Saturday, March 31, 2012

"A healthy child, well nursed, is a very nourishing food." (Swift)

.....I don't know how I got into this business of writing about the ten "best" things in our lives--well, mine anyway; must have something to do with aging.  Today I think I'll write about food.  We'll start with breakfast.  The three very best breakfasts I feel are Farina, Wheeteena, and Ralston.  They are the best for creating courage and fortitude for the slings and arrows sure to come...eventually. And you certainly want to do that. Courage is a blessing and these three  will do it for you. For lunch let's say  Chipotle Chicken Burrito - With rice, pinto beans, cheese, chicken, sour cream, and salsa, you get 1,040 calories and 16-1/2 grams of saturated fat - the same as three Subway Steak and Cheese 6-inch Subs. Plus the burrito comes with 2,500 milligrams of sodium! Ordering it without cheese or sour cream cuts the saturated fat to 3-1/2 grams, but you surely don't want to do that. If you become obese there will be more of you for your spouse and friends to love.  Carumba!  

.....OH” sure I told my friends. “I’ll go eat sushi with you.” I had no idea they were actually ordering turds on a plate. Slimy seaweed wrapped around what tasted and smelled like vomit and sewage. I don’t even know what these vehicles of death are but if I ever see them again I’m running straight towards them.  And you may ask why I consider sushi one of the ten best foods?  Simple; to show people that I am not a racist and that Japanese food is good for the American way--and especially so for the Tea Party.
.....Number 7 in this litany of very best food is boiled chicken in the pot. This is something you cannot get at Kentucky Fried.  When you have properly prepared yourself for this fascinating dish, and finish every morsel, you will never need a laxative again.  It's a lot like quitting smoking and that is also an accomplishment. So dine on some sushi for lunch or for dinner.

.....8. Either for lunch or dinner at Burger King--the triple whopper ....Three flame-broiled beef patties with two slices of American cheese, crisp lettuce, creamy mayo, red ripe tomatoes, pickles and onions–all on a toasted sesame seed bun. It’s once, twice, three times the tasty, and it’s waiting for you.  But the Home of the Whopper has more food that is good for you, like frostys.  Frankly, I don’t even know how anyone can open their mouth wide enough to fit in a TRIPLE Whopper!  But that's the reason for being eighth best--it gets you to exercise your mouth for a change instead of your abs all the time.  In discussions, for example, people will be impressed by your mouth's competence and performance...but that doesn't mean that they like will like it.  But to hell with them.

.....The ninth and tenth of what I consider the very best food are so very best that there is no point in writing about them.  You wouldn't eat them anyway; you'll only eat food that is bad for you, like broccoli.

Friday, March 30, 2012

"Much learning doth make thee mad." (ACTS XXVI)

.....OK.  Let's just have some fun, shall we?  I'm going to name the 10 very best colleges and  Universities in the United States--in my opinion, of course.  We'll start out with the top school in the country: 1.C.W. Post; next come 2.Adelphi, and 3.Hofstra; these three are universally known as academic hot spots.  4.University of Bridgeport (It is one of the best for several reasons--It has poor academics, a "shady " administration and the very best reason to go there is that it is located in a shady neighborhood.  At orientation every student is given a device with a "panic" button that when pressed will send swarms of campus policeman to your rescue). There are no complaints about this school.  You can spend a very fine four years there and it is easy to get into. 


5. Best military school--VMI;It gets ranked as one of the best because they refused to allow women in until 1996 when the Supreme Court forced them to.  Obviously now it's a great place for women to be accepted. Next, I pick #6, Michigan State.  I pick this one as one of the best in the country because over 1000 students were arrested for drug and alcohol offensives.  It's the best place to go in the Big Ten because you can do weed and drink martinis and then study--in that order. Next comes #7. Ashford, which offers online courses; it also has Catholic roots and its athletic teams compete as the Saints and fortunately for them, God is on their side.  Now that's a priori proof that Ashford is one of the best and is not for the godless.  8. Boston University, supposedly where students could get a wonderful online education as long as they have a laptop and an Excel or Word program, and if you don't like a professor, you can just play a game. 9. Now if you do not plan to graduate, one of the best colleges to enroll in is the University of the District of Columbia  whose graduation rate is 8%.  So, if you only have 50 bucks for tuition that's the best place for you--you can join the 8%. And 10, Southern University at New Orleans whose graduation rate is 5% which shows the effects of Hurricane Katrina that devastated the campus. Thus, for those who do not want to go to college, go to Southern University and wait for the next hurricane.  So, make of it as you will, these are my choices for the best colleges and Universities in the country--and who can deny it?

