"Congrats On Not Failing"

Four hundred students formed the Titans' Class of 2008 at a ceremony held last week. Each grad was allotted two tickets to the ceremony, but an occasion this auspicious called for all 3 of us to attend. I thought I'd be able to get 1 additional person (Jessica) into the ceremony. We'd advised grandparents that seating was restricted, and we knew it would be nearly impossible to smuggle 4 more people in.

We decided that John and Jessica would use the tickets. "I'm Andrew's Mom," ought to have been enough to get me into the gym. At the door, two bouncers directed me to wait along the wall. Apparently, being Andrew's mom didn't hold the gravitas of 'I'm with the band'.

Some of us who were waiting along the wall might be allowed in if space permitted, after everyone had taken their seats. If not, I was welcome to watch the ceremony via CCTV in the auditorium.

Soon, an unused single ticket was turned over to the door security. Since I was the only 'single' waiting along the wall, I was allowed to pass. From our seats in the 2nd-last row I could see a bit of the stage apron.

John snapped this picture before Andrew walked up on the stage to receive his diploma. Folder in hand, Andrew then walked down the stairs and along the aisle where John was waiting for the grand close-up......but the battery didn't have enough charge to use the camera.

For your benefit, I've outlined Andrew in the queue (click photo to enlarge). Take my word for it, he received his diploma; hence the headline - a quote from Jessica's praises to her brother after the ceremony.

Garden Variety Spring Games

Spring!
Burrowing animals venture out from their hollows. Sounds of birds chirping welcome each day. The snow is gone; the increasing hours of daylight promise the temperature will continue to rise. The nights are cool (sometimes downright cold), but the bright sun during the day atones for that.

Gardeners eagerly turn the soil in their flower beds to encourage new growth of plants.

Around here, it's time for the Annual Spring Gardening Game that I call
Dead or Alive. Take a look:

Dead

Mostly Dead

Alive but undesirable

Alive! One Single Flower

Tags:[Gardening]  [Spring]  [Dead or Alive]

Bawling for Blessings

The annual Crying Sumo Competition took place in Tokyo yesterday.

In crying sumo the babies are held up by amateur sumo wrestlers in a ring, and the baby who cries first is the winner. If both babies cry, then the one that cries loudest wins. A total of 84 babies born last year participated in the contest at the temple.

Crying sumo is a blessing for healthy growth of the child.
I don't understand the competition of this. Is there a wail-off to determine the loudest crier of all babies presented? What prize does the loudest crier receive?

"I love winners when they cry, losers when they try." (Tom T. Hall)

Available at chapters.indigo.ca

Tags:[Crying Sumo]  [Sensoji Temple]  [Tom T. Hall]

Sour Over Earth Hour

I'm environmentally aware. It's not new to me - in 1987, at university, I was among the founding members of the Green Club on campus. We returned empty beer bottles and kegs to fund our more serious pursuits.

Last year, I posted on calculating your carbon footprint. The Carbon Coach stopped by with some encouraging comments. I celebrated when Australia ratified the Kyoto Accord. I wrote about the soil shortage before I even knew about Brian Fagan's book. At home, we recycle and embrace the green bin program being rolled out in our community. We have low-flow toilets and shower heads and use faucet aerators. We use a rotary blade mower to cut the lawn. We've converted to LED's and CFL's.

We've installed low-E windows and last year we installed both a new hot water heater and a high efficiency furnace. We've had opportunities to repair the central air, but have chosen not to. We get by with fans. You might even say that we practice our own brand of sustainable gardening.

Programmable thermostat?	Check.			Use non-toxic cleaners?	Check.
Reuse bags and boxes for groceries?	Check.			No pesticides?	Check.
Wash clothes in cold water?	Check.			Hang clothes to dry?	Check.
Use the dishwasher on the EnergySave cycle?	Check.			Lights on timers? Power bars?	Check and Check.

All this but I can't get behind Earth Hour.

Organized in Sydney, Australia in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund as a demonstration tool, 2-million people and thousands of businesses turned off their lights and electrical appliances for one hour. Aussies wanted to inspire their government to take climate change seriously. It worked.
This year residential and commercial participants from every continent will turn off their lights and electricity at 8:00 p.m. for one hour.
I understand that it's an event to raise consciousness. I know that it's a symbolic action. I get that people who may not have been so conscientious about reducing their energy use may be inspired to change their behavior.

