Orgins - The Irish In Me

This Saint Patrick’s Day my thoughts are on my families’ blood lines - where does the Irish come from? For me and my kids it comes from my paternal great great great grandmother whose grandmothers’ family came from Ireland in the early 18th century, and, my grandmother whose grandfather came to Canada from County Tyrone around 1848 (she also provided the French blood line.)

For my grandkids they get 50% of their Irish blood from the Dad who was pure Irish on both his paternal and maternal sides. While we don’t know when his father’s family came to America; his mother’s families came to Baltimore in 1891 and in 1897 from County Mayo.

So the blood lines are:

For my brother, sister and I:
Paternal: Swiss, Welsh, Irish, English, French, and Scottish
Maternal: American Indian-Gabrielino, Spanish, and Mexican Indian

For my kids:
Paternal: Swiss, Welsh, Irish, English, French, Scottish, American Indian-Gabrielino, Spanish, and Mexican Indian
Maternal: Filipino-Tagalog, Filipino-Ilocano, and Chinese

For my grandkids:

Paternal: Irish
Maternal: Swiss, Welsh, Irish, English, French, Scottish, American Indian-Gabrielino, Spanish, Mexican Indian, Filipino-Tagalog, Filipino-Ilocano, and Chinese

And when did all these lines come to the Americas? Well you can see the Irish, what about the rest?

Swiss - 1737 to Philadelphia
Welsh - 1724 to Philadelphia and early 18th century to the Carolina’s
English - around 1835 to Canada and early 18th century to Virginia
French - unknown to Canada
Scottish - unknown probably early 18th century
Spanish - unknown probably early 17th century to California and as early as 16th century to Mexico
American Indian-Gabrielino - here first before everybody else!
Mexican Indian - 1885 to California, one branch may have been as early as 17th century to California
Filipino - 1973 to California

What an interesting mix my family is - American as apple pie!

Oh those Kings and Queens at the Movies

I love history and I love comparing what the history books and a movie on the same subject treats the same history. Of course and very often the movies are very far removed from what really happened but I still love them. Sometimes my kids ask me about a certain person or period in history and I often refer them to a movie instead of a book because I know that they will probably watch the movie before they read the book.

Recently I began thinking if the movies could cover one of my favorite historical periods - the Kings and Queens of England. So I have gone looking and have compiled this list of movies. They need to be taken with a grain of salt and followed up with a reading from a good encyclopedia to get the facts and catch the errors.

I have excluded anything done by the BBC that hasn’t been shown on PBS and almost everything done for TV unless it is available on DVD. No silent movies either.

Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (1969): Portrays Alfred the Great's struggle to rid Wessex of the invading Danes, in the 870s AD.
Edward the Elder
Aelfweard
Athelsttan the Glorious
Edmund the Magnificent
Eadred
Eadwig the Fair
Edgar the Peaceable
Edward the Martyr
Æthelred the Unready
The Ceremony of Innocence (1970)
Sweyn I Forkbeard
The Ceremony of Innocence (1970): Depicts a highly fictionalized account of the events leading up to Sweyn Forkbeard's invasion of England in AD 1013.
Edmund Ironside
The Ceremony of Innocence (1970)
Cnut
Harold Harefoot
Harthacnut
Edward the Confessor
Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955): Other than the fact that he appears in the movie don’t go betting your history book on this movie.
Harold Godwinson
Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955)
Edgar the AEtheling
William the Conqueror
Lady Godiva of Coventry (1955)
William II
Henry I
The Pillars of the Earth (2010)
Stephen
The Pillars of the Earth (2010): Fictionalized version of England during the civil wars between King Stephen and his cousin Maud
Matilda
Becket (1964)
The Pillars of the Earth (2010)
Henry II
Murder in the Cathedral (1952)
Becket (1964): A young Henry and his friend Becket
The Lion in Winter (1968): An old Henry and his sons
Henry the Young King
Becket (1964)
Richard I
When you get to the Lion Heart and John you have to deal with the Robin Hood legends so I’m providing two separate entries, one for the King and one for the legend.
Richard the Lion Heart
The Crusades (1935)
King Richard and the Crusaders (1938)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
Richard the Lion Heart and Robin Hood. Take you pick they are all based on a legend. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938): John is the Norman bad guy, the Sheriff of Nottingham is a fool and Robin Hood is the Saxon national hero. King Richard I is the good Norman and back in England before dying in France. Best actors and best music.
Robin and Marian (1976): Robin has already been Robin Hood and is older now and returning from the Third Crusade with Richard. Richard dies in France, Robin returns to England, meets up with Marion, deals again with the Sheriff of Nottingham and dies.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991): Done somewhat tongue in cheek. Sheriff of Nottingham is the bad guy this time. Best comedy and best line "I'm going to cut out his heart with a spoon".
Robin Hood (2010): Change of pace, Richard dies in France, John becomes king and Robin helps him stay king until the end when John makes Robin an outlaw. Best story.
John
When you deal with Richard I you deal with his younger brother John. Again, we have to deal with John as King and that the old rascal Robin Hood.
John
The Lion in Winter (1968)
John and Robin Hood. Look familiar?
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Robin and Marian (1976)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Robin Hood (2010)
Henry III
Edward I
The Black Rose (1950): Played, as an idealist seeking to unite Norman and Saxon in his kingdom which is probably true, forget the rest of the movie.
Braveheart (1995): Portrayed as a cruel, hard-hearted tyrant which may have been true at this time in his life.
Edward II
Edward II: Cinematic version of Christopher Marlowe's play - which uses 20th century clothing and gay rights marches as an aspect of the story.
Braveheart (1995): Doubtful portrayal of Edward being cuckolded by William Wallace, who is represented as the real father of Edward III.
Edward III
The Dark Avenger (1955): More the story of his son Edward the Black Prince.
Richard II
Richard II (1982): Film version of Shakespeare’s play.
Henry IV
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954): Portrayed but I wouldn’t place a lot of faith on the facts in this movie.
Chimes at Midnight (1965): Focused on William Shakespeare's recurring character Sir John Falstaff and contains text from five Shakespeare plays: primarily Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, but also Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Henry V
Henry V (1944): Adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name.
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954): Portrayed but I wouldn’t place a lot of faith on the facts in this movie.
Chimes at Midnight (1965): Focused on William Shakespeare's recurring character Sir John Falstaff and contains text from five Shakespeare plays: primarily Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, but also Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Henry V (1989): Adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. I think this is the best of the two adaptations.
Henry VI
Tower of London (1939)
Richard III (1995)
Richard III (2007)
Edward IV
Tower of London (1939)
Richard III (1955): Film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historical play of the same name, also incorporating elements from his Henry VI, Part 3.
Tower of London (1962): Remake of 1939 firm.
Richard III (1995)
Richard III (2007)
Edward V
Richard III (1955)
Richard III (1995)
Richard III (2007)
Richard III
Tower of London (1939): Historical and quasi-horror film not based on Shakespeare’s Richard III. Boris Karloff plays a great Mord.
Richard III (1955): Film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historical play of the same name, also incorporating elements from his Henry VI, Part 3.
Tower of London (1962): Remake of 1939 film.
Richard III (1995): Adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play by the same name.
Richard III (2007): A modern day version of Shakespeare’s play (placed in the 1930’s) that is worth the look.
Henry VII
The Tower of London (1939)
Richard III (1955)
Tower of London (1962)
Richard III (1995)
Richard III (2007)
Henry VIII
Oh gee there are so many that I’m only go for those that are really important films:
The Private Life of Henry VIII: Charles Laughton won the 1933 Academy Award as Best Actor for his performance as Henry.
Nine Days a Queen (British title: Tudor Rose) (1936)
The Sword and the Rose (1953): Fictionalized version of the story of Mary Tudor, Henry’s sister.
A Man for All Seasons (1966): Thomas More and Henry VIII “Great Problem”.
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969): Henry and his love affair and marriage to Anne Boleyn.
Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972): Film version of the famous BBC television series The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008): A romanticized account of the lives of 16th-century aristocrats Mary Boleyn, one-time mistress of King Henry VIII, and her sister, Queen Anne, who became the monarch's ill-fated second wife, though much history is distorted.
The Tudors: Historical fiction television series based upon the reign of King Henry VIII of England. Events in the series differ from events as they actually happened in history. Liberties were taken with character names, relationships, physical appearance (Henry never gets old or fat) and the timing of events.
Edward VI
The life of Edward VI has to be divided into those movies which are not based on Mark Twain’s “Prince and the Pauper” and those that are (and, there are a lot more “Prince and the Pauper” movies!).
Edward VI
Nine Days a Queen (UK title: Tudor Rose) (1936)
Young Bess (1953)
Lady Jane (1986)
The Tudors: Includes Edward only before he became king.
Edward VI in the Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
The Prince and the Pauper (1957)
The Adventures of the Prince and the Pauper (1969)
Crossed Swords (UK title: The Prince and the Pauper) (1977)
Lady Jane Grey
Nine Days a Queen (UK title: Tudor Rose) (1936): Opens with King Henry VIII on his deathbed stating the order of succession, and ends with Jane's beheading. It took some liberties with the history of the period, including a fictional Earl of Warwick playing a similar role to John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland in real life.
Lady Jane (1986): This film is correct in its portrayal of Jane as a precocious and talented scholar, but it is way off in other aspects. Jane was not a social reformer, she hated Guilford (Guilford’s mother forced her to leave her parents home), Jane refused to make Guilford king and Jane and Mary actually got alone very well.
Mary I
Nine Days a Queen (UK title: Tudor Rose) (1936)
Young Bess (1953)
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969): She makes a brief appearance in a scene showing Catherine of Aragon's death; in reality, Mary was not present at this event as she was living far away attending her half sister Princess Elizabeth.
Lady Jane (1986)
Elizabeth (1998)
The Tudors
Elizabeth I
Mary of Scotland (1936): The film does not keep close to the historical truth, portraying Mary as something of a wronged martyr and her husband, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, as a romantic hero.
Fire Over England (1937): Pretty much pure fiction as far as all the characters except Elizabeth go.
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939): Historical fiction.
The Sea Hawk (1940): Fiction, but, based on Sir Francis Drake and his exploits.
Young Bess (1953)
The Virgin Queen (1955): Another fictional portrayal; based on Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Mary, Queen of Scots (1972)
Elizabeth (1998): While it’s a good portrayal of Elizabeth it’s too full of holes, inaccuracies and fictions to be a good account of her life.
Shakespeare in Love (1998): A fictional romantic comedy that’s just fun to watch.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007): Sequel to 1998 Elizabeth.
Elizabeth I (2008): A TV miniseries that has been show as a two part movie that is much more accurate that the 1998 version and its 2007 sequel. Still has its fare share of inaccuracies but not as many.
The Tudors
James I
Charles I
To Kill a King (2003)
Cromwell (1970)

