tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65484542024-03-18T04:39:38.718-07:00The Snoozeletter @ snzltr.blogspot.comWelcome to the online home of Anikó J. Bartos and Alan C. Baird! Check out the moblog, too - that teeny-tiny photo over there on the right. Our eventual plan is to begin posting on the Internet some blurry [phonecam] photos of the daily events in our insignificant lives (within seconds of their occurrence) to thoroughly bore all and sundry with the yawning pointlessness of our humdrum existence.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1710125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-199807332516998112024-03-15T06:45:00.000-07:002024-03-15T06:56:09.873-07:00In Memoriam list for our NBC Page class. Requiescat In Pace. <br><br>L-R, T-B [tap image to enlarge]:<br>
<a href="https://snzltr.blogspot.com/search/label/mark">Mark Steven Traub</a> 1958-2022 age 64<br>
<a href="http://Legacy.com/link.asp?i=ls165500437">Stephen W. Weinheimer</a> 1954-2013 age 59<br>
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zUnfPoifsCgkFyj0KTuYYOe0JHbjDaOG/view" title="tinyurl.com/ramonplaza https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KKHJ-S1M">Ramon M. Plaza, Jr.</a> 1953-2018 age 65<br>
<a title="classmates.com/siteui/yearbooks/4182768739?page=39" href="https://findagrave.com/memorial/214038456">Gregory P. Pavlis</a> 1958-2000 age 42<br>
<a href="https://findagrave.com/memorial/27055283">Louis Padilla Jr.</a> 1956-1995 age 38<br>
<a href="https://findagrave.com/memorial/126608246">James Edward Ellis</a> 1957-2014 age 56<br>
<a href="http://Legacy.com/link.asp?i=ls196981783">Kenneth F. Delahanty</a> 1947-2020 age 73<br>
<a href="https://facebook.com/nancy.henze.75">Nancy Beresford Henze</a> 1954-2019 age 65<br>
<a href="https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VMVY-1QQ">Neal J. Bamonti</a> 1957-1988 age 30<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5RjEKIWQDMHeVnJLhUnFeBRpOmfdwk85SQ2xLV8rlfvRrYKwjzOWbqTjcVyxhEWohtJ_UNZxql3mZV__aL6qhyphenhyphen98O2_D4IOgJdBFckG4drvHfllYcPo5aFNwW7ANXVqONOIVUQXdQ1aVhERFG5477vP8wE35nvpQ-HhIKQCtpop_qgbZSKxJl/s1600/nbcumem.png"><img alt="978x500" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="489" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5RjEKIWQDMHeVnJLhUnFeBRpOmfdwk85SQ2xLV8rlfvRrYKwjzOWbqTjcVyxhEWohtJ_UNZxql3mZV__aL6qhyphenhyphen98O2_D4IOgJdBFckG4drvHfllYcPo5aFNwW7ANXVqONOIVUQXdQ1aVhERFG5477vP8wE35nvpQ-HhIKQCtpop_qgbZSKxJl/s1600/nbcumem.png"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-40251883389293632782024-03-05T09:33:00.002-07:002024-03-15T05:47:34.507-07:001980 Convention Season. <br><br>
July and August 1980: two great NBC Page assignments, working at the conventions. In Detroit, it was the Reagan & GHW Bush coronation. But in Manhattan Square Garden, President Jimmy Carter & Senator Ted Kennedy ripped the Democratic party apart. [tap to enlarge]<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jOBX4YrI7KVFZuO2hIwCK3wf190smvAQc8CeEeUCwWJdCoKQ7EgSKwr9HRu-xWYxc68w4EMVPjn-LXBZxtfCJWAA6JSkFvLO9qaCauM5xaQshaNgyvSnxI-j1EraImbvmgCwNr6jDYULhJ5TuaUVs_JB7w4V2T_ZyWSK3G6j-DNQDUVyv8wp/s1600/conv80.jpg"><img alt="604x457" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="302" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jOBX4YrI7KVFZuO2hIwCK3wf190smvAQc8CeEeUCwWJdCoKQ7EgSKwr9HRu-xWYxc68w4EMVPjn-LXBZxtfCJWAA6JSkFvLO9qaCauM5xaQshaNgyvSnxI-j1EraImbvmgCwNr6jDYULhJ5TuaUVs_JB7w4V2T_ZyWSK3G6j-DNQDUVyv8wp/s1600/conv80.jpg"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-16649825435089975222024-03-04T11:32:00.002-07:002024-03-15T05:48:16.782-07:00Letterman Before The Beginning. <br><br>
13Jun1980: David Letterman starts dress rehearsals for his morning show w/Rich Hall, Valri Bromfield, Wil Shriner, Edie McClurg, etc. Final airdate: 24Oct1980. (Late Night then ran from 01Feb1982 to 25Jun1993, when Jay Leno knifed Dave in the back.) [tap to enlarge]<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hy1-uII1w8JqSwRKSoQha36NxATYMeyv63hhEz9vWdDxUw78yu-VmWKM10PXvN-nqKZvru8WSZ2-RE0CsOyk3DN6VPzikC0Wo8mAH2QVWUIOz8YnMYwmp6aw8xoFeGQAsRmAMKyVS-Xuw75XGUarLAOwBpT0YK2_E4vnoXEhZURUffbR3mt8/s1600/dl80.jpg"><img alt="809x339" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="404" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hy1-uII1w8JqSwRKSoQha36NxATYMeyv63hhEz9vWdDxUw78yu-VmWKM10PXvN-nqKZvru8WSZ2-RE0CsOyk3DN6VPzikC0Wo8mAH2QVWUIOz8YnMYwmp6aw8xoFeGQAsRmAMKyVS-Xuw75XGUarLAOwBpT0YK2_E4vnoXEhZURUffbR3mt8/s1600/dl80.jpg"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-17707218806395451042024-03-03T11:31:00.003-07:002024-03-15T05:49:03.293-07:00NYC Page SNL Invitations, 1979/80. <br><br>
SNL 4th & 5th end-of-season parties - NYC Page invitations:<br>
(Left) 26May1979: Edie Baskin hand tint.<br>
(Right) 24May1980: Buck Henry. [tap to enlarge]<br>
In the Promenade Cafe at Rockefeller Center (outdoor skating rink in winter).<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9RQTZzS1bjuF2jjfagflr8DKSXZOsoP9-0ehAz9j5rK7ZPI23Pwn_UskddL0-ErPDgEEv2V3dGYH9LrsYMIwVRnX2_OAXrTGcVmdsqbp6Gy6gqyBN0kox1vd8SvLD9chH2Yu36YSclm3DJQagiMmPyd0Tb1cQVV51gGnIQSXTrUWPp1XPvP5/s1600/snl7980.jpg"><img alt="807x1063" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="403" height="531" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9RQTZzS1bjuF2jjfagflr8DKSXZOsoP9-0ehAz9j5rK7ZPI23Pwn_UskddL0-ErPDgEEv2V3dGYH9LrsYMIwVRnX2_OAXrTGcVmdsqbp6Gy6gqyBN0kox1vd8SvLD9chH2Yu36YSclm3DJQagiMmPyd0Tb1cQVV51gGnIQSXTrUWPp1XPvP5/s1600/snl7980.jpg"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-1922571713460172442024-03-02T13:10:00.003-07:002024-03-15T16:14:13.436-07:00SNL Promo Card, 1975. <br><br>
11Oct1975: Saturday Night Live, a topical comedy sketch show featuring Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, made its debut on NBC.<br><br>
Promo card text: "NBC Saturday Night-Live. This is a big one! Don't miss the exciting premiere of a new series that's a whole new dimension for TV! It's live from New York spotlighting the comedy and music stars of today - and tomorrow! Tonight's host: George Carlin. A comedy film by Albert Brooks. Jim Henson and the Muppets. Special musical guests Janis Ian, Billy Preston. Plus two brilliant new comedy finds: Billy Crystal, Andy Kaufman. Next week: Paul Simon, host, with special guest star Art Garfunkel! 11:30 PM" [tap to enlarge]<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8EznuSLivi8C5nlqAsE_BpxrOCfvIL3o9ZzzSLeNKRgfVPvvwrNtxS2B7MYQWSE0vf8QmjamE2g6Q8MiCsVrvrg5RUfEsAJpgR64svlHG6kFMvkmKxRQYs_rRwEadneQs1oR7GrLvsCsYjjdTvZIUXNaJiHzxNCZbK9tVeY9Z0TIipmHmhbEX/s1600/snl75.jpg"><img alt="636x974" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="318" height="487" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8EznuSLivi8C5nlqAsE_BpxrOCfvIL3o9ZzzSLeNKRgfVPvvwrNtxS2B7MYQWSE0vf8QmjamE2g6Q8MiCsVrvrg5RUfEsAJpgR64svlHG6kFMvkmKxRQYs_rRwEadneQs1oR7GrLvsCsYjjdTvZIUXNaJiHzxNCZbK9tVeY9Z0TIipmHmhbEX/s1600/snl75.jpg"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-91256147691733103352024-03-01T19:00:00.006-07:002024-03-01T21:19:53.213-07:00Smelly Balls. <br><br>I live in Mesa, the third-most populous city in Arizona, and the 36th-most populous city in the U.S. Its history dates back at least 2,000 years to the arrival of the Hohokam people, whose name means "All Used Up" or "The Departed Ones." They built the original canal system, which was the largest and most sophisticated in the prehistoric New World. Some canals were up to 90 feet wide and 10 feet deep at their head gates, extending as far as 16 miles across the desert. By 1100 A.D., water could be delivered to an area covering more than 170 square miles, transforming the Sonoran Desert into an agricultural oasis. By 1450, the Hohokam had constructed hundreds of miles of canals, many of which are still in use.<br><br>
The temperature on this beautiful sunny Friday reached 78°F. The Missus and I sat on a lakeside bench just 50 feet from our front patio and greedily sniffed lungfuls of the heavenly aroma wafting from the yellow puffball flowers on a Sweet Acacia tree.<br><br>
I call 'em "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10156519527837477&set=a.88371122476">smelly balls</a>."<br><br>
From 30 June 2023 to 30 July 2023, this area had 31 straight days of 110°F or greater, including 17 days of 115°F or greater, and 3 days at 119°F (48.33°C: July 19, 20 & 25).<br><br>
Singer Buck Owens, member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, was educated in Mesa schools. Ernesto Miranda, whose conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona (thus creating the Miranda warning), is buried in the City of Mesa Cemetery.<br><br>
13% of Mesa's 509,000 people are Mormons.<br><br>
In 2017, the Pew Research Center determined that Mesa was the most conservative city in the U.S.<br><br>
During a recent election, I promised to hold my breath until Mesa turned blue.<br><br>
But I had to suspend that campaign until a later date. 😉Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-73373278781134160382024-03-01T08:00:00.034-07:002024-03-17T07:36:57.382-07:00Script Competition Laurels.<a name="comp"> </a><br><br><!-- a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/BookTok">TikTok.com/tag/BookTok</a ~~ a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@acbaird2/video/7342455417332665643">ACB BookTok Video</a --><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@acbaird2">BookTok Experiment 😉</a> ~~
Amazon Bibliography: <a href="https://amazon.com/author/acb">amazon.com/author/acb</a><br>
[Tap any image to enlarge it. <a href="http://9timezones.com/cote.htm">Links to background info on the books included below</a>.]<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-cuhUT9bTg7dynr3q0AgoVuSZuQnPVB30cLJLK_eZfokq9oY_vsd6kx_dkmRzogqb1SUM-AuzMezaUtCuGf4oCxjC_ONv4EtFVii1eBZCmd8tTOuRrqzFboC4IvrKP_aPi5v/s0/cote5d.jpg"><img alt="970x253" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="485" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-cuhUT9bTg7dynr3q0AgoVuSZuQnPVB30cLJLK_eZfokq9oY_vsd6kx_dkmRzogqb1SUM-AuzMezaUtCuGf4oCxjC_ONv4EtFVii1eBZCmd8tTOuRrqzFboC4IvrKP_aPi5v/s0/cote5d.jpg"></a><br><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2NyMUGLE3NPp5-ovSQGAAA48NrPHPN3NIHfIL8pYJgcflU9Mqb_ynLyyDdVdWTA7PAQWFQ2HZCho4tuKn2kP2mMEhT7eWVB6x2toQOrOOFWm_3vwHOMRkfVQi-qi05AUpmfFqHRhSWF7MFRtSOBkdBLPgXmgayP3UKARXZZGvoWzIA5swnM_/s1600/fbws.jpg"><img alt="843x760" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" align="left" hspace="3" width="281" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2NyMUGLE3NPp5-ovSQGAAA48NrPHPN3NIHfIL8pYJgcflU9Mqb_ynLyyDdVdWTA7PAQWFQ2HZCho4tuKn2kP2mMEhT7eWVB6x2toQOrOOFWm_3vwHOMRkfVQi-qi05AUpmfFqHRhSWF7MFRtSOBkdBLPgXmgayP3UKARXZZGvoWzIA5swnM_/s1600/fbws.jpg"></a>2003Jul: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/azertisd">Azért is . . ! [Despite everything . . !]</a> (short animation script included in the <a href="http://9timezones.com/fbwormt.htm">facebookworm</a> book) first appeared in Newtopia Magazine and was later selected (2004Feb) as one of the 68 Notable Online Short Stories of 2003 (from over 600 nominations) in the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20160314102439/storysouth.com/millionwriters/millionwritersnotable2003.html">storySouth Million Writers Award for Fiction</a>. ➡️It was also announced as an eighth finalist (top 206, from over 1,200 entries) in the <a href="https://www.filmmakers.com/contests/short/2007/win">FilmMakers Magazine American Gem Short Screenplay Competition</a> (2007Sep).