Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, November 14, 2021
through
Saturday, November 20, 2021
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It’s Saturday, November 20, 2021
Welcome to the 1,272nd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Amor Towle, author
Towles in 2018
librairie mollat - Youtube
Amor Towles (2018)
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Commentary
What’s this world coming to.
Walmart and drones.
You order an item from Walmart and 30 minutes later it’s dropped into your yard.
Are you kidding me, man?
I’m just getting used to marveling over next day delivery.
ASA isn't likely to meet its Moon landing deadline of 2025, according to a new report by its office of the inspector general.
Which gets me to thinking about our burgeoning private enterprises making headway with their forays into space.
Why aren’t we enabling our private companies to do this?
Contract the job out.
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Reading and Writing
My writing is proceeding on schedule, my first target date is Dec 15 for Part One edited, two weeks later, Part Two edited, etc until Jan 15 when I expect the book to be written and edited.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.
~John Lennon
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Jim P, our scholar in residence:
Dom,
I liked the part on Justinian’s code. Justinian was from a peasant family and was (probably) the last Roman Emperor to speak Latin. The Eastern Empire is now referred to as the “Byzantine Empire” but they never called it that. They called it the Roman empire and referred to themselves as Romans right up until the end of the empire in 1453 when the last Emperor Constantine XI died in battle defending New Rome (Constantinople) from the Ottomans. There is a good book on how the eastern Empire came to be called “Byzantine” and why it is wrong to do so in historical terms: Romanland — Anthony Kaldellis | Harvard University Press. This is one of the best books on history I have read in a long time. Highly recommend.
Jim
Blog meister responds: So happy to have a scholar in our midst. Thank you, my friend.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Thursday night I had cabbage with black beans and collards. Along with, I had a piece of turkey.
With gravy.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Twisted trunk.
Picture taken in Public Garden on a 70* day in mid-November.
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Short Essay*
Towles was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale College and received an M.A. in English from Stanford University, where he was a Scowcroft Fellow. When Towles was 10 years old, he threw a bottle with a message into the Atlantic Ocean. Several weeks later, he received a letter from Harrison Salisbury, who was then the managing editor of The New York Times. Towles and Salisbury corresponded for many years afterward.
After graduating from Yale University, Towles was set to teach in China on a two-year fellowship from the Yale China Association. However, this was abruptly canceled due to the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.
From 1991–2012, he worked as an investment banker and director of research at Select Equity Group in New York.
When Towles was a younger man, he credited Peter Matthiessen, renowned nature writer, novelist and one of the founders of The Paris Review, as the primary inspiration for writing novels. Towles' first novel, Rules of Civility, was successful beyond his expectations, so much so that the proceeds from the book afforded him the luxury of retirement from investment banking and the opportunity to pursue writing full-time. His second novel A Gentleman in Moscow was a finalist for the 2016 Kirkus Prize for Fiction. It was also longlisted for the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award. Towles' third novel, The Lincoln Highway, was published on October 5, 2021.
Towles resides in Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City, with his wife, Maggie, their son, Stokley, and their daughter, Esmé. Towles is a collector of fine art and antiques.[13]
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Friday, November 19, 2021
Welcome to the 1,271st consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
First edition (published by Charles Henry Webb)
Mark Twain - http://pictures.abebooks.com/AGVENT/36122290.jpg
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County 1st edition, 1867
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Commentary
A news article reports that one of America's strictest mask mandates (Washington DC) is about to end. "We've moved away from this goal of getting to zero cases of SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 in our community," said health director LaQuandra Nesbitt.
Point: After we take steps to hang with only vaccinated people we must accept that, going forward, Covid has added more risks to our ordinary lives. Covid vaccinations may become an annual event. Accept it.
