Hmmm Trivia

A man’s brain is only 2 percent of his body weight, while a woman’s brain makes up 2.5 percent of her body weight a full 25 percent more.

TV Potty Trivia

The first toilet ever seen on TV was on the comedy series Leave It to Beaver.

Oily Trivia

Cooking and salad oils could lubricate machinery, such as cars and boats, according to Penn State chemical engineers. Tests found that when blended with an additive developed at Penn State, some vegetable oils perform as well as or better than commercial oils.

Derby Trivia

On February 22, 1989, Barbara Jo Rubin became the first female jockey to win a horse race. She rode Cohesian to victory at Charlestown Racetrack in West Virginia. The first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby was Diane Crump on May 2, 1970.
 

Levon Helm and Southern Reflections

I've been watching, experiencing more appropriately, the tribute to Levon Helm that I recorded on the DVR from public television.  I'm going to get the DVD of the entire concert.  Check out who was there HERE.  Wow!!  
 
 The Band's music has always resonated with me, and there's just something about Levon.  My favorites are "The Weight," "Ophelia," "Up on Cripple Creek," "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down," and "Long Black Veil."  Their songs have been covered by so many whose versions touch me in all kinds of ways.  As always with music that's been part of the soundtrack of our lives, the memories and emotions came pouring in.  Also the wish that I could sing and play an instrument.  Oh well.

While listening to "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down," I was struck with the mixture of feelings many of us have about the South.  It's like family and can be love/hate, but it's our past, our history, our reality, and we don't want outsiders to criticize us.  We get defensive even if we know it might be true or agree with them.  It's the way it's done that bothers me.  For example, when I traveled out of the South and spoke, the perception of my IQ dropped by at least 40 points. They also assumed I was a racist.  As you know, I'm as socially liberal as possible.  Anyway, that song dredges up resentment toward Gen. Sherman and his devastation of homes, farms, and spirit. I won't go into my full rant on all this, but I do have one!! 

Just want to mention all the music that originated in the South as well as the outstanding authors.  It's a fertile place for storytelling. 

New Feature

All of a sudden I noticed those orange underlined links on my posts that I didn't put there.  Anybody know how to get them off and make them stop?  Anyone else having this problem?

Look at the next blog post "Blogness" and let me know if "Facebook" is in orange and underlined twice.  It is on mine.   In the one on the Inauguration, "stained glass windows" is. 

Blogness

Well, it seems that I had about ten years of blogging in me.  I started my first one in 2002 and wrote regularly for quite a while.  During the last year, not so much.  Progressively fewer posts and time on the computer.  Part of that has to do with feeling better, I think.  Another part is having my attention diverted to Facebook and playing that damned game I'm beginning to get tired of (thank goodness).  No, not Scrabble.  I still enjoy playing that with my worthy opponents.  It's Castleville, a quest game that I was addicted to.  I probably need to give it up for Lent.

So what shall I do?  I miss being in touch with my blogging friends and enjoyed that time we bantered and had our own private jokes.  Maybe I can get back into it. 

 

Suit Up and Discuss!

Inauguration

President Obama's Inaugural Speech was more than I even hoped for yesterday!  This is the man I voted for!  When he included Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall in his speech, I was thrilled.  When he included marriage equality in the arena of civil rights, this brought it to its rightful place.  He also addressed climate change, immigration reform, war, and many other relevant issues we care about.  This second term should be interesting!  Hope they can all work together.  That's so frustrating! 

Michelle and their daughters looked great, too!  What a wonderful day!
 
And evening!
 

Richard Blanco's poem was excellent.  Here is an article about his life. 
This is his poem "One Today"

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.


My face, your face, millions of faces in morning's mirrors,
each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:
pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,
fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper -
bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,
on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives-
to teach geometry, or ring-up groceries as my mother did
for twenty years, so I could write this poem.


All of us as vital as the one light we move through,
the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day:
equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined,
the "I have a dream" we keep dreaming,
or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won't explain
the empty desks of twenty children marked absent
today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light
breathing color into stained glass windows,
life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth
onto the steps of our museums and park benches
as mothers watch children slide into the day.