Oliver Cromwell
To Kill a King (2003)
Cromwell (1970): Fairly accurate but with errors that make it fictitious history.
Richard Cromwell

Charles II
Restoration (1995)
England, My England (1995): The story of Henry Purcell.
The Libertine (2004)
James II
England, My England (1995)
William III and Mary II
Anne
George I
George II
George III
The Madness of King George (1994): It tells the true story of George III's deteriorating mental health, and his equally declining relationship with his son, the Prince of Wales, particularly focusing on the period around the Regency Crisis of 1788.
John Adams (2008)
George IV
The Madness of King George (1994)
William IV
The Young Victoria (2009): Includes his public tirade against the Duchess of Kent nearly verbatim.
Victoria
Disraeli (1929)
Victoria the Great (1937): The film biography of Queen Victoria concentrating initially on the early years of her reign with her marriage to Prince Albert and her subsequent rule after Albert's death in 1861.
Sixty Glorious Years (1938): Sequel to the 1937 Victoria the Great.
Mrs. Brown (1997): Based partially on fact, but how much is true is uncertain.
The Young Victoria (2009): Although largely faithful to a selection of historical facts, the film drew criticism for embellishing on events in order to increase dramatic potential. For example, Prince Albert was never shot during an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria.
Edward VII
Sixty Glorious Years (1938)
Mayerling (1968)
Young Winston (1972)
Mrs. Brown (1997)
George V
A King's Story (1965)
Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978)
The Kings Speech (2010)
Edward VII
Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978): A seven-part British television series available on DVD that dramatizes the events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson.
Wallis & Edward (2005): Another British television series available on DVD. This time from the view of Wallis, George and Elizabeth.
The Kings Speech (2010)
George VI
Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978
Wallis & Edward (2005)
The Kings Speech (2010): A pretty accurate depiction of King George VI‘s effort to overcome his stutter. Introduced to Lionel Logue, an unorthodox Australian speech therapist the two men become friends as they work together, and after his brother abdicates, the new king relies on Logue to help him make a radio broadcast at the beginning of World War II.
Elizabeth II
The Queen (2006): Released almost a decade after the event, the film depicts a fictional account of the immediate events following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales on 31 August 1997.
The Kings Speech (2010)

Navy Parrot

The old Navy chief finally retired and got that chicken ranch he always wanted. He took with him his life-long pet parrot.

The first morning at 0430, the parrot squawked loudly and said, "Reveille, Reveille. All hands, Heave out, trice up! The smoking lamp is lit, now Reveille!

The old chief told the parrot, We are no longer in the Navy. Go back to sleep.

The next morning, the parrot did the same thing.

Chief told the parrot, "If you keep this up, I'll put your &*# out in the chicken pen."

Again, on the third day, the parrot dit it, and true to his word, the Chief put the parrot in the chicken pen.

About 0630 the next morning, the Chief was awakened by one heck of a ruckus in the chicken pen. He went out to see what was the matter.