Monday, March 26, 2012

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." Thomas

.....I just learned from somewhere in this Google blog services that I've published 388 posts. Actually, I've written much more than 388. But whose counting?  I really should be working on my Great American Novel, but I have writer's block on that effort at the moment. Cuzzin Ruthie says it will only be the third best novel.  However, in my defense, I never said what number novel of greatness mine would be. As of now, I suspect it will be somewhere between the 2037th and 2075th best novel ever written. But, who cares?  It's acceptance is not the goal; the goal is to write it and finish it and let Lulu publish it and then let the Devil take the hindmost--whatever that means.

.....Another sad event has occurred among those that have happened recently. Leila Fallet died. Leila had the voice of an opera singer and she played important parts in the book shows that we produced here for our stage..and we did many B'way performances--but way off B'way. I hope this passing away is not catching; John Reardon died, Tom O'Connor, Howard Wolfe, a downstairs neighbor Danny, and now Leila. I'm going to Walgreen's or CVS tomorrow to see if they have any preventive over-the-counter medication. I'm not prepared to go just yet.

.....Even Rhoda's laptop passed away peacefully. Consequently, we went to Best Buy and bought her a new one. A geek there took all the stuff Rho had on the old one and transferred them to the new one.  Rhoda is no expert on the computer, but she does very well. Only on occasion do I have to help her--if I can.  I try to think about what we did when we didn't have computers. I know I never could have written my autobiography on a typewriter; and blogs were not well known, nor was email.  We had to depend on the telephone to communicate with our kids or grandkids. And the weird thing to note is that before the telphone, there were smoke signal.  

Friday, March 23, 2012

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." (Hamlet)

.....I suspect some of you may be curious about my writing the Great American Novel; perhaps for cousin Ruthie's sake, we might call it The Great British Novel (or has Dickens already done that?).  Anyway it's about a "person" who came to the planet Earth from another universe.  His name happens to be X2QZ, but you may call him "X".  His planet in his universe is Xan and there X2QZ is living in the year MMMXXV--only they are called "life cycles" there and X is XXXV life cycles old.  The Roman numerals on Xan are called Sentenoids and they came into that universe millenniums ago by a Roman seer who solved the riddle of getting through the "bubble" of Xan's universe quite by accident--as many a discovery has originated. 
..... However, the scientists on Xan were able to solve the method of escaping their bubble into Earth's universe.  X’s mission was to explore the life and history of Earth and it’s universe, and to report back to the Supreme Xan Academy of Science, History, and Art.  He was to see if there were any  technologies on Earth, or perhaps on any of the other planets in the Solar System which might be of use in Xan’s universe.  
.....X had a supreme power of being able to lift objects of any size or weight simply by a thought emanating from his brain, which on Xan was no big deal--except scientists had developed X's brain to be many times more powerful than that of anyone--a kind of "brain" astronaut.  Earth was more than 1000 Earth years behind this medical miracle.   Basic experiments with quadriplegics have been successful in having them move a cursor on a computer simply with thought.  
.....Anyway this is the basis of my book.  Don't ask me where it is going; I haven't figured that out yet.  X2QZ has helped a young lady who had been shopping at Macy's but who accidentally dropped her packages.  X simply lifted them with a thought--mystifying her.  She thought he was a circus performer.  X also ate a hot dog for the first time from a street vendor. 

Thursday, March 22, 2012

"Revenge is a kind of wild justice" (Bacon)

.....Unfortunately Rhoda's laptop died a peaceful death while we were sleeping.  So we went to Best Buy and bought her a new one.  Only we don't know how to put it to work.  I suppose we'll have to get a Geek to set it up; we know a couple who can do it.  I can't do it; I'm just a poet.  I know how she feels.  It's a lonely feeling these days if one doesn't have access to a computer.  Of course, she can check her e-mail on mine, but little else.  
.....We went to see the "in-house" show last Friday night, and it was the usual amateurish shtick; performers who were bereft of talent and some who disappointingly failed to employ the acting techniques that they attempted to learn in the Dramatic Workshop class.  I don't want to take any credit away from the person who wrote the script for the show; at least the resident author demonstrated some creative imagination.  There were one or two good voices in the show and we enjoyed their performance.  A couple of others could have used some singing lessons.  It is my understanding now that the Board does not want any more shows with a script--just review shows ala Ed Sullivan.  So, I don't see much use for the Drama Workshop in the future.
.....Insofar as the problems I've had with my fractured hips are concerned, I've just about fully abandoned the walker and I'm using a cane most of the time.  This was my goal, and I achieved it.  I hope that I'll be able to walk in the future like most human beings do, and so be able to burn the cane in the fireplace.  Oh, we live in Florida--no fireplace.  But I should be able to use the cane as a cue to shoot pool like the hustler my son, Bobby, is.
.....Yesterday we went to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Ft. Lauderdale with the Men's Club on a bus. We left about 9:30a.m. and got there at 10:15--just in time for breakfast.  We were given five dollar vouchers to spend there, and I had gotten a ten dollar one in the mail, so I used that.  Breakfast only cost us $2 plus a tip for the server.  But that was the last financial break that we got.  We lost money playing the slot machines which never spit back any of our money.  The Seminoles are getting wealthy with the casinos they run in Florida.  I guess that's their way of revenging the way we stole their land.  Can't blame them for that even though the Lord said that vengeance was his.  Problem probably lies with the fact that the Indians have a different Lord who embraces vengeance and spreads it around.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." (Hamlet)