My shift of fitness clubs from Planet Fitness to Boston Sports Club is working well. The machines here are better kept. It is far more spacious and less crowded. And, of course, the shift eliminates a separate dressing for a trip out and an uncomfortable walk in inclement weather. Fifteen minutes to dress up and then down and forty-minutes to walk to Planet Fitness gains me three creative hours a week. Pretty good.
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Reading and Writing
I am starting Amor Towles new book, The Lincoln Highway. Reading it at the same time as Lee Child’s newest book, Better off Dead.
Why?
Because I bought the hardcover of the Towles’ book and it’s too heavy to lug around in my backpack, I only read it at home. The Childs’ book is on my Kindle. I read it in the subway.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
You can observe a lot by just watching.
~Yogi Berra
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This wonderful slice of life from Sally C:
Dear Dom,
Popcorn and a movie! Of course! How quickly we forget …
My No. 2 brother regularly sent home photographs (slides) from Viet Nam when he was stationed there (two tours of duty in the Army signal corps), with specific instructions to have a “popcorn-moving-picture night” to view them. Rarely near the action, my brother took an awful lot of them from the top of an open transport truck - of roads, roads, and muddy roads, of Vietnamese civilians going about their business, by bicycle, ox cart, or hand-drawn cart, of the occasional automobile, vying for passage-way with the big truck. A lot were from the beach, where he and his mates would go fill sand bags, take a dip in the sea, then go back to the base, unload the truck, and go back with more empty bags to fill. No night-time photos, though. I would have liked to see images of the military rockets that the Viet Cong regularly shelled nearby Dragon Mountain with – it wasn’t close enough to be a danger to the base, but it was close enough that the men would sit on the walls of the compound and watch the “fireworks.”
Viet Nam aside, as a family, we all enjoyed an annual slide-show night, with all the usual family photos of Christmas and Boy Scout events, family outings to visit relatives, and so forth. We all had our favorite slides. And of course, we had bowls and bowls of popcorn laced with butter and salt.
What happy times!
Sally
Blog meister responds: God bless the men and women who served. And those still serving.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Dinner on Wednesday night was Roast Turkey with a brilliant stuffing, butternut squash, sweet potato, and acorn squash. And gravy.
The turkey was full pedigree.
Even though it was only 8lbs, I will be eating turkey for days to come.
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Short Essay*
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain. It was his first great success as a writer and brought him national attention. The story has also been published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (its original title) and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". In it, the narrator retells a story he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler, at the Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, about the gambler Jim Smiley. The narrator describes him: "If he even seen a straddle bug start to go anywheres, he would bet you how long it would take him to get to wherever he going to, and if you took him up, he would foller that straddle bug to Mexico but what he would find out where he was bound for and how long he was on the road."
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches is also the title story of an 1867 collection of short stories by Mark Twain. It was Twain's first book and collected 27 stories that were previously published in magazines and newspapers.
THE STORY
The narrator is sent by a friend to interview an old man, Simon Wheeler, who might know the location of an old acquaintance named Leonidas W. Smiley. Finding Simon at an old mining camp, the narrator asks him if he knows anything about Leonidas; Simon appears not to, and instead tells a story about Jim Smiley, a man who had visited the camp years earlier.
Jim loves to gamble and will offer to bet on anything and everything, from horse races to dogfights, to the health of the local parson's wife. He catches a frog, whom he names Dan'l Webster, and spends three months training it to jump. When a stranger visits the camp, Jim shows off Dan'l and offers to bet $40 that it can out-jump any other frog in Calaveras County. The stranger, unimpressed, says that he would take the bet if he had a frog, so Jim goes out to catch one, leaving him alone with Dan'l. While Jim is away, the stranger pours lead shot down Dan'l's throat. Once Jim returns, he and the stranger set the frogs down and let them loose. The stranger's frog jumps away while Dan'l does not budge, and the surprised and disgusted Jim pays the $40 wager. After the stranger has departed, Jim notices Dan'l's sluggishness and picks the frog up, finding it to be much heavier than he remembers. When Dan'l belches out a double handful of lead shot, Jim realizes that he has been cheated and chases after the stranger, but never catches him.
