This is Week 41 of 2010►Day 285 with 80days left.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
As I look back over my latest trip, it is hard to talk about THE highlight. Every destination brought its own excitement, its own wonder, its own highlight. The Pawdaw Cruise was certainly in a class of its own. Each evening we met on the sun deck for free drinks and Louie informing us of the next day’s activities. He was brilliant in the way he prepared us. He would only talk about ‘the next day’ and never about upcoming days. This was good as each day was filled with so many things, it would have been easy for anyone to get confused. The one difficult activity on the ship was dinner. As an American, and as a single guy, I am not used to eating at 7pm. Nor am I used to having a two hour plus dinner each night with three or four courses. Also, it was hard not to eat all of the food presented, for fear the chef would think the dish wasn’t enjoyed. Of course, if I would have gained way too much weight if I had eaten everything. Tough choice when the food was sooooooo good. Some evenings there was a program after dinner, other times we could relax on the sun deck or just head for bed. I always tried to at least walk the sun deck several times after dinner, as I know that going to bed on a full stomach is not a good idea. My roommate, Steve, was always teasing me that I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Thankfully we were both quiet sleepers, or at least that’s what Steve told me. I wouldn’t know, as besides going to sleep rapidly, I go into a very deep sleep and I probably wouldn’t have awakened during an emergency.
Our day excursions from the ship included the two rainforest walks I already discussed. When I was growing up and learning geography a rainforest was called a jungle. I guess the term rainforest shows that it is more alive and vibrant. We also visited the Tau ek Kong Pagoda in Sibu and Fort Emma and Fort Slyvia—a museum from the days of the Brits. We also ‘ran the rapids’. At first we were going to take the Baby Pandaw on its inaugural ride. It was decided that it was too small for the rapids. While we are on a larger boat, the Pandaw crew really needs to come to the Western US to see real rapids. If you blinked you would have missed the biggest ones. The ride down that part of the river was beautiful, but ‘rapids’ it was not. We also visited a school and a clinic deep in the rainforest. Due to the high river, we got to the boarding school after the students had left for the weekend. These kids come in every Sunday, usually on the family boat, spend the week, and leave Friday afternoon. Teachers and administrators live on the campus in private quarters. No matter where I go, I boarding school is so much like the reservation boarding schools of the 1970’s. At the dorm, each child had a mattress and a small locker. Cleaning and upkeep was of course done by the students. All the mattresses were neatly stacked for the weekend. Tiny fans were near the windows to keep the air moving, but those large open areas must get very hot, even at night. The main dining room was like any other school cafeteria on the Rez. All the buildings are on stilts, as flooding is an issue. Each classroom also had many bright orange life jackets near the door. The assistant principal said they haven’t been used, and there due to safety regulations. The short walk from the school to the clinic was like any outpost clinic on the Rez. Everyone can be treated for one ringet—about 30 cents. Most of their work is on injuries that happen in the forest. They have a radio system where they can get transportation for a patient needing more care. They also have a birthing room and a midwife there to assist. I learned that traditionally the placenta is buried at the longhouse or kept in a jar inside the longhouse. Again, not that different than the traditional Rez. All the workers wore a uniform jacket, color-coded by their job. I am still amazed how much it operated like an IHS clinic. Many in our group were surprised about that, and some didn’t believe that such a primitive operation still happened on US soil. Our lunch that day was all food that was steamed in bamboo poles in a pit. We had chicken, beef, and rice. Each pole was stuffed with one of the ingredients and then steamed in a pit. Upon completion, the bamboo pole was split and the cooked food taken out. Amazing. The high river had hidden our beach so the food had to be prepared on the school campus, where the kitchen staff dug the pit, cooked the food, and returned the grounds to its original way.