<br clear=left><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-mmEvrbbf54QNs6gBPRf4jiQE_knyfr3viVPW4UcpqEd6K2o4ljP13yy4otK5JVkpuFIplquuNj0s7mlozLaqPhpLeSmbu7gKeeNhQbGOED77rkClnfKDOEdRyFEOwu3tY8FoRRAbW0LewTLQttuN6aUCxkZ0dXXRS4Mylsarm7iSUFS9ami/s1600/tfib.jpg"><img alt="655x880" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" align="left" hspace="3" width="281" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-mmEvrbbf54QNs6gBPRf4jiQE_knyfr3viVPW4UcpqEd6K2o4ljP13yy4otK5JVkpuFIplquuNj0s7mlozLaqPhpLeSmbu7gKeeNhQbGOED77rkClnfKDOEdRyFEOwu3tY8FoRRAbW0LewTLQttuN6aUCxkZ0dXXRS4Mylsarm7iSUFS9ami/s1600/tfib.jpg"></a>1998Oct: Francis Ford Coppola calls <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tfibp">The Fall In Budapest</a> "quality stuff." This feature screenplay (included in the <a href="http://9timezones.com/9tzt.htm">9TimeZones.com book</a>) was one of five finalists in <a href="https://www.moviebytes.com/NewsStory.cfm?StoryID=94">SCRNWRiT's First Draft Contest</a>. Fifty original scripts from the 1,486 members of SCRNWRiT had advanced to the quarterfinals in early October. ➡️It was subsequently named as a Quarterfinalist in the <a href="https://www.moviebytes.com/NewsStory.cfm?StoryID=935">8th Annual Writers Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition</a> (2001Nov). ➡️A year later, it was announced as one of the top 100 scripts in <a href="https://www.moviebytes.com/NewsStory.cfm?StoryID=1313">AFP's competition</a> (2002Dec).<br clear=left><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPves0VHipV81CgD13lCkaVyoOX0kwWddcjYTrwHL-LikG_EeD86iauZ7VMcvQjIoF6JMrOGfm2JKtTiVEoeyVyo3wresEcusRBwD0ULM-OEUg_8QWKI5PKswCk-ASvpjt5Z8OuLkanHpp7GVrWLNCr0X4LHyt69EUZTV-fz7E_D3WO-_1-s6/s1600/elevs.jpg"><img alt="485x181" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" align="left" hspace="3" width="281" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPves0VHipV81CgD13lCkaVyoOX0kwWddcjYTrwHL-LikG_EeD86iauZ7VMcvQjIoF6JMrOGfm2JKtTiVEoeyVyo3wresEcusRBwD0ULM-OEUg_8QWKI5PKswCk-ASvpjt5Z8OuLkanHpp7GVrWLNCr0X4LHyt69EUZTV-fz7E_D3WO-_1-s6/s1600/elevs.jpg"></a>2004Nov: <a href="http://9timezones.com/11000v.htm">Eleven Thousand Virgins: Hildegard von Bingen's Last Chants</a> was announced as a Semifinalist in the <a href="https://www.moviebytes.com/NewsStory.cfm?StoryID=2119">11th Annual Writers Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition</a>.<br clear=left><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4xOw6GHCIYDeGg9xqdrOAXGTeWectsBkKSzPpRFGiTVumzbPgYwsQhSBs5DST1Kt9_E9OORrxW8-eAA6eXJe01Q3ruzJDavuMy-yO_n3-J3GDAXHiTOSZXyTmRJdw8pXMXA5Rq4THzwtz4SKjtnNghxdyYkAtTeXIYxxSliL_rlivhctcRWB/s1600/vlads.jpg"><img alt="500x289" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" align="left" hspace="3" width="281" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4xOw6GHCIYDeGg9xqdrOAXGTeWectsBkKSzPpRFGiTVumzbPgYwsQhSBs5DST1Kt9_E9OORrxW8-eAA6eXJe01Q3ruzJDavuMy-yO_n3-J3GDAXHiTOSZXyTmRJdw8pXMXA5Rq4THzwtz4SKjtnNghxdyYkAtTeXIYxxSliL_rlivhctcRWB/s1600/vlads.jpg"></a>2020Sep: <a href="http://9timezones.com/vladti.htm">Vlad the Impaler: Son of Dracul</a> was announced as a semi-finalist (feature-length) in <a href="https://www.screenwritersnetwork.org/screenplay-competition-august-2020/">this Screenwriters Network (British) contest</a>.<br clear=left><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPR0DtLtE6CqwR7iXxc2RO4t2h9D2gJXduHuncBasHT2RSPCfKPNZdeB2CI1mtkh4oqXaNAKxVvH7qBc8T5DP7Cs8Zpm0KaEf6Qry3x98pLq4t0YfyuK2t3IMNhwhQFlgvhyUxnyLWNpbX-2bYO7lECQxHjF9QxMm-K3acH4LSOUl7Z5bOtFPF/s1600/merls.jpg"><img alt="811x251" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" align="left" hspace="3" width="281" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPR0DtLtE6CqwR7iXxc2RO4t2h9D2gJXduHuncBasHT2RSPCfKPNZdeB2CI1mtkh4oqXaNAKxVvH7qBc8T5DP7Cs8Zpm0KaEf6Qry3x98pLq4t0YfyuK2t3IMNhwhQFlgvhyUxnyLWNpbX-2bYO7lECQxHjF9QxMm-K3acH4LSOUl7Z5bOtFPF/s1600/merls.jpg"></a>2004Feb: <a href="http://9timezones.com/mrlnsky.htm">Merlinsky: The Sorcerer's Apprentice</a> was announced as one of 124 Quarter-Finalists (out of 2,186 entries) in the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20040203205355/zoetrope.com/contests/index.cgi?page=2">First Annual American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest (2003)</a>, judged by Francis Ford Coppola.<br clear=left><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcMRRx4CUmPgUkH1pv1NRzwpLFTFqnD3hOydYzH73ng6LrHW1TChCOLKn5CM_4FOzuEJot5h04IIRlbe8b4I0UfitluX9HaGC4UOuYZIhzGDQNUmd6_ezwcay-0kT1G3B5reG_mn0K7_H6GbF737vTOUINosukp-pyE_X671cWVNHW3TuDDq_/s1600/merlss.jpg"><img alt="485x204" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" align="left" hspace="3" width="281" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcMRRx4CUmPgUkH1pv1NRzwpLFTFqnD3hOydYzH73ng6LrHW1TChCOLKn5CM_4FOzuEJot5h04IIRlbe8b4I0UfitluX9HaGC4UOuYZIhzGDQNUmd6_ezwcay-0kT1G3B5reG_mn0K7_H6GbF737vTOUINosukp-pyE_X671cWVNHW3TuDDq_/s1600/merlss.jpg"></a>2001Nov: <a href="http://9timezones.com/mrlnsky.htm">Merlinsky: The Sorcerer's Apprentice</a> was earlier named as a Quarterfinalist in the <a href="https://www.moviebytes.com/NewsStory.cfm?StoryID=935">8th Annual Writers Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition</a>.<br clear=left><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQC3DR7bfEz5AWFota1slgg3Fvp9R7Lx93PYDMvAAHPYBUUf6qpqBIpbeDWSwKpIUdoR4jWX1g8vKpyhoq6b2MB5_FUiryoB20vX14bE8XvMdbNcOzmRuA-FaW_wAZQk34vTxCXfyLsVuPwPQVsRKVO7Gtbszp77-tsMc3XjRyqH7XMOHlTAAT/s1600/cotes.jpg"><img alt="500x500" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" align="left" hspace="3" width="281" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQC3DR7bfEz5AWFota1slgg3Fvp9R7Lx93PYDMvAAHPYBUUf6qpqBIpbeDWSwKpIUdoR4jWX1g8vKpyhoq6b2MB5_FUiryoB20vX14bE8XvMdbNcOzmRuA-FaW_wAZQk34vTxCXfyLsVuPwPQVsRKVO7Gtbszp77-tsMc3XjRyqH7XMOHlTAAT/s1600/cotes.jpg"></a>2020Jun: <a href="http://9timezones.com/cote.htm">Côte d'Azur</a> was announced as a semi-finalist (feature-length) in <a href="https://twitter.com/ScreenwritersN/status/1268606037873045504">this Screenwriters Network (British) contest</a>.<br clear=left><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_XJlbaa7J3NzTlQI6jZy0o2gIt-65JYoe-RW8EwzHI-oMX9VE5NhCbnOh-cLnuUnGrGTbjQPPJK9Cv2E27SVuVGrmk83Kl9I7hroibYcY0vkVWV6s4aYIO0_6knBLyERizs-dl2kubA19QPxglDmw8wRtqXraBA2mDBtO1v48MN8-U8rX-Ei/s1600/bestama.jpg"><img alt="540x654" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" align="left" hspace="3" width="281" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_XJlbaa7J3NzTlQI6jZy0o2gIt-65JYoe-RW8EwzHI-oMX9VE5NhCbnOh-cLnuUnGrGTbjQPPJK9Cv2E27SVuVGrmk83Kl9I7hroibYcY0vkVWV6s4aYIO0_6knBLyERizs-dl2kubA19QPxglDmw8wRtqXraBA2mDBtO1v48MN8-U8rX-Ei/s1600/bestama.jpg"></a>2024Mar: And the eBooks are still popular, after 4+ years!<br><a href="https://www.amazon.com/best/zgbs/digital-text/154691011/?tf=1">amazon.com/-/zgbs/-/154691011/?tf=1</a><br>(Link is accurate on desktop applications only.)<br clear=left>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-59752459130256706462024-03-01T04:30:00.004-07:002024-03-15T07:11:47.933-07:00NBC Helium Party.<a name="he"> </a><br><br>I remember a wild 1979 party for the muckety-mucks at NBC, when they ordered a cylinder of helium to blow up the festive balloons. A bunch of us Pages were assigned to work the party, and our first task was to fill the balloons. Well, you can probably guess which Page started inhaling the helium and talking like Daffy Duck. I soon had all the Pages, along with the party organizers, sounding like Alvin & The Chipmunks, with uproarious gales of laughter.<br><br>
We calmed down when the muckety-mucks showed up, but one of the organizers was friends with one of the high-ranking execs, so she took him into the back room and introduced him to Señor Helium. Pretty soon, all the muckety-mucks wanted in, and the party went clean off the rails. I never expected to act as Huffmeister for a roomful of execs in three-piece suits.<br><br>
The next day, everybody agreed it was one of the best shindigs NBC had ever thrown.<br><br>
PS: NBC's tank was *much* bigger than this one. Five feet tall. 'Cos you don't want to run out of helium just when the party is reaching escape velocity. 😉<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwfJLSiaAtKGMb8h7lEYeMFMsCZ0X0VvZw61wFhGYMmibnKLkPFAT2ZoRdI3QZLUFwAtRjn3U02UAIzlTt32JyVOzGD-nIr7ePRYOxjIk1wU5lwhuIp_DCsGZT5FOYNkaAgnfptuauSc2GxCyyAF43WCUtRGYFdXglDd8G_QB4b4u1bpVq1xk/s1600/helium2.jpg"><img alt="948x1441" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="474" height="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwfJLSiaAtKGMb8h7lEYeMFMsCZ0X0VvZw61wFhGYMmibnKLkPFAT2ZoRdI3QZLUFwAtRjn3U02UAIzlTt32JyVOzGD-nIr7ePRYOxjIk1wU5lwhuIp_DCsGZT5FOYNkaAgnfptuauSc2GxCyyAF43WCUtRGYFdXglDd8G_QB4b4u1bpVq1xk/s1600/helium2.jpg"></a>
<!-- https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOSXRdQ4QmuEBJDNLF3qweVJz1YI4vEjDPpAQohuPPc7LqyJ4ictHuKn-yxDLHFgdLsdxAq_jDw2HjzmDcAN4e3PUm11w7CnJLdOo5cgYLQcZf2IgQxvbbvK11dxq7FLrYYnTf95zuV0Qlf4Tdm0TpsnIHNAZEhutOoCm7cSpe-zlYarZiqHhP/s1600/helium.jpg -->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-82129468488509693572024-02-27T03:50:00.014-07:002024-03-13T07:09:05.319-07:00Roof Garden Hijinx @ 30 Rock Plaza.<a name="roof"> </a><br><br>"Second Stay, Roof Garden, Pass It On." [NBC Pages in NYC worked Saturday Night Live in shifts. Sort of. Second Stay meant you were required to stay in the studio for the last half of SNL. Everybody else had to clear out and find some sort of trouble to get into. I can't remember if it was only the supervisory Key Pages who smoked certain substances in the roof garden during the live broadcast. 😉]<br><br>
The five gardens on Rockefeller Center's building rooftops were part of architect Raymond Hood's original 1930 scheme. Landscape architect Ralph Hancock was hired in 1934 to design the garden on 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The 3/4-acre garden included a bird sanctuary, vegetable garden, rock garden, a children's garden, and the Gardens of the Nations. Over 400 visitors attended the opening day on April 15, 1935. About 87,000 people visited the garden during the next eight months. The entry fee was one dollar, but later went down to forty cents. The "International Garden," a rock garden in the center of the themed gardens, featured a meandering stream and 2,000 plant varieties. The 11th-floor garden was staffed by hostesses who wore costumes, and the plantings lit up at night. When public interest waned, most of the garden was demolished by 1938, and the rock garden was left to dry up, supplanted by flower beds.<br><br>
30 Rock's roof garden is accessible only to NBC employees, via a not-so-secret stairway. Legend has it that cannabis products were consumed at this location, just after midnight on three Saturday nights per month. Rockefeller Center was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.<br><br>