At this point in the story, Simon excuses himself to go outside for a moment. The narrator realizes that Jim has no connection to Leonidas and gets up to leave, only to have Simon stop him at the door, offering to tell him about a yellow, one-eyed, stubby-tailed cow that Jim had owned. Rather than stay to hear another pointless story, the narrator excuses himself and leaves. He muses that his friend may have fabricated Leonidas as a pretext to trick him into listening to Simon's anecdotes.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Thursday, November 18, 2021
Welcome to the 1,270th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
James Webb Space Telescope
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Commentary
Cabbage. Newly discovered by me as the #2 food that I should incorporate into my diet. Having discovered that, I immediately bought a head. I’m going to boil it in chicken stock and add a bunch to the black beans and collard greens I have in my refrigerator.
What makes it so valuable to me? The ratio of calories to fiber. Cabbage has a mere 21 calories per cup. And it has 2 grams of fiber per cup. That rates a 10.5 on a scale where the lower the number the better the food. The only other food that rates a lower number? Can you guess? It’s beet greens.
Perfect for my diet in which I am currently striving to lose a couple of pounds and to introduce more fiber to my diet.
And the thing is, I love both of those vegetables. A coffee-mate of mine just suggested Hot Pot as a good place for using cabbage. And I do love Hot Pot.
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Reading and Writing
I am reading the latest Jack Reacher novel. I used to love them as escapist fare but the last several books I’ve read have made it difficult for me to accept the formulaic of Lee Childs. I don’t know if I will finish it.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“We must all obey the great law of change. It is the most powerful law of nature.”
~ Edmund Burke
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Tommie T:
I agree with Sally re: the word, "dear." It is a term of endearment regardless of gender! Maybe if we all included it in our vernacular, the world would be a kinder, gentler place.
Tonight for dinner at my house: Roasted acorn squash, field peas cooked in homemade chicken broth and a T of olive oil with a pinch of dried red pepper flakes, collards sauteed with olive oil, garlic, onions and a little dry white wine, cornbread (no sugar or egg). Fruit for dessert. Truly a Southern meal!
Blog meister responds: I feel myself gravitating to a southern emphasis on vegetables. Although, with your longer growing season, your vegetables taste better than ours.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Tuesday night I used up the rest of my Roast chicken. I used some of the meat to eat with my black beans and collard greens and some of the carcass to pick on. The rest I made into a stock which I reduced and then added to my Chicken Gravy tub.
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Short Essay*
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope being jointly developed by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It is planned to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA's Flagship astrophysics mission. The JWST, which is scheduled to be launched on December 18, 2021 during Ariane flight VA256, will provide improved infrared resolution and sensitivity over Hubble, and will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, including observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe, such as the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.
The primary mirror of the JWST, the Optical Telescope Element, consists of 18 hexagonal mirror segments made of gold-plated beryllium which combine to create a 6.5 m (21 ft) diameter mirror—considerably larger than Hubble's 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) mirror. Unlike the Hubble telescope, which observes in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared (0.1 to 1 μm) spectra, the JWST will observe in a lower frequency range, from long-wavelength visible light through mid-infrared (0.6 to 28.3 μm), which will allow it to observe high redshift objects that are too old and too distant for Hubble to observe.[8][9] The telescope must be kept very cold in order to observe in the infrared without interference, so it will be deployed in space near the Sun–Earth L2 Lagrange point, and a large sunshield made of silicon- and aluminium-coated Kapton will keep its mirror and instruments below 50 K (−223 °C; −370 °F).
The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is managing the development effort, and the Space Telescope Science Institute will operate Webb after launch. The prime contractor is Northrop Grumman.[12] It is named for James E. Webb, who was the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968 and played an integral role in the Apollo program.
