No Funk Here?

Happy Saturday morning. After some seriously slouching off on my walks and exercises the last couple of weeks I am turning a new leaf. Sure, there are excuses galore, but these are all excuses. All except for the crazy high temperatures – we’re not expected to drop below the 90-degree mark with most days in the high 90s. Change supposedly coming this coming Wednesday that is. Arggh, with the infamous ‘feels-like’ it’s been a steady 100+.

Notwithstanding the chronically heat complaining, this morning I am enjoying a hot mug of morning coffee. Does that signify a caffeine addiction?

Last week – I happened to mention that I’d be running out early to help with the pre-game ceremonies of that day’s tournament game between the Mamelodi Sundowns FC (Pretoria – South Africa) vs Borussia Dortmund (Dortmund – Germany) game. It was a really good game, and I declared a winner. Yes, I know that Germany won the actual game. But the tournament winner in the (totally unrecognized) uniform category must be the – drum roll please – the Mamelodi Sundowns from Pretoria. Best uniform I’ve ever seen.

Helen Keller Quote –

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

As we age many bits and pieces of our lives change, ease up, even begin to slow down, or as Helen Keller would put it; “one [or each] door closes”. These past few weeks I had the good fortune to be pointed to a ‘door’ which had just opened – soccer’s FIFA Club World Cup 2025 was coming. Not only that but our stadium was to be one of 11 to be used across the nation. It was to be the new door that had just opened up.

They needed volunteers and I made an application the day our Adrianne alerted me to this opportunity. All told the event had many thousands of applications, selection was a weeding out process; I got the invite!

Now that it’s all over and that door has closed, what I received was one of those life events to be remembered and remembered. It was epic!

As my daughter Kirstin wrote; “my dad living his best life”.

It really was a proud moment when after the final game (attended by our VP JD Vance) Gianni Infantino, FIFA President visited with our Ceremonies team and asked me forward as the tournament MVV Volunteer by handing me the Official Match Ball of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 tournament which he signed for me. Being given this token is beyond special.

Afterwards nearly 50 of my compatriots asked to have their photo taken with the ball. What a day!

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The Dayton area – has an active Polynesian community. With that there is a regularly structured group teaching Hawaiian, Samoan, Fijian, as well as Tongan dances. Vai is totally involved and works hard to learn Tongan specific dances.

Anyway, last weekend Marcia and I went to a performance by members of the Ohana Outreach program for a fundraiser. Since all these dances have meanings derived from their traditional island way of life, the meaning of the various dances was explained; dances such as the Luau and Haka war dances.

Plus, as a bonus Vai did a beautiful Tongan dance by herself. Really a lot of fun.

Cheddar Chips – Yesterday Marcia and I went to Good Sam hospital for her semi-annual infusion shot (which has become an excuse to have lunch at the hospital’s cafeteria). It’s really a Seinfeld scene just how my wife loves that cafeteria. Favorite? The Deli section serves hand assembled smoked meat sandwiches with Boar’s Head meats.

Anyway, Marcia added a little bag of Quaker Cheddar Chips – which tasted amazingly good. Reading the ingredients it appears that HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s push for healthier ingredients is well underway. The listing on the rear has whole grain, no artificial ingredients, etc., in other words it’s much healthier.

Amazing – is what the recent successful military effort to ‘silence’ a rogue nation’s effort to make the world dramatically more dangerous. It was a Mr. Ostrovsky who afterwards wished all a very special Shabat.

Another Game? – Now that my total immersion in soccer – for weeks on end – is over, I realized that I’d stumbled into a bit of a funk. Then, yesterday it was Cathy who called. Seems someone at the radio station her show runs on had a pair of extra tickets – could she use them? She advised she couldn’t, but she knew someone who could. So here is what transpired.

I received a pair of tickets for a game at TQL Stadium for tomorrow afternoon. It’s the final contest of a two-match series by the U.S. Womens National Soccer Team (USWNT) against Ireland. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see Cincinnati raised Rose Lavelle (midfielder #16) play. Rose has played on our US Olympic Team and has been nominated as Player of the Year. She’s good, very very good.