One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk
of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat
and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills
in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm, hands
digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands
as worn as my father's cutting sugarcane
so my brother and I could have books and shoes.


The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains
mingled by one wind - our breath. Breathe. Hear it
through the day's gorgeous din of honking cabs,
buses launching down avenues, the symphony
of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways,
the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.


Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,
or whispers across cafe tables, Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying: hello, shalom,
buon giorno, howdy, namaste, or buenos dias
in the language my mother taught me - in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.


One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.


One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes
tired from work: some days guessing at the weather
of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love
that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother
who knew how to give, or forgiving a father
who couldn't give what you wanted.

We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight
of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always - home,
always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon
like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country - all of us -
facing the stars
hope - a new constellation
waiting for us to map it,
waiting for us to name it - together.

© 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Golden Globes

Bob's recap HERE expresses my thoughts on the show perfectly.  We are as one on this.  Scroll on down.  You'll get there.  Also his post on Jodie Foster's speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Award reflects my feelings as well; HOWEVER, after what he wrote, I hope he was being ironic when he tagged her fashion commentary with the adjective "lesbian" on there.  Knowing Bob, he probably was.  We can hope but won't have to since he'll let us know.

Part of Jodie Foster's speech confuses me.  Is she retiring from acting?  Will she still direct?  Is she retiring from show business entirely or what?  Not clear on that part.  She seemed nervous and rambled through some of it.  She referred to coming out but primarily to her desire for privacy.  The part about her family was touching and moving.  I'm sure this was hard for her, and it showed.  I've always admired her.  She has remained loyal to her friendship with Mel Gibson, who was at her table and looked stunned and unsure of where he was and what was going on. 

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were hilarious and got some good zingers in there.

Tommy Lee Jones was not amused.
 

Good show. 

Gnu Attitude

This is going to be a year devoted to taking care of myself.  I'm still recovering from heart surgery and going to cardiac rehab for it.  I'll add to that with some other exercises and weight loss.  However, I'm going farther!  I had a facial today for the first time in my life.  Yes, Maddie, imagine how my skin needed that!  I've been getting massages, manicures, and pedicures periodically and will get into a regular routine, I hope.  OK, I'll try.  So healthy habits and pampering!  Bring it on!  It's time!  All that enthusiasm made me tired and hungry.  See you later. 



 

My Family

My daughter and her kids and my son, his wife, and their son came down yesterday for fun and games.  We went to eat at the Mexican restaurant where I used to play trivia.  Yes, I do plan to go back and play again.  Then we came back to my house and played "Apples to Apples" and "Family Feud."   Lots of laughter and loudness!  Since our reunion, I've gone to my daughter's the day after Christmas for the last ten years.  However, this year they came here.  I'm not ready to drive a few hours during holiday traffic yet.  It really does take a long time to recover from this surgery! 

Another reason, I haven't had them here was the condition of my house, which looked like a hoarder lived in it.  I really did feel much worse than I realized.  After my helpers cleared out numerous trash bags filled with clothes, papers and stuff that filled my brother's truck several times to take to recycling, Goodwill, and/or the dump, my house was ready for company.  I couldn't have healed after I got home from the  hospital if it had been the way it was.  Such a relief!  That's why I'm not a hoarder because I wanted the clutter gone and am thrilled to have space again! 

So they were all here together for the first time.  It was great!  From the left, across the table and back up to the front:  My son Brian, older granddaughter Kelsey, daughter-in-law Melissa, daughter Kathy, older grandson Luke, younger granddaughter Kari, youngest grandson Brendan.  This is at the restaurant.   

Holidays

How was your Christmas?  Any plans for New Year's Eve?  I've made a few goals (instead of resolutions).  More on this later.  What about you? 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all!  Hope everyone is safe, warm, and loved!  That's what it's all about.  All my best to you and yours this holiday season! 

Tribute from The Voice

Star Trek Trivia

The name of the USS Enterprise in the original draft for the Star Trek TV series was the USS Yorktowne.

