Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, October 10, 2021
through
Saturday, October 16, 2021
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It’s Saturday, October 16, 2021
Welcome to the 1,251st consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Sir David Amess in 2020
Richard Townshend - https://members-api.parliament.uk/api/Members/44/Portrait?cropType=ThreeFour Gallery: https://members.parliament.uk/member/44/portrait
Official portrait of Sir David Amess MP 3×4 portrait of Sir David Amess
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Commentary
Pretty amazing weather for us New Englanders. Hope everyone is making the most of it.
Hoping the Red Sox win on Saturday.
Hoping the Patriots win on Sunday.
One day without visitors or visiting gets me back on a routine.
Gets me cutting into work that’s been piling up.
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Reading and Writing
Have just finished the last of my appointments and my schedule, at least for the next week, remains clear. Might try to keep a clean slate until after October 24th. That might afford me the time I need to complete Part One of my manuscript.
Hoping to read a few pages of a manuscript I am reviewing.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
"Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."
~Yogi Berra
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday afternoon, Gary, Lindsay and I had lunch: a mixed green salad and Bucatini with White Clam Sauce. The meal was delicious.
Gary brought a French wine that was new to me but I forgot to record the name. It was fine anyway.
We began the meal with a shot of Cynar, (an Italian Amaro, bittersweet with herbal notes) a squeeze of orange, and a splash of soda. A perfect aperitif.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
QR Code for Amazon Returns
QR Codes. More technology that is changing the lives of everyone.
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Short Essay*
Sir David Amess, the British Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Southend West, was stabbed to death on 15 October 2021. The attack occurred at a constituency meeting in Leigh-on-Sea. A 25-year-old man was arrested.
Sir David Amess was a long-serving politician who entered Parliament in 1983 as the MP for Basildon. He held no senior positions but was an "instantly recognizable" member of the Conservative Party and had been knighted for his commitment to public service. He is said to have held relatively centrist views, though he notably opposed abortion, and campaigned in favour of Brexit; for stronger animal welfare protections; and to award Southend-on-Sea city status.
Following the murder of Jo Cox at a constituency surgery in 2016, Amess said in his 2020 biography that fears of similar attacks "rather spoilt the great British tradition of the people openly meeting their elected politicians" and that he had faced harassment and insecurity at his home. MPs are protected by armed police when inside Parliament, with security being tightened after the 2017 Westminster attack. However, they are generally not given police protection during surgeries and they are normally accompanied by one member of staff only. After Cox's murder, parliamentary spending on MPs' personal security rose from under £200,000 to £4.5 million in two years.
On 15 October 2021, Amess was at a constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, where he was scheduled to meet with constituents from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. BST. At approximately 12:05 p.m., he was stabbed multiple times. Police were alerted to the attack shortly after it occurred, and armed police, as well as medical and police helicopters, attended. Amess was treated by paramedics at the scene but died shortly after, aged 69.
The motivations of the attacker are unknown. Counter-terrorist police officers are involved in the early stages of the investigation. Essex Police said a "25-year-old man was quickly arrested after officers arrived at the scene on suspicion of murder and a knife was recovered". At around 6:32 p.m. on 15 October, Essex Police announced that the investigation had been handed over to counter-terrorist officers. Later in the day, the BBC reported that a government source said the suspect is a British national who may have Somali heritage.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to Westminster in the wake of the attack, where flags were lowered to half-mast. Various parliamentary groups and current and former politicians from across the political spectrum expressed shock and offered condolences, as did relatives of Jo Cox. A vigil for Amess was held in his Southend West constituency at 6:00 p.m. on the day he died. The Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, announced that the security of MPs will be reviewed. Conservative MP and Chairman Oliver Dowden announced that, in light of Amess's death, campaigning activities on behalf of the Conservative Party would be suspended nationwide until further notice Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, said that politicians should be able to undertake their duties without fear of attack.
BBC One changed its evening schedule out of respect, replacing topical news satire show Have I Got News for You with a rerun of panel show Would I Lie to You?; black comedy The Cleaner with a rerun of sitcom Miranda; and slasher film Halloween with romance The Light Between Oceans.
* 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, October 15, 2021
Welcome to the 1,250th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Roundhay Garden Scene
A still from La sortie des usines Lumière (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory, 1895)
Like Roundhay Garden, an actuality film.
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Commentary
The weather is so nice recently that Wednesday afternoon Cindy and I were able to eat outdoors.
So many word-gags attributed to Yogi Berra one has to question the authenticity of them.
