I am Venti – I Contain Multitudes

Happy Saturday. And, even with a cold, it’s still a Happy Saturday.

Around the mid-1850s Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892) wrote his breakthrough book of poems Leaves of Grass. He is considered a unique American poetic voice. The Poetry Foundation describes Whitman as; “a kosmos, of Manhattan the son, Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating, drinking and breeding, … I am less the jolly one there, and more the silent one with sweat on my twitching lips.”

Song of Myself, 51
The past and present wilt—I have fill’d them, emptied them.
And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.
Listener up there! what have you to confide to me?
Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening,
(Talk honestly, no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer.)
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
I concentrate toward them that are nigh, I wait on the door-slab.
Who has done his day’s work? who will soonest be through with his supper?
Who wishes to walk with me?
Will you speak before I am gone? will you prove already too late?

Whitman’s works proved to be a breakthrough even into our modern times. In fact, Bob Dylan, long having an attraction to and a focus on the structure of oneself, felt comfortable enough to use a phrase from Whitman’s, Song of Myself, 51; “I contain multitudes”:

Wondering what’s going on? I’m a bit more reflective being in and out of bed while I fight a very leaky cold. Thus, it’s time to read more (especially since I was cleaning up my Kindle reader before the 26th). That is the day after which Amazon won’t allow you to download any of your Kindle books to elsewhere (i.e. your laptop). It’s all to let people know that even though you think you bought (a book in this case) you really didn’t – you only have it on a long-term lease.

P.s. Any books of special interest to me are now safe and sound on my laptop – including an E-version of a deluxe hardcopy first edition of Orwell’s “1984”.

 Mid-week — February 19, 1945, marked the 80th anniversary of the Battle for Iwo Jima, one of the most terrible of the Asian portion of World War II. Teach our children what those youngsters in that battle fought for and are now being remembered as the Greatest Generation.

Now as I sip some coffee – I’d like to say that in the EU, Brussels is BRILLIANT. The EU has just declared that caffeine is a poison. As yesterday’s The Telegraph headlined an article; “Coffee is dangerous for you, warns EU”. The newspaper’s article then published: “(European) bureaucrats said there was scientific evidence to back up claims that “caffeine is harmful to humans if swallowed””.

Brilliant, you ask? Here are my thoughts. It stands to reason that once the EU publishes a warning on caffeine it is bound to happen that a total ban will follow. Knock Europe out of the coffee cycle should drive coffee pricing down for the rest of us. See how this just a mere 1 + 1 = 2 equation?

Hurry up, I can’t wait.

Oliver Anthony — musically Anthony of “Rich Men North of Richmond” fame is a bit off the front page. But boy, has he been busy. Watch the attached speech he gave this week at the international Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) in London, UK where 4,000 changemakers gathered. It’s worth a view:

Techies: During the week I had the pleasure(?) of dealing with three techies over a span of two days. There is good news. As I climbed the techie seniority ladder it was that final push which broke the Sisyphus never ending struggle and my ‘boulder’ finally crested the mountain top of success.

Part of reaching a positive resolution was a bit of insight on my part. It turns out that each of the phone techies came from a similar ‘offshore’ site, hence the problem had great similarity. Here is my solution.

Between a crackling/hissing less than perfect phone connection and instructions spoken heavily accented, I was introduced to a series of ‘somewhat understood’ acronyms. I needed help. By day two I had my crib sheet to assist.

Now I just had to understand one or two letters, look up a word containing these on my sheet, and ask if such and such was what I needed to deal with – it’s called: ‘drill down’. My advice is to develop a cheat sheet, you’ll be surprised.

The national mood – in The Netherlands is as positive as it is because of this strange sandwich; “brood met Hagelslag” (chocolate sprinkles).

Life is AMAZING! Especially when you realize that for most of life you’re not fighting a cold.