Development began in 1996 for a launch that was initially planned for 2007 and a $500 million budget,[16] but the project had numerous delays and cost overruns and the programme underwent a major redesign in 2005.[17] The JWST's construction was completed in late 2016, after which its extensive testing phase began.[18][19] In March 2018, NASA further delayed the launch after the telescope's sunshield ripped during a practice deployment. Launch was delayed again in June 2018 following recommendations from an independent review board. Work on integration and testing of the telescope was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adding further delays. Following work resumption, the launch date was delayed to 31 October 2021. Problems with the Ariane 5 launch vehicle subsequently pushed the launch date to 18 December 2021.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Welcome to the 1,269th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Justinian Code Fragment
Fragment uit het manuscript "Codex Justiniani I-IX". Middeleeuwse kopie van de beroemde Codex Justinianus. Gekopieerd door Franciscus Accursius in de eerste helft van de 13e eeuw. Bewaard in de Universiteitsbibliotheek van Gent.
Accursius, Franciscus, 1182?-1260? (viaf)102317020 - Universiteitsbibliotheek UGent
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Commentary
Whole Foods doesn’t carry lima beans. Too bad. As a relationship between calories and dietary fiber, lima beans is one of our most desirous foods. I did find dried limas at Roche Bros and intend to make a white bean stew with them that I can serve as a co-main course with a simple, small-portioned protein, broiled or fried. A pork chop, maybe, or a piece of fish. Carrots and celery and chicken stock will go into the stew as will onion, garlic, and tomatoes.
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Reading and Writing
My writing is on track. My ultimate goal is to have the manuscript far enough along to send out to agents on January 15th. The tension will help get me through the winter. The genre is science fiction and religion.
I’d like to take a moment to thank the handful of people who have been close to the project and have encouraged me.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
"To succeed in life, you need three things:
a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone."
~Reba McEntire
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Colleen G:
Have fun with the Jack REacher. I am also one to enjoy variety of the genres--I cannot do the same type of book over and over. In fact, I usually have several going at once and change them like the channel on television--except not in the same day. Different moods call for different stories:)
Great reading weather ahead. Also, great puzzle weather. Yesterday evening I had one of those moments that a mother (or father) wishes she could bottle up.We had the fire on, Louie and Frankie piped through the radio and kids playing school (the youngest three, the oldest was reading) all in one room. Then I started to set up a jigsaw puzzle by fishing out as many straight edged pieces from the border as possible because that is one easy way to hook people into doing a puzzle with a head start. As I did it my oldest (14) heckled me gently with a "puzzles aren't fun" and "nobody's going to do the puzzle" and I countered that puzzles aren't necessarily fun, but they are relaxing and addicting once you get started. A good addiction that sweeps a person's mind away from everything but a puzzle piece--an escape. I ignored her until I had what seemed like enough--the "school" group (my youngest three) had left momentarily, maybe for recess, and returned. I told them earlier they could do the puzzle during indoor recess because it was raining out (it wasn't raining, but it was dark and I never mind playing along with a good old fashioned stint with make-believe:).
The best: they came down and started the puzzle. My oldest interfered from her seat beside the table--pushing pieces and annoying my son. The school group left again, having started the puzzle. That's when the teen forgot herself and was hooked into the puzzle. She stood up, moved around the table completely transfixed by the jigsaw puzzle. The school group returned again and joined her, now deep into the power of the puzzle. The "school master" my second oldest sat on the floor to draw up the school schedule (haha) but the others all worked quietly on the puzzle, fire roaring, music crooning and my husband napped on the couch beside us, while I just sat and worked on the afghan I am crocheting for myself (I have made so many blankets for others, I'm making one for myself now:) and I thought of how this is a golden nugget--what was happening before me. It was the best feeling a parent can feel, a person can feel. Harmony all in one toasty room.
I had to take a picture--I couldn't resist. But, being the father of four I thought you would enjoy some good news--good family news--old fashioned stuff and proof that sometimes kids will baulk, but a little boredom can do us all some good:)
Enjoy the photo I couldn't resist. It was a simple moment in time that I want to remember visually in the future--especially when things aren't so simple.