The parrot had about 40 white chickens at attention -- in formation. On the ground lay three bruised and beaten brown chickens. The parrot was saying, "By God, when I say fall out in dress whites, I don't mean khakis!"

Chain of Command

I spent 26 years in the greatest canoe club in the world - the United States Navy - and retired as a Master Chief Radioman. Like all organizations there was a chain of command that you had better adhere to if you wanted to survive. It worked when I was in the Navy and I'm sure it still works the same way today. So here is the REAL Navy Chain of Command:

Admiral - Leaps over tall buildings with a single bound. Is more powerful than a locomotive. Is faster than a speeding bullet. Walks on water. Gives policy guidance to God.

Captain - Leaps short buildings with a single bound. Is more powerful than a small engine. Is just as fast as a speeding bullet. Walks on water if the sea is calm. Talks with GOD.


Commander - Leaps short buildings with a running start. Is almost as powerful as a small engine. Is slower than a speeding bullet. Walks on water in indoor swimming pools. Talks with GOD if special form is provided.


Lieutenant commander - Barely clears little huts. Lose tug of war with small engine . Can fire a speeding bullet. Swims well. Is occasionally addressed by GOD.



Lieutenant - Crashes into buildings trying to leap over them. Is run over by small engines. Can sometimes handle a gun without inflicting self injury. Dog paddles. Talks to animals.


Lieutenant Junior Grade - Cannot recognize buildings. Recognizes small engines two or three times. Is not issued ammunition. Can stay afloat if instructed in Mae West. Talks to walls.


Ensign - Falls over doorstep when trying to enter a building. Says"Look at the Choo-choo" when locomotive passes by. Not allowed elastic for his slingshot. Plays in puddles. Mumbles to himself.


Chief Petty Officer - Lifts tall buildings and walks under them. Kicks Locomotives off tracks. Catches Bullets in teeth and eats them. Freezes water with a single glance. He is GOD.

Funny Snake Story

Found this cute snake story and wanted to share it:

A Texas shopowner who loved to fish went out on a lake one morning but after numerous bites without gaining a fish he ran out of worms.

Then he saw a cottonmouth with a frog in his mouth. Frogs being good bass bait and knowing the snake couldn’t bite him with the frog in his mouth he grabbed him right behind the head, took the frog, and put it in his bait bucket.

Now the dilemma was how to release the snake without getting bitten. So, he grabbed his bottle of "Jack Daniels" and poured a little whiskey in its mouth.

The cottonmouth's eyes rolled back, he went limp.

The shopowner released the snake into the lake without incident and carried on fishing using the frog.

A little later, he felt a nudge on his foot. There was that same snake with two frogs in his mouth.

Snakey want a drinky?

Blessing of the Fleets

Every Spring during the National Cherry Blossom Festival the United States Navy Memorial hosts its annual Blessing of the Fleets ceremony as a tribute to our nation’s rich maritime heritage and the men and women who have contributed to its growth and success. The ceremony's highlight occurs when Sailors from the U.S. Navy's Ceremonial Guard proceed across the Memorial Plaza's "Granite Sea" to pour water from the Seven Seas and the Great Lakes into the surrounding fountains "charging" them to life and ushering in the spring season.

But more important to me the White House Mess' Navy Culinary Specialists serve Navy Bean Soup! Nothing is better than a nice big bowl of "Navy" Navy Bean Soup. A long tradition that isn't continued every often today was the serving of Navy Bean Soup with eggs to order every Saturday morning breakfast. Wish they still did that!

Here's the White House recipe:

Our Veteran's and their wars

We celebrate Veteran's Day 11 November every year as the United States and I've often wondered what wars all those Vet's came from. Well there are a lot of them since we've been fighting almost every year since 1776. We seem to always be sending our serviceman, and women, "over there" (a lot of those fighting years have really been "over here" warring against the peeps here first - the Native Americans).

So here is a list of all of ours wars, expeditions, campaigns, occupations, operations and what nots where our brave men and women have fought, died, lost and won:

American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Oconee War (1784)
Northwest Indian War (1785-1795)
Quasi-War (1796-1800)
First Barbary War (1801-1805)
War of 1812 (1812-1815)
Second Barbary War (1815)
First Seminole War (1817-1818)
Arikara War (1823)
Winnebago War (1827)
Black Hawk War (1832)
First Sumartran Expedition (1832)
Second Seminole War (1835-1842)
Texas Revolution (1836)
Second Sumatran Expedition (1838)
Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
Cayuse War (1847-1855)
Pitt River Expedition (1850)
Apache Wars (1851-1900)
Bombardment of San Jual del Norte (1854)
Third Seminole War (1856-1858)
Yakima War (1855-1858)
Rogue River Wars (1855-1856)
Second Opium War (1856-1859)
Paiute War (1860)
Navajo Wars (1861-1864)
American Civil War (1861-1865)
Dakota War (1862)
Colorado War (1863-1865)
Battles of Shimonoeski (1863-1864)
Snake War (1864-1868)
Powder River Expedition (1865)
Red Cloud's War (1866-1868)
Comanche Campaign (1867-1875)
Korean Expedition (1871)
Modoc War (1872-1873)
Red River War (1874-1875)
Black Hills War (1876-1877)
Nez Perce War (1877)
Bannock War (1878)
Cheyenne War (1878-1879)
Sheepeater Indian War (1879)
White River War (1879-1880)
Ghost Dance War (1890-1891)
Spanish-American War (1898)
Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902)
Moro Rebellion (1899-1913)
Boxer Rebellion (1900)
Occupations of Honduras (1903-1925)
Occupation of Cuba (1906-1934)
Occupation of Nicaragua (1910-1933)
Mexican Revolution (1914-1919)
Occupation of Haiti (1915-1934)
Occupation of Dominican Republic (1916-1924)
World War I (1917-1918)
Russian Civil War (1918-1920)
World War II (1941-1945)
Cold War (1947-1991)
Greek Civil War (1947-1949)
First Indochina War (1950-1954)
Korean War (1950-1953)
Second Indochina War (1953-1975)
First Taiwan Strait Crisis (1954-1955)
Second Taiwan Strait Crisis (1958)
1958 Lebanon Crisis (1958)
Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Invasion of the Dominican Republic (1965-1966)
Korean DMZ Conflict (1966-1969)
USS Liberty Incident (1967)
War on Drugs (1972-present)
SS Mayaguez Incident (1975)
Angolan Civil War (1975-1976)
Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981)
Soviet War in Afghanistan (1979-1989)
Nicaraguan Civil War (1981-1990)
Invasion of Grenada (1983)
Invasion of Panama (1989-1990)
Lebanese Civil War (1982-1984)
1981 Gulf of Sidra Incident (1981)
Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986)
Iran-Iraq War (1987-1989)
Gulf War (1990-1991)
Iraqi No-Fly Zones (1991-2003)
Somali Civil War (1992-1994)
Bosnian War (1993-1995)
Operation Uphold Democracy (1994)
Bombings of Afghanistan and Sudan (1998)
Kosovo War (1998-1999)
Global War on Terrorism (2001-present)
War in Afghanistan (2001-present)
Yemen (2002)
Insurgency in the Philippines (2002-present)
War in Somalia (2002-present)
Iraq War (2003-2011)
War in North-West Pakistan (2004-present)
Second Liberian Civil War (2003)
2004 Haitian Rebellion (2004)
Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans Sahara (2006- present)
Somalia (2007)
Third Libyan Civil War (2011)
Operation Inherent Resolve military intervention against ISIL (2014)

So let us raise a cry in praise for all of our Veteran's - those dear dead, forgotten, living and still fighting!

Advising or Nagging?

Parents advise, it’s our job and we do it well, even continuing when our children grow up and move on in their lives. You know how to do it: Turn right at that corner; you should buy this it’s better; say Please; don’t yell at the kid, etc. We’re well practiced at it and we never get tired of it. We call it advising, our kids called in nagging. Well we don’t nag do we?

But, the shoe fit’s the other foot too.

Last February Anna and I went to California to visit my Mom, sister and brother. It was a great trip and I had a blast until Anna saw me get my comeuppance. I love my Mom to bits, she’s 85 and still sharp as a tact and she has years and years of experience taking care of her kids - including how to nag, whoops advise, you to death. On a rainy Saturday morning Anna and I took my Mom shopping out there in the desert (wow, there are a lot of stores out there). I drove, Mom sat shotgun and Anna sat in the back seat where she had a find old time listening to my Mom advise her number one son.

You don’t want to go to that market there’s a better one down the street; your going to fast slow down; turn left no right no left at that corner you just passed; put you coat on it’s cold; on and on she advised me and Anna sat in the back seat roaring. All I could do was simmer and say Yes Mom, over and over. I was being nagged (advised) by the best nagger (adviser) ever! After too many years I was getting again what I had been giving my kids for years!

On the plane trip home to Virginia Anna regaled me with her new insights to my life with my Mom. She just enjoyed it too much, much more than I liked. But it’s true - you never get too old to be “advised” by your parents and you have to take it - that’s the rule.

