"Please excuse my bad English; I'm American"

.....The problem with America is stupidity.  I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?   I have lost count of the number of senseless wars we have been engaged in since the Civil War ended in 1865.  To win a war it takes many weapons, old and new; and all our wars have taken an unimaginable number of lives--old and young.  And think not only of a lost life, but of the grieving family that is left behind.  I found it extremely heart rending having to shoot down enemy Messerschmitts  or to sink a submarine carrying many young men whose duty in WWII was to destroy a convoy of American ships carrying aid to the British Isles.  All I could think of was the grief I or my aircrew mates would be causing to the wives and mothers and sisters and other family members left at home.  I could hardly bear the thought of my own mother's grief over my own death if that had been my fate in battle.  But though WWI and WWII were obviously stupid on all sides, what can be said about Vietnam or Iraq?  We went to war in Iraq to wipe out their WMDs--but when we got there, no weapons of mass destruction were to be found--but a plentiful number of American bodies.  How stupid was that?  How incredibly stupid!

 

.....And how stupid are we Americans who are not inspired by Putin's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula because the people there speak Russian and not Ukrainian.  It' stupidity not to allow Arizona, Texas, and South Carolina (among some other Red states) to secede from the Union if they so wish.  They don't pay their taxes to the IRS anyway.  These secessionists will not have to be concerned about "Obamacare" any longer because they can then name their health plan after their governors.  What we can do, which is unstupid, is to annex Canada.  After all, most of Canada speak English and not French.  We do not want French on our ballots.  Having Spanish on them is bad enough, although, at times, easier to read than the English.  But, of course, Canadians who speak English with an accent will be excluded, and those who are already here using up our gas for their cars shall be deported. Except those in South Florida who are good for our economy.  One good thing about annexing Canada is that we can pass a law banning hockey in America. 

 

.....It is no secret that in Congress, stupidity runs rampant, and our Congressmen may not see that allowing the "No" states to secede would go a long way to rid America of stupidity, though perhaps not altogether.  At least it would make our flag somewhat easier to raise on a pole because the loss of a few stars would reduce the flag's weight.  And, finally, come to think of it, whoever stupidly said that money can't buy happiness simply don't know where to shop.

"Death, a necessary end, will come when it will come." (J.Caesar)

.....My ex wife Thelma's brother-in-law, or "Uncle Sammy" to my "kids", passed away peacefully the other night.  Sam was about 95 or 96, an Army veteran of WWII and one of the favorite people in my life along with Thelma's sister, Norma.  Norma, herself, is well into her 90s, I believe, and is also listed among my favorite people.  I do hope she is in good health with many years left to her.  One issue I recall about Sam is that he did not have the best of relationships with his son--whose name escapes me at the moment.  Sam was of the old school and therefore not on the same page as his son most of the time. I do hope that issue was cleared up before Sam passed on--hopefully to a better place than is this world.

 

.....I was rather stunned last night following the show that Rho and I saw in the clubhouse last night.  Once the instruments of the orchestra were removed that accompanied the performers, I saw on stage the scenic design that I proposed in the manuscript I wrote for our "in-house" show. It consisted of three "flats" with two doors on each side with red, white, and blue strips of paper or cloth through which vocalists were to make their entrances.  And in the center flat, a sign with red, white and blue lettering of "USO".  Whoever put the scene together did a very fine job bringing my design to life!  If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it. The Playbill should have a credit stating "Scenic Design by Norman Ross".  But I'm afraid that won't happen. Whoever put it together will likely claim the design.  Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's hard to get it back in.

 

.....One of the truly great "gifts" to come to me at my 90th party was a "book" of pictures taken at various times in my life, and put together with hard work, by my "kids".  I assume that the leader of this venture was my son, Joel--JR, who gathered the pictures from his sibs and my spouse, RH+, and put them all together in this book with my name and age on the front cover.  While Bobby and JR worked on this book, so did Robin and Bonny (two girls with great artistic talent).  Men are from Earth.  Women are  from Earth.  Deal with it.