SNL promos shot in the roof garden, 5/2014, Kenan Thompson & Andy Samberg: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfgrb_rMQ2s">YouTube.com/watch?v=Sfgrb_rMQ2s</a><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzCC6kVpbBvEwPA6kJ7kyznUBgLQ32r1BKy9TZzN2t2iWHNyDsbXcLTUrE6qi3JPk_FwRsW8lCK3tc3O_sdw1Ke_4RhYy1cQtGXYBYUyz0EmAlmUU12m-L-JqeKfc_nk006g68vtzdOMO0jgRNLq01vJgocDrIpwIYBOHQbJ7HZWHlMBmdqqW/s1600/nbcroof.jpg"><img alt="tap to enlarge 1046x1330" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="523" height="665" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzCC6kVpbBvEwPA6kJ7kyznUBgLQ32r1BKy9TZzN2t2iWHNyDsbXcLTUrE6qi3JPk_FwRsW8lCK3tc3O_sdw1Ke_4RhYy1cQtGXYBYUyz0EmAlmUU12m-L-JqeKfc_nk006g68vtzdOMO0jgRNLq01vJgocDrIpwIYBOHQbJ7HZWHlMBmdqqW/s1600/nbcroof.jpg"></a><br>
3/4 acre = 56.7% of a football field, including the end zone 🏈:<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rvV-RdZcvlNaRb-DElBLUeyGudn7cvnDm4olj2kF25UKZVNi9oMskb-dfPKQrXUuUsVSRt4zFMeRFhtwuZ0Wp8BLMNsDPXuahJbVEClt54bI-jNHBILY6qpEXBNwSUxwdM5nTmf8Jw0SmWEPq9f6SAzMNrQq3D7OWsSOkKD7PDFtC2hv8cH9/s1600/footba57.png"><img alt="633x516" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="523" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rvV-RdZcvlNaRb-DElBLUeyGudn7cvnDm4olj2kF25UKZVNi9oMskb-dfPKQrXUuUsVSRt4zFMeRFhtwuZ0Wp8BLMNsDPXuahJbVEClt54bI-jNHBILY6qpEXBNwSUxwdM5nTmf8Jw0SmWEPq9f6SAzMNrQq3D7OWsSOkKD7PDFtC2hv8cH9/s1600/footba57.png"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-35839231714187209292024-02-23T09:00:00.010-07:002024-03-15T16:21:06.313-07:00Touchstone Maze.<a name="rowson"> </a><br><br>The Touchstone Maze is a 25m diameter labyrinth designed and built 30km WNW of Inverness in the 1990s by artist Helen Rowson, using rocks donated by quarries across Scotland. [tap image below to enlarge] ~ <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g551820-d3645405-Reviews-Touchstone_Maze-Strathpeffer_Ross_and_Cromarty_Scottish_Highlands_Scotland.html">more images</a> ~ <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/zWnwBYuwsmiWmGu98">map</a><br>
<a href="https://www.strathpeffer.org/touchstone-maze">https://www.strathpeffer.org/touchstone-maze</a><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMHNfBLcLS_NLrptSv2fa3PT6oJZaMyKDLnbBJ3LYDXSTl_QBc9oh-Q0ALwV8GKf8B2O3PieGDi9SzwAtJbuudGJpiGiyCUUTqXRaOtEdmeWoO5lZ_xzWpOlFIJVAGzoVilnIejulZu1xFWZbhoSayzQnbFSr0eokRrjuidb8dyEp4HMLdrIB/s1600/maze.jpg"><img alt="900x1542" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="459" height="771" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMHNfBLcLS_NLrptSv2fa3PT6oJZaMyKDLnbBJ3LYDXSTl_QBc9oh-Q0ALwV8GKf8B2O3PieGDi9SzwAtJbuudGJpiGiyCUUTqXRaOtEdmeWoO5lZ_xzWpOlFIJVAGzoVilnIejulZu1xFWZbhoSayzQnbFSr0eokRrjuidb8dyEp4HMLdrIB/s1600/maze.jpg"></a>
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-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-79453743845103264252024-02-01T00:05:00.172-07:002024-02-02T06:48:44.426-07:00Summer of '91.<a name="cs"> </a><br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkGpj9N1b0lQPCe31jl6qTwxGMtOWrVs81B5Vwyi1P_uPgEwAUSej_N7MBWcrHeO0Bzks10ieOsLeLCSIUc7DDRJ6y8vfbATROQFa_yGLz3bsN_Eu1FXP31tI_1hCClGhUSXANdbraAf-vceG5VYeAO4di9B0OSwbWjt2Ue56Lwi1GKdwbXxB/s1600/synge.jpg"><img title="Cathaoir Synge sign - tap to enlarge" alt="Synge 1656x1164" align="right" border="2" hspace="3" vspace="3" width="207" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkGpj9N1b0lQPCe31jl6qTwxGMtOWrVs81B5Vwyi1P_uPgEwAUSej_N7MBWcrHeO0Bzks10ieOsLeLCSIUc7DDRJ6y8vfbATROQFa_yGLz3bsN_Eu1FXP31tI_1hCClGhUSXANdbraAf-vceG5VYeAO4di9B0OSwbWjt2Ue56Lwi1GKdwbXxB/s1600/synge.jpg"></a><i>Cathaoir Synge</i><br><br>
It was the fourth day of our Irish holiday, and I was feeling wistful, because we had both come to know that the trip would mark the end of a romance which had been shaky at best.<br><br>
Colleen was an Irish-American professor of theater, and she had wanted to show me all of her favorite spots in the Gaeltacht, an Irish-language region of the Emerald Isle. One of the places she loved was <a title="Inishmaan" href="https://www.google.com/maps/@53.0866692,-9.6251222,14z?entry=ttu">Inis Meáin</a>, in the middle of the Aran Islands, a small group just off the western coast. Connoisseurs of fine woolen knitted sweaters would know of the area, perhaps preventing its descent into total obscurity.<br><br>
Getting to this out-of-the-way locale was a bit of a chore - the ferry landed there only on certain days, since it was so far off the beaten track, and the trip included a lengthy stop at another island along the way. While waiting for the tide to advance to the point where it would be possible to dock at our island, we strolled hand-in-hand during the layover at Inis Oirr. It proved to be a bittersweet interlude - there was no use in discussing the end of something we both knew was dead, but we decided to make the best of our month-long journey together.<br><br>
As we waited for the first mate to ready the small ferryboat for the next part of the voyage, it soon became apparent to both of us that the poor man had not been blessed with good looks. His hunchback, his immense hooked nose, and his manner in scuttling about the boat all reminded us of a certain horror movie. We simultaneously turned to each other, whispered "Igor!" - and shared a much-needed laugh.<br><br>
The final leg of our trip was stormy and wind-tossed, as if to confirm the Gothic mood suggested by Igor's appearance. I knew we were going to a place where the twentieth century had made very few inroads, and the sense of isolation sharpened as Colleen slowly became seasick. After struggling against it for several minutes in the tiny cabin, she went out on deck to brave the high seas and christen the waves with the remains of her breakfast.<br><br>
The captain was unsure whether conditions would allow a safe landing on our island, and indeed the docking was a bit dicey - we were the only two passengers to disembark, and the wind rocked the ferry alarmingly. They practically had to throw us up onto the cement pier, and our knapsacks were heaved up after us. We dusted ourselves off and leaned vigorously into the wind. After struggling past some rotting fish remains, we entered a narrow, paved path lined with six- and seven-foot walls of masterfully interlocked stones. We couldn't hear each other speak, but Colleen pointed up ahead, in the general direction of our destination. Through a small crack in the wall on our left, we could see the ruins of a tenth-century church, and I got the unsettling feeling that we had traveled far back in time.<br><br>
A huge, slobbering canine charged from our right, and I think we both screamed, but an old crone with a toothless grin made motions that the dog was only being friendly. As we all continued to walk between the walls of stone, the wind quieted somewhat, and Colleen made an attempt to converse with the woman. Even though I was next to her, I couldn't hear a word, but it appeared that this dog owner was simply promenading her beast around the perimeter of the island, in what I judged to be near-hurricane conditions. We came to several paved cross-paths, all lined with the walls of stone, and Colleen indicated that we should turn and part ways with the old woman. We all waved goodbye, and I briefly wondered how anyone could find their way around in this confusing maze.<br><br>
After some hot soup at the bed-and-breakfast cottage (which magically appeared out of nowhere), the wind calmed down and the weather even turned sunny. Colleen and I ventured forth, walking toward the hill of our small island, and she explained the stone walls. Many centuries ago, the place was covered only with rocks, but the first settlers were determined to make soil where none had existed before. So they dragged seaweed out of their fishing nets, carefully placing walls of the all-too-plentiful stones around it, and left it to rot in the intermittent sunshine. Over the course of many years, the fences of stone, crucial for keeping the newly-formed compost from blowing away in the constant windstorms, were extended to form a continuous crosshatch of tiny pastures all over the island. Most of the fields were not much larger than a small house, and the crazy patchwork was broken at irregular intervals with paths connecting various areas. Sheep and other farm animals were ferried in, and an agrarian/fishing culture clung tenaciously to life on this tiny outpost.<br><br>
Daily life was harsh, and most of their young folk were leaving for the excitement of cities on the mainland or in America, but the ones who remained were amazingly tough and taciturn. They drank silently in the island's one pub, and very infrequently they would sing, if the hour got late enough, and the Guinness held out. Their voices were heartbreakingly beautiful, crooning the ancient songs in the ancient tongue.<br><br>
Today, Colleen and I were headed toward the far end of the island, where the famous Irish playwright John Millington Synge ("Playboy of the Western World") often withdrew to write. He had a summer residence on Inis Meáin at the turn of the century, to escape the pressures of civilization on the mainland, and his sojourns were proudly documented with several Irish-language signs. One pointed the way to his thatched-roof cottage; another, down the path leading to his favorite writing retreat.<br><br>
During our walk, Colleen regaled me with stories of her last stay - after one late-night songfest in the pub, she said she found herself face to face with the ghost of Synge, near dawn at the entrance to his old cottage. She was a very down-to-earth and practical woman, and she couldn't logically explain her certainty that she had been in the presence of the great man himself. This streak of mysticism in an otherwise severely rational academic was suddenly appealing, and I suggested that we climb a few rock fences to find a deserted field.<br><br>
The denizens of the island had become experts in stonemasonry over the millennia, and had built unobtrusive step-stones into the sides of the walls. These steps led up to small notches that a person could fit through, but which would foil any escape attempt by the sheep. After crossing several notches, we found ourselves at the open entrance to a tiny field-inside-a-field. Evidently there had been too many rocks remaining when the farmer had finished his outer wall, so he had erected a smaller inner enclosure, just to clear the area of leftover stones.<br><br>
No-one was visible for at least a mile, and we were delighted with our own little private "fort," so we ogled each other hungrily as we quickly shed our clothes. But afterward, the flattened wildflowers seemed unbearably melancholy. We dressed while studiously avoiding each other's eyes, and slipped quietly away from the ground we had desecrated.<br><br>
A few minutes later, we arrived at the end of the path which announced "Cathaoir Synge." It was anticlimactic - a semi-igloo of stones had been erected at the top of a promontory facing across to the outer island of Inis Mór. When Colleen crawled inside Synge's "chair" to steep herself in meditation on the playwright, I climbed a little way further down the cliff and watched the seagulls soaring above the crashing waves two hundred feet below.<br><br>