Have a great week ahead and a very Happy Thanksgiving.
I love turkey too:)
Cheers,
Colleen
Blog meister responds: Colleen is one of those writers who have an obligation to write. Her frequent pieces provide unique and usually comic view of how we humans deal with daily issues. Please keep writing. For publication.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Last night I had a roast chicken sandwich.
My time in the kitchen was spent making a stew of collard greens with black beans, two high fiber foods. I’ll be eating it a long time.
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Short Essay*
The Code of Justinian is one part of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the codification of Roman law ordered early in the 6th century AD by Justinian I, who was an Eastern Roman (Byzantine) emperor in Constantinople. Two other units, the Digest and the Institutes, were created during his reign. The fourth part, the Novellae Constitutiones (New Constitutions, or Novels), was compiled unofficially after his death but is now also thought of as part of the Corpus Juris Civilis.
Shortly after Justinian became emperor in 527, he decided the empire's legal system needed repair. There existed three codices of imperial laws and other individual laws, many of which conflicted or were out of date. The Codex Gregorianus and the Codex Hermogenianus were unofficial compilations. (The term "Codex" refers to the physical aspect of the works, being in book form, rather than on papyrus rolls. The transition to the codex occurred around AD 300.) The Codex Theodosianus was an official compilation ordered by Theodosius II. In February 528, Justinian promulgated the Constitutio Hac quae necessario, by which was created a ten-man commission to review these earlier compilations as well as individual laws, eliminate everything unnecessary or obsolete, make changes as it saw fit, and create a single compilation of imperial laws in force. The commission was headed by the praetorian prefect, John the Cappadocian and also included Tribonian, who was later to head the other Corpus Juris Civilis projects.
The commission finished its work in 14 months, and the compilation was promulgated in April 529 by the Constitutio Summa. However, this compilation did not eliminate all the conflicts that had arisen over the years in Roman jurisprudence, and the constitutions in the Code were to be used alongside the conflicting opinions of ancient jurists. "The citation of the said constitutions of Our Code, with the opinions of the ancient interpreters of the law, will suffice for the disposal of all cases." Justinian attempted to harmonize these conflicting opinions by issuing his "Fifty Decisions" and by passing additional new laws. This meant that his Code no longer reflected the latest imperial law. Thus, Justinian ordered a new compilation to supersede the first, and this Codex was published in 534. No copies of the first edition of the Code have survived; only a fragment of an index of contents on an Egyptian papyrus remains. Known as the Codex Repetitae Praelectionis, this second edition of the Code was published on November 16, 534, and took effect on December 30. The Codex consists of twelve books: book 1 concerns ecclesiastical law, sources of law, and the duties of higher offices; books 2–8 cover private law; book 9 deals with crimes; and books 10–12 contain administrative law. The Code's structure is based on ancient classifications set out in the edictum perpetuum (perpetual edict), as is that of the Digest.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Welcome to the 1,268th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Luigi Del Bianco
This is a photo of Luigi Del Bianco who was the chief carver on Mount Rushmore National Memorial. This shot is of him working on the Washington head
Unknown author - The files of Luigi Del Bianco
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Commentary
Thanksgiving this year should be approached on a unit-by-unit basis, the unit being the group who will be spending time together. And the approach should be: are you vaccinated? If your unit is entirely vaccinated, my take on life with covid is to accept the risks and go for it. Those that aren’t vaccinated should undergo a rapid results test just before the get together.
My work on a diet has done well to restore my regularity. But it has not be a panacea for my weight. I’ve been unhappy with my weight for years, now, and am getting close to throwing in the towel. Although, perhaps the more rational part of me is right in saying that I have not been gaining weight. So I should think that I am doing well.
But psychologically, I should be able to accept where I am at this moment and not be anxious.
