So, how are you doing?

Just yesterday, I watched a TED talk video that was incredible. It featured Nadia Drake, an American Science Journalist interviewing a Heidi Hammel, a Planetary Astronomer about her work on the James Webb Space Telescope.

A photograph was shown that was taken in a field of space she described the size of this field as small as a grain of sand on your thumbnail at arms length.

In this photograph were untold numbers of galaxies in a field as small as a grain of sand..at arms length.

Now imagine us. Humanity.

Earth.

Alone in our Solar System

Seemingly alone in our galaxy.

Just us…

…as far as we know.

How can we…humanity, not care enough about our own little piece of real estate and be so busy working at that, that we have time to seek more of what we are unable to perfect.

Fix what you got…

Repair this. Repair that. Modify this plan for a better plan. This corruption needs to be addressed. That system needs to be perfected until it works for everybody. There is too much going on right here to worry about what’s going on over there.

Can we say, without hesitation, that citizens of our little piece of real estate have been provided for? Cared for? They are perfectly happy? Have all of the healthcare they need? Comfortable homes? Food on the table? Able to fulfill life’s dreams?

If I an unable to comfortably support my little piece of real estate, should I seek more? No!!!

How did we get to a point of such divisiveness…in our City…State…Country…World?

As vast as our universe is, how can we not greet one another and take comfort in knowing that we are not alone.

How can one human insist on winning the race or no one gets to play?

So, how are you doing?

Just so you know,

You’re not alone…

Christmas time is here…

On Christmas of 2020 I received a simple gift that represented SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station.

During that flight, a toy dinosaur named “Tremor” floated about the cabin as the crew approached to dock with ISS

So…later that morning, with lots of time on my hands and a little creativity floating about the cabin,

I created this short video to share with my Grandchildren…and you

Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas 2021…

Lay Me Down

Lay me down

Let clouds fill the sky

Rains fall from heaven

Stars fall from the sky

Hope it seems at first

Is never far away

But years go fast and days are few

I’ve nothing left to say 

But…

Goodbye

I’m going home

Side Note

A side note…this was a short song that I wrote in the late seventies.

My younger brother and I had gone to visit our father, who had been languishing in a nursing home for a number of years.

It was a sad day.

This simple short poem expresses the melancholy of that day.

Guitar Lesson_D Major

I started this project to help a friend restart his earlier attempts at learning how to play the guitar. My intent is to add additional lessons, in similar fashion, to continue this journey. I too…will always be a student

32°42’38.8″N 96°59’49.3″W

Lakeview Drive

Late 1950’s

 For the majority of my life, a peculiar memory has remained a mystery…

Our family had moved to the southernmost part of town…very rural.

 West of Beltline Rd_ North of Lakeview Drive. 

The acreage just south of our neighborhood was farmland. 

Cotton grew in those fields.

 Vivid images…people of color picking cotton. 

…a crop duster spraying the field as I looked on, from likely…a less than safe distance. 

I can’t imagine that being a healthy choice.

Regardless…this mysterious memory took place between 1957 and 1960. 

In the middle of the night our mother took us children outdoors. We stood on the porch looking at the night sky.  

An oddly greenish hue…very bright

Highly unusual…

…for our mother to take us outside to witness this event was clearly seared into my less than adequate biological database.

That event remains a mystery. 

Fast forward to the present…

I am a fan of SYSK: Stuff You Should Know, a podcast hosted by Josh Clark and Charles W. “Chuck” Bryant. While bingeing past episodes during the Covid-19 lockdown, I stumbled upon SYSK (Season 17 Episode 38 “How the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis Work”). That might explain the phenomenon I witnessed as a child. 

Of course I have been aware of this phenomenon and actually witnessed the aurora borealis years ago while on a trip to Iowa of all places…but this episode sparked my interest and set me on a path to research the possibility that perhaps this was the answer to the mystery.    

On November 28, 1959, the Aurora Borealis was seen as far South as Houston, Texas. 

SYSK’s story brought great comfort to me while I listened. It was a perfect explanation for what I had witnessed. The greenish hue lighting up the night sky…well documented. 

Below I have listed all of the Aurora Borealis phenomena that took place between 1957 and 1960. 

This wasn’t a vague memory of some alien abduction scenario. Whew!!!