Got a surprise visit from a fellow student from my granddaughter’s online class. He was college-touring with his daughter and spent the afternoon with me. Fun.
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Reading and Writing
Today I’m going to get to my manuscript.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
"You can observe a lot by just watching."
~Yogi Berra
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Wednesday mid-afternoon, when the line waiting for a table was only one deep, my dear friend Cindy and I went to Neptune Oyster for dinner. The fried clams were worth the wait, as were the mussels. The johnny cake with bluefish pate was rather average. All-in-all it goes into the top circle of Boston seafood restaurants. Definitely not alone at the top of the heap.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Food coop in Keene, NH
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Short Essay*
Roundhay Garden Scene is an 1888 short silent actuality film recorded by French inventor Louis Le Prince. Filmed at Oakwood Grange in Roundhay, Leeds in the north of England on 14 October 1888, it is believed to be the oldest surviving film in existence.
The camera used was patented in the United Kingdom on 16 November 1888.
According to Le Prince's son, Adolphe, the film was made at Oakwood Grange, the home of Joseph and Sarah Whitley, in Roundhay, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England on 14 October 1888. The footage features Louis's son Adolphe Le Prince, his mother-in-law Sarah Whitley (née Robinson, 1816 – 24 October 1888), his father-in-law Joseph Whitley (1817 – 12 January 1891) and Annie Hartley in the garden of Oakwood Grange, leisurely walking around the garden of the premises. Sarah is seen walking – or dancing – backward as she turns around, and Joseph's coattails are seen flying as he also is turning. Joseph and Sarah Whitley were the parents of Le Prince's wife, Elizabeth. Annie Hartley is believed to be a friend of Le Prince and his wife. Sarah Whitley died ten days after the scene was filmed. Oakwood Grange was demolished in 1972 and was replaced with modern housing; the only remains of it are the garden walls at the end of Oakwood Grange Lane.
The original sequence was recorded on Eastman Kodak paper base photographic film using Louis Le Prince's single-lens camera. In the 1930s, the National Science Museum (NSM) in London produced a photographic glass plate copy of 20 surviving frames from the original negative, before it was lost. The copied frames were later mastered to 35 mm film. Adolphe Le Prince stated that the Roundhay Garden sequence was shot at 12 fps (frames per second) and a second film, Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge, at 20 fps; however, this is not borne out by analysis of the sequences, which suggests a frame rate of 7 fps for both, which was the speed of reproduction used in the 2015 documentary about Le Prince, The First Film.
* 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, October 14, 2021
Welcome to the 1,250th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
The Whirlpool Galaxy
(Spiral Galaxy M51, NGC 5194), a classic spiral galaxy located in the Canes Venatici constellation, and its companion NGC 5195.
NASA and European Space Agency - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050428.html SOURCE OF 2ND VERSION: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0506a/ also bigger versions up to about 12000x8000 pixel available
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Commentary
Being sociable takes time.
And when time is at a premium, socializing can get very expensive.
Even when you start a week with no appointments, by the end of the week you find that you’ve engaged a dozen friends.
Lovely.
But time consuming.
The art of agreeing to disagree, a touchstone of a vibrant, healthy democracy, is fading into the background.
Can we retrieve it?
We really can use it.
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Reading and Writing
Socializing reduced the time available to me to read and write.
But sometimes the company is preferable.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“If you don't know where you are going,
you'll end up someplace else.”
― 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 from Gary B:
Howdy, team,
We’re still waiting on delivery of two pairs of Snap smart glasses. In the meantime Raj and I have created a Snap project proof of concept for low vision users. When the project runs inside Snapchat, it detects the user's hand and then recolors and/or magnifiers the region at the end of the index finger.
In the team meeting last Friday, Jerry, Jim, Raj, and I discussed the first round of testing with the Snap smart glasses: Who are low vision testers should be, What we’ll test, and Where testing will take place.
To find low vision testers I’ll be asking Jerry Feliz of MABVI (the Massachusetts Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired); Will McNamara of the Polus Center, who works most days at Mass Eye and Ear; and Joe Buizon of the MCB (Massachusetts Commission for the Blind). If you know someone in the Boston area with low vision, and in particular at least some center vision, please find out if they’d be interested in being a tester.
What we’ll test is likely to include one or more of the following: a restaurant touch screen menu; a T ticket kiosk; a Greyhound or Amtrak ticket kiosk; an inaccessible ATM; or an airline check-in kiosk. Other suggestions are welcome.
Where we’ll run the initial tests will depend on who we find. I’m hoping to find some touch screen device in downtown Boston that most testers can reach, but for some testers we may need to find a device closer to them.