Dirk

[ “venti” used in the title to conjure up size, coffee (Starbucks) & Whitman’s poetry ]

BONUS POINTS:

The German settlers here in town were beer drinkers. However, the local beer drinking is absolute fractionally a portion of the 50-Billion gallons of annual consumption worldwide. So, which contains the oldest known written Beer recipe?

       1)     “Brauerei Weihenstephan”

       2)     “300 BCE”

       3)    “Epic of Gilgamesh”

       4)    “Hymn to Ninkasi”

       5)    “Goddess Inanna ”

       6)    “Sumerian settlement; Godin Tepe”  

Boone?

Happy Saturday. Headline just noted on my morning news feed: “A Tale of Two Americas: D.C.’s Depression, America’s Revival”. Pretty well sums up the week, doesn’t it?

Before I forget (as I’ve done in the past few weeks), this bit of exciting news from the nearby downriver town of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, they have a new mayor – Boone-the-hound. As the news headline stated: “A ‘paw-some’ campaign secures victory for Mayor Boone”.

Warning, Boone-the-hound is a serious ‘speechifier’ (definition: deliver a speech, especially in a tedious or pompous way):

Now some coffee as the real ‘Ramblings’ kick into high gear ~\_(“,)_/~.

Our little Super Bowl — Sunday was the Super Bowl. Neither Marcia nor I had any real interest in the event. Although way down deep there was a bit of a burning ember about the game and the final football of the season.

We compromised!

Our living/family room (other than the three season family sunroom which is still out of season) has no television in it. I don’t know how it happened, but enough testosterone was released for me to get active and place a big screen next to the couch. Sorry to all of you who see this as a failure, I just couldn’t resist.

Brother George, ever the thinker, advised I bolt it to the wall.

Historic? – Later today (noon) I’ll be at a city-wide meeting regarding the idiocy being foisted on us by our City Council. It’s euphemistically called; “Connected Communities”. This is all part of the ’15-minute city’ poppycock shoved down our throats. Already passed unanimously by the Planning Commission, it is by far the worst, very worse change in the city zoning code. Now off for passage to a council both inept and 100% filled by committed democrats, socialist cause afficionados.

Connected Communities gets rid of Single Families neighborhood zones up to 10 blocks from a major designated route – we are two blocks away. Allows construction of 4 story multi family apartments with minimal regard to building materials and out of State LLC landlords. No regulation dealing with the number of parking spaces. Anything you can think of that would destroy a viable neighborhood is part of this drivel.

Cincinnati is unusual in that over the years there have been three major local political parties: Republican, Democrat, and Charter. The ‘Charter’ has been more libertarian and its members seldom used local politics as a ‘stepping stone’ to Statewide or National positions.

Charter Committee Convenor (Lawyer and former City Councilman) Steve Goodin noted:

“In my more than two decades of working on city issues, I have never seen public input so thoroughly stage-managed, manipulated and ultimately ignored.
No matter what one thinks of individual aspects of the ‘Connected Communities’
Ordinance, the process was a disaster. It represented a complete breakdown of the transparency and responsiveness Cincinnatians rightfully expect from a Charter-based government. ‘Connected Communities’ cannot be fixed. It simply must be repealed.”

Then mid-week I’ll be at a second meeting, this one only for our neighborhood. We’re embarking on seeing to have the neighborhood designated as a Historic District (the ‘Nati already has 27 Historic Districts so it’s not impossible). My interest is two-fold, the historic district aspect is one to counter the zoning changes ‘Connected Community’ garbage but not yet finalized. Now it’s ‘Dirk the Activist’.

Thought, maybe we should have elected as Mayor ‘Boone-the-Hound’ for this city.

Overboard ~ or ~ Overside ~ or ~ Of-putting? Prior to this rewrite of a 1930s Pete Seeger and Woody Guthry union/socialist song, which I first heard in my youth and I actually liked (it’s a catchy tune). However, this ‘updated’ version has me pulling my nails on a chalkboard about 15-seconds in. That’s all I can take. If these groups form Trumps opposition, he has little to worry about.