Do I still advise, you betcha! Will I get advised when I visit my Mom again, you betcha! It’s part of the job of being a parent and a child. So advise on my friends AND don’t let anyone call it nagging!

There Here!

Well my favorite time of the year is finally here - the Holiday Season! Which of course started with Halloween and Anna’s famous Halloween Pot-Luck and Kiddy Trick-or-Treat.

I should have dressed as Igor the Kitchen Minion chained to my roller chair! Four pounds of Lumpia, five pours of Potato Salad, a pound of Cole Slaw and 48 sticks of Monkey Meat (beef on a stick). I had a little help but I glory in the Bravo Zulu’s I get from everybody who eats the food I fix. Anna did well too making the best BBQ burned beef Brisket ever! Who says accidents can’t be victories!

Next comes the BIG one - Thanksgiving. Now, Thanksgiving is THE holiday in our family, the one we start worrying and planning for in August. This year it is going to be a true trial - without an oven! So there will be our first ever BBQ grilled Turkey and our first ever home smoked Turkey. Keep you fingers crossed. Everything else will be from the range burners including Fried Stuffing - not a real problem since we normally have Fried Stuffing for Thanksgiving breakfast anyway. But it promises to be a very unique meal of Thanks.

Christmas follows and I’m almost have all my gifts finished - yeah for me. We always do something for Christmas Eve, but, I’m never sure what until the last minute. Will probably have a ham for Christmas dinner or maybe a nice rack of lamb this year. I’ll be fixing it because Anna and Erica will disappear to their beds for the day right after the massive mess of present openings. They’ll be more than tired out from all the holiday preps!

Finally, New Year’s which this time actually might be more than watching the Big Ball drop in New York City. The Dynamic Duo need to buy formal dresses for a wedding in mid January and they want to get their monies worth out of them so we might go to one of those fancy New Year’s parties in Norfolk. I can’t wait to try and find a Monkey Suit that will fit me. Shoes too.

So the Holidays are here and I am having fun! Hope everyone I know does the same!

The Time He Said It?

My youngest granddaughter, Miss M, is a beautiful young brunette with lots of smarts (she’s in advanced classes at school), but there are days when I swear that she has a ditzy blonde caught somewhere in her head. Example?

My daughter A related this story to me and it’s so precious that I can’t wait for her to blog it so I will. Apparently a friend of Miss C’s, my oldest grand child, gave her one of those “Jesus” cards with the Bible quote “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son…” Miss C brought the card home to show her family and after reading the quote Miss M grabbed the card to read it herself.

Now under the quote the card gave the book, chapter and verse as John 3:16. The blonde in Miss M leapt out and asked “Is this the time he said it?”

I’m still rolling on the floor! You just have to love Miss M’s M-ism’s!

Mr. Socks Dies

Socks, the First Cat in the Clinton Whitehouse, died Friday, 20 February 2008. A stray rescued in Alabama by Chelsea Clinton, Socks was 20 years old. He died in Hollywood, Maryland, of throat cancer. He had spent his last year’s in the home of Betty Currie the personal secretary of Bill Clinton while he was president.

Socks was probably America’s most famous cat. During his White House years many famous figures had their photo’s taken with Socks. I am sure that he will be remembered by many American’s.

So here’s to Sock’s! Have fun chasing mouse angles in Kitty Heaven!

Bloody Valentines

Bechca didn’t known that Valentines Days has its roots in a Roman feast celebrated on the Ides of February (15 February) called the feast of Lupercalis. On that day those old Romans celebrated a rite of fertility by having naked men run through town carrying the skins of newly sacrificed goats dipped in blood. The women of the town would present themselves to be gently slapped by the strips and marked by the blood to improve their chances of conceiving in the coming year. Uck! Want to be my bloody Valentine?

(No wonder that Al Capone picked Valentine's Day to off his seven enemy type buddies in that Chicago garage thus creating the “Saint Valentine‘s Day Massacre“.)

But then came the Christian’s who just couldn’t have naked young men running around town so in 496 Pope Gelasius officially declared February 14 to be the feast day of two Roman martyrs, both named Saint Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century. Neither Saint Valentine seems to have an obvious connection to courtship or lovers. So out with the naked guys.

But you just can’t get rid of a good thing so despite attempts by the Church to sanctify the holiday, the association of Valentine’s Day with romance and courtship continued through the Middle Ages. In medieval France and England it was believed that birds mated on February 14, and the image of birds as the symbol of lovers began to appear in poems dedicated to the day. By the 18th century it was common for friends and lovers to exchange handwritten notes on Valentine’s Day. Printed cards had largely replaced written sentiments by the 19th century. Today, Valentine’s Day is second only to Christmas as the most popular card-sending holiday.