.....March Madness now refers to the NCAA College Basketball Tournament designed to crown a national champion when all is over.  The odds makers in Las Vegas pick Kentucky to win; so will I.  Why should I think myself better at choosing a winner than the Las Vegas guys.  So, Kentucky it is.  But mark this: March 15, 44 B.C. was even more of a March Madness than this basketball tournament.  Julius Caesar, who, like Gingrich, wanted to be a King, was warned about the Ides of March, but hubris caught up to him and he was assassinated on the steps of the capitol or whatever it was called back then; who can remember?  Even as he was walking up the stairs, a blind seer warned him not to proceed, but Julie did not heed him; nor did he listen to his wife, Clementine; (I'm very bad with names) it's been so long, I don't recall her birth name, but I do like Clementine.  At any rate, Caesar did what his wife told him not to do; namely go to the temple that day.  She said "At least wait until March 16 when the Ides will be over."  See what happens when you don't listen to your wife. And then while hovering over Caesarios body,  Mark Antonio addressed the crowd who were on their way to the funeral, "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears."  It's wondrous to think that hearing aids were all the vogue back then, and Mark apparently left his at home.  What I write here is the real, honest truth.  Shakespeare did not have the advantage of Google to get his facts straight.  And I also have the benefit of Wikipedia.

.....Speaking of March Madness, a couple of other things come to mind.  Son Joel celebrated his 60th birthday on March 10th.  Practically the whole Ross clan was there at the Virginia party, that is: Joel and Barbara Ross, Thelma Ross (my ex) and her boyfriend, Harry, Robin Lee Ross Higgins, Bobby Lou Ross and his girlfriend, Bonny Sue Ross and her husband Don, Adam Nathaniel Ross and his girlfriend, Hannah Ariel Ross and her boyfriend, and Katrina Ross who was 25 on March 20th.  And about March Madness, Katrina--Bobby's daughter--is pregnant which augers well for my becoming a great grandfather.  I'm not sure what the "great" which precedes "grandfather" means except perhaps to load the kid with money.  Of one thing I'm fairly certain; if Katrina sheds a boy there will be no "briss".  But since the kid will not be birthed in March, there will be no madness either.

Monday, March 12, 2012

"Life is a long lesson in humility" (Barrie)

.....Today I enjoyed a visit from Hal Mack and his son down from Naples.  Besides myself, Hal is the only remaining crew member of our B-24 Liberator crew.  He's 89, a year older than I am--but he's in much better shape; he still is able to play golf.  His son is about a foot taller than his dad and must be about 63.  A very pleasant man.  We took them to Gramercy for lunch and Hal picked up the check when I really wanted to.  But we agreed that I'd pay for the dinner next time we meet.  It was a joy to see Hal--we both were radiomen aboard the plane.  I firmly believe that Hal will live to see 90+.  He told me about www.honorflights.org which honors WWII veterans by taking a large group each year to the WWII memorial in Washington absolutely free.  I have an application and I will certainly send it in.  There aren't too many WWII vets around--dying at the rate of 1100 each day; that means 401,500 a year.  I plan to be the oldest WWII still living.  That's easily done; all I have to do is to take my pills and inhale two mallomars each day.  


.....I need to explain my position on living a longer life.  You take your pills for your health as your doctors have prescribed and your spouse insists.  The mallomars are for your incentive; it's encouragement to live for the mallomars the next day.  I think I will copywrite and expand on this program for longevity.  It will probably sell more books than the ones I've already published.  All I'll need is a suitable title.  Let us move on:

.....Today is my ex's birthday.  I know when she was born, but I will not divulge that information; it's not civil.  I sent her an "e-card".  They are much cheaper than the paper ones.  She's a good person and she certainly was a good mother in raising four successful and bright children.  I don't know why she decided to birth Joel only two days after her's. It puts parties too close together; who wants to go to one party on Monday and another on Wednesday?  Bad planning.  But why should I be talking; my mother birthed me two days before Leap Year.  If I was born on the 29th of February I would be a lot younger than I am now-- like "Rafe Rackstraw" in HMS Pinafore-- because our birthdays only occurred every four years.  If we go by birthdays I'd only be about 23 instead of 88.  I think I'll copyright this.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