What a way to ease out of a funk.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk
BONUS POINTS:

When was the last cigarette commercial aired on TV?

1) “1968”
2) “1966”
3) “1971”
4) “1977”
5) “1973”
6) “1984”
7) “1980”
8) “1999”
9) “2010”

Where is Starman?

Happy Friday Eve. Posting a little early since tomorrow morning at 6:15AM I’ll be enjoying my coffee in the car while driving to our TQL Stadium. In a short while I’ll be doing my volunteer part on the Pre-Game Ceremonies. Today’s (Saturday) FIFA Club World Cup 2025 game will feature the Mamelodi Sundowns FC (Pretoria – South Africa) vs Borussia Dortmund (Dortmund – Germany) game.

Afterwards Marcia and I will head for Centerville (near Dayton) to watch Vaioleti performing as a dance member for the Ohana Outreach Fundraiser, in their annual Luau! There Vai’ll promote dances from Tonga.

Now does the why for this Friday posting make sense? Thought you’d agree.

Cicada Time – Those pesky every 17 years beasties are back. No, I am not reposting the audio track of our local eatery’, “Snappy Tomato Pizza” notorious 1987 faux advertising jingle: “Snappy Cicada Pizza”. But just how strange an event it is, is clear when viewing this year’s emergence.

Here by our home, we’ve not heard or seen a single lonely one of those ‘red eyed’ bugs. However, drive exactly 9.2 miles away from our home, in Madeira and Milford the ground has become a living, writhing, carpet.

Early on the early emerging Cicadas were viewed a desert snack by other animals. Now, there are so many of the screeching beasties that it’s to a point where even the birds and the dogs are sick of them.

Think I’m kidding? Ha!

A Game / A Storm – Wednesday with temp hovering just over 90 and humidity as high as anyone would want my team and I did our pre-game banner routine. Even with the heat our performance came off flawlessly. Then, armed with lodge seat complimentary game tickets we were truly treated to a world-class game. Playing were CF Pachuca (Mexico) vs RB Salzburg (Austria). ‘Treated’ until shortly after the 2nd half started when Stadium announcers stopped the game and moved everyone under cover. And, yes, it was quite a thunderstorm which blew through.

Safely under cover away from the weather it was the Mexican fans who began to sing and party. I called Marcia to let her know all was OK and see if she was OK on the home front. Let me explain that with all the singing and chanting we couldn’t make out a word either one of us said or heard over the “Pachuca, Pachuca” chants, i.e. fun, fun times!

The Team – I’ve been asked what all this FIFA ‘volunteering’ is about. It’s a bunch of work performed for free. Actually, it’s work without renumeration, but with tons of fulfilling and gratifying good times. Here are a few pictures of the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff and one of ‘Moi’ and my team.

The Pitch

The Team

Rush – Earlier this year Vai and her school band, plus similar bands from 6 other high schools joined forces at Miami University to combine their Steel Drums for a concert of the band Rush’s music.

This, Rush’s “2112 Overture”, was just posted and is a much more professional video than my posting of their “Tom Sawyer” piece. This video of the 2112 Overture is too good to pass up, go full screen or TV and up the sound – ENJOY!

People ask – Dirk, over the years you write constantly about your walks and 5Ks, what gives? Maybe, these words spoken by Dr. Wendy Suzuki provide the best answer:

“We know that as little as 10 minutes of walking can improve your mood, that is getting (your brain) that bubble bath with the dopamine, serotonin, endorphins going, anybody can do that.”
Dr. Wendy Suzuki, neuroscientist, professor at the New York University Center for Neural Science

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk
BONUS POINTS:

Which of the following have served as a form of currency?

1) “Beads”
2) “Stones”
3) “Tulips”
4) “Eels”
5) “Shells”
6) “Salt”
7) “Animal Skins”
8) “Parmigiano cheese”
9) “Whale teeth”

And so, we start a weekend!