I don’t know that I can.
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Reading and Writing
I finished reading the much appreciated A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. It was wonderful. My thanks go out to my friend Colleen G for thrusting it on me. I am reading a bubble-gum piece now, Lee Childs’ latest Jack Reacher novel, Better Off Dead. Next week I’ll pick up Towle’s earlier novel, Rules of Civility.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
"Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter”
~ James A. Garfield
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Tommie T, our dear friend from So Carolina:
Dom,
Your mac and cheese recipe is very much like the one my mother used.
I don't think she used bread.
At least I don't remember her using it.
Calories! Calories! Calories!
But oh! so delicious!
We always had mac and cheese, collards, and sauteed squash with sliced tomatoes. Sometimes we had field peas cooked with olive oil, chicken broth.
All vegetables.
A Southern supper.
Add cornbread with lots of butter!
and Iced tea.
Love,
Tommie
Blog meister responds: Sounds delicious. And cultural. I don’t think that our fellow bloggers like Tommie, Sally, and Colleen, understand how grateful we are for their homespun.
We are. Keep them coming.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Last night I enjoyed a Dry-Aged Steak.
But it was a mere 14 ounces, down from the 16oz I always go for.
The smaller size in conjunction with tweaking my diet: reducing my intake of red meat.
I am working on recipes tonight, using collard greens, black beans, butternut squash, acorn squash, and sweet potatoes. Goal: to have important space in my diet over the next four days taken by fruit, veggies, beans to help with the limitation of my eating as much protein as I do.
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Short Essay*
Luigi Del Bianco (May 8, 1892 - January 20, 1969) was an Italian American sculptor, and chief carver of Mount Rushmore.
Bianco was born on a ship near Le Havre, France, on May 8, 1892, to Vincenzo and Osvalda Del Bianco, who were returning from the United States to Italy. He showed interest in carving at a young age, and spent time in Austria and Venice studying the art.
When Bianco was 18 years old, he left for America, arriving in Barre, Vermont.
When World War I broke out, Bianco returned to Italy and fought for his home country, eventually returning to Vermont in 1920. Bianco's brother-in-law introduced him to Mount Rushmore designer Gutzon Borglum, and Bianco began working at Borglum's studio.
In 1933, Borglum hired Bianco as chief stone carver on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Paid $1.50 an hour, Bianco was charged with carving the detail in the faces. He carved Abraham Lincoln's eyes, and patched a dangerous crack in Thomas Jefferson's lip.
Borglum constantly praised Bianco for his great abilities as a classically trained stone carver: "He is worth any three men in America for this particular type of work." "He is the only intelligent, efficient stone carver on the work who understands the language of the sculptor." "We could double our progress if we had two like Bianco."
Before Mount Rushmore Bianco worked on Stone Mountain and Wars of America memorial with Borglum.
On September 16, 2017, the National Park Service unveiled a memorial plaque at Mount Rushmore. The plaque acknowledged Luigi Del Bianco's crucial role as the only chief carver on the work.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Monday, November 15, 2021
Welcome to the 1,267th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
O Brother, Where Art Thou
Film poster for O Brother, Where Art Thou?
impawards
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Commentary
Today was another lovely day, weatherwise.
And lovely for the Patriots who whomped the Cleveland Browns.
And for my schedule: my first visit to the Boston Sports Club to work out.
Since I’m already at the Pru to have my coffee, transportation is no issue.
Nor is the weather.
And the BSC is much roomier than Planet Fitness, for example having a dozen sinks in the men’s room rather than three.
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Reading and Writing
I finished reading A Gentleman from Moscow. It was terrific. I’ve been a fan of Lee childs and his Jack Reacher series. I think I’ll fetch his latest one.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“My formula for success is rise early, work late, and strike oil.”
~ J. P. Getty
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Sally C:
Dom, you just keep on calling people “dear.” If you’ll excuse the pun, it’s endearing. Anyone who takes offense is looking for any excuse to take offense.
