Mazurland Blog

Take That, King!

Today is Independence Day, the day in 1776 that the American Colonies formally declared their independence from Britain. The War of Independence had already been going on for over a year, and had not been going very well. Most of the famous victories, and the biggest tests, were yet to come. But the Founders already had their heads in a noose, and so pledged their lives and their sacred honor to the task of securing independence, a job that was not completed for seven more years.

When I was a kid, my Dad bought one of those fake parchment versions of the Declaration. I remember reading it and being really impressed by the strength of the language and the litany of complaints against the King. I was also, incidentally, impressed that the scribe who had written out the text made an emendation, a caret with the addition of the word "only"  after "answered" in the sentence "Our Petitions have been answered by repeated injury." Was this at the post-draft direction of Jefferson and the Committee of Five, or was it the clerk's original error?. Either way, I knew my Dad, if he'd been on the Committee, would never have stood for that. "Do it over!", he'd have said. And we would have had a more perfect Declaration. And another signature to rival Hancock's.

You can read the text of the Declaration at the Wikipedia page. But it's fun to read it in the clerk's original script. Click on the image above and view it at full resolution. The history of the document is also fascinating. For example, Independence was declared on July 2, the Declaration was approved for dissemination on July 4, but was not signed by Congress until August 2.

Happy Independence Day!

She'd Win

Seattle blogger Jim Miller quoted Mazurland today before I even posted this. Must be the time zone difference. Actually, Jim emailed me last night asking for my prediction in a hypothetical race between Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. The short answer I gave him is that I thought she'd win. Now, I'm not predicting the outcome of a Presidential race in 2012 between the Chosen One and the Wasilla Jill. I think that though Barry's star is starting to fade except among the faithful, Palin still has a long way to go. Her conservative credentials are the real deal, and she still has more real world experience than a man can get as a community organizer in Hyde Park. But she also still has quite a lot of convincing to do among the general public, and quite a media handicap to overcome. Besides, I learned last year that Presidential Prognostication is not my strong suit.

No, Jim asked me about something in my area of expertise: running. The August issue of Runner's World has an interview with Palin. In it, she boasts that she would beat Obama in a long race. I assume here a marathon. I gave Jim the long and the short answer. He used my authority on the subject to simply quote the prediction. Here's the reasoning, fleshed out a bit, that I gave him in my response to his email:

It's hard to know, of course, but I'd bet on Palin. I'll grant Obama his advantages first. At a given age, men have a natural advantage in almost any athletic endeavor. And Obama seemed to be in good shape when he was revving up his candidacy. But he has several things against him. First, he's had to campaign longer. (I mean, the last 8 months have been just a continuation of his campaign.) That takes its toll. Second, he smokes, at least furtively. Third, while Obama is a BSer of near Clintonian status, Palin has real distance running accomplishments. Judging by the article, running is part of her life, not something she does for a photo-op. A sub-4 hour marathon is nothing to sneeze at for a middle aged woman. It's not too bad for a middle aged man, either. It's not something you just roll out of bed and do if you're in halfway decent shape, like say, running a 5K would be. I think Obama might be able to train up and beat Palin in a short race like a 5K. It wouldn't take as much time and dedication as training for a marathon, and Obama's natural advantage as a man would more quickly pay off. But I don't think he'd be able to train to beat her in a marathon in a realistic amount of time.

I'll put it this way: The Boston Marathon qualifying time is a very good, age-graded benchmark. It's not super-difficult, but it is a definite achievement. I've never run a marathon, but I know from my abilities at distances up to the half-marathon that I would be very hard-pressed to qualify. If Palin ran the same time (3:59:36) today as she did in her 2005 marathon, she would qualify to run in the Boston Marathon by 1 min 23 sec. (She was 8 min 37 sec too slow to qualify when she ran it in 2005 in a younger age bracket. Her nominal qualifying time then was 3:50, but they give you up to 3:50:59.) The qualifying time for her current age is nominally 4:00, (so they'd give her up to 4:00:59). So, even four years ago, she was on the cusp. Obama's Boston qualifying time would be 3:30. No way he could do that. And unless he trained for several months, I doubt he could run sub-4. Most middle-aged men who try out their first marathon after age 45 are happy to get 4 hours. I know I'd be, and I run a hell of a lot more than Barack. Since Palin seems to have kept up her fighting trim, unless Obama gave up his pretense of being the leader of the Free World and devoted himself to training, Palin would beat him. And no amount of cheerleading from his friends on the sidelines would help him.

The Cassette Player That Exemplifies What America Is All About

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Sony Walkman. As I was contemplating the 233rd anniversary of the birth of this nation, I began to realize that I am getting old and that I have first hand memories of a fair amount of this nations history. Twenty percent to be exact. If you add to that the first hand memories that have been conveyed to me by people that I have known personally, the percentage rises to near 50%. That's actually quite surprising. Not so much because of my age but because of the relatively young age of this country.

So what does that have to do with the Sony Walkman? It's a product introduced in 1979. The running theme I want to talk about is change. Not Obama change, but real change. Change that is progress. Real progress that is for the good of this nation as well as all nations.