I became lost in a cheerless reverie, and didn't notice one gull, inching closer and closer in her weaving flight path across the cliff, until she was almost in my face. I threw my hands up automatically - the bird stalled dead in midair, and wheeled away, startled enough for the two of us. I kept an eye on her, and after a few minutes she was back, at a more comfortable distance. I extended my hands again, partly to reassure myself and to make light of my earlier shock. She executed the same stall-and-wheel maneuver. When she returned a third time, we each played our parts again, and I began to suspect that I might be too near an egg-filled nest which she was protecting. So I backed off to the top of the cliff, but the gull followed...<br><br>
As I walked from one side of the bluff to the other, it became obvious that I was drawing her away from the comfortable soaring of the windy updrafts into a relatively calm area behind the crest. She was working harder to fly, trying to continue the game we had started, and I gradually realized that I wasn't threatening her nest - she just wanted to play! To test this, I climbed back down to my original position on the cliff, and she moved a little further away, unconcerned. If anything, it seemed as if she was grateful that I had moved back into the updrafts, where it was somewhat easier for her to stay aloft. She lined herself up for another approach, I threw my hands skyward at the appropriate moment, and she stalled and wheeled. She was just a few feet away - close enough so I could see the energy she was investing to play the game. She exerted twice the effort of the other seagulls, who were lazily banking and circling as the wind took them. But she seemed to enjoy it, and I was having a grand time participating in a simple entertainment which this member of another species was generously bestowing upon me.<br><br>
We continued for twenty or thirty minutes, until I became aware that Colleen was snapping pictures of us from the Cathaoir. I smiled up at her, she smiled at me, and our sadness was mended. I climbed back to the top, took Colleen's hand, and returned to the path, with the seagull drifting close behind. As we walked, I apologized to the gull for ending our game, and earnestly explained why she couldn't follow us back home. Colleen gifted us both with gales of laughter. [<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20030218014506/http://acorn.dublinwriters.org/EA4/bairdstory.html">first publication in Dublin</a>] [<a href="https://acbaird.substack.com/p/cathaoir-synge">Substack</a>]<br><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw03Bsa1qisMbJyeZUQ5mUfU12Ydj7pVri9fn2qu0oGDhXA644h1z4mq1N0XUg1UU49jax2zkYWDsRMn8JzeNQ3Kx9V_58J2IpxyPQNmGBo3SDYOtilBtu_yZ8ZGJwCuKRs8ctuju8VOM4kKX_M4NujzuWPV9zMkGfswOAMWvrBTN3zRa1IuLF/s1600/guinness.jpg"><img title="Guinness sign - tap to enlarge" alt="Guinness 682x419" align=right border="2" hspace="3" width="239" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw03Bsa1qisMbJyeZUQ5mUfU12Ydj7pVri9fn2qu0oGDhXA644h1z4mq1N0XUg1UU49jax2zkYWDsRMn8JzeNQ3Kx9V_58J2IpxyPQNmGBo3SDYOtilBtu_yZ8ZGJwCuKRs8ctuju8VOM4kKX_M4NujzuWPV9zMkGfswOAMWvrBTN3zRa1IuLF/s1600/guinness.jpg"></a><i>Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula:</i><br><br>
Behold a typical scene in an ambitious campaign to infiltrate the secret pub culture of western Ireland (native rituals dictate inhaling vast quantities of a thick brownish health shake). In the Gaeltacht, we find our hero reeling from the doorway of a local establishment, out like a carp.<br><br>
Dan Foley's Pub, Main Street, Annascaul, County Kerry ~ <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/yoEPMqTaWaMHzkJo7">street view</a> ~ <a href="https://sapphiredreamsxox.blogspot.com/2011/08/dan-foleys-pub-ireland.html">postcard</a><br><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3w3i4e6p0gEaejWtgBFj-ABMacNwSE-WDIyA5yliuljTMJb3uQOPq5C8_6637Q3tDdj2OlR5FyUjqU4hksasudjuZ_WYOpxcOwt6mroDFI9w98MO6cWCFYKPeCxgPpCrHYdC9vKkQnLruHC0KGX-pn8ATajB4qnxx29F4HgodKCOWUifWWF_N/s1600/blarney.jpg"><img title="Blarney Stone - tap to enlarge" alt="Blarney Stone 957x643" align=right border="2" hspace="3" width="239" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3w3i4e6p0gEaejWtgBFj-ABMacNwSE-WDIyA5yliuljTMJb3uQOPq5C8_6637Q3tDdj2OlR5FyUjqU4hksasudjuZ_WYOpxcOwt6mroDFI9w98MO6cWCFYKPeCxgPpCrHYdC9vKkQnLruHC0KGX-pn8ATajB4qnxx29F4HgodKCOWUifWWF_N/s1600/blarney.jpg"></a><i>The Blarney Stone...</i><br><br>
...is 90 feet above the ground, embedded in the outside of a crumbling parapet at the top of Blarney Castle, which dates from 1446. You must climb several decrepit spiral staircases in order to kiss the ancient bluestone. You lie down and arch your back over the edge while a guard keeps you from falling. You grab onto two iron rails to provide some relief from the vertigo, and as you look up at the ground from your upside-down position, you briefly wonder if there's any truth to the rumors that the guards piss on the stone at night, after the tourists go home. But you kiss the stone anyway, because (1) you've traveled such a long way, and (2) it will hopefully result in an interesting photo, and (3) your friends will enjoy making fun of you for kissing a piss-drenched rock.<br><br>
<i>The Blowup In Amsterdam</i><br><br>Colleen and I covered lots of ground in Ireland: I wrote our names in the sand at <a href="https://irishnaturism.org/inch-strand-kerrys-ecological-gem/">Inch Strand</a>, we swam with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungie">Fungie, the Dingle Dolphin</a>, we crawled into the 5,200-year-old passage tomb at <a href="https://www.newgrange.com/">Newgrange</a>, we visited William Butler Yeats' summer home in the 15th-century castle at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoor_Ballylee">Thoor Ballylee</a>, and we admired the Autograph Tree (Yeats, Synge, George Bernard Shaw, Seán O’Casey and others) at <a href="https://www.coolepark.ie/">Coole Park</a>.<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZnkAc3Jb_f7FbzBKhm4ZB82b-CgJISb78GmwPrtAMasEh5Oic_rbPqiYQhJ5VOnQu_Ig1pxIIyzR6I3ZpIiKE7aG0wwgHuhr5TVn1EwO_4dfahyqWu1e6KO5KiXAhyvJFIlzP_V1G07eh3TxPWlqSpReRh1g9C4GB3ambaW3Ua_lZspGCwgrk/s1600/amsterdam.jpg"><img title="Amsterdam - tap to enlarge" alt="Amsterdam 599x420" align=right border="2" hspace="3" width="239" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZnkAc3Jb_f7FbzBKhm4ZB82b-CgJISb78GmwPrtAMasEh5Oic_rbPqiYQhJ5VOnQu_Ig1pxIIyzR6I3ZpIiKE7aG0wwgHuhr5TVn1EwO_4dfahyqWu1e6KO5KiXAhyvJFIlzP_V1G07eh3TxPWlqSpReRh1g9C4GB3ambaW3Ua_lZspGCwgrk/s1600/amsterdam.jpg"></a><br>
But things really got out of hand when we made a side trip across the Channel to Holland. Colleen was giving a paper at an academic conference, and I was helping her edit it. We invited my old Danish buddy, Jørgen, to join us in Amsterdam. <a href="https://alancbaird.blogspot.com/2017/06/25.html">Sparky and I had made some powerful memories a decade earlier in southern France</a>, and we were eager to get funky in Amsterdam. But our ideas of a good time (touring the Heineken brewery and attending a concert by Al Di Meola) clashed dramatically with Colleen's ideas. So Sparky and I had our fun, and Colleen tried to punish us the next day. Luckily, the return flight to America was scheduled for that week, because Amsterdam really confirmed that a breakup with Colleen was best for the mental health of both of us.<br><br>
Sparky and I, however, are friends to this day. 😉Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-26932029734830285482024-01-01T00:05:00.016-07:002024-03-16T04:29:02.460-07:00Skybox Paging.<a name="sky"> </a><br><br>NBC had (and probably still has) one of those fancy viewing rooms up in the rafters of Madison Square Garden. The Sales Department used it to impress current clients, potential advertisers, and their cousin's best friend from college. It was stocked with snacks and a whole lotta liquor. When they couldn't find a Sales guy to supervise the outside visitors, they requisitioned a Page for the job. It was dirty work, but somebody had to do it. When the previous Skybox Page left the company, somehow this cushy assignment fell into my lap. And Sales usually stuck with the same Page, because there were certain unwritten customs that could only be imparted from one Skybox Page to another.<br><br>
The job required a little bit of bartending (but not much - the drinkers normally served themselves), lots of schmoozing, and... sometimes other things. If the MSG event was a concert, the clients often invited the Page to join in the festivities, which might include wacky terbacky. I tried to stay straight for most of my initial stints, but I could see that it was putting a slight damper on their parties.<br><br>
So when Jethro Tull came to town, I suspected that I would eventually get sucked into the celebration. Sure enough, the clients had a ton of weed, and kept offering me hits, but I resisted the temptation for at least three songs. However, when the band started playing the guitar intro from Thick As A Brick, I knew I was a goner. 😉<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9rbKPRptnSlfdFDOP09djivVayxefuXsOLrfmli7pbcZYOtnk-v4BsOLnpkBnA3vSKT_IfGmMMseZo7_4oCRVqUakipAIv19iEhRRD9GVcUmHFmIRH2xqp_g2oA_ABlw5VYhVIIJXsyZ549DBv6Kt2Mth4VYW2-fMFjoWGIvI6SRtEFeYYVy/s1600/skybox.jpg"><img loading="eager" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9rbKPRptnSlfdFDOP09djivVayxefuXsOLrfmli7pbcZYOtnk-v4BsOLnpkBnA3vSKT_IfGmMMseZo7_4oCRVqUakipAIv19iEhRRD9GVcUmHFmIRH2xqp_g2oA_ABlw5VYhVIIJXsyZ549DBv6Kt2Mth4VYW2-fMFjoWGIvI6SRtEFeYYVy/s1600/skybox.jpg" alt="tap to enlarge 1000x563" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="500" height="281" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-37646808576015543262023-12-31T10:10:00.030-07:002024-03-15T07:13:08.862-07:00Winklevii/Zuck/Exclusivity.<a name="wink"> </a><br><br>
Remember when the Winklevoss twins pitched their idea for HarvardConnection/ConnectU to Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network film? One of their big selling points was exclusivity: you needed a Harvard-dot-edu email address to join. Well, the number of students at Harvard in 2004 was approximately 19,731 and the number of Registered Users at <a href="https://NBCuPageAlumni.com">NBCuPageAlumni.com</a> currently stands at 1458 (March 2024 update).<br><br>
The Winklevii got nuthin' on us, bay-bee. 😉<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8hKVAcVq1aHuiDjnVGMnZnwRNwUoDzptkl1ZuD6ImNfrUvFsTbNGvvOFpWbofrrKnJufknYjZ8R0o7Xji7lHcyklrzv0zk1JMeFzE_R5zHmuPu5nj3iM0TPsxaAcrfdFMnyhzG2uD64UaViNN4808j4p1cn2RXDYcvDhjbhRkWx3rDMTjzic/s1600/wink.jpg"><img alt="840x420" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="420" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8hKVAcVq1aHuiDjnVGMnZnwRNwUoDzptkl1ZuD6ImNfrUvFsTbNGvvOFpWbofrrKnJufknYjZ8R0o7Xji7lHcyklrzv0zk1JMeFzE_R5zHmuPu5nj3iM0TPsxaAcrfdFMnyhzG2uD64UaViNN4808j4p1cn2RXDYcvDhjbhRkWx3rDMTjzic/s1600/wink.jpg"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-52674649111815130302023-12-01T00:01:00.010-07:002024-02-22T04:51:50.849-07:00Clipboard History Saves The Day! <br><br>Anyone who used Windows prior to 2018 probably knows the fear of losing text or images that had been Cut (Ctrl+X) with the intention of Pasting (Ctrl+V) elsewhere. If you Copied (Ctrl+C) something else before Pasting the original Clipboard contents, then your first text or image would be permanently gone.