One morning we cast off in long boats—four to six to a boat—at 5:30am. The boat had a small 15hp motor that was used to take us up a tributary as the sun rose. We then silently floated back down the tributary as the river slowly became alive with activity. Before I could take any video or still shots, the camera lens had to be dried off from the mist that formed. Turned out I had to dry the lens before just about every picture that morning. The camera could never capture the awesome view from the middle of the river, in total silence, hearing only the roosters, other birds, and the children running around in the morning light. As we floated down the river, more and more residents were out, loading their boats, and heading out onto the river. Throughout of entire river trip, the people on the shore and on the river always waved and smiled. We returned the gesture.
On the ship we had demonstrations of how men and women wear a sarong, how to use a blowpipe, how to make several exotic mixed drinks, how to make ‘pulled tea’—very hot tea with Eagle-brand condensed milk, and two lengthy and informative lectures about the longhouse and the Native Customary Rights Laws. About a dozen high school students came on board at Song Town came on board to entertain us with song and dance. They were very good, but the most amazing thing was that after the show each cast member shook hands with each passenger. After shaking a hand, they would take both their hands and pull them toward their body. It was very impressive and obviously part of their culture. Henry later told us that it was a way of saying that each person was being drawn into their heart. Very cool. One night the crew entertained us with traditional songs and activities. Another night was disco night, with crew and passengers remembering the great songs of that era. Two of the songs must have been British Disco, as none of the Americans had ever heard them, but the Brits were up there dancing and singing along. Due to a heavy rainstorm a lion dance was moved from a huge dock to our sun deck. This was only the second time the rain had moved the dancers to the deck. The entire crew and many of the male passengers assisted in getting the rain off the tarp covering the sun deck and putting up tarps on both sides of the ship to keep the rain off the deck. I remembered how the snow had crushed several business roofs in Flagstaff last winter, and was more than happy to use a broom handle to lift the sagging tarp to get the building pools to run off into the already high river. The Chinese lion dance is a story about life. Two lions want to eat a papaya, but it is protected by a snake. The lions dance around and lure the snake away from the fruit, then one lion gets to the fruit and break it open while the other lion eventually kills the snake. The lesson is that the good things in life will always have barriers and that by working together; the good things in life can be obtained. The dance was very entertaining, and I can only image how great it would have been in a larger and more open space.
I will soon be posting some videos and movies on my Facebook page. I have to pull them together and find a theme so it will take a few weeks.
Flagstaff started a cool thing a couple of years ago, and it is spreading around the country. It is called 10-15. On October 15 at 10:15am the residents of Flagstaff take 15 minutes to clean up outside, wherever they are. It helps keep the city cleaner, and only takes 15 minutes. Flag will be doing it again on Friday. Maybe other communities will pick up this practice.
I go to Sams every couple of weeks. I don’t have to buy lots of bulk stuff, but their prices are so good, I do stock up on some stuff. Our local Sams started a remodeling project a few months ago. Parking is really a problem as fences around the construction have produced many one way parking lanes with no exit. Then there is the inside of the store. Every time I go in, things have moved. I don’t mean to a new place, they move to a new temporary place. It’s like each aisle is a chess piece and as the remodeling game proceeds, everything moves, and sometimes it moves back to where it was before the project. Shopping at Sams is becoming a much longer process as you have to go down almost every aisle to find anything. Even things that have always been on one aisle are now on two or three different aisles. Soda was always on the same outside wall, then it moved to an aisle, now it is on the opposite outside wall. The only thing that hasn’t moved are the tires. Office supplies have had many many new homes. The project still has a couple of months to go before every jar of pickles finds its best home. I am really glad to be retired, so that the extra time doesn’t really matter.
Flag…H—68°; L—31°; RH—50%; and only not a breeze anywhere.
QUOTES FOR THE DAY—Malaysian Proverbs
^ When there is sugar, there are ants
(meaning of proverb: where there is prosperity in a place, outside people will come to join)
^ Friends to laugh with are many, friends to cry with are few
(meaning of proverb: you will know the sincere friends, when you are in trouble!)