Let's start with the fact that the Walkman was a product from Japan. A mere forty years before the product was released, the Rape of Nanking was a gut wrenching recent memory to thousands of Chinese women, those that survived. In 1979, that same evil empire had been long vanquished by the Allied forces of WWII. From that vanquished country came a new country. Same people, but new country. These people adopted this change, albeit by force. They prospered handsomely and started to sell products to the vanquishers. Products that made their lives easier, more affordable, and allowed them to enjoy their leisure time.

Now let's look at what has happened since the Walkman. This now seemingly clunky device has been replaced by iPods and iShuffles and an array of other MP3 players.  Nearly postage stamp size devices that can hold thousands times more music than the original cassettes that the Walkman played. Progress mostly innovated by the vanquishers and perfected by manufacturing efficiencies of the vanquished and still free neighbors of the vanquished (e.g. Taiwan). That's real change, real progress. Life changing to millions. Oh, and by the way, they're neat little gizmos. An anecdote to this that illustrates the rapid advance of technology is this story of a 13-year-old that is asked to review the Sony Walkman on its 30th anniversary. The kid didn't know that a cassette had two sides to it.

Happy Birthday America! Birth place of change, real change.

AMERICA'S 233RD BIRTHDAY THIS WEEKEND

A Banner Weekend for my family.

My Grandson's 3rd Birthday on Saturday---Pictures next week.  Granny Wanda will be in New Orleans with Alison and Anthony---Son-in-law Ryan is out on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

Weekend starts off with Wanda leaving the house in my pickup filled with my son's personal effects, and he follows in his car (DUI Ignition Interlock removed)----I have the day off and I will start by changing all the locks on the exterior doors---he's not coming back.  He'll be living with his sister and applying for jobs cooking on oil rigs in the Gulf.   I cleaned the entire house of Trout Wax, so I won't be tempted to over wax in my joy.   Later I'll be in Alexander County papering the area with flyers about the Marine Corps League detachment I'm trying to start.

Saturday--Morning we spend decorating the stage at Lincolnton High Stadium for the Fireworks and Honors to our Nation.   Lunchtime Picnic at the American Legion.   Parade (Lead-off is the Capt Jeb F Seagle MCL Color Guard)starts at 8PM (too hot to do it in the daytime) followed by Presentation of the colors (By Jeb F Seagle Det. MCL) at the Stadium, followed by fireworks.

Sunday---A service at Victory Assembly of God in Cherryville, Marine Corps League requested by the Pastor to Present Colors, and I've been asked to make some remarks.   Then a ride to SC to visit a retired Master Chief Hospital Corpsman I've known for 33 years (SJCI Class 1961).

What are you deadheads doing?  Let me know in Comments.  Better do something, Celebrate the Birth of the Nation before there's no Nation left.

Message to the MJM

That's right--- Not the Mainstream Media, but the MICHAEL JACKSON MEDIA. 

 

WANT A HEADLINE???? HERE'S SOME FOR YA

 

 

MICHAEL JACKSON IS STILL DEAD!!!!!

MICHAEL JACKSON WILL CONTINUE TO BE DEAD FOR THE REST OF RECORDED TIME!!!!

 

NOBODY WITH MORE THAN 10 BRAIN CELLS CARES ABOUT THE DEATH OF MICHAEL JACKSON!!!

YOU MAY NOW CONTINUE YOUR COVERAGE OF THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BARACK OBAMA.

 

 

 

New Month---Lets get off the collective duff

Things are pretty much normalized now at work, most of the bugs worked out of the system.  Things are busy at home, and lots to write about.  I don't see any reason not to be able to write a little something EVERY DAY.   And if I can do it, the rest of you lug-a-beds can too. 

I'd like to thank Paul for kicking in for June with 4 posts---that kept us at a lowly 20 odd posts for the month, but would have been much worse without them---all good'uns too!

As for the 2 "ghost writers"----Time to say it publicly---no shame or foul.   If being a contributor to this blog no longer gets your creative juices flowing, or whatever reason---defecate or remove your gluteus maximus from the commode seat, and allow Marty to morph Mazurland into something more representative of what the authors who give a damn want to do with it. 

 Times and circumstances change, and desires and needs change.  I thought it cool that Mazurland was a family project, even if it was just the brothers at first.   But with both Mom and Dad Mazur gone to their reward, if this is a project that all the authors are no longer interested in,  let's turn it into something that still makes a statement.  If that means changing the name too, so be it.  Either you care, or you don't.  Either way---let's make a decision.

My New Training Program

I apologize for taking a few days off my regular posting schedule. I've been trying out a new training program to reinvigorate my running. It involves mixing in some short bursts of very high-intensity sprinting with my usual long slow jogs. It also involves a new diet: antelope. Lots of it. That and the exercise has usually made me too sleepy to blog. But I think the program is starting to show some results.

[HT - Karen]

Globe Trotting

I've had occasion to report here on my son Andy's various adventures in the last few years, from his senior backpacking trip in the wild's of West Virginia, to his adventures across America with the charity organization Invisible Children, to his bike trip to Maritime Canada last summer. This year, Andy has clipped his own wings. He's buckled down to tackle a couple of drudge courses so he can graduate from college at the end of the next academic year.

Now, it's my daughter Christina's turn to be the family adventurer. And she's taken on that "burden" with a passion. In March she spent her Spring Break with a medical mission in Honduras. And last month she started her summer abroad. She is studying in Spain until early July, and then after a week gallivanting with a friend, will spend the following 6 weeks studying in southern Italy. After a semester back in Pennsylvania, she will spend all of next Spring in France.