<br><br>
Now, you can simply press Windows Logo Key + V to access your Clipboard History. Just hover your mouse over the right side to Scroll and find the text or image you want. Then Click it to Paste into the open application. You can retain up to 25 items, 4 MB per item. You can also Pin items by tapping the ellipsis (...) next to the item. A Pinned item will remain, even when you Reboot or tap "Clear all." If Clipboard History isn’t on, use your taskbar search field 🔍 to find Clipboard Settings and switch the toggle to On.<br>
<img alt="clipboard history" title="clipboard history" align="left" width="284" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8amaStaHCHpPQUL8O5kxfGcUMlNpJsNsAPkzQlkie-LzI_OsdWB72otu3e5eHQua8SJNlhse6FFi-wZirGfszY4tZeDBfxxfw6Y3XVTNAUZvrdS0Z_ieR9xiRrPVtZP6kjIEJlJqWSlfh01YxGgxTwnqvAA9N9QJhaZjMwHNNZL9PzYBZrbxi/s1600/clip.jpg"> <img alt="clip empty" title="clip empty" width="290" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK68d0BuIcrAokmFkrxRe2U36kkid0pF16-5YlQzpRBYnlWsIqI70xRrn69HwO5TXZUb-FOT_bPp-KV6EXGFaGNIrbCCNFJWjYSwRP-tRbyDNwaAIEoBND1IJdbd142rOQxeiuJhnyj0vOpa7EoGohbVobb-5sU582CWOpbdR8i_tcc2y7Zfod/s1600/clipe.png">
<!-- img alt="win logo + V" title="win logo + V" border="0" width="525" height="216" align="right" hspace="3" vspace="1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmyKJJSKTV2yzojlcErjBzxchLFkk0q-8agW8QaG7nmq7De2MwxNaVAwAdHqwxKi7NGR0uU_lDD1IiIejVakL4RkDFtlG2St40NnLwbVBuVO0jmlMBOEQvtaRXYzaIgOqvPk_wiAWZ91tJs-UoBX1IHylQ7jqRgciC1vrzlA4JtOAAH7_orIEC/s1600/win.jpg" -->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-16289495811499804952023-11-21T09:55:00.013-07:002024-03-03T10:08:06.200-07:00Turkey Trot/Walk/Crawl.<a name="tt"> </a><br><br>I've been goofing off for WAY too long. My sedentary lifestyle was annoying me. I had been an active runner for two or three decades, starting when I was 14 years old. I ran <a href="https://snzltr.blogspot.com/2021/11">track</a> and <a href="https://snzltr.blogspot.com/search/label/humblebrag#8355183230292459435">cross-country</a> in high school, and later, a couple of <a href="https://snzltr.blogspot.com/2019/12#7853782540386564381">marathons</a>. After that, I just ran... to keep the weight off, to get high on the endorphins, whatever.<br><br>
But it was hard on my feet. Before my teens, I was diagnosed with fallen arches. I wore orthotic shoe inserts off and on, but they really didn't help. After 25 years, I started limping, during my daily run. Then I gradually tapered off with the jogging. I rationalized it by telling myself I was nearing 50, I didn't have enough time, it was injuring me, etc. The simple truth was this: the activity that had brought joy and meaning to most of my life was no longer fun. Worse, it HURT.<br><br>
Then I developed a life-threatening allergy. The docs suppressed my immune system with a corticosteroid, while simultaneously stopping my body's insane overmanufacturing of histamines, with H1 and H2 blockers. I was forced to carry around a lifesaving epinephrine syringe, which you may remember from the John Travolta/Uma Thurman overdose scene in "Pulp Fiction." If my body went into anaphylactic shock, I needed to inject myself, to stretch out my few remaining minutes of consciousness and delay the inevitable, so I could get myself to an Emergency Room before keeling over dead.<br><br>
Unfortunately, the steroid blew me up like a balloon. I even had to get surgery for an umbilical hernia, a few years later. So now, I was facing my 73rd birthday, gimpy and stout, with innards that were held together by scotch tape and spackle. I couldn't spend a long time on my feet, much less run. I was lucky I could WALK, ferchrissake. That's when my active-adult, 55+ community (a <a title="Man accused of exposing himself, groping residents of 55+ age community near Mesa" href="https://www.azfamily.com/2022/10/19/man-arrested-allegedly-exposing-himself-touching-residents-55-community-near-mesa/">scandal-plagued</a> nest of MAGA vipers <a title="[Leisure World,] a place where 97 percent of the people voted and the other 3 percent were in intensive care" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/25/john-mccain-arizona-senator-died-brain-cancer/955220001/">nicknamed "Seizure World"</a> by <a title="When McCain and [his chief of staff] arrived at the community to apologize, they saw a resident near the entrance making an obscene gesture at them." href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/watch-live-washington-says-goodbye-to-late-sen-john-mccain">John McCain</a> 😉) started promoting a <a href="https://leisureworldmesaturkeytrot5k.itsyourrace.com">5K/1mi Turkey Trot</a>, and I thought it might be a good excuse to get me off my f*cking a**. Plus, I liked the logo design, and wanted a t-shirt. Just between you and me, t-shirts have been a big motivation for lots of the batsh*t-crazy crap I've done in my life.<br><br>
Today was the <s>ordeal</s>... er, event. I didn't trot or jog in the Turkey Trot. I walked fast... well, medium fast... okay, it was <a href="https://leisureworldmesaturkeytrot5k.itsyourrace.com/Results.aspx?id=14711&y=2023&eid=124423&g=A&amin=0&amax=199">pretty d*mn slow</a>. But I walked a mile, and snagged my t-shirt. Along with a participation medal. I'm surprisingly attached to that giveaway crackerjack prize. It means more to me than most of the <!-- a href="https://fb.com/10157536426832477" -->medals I collected during my testosterone-fueled competitive years.<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwNAo8bFE7UnPCapkNR7cgbCWHWjp3-VXjfZ7POiG71VSDRaa2lNj0F8_ybb_SuiIpmDcuQ_GAKcnlZeuw-_JwnO9H4KVs7whdvGURoI6_8YB0ftiVAfLPoc64ztSbvsc57mSE6PPS5-zIHNSIIjnrgySa5JahrFrtjRWXSE6WySfDkZ9T72g/s1600/lwtt.png"><img alt="logo - tap to enlarge 500x500" title="logo - tap to enlarge" border="2" width="246" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwNAo8bFE7UnPCapkNR7cgbCWHWjp3-VXjfZ7POiG71VSDRaa2lNj0F8_ybb_SuiIpmDcuQ_GAKcnlZeuw-_JwnO9H4KVs7whdvGURoI6_8YB0ftiVAfLPoc64ztSbvsc57mSE6PPS5-zIHNSIIjnrgySa5JahrFrtjRWXSE6WySfDkZ9T72g/s1600/lwtt.png">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvXrQIUNr-cjCSRzAS0qY6DqaTaU0Wlrxde1HmhQqat6-ERYqbjgczxbmJOMqavT1F0PY7UHH9zb5z3p_nCxKnctFZHD23p98Tc579TzWcjUtGxdI8ekQaaa7uIrp57IIy0RGJ1FEj_Q_7d2WHIVfegPfHU_aBH2a5Il37jsvXq0kp2bY3WmZ/s1600/231121%285%29.jpg"><img alt="acb - tap to enlarge 500x500" title="Tap to enlarge. The obligatory chewing-on-the-medal pic. I thought it was gonna be plastic, but it was metal. Heavy! Impressive!! So that´s where our HOA fees go!!!" border="2" width="246" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGvXrQIUNr-cjCSRzAS0qY6DqaTaU0Wlrxde1HmhQqat6-ERYqbjgczxbmJOMqavT1F0PY7UHH9zb5z3p_nCxKnctFZHD23p98Tc579TzWcjUtGxdI8ekQaaa7uIrp57IIy0RGJ1FEj_Q_7d2WHIVfegPfHU_aBH2a5Il37jsvXq0kp2bY3WmZ/s1600/231121%285%29.jpg"></a><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYmG1GePnHeqVZdGPb957Jnxf-tlu57iiCgxucEg6A5VAb2m98astVcyf35e8I0_WpI2daxdJ-Yc1szPWitvGp3BQUbmCVNXoMdPQXnX3TtOjJ0EeBQtLly9ypn_h7UOHQu6R8ll37UFo7KC5zCgU1IGgwwyt61i5ueDmuym7viOz_bX3EypB/s1600/lwttmedl.jpg"><img alt="1101x539" title="turkey trot medal - tap to enlarge" border="2" width="500" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYmG1GePnHeqVZdGPb957Jnxf-tlu57iiCgxucEg6A5VAb2m98astVcyf35e8I0_WpI2daxdJ-Yc1szPWitvGp3BQUbmCVNXoMdPQXnX3TtOjJ0EeBQtLly9ypn_h7UOHQu6R8ll37UFo7KC5zCgU1IGgwwyt61i5ueDmuym7viOz_bX3EypB/s1600/lwttmedl.jpg"></a><br>
<a name="medals" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEido1E-fma9b3mbcUQjf0V-w4WuqVRqIM24UoaJgllcKCjJP5Umy-ywgwUNGsXeO9H8obX_4BITqYysSbOT_MyMClptiAC80xjj-FI9y6-lFP1sYh1v40tOgPY2GT26zmnO5UDnCUYLu_OJGqqL0qkJV-sedClDGwNKZ6m__FtyRpC9sdrcdcft/s1600/medals4.jpg"><img alt="medals 888x460" title="medals - tap to enlarge" border="2" width="500" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEido1E-fma9b3mbcUQjf0V-w4WuqVRqIM24UoaJgllcKCjJP5Umy-ywgwUNGsXeO9H8obX_4BITqYysSbOT_MyMClptiAC80xjj-FI9y6-lFP1sYh1v40tOgPY2GT26zmnO5UDnCUYLu_OJGqqL0qkJV-sedClDGwNKZ6m__FtyRpC9sdrcdcft/s1600/medals4.jpg"></a><br>
Now that I'm old and fat and slow, I often daydream about the Glory Daze, when I wasn't:<br>
1) Boston YMCA Indoor 600 Yard Open, January 1969, <a href="http://snzltr.blogspot.com/2019/10/#8355183230292459435">3rd, 1:22.6</a><br>
2) Western Mass HS Class AA Mile Championship, June 1969, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=92327367476&set=a.31617237476">3rd, 4:42.9</a> (qualified for State Meet)<br>
3) Michigan State University Intramural Mile Championship, June 1970, <a href="http://snzltr.blogspot.com/2019/12/#941616464957676149">2nd, 4:57.2</a><br>
4) NYC Marathon, October 1976, <a href="https://snzltr.blogspot.com/2019/12/#7853782540386564381">761st/2090 starters, 3:28:01</a> (first 5-borough marathon)<br>
++++<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10159458417687477&set=pcb.10159458421307477">More pix on Facebook</a> ~~ <a href="https://snzltr.blogspot.com/2019/11/#3172050205869266810">Manny Hanny Corp Challenge, 1980, 5th, NBC Running Team</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-37129904545006540872023-11-20T00:05:00.000-07:002024-03-03T08:30:19.110-07:00Megaliths, standing stones and other rocky protuberances. <br><br>Bucket List: Haven't you ever wanted to visit these ancient monuments? I have...<br><br>
