Welcome (Back) to the 1950s

After reading this,

I had to:


Good advice in the Instapundit article, and great nostalgia for us boomers in the latter.

Remember the 10 AM last Friday of the month drills? The air raid sirens would wail, and we would duck and cover under our desks.

Daily fallout levels as part of the weather forecast.

A very graphic article in the L.A. Times Sunday edition about what would happen if a 10 or 20 kiloton A-bomb were detonated in the L. A. Coliseum. (My house was almost, but not quite on the edge of not being FUBAR'd.)

The Home section at the L. A. County Fair featuring fallout and bomb shelter displays.

Good times.

Investment Opportunity

Almost too good to be true!

Maybe send this to the Greeks??

Pibgorn

A Flag is, After All, Just A Bit Of Cloth...,

...and a word is just a sound.

Most of us really don't understand that it is what we tell ourselves about our perceptions that is our reality, not the perception.  For example, back in the last century (1973), my first job after college was working as a part-time pool teller for a state-wide bank. The "Central Division" primarily served the black community in the area bounded by Adams to Slauson on the north and south, and  Sepulveda to Vermont on the east and west.

I spent probably more than a month at the Santa Barbara and Vermont branch, which was located just a couple of blocks from the L. A. Coliseum in Exposition Park. This is the picture you see in the encyclopedia for the entry "Predominantly Black Community".   As usual, I showed up in suit and tie, carrying my briefcase.  I parked my car, walked to the door, and knocked. I was admitted, and taken to meet the startling Charles, the Operation s Officer. He was a black man, about my size.

"Startling", because he sported a well-kept and moderately large Afro. He was also wearing a bright orange Dashiki, and had very well-done gold star implants on his two front teeth. Being the young, white-bread guy that I was, I wondered if I was going to get out of the neighborhood alive.That was start of what I told myself (the "conversation") when I walked in the door. The conversation continued with, "Well, I call in and leave, so I guess I'll just hang in. go to work, and see what happens.

What happened was, over the month or so I was there, I developed  good working relationships with Charles, June, the assistant  manager, and the other employees..  (I also met Mo, whom I worked with at the Culver City branch.) I even learned what I will call the then current "Black Bro Greeting (BBG)." My wife told me later that many of the white guests at the division Christmas party seemed shocked when I went over to Charles and Jue, and greeted them with the BBG. Bottom line, I had more fun in that branch than in any other, and made temporary friends there that I find myself missing as I write this.

The take-away... have that first conversation, whatever it may be, don't fight it, but don't hold on to it. Let it pass. That clears your brain so you can have the rest of the conversation, which in my case, now sounded like, "Well, that *may* be so, but lets step back and see who this person really is." I said on Twitter that getting over racism is easy. "All" you have to do is continue with the conversation that starts "Omygod, I'm gonna die!", and let yourself be open to what might actually be in front of you.

The greatest benefit of have that complete conversation with yourself is that you are more relaxed, and more apt to treat the person in front of you with respect and courtesy. I find this approach works for me with anyone, regardless of the appearance of the person in front of me, be they black, white, hispanic, gay. straight, other LGBPBJ or any other subset of the human race you care to define.  I strongly suggest you try it sometime, and see what happens. Back in the day, we called it "Tricking your brain". It works. Or, what you feel depends on what you think.

That said, I present a flag, and a word, below the fold. (One guess each which flag and what word.) Have the complete conversation with yourself. Give it a try, and enjoy.

Happy Father's Day, Guys...

For Father's Day, Grif and I are going to the Petco/Vetco clinic to finish up his shots and get his heartworm test (4DX).

 
Found this, thought I'd share:

Keep loving those kids, and keep giving them all the advice they can ignore. (I have *yet* to pick out any clothes that my daughter would wear. "Oh, Dad..." was the usual.)

Love you, kiddo!

Money Can't Buy Happiness,

...but it can be used to tickle your brain!

Randall Munroe, the genius who runs XKCD is putting out a book, in the style of Up Goer Five:

It's in pre-order now, due to ship in November.  Click the ad on the left for more info!

Noise Abatement Take-off

I sat thru quite a number of take-offs not quite like this out of John Wayne (KSNA) over the years:



Not so vertical, tho. (Thanks THS!)

"News" Media in Two Takes:

Saw this just now...,

Sinfest.net by Tatsuya Ishida

...which reminded me of this:


Don Henley - Dirty Laundry Live by rvdgu2006
That is all.

L.A., Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties...

...from space.

If you know where to look, you can see some evidence of man - the scratches in the sand that are some of the freeways, for example.

But, wow. Never seen it this brown!

.@SpaceX #Dragon fires deorbit engines. Pacific Ocean splashdown set for 12:42pm ET off coast of Long Beach, Calif. pic.twitter.com/EmjMZST7QD

— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) May 21, 2015

Swineapple

Found this at Sondrak's just now:

Looks like I need to spin up the smoker!

The original article mentions that the pineapple can make the meat "too tender".  I'm not sure that is possible. Both pineapple and papaya contain enzymes that break down collagens in meat. (Which is why raw pineapple keeps Jell-o from gelling.)

So, the meat is wrapped in a sweetening tenderizer.  Yow!

Between Muir and Drudge, I Want To Go Back To Bed... (Updated w/ Hillary video!)

...and pull the covers over my head.

Update: Mind. Boggled.



First, Drudge:

Then, Mr. Muir:

(Click on image for link, as Muir intended...)

Whom do we have to shoot? And when, as a country, are we going to get off our collective asses and do it.