Christina is a personable young woman who has learned quite a bit over the last year about being self-sufficient and confident. She has really taken charge of her education, and, in no small part, of her life. She's majoring in International Studies, French, and Spanish, with a minor in Italian, and though only entering her Junior year, she has gotten several department awards that are making a dent in her travel expenses. And though the biggest "dent" was felt by Mom and Dad, as far as we're concerned it was money well spent.

Christina is staying with a young family in Seville, Spain, and speaks Spanish in their home. Which is a good thing, because she doesn't get as much opportunity to speak it outside of that home as she'd thought she would. She's one of the best Spanish speakers in her group of students, which means she has no one of comparable ability to practice with. So the youngsters speak English when they're out together. This makes it easy for the locals to identify their group as American, so Christina doesn't even get much chance to speak Spanish with waiters, shopkeepers, etc.

But Christina is picking up more of the language, and having a great time. There have been numerous weekend side trips, to other spots in Spain, to southern Portugal, and even a continent hop over to Morocco. And she's even getting some early practice for her trip to France. A waiter at one of the spots where the kids hang out is a French speaker. He assumed Christina was Canadian (well, she is part Canadian) because she speaks French better most Americans. And in Morocco, she got a chance to use communication skills of a different kind. Christina has always had a way with animals. At right is a picture of her with her new "bestie", Joe the Camel. She said he just wouldn't shut up!

But Canadian as she might seem, our girl carries with her an American's complete indifference to the game of soccer. The US just upset Spain 2-0 to advance to the Confederation Cup final. Apparently, it's nearly a national tragedy in Spain. Chistina isn't sure what to make of it, except a chance for a bit of good-natured needling.

HI-YO!!!! R.I.P. Ed McMahon

The most famous 2nd Banana of All 2nd Bananas left us today. Marine Ed McMahon passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 86.

Ed enlisted in the Marine Corps near the end of WW2, when in the Marines you could train to be a pilot as an enlisted man. He was designated a Naval Aviator, but never saw Combat.  After leaving the Corps he got a degree from Catholic University in Washington, DC and got a job in television in Philadelphia.  He did a cooking show and was a clown on local Philly TV.  

For those readers too young to remember a lot of nights watching "The Carson Show"---aka the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, go to you tube and dig up a few clips.  A better pair on a talk show never existed, and likely never will.

Ed's brother Marines gave generously to him in his later years when his home was being foreclosed on.  Now he's where he always knew he'd be--Guarding the streets of Heaven with his fellow Marines.

RIP Ed---thanks for the thousands of laughs you provided, and the levity you brought into our homes 5 nights a week.

Happy Birthday, Amy!

My baby sister Amy, who is one of the most frequent non-author commenters at Mazurland, celebrates her birthday today. She is the youngest Mazur sibling, bottom of the pile of my parents' six kids. And by a lot: six years separates her from the next-youngest. A caboose, as they say. As we older sibs take great pleasure in mentioning, it's the dawn of her last "non-cougar" year. She's 39 now! We'll have even more fun next year!

But for now, take a moment to comment and wish Amy a Happy Birthday. And visit Amy's blog. For the last few weeks, she's been reliving her adventure of two years ago, when she and he husband David lived in Russia for a month in order to bring home their daughter, Madeline Olga, Queen of America. It's great stuff.

Titty-Tat

Vicky and I just got a new kitten. Our faithful old cat Minks-Squinks died back in February. I knew we'd be getting another, but before now it was "just too soon" for my wife. But our dog is lonely all day while we're at work. And an opportunity presented itself. So her it is. Currently, gender unknown. (I think it's a male.) I don't think this is making it easier to "downsize after kids". Vicky has named it Friday (for the day we got it). Whether it's a "Girl Friday" or a "Man Friday", we'll find out soon enough. Either way, it's "Black Friday". I always call our pets whatever comes to mind, not necessarily what everybody else calls them. Right now I'm calling this one "Tosser" because that's how I'm training it to stay off the table. More on pets soon. More pix in this Facebook album.

Good Morning! Good Morning! Good Morning-guh!

There is a man living in coastal Massachusetts. He has a small farm, the Flying Skunk Farm, on which he keeps some 70 chickens and a couple of goats. "Nicky Vasalini" (that's his nickname, and there's an interesting story there) also has a certain bigness of heart. He is one of a handful of people in the world who share their barnyard bounty with the world. And I'm not speaking here of the farmer's market. No, Vasalini has installed a chicken cam in the yard where the birds spend their days. And unlike many chicken cams I've seen (don't ask how or why), which merely tout slowly refreshed stills, this one features live, streaming video and audio. And Gumby. Go for a visit. It's oddly fascinating and pacifying. At least until the roosters get going.

[Note: The stream requires Windows Media Player, which may give you trouble on some computers.]

[HT- Scott]

Happy Birthday USN Hospital Corps

Today is the 111th Birthday of the US Navy Hospital Corps.  There are celebrations going on wherever there are Corpsmen today---At Sea, deployed with the Marines, in hospitals world-wide, and even at Hospital Corps Schools in Great Lakes, IL and San Diego, CA.