Thanks!
Gary Bartos
Founder
Echobatix, LLC
Empowerment and Beyond
Assistive technology for the blind, the DeafBlind, and those with low vision
Blog meister responds: This may be a great opportunity for yourself or someone you know.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Today I spent time in my refrigerator and freezer, cleaning out items I will not be eating and calendaring items, [fish soup and North End Gravy] that I had frozen for another day.
Two of those days are coming at me: delicious dinners with little effort.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Gary Bartos
His assistive device company is progresses. Baby steps. Always forward.
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Short Essay*
The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as
Messier 51a, M51a, and NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. Its distance is estimated to be 31 million light-years away from Earth.
The galaxy and its companion, NGC 5195, are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may be seen with binoculars. The Whirlpool Galaxy has been extensively observed by professional astronomers, who study it to understand galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms) and galaxy interactions.
What later became known as the Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered on October 13, 1773, by Charles Messier while hunting for objects that could confuse comet hunters, and was designated in Messier's catalogue as M51. Its companion galaxy, NGC 5195, was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain, although it was not known whether it was interacting or merely another galaxy passing at a distance. In 1845, William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, employing a 72-inch (1.8 m) reflecting telescope at Birr Castle, Ireland, found that the Whirlpool possessed a spiral structure, the first "nebula" to be known to have one. These "spiral nebulae" were not recognized as galaxies until Edwin Hubble was able to observe Cepheid variables in some of these spiral nebulae, which provided evidence that they were so far away that they must be entirely separate galaxies.
The advent of radio astronomy and subsequent radio images of M51 unequivocally demonstrated that the Whirlpool and its companion galaxy are indeed interacting. Sometimes the designation M51 is used to refer to the pair of galaxies, in which case the individual galaxies may be referred to as M51a (NGC 5194) and M51b (NGC 5195).
The Whirlpool Galaxy lies 31 million light-years from Earth and has an estimated diameter of 76,000 light-years.[17] Overall the galaxy is about 43% the size of the Milky Way. Its mass is estimated to be 160 billion solar masses, or around 10.3% of the mass of Milky Way Galaxy.
A black hole, once thought to be surrounded by a ring of dust, but now believed to be partially occluded by dust instead, exists at the heart of the spiral. A pair of ionization cones extend from the active galactic nucleus.
Spiral structure
The pronounced spiral structure of the Whirlpool Galaxy is believed to be the result of the close interaction between it and its companion galaxy NGC 5195, which may have passed through the main disk of M51 about 500 to 600 million years ago. In this proposed scenario, NGC 5195 came from behind M51 through the disk towards the observer and made another disk crossing as recently as 50 to 100 million years ago until it is where we observe it to be now, slightly behind M51.
Star formation
The central region of M51 appears to be undergoing a period of enhanced star formation. The present efficiency of star formation, defined as the ratio of mass of new stars to the mass of star-forming gas, is only ~1%, quite comparable to the global value for the Milky Way and other galaxies. It is estimated that the current high rate of star formation can last no more than another 100 million years or so.
Transient events
Three supernovae have been observed in the Whirlpool Galaxy:
In 1994, SN 1994I was observed in the Whirlpool Galaxy. It was classified as type Ic, indicating that its progenitor star was very massive and had already shed much of its mass, and its brightness peaked at apparent magnitude 12.91.
In June 2005 the type II supernova SN 2005cs was observed in the Whirlpool Galaxy, peaking at apparent magnitude 14.
On 31 May 2011 a type II supernova was detected in the Whirlpool Galaxy, peaking at magnitude 12.1. This supernova, designated SN 2011dh, showed a spectrum much bluer than average, with P Cygni profiles, which indicate rapidly expanding material, in its hydrogen-Balmer lines. The progenitor was probably a yellow supergiant and not a red or blue supergiant, which are thought to be the most common supernova progenitors.
On 22 January 2019, a supernova impostor, designated AT2019abn, was discovered in Messier 51. The transient was later identified as a luminous red nova. The progenitor star was detected in archival Spitzer Space Telescope infrared images. No object could be seen at the position of the transient in archival Hubble images, indicating that the progenitor star was heavily obstructed by interstellar dust. 2019abn peaked at magnitude 17, reaching an intrinsic brightness of {\displaystyle M_{r}=-14.9}{\displaystyle M_{r}=-14.9}.[29]
Planet candidate
In September 2020, the detection of a candidate exoplanet, named M51-ULS-1b, orbiting the high-mass X-ray binary M51-ULS-1 in this galaxy was announced. If confirmed, it would be the first known instance of an extragalactic planet, a planet outside the Milky Way Galaxy. The planet was detected by eclipses of the X-ray source (XRS), which consists of a stellar remnant (either a neutron star or a black hole) and a massive star, likely a B-type supergiant. The planet would be slightly smaller than Saturn and orbit at a distance of some tens of astronomical units.