Thanks Josh & Chuck…  

In the immortal words of “Invader Zim’s Garbage-issue Information Retrieval Unit, GIR”…

 “I Love This Show”

__________________________________________________________________SYSK

January 25, 1957 – Uranium and aurora blamed in plane crash. [Chicago Daily Tribune, January 25, 1957, p. 7].

March 4, 1957 – New awesome lights hang in north skies [Chicago Daily Tribune, March 4, 1957, p. 11].

April 17, 1957 – World radio signals fade [New York Times, April 18, 1956 p. 25]

September 5, 1957 – Aurora borealis stages sky show in Chicago area [Chicago Daily Tribune, September 5, 1957, p. 1].

September 13, 1957 – Rare northern lights display in southland [Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1957, p. 1].

September 23, 1957 – Aurora lights northern sky in city region [Chicago Daily Tribune, September 23, 1957, p. 2].

November 6, 1957 – Radio and TV, Sunspots in high gear. Sound of BBC video fills US homes [New York Times, November 6, 1957 p. 71]

February 11, 1958 – Radio blackout cuts US off from the rest of the world. Aurora visible in Los Angeles, Tulsa, Boston, Seattle, Canada and Newfoundland. Voltages in electrical telegraph circuits exceeded 320 volts in Newfoundland. Intense red glow gave way to curtains and shimmering draperies. [New York Times, February 11, 1958, p. 62]. Although not seen over New York, it was so intense over Europe that people wondered about fires and warfare. [New York Times, February 12, 1958, p. 16]. Aurora puts on display in northern skies [Chicago Daily Tribune, February 11, 1958, p. 4]. Skies brilliant in northern lights display [Los Angeles Times, February 11, 1958, p.1]. Aurora borealis again seen here [The Washington Post, February 11, 1958, p. A1].

March 29, 1959 – Aurora seen on Long island, 2 hour display observed, radio disruption goes on [New York Times, March 29, 1959, p. 33]

July 16, 1959 – Radio upset by magnetic disturbance [Chicago Daily Tribune, July 16, 1959, p. C9]

November 29, 1959 – Aurora borealis seen in Houston [Los Angeles Times, November 29, 1959, p. A4].

April 1, 1960 – Aurora borealis viewed here [The Washington Post, April 1, 1960, p. A1].

October 7, 1960 – Sky in area is colered by northern lights [New York Times, October 7, 1960, p. 68].

November 13, 1960 – Type 3 solar flare gives North America a rare auroral display. [New York Times, November 14, 1960 p. 14]. Display of northern lights here creates glow [New York Times, November 13, 1960, p. 3]. Solar explosion causes show of northern lights [Chicago Daily Tribune, November 14, 1960, p.1]. Blasts on sun roil earth’s radio waves [Chicago Daily Tribune, November 16, 1960, p. 16]. Aurora borealis proves thriller [The Washington Post, November 13, 1960, p. A1]. AUrora borealis lights up D.C. Area; Resultant calls light switchboards [The Washington Post, November 14, 1960, p. A3].

References: Solar Storms.org  

Review

As a fledgling guitarist for the majority of my life, studying songs, scales and the fretboard are the norm…

Every guitarist who grew up in the days of Long Play analog records will recall the tedious task of placing the needle in just the right groove to listen to a particular part of a song that held their interest…until it became so tedious, impatience took over and you moved on…or…persevered, learned the lick and danced the happy dance.

YouTube came along and made a lot of dreams come true in providing a platform for guitarist from every “Walk of Life”1 teaching guitar lessons in a video format that allow the viewer to slow the playback speed. 

Genius!!!

I recently heard about Vidami’s foot controller. Finally!!! 

Utility Design created the ultimate tool for guitar players to control… handsfree…the playback speed…capture a segment of video and loop it endlessly. 

Brilliant!!!

I would say this is one of the best tools available for anyone interested in learning to play guitar. 

I will tell you this, in my humble opinion, the downside…up front. 

It is not compatible with IOS devices such as iPad. My music workstation, up until this device arrived a week ago, consist of IOS devices.

I purchased an inexpensive Chromebook, compatible with the Vidami software and set it up at my music workstation. 

Lightning-fast licks are now slowed to speeds that allow the user to better understand the mechanics…working up to and possibly achieving some of those trademark licks we’ve all dreamed of playing. There’s still a lot of work to do and scales to practice, but…we all know that.