There is a LOT of pride in being a Corpsman. Our rating is the most distinguished occupational specialty in the Navy.  More Corpsmen have been awarded the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross for heroism than any other rating in the Navy.

2 Hospital Corps Birthdays are memorable to me.  My first, while a student at Hospital Corps School Great Lakes in 1976, where 2 male Nurse Officers (who had been Corpsmen) spent hours pumping beer out of a Step Van full of kegs and ice.  What a party.

3 years later, in New London CT at the Hospital Corps Birthday Picnic I finally got this girl to agree to go out with me.  I'd been trying to get her to do that for about 8 months, ever since she first arrived at the hospital and I was "hit by the thunderbolt" when I first laid eyes on her. 6 months later we were married, and she's been my girlfriend, wife and partner for 30 years this Saturday.

Since I was awarded the Dep't of NC Marine Corps League Marine of the Year last weekend, I am more than usually aware of the reverence that Marines have for their Corpsmen.  I was deeply moved by many of the congratulations and messages I have received since.

I read this on Sgt Grit.com this morning and this Doc said it as good as I, so here it is

Happy Birthday to the finest men and women of My Beloved Marine Corps!

17 Jun 2009 is the 111th birthday of My Hospital Corps! From that day forward my brothers and sisters have been there with the Marines, from Belleau Wood to Iwo Jima (Never forget, There were 5 Marines and 1 Corpsman in the Flag Raising on Suribachi)

From the Chosin Reservoir to the triple canopied hell of Viet Nam. From Desert Shield/Desert Storm to Fallujah and Afghanistan We have been by your side. Through hail of bullets, smoke, artillery shells and hand to hand. We've patched what we could and held on to those we couldn't save, so they wouldn't die alone. But it wasn't all combat, I've been there for births of children, Who says Marines don't cry?

I've been there when life's end was coming and helped family members ease their sorrow. I remember one young recruit brought to my ward, He had collapsed in basic. 19 is too young to get liver cancer. He was from Chicago and his father (against policy) made sure we never had to pay for our meals, We were helping his Son. One time he lashed out at my Lt. (Nurse Corps). It was out of frustration I know but I didn't cut him any slack on this. I told him what he was dealing with sucked but he was a Marine and should behave like one. He said he wasn't one yet, he had not graduated yet and we both knew at this point he wasn't going to. I said it was still no excuse.

Later he apologized to the Nurse and I mentioned this story to my charge nurse ( God Bless you LCDR D K Sanford wherever you may be) It seems she passed on our conversation. A short time later he was stable enough to go home. But not before a visit which stunned him and his family, The Commandant and Sgt Maj of the Marine Corps paid a visit.The recruit was formally graduated from Basic Training and promoted to LCpl with orders to go home and get better so he could rejoin the fleet.

Two days later on a medical flight to Chicago that young Marine died peacefully in his sleep. Back in Bethesda we were all stunned even though we knew he did not have long it was still too short a time. I may not have been on that flight but I was there. I have far too many memories from my time in service, many like the one above many more happier and a lot of now very funny ones I can't talk about in polite conversation!

Marines (to paraphrase Mrs Roosevelt) Are some of the most Stupifiying, Hard headed, Hard charging, Trash Talking, Bullet Stopping go getters I have been blessed to ever know or work with. They say that the Title of Marine is earned not given, well from my view I know of one too the title Doc.. It is very much earned and I remember the day I went from Hm3 to Doc as I'm sure many of My brothers and sisters do as well. It made me stand a little taller... So for now Happy Birthday to my friends and family

Sleep well Marines, Doc's got your back.... Semper Fi

Doc Steve Goodrich
HM2 (FMF) USN
1986-1996

Happy Birthday to all Corpsmen, Past and Present.

 

"Corpsman Up" tells the story of men at war from a unique perspective; that of a medical specialist assigned to a Marine combat platoon.  Imagine what it is like to be the person charged with the job of exposing yourself to murderous enemy gunfire to run to the aid of an injured Marine.  Then, as bullets explode all around kicking dirt up into your face, concentrate on saving the young man’s life, even though often times wounded yourself

 

Doc Kaz at Green Beach, Luzon, Phillipine Islands 1984

I'd Buy One Now

I remember this toy. My parents, of course, wouldn't get it form me. My Dad hated noise, and was, to say the least, no friend of an armed citizenry. Besides, it was kind of an expensive toy. And since my parents had three kids (with more in the hopper), we often had to content ourselves with wishing about the toys we didn't have. Of course, looking back, my parents were quite sensible and gave us more than any toy could have provided. But if they still made this toy (cue the PC thought police), I'd buy one now. Perfect for training the cat to stay off the counter.

Change You Can't Believe In, Much Less Understand

Back when the Porkulus Bill was being jammed down the throats of the American people, Der Fuehrer told us that if we didn't get the bill passed immediately, the unemployment rate "Could rise to over 8%".  So there's no time to even read it, legislators, just "Trust in Der Fuehrer", and all will be well.

Last week, as the unemployment rate hit 9.4%, 5 months after Porkulus went into effect, Non wing-nut Democrats are saying that this isn't the Change they voted for.

Today, The Government Controlled Media Agency formerly known as the Washington Post  (Al-WAPO) now disseminates the following propaganda message, from Al-Reuters news service

Obama frets on debt, sees U.S. unemployment rising

President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that worrying about the U.S. government's finances "keeps me awake at night" and the country needed to start planning now to tackle soaring deficits.