^ If there is no rattan, roots will do
(meaning of proverb: if the things or tools cannot functioning, sometimes you can use other things/tools as altenative)
HOLY MACKEREL: 1960 Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe at UN General Assembly session
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION
^ The first recorded sandwich was by the famous rabbi, Hillel the Elder, who lived during the 1st century B.C. He started the Passover custom of sandwiching a mixture of chopped nuts, apples, spices, and wine between two matzohs to eat with bitter herbs. The filling between the matzohs served as a reminder of the suffering of the Jews before their deliverance from Egypt and represented the mortar used by the Jews in their forced labor of constructing Egyptian buildings.
^ Potato chips are American's favorite snack food. They are devoured at a rate of 1.2 billion pounds a year.
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1—Jeopardy Answers—Begins with “L”
$100- Erich Segal's "story"
$200- An air bubble tells a carpenter if he's on it
$300- The L in L.P.G.A.
$400- A, B, M, P, or Z, for example
$500- It's what bread has & matzo hasn't
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
INDIANAPOLIS - Motorists and passersby took to an Indianapolis street to retrieve money that spilled onto the road from the back of an armored car, officials said. Indianapolis police said they do not know what caused the armored car to drop bundles of cash on the street at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday in the city's downtown. There have been no official estimates on how much cash was originally in the vehicle and how much was lost, the Indianapolis Star reported. Police credited Timothy Wentworth, 53, and his wife, Viki, for calling 911 and helping to secure the money in their van until police arrived. "People were having a field day when I pulled up," Timothy Wentworth said. 'At first I didn't know what it was but when I saw it was cash I figured I better call police." He said officers told him about $20,000 was lost during the incident.
A LITTLE LAUGH
I believe my little daughter wants a pair of glasses. I don't know why she does. Perhaps glasses are now "cool" to have in school? But though she sees just fine, she still says she needs glasses.
I took her to the eye doctor just to check it out though.
She was asked to read the bottom row of letters on the eye chart. She said, "All right, I can see the 'O' and the 'P' and the 'T,' but not the 'N' and the 'Z.'"
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
The Lion Dance it turns out, has world competition. Here is one from a few years ago. No story with this one, but lots of great acrobatics. Click Here to View
GREY MATTER PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION
¤ Weekly Observances ¤
6-12: Physicians Assistant Week
8-12: Kids' Goal Setting Week
10-16: Build Your Business with Business Cards Week ^ Emergency Nurses Week ^ Home-based Business Week ^ National Chestnut Week ^ National Food Bank Week ^ National Metric Week ^ Take Your Medicine Americans Week ^ World Rainforest Week
11-17: Fall Astronomy Week ^ National School Lunch Week
17-23: Food and Drug Interaction Education and Awareness Week ^ Getting The World To Beat A Path To Your Door Week ^ International Credit Union Week ^ Teen Read Week ^ National Chemistry Week ^ National Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy Week ^ YWCA Week without Violence ^ National Character Counts Week ^ National Forest Products Week ^ National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week ^ National School Bus Safety Week
18-24: Freedom From Bullies Week ^ Freedom of Speech Week ^ Medical Assistants Recognition Week ^ National Food Bank Week ^ National Infertility Awareness Week ^ National Massage Therapy Week ^ National Businesswomen's Week
24-31: Disarmament Week ^ Give Wildlife a Break Week ^ Pastoral Care Week ^ Peace, Friendship and Good Will Week ^ Prescription Errors Education & Awareness Week ^ International Magic Week ^ National Respiratory Care Week
27-11/3: World Hearing Aid Awareness Week
¤ Today’s Observances ¤
International Moment Of Frustration Scream Day
Free Thought Day
National Face Your Fears Day
Brazil: Children's Day or Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida
Equatorial Guinea: Independence Day (1968 from Spain)