Spam – is an ongoing horror and we’re in the midst of them. The other evening it was the third call of the day. This call was for something health related, and I was invited to hit another digit if I wanted to go further in Spanish. Marcia looked up to see if I’d respond in my normal manner, i.e. a hang up.

That’s when I opted to change my routine. Instead of answering any questions, me, now speaking my native Dutch nicely asked the atomtronic at the other end that “I’d prefer their call be conducted in Dutch” (Ik heb liever dat deze lezing in Nederlands wordt gemaakt).

Crickets!

The call did not come to a satisfactory conclusion (for them). Here Marcia howled.

Happenings – mentioning Robo calls this week, I should mention that this was also a banner week for the Fire Department here at the Corner of Chaos and Mayhem.

Tuesday, I came back from walking and saw smoke a block away. Turns out that three houses from our place Fire was hard at work dousing the engine compartment on a car. No more than 20 minutes after I got back that I spotted the burned car leaving on a tow truck.

Yesterday, it was one siren after another, and each would cease to sound immediately after turning at Chaos and Mayhem. That prompted a look. Eight fire trucks had gathered (3 were ladder and one was the big ‘Heavy Rescue’ unit). Add an EMT ambulance and some pickup trucks to assist blocking traffic coming from three directions.

Although we saw smoke by the roof and the firemen on the roof the whole business lasted no more than 45 minutes. No outside damage to be seen. It didn’t take long to clear up and none of the rush-hour traffic had an inkling of all the earlier happenings here at the Corner of Chaos and Mayhem.

Now it is best to unfold my rain gear, especially since it’s already raining hard. The weekend is beginning with 3” to 4” of rain followed next week by temps dropping into the teens and some snow, all capped with flood conditions in the burbs. It’s going to be a good one.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

A U.S. patent (U.S. Patent 127,568) was issued in 1872 with the following text: “I, Robert Chesebrough, have invented a new and useful product from petroleum which I have named Vaseline…” The result being that probably every household in the nation has a jar of Vaseline sitting on a shelf and distributed in over 70 countries. It’s used by dermatologists, NASA, for cosmetic applications, and as a lubricant of fine machinery. Which of these names is NOT used to refer to Vaseline?

1) “Goop”
2) “Sludge”
3) “Petroleum waste”
4) “Translucent putty”
5) “Vaseline”

1/3 empty?

Happy Saturday. That ever-welcome Spring warming trend is underway. What is also ‘underway’ is our quickly disappearing stash of coffee (a couple more days). This means that there is a run to Costco in my near future, and here comes the best news: our ‘Big-Mack’ I-471 bridge that caught fire (arson) back in November will be re-opened tomorrow evening – a month early and when in use it’s easily the best route the nearest Costco. Hence, I’m writing with a smile on my face.

What’s in the TV ad below mixes our need for a coffee purchase run along with thoughts of my Frozen 5K race from last Saturday. It’s a great vintage ad.

The Frozen 5K — last Saturday started right at freezing which was both perfect and a nice warm-up from weather earlier in the week. Pleased with the event, however, it did cause me a bit of reflection.

I think many of us perceive ourselves as being somewhat younger than what our calendar age would suggest. And just like we see our kids and grandkids staying at the same age until an event makes us realize that in fact, they’ve ‘jumped’ a decade or so along ‘maturation road’. Looking at the results of the Frozen 5k — I realized that now I had become that wizened old man on the course.

Out of 2,259 entries I came in at number 1,572. Not bad – it looks a little better when parsed out for gender and age grouping, there I was number 10 (males in age bracket 70-99). See, just like politicians say, numbers never lie.

Where I did receive a bit of a shock was that for the first time, I realized I was the oldest entrant.

Without a doubt, looking at my own ‘aging’ process I realized I had advanced 15 to 20 years in under an hour.