But

I was at a forum on the environment this week. In front of the meeting place, a dozen drivers waited in cars with the engines idling.
Inside, people were complaining about the inconvenience of being greener. They couldn't be convinced that making small changes, no matter how inconvenient, would be of benefit.

Toronto was the first city in North America to take up the Earth Hour challenge. We've had months to prepare for one hour of darkness. It was quite a different story when the power was taken away abruptly...the reaction to the blackout of 2003 wasn't all positive.

Among the tips to conserve:
- Turn appliances off while not in use
- Unplug items to eliminate stand-by loads
- Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs
- Use less hot water
- Drive less.
- Maintain your vehicle to reduce emissions/improve performance.

These conservation tips should be a part of everyday life by now. The energy crisis in the 1970's introduced these concepts (well, compact fluorescents weren't available yet). There are news reports and studies almost weekly that reinforce the impact of consumption, emissions and waste on the environment.
In 2008 there's no excuse to NOT be responsible with energy consumption.


Tags: [Earth Hour] [Climate Change] [Global Warming]
[WWF] [Earth Hour in Toronto]
[Energy Conservation] [Brian Fagan]
Ontario Ministry of Energy Conservation Tips

Histroic Mispelling For Sisters of Lorretto

New Mexico is unveiling its first Landmark for Women by honoring The Four Sisters of Loretto.
The Loretto Sisters were pioneers of education in New Mexico and started the first school for girls in the state.
Unfortunately, the historic plaque has been erected with several errors.
The plaque commemorates the Sisters of Lorreto, not Loretto; and uses know instead of known. Close ups ( in video) . The dedication ceremony is Saturday, Dec. 1 / 07.

San Francisco artist, Maria Alquilar knows the cost of public misspellings. "My career in public art is over," said the artist, after "Eistein", "Shakespere" and "Michaelangelo" appeared (along with 8 other spelling mistakes) in the mural she created for the Livermore Library. Alquilar said that she chose to leave the errors in her piece, claiming it was part of the art. Since her drawings show the correct spellings, I can't buy her 'art' theory.

How about the Ministry of Education report on school standards in The Isle of Wight? You know the one - it referred to The Isle of White throughout the document.


Tags: [Sisters of Loretto]  [Landmarks for Women]  [Santa Fe, NM]
[Maria Alquilar]  [Livermore Library]  [Education - Isle of Wight]

Home For The Holidays

A neighborhood feud in Sonning-on-Thames, Berkshire, England shows no signs of easing after Vic Moszczynski was acquitted of damaging his neighbors' properties.

After 18 years enduring Moszczynski's over-the-top Christmas light displays, his neighbors were successful in restricting his decorating. Moszczynski was served with an injunction last year.

(click to enlarge)

His display could include no more than "four 7ft tall inflatable cartoon characters, eight 30-ft strips of rope lighting and two light moulds in the ground in his front garden", in addition to his lights. It was alleged that Moszczynski caused a total of £600 damage to 3 homes on the street in retaliation.
The Prosecutor's only evidence against Moszczynski was security videotape provided by one of the victims, Gordon Jones.
Ruth Paley, lawyer for Moszczynski, said "it was impossible to tell the ethnicity, height, build and age of the man in the video."

District Judge Terry English agreed.

Hope those are LED lights, Vic.

Tags: [Vic Moszczynski]  [Gordon Jones]  [Berkshire, England]
[Ruth Paley]  [Terry English]
[Christmas Vacation]  [Chevy Chase]  [Clark Griswold]

Happy Birthday to the World

Anglican Bishop James Ussher, "the author of the book frequently described as the greatest history book ever written", concluded the world was created Oct. 23, 4004 B.C. – making it exactly 6,010 years-old this week.

In the 1650's, Ussher wrote Annals of the World. "It's the history of the world from the Garden of Eden to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70." The book integrates biblical history with secular chronicles. MasterBooks commissioned the updating of the material from the 18^th century to present-day; and the translation from its original ancient Latin to English.

The basis for Ussher's date is that ancient civilizations began the calendar year at the harvest. He uses the first Sunday following autumnal equinox to start the year. Because the calendar has been manipulated over time, we now mark the autumnal equinox on September 21.