<a href="https://www.newgrange.com/">Newgrange</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poulnabrone_dolmen">Poulnabrone</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10154443183962477&set=a.10154443182822477">*</a>, <a href="http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/misc/castlestrange.html">Castlestrange</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10154443184472477&set=a.10154443182822477">*</a>, <a href="https://www.kenmarestonecircle.com/">Kenmare</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10154443183547477&set=a.10154443182822477">*</a>, <a href="https://www.thewildatlanticway.com/sight/ardgroom-stone-circle/">Ardgroom</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10154443183647477&set=a.10154443182822477">*</a>, <a href="https://voicesfromthedawn.com/drombeg-stone-circle/">Drombeg</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10155313517012477&set=a.10155313515412477">*</a>, <a href="http://www.megalithicireland.com/Eightercua%20Stone%20Row.html">Eightercua</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10155313517802477&set=a.10155313515412477">*</a>, <a href="https://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/">Rollright</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10156078381002477&set=a.10156078380147477">*</a>, <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/avebury/">Avebury</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10156078381462477&set=a.10156078380147477">*</a>, <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/">Stonehenge</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10156078380407477&set=a.10156078380147477">*</a>, <a href="https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/loanhead-stone-circle/">Loanhead</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10152824974757477&set=a.10152824972417477">*</a>, <a href="https://calanais.org/">Calanais</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10153523080737477&set=a.10153523080422477">*</a>, <a href="https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/ring-of-brodgar-stone-circle-and-henge/">Brodgar</a>/<a title="personal photo on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10153520862057477">*</a>, <a href="http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/standingstones/">Stenness</a>.<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFor2dxAwxPmyAjR2CTSVrUrGQ3tpTGQnlbJ536ev2PtY1QfXTvWzhWRzXtn5BiMNhiUKC_TUGE6V90BlubMZYfq2sAbh-yZ86oIagWzEhUhPXo3msiTGArvlerCmYRWcy99Vi4e2Rim0fs_Fzn5Bl5TXug6GNMu8ubrVrccnJTXkSkO_u9Sd/s1600/aveb.jpg"><img alt="Avebury 1428x1357" title="Avebury Stone Circles, Wiltshire, 20May2019 - tap to enlarge" border="2" width="571" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFor2dxAwxPmyAjR2CTSVrUrGQ3tpTGQnlbJ536ev2PtY1QfXTvWzhWRzXtn5BiMNhiUKC_TUGE6V90BlubMZYfq2sAbh-yZ86oIagWzEhUhPXo3msiTGArvlerCmYRWcy99Vi4e2Rim0fs_Fzn5Bl5TXug6GNMu8ubrVrccnJTXkSkO_u9Sd/s1600/aveb.jpg"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-60801306536385157062023-11-01T00:05:00.034-07:002024-03-01T10:38:42.091-07:00Prostrate, Sipowicz, Lycopene. <br><br>Ladies, avert your eyes. 😉<br><br>
Andy Sipowicz (played by Dennis Franz on NYPD Blue) complained frequently about his "prost(r)ate," to comic effect. The real "prostate" is a small, walnut-shaped organ below the bladder and in front of the rectum in men. When it becomes enlarged - which occurs in only eight percent of men aged 31 to 40, but in EIGHTY percent of men over the age of 80 - some annoying things begin to happen: (1) urinary frequency goes up, (2) increased urinary urgency, (3) trouble starting urination, (4) weak or interrupted urination, (5) dribbling at the end of urination, (6) frequent urination during sleep periods, (7) urinary leakage. Among other things. Michael Douglas, in The Kominsky Method, was also dealing with BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) issues, and the show attempted to offer treatment suggestions. Over the past few months, I've tried Flomax, Beta Sitosterol, Saw Palmetto, Stinging Nettle, and Pumpkin Seed, but nothing has helped... until I discovered Lycopene - <a href="https://amazon.com/dp/B09R94LLZF">amazon.com/dp/B09R94LLZF</a> - which is derived from tomatoes. Not a cure-all, but helpful. Full disclosure: I have no affiliation with the Lycopene company. I'm just posting this admittedly subjective opinion as a public service.<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_60CM7gRgLdSn8Ok9FG6GBlY1z4NlDV6IOngsAu91B5u0PgPpA7eiSCYm-kz0mSLuOm5hVjSNynWVTa4ow6eFJEbjrw6xM_yQyH0e_1AKypKkQ7NuH3CFPQiXAEld0soHHRbwJTbw3W_J_tmhtpma37bV2i4ZrlanWS_sv42cbDPORQpXEGub/s1600/sipowicz.jpg"><img alt="800x949" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="600" height="711" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_60CM7gRgLdSn8Ok9FG6GBlY1z4NlDV6IOngsAu91B5u0PgPpA7eiSCYm-kz0mSLuOm5hVjSNynWVTa4ow6eFJEbjrw6xM_yQyH0e_1AKypKkQ7NuH3CFPQiXAEld0soHHRbwJTbw3W_J_tmhtpma37bV2i4ZrlanWS_sv42cbDPORQpXEGub/s1600/sipowicz.jpg"></a><br><br>
UPDATE 1: Three to five milliliters (one teaspoon) of urine can get trapped in a "U-bend" in a man's urinary system, just outside the pelvic floor muscles. This is particularly common in older men. Bulbar urethral massage, also known as urethral milking, is usually advised for treating post-micturition dribble (PMD), where trapped urine leaks out after men have been to the bathroom. The technique involves placing the fingertips three finger-widths behind the scrotum and gently massaging in a forward and upward direction towards the base of the penis. This pushes the urine forward into the urethra, and should be done twice. By pressing underneath the scrotum, almost around towards the anus, you can elevate that U-bend to a flat line and therefore allow the release of that urine out of the penis. One British doctor tells 'blokes,' "If you do this, we’ll have you back in beige trousers." [Also: <a href="https://www.uclahealth.org/cancer/cancer-services/prostate-cancer/patient-resources/educational-materials/kegel-exercises-men">Kegel exercises</a>]<br><br>
UPDATE 2: Recently, the possibility of treating PMD with a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5) has been suggested. The four oral PDE5 inhibitors commercially available in the U.S. (w/prescription) (<a title="Google" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=ed+prescription+online">on</a>li<a title="Medical News Today" href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/safest-ed-pills">ne</a>?) are sildenafil (Viagra, Pfizer), tadalafil (Cialis, Eli Lilly), vardenafil (Levitra and Staxyn, Bayer/GlaxoSmithKline), and a more recently approved drug, avanafil (Stendra, Vivus). These pills also treat erectile dysfunction or sexual impotence. Yep, two birds, one stone. 😉<br><br>
UPDATE 3: I recently received one of the best anecdotes via DM. This guy recently had a few minor issues with PMD (Post-Micturition Dribble) and wanted to buy some sanitary pads for a little peace of mind. After a shopping expedition to the local Walmart, he exclaimed, "So many choices! Ultra-Thin! Maxi! Overnight! Size Numbers! Flower Scent! Fragrance Free! Biodegradable Bamboo! Reusable Charcoal! Anti-Bunch! Flexi-Wings! Do the d*mn things fly?!" He said he spent more than twenty minutes, looking over the dozens of products and carefully examining each package to make a selection: "How do women choose?! I was nearly brain dead, by the time I grabbed a <a href="https://walmart.com/ip/pads/178511458">small plastic-wrapped cube of pads</a> and headed for the checkout. That's when I noticed a couple of teenage girls, who had been staring at me from the corner of a nearby aisle. Their smirking looks, with just a touch of disdain and incredulity, were priceless. They made the whole exhausting process worthwhile!"<br><br>
UPDATE 26Jan2024: I eventually found that Lycopene wasn't as effective as I had hoped. I'm now trying the snake-oil remedies: first GetProstaThrive.com which is shilled by a urologist, Dr. Jacob Khurgin. Next up on my radar is TheFlowForceMax.com which comes in a gummy and has a funny story about a diaper on a plane. 😉 [And now, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68055575">King Charles has joined the club</a>.]<br><br>
UPDATE 25Feb2024: Blood in urine, lotsa pain and urgency. Got a 2-day reprieve for sleeping from <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/AZO/10317749">Phenazopyridine HCL</a> and an emergency appointment with a urologist. (Also, a friend said <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q3SSRGW">D-Mannose</a> and/or cranberry juice are effective in preventing Urinary Tract Infections.)<br><br>
UPDATE 01Mar2024: Dr. Frank Simoncini at <a href="https://southeastvalleyurology.com">SouthEastValleyUrology.com</a> will perform a UroLift on me this month. <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=kstcpW_JbYY">His UroLift video</a> looks promising. For my UTI, he prescribed ciprofloxacin, which is also used to treat Anthrax and The Plague. 😉<br><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyJtfKzeVD9Jv55E33uSfEfqz51Q8U20rlY3bMqisuYdAOe7iOiqzcTAyD1QvcHDsNCjimod83YyOKjK3WQ4sEoz4CaQXoC_UgpXPHuVtEqZ_U-RdU_bO-Fct6q7tvAhbwromDyYvpDGzT8dI9h_SOMcQt4UtoMB_SWWArUpXh93dIU66EAuT/s1600/prostate.png"><img alt="" alt="800x382" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="600" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyJtfKzeVD9Jv55E33uSfEfqz51Q8U20rlY3bMqisuYdAOe7iOiqzcTAyD1QvcHDsNCjimod83YyOKjK3WQ4sEoz4CaQXoC_UgpXPHuVtEqZ_U-RdU_bO-Fct6q7tvAhbwromDyYvpDGzT8dI9h_SOMcQt4UtoMB_SWWArUpXh93dIU66EAuT/s1600/prostate.png"/></a>
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THROUGH THE YEARS - The National Broadcasting Company<br>
Commemorating seventy years of broadcasting excellence. Top row, from left to right: 1943 - First TV logo, 1954 - Stylized xylophone and mallet, 1956 - First seen in living color, "The Bird" is an 11-feathered Peacock, 1959 - The animated logo, "The Snake," ran at the end of programs. Next row, from the left: 1975 - An abstract "N" featured red and blue trapezoids, 1980 - "The Proud N" added a modified 11-feathered Peacock, 1986 - The current logo, "The Peacock," is among the world's most recognized logos. NBC Historic Pin Set, Limited Edition 000502 of 10,000.<br><br>
LATER: This certificate just fell out of the sleeve box. [Tap images to enlarge.]<br><br>
STILL LATER: I do remember, however, that when the NBC Pages noticed the 1980 Peacock got neutered, we started calling him "The NBC Pea." 😉<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqZzQ-0BU70TTNYbdv30ek30Ev8w24UUmKk_MgHAq9a0KXqF-P_NxBZ6U5XaostTF-AFLN5Gr52MfS9Mrc8XtcfnHCO-B5U-AP_2m63g5pXS0C7im28WsgKDjKJr7zjBOSIkEKNHfafmdaREFZwwkGHdil24dFLXwBjBaxl2gzCxr2yoaPPW2/s1600/nbcpin1.jpg"><img alt="tap to enlarge 1076x943" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="504" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqZzQ-0BU70TTNYbdv30ek30Ev8w24UUmKk_MgHAq9a0KXqF-P_NxBZ6U5XaostTF-AFLN5Gr52MfS9Mrc8XtcfnHCO-B5U-AP_2m63g5pXS0C7im28WsgKDjKJr7zjBOSIkEKNHfafmdaREFZwwkGHdil24dFLXwBjBaxl2gzCxr2yoaPPW2/s1600/nbcpin1.jpg"></a><br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6qjWaj6qED3szV0gMgrffP_GoKWxQFwq7ypa6cfoHLJb_dJm-vtQuCyQ3IZ4w7_BCv589ZR78D8usdzdI8CKLKsPIIdAauXiSO2UIc6FOXjK1Grev2BG_QolrPl3Z1m3CstP_Ef50mLhyVMNHApH8lFfOeGf_hmZA7peKIU7T5v394Jl5Dzx/s1600/nbcpin4.jpg"><img alt="tap to enlarge 1034x1234" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="504" height="601" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6qjWaj6qED3szV0gMgrffP_GoKWxQFwq7ypa6cfoHLJb_dJm-vtQuCyQ3IZ4w7_BCv589ZR78D8usdzdI8CKLKsPIIdAauXiSO2UIc6FOXjK1Grev2BG_QolrPl3Z1m3CstP_Ef50mLhyVMNHApH8lFfOeGf_hmZA7peKIU7T5v394Jl5Dzx/s1600/nbcpin4.jpg"></a><br>