Overjoyed – (Little) Stevie Wonder: Last Sunday Marcia and I went to a small gathering (200 or so, which filled the venue to capacity) Jazz performance. The Phil DeGreg trio had Phil  arrange Stevie Wonder’s compositions into an afternoon of wonderful Jazz music. As DeGreg told us; “Wonder’s melodies and harmonies are pure genius.” I learned that Stevie, blind since birth first performed on stage at age 4, and at age 11 signed with a major Motown label under the professional name of Little Stevie Wonder.

For the afternoon the Trio had invited guitarist Brad Myers to play alongside. Myers has played with any number of Jazz greats and over a 20+ year career has been involved in projects as far ranging as Jazz, Funk, to Western Swing.

It was only natural that the afternoon began with a piece we all knew; “You are the Sunshine of My Life”.

I captured a very different piece, “Overjoyed“, which was played as a duet with DeGreg on the piano and Myers on guitar. It’s a little-known number and was one of my favorites of the performance, not a big tempo upbeat number, but oh so melodic and lovely.

A Historian – Now that our newly installed President is performing much like an “Energizer Bunny”, and is quickly securing a likeminded team around him, I thought it proper to give you some quotes from one, John Mearsheimer. Who is Mearsheimer you ask? He’s an internationally recognized political science professor at the University of Chicago. He’s a foremost scholar of international relations and is best known for his theory of  ‘offensive realism‘.

“Are humans fundamentally social animals who strive hard to carve out room for their individuality, or are they individuals who form social contracts?”

“In the anarchic world of international politics, it is better to be Godzilla than Bambi.”

“Bandwagoning is a strategy for the weak.”

“If there had been no decision to move NATO eastward to include Ukraine, Crimea and the Donbass would be part of Ukraine today” then “For Putin, the illegal overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically elected and pro-Russian president —which he rightly labeled a coup— was the final straw… and there would be no war in Ukraine. “

If you’re into Football, be sure to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow evening.

If you’re not, remember that for the very first Super Bowl (1967) held in LA’s Memorial Coliseum, they couldn’t fill the stadium – about 33,000 tickets went unsold, leaving the stadium 1/3 empty. I mention this to prove that you’re not alone.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

A few miles east of here along the Ohio River in Point Pleasant stands a small, wooden, 2-room house, the birthplace of our 18th President Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822). But “Ulysses” wasn’t his real first name. Which one of the following was his genuine first name?

1) “Jesse”
2) “Albert”
3) “Thomas”
4) “Halmer”
5) “Hiram”
6) “Josiah”

Importance of Correctness

Happy Saturday. One of the very few mornings where I must carefully judge my coffee intake – one cup max. After that water hydration is all it’ll be. It’s quite early and in an hour and a half the Cyclone’s Foundation annual Frozen 5K will start. At that moment I’ll be the grey-haired fellow somewhere in the mix of a couple of thousand ‘nut-cases’.

Today, four short weeks, and then Spring will have arrived. Whenever I walk by this place, I’ll know it is by the lines formed in front of these two small windows. Yes sirree, Spring is just four short weeks away when our area’s harbinger of Spring comes to life. The St. Bernard Dairy Queen will be open again.

Prayers for the families who lost loved ones in the air tragedy at Reagan Airport outside DC. It’ll be weeks before a definitive answer as to the ‘why’ will be issued. In the meantime, our power elites should reflect on how they too were instrumental in this catastrophe.

This from former House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio Democrat, OR:” For years, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority warned Congress that the region’s airports were at capacity…….The airport said, ‘Don’t do it [add more flights] and they did it….Every senator in particular wants a nonstop flight to and from wherever they live.”

Over the years I’ve used Reagan many times. Each time I parked in the nearby lot I remember walking by a special parking area near the entrance which was marked as being ‘reserved’ for Congressional members. It only makes sense to add more flights whenever possible.

If you felt the President’s DEI comments regarding the FAA inaccurate, look up nomination of Mr. Phillip Washington who then Secretary Pete Buttigieg exclaimed as an “excellent” FAA Admin choice. And as an aside, why are we still using floppy discs on FAA systems?