World, I'm sorry these birthday wishes come late. I suggest we mark your 6010^th birthday the same as all the other years - we'll burn fossil fuels creating pollution that warms the earth and contributes to climate variability.

See your candles in this picture of the earth at night? Remember to make a wish before you blow them out.

Tags: [James Ussher]  [Annals of the World]
[MasterBooks]  [World's Birthday]  [Julian & Gregorian Calendars]
[Global Warming]  [Climate Change]

Fill Your Black Jack With Grog

September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

It started as a joke between friends John "Ol Chumbucket" Baur and Mark "Capn Slappy" Summers. The tradition gained notoriety after scallywag columnist Dave Barry heard about the tradition.

TLAPD boasts its own anthem. Tom Smith wrote and recorded
"Talk Like a Pirate Day"
(plays in Windows Media Player)

Need help finding your Pirat-titude? View the instructional video produced by Loading Ready Run.

And be havin' a good tide!

Tags:[Talk Like a Pirate Day]
[Dave Barry] [John Baur] [Mark Summers]
[Tom Smith] [Loading Ready Run Comedy]

Venus

Since the 1970's, the first Sunday in September has been set aside in Piobbico, Italy for the annual Festival of the Ugly. At each festival, club members elect a new president. For 30 years Telesforo Iacobelli has accepted the honor.


Signor Iacobelli heads the Club dei Brutti in Italy. The club has links that go back to 1879. It is now known as The World Association of Ugly People, and at the 2007 Festa on September 9, 2007, Iacobelli will unveil a monument to ugly people.
The prototype picture is shown at right.


The motto of Club de Brutti is 'a person is what he is and not what he looks like.'

Iacobelli describes the monument as a tribute to the one who is beautiful on the inside.

Fact: Brigitte Nielsen is a member of The Club

Goddess on the mountain top burning like a silver flame The summit of beauty and love and Venus was her name CHORUS: She's got it. Yeah, baby, she's got it I'm your Venus I'm your fire At your desire (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) Performed by Bananarama

Tags: [World Association of Ugly People] [Piobbico] [Telesforo Iacobelli]
[Bananarama] [Brigitte Nielsen]

It's Not Rocket Science

On August 7, 2007 NASA will launch its 22^nd mission to the International Space Station.

Space Shuttle Endeavour was rolled out of assembly to the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week. NASA celebrated the arrival of Endeavour and welcomed visitors to KSC with a banner in front of the launchpad exclaiming

The problem is that "the orbiter is named after HM Bark Endeavour, the ship commanded by 18th century explorer James Cook; the name also honored Endeavour, the Command Module of Apollo 15. This is why the name is spelled in the British English manner." Read Shuttle's Name Misspelled . Endeavour's mission is expected to last 11 days.

That florist's window sign that offers
'HELLIUM BALOON ARRANGEMENTS'
doesn't seem so bad now.

Another CL Life Lesson Proven True: PDPS (Public Displays of Poor Spelling) are embarrassing and should be avoided. Ask any NASA engineer or scientist how he feels about PDPS; I'm sure you'll find he agrees.

Related Reading: Sadly Mistaken

Tags: [NASA] [Kennedy Space Center]
[Endeavor] [Endeavour]
[International Space Station]

[James Cook] [Commander Scott J. Kelly]

[Canadian Space Agency] [Richard Mastracchio]
[Dave Williams]

Hit Parade

Stratford, the Festival City, wrapped up its day-time events celebrating Canada's 140^th birthday with the annual parade, organized by the local Kinsmen Club.

The parade wound through Stratford's downtown, from Wellington to Downie, across Ontario to Huron. More than 40 groups participated in the parade that was led by the Veteran's Association and finished with the giant birthday cake float.

Three rows deep along the 2 km route, spectators waved and applauded as the more than 40 entries marched by. At the curb, in pint-size chairs and on blankets were young children. Parents, older children and youths made up the second row, on the boulevards and sidewalks. Other families and many seniors set up in front of the businesses and on the grassy knolls.

Way to go Stratford! There is so much support from all generations. It became clear that residents had "their spots" staked out from prior years. I wonder if, in twenty years, that spot in front of the church will still be Nicole's and Rachel's.