No, not "civil" unrest shoot - that would be wrong and illegal, and I'm not advocating that. At. All.  Just giving voice to my fears and frustrations. T need the morning meds to kick in. Real. Soon!

Gladys

I've written here about Martha, the woman I think of as "Mom".  That is not to diminish in any way Gladys, the woman who is/was my biological mother, the one who helped bring me on to this interesting place we call United States, planet Earth.

Gladys with her first snowball?

Gladys was born in 1911, to her family who lived in Mazon, Illinois.  She had a brother, Everett,  and a sister, Dorothy. At some point in her life, she decided to pick up and move to Los Angeles, California. She worked as a secretary, and wound up working for Louis B. Mayer (the "Mayer" in Metro-Goldwin-Mayer, a.k.a "MGM"). I understand that she was responsible for taking deposits to the bank. (That bank was at the other end of the block from the one I worked at.) She also helped run his stables.  I'm pretty sure that was Mayer's horse stables, and not his stable of ladies who entertained visiting firemen (IYKWIMAIKYD).  On the other hand, it's an interesting speculation.

Somewhere in Los Angeles

I remember being told that she and Dad were introduced at a U.S.O. club, so I imagine Dad was on one of his postings in California. I also have in mind that she picked him up. Again, an interesting speculation. (By today's standards, both Gladys and Martha might be considered "cougars", Dad being seven years younger than Gladys, and six younger than Martha. Or maybe he just liked older women.)

They were married at Cathedral Chapel, a block north of Olympic on La Brea in L.A., in 1948.  I've always assumed that she moved in with him, at his place on Crenshaw Bl. Gladys became pregnant in '49, and Martha introduced them to the OB/GYN who delivered Lane and me.  Gladys fell prey to the perfect storm for pre-eclampsia: it was her first pregnancy, she was near 40, and it was a multiple birth. She could no longer clot blood, and so bled to death despite all efforts to save her.  Neither Lane nor I could clot, and I believe that was a major cause of his death.

George and Gladys

The wedding party. L to R, Jack Travers (Best Man), George, Gladys, unknown gentleman, Bessie Tidey (Maid/Matron of Honor), and two more unknown gentlemen.

I don't know at all if Bessie was married at the time or not. If she were, I have a hunch that the gentleman standing between her and Gladys is her husband, Cliff.  But I don't remember him as well as I do her.  Dad asked Jack and Bessie to be my Godparents when I was baptized.

The traditional cake smushing.

 

Post-nuptial beverage.

                                       

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the neighborhood...

The lovely young woman on the right, Betty, would soon become Jack's wife. One of the reasons was that she loved Cathedral Chapel, and the priest who given Gladys her pre-nuptual "Catholic lessons" was a nice guy, so she took her's there, and that's where they we married.

When I was about 40, Gladys' sister Dorothy passed away.  After she did, her daughter sent me a package of documents she found in Dorothy's desk that was addressed to me. In it was a hand-written account of what had happened. I may post that another time, as the spirit moves. (A little about that here.)

She and Lane are buried in Inglewood, at the Inglewood Park Cemetery, across the street from the old Inglewood Forum.

And, with all of that, I do have a connection to her.  She made sure that both Lane's and my first initials were "L. A.", because she loved Los Angeles. So that is my link to both her, and the city of my birth.

Thank you, Gladys.

Fiddling...

If you look at the location bar across the top of the blog, you might notice that I've added a 2016 Politics page.  For now, it is a simple collection of  links belonging to the announced candidates.  I'll update it as candidates announce and drop out.  I'll make sure to keep a list of the ones that bail, just for completeness.

There are way more candidates who have announced or who are "exploring" as you might know from the news.  I'm just keeping tract of ones I have heard about during the perusals of the sites I have listed in the right-hand column.

On the bottom of the new page are two links I found useful in this task.  They are sites that seem to do a reasonably sane job of listing the candidates and giving a description of each. The two sites list all declared and exploring candidates, plus a list of other parties running candidates:

They seem to be a one-stop shop for your basic candidate info.

I'll update this as events unfold, and as I feel moved to do so.  If this gets like 2012, this, along with Twitter, may absorb me into the collective.

Oh boy!

Shattered Illusions

First Lance Armstrong, now Tom Brady.

What next, politicians??

News Du Jour...

...pretty much all you really need to know:

At Hot Air, where else??

Pop Quiz

Ellison has a friend who's son is teaching a class on Introduction to Comparative Politics.  He was asked to add a bonus question to his final, which he did.  Here is the question:

Bonus Essay

Part I: Take one item from Column A and one item from Column B and do a comparative political analysis of the two, using an argument/theory/set of arguments that we have touched on this semester (midterm material is fair game here).

Part II: Choose one item from Column C and add it to your analysis from Part I. Would the argument change at all? How would item A and B deal with item C?

Be creative. If you can source from memory, do, but it will not hurt you not to source. Feel free to bring in culture, religion, economy, violence—anything; the world is your oyster on this one.

I'm, not going to spoil the surprise for you by listing columns A, B and C.

Click over to Lost In The Cheese Aisle and see for yourself!

Giggle Du Jour...

...and more!


Found at Gerard's

Meanwhile, in Sunny Old Mexico...

Ripley got that right.

(Judicial Watch, via Kate)

Which Witch?

I'll go with the witch on the right.

Mother, Boston Bomber

Your Average Witch

Am I the only one who sees a striking resemblance between these two women?

Thanks to Weasel Zippers

No Cake For Hitler!

(And remember, Nazis aren't Right Wingers.  They're frikkin' Socialists!!)



And if he does get his way:

Me, I'd just find another bakery.

(Both from the ever-vigilant Gerard!)