 

 

 

No Wisdom; Just Blather (Ross)

.....I've just spent an hour trying to find this place.  Google has changed the format of their blogs of which mine is one.  They wouldn't accept my password which I changed three times. I also had to type in some crooked letters if I could figure them out. I had to change them a few times. Some of them were too crooked, conjured up by the Devil, no doubt.  I wanted to write about my musical manuscript which was hijacked and altered by Spanish pirates, and not one ship of our fleet was there to stop them.  Well, here I am and I'll tell you what we are going to do about it.  We'll be going on the 28th and since our tickets put us in the front row, Rhoda said that she was going to boo the musical director when she comes out.  Can't wait to see that.

 

.....One of my former students out of the class of '68 who has been living and working in China for several years is coming to visit us on the 29th.  She is a talented vocalist from Brazil who, when she was last in the USA, cut several albums--in Portuguese, which is the language spoken in Brazil. (She would do well at the Olympics this summer) Magda once lived with us when she was still going to school back in the '60s. She thinks of me as her father figure.  Don't recall what happened to her father. Magda's husband is from Norway--named Knut, and wouldn't you know it, built a boat in his back yard, which is something akin to our building a stadium and holding the Super Bowl there.  As you may recall the Vikings once invaded England because there was little to do in Norway and many of them decided to build homes and live there because the residents made great scones and strawberries and cream.

 

.....Oh, I believe I forgot to tell you that I finally bought Rhoda a diamond ring, which every Jewish woman must wear.  It was for our engagement, Valentines Day, Chanukah, St. Patrick's Day, the Ides of March, Purim, Birthday, and Mothers' Day.  Now, thank the Lord, I don't have to go out and buy cards for  events which were invented by retailers.  The ring is virtually flawless and is a caret and a half.  If I knew that diamonds would become so expensive, I would have saved them instead of gold coins and CDs.  Now, nothing much else is going on.  Next time I will elucidate on the vagaries of being 90.

Who's Going to Stop Me? I'm 90.

.....Dear Ruthie, my 90th birthday party was a blast.  I missed you very much that night.  Rhoda did a fine job reading your poem. I enjoyed it so much.  How much do I owe you?  Just kidding!  We had about 60 people there including two former students and Phil Bergovoy--if you can believe it.  He came somewhat late, and in a wheelchair which blew me away.  His voice is down a treble or two.  I had hearing aids and I could barely hear him.  I was surprised and delighted to see him, and I suspect he did not comment on my blog because he was ill--with what, I do not know.  But believe me when I say I enjoyed his company and hope his health will improve.  Hindy also came, and I imagine she did the driving.  She's a great caregiver. 

.....All four of my kids came, and all four of my grandkids as well as Huston the great grandkid.  He's 18 months old now and the youngest person at my party.  I suspect that I was the oldest, but I've been told many times that I don't look 90.  I don't even feel 90 although (pronounced "althuff") I haven't a clue as to what you're supposed to feel at 90?? As soon as I get some photos I'll send them to you.  Five invitees failed to show up, though we paid for them.  One couple did not even respond to the RSVP.  One result of the party was that Huston upstaged me.  And, oh yes, I believe I sent you some photos. If you need to know who someone is, Identify the photo.

.....As far as the manuscript is concerned to the musical I wrote, it's been "stolen".
Back in the beginning of December, I named a "friend" of mine as Director.  Since then I have not heard a word from him--either by phone or email.  He got some of his cronies and made changes to my script. This, of course, was a violation of my copyright.  He even changed the name of the show which I titled "43!" with the quote marks and all.  Now it's titled, "A USO show of the 40's" which has no mystique or panache. It's a summary, not a title.  There are other factors involved which I don't wish to bore you with.  I mean "with which I don't mean to bore you".

.....Now I'm 90.  What a surprise!  (And the pictures don't do me justice.)