This is, or was, a standard appellation among Maine men of a generation or two ago. To quote from my novel, “The Sturgeon’s Dance,” which deals with this peculiarity:
“It was natural to hear women use the term, but invariably it baffled non-natives to hear Maine men of an earlier generation use it freely on each other. Hard to define, it carried no sexual connotation whatsoever, but implied friendly acceptance and familiar respect.”
There you go, dear.
Sally
Blog meister responds: That letter was dear if I ever read one.
And this from Ann H:
Popcorn is a fun way to get a good fiber intake. I love putting different toppings on - butter, cinnamon, a variety of seasonings, etc
Just a thought.
xoox
Blog meister responds: Who doesn’t love popcorn with their movies?
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday night I made a roast chicken. I had plenty of leftover vegetables.
I love chicken.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Turkey by Dom
I love turkey.
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Short Essay*
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 crime comedy-drama film written, produced, co-edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning in supporting roles.
The film is set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression. Its story is a modern satire loosely based on Homer's epic Greek poem The Odyssey that incorporates social features of the American South. The title of the film is a reference to the Preston Sturges 1941 film Sullivan's Travels, in which the protagonist is a director who wants to film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a fictitious book about the Great Depression.
Much of the music used in the film is period folk music. The movie was one of the first to extensively use digital color correction to give the film an autumnal, sepia-tinted look. Released by Buena Vista Pictures (through Touchstone Pictures) in North America, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain and by Universal Pictures in other countries, the film met with a positive critical reception, and the soundtrack won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. The country and folk musicians who were dubbed into the film included John Hartford, Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Ralph Stanley, Chris Sharp, Patty Loveless, and others. They joined together to perform the music from the film in a Down from the Mountain concert tour which was filmed for consumer consumption via TV and DVD.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Sunday, November 14, 2021
Welcome to the 1,266th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
God Bless the Defenders of our Nation
NEW YORK--Members of Coast Guard Sector New York march down 5th Ave. during the Veterans Day Parade in Manhattan Nov. 11, 2009. The annual Veterans Day Parade draws thousands of spectators who watch as Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and Airmen as they march through Manhattan. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Annie Elis) Unit: U.S. Coast Guard District 1 DVIDS Tags: Manhattan; Armed Services; Veterans Day Parade; Coast Guard; Sector New York; CGVI; DVIDS Bulk Import
Petty Officer 2nd Class Annie Elis - https://www.dvidshub.net/image/1093521/nyc-veterans-day-parade-4
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Commentary
Having made a successful Mac and Cheese, I discover that I should now be able to make a dish that has eluded me for many years: Lobster Savannah. And I will in the next two or three days.
While my adjusted diet has returned me to regularity, I haven’t worked out the calorie intake. Am gaining weight.
I must adjust.
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Reading and Writing
On Sunday, I should be able to mail out Part 2 for feedback. Although not every I is dotted, nor t crossed, the essence of the changes are made.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
"My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?"
~Charles Schulz
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This is not an email to us but part of an article appearing in Friday’s NYT. It’s appropriate here because we’ve been discussing getting tired of masks.
From the NYT:
Yet Wachter — the chair of the medicine department at the University of California, San Francisco — also worries about the downsides of organizing our lives around Covid. In recent weeks, he has begun to think about when most of life’s rhythms should start returning to normal. Increasingly, he believes the answer is: Now.
This belief stems from the fact that the virus is unlikely to go away, ever. Like most viruses, it will probably keep circulating, with cases rising sometimes and falling other times. But we have the tools — vaccines, along with an emerging group of treatments — to turn it into a manageable virus, similar to the seasonal flu.
Given this reality, Wachter, who’s 64, has decided to resume more of his old activities and accept the additional risk that comes with them, much as we accept the risk of crashes when riding in vehicles.