Call me an ignorant Polack if you will, but the aforementioned Fuehrer CREATED these soaring deficits, and now he's losing sleep over them?  I suppose that's better than losing sleep because the Sheriff is coming in the morning to remove you and your belongings from your home, or not being able to find a job.

The WAPO article continues

"There's no doubt that we've got a serious problem in terms of our long-term deficits and debt," he told CNBC. "I make no apologies for having acted short term to deal with our recession."

AND

Economists advising the American Bankers Association forecast earlier on Tuesday that the U.S. unemployment rate would peak at 10 percent

Now let me get this straight.  1. Messiah declares state of emergency and passes nearly 1 trillion dollar stimulus bill. 2. Unemployment continues to rise above levels Messiah said they would reach if we DIDN'T pass stimulus bill IMMEDIATELY.  3. Economists forcecast unemployment rate will continue to rise. 

Then the 2 real ringers.  A: Messiah says he's losing sleep over Government Debt that HE CREATED, and B: MAKES NO APOLOGIES FOR HAVING CREATED THEM.

Not only is this Change you can't believe in, It's Change the Creator himself can't understand.

We'll never claim him, but perhaps the Moron from Chicago---the proof of the failure of Affirmative Action, is an associate of the Polish Mafia.

2009 N.C. Marine Corps League Convention

This weekend the Department of North Carolina, Marine Corps League held its 39th annual Convention in Burlington, NC.  Many who have attended nearly every one held said this was the best planned and best convention overall. 

The Lcpl Alan D Lam (KIA Iraq 2003) detachment in Burlington were the hosts, and the Convention Chairman was responsible for the success of the event.  Chairman Bruce Rakfeldt was born and raised in Lockport, NY and along with myself and Dep't Paymaster Bob Learn from the West Side of Buffalo are known among the native North Carolinians and long time transplants across the state as the "Buffalo Mafia".  Bruce is also the Department Adjutant, and is the kingpin in our efforts to achieve full 21st Century Communications within the department.

At the Business meeting the Commandant gave out awards. Some officers got certificates of appreciation, several got distinguised service awards.  A few got Individual Meritorious Commendations, and I and 2 other District Vice Commandants got Silver level Distinguished Citizen Awards for our work in forming new detachments and for leadership at both the Detachment and Department Levels.

At the Banquet I was seated with the Department Commandant and his wife, the Department Chief of Staff, past National District Vice Commandant Steve Wilson,1998 National Marine of the Year and past Department Commandant Joe Blick, and our guest of honor Maj.General Thomas Wilkerson,(USNA 1967), a Marine Aviator and the son of a Marine General.

When it was time to announce the selectee of the 2009 Marine of the year, the 14  members of the Marine of the Year Society, who decide who gets the award, came up front. The President of the Society mentioned that there were 14 nominations to be considered.  They then announced the name of this years selectee

Continue reading "2009 N.C. Marine Corps League Convention"

Time Out

I'm a whistler. I know it can be an annoying habit. But I'm (hopefully) self-conscious enough about it. I don't do it in the office I share with two others. I don't do it when I'm out with people. I'll occasionally burst forth for a minute or so when I'm walking down the hall in my building. But I'm not alone there. There's another whistler on my floor. (He's not as good as me.) Occasionally, I'll catch him doing it and whistle the same tune, a reminder to be more self-conscious about it. But the place I'm most likely to be caught whistling is at home, and that's where I rely on my family's tolerance.

I like whistling challenging things. I can do a few bird calls, and have driven cardinals crazy mocking them. But I like to try to do complicated melody lines from classical and jazz pieces I know well. It's kind of an exercise in pitch and breath control, and I think it helps me a bit with my amateur singing. No way am I as good as the master whistler, Toots Thielemans. Toots is also a very good guitar player, and one of the best chromatic jazz harmonica players of all time. (Don't laugh. You've probably heard this guy many more times than you realize. He played the harmonica on the original Sesame Street theme song, whistled on the old Old Spice commercials,and has whistled or played harmonica for many other artists, including Billy Joel, Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, and has played on numerous movie sound tracks.)

Brother Chris whistles a bit, though not as much as I do. One day, we were in a locker room getting ready to work out. I started absent-mindedly whistling a Paul Desmond sax solo from Dave Brubeck's Time Out album (Take Five?). Chris chimed in and we kept it going pretty well. Odd place to jam.

I knew the Brubeck album well. Time Out is one of the biggest selling, most critically acclaimed, and, yes, iconic jazz albums of all time. My Dad was many things, but two things he was not were he was not musical and he was not cool  (He did not care about the latter, but I think he secretly wished he was the former.) But he had Brubeck's album. That was cool. And I played the heck out of it growing up. The great thing about Time Out to me was that it played into my sometimes opposing loves and tastes in music. I like to analyze music and so I like music with interesting structure. Think Bach. But I like music that tells a story, that has an arc, that has melody, no matter how simple, Time Out had both. Brubeck's arrangements and his piano were thinking man's music. Complex harmonies and tonality. Unusual rhythms and time signatures (e.g. Take Five is in 5/4 time). But Paul Desmond's sax playing was hauntingly beautiful, perfectly tonal, melodic. And they played off each other and with each other, complementing each other.