<img alt="504x245" title="The NBC Pea" width="504" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgth4oCgO5u-jHBAKJhKQK89N5XSCQb_5Chit8SLtI7EU8ZEHolnuaMuvwYbQ1QT8mTZBCKOGHdrM5PmYw8uOdSfYAu5I-mLk5bDTgQz1mM4PBfXZxEzwcLjPFp65a7DgEy1-dtU0D_UWiBMa7zshQt24MHzqvsQkph2iTJUGbAtGtoOo7um9yd/s1600/nbcpin3.jpg">Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-21222125325242088602023-10-01T00:05:00.006-07:002024-01-17T04:50:50.243-07:00Hungarian and Mandarin Chinese references in the movie Arrival. <br><br><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80117799"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91UusfCtQaL._SY218_.jpg" width=154 height=218 hspace=3 vspace=3 alt="Arrival" title="Arrival on Netflix" border=2 align=right></a>Screenplay by: Eric Heisserer, based on the short story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164/quotes/?item=qt3155382">Arrival quotes</a>:<br>
<b>Agent Halpern </b>(Michael Stuhlbarg): We have to consider the idea that our visitors are prodding us to fight among ourselves until only one faction prevails.<br>
<b>Louise Banks </b>(Amy Adams): There's no evidence of that.<br>
<b>Agent Halpern</b>: Sure there is. Just grab a history book. The British with India, the Germans with Rwanda... they even got a name for it in Hungary.<br><br>
[Szalámitaktika = Salami Tactics = divide the opposition, in order to face only smaller, weaker enemies. Coined in the late 1940s by the Communist leader Mátyás Rákosi to describe the actions of the Hungarian Communist Party. Rákosi claimed he destroyed the non-Communist parties by "cutting them off like slices of salami."]<br><br>
ALSO - the dying words of General Shang's wife, translated from Mandarin Chinese into English: "In war, there are no winners, only widows."<br><br>
See also: <a href="http://snzltr.blogspot.com/2007/01/#112600685934321696">Hungarian dialogue in Hollywood films</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-86756799727190796032023-09-10T16:06:00.026-07:002024-03-18T04:37:31.240-07:00Edd Hall/Tom Snyder/Jay Leno.<a name="edd"> </a><!-- 😉 --><br><br>
Edd Hall, who acted as Jay Leno's announcer for many years, was one of my colleagues on the NBC NY Page staff. We all knew we were in the presence of greatness when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6949S449TCA">Edd did his fire-eating act, plus a flawless impression of Tom Snyder</a> on The Tomorrow Show in 1980.<br><br>
In fact, our Page class was bursting with talent, as you can see from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alancb/posts/pfbid0iuTjSa1B8LnDPJfBDpSDXbTGVEHfqa72qV6G8dbWw5CpwpBjWpcjmnM6CMT3tpbdl">this performance by The Front Pages</a> (Pamela Senatore, Mark Traub, Ramon Plaza, Mindy Green, Lesley Gallo, Mark Lyons, Alan Goldfarb, Candy Korman and Rose Riggins) on that same Tomorrow show. Several other Pages also performed individual acts. Later, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0348427/awards/">Norm Gunzenhauser</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0423834/awards/">Peter Johansen</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0529123/awards/">Mark Lyons</a> collected many Emmy awards and nominations, while <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0079612/">Robert "Bob" Beuth</a> acted in dozens of films, TV shows and commercial campaigns. Other Pages held top-level positions at NBC, CBS, HBO, ESPN, Showtime, etc. A few of us (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Candy-Korman/author/B008DYK4OC">Candy Korman</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Linda-Marr/author/B00IMQRM0U">Linda Marr</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Alan-C.-Baird/author/B000APGB80">myself</a>) even wrote books.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jsQj-eXO7VWTeLxwM58Uw9podkOIRN5mMJZrJQK-VKqvU912PAkVtc3bsE6QOo5rRtubT9w4jOL_EWw-GA3KXMisMXWbBnv0OqwmAjDHCgdZ-XHlbN6G3q09dNm9V176gHgrUzo4_P3pBeD3PgyQGWPYDD9JqCqsPP3F7MqwJnLPs455ZbJh/s1600/emmy.jpg"><img loading="eager" alt="1000x563" title="tap to enlarge" border="2" width="500" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jsQj-eXO7VWTeLxwM58Uw9podkOIRN5mMJZrJQK-VKqvU912PAkVtc3bsE6QOo5rRtubT9w4jOL_EWw-GA3KXMisMXWbBnv0OqwmAjDHCgdZ-XHlbN6G3q09dNm9V176gHgrUzo4_P3pBeD3PgyQGWPYDD9JqCqsPP3F7MqwJnLPs455ZbJh/s1600/emmy.jpg"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-41814458396053050742023-09-09T07:00:00.020-07:002023-10-14T11:08:22.326-07:00It's Eclipse Season Again!<a name="e"> </a><br><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vFPmJ5c0ZDy_Jv1gz2TWU5QSgCQmXBKk6e6JDY8pJvSI6PMh8VPW1cIn1gD9_mv26owCiMqyHDPq78B2HADBOglJkQ3BQ1iJkcz36riUrbxoznsK_bvaZdd7cNBENaARO-N1avqIVfz7jyw88uRfN3uUpFiIYSj95cidN5rr32azx1BEdVzE/s1600/eclipse.png"><img title="tap to enlarge" alt="tap to enlarge 600x303" border="2" align="right" width="300" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vFPmJ5c0ZDy_Jv1gz2TWU5QSgCQmXBKk6e6JDY8pJvSI6PMh8VPW1cIn1gD9_mv26owCiMqyHDPq78B2HADBOglJkQ3BQ1iJkcz36riUrbxoznsK_bvaZdd7cNBENaARO-N1avqIVfz7jyw88uRfN3uUpFiIYSj95cidN5rr32azx1BEdVzE/s1600/eclipse.png"></a>
Annular Eclipse on 14 October 2023:<br>
Closest to Phoenix: Albuquerque, New Mexico (6 hr 20 min, 419 miles)<br>
<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Phoenix,+AZ/Albuquerque,+NM">https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Phoenix,+AZ/Albuquerque,+NM</a><br>
89.73% coverage of Sun, duration of annularity: 4 minutes, 48 seconds<br>
<a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2023-october-14?n=394">https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2023-october-14?n=394</a><br>
(Partial solar eclipse visible in Phoenix - 79.24% coverage of Sun.)<br><br>
Total Eclipse on 8 April 2024:<br>
Closest to Phoenix: Kerrville, Texas (13 hr 6 min, 919 miles)<br>
<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Phoenix,+AZ/Kerrville,+TX">https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Phoenix,+AZ/Kerrville,+TX</a><br>
100% coverage of Sun, duration of totality: 4 minutes, 25 seconds<br>
<a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8?n=%4011788322">https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8?n=%4011788322</a><br>
(Partial solar eclipse visible in Phoenix - 64.07% coverage of Sun.)<br><br>
<i><b>The Atlantic</b></i>, 8/8/2017: «Ever since it was first published in 1982, readers—including this one—have thrilled to "<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/annie-dillards-total-eclipse/536148/">Total Eclipse</a>," Annie Dillard's masterpiece of literary nonfiction, which describes her personal experience of a solar eclipse in Washington State. It first appeared in Dillard's landmark collection, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060915412/thescreenwrightr">Teaching a Stone to Talk</a>, and was recently republished in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062432966/thescreenwrightr">The Abundance</a>, a new anthology of her work.»<br><br>
NB: We are lucky to be alive in this era of total eclipses. Every year, the Moon gets 3.8 centimeters further away from Earth. Which means there will come a time when the Moon will never completely eclipse the Sun. It will simply appear too small in the sky. And that will happen in about 650 million years... so don't hold your breath. 😉<br><br>
Updates: <a href="https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=13&month=10&year=2023">eclipse zone animation</a> (SpaceWeather), <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/13/world/solar-eclipse-time-path-watch-scn/index.html">how to watch</a> (CNN), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_cycle">eclipse cycles</a> (Wikipedia).<br><br>
Below: annular eclipse of 2012May20 @ 6:38pm, as the 83% maximum arrives in <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/@33.478,-111.686?iso=20120520">Mesa, AZ</a>. Tree leaves act as "pinhole cameras," diffracting the sunlight while casting crescent shadows on a side wall and back fence post of our home, highlighting the shape of the Sun and Moon.<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabSDrjQK8avdQEubA1m6nfOLFmKA3KydPcxmzTcOVpU-nl5sl7sDRDOWtLBaCL5naFI9JJXUcFJrG8sZRYgtuf_39iqzODBBxr0T1WRygqDteVcWWlYe_OS-3AeOqkbXRLpIns6j_KI_mwzEPS8T9jS3MVBf4fnmiPRiMk7h4VMn2QMEIFdc7/s1600/20120521.jpg"><img alt="960x779" title="tap to enlarge - wall" border="2" width="480" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabSDrjQK8avdQEubA1m6nfOLFmKA3KydPcxmzTcOVpU-nl5sl7sDRDOWtLBaCL5naFI9JJXUcFJrG8sZRYgtuf_39iqzODBBxr0T1WRygqDteVcWWlYe_OS-3AeOqkbXRLpIns6j_KI_mwzEPS8T9jS3MVBf4fnmiPRiMk7h4VMn2QMEIFdc7/s1600/20120521.jpg"></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-fTG6FSOqfjwmatuVmS5zWPSP1ftuDpA9bTdEIaUW6kYvAdgHvKsMZadPwaSbd9kLYLnMkau-96KiQjaZGe8W2wdB57c2XkkIUomcNEu51OIhU-E-XSOLk43fFXUYp5N7-kghozqMr3giH3ychxIWTQcIa77ZJwNVKZDkqwFRjIgSwq2Oatl/s1600/20120520.jpg"><img alt="484x960" title="tap to enlarge - post" border="2" width="197" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-fTG6FSOqfjwmatuVmS5zWPSP1ftuDpA9bTdEIaUW6kYvAdgHvKsMZadPwaSbd9kLYLnMkau-96KiQjaZGe8W2wdB57c2XkkIUomcNEu51OIhU-E-XSOLk43fFXUYp5N7-kghozqMr3giH3ychxIWTQcIa77ZJwNVKZDkqwFRjIgSwq2Oatl/s1600/20120520.jpg"></a><br><br>
Updates below: annular eclipse of 14 Oct 2023 @ 9:32am, as the 79.24% maximum arrives in <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/@33.3991,-111.6884?iso=20231014">Mesa, AZ</a>.<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT8ifB9ylJgF9n0JF5g9mcqPH8g7rR_p9or-V4Lfnlr-KkOxK6OLnz-TgHkJ_SZq0GpboH0zNz9cyk8A2NWEk60m3ig57IVC9Jm5fJ8uJjJ33uCGT1rF-CRsttQGCiWdwCqPAOaKrFurjx_m79jlYXXo2r495goVy-YSKCKTjoQYkIYrbxtkSD/s1600/231014%281%29.jpg"><img alt="4032x3024" title="tap to enlarge - sidewalk1" border="2" width="340" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT8ifB9ylJgF9n0JF5g9mcqPH8g7rR_p9or-V4Lfnlr-KkOxK6OLnz-TgHkJ_SZq0GpboH0zNz9cyk8A2NWEk60m3ig57IVC9Jm5fJ8uJjJ33uCGT1rF-CRsttQGCiWdwCqPAOaKrFurjx_m79jlYXXo2r495goVy-YSKCKTjoQYkIYrbxtkSD/s1600/231014%281%29.jpg"></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0fK3MOs4d-ILAguIklebHanBcZlMyTwJpObPqLRNR4UQdY2-yW-EzslV1bicAy4bAQciMbOmxlKI9CsI4WIXzVex1nVWTHe46QtBRJZVZXTQc223qARFybk0bU1WNteToG7SnwGCTjJ2pIdzU7MaF-61Goof3NcbdNUzEuqfGLFSZc4pAZ6yc/s1600/231014%282%29.jpg"><img alt="4032x3024" title="tap to enlarge - sidewalk2" border="2" width="340" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0fK3MOs4d-ILAguIklebHanBcZlMyTwJpObPqLRNR4UQdY2-yW-EzslV1bicAy4bAQciMbOmxlKI9CsI4WIXzVex1nVWTHe46QtBRJZVZXTQc223qARFybk0bU1WNteToG7SnwGCTjJ2pIdzU7MaF-61Goof3NcbdNUzEuqfGLFSZc4pAZ6yc/s1600/231014%282%29.jpg"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-74539512701851045402023-09-08T21:25:00.000-07:002023-10-14T05:18:20.936-07:00Facebook Spam Settings.<a name="fb"> </a><br><br>