Dr. Robert M. Wachter.Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle
He has begun eating in indoor restaurants again and playing poker, unmasked, with vaccinated friends. He has taken airplanes to visit relatives. He hosted a medical conference in downtown San Francisco with a few hundred masked and vaccinated attendees.
“I’m still going to be thoughtful and careful,” Wachter told The San Francisco Chronicle. But “if I’m not going to do it now, I’m probably saying that I’m not going to do it for the next couple of years, and I might be saying I’m not doing it forever.”
The hospitalization statistics in highly vaccinated communities help explain Wachter’s attitude. In Seattle (which publishes detailed data), the daily Covid hospitalization rate for vaccinated people has been slightly above one in one million. By comparison, the flu hospitalization rate in a typical year in the U.S. is more than twice as high. For most vaccinated people in a place like Seattle or San Francisco, Covid already resembles just another virus.
The risks are also low for unvaccinated children because Covid tends to be mild for them. (Plus, any child 5 or older can now be vaccinated.) For young children, Covid looks like a normal flu, if not a mild one:
Blog meister responds: I’m very happy this issue is now fully engaged: We must accept that covid is here to stay. We must ramp up the pressures on the unvaccinated among. But we must formulate and live with a less intrusive new normal for our daily lives and that may include annual or semi-annual vaccinations.
And let’s not forget that there is a big world out there that needs help with its inhabitants. Vaccinations for all.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Thursday night I made my first ever Mac n Cheese. It was delicious. Used both Gruyere and Cheddar. Here’s how I made it.
Mac and Cheese II
Serves 6
3 slices good-quality bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons ( ½ stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
2.75 cups milk
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 ¼ cups (about 9 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar
1 cups (about 4 ounces) grated Gruyere or 5/8 cup (about 2.5 ounces) grated pecorino Romano
½ pound elbow macaroni
Prep:
Grate cheeses
Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Butter a 1.5 quart casserole dish; set aside.
Place bread pieces (1/4 to ½ inch pieces, no crusts in a medium bowl.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter.
Pour butter into the bowl with bread, and toss.
Set the breadcrumbs aside.
In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk.
Cook pasta to al dentissimo
SAUCE
Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat.
When butter bubbles, add flour.
Cook, stirring, 1 minute.
Slowly pour hot milk into flour-butter mixture while whisking.
Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.
Remove the pan from the heat. And stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper
Plus 1.5 cups cheddar, and ¾ cups Gruyere or ½ cup pecorino Romano.
SAUCE INTO CASSEROLE
Add cold pasta to sauce
Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish.
Sprinkle remaining ¾ cups cheddar and ¼ cup Gruyere or 1/8 cup pecorino Romano;
Scatter breadcrumbs over the top.
Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes.
Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes; serve.
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Community Photos**
LES DEUX MAGOTS The café beneath the large green awning above is, arguably, the birthplace of Surrealism. It is named after the pair of magots inside, statues of two Chinese philosophers who have overseen the café’s activities from their perch on the restaurant’s central pillar since the 19th century.
Memories of my last visit.
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Short Essay*
The Veterans Day Parade is an annual parade produced by the United War Veterans Council (UWVC) in New York City. It is the largest Veterans Day event in the United States of America.
The event, which is held in the New York City borough of Manhattan honoring living U.S. servicemen and women, begins just after 11 a.m. EST on Veterans Day. The Veterans Day Parade begins on Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street, and continues north along Fifth Avenue to 52nd Street.
The Veterans Day Parade in New York has been in existence since 1919. The parade draws over 20,000 participants and 400,000 spectators each year, making it the largest Veterans Day event in the nation.
The Veterans Day commemoration begins with a wreath-laying ceremony one hour prior to the start of the parade at the Eternal Light Flagstaff in Madison Square Park.
The celebrations are aired live on ABC's flagship NYC station, WABC-TV, and is streamed live on its official Facebook fanpage.
*The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Community Pictures with Captions are sent in by our followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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