Desmond played into one of the weirdest coincidences I've ever had. One morning in the late 70s (actually, I can tell you exactly what morning, with the help of Google), I was getting ready for breakfast, pouring cereal, opening the milk bottle, and whistling a Desmond solo. I sat down to eat and opened the morning paper. There on the inside page was a notice that Paul Desmond had died the day before. That was spooky. I had Desmond in my head the rest of the day. 

So my son Andy called the other night and asked me to identify a song he'd downloaded from somewhere. (I don't know why that information didn't come with it. I think he often downloads stuff and doesn't organize it until he's forgotten where it came from.) He described it to me and at first I thought he was talking about a Mingus number. But then he played it over the phone and I knew a new generation had discovered Time Out. It was Take Five, from that record.

And just in time. June 25 will mark the 50th anniversary of the release of Time Out. If you're not familiar with it, it's time to take five and have a listen.

There Is Hope For No Change

We have hoped Obama won't be able to carry off all of his plans for Hope and Change. Political reality would step in. Democratic Congressional infighting and incompetence would show itself again. And a GOP resurgence led by conservatives? Nah. Too much to hope for. Maybe the best hope is the American people. Or at least Obama's opinion of them.

Pipeman

As noted in an earlier post on Mazur Slice, I have a friend Shawn that coins names and terms on the fly like no other person I know. I described the litany of names that I've been tagged with. On our many walks to lunch or during breaks, when we worked together in downtown Lexington, KY, Shawn would name the people that he would see. There was Michael Jordan's Dad, a tall elderly black man, that looked like he could have been a basketball player in his younger days but now relies on a cane to get around. One name which may have been uttered simultaneously by all of us was Mullover Man. He is a middle aged guy that works somewhere downtown that has a mullet and a comb-over. That's amazing! There is Crazy Lady, a street person that yells at you for no reason. Now Shawn didn't name this guy, but he's worth mentioning. He's Smooth, the shoe-shine guy. He used to have a gig at our company where he'd come in and shine our shoes, about once per month. Our company paid for his service.  Even though he doesn't shine our shoes anymore, we see him from time to time. He wears the most crazy outfits. We also have a daycare behind our office that Shawn would take the pleasure in memorizing all of the mom's dropping off and picking up their children. There was no more famous mom than Volvo Mom. She obviously drove a Volvo, but we speculated about her. We figured she was a woman that has a sugar daddy husband and did nothing all day but go to the spa and workout. She dropped her kid off at 10:00AM (if she had a job why 10:00AM?) in sweats and would pick the kid up at 5:00PM looking fine after a day of leisure.

As you can tell, there are many characters we ran across in Lexington, but there was one very special guy, Pipeman. He's one of those people that you probably see a hundred times, but never notice. Once you notice him or he's pointed out to you, you notice him all the time and you're amazed at how ubiquitous his presence is. The first time Shawn talked about Pipeman he was surprised that I never had seen him before. He said, "You know, the dude with the pipe. you never noticed him"? Nope, I didn't. But sure enough, the next time we were on a walk, there was Pipeman. Pipeman is an amazing person. He's not a street person. He lives in a Christian senior's home nearby, and will go out on multiple strolls a day. Stroll is not the right word. Saunter doesn't do it justice. He's not lollygagging. He's not meandering. His stroll has purpose. It appears to fulfill him, yet he does it extremely slowly. His route is fairly consistent, although he's been spotted in other areas of the city. So Pipeman has a very slow but methodical way about his strolls. But there's more to him that amazes us. Each time we see him, he is pausing, taking a puff from his pipe and looking at some cornice or other architectural feature of a building as if it's the first time he's ever seen that building although we know he's looked at that build a thousand time before.

After being totally intrigued by this man, we started a new mission. The mission was to get on talking terms with him. Our plan was to start slow and just say hello to him each time we passed him. And yes, you will always pass him. The thing about it is that we haven't got past just a few words since we started the mission about a year ago. I think we are star struck and don't know how to start a real conversation with the man. We feel like we would interrupting someone's very important work. Because it does look like Pipeman puts a lot of work into his strolls.

[HT : Ty captured Pipeman in the photo]

UPDATE : Today during lunch, I got over the hurdle of one word niceties. I had a brief conversation with him at an intersection. We talked about how much he likes to take strolls. But then it was back to work for him.

The Tale of the 100 Euros

Not exactly Chaucer, but I understand the import.

As Sophia Petrillo used to say on "The Golden Girls": "Picture it-----Shores of the Black Sea, June 2009"

Everyone in the little  town is in debt, and living on credit.  Bad weather has made times very tough in the tourist industry.

But a wealthy tourist arrives in town, arrives at the only real hotel.  He lays a  100 Euro note on the counter and goes upstairs to inspect the rooms.

The Hotel owner snags the 100 Euros and gives it to his butcher to pay his account.

The Butcher takes the 100 Euros and gives it to the Hog Farmer to pay his bill.

The Hog Farmer takes the 100 Euros and gives it to the feed store to pay for his fuel and grain bill.

The Owner of the Feed Store takes the 100 Euros and runs to the home of a local prostitute to pay his tab for services rendered previously "on credit".

The Prostitute takes the 100 Euros and runs to the hotel and pays the owner for the rooms she used entertaining her various clients.  He leaves the 100 Euro note on the counter.

