuguese, and of course great French tunes in her native tongue. It really was a joyful afternoon:

Gladys the Gorilla – Last week you were treated to see how the broken arm of the Zoo’s gorilla, Gladys, was set and had her broken arm placed in a printed, titanium, cast. Here is the rest of the story.

Eleven-year-old Gladys, born and human raised at the Zoo, got into a ‘kerfuffle’ with a pair of younger females (still called a ‘cat’ fight?). The result was a break at her elbow.

This week you’re treated to see just how the situation was managed. Along with a few words from the medical team members – both Zoo and Children’s Hospital:

This ‘Ramblings’ is being posted Friday evening. Earlier I picked up my ‘bib’ for my Saturday morning 5k race, which is a precursor of the full Flying Pig marathon which runs Sunday morning. The full ‘Pig’ will have about 20,000+ runners and is rated as being the nation’s best. For the full marathon, Adrianne, Vai, and I will be at the Start line at 6:00am to volunteer both the Start and Finish.

And to close this week, an advertising billboard Marcia spotted – just to leave you with a smile.

May Peace prevail! Shalom.

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

The wearing of pants, ubiquitous today, was considered uncivilized in what countries?

1) Rome
2) Scythians
3) Greece
4) Persia
5) Gaul
6) Lydia