Malawi: Mother's Day
Mexico, Latin America: Dia de la Raza/Day of the Race
Spain: National Day
Sudan: Republican Anniversary Day
United Kingdom: National Coming Out Day
¤ Hit Songs on this date ¤
1899...A Picture No Artist Can Paint / Steve Porter
1909...I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now / Henry Burr Click Here for Audio
1919...A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody / John Steel
1929...Am I Blue? / Ethel Waters Click Here for Audio
1949…That Lucky Old Sun / Frankie Laine Click Here for Audio
1959…Mack the Knife / Bobby Darin
1969…I Can't Get Next to You / The Temptations
1979…Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough / Michael Jackson
¤ Today’s Births ¤
╬ THE ARTS
George W Cable, American writer (Northampton Years), in 1844
Dick Gregory, 78, comedian, author, activist
Luciano Pavarotti, Modena Italy, operatic tenor (Yes, Giorgio), in 1935
Chris Wallace, 63, broadcaster (“Dateline”), White House correspondent
♦♦♦♦♦♦
Susan Anton, 60, singer, actress
Kirk Cameron, 40, actor (“Growing Pains,” “Kirk”)
Hugh Jackman, 42, actor (Australia, The Prestige, X-Men, X2)
Adam Rich, 42, actor (“Eight Is Enough”)
╬ ATHLETICS
Chris Chandler, 45, football player (Colts, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Rams, Oilers, Falcons, Bears, Rams)
Lane Frost, American professional bull rider, in 1963
Marion Jones, 35, former track runner
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
Perle Mesta (Skirvin), socialite: ‘The hostess with the mostes’; diplomat: appointment as U.S. envoy to Luxembourg [1949] inspired Broadway play Call Me Madam, in 1891
Jean Nidetch, 87, founder of Weight Watchers
Elmer A. (Ambrose) Sperry, inventor: Sperry Automatic Pilot [gyroscopic compass]; founder: Sperry-Rand Corp, in 1860
╬ POLITICS
Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1866
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
Ole-Johan Dahl, Norwegian computer scientist and programming geek in 1931
¤ Today’s Obituaries ¤
John Denver, Singer/songwriter, experimental plane crash @ 53 in 1998
Alfred M Landon, former Kansas Gov, @ 100 in 1987
Robert E Lee, General of the Confederate Army, pneumonia @ 63 in 1870
Philleo Nash, US Bureau of Indian Affairs (1961-67), @ 77 in 1987
Johnny Olsen, TV announcer (Price is Right), @ 75 in 1985
¤ Today’s Events ¤
╬ THE ARTS
1950 The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show made its debut on CBS-TV
╬ ATHLETICS
1895 The first amateur golf tournament was held -- in Newport, Rhode Island. Charles Blair McDonald beat a field of 31 others in the event.
1968 19th modern Olympic games opens in Mexico City
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1823 Charles Macintosh of Scotland begins selling raincoats (Macs)
1920 Construction of the Holland Tunnel got underway.
╬ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1492 According to some sources, Columbus lands in "new world." According to the Taino, they were the first Native Americans to greet Columbus on the Island of Guanahani (San Salvador)..the Taino came from either the Amazon Basin or Columbian Andes. At their peak over 1 million, devastated by smallpox and other disease. DNA still in some people in Central America, but tribe is extinct.
╬ POLITICS (US)
1792 The first monument honoring Christopher Columbus was dedicated -- in Baltimore, MD.
1973 Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as VP
╬ POLITICS (International)
1860 British & French troops capture Peking
1960 Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe at UN General Assembly session
1984 IRA bombs hotel where Margaret Thatcher is staying
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1285 180 Jews refuse baptism in Munich Germany, they are set on fire
1822 2nd eruption of Galunggung (Java) destroys summit of mountain
1891 Astronomical Society of France is inaugurated
1918 1st use of iron lung (Boston's Children Hospital)
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
↔ 1
$100- Erich Segal's "story": What is ‘Love Story’?
$200- An air bubble tells a carpenter if he's on it: What is a level?
$300- The L in L.P.G.A.: What is ‘Ladies’?
$400- A, B, M, P, or Z, for example: What are letters?
$500- It's what bread has & matzo hasn't: What is leaven?
↔ PICTURE
Yellow Bell Peppers
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