Friday, August 01, 2014

Poems; Supremes; Rogue Cows; Song; Blood Pressure; Hayrides; Walls; Carol Haney; Satan; Boehner; Hillary; Book Titles; Mints; Dogs

Welcome to August 2014.  I signed up to hear neighbor poet, Steve Malin, read some of his poems, but I had promised AARP to make a report at the same time.  It seems like I'm always overscheduled.  I need a secretary!


01.  The Supremes ..  Bad Review


David Dayen, on Salon, writes the following, which is what I see as a big problem for our country:  "Dahlia Lithwick calls the Robert s Court 'the most hands-on hands-off court in America.'  You could also call it passive-aggressive.  They chip away at decades of established precedent inch by inch, using absurd eccentricities to protect their credibility.  This hasn't worked:  a new Gallup poll shows confidence in the Supreme Court at a 40-year low.  The public has noticed their lack of principle and willingness to shape the law to their desires of the moment.  It's a perfect example of judicial activism."


02.  *Rogue Cows.. Still Missing


The infamous two heifers are still loose in the wilds of Carroll County.  The consensus is that they have sneaked into some dairy farmers' barns and are communing with cousins.  I'm told that farmers will have to check ear tags to find out if the cows belong to them or not.


03.  Mysterious Song.. at least to me


Today I heard a lady sing a song unknown to me.. with the lyrics being  "B A B A B O A".  I'm sure this means something very important, but I don't know what.  How would you do a Google Search on something like this?  Or.. maybe in my deafness-induced state I mis-heard and it really is "Babaloo!" as sung by Desi.


04.  Blood Pressure .. Limits Upgrade?


Ideal blood pressure readings have always been 120 over 80, as far as what my doctors have said.. except that people over 50 would be ok if the upper limit was not over 140.  But then, about a month ago, based on some kind of study using old farts as guinea pigs, the upper limit was raised to 150.  My cardiologist and my GP both are ok with this.. so, guess what, my body has heard of the change somehow now and has been raising my readings.


I remember hearing that just before he died, Franklin Roosevelt had BP readings such as 400 over 200.  I can understand that based on all the stress from WWII. 


05.  Genealogy ..  Hayrides and Walls


Here is some more information for my daughter Elizabeth to remember as she digs deeper into the Vaughan family genealogy.


When I was in the sixth or seventh grade at the New Bedford, Massachusetts Rodman School, I was invited to go on a "hayride" by Ruth Garlington.  Ruth was a pretty blond girl who turned out to be a beauty as a teen-ager.  She always wore a beautiful scarf around her neck.  (I think I received my first kiss from a girl on that trip.)  I think that Ruth  might have had a health problem and had to drop out of school. 


Anyway, her family owned Garlington's Florists on Rockdale Avenue.  A couple of years ago I dropped in at the store to talk about a stone fence that exists across the street from the florist shop.  The wall is very well made and was built  during the 1930's by the Works Projects Administration (WPA).  My grandfather, Arthur S. Vaughan was the supervisor on the project.  The wall is on the western limit of the Rural Cemetery.  The clerk was not quite old enough to have heard about how the wall was built, so I regaled her with the story and as her eyes began to glaze over, I took my leave. (Oh, and the clerk did not know who Ruth was.)


06.  Nancy Sings ..  Carol Haney Remembrance


Before I gave my AARP report (and a joke that bombed) I listened to Nancy (of "Nancy Sings" fame).  One of her numbers was "Too Darn Hot!"  I think that was from the Damned Yankees musical.  One of the best actors in the Broadway version was Carol Haney, from my home town, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and actually from my neighborhood.. her parents' house was just one block away from mine.  Poor Carol... she was ill one night when a famous movie scout who had heard about her performance, came to observe and, instead, watched another "gamin-faced" stand-in actor, who was given the parts that Carol was prepared for, and became famous.  Carol died not too long after that.  A shame, because she was good!


Carol was one of the tap dancing instructors for me and my late wife, Elaine.  There is a long story about that, and I've written it somewhere in my 300+ blog entries.


07.  Joke .. Satan and the Old Man


Satan was roaming around looking for trouble and he spied an old man sitting alone on a park bench. Everybody Satan had looked at that day had been scared when they saw him and ran away screaming.  However, the old man just looked at Satan, smiled and said "Hi!"
Satan said: "Hey, old man, don't you know who I am?  I can kill you with just a nod of my head and I could cause you to burn in hell for eternity.  Aren't you scared of me?"
The old man said, "Nope, I'm not scared of you."
Satan asked: "Well, why not?"
The old man replied: "Because I've been married to your sister for 40 years."


08.  Speaker Boehner .. A Review


Rolland Amos writes from Severn, Maryland: "Let history record that ex-bartender John Boehner, a little man with abbreviated skills and a warped sense of responsibility, reached, regrettably, a very high office, where he mainly basked in the glory of his station, achieved next to nothing, yet deemed himself a shining success."


Well, I don't think that you can blame Boehner alone for the do-nothing group of so-called Representatives he has been elected to try to control.  It will be interesting to see how his law-suit against President Obama plays out in the near future.  


The whole House of Representatives left on their summer vacation on Thursday.  Normally, a vacation is granted to "workers".. not so in this case.  At least that is my humble opinion.  I just hope that the President takes advantage of the quiet and gets some things done that Congress was unwilling to do.  Of course, we would not want to President to overstep his legal authority, but somebody has to do  something!


09.  Hillary's Speaking Fees


The Washington Post criticized the "grotesque" and "obscene" amounts of money Hillary earns giving speeches... but neglected to mention that most of this money goes directly into The Clinton Foundation, a widely praised charitable program.  And, besides, in contrast to lots of others.. she pays income tax!


10.  Some more Book Titles from my Brother Joe


Gaston Leroux's scary tale about a spirit haunting a TV icon: Phantom of the Oprah


Erich Maria Remarque book about idle French shoemaker during WWI trench warfare: Awl Quiet  on the Western Front


Herman Hesse tale about Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother's fatal error: Step In, Wolf


11.  Joke .. From Martin Stovall


Waiting for the cashier to ring him up after a meal, a man heard a voice say, "Wow, what broad shoulders you have."  Startled he looked around but couldn't figure out where the voice had come from.
A few moments later, he heard the same voice say, "My, what full wavy hair."
Again, he couldn't tell who was talking to him.
"Did you hear that voice? the man asked the cashier.
"It's the mints," she answered.
"The mints?"
"Yes," the cashier replied.  " They're complimentary."


12.  How to get along with a Dog


The Week magazine listed a few ways that everyone can get along with dogs.


a.  Avoid staring.. that could be taken as a challenge by a dog.  Learn to avert  your eyes to avoid a confrontation with Rover. (think about this for gorillas as well)


b.  Don't be too upfront ..  instead, move in an arc, like another dog would do.  Also, you might want to stoop or crouch, so Rover doesn't think you are trying to assert dominance over him.


c.  Don't pat them on the head..  Taps on the head might be taken by a dog to be a threat.  It would be better to scratch Rover behind his ears or on his chest.


(I usually hold out my hand and let a dog smell it..  works for me.)
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