The wealthy tourist comes back downstairs, tells the hotel owner that his lodgings are not acceptable, takes the 100 Euro note, and leaves town.

Nobody in the town earned anything. But now several members of the town have no outstanding debts and look to the future with much optimism.

AND THAT IS HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT UNDER BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA DOES BUSINESS TODAY.

In the story, at least the hogs and the hooker made out OK.

Polish Girls

This is a shout out to all of you single guys looking for the cute, yet domesticated, yet sophisticated, bride to be. Think Poland. I ran across this blog and realized I would be doing the guys looking for real women to marry a disservice if I didn't share this with them. Let's be serious, what gets a guy's motor running? Well, there's the obvious (ahem), but the glue that binds most couples together initially, does not have staying power, no matter how gammy the gams are (not gamey). So go Pollack. Here are the top 5 reasons to date a Polish girl:

• The Cute Names - Most guys are not turned on by pet names, but c'mon. How would you like to be greeted at the door after a hard days work with a "Ohhh Kotku, my kotku needs attention". Dang, I'd even settle for, "Yo! Dupa!"
• The Food - 'Nuff said, keeps 'em coming home.
• Conservative Nature - She'll be the mother to your spawn. No need for a tramp here.
• Better Looking - Bad stereotype with the the babuszkas, but there are plenty of lookers.
• Polish Wedding - You'll be at your 25th anniversary before you know what hit you.

Go Slavic!

Note: None of the Mazur brothers married a Polish girl.They worked hard to find their marital bliss elsewhere.

To the Mazurland daughters: You have a wonderful asset. Use it.

Jimmy Slice

Mazurland has described to the world what it means to Mazur Slice. But Mazurland will coin a new term today, Jimmy Slice. To Jimmy Slice is to plan out and execute the consumption of a meal in such a way that you are sopping up the last bit of gravy or sauce with the last morsel of the slice of bread you ate with dinner. In other words, consumption efficiency while maximizing consumption pleasure. The Mazur brother's maternal grandfather was Alois Odziemiec (as an aside, I find it odd that both grandfathers and father shared the same first name).  As children, we had not fully developed our tongues to pronounce the consonant soup that is the hallmark of Polish names. Odziemiec is pronounced, Aw-DZIEM-yets, but we would just say Grandma and Grandpa Jimmy. During the many dinners we shared with our grandparents, we started to notice the efficiency and perfection of Grandpa Jimmy's eating technique. There was never a turn of the plate, never a drop of gravy or sauce left unsopped and all at the time you could tell that he was totally enjoying his meal. It was second nature and effortless. As teens, when the Mazur brothers were learning the fine art of eating, we were in awe of our grandfather. I think Chris used to take notes and review them before meals. Marty tried to find an algorithm to mimic grandpa's technique. I trusted genetics, thinking that it will come in due time. And it has. So Grandpa Jimmy, you taught us well. Tonight I will Jimmy Slice.

So Who Needs Another Search Engine?

Microsoft's new search engine Bing came out just over a week ago. The interface is flashier than Google's. But is there any substance? What can it do that Google can't? What can it do better than Google? It's too early for me to tell, but I doubt Bing is a Google-killer. Google is quite ingrained right now, and Bing would have to do a lot to change that. I haven't spent a lot of time playing with Bing, but I have a couple of first impressions. Here are two features that caught my eye. First is the infinite scroll on image searches. Unlike the case with Google, where you have to go to another page to view more images, with Bing you can scroll down the page and Bing loads more for you. Is this spiffy enough of a feature for me to change my image search engine? Maybe. The second feature its aerial mapping. Bing has given me access to higher resolution aerial photos than Google makes available in my area. Google's aerial resolution varies depending where in the country you look, and State College, Pennsylvania, until quite recently had very poor image resolution available of the surrounding area via Google. It's gotten better, but is not as good ans that on Bing. Bing's views of the woods in my area are astonishingly close in. There are very good views of the trails in the woods; I can see individual trees. And there is a 3D add-on that is a bit better than gimmicky. I only wish that search engines in general would make sure all of their aerial imagery is taken when the leaves are off the trees.

Bing may be better in some areas than Google, but Google will certainly try to address any market-shifting disparities. But what's new under the sun? Last week a friend pointed me to a web site I hadn't seen before, though it's been in the tech news for a few months and is right up my alley. The site is Wolfram Alpha.Wolfram Alpha was released in mid-May by Wolfram Research. That company produces high performance mathematical software. It's flagship product is Mathematica, which can perform interpret and solve mathematical equations and produces matchless graphics.

Wolfram Alpha is not so much a search engine as an "Answer Engine". Unlike search engines, which attempt to correlate a user's search string with a database of keywords and phrases, Wolfram Alpha attempts to interpret the user's natural language query as a question, and to answer it. It will tell the user what it thinks the question is, so that the user, if necessary, can fine tune the question. And it works with a huge and well-organized knowledge base. It's strength, as you would guess, is mathematical and scientific knowledge. For example, by typing in a request in the simple natural language syntax, you can find limits, derivatives, integrals, and other information about nearly any mathematical expression you can dream up. And the Answer Engine provides graphs and other information, as well. The trouble is, in this "alpha version", sometimes the answer is wrong, as attested in the Wikipedia article on Wolfram Alpha. No doubt, the geniuses at Wolfram are working on plugging the holes. They are also continually adding to their sizable databases and improving the knowledge engine's ability to use the data.