Thumbs up to Stratford, population 30,000 - Well planned and well-attended city-wide celebrations wrapped up with fireworks display at the rec. center.

Aurora, population 47,000, cancelled its Canada Day parade due to lack of support.

Some of the groups who participated in the parade:

Stratford Concert Band	Perth Pipe Band
Bethel Church	Stratford Builders' Association	Playmakers Theatre School
Perth Regiment Re-Enactment Unit	Orr Insurance (that's their truck, above)	Stratford Lions Club
Mocha Trumpet Band (London/Woodstock) and the RoadRunners	Dukes of Hazzard chased by Enos	Jubilee Christian Fellowship Band
Saddle Up Stables	Wellington-Waterloo Hunt & Riding Club	DaMax Kennels (thank you for the loot bag for Buddy)
Stratford Motor Products	Gary Stockie Chev-Olds

Red & White Sale on Now at

The Pro Shop

Tags: [Stratford] [Canada Day] [Aurora Cancels Parade]
[Stratford Country Club]

¡Viva!

Cinco de Mayo is widely thought to be the Independence Day of Mexico. Mexico's official Independence Day is in September. Cinco de Mayo celebrates the day of Mexico's Great Battle at Puebla.

Napoleon III's French troops occupied Mexico for five months in 1862. On May 5 the Mexican military overcame the French soldiers at Puebla. In defeating the French Foreign Legion, supplies to the Confederate Rebels in the U.S. Civil War were cut off. The U.S. rebuilt their own forces and beat the Rebels at Gettysburg the following year.

The French recaptured Puebla on May 8^th but were finally expelled from Mexico in 1867.

Así que qué, you ask?

A while ago, my brother and I were talking about Cinco de Mayo. Our sister, who was with us, said, with much disbelief, "Like you guys know when Mexico's National holiday is."
"It's the fifth of May," we replied together.
Joe turned to his son David, 4, and asked, "David, do you know when Cinco de Mayo is?"
"Yep," David answered. Maybe he did know, but he was preoccupied with removing the pepperoni from his pizza slice.

She wouldn't believe that we knew the celebration takes place annually on May 5^th.

We explained that Cinco de Mayo translates literally to May 5.

In her most scholarly voice, our sibling declared, "Well, the national holiday of Norway is November 3^rd."

"No it's not." Joe and I laughed. In fact, it's May 17^th.

So - ¡Viva Cinco de Mayo!
Today, celebrate a battle you've won.

[Cinco de Mayo] [Napoleon III] [Norway]

The Tradition of the Nativity Scene

When I was growing up, our family had a nativity scene that was arranged atop the piano in the living room. It was a traditional scene and my Mom had painted each ceramic figure. In the first year, it was Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the manger and the Wise Men. Each year after that, she painted additional pieces to include. Every December 25th, at 12:00 a.m., we'd sing Happy Birthday and place baby Jesus in the manger.

I don't know where that nativity is now. Come to think of it, I haven't seen that manger set in several years. Yesterday, at my parents' home, I saw there was a different nativity arrangement on the table behind the couch. Except for Kashmir's interest in the new set, I might not have noticed it back there.

My parents have an acre of property that they decorate for the season. The latest in outdoor decorations is the over-sized inflatable adornment. That got me to thinking...

I found these items for sale, and thought, they'd be perfect in the orchard.
A 9 ft. inflatable scene

And to finish it off right,

add the 6' tall Wise Men...

Each has its own "self-contained illumination system" and is described as being "a highly visible lawn decoration." Both unfortunately, now sold out for the season.

Think you'd find these for sale at some blasphemous website, right? Wrong. Try CatholicSupply.com

More on [Inflatable Lawn Decorations]

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He's a Good-Looking Man

Last week, I complimented my mother on losing weight. "In fact," I told her, "I think you're slimmer today, then at our wedding." We'd recently had the photo albums out at our place, so I knew this to be true.
My Mom got out her album of our wedding and we looked at the snaps. "Yeah, maybe. Oh, I don't know," she hesitated. "Who's that? Oh, look at Kara, Kayne and Shannon!" Subject changed. We discussed the hall, the decorations, the day.

My Dad was now flipping through the pictures. "What year was that?" he asked. "1990," I replied. Mom and I had moved the conversation along.

"I looked great," my father reflected out loud. "I'm a good-looking man. Yes, I am."

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