Pranks

I don't like practical jokes and am not sure why they are called that.  I've never thought it was funny to intentionally embarrass people or make them look like fools.  I put up with them from people who pulled them on me and laughed or shrugged or whatever it took to move on because when pranksters know they can get to you, they are encouraged to do more.  The few times I tried to reciprocate and pull a prank, it sort of fell flat since I don't have the attention span to orchestrate anything strategic or complex.  Besides, that's not how I want to spend my time.  Pranks and put-down "humor" both seem mean-spirited to me.  What motivates them?  Do you think it's funny?

The nurse committed suicide who was the object of that prank played by the Australian radio show DJ's.  The head of the station approved airing the piece.  Something should be done to punish them.  I don't know what, but something.  Maybe they should all be fired.  I don't know.  What do you think?


 And, no, I never watched it.  

Spare Joey Trivia

A kangaroo mother holds a reserve embryo inside of her after her first baby has crawled into her pouch.This serves as an emergency back-up baby, should the first one die prematurely.

Nashville

I've been watching the series Nashville mostly because it's filmed there, and it's fun to see familiar places and to try to figure out where some of the scenes are shot.  The Tennessean (Nashville daily paper) keeps track of the show and lets us know information about it, such as where they are filming and some inside stuff.  I also watch it because I like Connie Britton and loved Friday Night Lights, which she was on.  Callie Khouri created and produces the show.  She writes episodes and won an Oscar for screenwriting Thelma and Louise.  T. Bone Brunett, multiple Grammy winner and brilliant, is the executive music producer of Nashville.  I just recently learned that they are married, which I think is so cool!

They filmed at the actual Bluebird Cafe for the pilot but built an identical set when the show was picked up.  The Bluebird is a vital part of the Nashville music scene.  It's actually called a listening room, and customers/audience members are supposed to be quiet and listen during performances.  They are asked to be quiet and if they don't, are asked to leave.  Strict!  It shows respect for performers.  I like it.  Sometimes several singer/songwriters perform in the round and take turns singing their songs.  Their banter is fun to watch.

I'm glad Nashville is shown fairly accurately in many ways.  There are some things that fit in more in other places like L.A. since we don't have paparazzi bothering stars around here.  They are left alone and can go most places without incident.  They take their kids to school, grocery shop, eat out, and other regular things.  They cover that in the show except for the young country pop performer (Hayden Panettiere) who was dating a pro football player.  There seemed to be just one photographer who got them, though.  That seems about right.   It's mostly a night-time soap opera that is a lot about the music business and politics in all its forms. The actors do their own singing and have released an album.

Now you know.



 Bluebird website HERE. 

Southern Liberals

This article "A New Southern Strategy" by Karen Cox for the NYTimes, echoes my sentiments exactly.  We Southerners are lumped into the same ignorant redneck group together.  During the election I got so tired of hearing about this and the other demographics who don't represent me.  I'm white, over 65, female, and live in a small town in the South.  This means I should have voted for Romney, except that many of my friends, relatives, and acquaintances didn't.  Guess since I'm single, I fell into that group who voted for Obama.  I'm not saying we don't have an abundance of ignorance, racism, bigotry, and fundamentalists here.  We do.  Unfortunately, they are in other regions, too. 

Here's an excerpt from Cox's article:

That we are still using the term “Confederacy” to describe the South and pointing to slave maps says a lot about how hard it is for the region to move beyond its historical reputation, however richly deserved, for one that reflects more current realities.

Voters in Charlotte, N.C., Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, Birmingham, Ala., and even Jackson, Miss., gave Mr. Obama substantial majorities, not because they are out of step with the rest of the country but because they are part of the same urban-rural divide that drives voting everywhere.

So if we’re going to apply the term “Confederacy,” then perhaps we can all agree that while a majority of Southern white voters seem intransigent to change, the region is nevertheless being transformed by its changing demographics.

This is a good article and worth reading.  We Southern liberals are capable of critical thinking and making informed decisions. 

Molly Ivins said, " I believe all Southern liberals come from the same starting point -- race. Once you figure out they are lying to you about race, you start to question everything."