But, Hey, I’m all for bringing back the naked guys running in the streets, but without the goat skins. Maybe, we could add naked girls too?

Happy Valentines Day ya’ll.

Baked Plank Anyone?

It’s winter in Virginia so the Chesapeake Bay is full of Scoters (also called Coots on the East Coast). Scoters are a stocky Sea Duck that summer in Canada and Alaska, but winter on the Pacific and East Coasts of North America. In Virginia you can see Surf Scoters, White Winged Scoters and Black Scoters all along the Chesapeake Bay looking for a nice mollusk dinner.

Oyster, clam and mussel eating birds sound kind of tasty, but Mama Nature has a way about her, just check out these two New England recipes from a 1924 edition of Field and Stream:

Put the scoter in a large pot of water and place a flat iron or anvil on top or the duck. Boil for a goodly time and when you can stick a fork into the flat iron or anvil the Scoter is ready to eat. Or,

Nail the duck to a large plank, place the plank in the sun for a week. Carefully remove the Scoter from the plank and toss to your cat. Cook the plank.

So all you guys and gals who “shoot only to eat,” get your shotguns out and go shoot some Scoters. I’m sure your families will enjoy the anvil or the plank.

Demon Power

My grand son J has decided that his grand dad’s power company is the Demon Power Company. At least that what he told Miss A last night when I needed the telephone number for Dominion Power my REAL power company during a power outrage down at the beach. You have to love how those little ones of ours can mess up the simply easy things in their little lives.

Go for it J. You’re probably right anyway!

Three and a Half Hours!

The events are real, the time lines have been adjusted for readability purposes!

I have a teenage grand daughter, Miss C. She is bright, articulate, smart as a whip and a sassy spoken lassie. But, she has a flaw, a flaw I guess a lot of today’s teenagers are starting to exhibit.

I’m hell on wheels about this new flaw, your not allowed to practice it when your alone with me. I call it the “cell phone texting syndrome.” It is exhibited by the need to be constantly texting friends, animals, Martians and anyone else in the known Universe who has a cell phone whose number you know.

Miss C comes home from school and disappears into her bedroom not to be seen until dinner, then disappears again not to be seen until the next morning (which is fine with her siblings). Ask any member of her family what’s she is doing and you’ll be told she’s texting. And, I thought she was doing homework -- I knew she wasn’t cleaning her room.

I really didn’t known until recently how much she texted on her cell phone until her Mother, Miss A, told me that Miss C’s cell phone bill listed over 14,000 incoming texts and a little over 13,000 outgoing texts. That’s about 433 outgoing texts a day and if you give each text message 30 seconds to compose and send that’s approximately 216 minutes or 3 ½ hours a day. Since Miss C has kept her grades up and meets most of her household commitments, that 3 ½ hours is coming from somewhere else and she admits that time is from sleeping. No wonder she’s been looking so hollow eyed. If you ask me that’s a bit much (I have 22 outgoing calls on my cell phone from the last three months!).

It’s a bit much for her mother too; so she grabbed up the cell phone and limited it to use for when Miss C is out of the house. Then I watched Miss C go into cell phone withdrawal. You could see her walking around the house with a vacant look on her face and her hands constantly reaching back to her back pockets looking for her cell phone. She said her fingers itched and she couldn’t keep them still. After an hour without her phone she was screaming at her mother “OK! I’m addicted to my cell phone, I need it back!”

Of course she didn’t get it back but it shows how much our kids can get hooked on the damm things. Her Mother will be working on limiting Miss C’s phone usage but I think I’ll stay away for a while. Things could get tough at my daughters for a while, twitching fingers and all.

Abecedarians

Sometimes you run into a new word, for you, that makes so much sense that you can’t help but admire the English language for its beauty. I found just that word this morning on my daily word list widget - Abecedarian (a·be·ce·dar·i·an) or A B C darian. Now I’m sure you’ve guessed it already, but, a Abecedarian is someone learning the basics of literacy or a subject. In other words, learning their A B C’s.

So give your little, or big, Abecedarians a hug and tell them how good Abecedarians they are and enjoy using the English language a little more than before.

Cat Herding

When I grow up I want to be a Cat Herder just like these guys.



Believe it or not this was a Super Bowl commercial for EDS. Even football geeks can like cats I guess. Get along little Kittie!

Stupid Decisions

While watching the Obama Inauguration Special on HBO this afternoon I listened to all the allusions to the past and future events of our county. So being born and raised in California I of course began to think of the stupid things that happened in that great state in the past that affected it’s future.

So here’s today’s lesson from California, the "Stupid Decision State."