FYI, for Facebook Group Admins: Facebook's software is automatically canceling some postings as "spam," simply for including links. The system is incorrectly assuming the links are "credit card numbers." If this is happening in your Group, go to Manage, Group settings, Potential spam, uncheck two boxes, and Save.<br><br>
(This will not cause problems in most Groups - the spam settings were designed for Groups with hundreds of postings per day.)<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDlAlOL2Zm448Lcm9cgtnDePqhwRh2FRdCEoJ17YUBX7ftO3hy1eOLiHSEc2kdBqPC3Ak870f5YZ2nv0BLet7rD6EoHuqPArvxSjIlbTWxsQKE6Iyr_CdE96tpg8N1h8ayQzkmRrOxNkdeLpsK2Kv0pfkoc2p8E62Ixi2GayF-F5nHgBsMrBC/s1600/spam.png"><img alt="spam" border="0" width="532" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDlAlOL2Zm448Lcm9cgtnDePqhwRh2FRdCEoJ17YUBX7ftO3hy1eOLiHSEc2kdBqPC3Ak870f5YZ2nv0BLet7rD6EoHuqPArvxSjIlbTWxsQKE6Iyr_CdE96tpg8N1h8ayQzkmRrOxNkdeLpsK2Kv0pfkoc2p8E62Ixi2GayF-F5nHgBsMrBC/s1600/spam.png"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-15901138185123330802023-09-01T00:05:00.091-07:002023-09-07T14:05:20.440-07:00Egosurfing.<a name="nan"> </a><br><br>Just discovered a site featuring 10 wallpapers with 2 different quotations by yours truly.<br><br>
Hmm. Still trying to decide whether to be flattered or outraged. 😉<br><br>
<a href="https://quotefancy.com/alan-c-baird-quotes">QuoteFancy.com/alan-c-baird-quotes</a> (Includes: "My highest aspiration in life is to serve as the Limerick Laureate of Nantucket.")<br><br>
<a href="https://quotefancy.com/quote/2708355/Alan-C-Baird-My-highest-aspiration-in-life-is-to-serve-as-the-Limerick-Laureate-of"><img src="https://quotefancy.com/media/wallpaper/800x450/7771341-Alan-C-Baird-Quote-My-highest-aspiration-in-life-is-to-serve-as.jpg" width="300" height="169" title="tap to enlarge - My highest aspiration in life is to serve as the Limerick Laureate of Nantucket." alt="Nantucket"></a> <a href="https://quotefancy.com/quote/2708354/Alan-C-Baird-History-isn-t-written-by-the-winners-OR-the-losers-it-s-written-by-the"><img src="https://quotefancy.com/media/wallpaper/800x450/6742754-Alan-C-Baird-Quote-History-isn-t-written-by-the-winners-OR-the.jpg" width="300" height="169" title="tap to enlarge - History isn’t written by the winners OR the losers; it’s written by the writers." alt="History" align="top"></a>
<br><br><b>UPDATE: </b>I recently sent these three to the <a href="https://yesterdaysisland.com/limerick-challenge">Nantucket Limerick Challenge</a>:<br><br>
There once was a jerk from Nantucket<br>
Who piled Krugerrands in a bucket<br>
His bitcoin he frittered<br>
By purchasing Twitter<br>
And shot it to X in a rocket [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk">ref</a>]<br><br>
There was a young gal from Nantucket<br>
Whose weird "twisties" caused her to muck it<br>
So she took some time off<br>
Though her critics did scoff<br>
And her landing, now she has stuck it [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Biles">ref</a>]<br><br>
There once was a thug from Nantucket<br>
Though some say his visa, he snuck it<br>
Windows, he averted<br>
But planes get diverted<br>
The Kremlin, they claim, you can't buck it [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Prigozhin">ref</a>]<br><br>
<a href="https://yesterdaysisland.com/limerick-challenge"><img alt="Challenge 1070x648" title="Challenge" width="300" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtT_tyjvvbavyc-AbT1O_E_ddedfuG8pGygKxVBXES0ChDIlQIP0NTjbRr4gddn0NXq-3tQy2-U7R1LZLJk_2lW_tgBW3mt6ptranvIclc1sjtBH2i7sqUk2QppoS0tflEojOsZ2WqBFU7plFYmaaEkTi4-tctD8ISBRYbofihAeOQON8fKfYX/s1600/limchal.jpg"></a>
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-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-25617183597684864212023-08-19T21:35:00.034-07:002023-08-28T21:06:53.743-07:00Reign George "Spike" Rix (13 Nov 1932 - 17 Aug 2023; Age 90). <br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6QFV8dhdd_1WtEqPcyC9__Em3c-4c9Ap6XlNb3QOAQZ2X8U_R7gBqUhAMtxq-hmwDGyvdEOr9mELnBYH0pixXZ-IIoK-oPiXG72pOJv96SYoP3bcn5lGb_AVLRhReZh1MhMeWx70eEQN1dkNKv0hhi9H3IyKsBRcdVDC4kJaElEpjZWSXHGr/s1600/reign3.jpg"><img alt="tap to enlarge - HS yearbook 1950 307x372" title="tap to enlarge - HS yearbook 1950" border="2" align=right width="150" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6QFV8dhdd_1WtEqPcyC9__Em3c-4c9Ap6XlNb3QOAQZ2X8U_R7gBqUhAMtxq-hmwDGyvdEOr9mELnBYH0pixXZ-IIoK-oPiXG72pOJv96SYoP3bcn5lGb_AVLRhReZh1MhMeWx70eEQN1dkNKv0hhi9H3IyKsBRcdVDC4kJaElEpjZWSXHGr/s1600/reign3.jpg"></a>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/alancb/posts/pfbid0AoD4gBCyAqjBzCAHioTdQLbbCbTndHDgRzj5naiqAPyEp2L2wwU2TcE2Jqd3BDM7l" title="FB posting">Our Beloved Coach Has Passed Away</a>.<br>
In 1968, Reign Rix helped us organize the first Cross Country team that Westfield High ever had. And in 2020, when he found out about our biweekly <a href="http://snzltr.blogspot.com/search/label/ZoomFest">ZoomFest</a> meetings, he joined us for a chat (see below). Safe travels, Coach! [<a href="http://facebook.com/805561284437188">Obituary</a>]<br><br>
Rix was a pistol. When my family moved 90 miles across Massachusetts just before my senior year of high school, I was burning to run cross-country in the fall. But Westfield didn't have a team. What to do, what to do? Somebody told me to talk to the Track coach, who doubled as the A/V Supervisor. He was tucked away in his dark and dingy lair, and didn't really want to take on another bunch of high-spirited guys. So he referred me to his assistant Track coach. Rix seemed willing, and even eager, to help us out, but said he knew nothing about x-country training. Would I be able to design workouts for the newly-formed team? Sure, I had already had three years of experience in *running* workouts, why not create them? Easy-peasy. We struggled during that initial fall season, and didn't win very many meets, but I formed a whole bunch of strong friendships that have lasted more than 50 years. And Coach Rix was our cheerleader, babysitter and moral compass.<br><br>
He drove us 100 miles into Boston for an invitational Indoor Track meet, too. Westfield didn't have a formal Indoor program, but a few of us continued working out in the snow, to stay in shape for the Spring season. Coach Rix discovered <a href="http://snzltr.blogspot.com/2019/10/#kf">the YMCA meet that got me in trouble with my girlfriend's parents</a>. 😉<br><br>
During Spring Track, Rix was the Assistant Coach, but he knew how much I wanted to break three of the <a href="https://snzltr.blogspot.com/2021/11" title="Westfield High School (MA) outdoor track records, 1969">school records</a>, so he personally helped me along. After getting two of the records, I unofficially broke the third by two seconds in a two-mile practice. When meet day rolled around, the old recordholder, who had graduated the previous year, took time off from his factory job to watch the race. Everyone expected me to break the record, and I became overconfident. My split times were okay during the first mile, but I slowed down during the second. By the end, I had barely enough gas to sprint to the finish line and collapse on the infield. Did I break it? Did I get my precious third record? Coach Rix was holding the stopwatch. He slowly walked over to me, knelt down, and carefully showed me the time. I closely examined <a title="old record-10:29.4, new record-10:29.2" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTWli0w8L8nvgWdl_fc2fRQZK3f-rZu6F8jbqUCX5MOspAgBV4HBU9iMY_gd9BNFVbPhYJKmbrS61NrYZJv-Shb0TlP58-volGc69p7yFcJEABV6KuKoeskCWTod35n0h0uQfYqANts8tLIPJ2x-1nktzyT0wS5sf3WU8-WkwtIqXpicltGNl/s1600/watch.jpg">his stopwatch</a>, and the margin was only two-tenths of a second, well within the degree of error for a hand-timed race. From my adult perspective today, I'm pretty sure he was offering me the chance to squeeze his hand, momentarily start the stopwatch again, and add a second or two. I was headed for college and a bright future, far from Westfield, while the old recordholder was doomed to a life of dead-end factory jobs in his hometown. I already had two school records, and he was just trying to hold onto one more year of immortality on Westfield's Records Board. But when I looked at Coach Rix's stopwatch, I was greedy. I didn't squeeze his hand. Didn't momentarily start the stopwatch again. Instead, I jumped up and celebrated. Everybody in the stands cheered my new record. Except one guy.<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrp2d1K-wy74eWZiUCxH-1csilXc0aWqPPfOBoH8OlDXPV_tvBAcavA8jlw2qUqiiVlA2LI4D2c_wDpPDB8-PNkY0ELHd8XTP9_qV3aJybS3lwudzxO3hgAZJlKoj9w0p12fiddwx5_AlWDGHivon--AFs46KcqzRrsZGAt9ef2jCCerHQ7Ra/s1600/reign2.jpg"><img alt="Zoom - tap to enlarge 960x1075" title="Zoom - tap to enlarge" border="2" width="500" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrp2d1K-wy74eWZiUCxH-1csilXc0aWqPPfOBoH8OlDXPV_tvBAcavA8jlw2qUqiiVlA2LI4D2c_wDpPDB8-PNkY0ELHd8XTP9_qV3aJybS3lwudzxO3hgAZJlKoj9w0p12fiddwx5_AlWDGHivon--AFs46KcqzRrsZGAt9ef2jCCerHQ7Ra/s1600/reign2.jpg"></a><!-- https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vnNshH8h4p65HKITsjd23bsHCXwe_kX8SqpXGnN4mIpoP5-KFlFnrL-GKWS6cisvPayr9HwwmX3F-mDjJ1TdLhB6kTEEQ1NVM3evu7dh-AR3JM_iyEljb8tpfjdp0w_uMOC36VqoBBCnDr_aQWsirnBekIKbZVWyPgXXUfu0PnnbqkA7aAzn/s1600/reign.jpg -->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6548454.post-87288872915154475342023-08-11T05:00:00.000-07:002023-08-11T05:18:17.629-07:00Are Romanians Rewriting Hungarian History On Wikipedia? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Trianon"><img alt="Trianon" border="2" width="300" height="204" align="right" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Trianon_consequences.png/300px-Trianon_consequences.png"/></a><br><br>My Hungarian wife has been researching her book on the history of her country, and often refers to Wikipedia to double-check her sources. She tells me that a lot of Wikipedia articles reflect the Romanian perspective on Hungary, which is usually at odds with the true history.<br><br>
I know that a lot of Romanians worked as subcontractors for <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/textlinkbrokers.com/about/">a SEO (search engine optimization) company</a> which employed me about fifteen years ago. The company used Romanians because (1) they worked cheap, and (2) they were extremely adept at manipulating <a href="http://snzltr.blogspot.com/2008/03/#7981524316215237377">Google's PageRank system</a>.<br><br>
So it now appears that Romanians are using Wikipedia to change how the English-speaking world views Hungarian history. Example: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Trianon">Treaty of Trianon</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com