Wolfram Alpha is not limited in scope to science. Just type in "What is the 52nd smallest country in terms of GDP per capita?" Wolfram Alpha knows the answer: India. It knows about science, music theory, government statistics, health, linguistics, history, weather, and a host of other topics. If you put in a random date, Wolfram Alpha will tell you what notable event happened on that date, the day of the week, the phases of the moon, sunrise and sunset times, and other information. Type in F# and Wolfram Alpha will tell you about the key of F#. Check out the examples. You'll end up playing with it for quite a while. The answers are usually not as in depth as those given in Wikipedia, but because it can interpret questions and, in many case solve problems, it offers something Wikipedia does not. If you like the tool, you can install a Wolfram Alpha widget to your browser. 

Wolfram Alpha is something different. It won't replace Google or Wikipedia. It can't. It's not designed to. But it will give you another way to find answers.

The Indoctrination Game

On a recent trip to Buffalo, my sisters and one of my daughters went on a stroll down Elmwood Avenue, one of the more trendy parts of the city. We stopped in many of the trendy shops, stopped and drank some trendy coffee and visited and reviewed all of the trendy organic foods at the local coop. Lots of eye rolling on my part, but it was fun. When I stopped at a trendy toy store, my eyes rolled so far back that I think people thought they saw a slot machine spinning. There in front of me were games for the indoctrination of the youth into the various trendy causes. The running theme was, "let's find out ways to get children to worship the earth". There was Earthopoly, a take-off of Monopoly. Below is part of the description of the game:

"Earthopoly is a game celebrating Earth, one turn at a time! Players become the caretakers of wondrous locations around the planet then increase their property value by collecting Carbon Credits and trading them in for Clean Air. It’s all fun and games until someone gets sent to the Dump!"  

And then there was What's Rubbish?.  

"This colourful game is both fun and educational.  It helps spark an environmental awareness in children and teaches them about items which can be recycled. Travel around the board collecting cans, bottles, clothes and newspapers to put into the recycling bins. Then decide what rubbish can be posted into the refuse bin, but watch out for the litterbug!"

Lighten up people! Sure, teach your children to be good stewards of God's creation. In the mean time, buy them a cap gun and tell them to go outside and play. You'll call them in for dinner.

O's Speech and the State Run Media

Back on the road continuing his "USA Sucks---We Apologize" tour this week, Bippy the Teleprompter and the man who would be President gave his message to the "Muslim World".  With damn few exceptions, the USA media---totally in the tank for O, fawned over every freakin' word.

HT to E Pluribus Unum on RedState, response by Non Obama Controlled media isn't much impressed.

• Hassan Fadlallah, a lawmaker for Lebanon’s Hezbolla, said the Islamic world did not need moral or political sermons. “It needs a fundamental change in American policy beginning from a halt to complete support for Israeli aggression on the region, especially on Lebanese and Palestinians, to an American withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.”
• Khadija Patel, editor of Al Huda magazine in Johannesburg, said: “I am not living in the east and yet I am Muslim so I am not sure if Obama’s speech applies to me. However I must say that his speech was acknowledging a place for Muslims in the world. I personally applaud him for making the comment about Muslim woman not being oppressed because they wear the Hijab. It was refreshing to hear him say that because Western media keeps throwing that in our faces. We should not get overexcited though because Obama is like the uncle who comes to visit and brings sweets, but are those sweets really for us?”
• Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal from Somali insurgent movement al-Shabaab,
  said Obama’s speech was useless unless he stopped his political interference with Somalia and the Muslim world. “If he means what he says, let him withdraw his troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Stop supporting Amisom (African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia) and the Somalia government.”
• Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, a former Afghan prime minister, said: “From one side, he opens his bosom to Islam. From the other side, his troops are killing Afghanistan, what he says is totally different from what his soldiers are doing here.”
• Mohamed Habib, Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader, said the speech was a “public relations address” more than anything else. “There’s an unjust perspective on the part of the American president towards the Palestinian issue, one that does not differ from former President Bush’s and the neoconservatives’ perspective.“
• Mohammad Marandi, head of North American studies Tehran University said: “America has to change. Talking is not enough. He can make a few more speeches but people are starting to ask: What are you going to change? The US has to re-evaluate its policies towards the region, whether towards Iran, or whether towards Palestine.”
• Ebrahim Bham secretary general of the Council of Muslim Theologians in South Africa, said “inconsistencies” remained in the US’s policy in the Middle East. For instance, it remains to be seen whether Israel, an acknowledged nuclear power, yet a non-signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, is going to be held accountable in the same way Iran is being taken to task for her nuclear programme in the US’s effort to prevent an arms race in the Middle East.”

And it's obvious he got no standing ovations from this pic of "Achmed and Mohammed Hamas"  watching the speech from whatever rat hole they reside in

 

Somehow I don't get the idea that they're ready to set down those assault rifles and look for the negotiation table, no?

My overall take on the speech, is that it wasn't necessary--(ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS)

Talk really is cheap. Much of what he said was paraphrased or plagarized from the last 8 years of Bush speeches about the Muslim world.  So in the end, our enemies in Radical Islamic Extremism and Terrorism have the message:  O's no different than W.