Stupid Decision Number One: San Francisco Cable Car System. The decision to let the system go from 12 lines down to three during the 1930's. You can bet that San Francisco's present municipal government would love to just shoot those guys running the city then. What a tourist dollar loss! Ding Dong Dumb!

Stupid Decision Number Two: Venice, California Canals. The decision to fill-in 14 of the original 16 miles of Venice, California's canals, leaving only two miles of the canal system in 1929. I can double, triple guarantee that today's Los Angeles city fathers would love to have those 14 miles back considering what the tax value would be today. Never fill-in a water way you might need later to drown your stupid ass.

Stupid Decision Number Three: Pacific Electric Railway. The 1954 decision to eliminate the "Red Cars" which at it's high point had over 1000 miles of track, connecting Los Angles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties with a real rapid transit system. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. All those rails and land rights gone. I bet that every time today's Los Angeles area politicians look at the cost of land, rails and construction they could just cry. Never, ever, let a good thing die, you might need it in the future!

So ends the lesson.

Mean Mama's

“Mean Mama’s” permeate our culture in art, literature, music, theater, film and I belive the meanest has to be music's the Queen of the Night from the “Magic Flute.”



Edda Moser sings "Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen ("hell's vengeance boils in my heart") from Mozart's Magic Flute

Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen,
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen,
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr.
Verstossen sei auf ewig,
Verlassen sei auf ewig,
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Alle Bande der Natur
Wenn nicht durch dich Sarastro wird erblassen!
Hört, Rachegötter, hört der Mutter Schwur!

Hell's vengeance boileth in mine heart,
Death and despair flame about me!
If Sarastro does not through thee feel the pain of death,
Then wilt thou be my daughter nevermore.
Disownéd be forever,
Forsaken be forever,
Destroyed be forever
All the bonds of nature
If you do not make Sarastro turn pale!
Hear, Gods of Vengeance, hear a mother's oath

The Bible has Herodias, who convinces her daughter Salome , to ask Herod to "Give me the head of John the Baptist on a big plate". Then there is Faye Dunaway in her role as Joan Crawford in “Mommy Dearest. Now Joan Crawford comes off as one of films great “Mean Mama‘s” (who can ever forget the “No more wire hanger” moment?).

Of course we don’t want to forget the Internet’s current “Mean Mama” who advertised "OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."

But the meanest “Mean Mama” has to be the Queen of the Night form Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute.” Her aria "Hell's vengeance boils in my heart", depicts a fit of vengeful rage, in which the Queen of the Night puts a knife into the hand of her daughter Pamina and exhorts her to assassinate Sarastro, the Queen's rival, on pain of denying and cursing Pamina if she does not comply. How would you like to be disowned forever, forsaken forever and destroyed forever by your loving Mommy? Now if you ask me that’s one mean Mama!

Besides the lyrics, which were written by Mozart’s friend Emanuel Schikaneder, the music in mean too. The aria is considered to be one of the most famous opera arias, highly memorable, fast paced and menacingly grandiose. It is widely renowned for being a demanding piece to perform well. The artistic demands of the dramatic context, a vengeful demand for murder, put a heavy demand on even the well-qualified voice.

Sung well you can’t help get the general idea that this Queen of the Night is one really mean piece of work. So let’s hear it for my nomination of music’s “Mean Mama”, the Queen of the Night!

p.s.
By the way I think Edda Moser is the BEST Queen of the Nignt and has a truly "well qualified voice". On the other hand... Listen if you dare to Florence Foster Jenkins who made a good living as the "worse" opera singer ever (she said she never sang badily - oh yeah?.

Feast of the Holy Innocents

For this blog entry I am going to to take a serious religious tone - for of all the Anglican feast days the “Feast of the Holy Innocents” has always had special meaning for me. For some reason it hits me the hardest for it truly shows how much man’s hatred can be, even to the children of man.

After the visit of the Magi, Herod, in rage and jealousy, slaughtered all the baby boys in Bethlehem and surrounding countryside in an attempt to destroy his perceived rival, the infant Messiah. These "innocents" are honored by the Church as martyrs. On, this day, in our own times, it is appropriate to recall the vast host of children who suffer innumerable forms of violence which threaten their lives, dignity and right to education.
Matthew 2:13-18
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you: for Herod is about to search for the Child, to destroy Him." And he rose and took the Child and His mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son."

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation: Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled because they were no more."

My Prayer for the Feast of the Holy Innocents

O God, whose praise the martyred innocents did this day proclaim, not by speaking, but by dying: Destroy in us all the malice of sinfulness, that our lives may also proclaim thy faith, which our tongues profess. Through our Lord. Amen.