"HIs cares are now all ended." (Henry IV)

.....Things are getting out of hand here.  I keep getting information about my colleagues from North Shore H.S. who are dying, and several of them too recently. There's Tom O'Connor,who taught English; then Sam Schiffer, our soccer coach and Vice Principal and a good friend; "Moose" Reardon, our A.D. and football coach, and just a few days ago, Howard Wolfe, our counselor.  All of these friends I've known for at least twenty-five years, and even though I haven't  seen them in many years, just the loss of these men has saddened me and darkened my recent days. I have seen Howard recently when he and his wife, Marge, joined us for dinner, and so news of his death was a shock.

....Enough of that.  Let's get into some politics.  Something is wrong when my Republican friends call President Obama the "worst president in history."  Are they wearing blinders?  Or have they been brainwashed by Tea Party propaganda?  He inherited the worst recession since the Depression when I was a kid.  I remember those days.  We are not in a recession now; When he took office the Dow hovered around 7900; it is now 12,700 and heading up.
....When he took office we were at war in Iraq.  We are out of Iraq, and the war in Afghanistan is winding down.
....When he took office Osama bin Laden was alive and planning terrorist attacks with Al Qaida in our country; Many of his associates are now dead, as is Gadhafi.
....When he took office GM and Chrysler were ready to declare bankruptcy, and now they are viable companies.
....His administration has done more to stem tax cheating than any administration in history.
....In February 227,000 new jobs were created--over 200,000 for the third straight month--a sign that the economy is growing.
....And as foreign policy is concerned, he has improved our relationship with foreign countries more than Bush ever did.
....The "worst President"?  Give me a break--I mean give Obama a break also.  Give us both a break

....The other sad news I have to report is that RH+'s laptop computer died overnight in its sleep.  It went peacefully, but there are a lot of files left in it; we can't figure out how to save them.  But we are hoping that some techie can do it.  While we are waiting to buy a new laptop for her, she is getting her email on mine.  I find that if any problems occur we can get them fixed by a "chat" online.  Usually, the guy who fixes it is working in India.  We are certainly in a new world--the 21st Century.  I will continue working on my science fiction novel.  I'm making it up as I go along, but I'm way ahead of this century. Ipods are passe.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

"We are yet but young in deed" (MacBeth)

.....Another book can be credited to the famous unknown author.  It's titled "Red Baron's Blog; I ran out of names.  It runs from August 14th to Feb. 28, 2012 and has 198 pages.  It's also paper bound.  I'd like to have a hard bound copy but it's too expensive.  I'd also like to send copies to all my family, but $$ are running out of my stack like a fish jumps out of the water (simile).  I'm not too fond of the cover because the title and my name are practically invisible.  But I ran out of cover ideas.  Anyway, I like to read something in bed and the only thing available was "Paternoster in Condoland" which has 362 pages and runs from Aug. 8, 2007 to Jan. 1, 2008; practically ancient times; back to the pagan era. But I started to read it and strangely enough it felt like someone else wrote it, and believe it or not but it was very interesting.  It will take me a very long time to write enough pages for another book of my blog.  I did say I would notify all of my readers--and I know only a few from their comments.  Now I spend my time working on a novel.

.....In the past few days we had the pleasure of entertaining Ilana, Rhoda's granddaughter.  She is the perfect age--18, and she is a student at Penn State.  Most of the time the only thing she wanted to do was to sit by the pool--even if was a gray and windy day.  She did succeed, though, in getting a tan; no, more like a sunburn.  There is nothing in the world that compares to an 18 year old girl.  When we went out to dinner, she occupied herself with her iPhone.  Everyone seems to have one with the exception of most older folks.  But, here those older folks all have computers.  We even have a computer club here which is very well attended.  Anyway, Ilana is a beautiful young lady, with or without her tan.

.....We have a problem here.  A construction crew has taken all the bricks away from the entrance-way to our elevator.  It only runs now from the second floor to the fourth floor. The reason is that the bricks which were in sad condition are being replaced with tiles of some sort.  Now I can walk with a cane--but not very well, and not very far, and getting down a flight of stairs and eventually coming back up a flight of stairs is a challenge worthy of Don Quixote.  Of course once I am on the second floor I can walk to the elevator--but it's not a short walk.  My left leg is hurting and I am going to see an orthopedist shortly to see why the hip surgery hasn't healed sufficiently so that I can walk like a normal person.