Happy Saturday. Earlier this week it was a seriously past due time for the haircut. With dueling cowlicks topside it’s always a bit of a challenge for the person manning the scissors. Having said that, the job got done and Marcia even gave a nod of approval,

Today, after a massively active week, it’s a fine time to just jot a bit for The Ramblings and at the same time savor my mug of coffee, a moment more than usual.

It’s Game Time – Aside of the start of the Club World Cup 2025 matches tomorrow [here in the ‘Naty it’ll be Bayern Munich {Germany} vs Auckland City {New Zealand} streaming at noon on DAZN and other services].

Next, for two Sold Out weekend performances our Great American Ballpark will host the Savannah Bananas. They are the wildly popular, barnstorming, baseball version of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Then, this town also finds it necessary to pay homage to its German heritage for the 159th year (1866) by celebrating Schützenfest annually by the catholic Kolping Society.

Schützenfest’s origins date back to medieval times. “The event commemorates a legendary marksman who saved a child from an eagle attack. Each year, the festival honors this story with a hand-carved eagle perched atop a pole, which marksmen aim to shoot. The marksman who shoots the eagle is crowned the “Schützen König,” or Shooting King, for the year.” Of course, there will be a “Wein & Bier Stube”, and an outdoor Biergarten with a slew of activities beyond just drinking.

Practice – Yesterday I spent 4-hours on the Pitch at TQL Stadium, where the grass is treated as hallowed ground. Although the stadium was empty of screaming fans it was magical. Music from the likes of Queen, and Van Halen and more thumped on the sound system. Hundreds of folks were scurrying around; media, medics, audio & video types, along with security to name but some.

At some point heated cabinets were rolled into our gathering room and a great lunch of Indian food was made available. This was the first time I’d seen these cabinets complete with Sterno canned heat. Lots of chatter in many languages, a little more white-board detailing, and then it was back at it again. The work that must go into these, for international consumption, productions is beyond belief.

PS. see if you can find a hidden — well known to these readers — name on the whiteboard 🙂

what the banners look like spread out on the pitch

My Special Day – Last Thursday, the one that had me on a liquid diet for two days, went better than I’d hoped. I expected I’d be ‘foggy’ till near eleven o’clock. Instead, I was on the way for some breakfast by 8:30. Adrianne and I stopped by a nearby Bagel shop. For Marcia and her it was a breakfast Bagel, I got a still warm one with cream cheese and cold-smoked salmon – my absolute favorite.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I actually gave the doctor (or maybe it was the anesthesiologist) a cheery well wish and that I’d see them on my next visit – 10 years hence.

The results were all good news.

A bit ago, at 6:30AM, an Amazon Prime delivery came to the front door and dropped a package was dropped off. Before I looked back at my morning Ramblings I noticed a Kroger grocery delivering truck driving by. We really have become an active 24-hour a day society, haven’t we?

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

What is a ‘blob’ of toothpaste called?

1) “lump”
2) “nurdle”
3) “pellet”
4) “dash”
5) “daub”
6) “smear”
7) “ball”

Prepping for H2O days!

Happy Saturday. And I hope yesterday was your year’s best since it was National Donuts Day. I skipped the celebrations, but that’s probably for the best. At Dunkin’ it’s coffee and donuts as a snack, I went the solo coffee route.

Mentioning yesterday, I learned that if one has the thermostat set on ‘heat’ in June it’s in error. I was on my Zoom exercise cluster when I first noticed that I was dripping sweat on my Yoga mat as if a faucet had turned on. It turned out that exercise coupled with an inside humid temperature of 79 is not a happy combination. Early afternoon all was good (by then I’d also downed over 20oz of water).

Bet you didn’t Know – Now what would that be compadre? Ever heard of Stricker’s Grove? No? It’s an amusement park located outside of Hamilton, OH about 25 miles from our little abode. Started by Henry Stricker in 1924 on 55 acres of property. Henry worked at Procter and Gamble where he allowed his fellow employees over as a picnic spot on weekends.