Auto Centric – Our city is in the throes of implementing an idiotic plan foisted by the former federal Administration. Here we’re already beginning to be ‘introduced’ to early efforts by our city administration implementing what is euphemistically labeled as: “Connected Cities”.

Most of it is nut-case – follow the $$$ — stuff. However, what it has brought to light is just how auto centric we (and our whole nation) are. In and of itself it’s not so much a car issue, it’s how any design is from an auto-first vantage point. As someone who walks a number of miles weekly, I am totally aware of this implementation, and it’s not necessary. If this ‘Connected-City’ stuff were worth anything (which it isn’t), attention to walking and pedaling would be equal. Sidewalks that actually connect. Bike lanes that receive as much attention for snow removal as for cars. Crossings which allow people to comfortably and safely cross. Car driving rules that are really enforced.

The ’Nati is actually comprised of 52 separate communities. About two blocks away is one such community, Saint Bernard – it has its own city council, Mayor, Police/Fire, and Public Schools. This also means that they implement their own rules and enforcement.

As a walker, almost weekly, I must deviate my walking due to some driver’s antics, never with any concern by the driver. Here is what I spotted on a new sign walking in St. Bernard this past week. Thank you!

Senate Hearings – Watching the Senate Hearings, these seem to have devolved into a search for a “gotcha’ event. No rational discussion. No allowance for a proper response. Mainly a method to create a perfect ‘meme’ to aid one’s re-election. Being a bit of a history and political buff I have been around long enough to remember it being different.

Watching the shouting circus this week let me remind you how different it was until recently. John Kerry was nominated as Secretary of Sate under Obama; he was a divisive candidate. The Senate confirmed him with a 93 – 3 vote with just 3 Republicans voting ‘Nay’. It was not a nonsensical display of ineptitude by the various Senators (such as grilling the nominee for the office of Budget and Management – OBM – on his position on abortion) – good grief, the guy is a CPA dealing with budgets!

Weekend Washout – Last evening our Local News showed video of various road puddles, yard floodings, and more, as the quick thaw and super cold-water intake caused water mains to burst. Every year we hear of one here or there, this year there are 89 and counting.

Beyond these 89, are the myriads of breaks in homes and businesses. Not mentioned on TV was last Saturday’s burst water pipe at our condominium building. This occurred in an isolated room where water was gushing from the ceiling and down the wall where all the electric meters are mounted.

I shut off the water for the building (we have no way to isolate it). It was overnight and till early afternoon the next day before the plumbers showed up.

To alleviate the stress of all my affected neighbors I offered to head for Kroger’s to buy each unit a box of adult ‘Depends’. I went on to suggest that we all wear one and assemble in front of the building for a group photo. Marcia was not impressed – my neighbors were never polled on the idea.

The 5K – Last week I asked; “Have you ever seen a six + lane steel bridge burn?” and posted a link to a newscast update on the reconstruction. I drove it one time on the northbound (open) lanes, but it was difficult to really see what all the repair entailed. In a little while I should be able to get a better view of it from the ground – at the same time I best watch out and not trip.

Last evening it was a bit of a “this-or-that” time. To relax and allow for sleep it became a watch Bob Ross (of paint little trees fame) or listen to a couple of numbers by a cute/fun group from Bavaria; Gruppe Lumpamensch – die Allgäuer Mundart Band im Bayrischen Fernsehen. I opted for Gruppe Lumpamensch. It worked, made the right decision and slept like a log.

For anyone missing The Ramblings in their normal ‘long-form’, sorry with this short version. Or as my French cousin Guillaume is fond to say; “Sorry, sooo Sorry!” Now, I’ve got to run (not a pun since I’m walking).

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Breakfast all over the country offers a cake from a griddle, then filled with a syrup or filling. Depending on where, you’d be ordering the same item with a differing name. Which five (5) of the following are regional alternatives?

1) “flapjack”
2) “scones”
3) “hoe cakes”
4) “paw prints”
5) “hotcake”
6) “pancakes”
7) “Johnycake”