And remember…Study a song, study scales or your fretboard and then just noodle along with your favorite playlist and have fun.

If you can’t have a little fun…why bother. 

  1. Mark Knopfler, famed guitarist for Dire Straits, teaches guitar lessons on YouTube and wrote the song “Walk of Life” if you didn’t already know that bit of trivia.

an open letter to the Medical Community…

Watching this evening’s news I was moved to tears…

An RN, assigned to a Covid unit and overwhelmed with grief, sobbing uncontrollably.

…my heart just broke.

The Medical Community is in need.

…and there is something we all can do to help them.

Listen

Last year, about this time, I reported to medical to take an annual hearing exam.

On my way out there were sounds coming from a nearby exam room…

”Anyone in that condition should never have reported to work.”, I thought to myself.

That was Wednesday.

It hit me Friday…the first day of the Christmas shutdown.

It was bad. I don’t know what this is…but it’s bad.

I self-quarantined.

There is no way I am going to expose anyone else to this.

Nancy and I cancelled our holiday plans.

My best friend’s Mother’s birthday party…not a chance. We RSVP’d our disappointment at not being able to attend.

The annual family Christmas eve gathering…no way.

Christmas dinner with family…out of the question.

Nancy and I spent a quiet Christmas together…just the two of us.

In mid-February I retired.

At that time cases of Covid-19 had just entered the U.S.

March 13th, 2020 was the last time I got a haircut from Monica, my longtime friend/stylist/mental therapist.

Nancy now cuts my hair…and she’s getting pretty good at it.

The medical experts suggested guidelines…those became our guidelines.

I do not care what political pundits opine.

Some of our friends believe that we are overreacting.

I do not care to see how socially active you are and braving this threat.

What I see…

Our Medical Community is overwhelmed.

WE have an obligation to listen to what they have to say.

Take their advice on what we need to do and what not to do.

At some point in our lives…

We WILL need the help, the care…the empathy of many healthcare professionals.

But…right now.

Right now…

They need our help.

Nancy and I will do our best to stay out of the way.

For as long as it takes…

And to all healthcare professionals out there…please know that you are very much appreciated and we wish you well.

You are our heroes.

Every one of you.

Nancy and I will share another beautiful, quiet Christmas celebration…together.

Just the two of us.

…and there is nothing left to say, but

Merry Christmas…

and hope.

Pandemic 2020 Movie Night after night…

I will start with this.

“I am a huge fan of Wikipedia”

…and serendipity

We recently watched the film “Downton Abbey”.

In years past, we had followed the PBS series faithfully until Anna, lady’s maid to Lady Mary, was assaulted.

Upset by the direction the story was taking…we discontinued watching the series.

After watching the movie, we realized there were too many unfilled blanks. So we started over.

The entire series…

Then watched the movie…again

Through all of this, Wiki provided side notes from actor’s backgrounds to the Grantham/Crawley Family tree.

After watching all of that, we began to explore the filmography of individual actors from the series.

First up….

Dame Maggie Smith, who provided comic relief during the series and…our personal favorite.

Julienne Fellow’s contribution prompted us to revisit the film “Gosford Park”.

A film full of British Cinematic Royalty…including Dame Maggie Smith as well as Jeremy Swift, who played Septimus Spratt, the butler of the Dowager Countess (Dame Maggie Smith).

This led to “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”…more Cinematic Royalty.

Bill Nighy led us to the film “Emma”.

Taking a break from Cinematic Royalty, I queued up a movie on Amazon Prime that caught my attention, called “Fast Colors”. Serendipity…

This movie stars the beautiful young actress Gugu Mbatha Raw.

We soon realized why she looked so familiar. She played in Apple TV’s “The Morning Show”.

This serendipitous discovery led us to the film called “Belle”.

This young lady “Is” British Cinematic Royalty.

“Belle” led us to “Summerland”…co-starring Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey’s Mrs. Crawley)

Full Circle

Taking a break from endless movie night after night we watched PBS Grammy’s Lifetime Achievement Awards.

It featured Cynthia Erivo, singing a tribute to Roberta Flack.

Unbelievable talent!

Wiki…

Oh my Gosh!!!! This young lady is Cinematic Royalty as well, starring in the 2019 film “Harriet”.

I suppose you know what’s on for “Movie Night” tonight…

Serendipity…