Stricker’s Grove is a family friendly amusement park where I’ve never been. The reason is simple, it’s only open to the public 4-days a year. It’s still family owned, now starting year 101.

You ask, “How do they stay alive”, simple, it’s a destination place for events, company outings, weddings, and so forth. A quick factoid, years ago it was Ralph Stricker himself who built the Tornado, a full-scale wooden roller coaster as well as a smaller kiddie one..

“Are the rides safe?”— might also be something you wonder about, but don’t worry, the place is checked out by the State. Also, somewhat different, in Ohio it’s the Department of Agriculture which inspects amusement parks. It makes perfect sense. If you understand how a cornstalk snaps, the principle of Coaster snapping applies.

CWC 2025 – Some of you have probably had enough of me babbling on and on about the Club-World-Cup 2025 soccer event which starts this coming week. But it is nothing like what I spotted on BBC Sport: “Men ‘hid in toilet for 27 hours’ to watch Champions League final for free”. This happened in Munich; Click here to read just how they survived their escapade.

But for me, tomorrow I get fitted for my uniform gear and pick up my accreditation pass. Tuesday I am on the University of Cincinnati practice field to perfect the 15-minutes of ‘Rah-Rah’ officially labeled as the “Pre—Match Ceremonies Team” – I must be a slow learner because they have blocked 4-hours for me to learn the 15 minutes of glory.

Included for our team will be the display of the Tournament Brand Banner & Team Crests, then Music & some chorography, Team player walk on, match info, Player announcements, and breakdown of everything on the pitch. Whew! All done in 15 minutes.

A Very Special Visit/Day – Then on Thursday it really kicks in, I have a hospital visit at 7:00AM (my exact procedure requires that I drink an inordinate amount of clear liquid, sans solids).

Then at 5:00PM I’ll be back on the UC practice field to perfect the ‘Rah-Rah’ routine. Thursday should be fun and will certainly be the highlight of the week! Marcia is chortling. Adrianne is driving me around and will probably wonder why she volunteered for that chore. Me? I am a little more sober about the start of the day.

Corner dogs – The corner of Chaos & Mayhem was mostly quiet this week, except for one incident. A lady residing nearby has two dogs and one crazy habit. See, she puts her ‘pets’ on their leash (most times) and then drops the end she should be holding on the ground. Basically, she free-ranges her dogs which roam in about a 40’ or so radius. Mostly it all seems works – except for her picking up any ‘deposits’, which she doesn’t.

This week her lazy habit didn’t fare so well. Another neighbor’s daughter happened to set out to walk another neighbor’s two dogs – hers were properly on leash. The dogs caught sight of one another. Let’s just say that by the time the ruckus died down the daughter was in tears. That very next day the daughter reappeared, now with her upper arm all bandaged up (Ace). Sometime later that same day a city truck marked “Warden” rolled up and the driver went to the lazy dog owner’s home. And so, it goes.

Maybe that lazy woman would be better off heading for the Chinese online shopping site, TEMU where they’d sell her an electronic, peeing, attack dog.

Dayton – Vai and her Olohana’s Polynesian Dance were invited on Dayton’s GoodDay ABC Channel 22 this week. They performed a couple of dance numbers for the live show where Vai represented Tonga. Guess who was all smiles? Vai herself, her mom and dad, and Marcia and me.

Groceries – by now regular readers know that Marcia LOVES on-line grocery shopping. Yesterday morning, at 9:00, the Kroger truck rolled up and the groceries were brought to our front door. That evening Marcia commented that, including our delivery, she had counted 14 Kroger trucks roll by.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Yesterday was the 81st year of the invasion of Normandy (June 6, 1944). During WWII the allied factories (primarily the USA, UK, & Canada) produced a lot of aircraft – 630,000. Do the math, how much time between each new airplane to be completed and roll off the assembly line.

1) “12-minutes”
2) “1-hour, 12-minutes”
3) “47-minutes”
4) “2-hours”
5) “5-minutes”
6) “1-hour, 47-minutes”
7) “18-minutes”