* 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, October 13, 2021
Welcome to the 1,249th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Tony DeMarco
A statue of Tony DeMarco in Boston's historic North End
Seebold - Own work
A statue for Tony DeMarco (american boxer) in Boston Downtown
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Commentary
I remember fondly the celebration throughout the North End when Tony DeMarco won the welterweight division of the world by defeating Johnny Saxon by way of a TKO.
While I took a couple of days off, my eating pattern changed. I skipped lunch and ate dinner at 2.30pm.
In the evening, I ate a large orange only.
I lost two pounds.
Wednesday I plan to eat in the same rhythm.
We’ll see.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“Always go to other people's funerals,
otherwise they won't come to yours.”
― 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
Do you believe we’re in serious discussion re: Thanksgiving?
Blog meister responds: Love the planning and the working things out.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Tuesday, Lisa, David and I had our dinner at lunch time @ the Palm.
Was very nice.
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Short Essay*
Tony DeMarco (January 14, 1932 – October 11, 2021), born Leonardo Liotta was an American boxer and World Welterweight Champion. Born to Sicilian immigrants from Sciacca (AG), Vincent and Giacomina, DeMarco grew up in the North End neighborhood of Boston.
DeMarco was also, for a short time, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, where he was a business owner and where he suffered the death of his young son by way of a car-bicycle collision.
Due to the minimum age of eighteen, in order to box professionally, Liotta used the birth certificate of Tony DeMarco so that he could compete.[citation needed] DeMarco had his first professional fight when he was sixteen years old. On October 21, 1948, he knocked out Mestor Jones in one round.
DeMarco fought the top fighters in his division during the 1950s and defeated top contenders and champions like Paddy DeMarco, Teddy "Red Top" Davis, Chico Vejar, and Don Jordan. The highlight of his career came on April 1, 1955, when he scored a technical knock out (TKO) over Johnny Saxton in the 14th round of their title bout to capture the world’s welterweight title.
Despite winning many bouts to become champion, he is best remembered for his two championship matches with hall of famer Carmen Basilio in 1955. Both fights were toe to toe slugfests with several ebbs and flows that kept the fans at the edges of their seats. Both fights ended in the 12th round with DeMarco suffering a TKO. In their first bout, DeMarco was the defending champion. He risked his title by taking on Basilio, who was the top ranked contender. Although Basilio prevailed, the fight was so exciting that the pair were rematched. The second fight was almost a carbon copy of the first with Basilio wearing down DeMarco, but not before a wicked DeMarco left hook had Basilio out on his feet. DeMarco was unable to capitalize on this advantage and lost the match on a 12 round TKO.
DeMarco's legacy is an undying part of Boston's history. Training under Boston greats such as Frankie Waters, DeMarco was able to sell out the Boston Garden, breaking attendance records. Mayor Thomas Menino even honored DeMarco with a street, named after him, in Boston's famous North End. The street, which is perpendicular to Atlantic Avenue, is named "Tony DeMarco Way".
DeMarco received many honors, including an induction in the Official National Italian American Hall of Fame in Chicago. Looking back on his career, DeMarco remarked "Mainly I consider myself a slugger." DeMarco once fought on the undercard to Rocky Marciano. Boxing, Boston and Tony DeMarco In his last bout, DeMarco won a ten-round decision over Stefan Redl in Boston on February 6, 1962.
A statue of DeMarco unveiled on October 20, 2012 at the corners of Hanover and Cross Streets in Boston's historic North End was designed by sculptor Harry Weber, and a full-length documentary by filmmaker Marino Amoruso based on DeMarco's autobiography Nardo: Memoirs of a Boxing Champion is in the works. DeMarco was also featured in "The Flame and Fury of Fleet Street," a segment of the documentary, Boston's North End: An Italian American Story.
DeMarco was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2019.
* 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, October 12, 2021
Welcome to the 1,248th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Matt Amodio
Jeopardy champion
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Commentary
The BackBar in Union Square, Somerville is the best bar I have ever experienced, from its reasonable prices, its thoughtful menu of drinks, to its imaginative design, and its knowledgeable and proud staff of servers.
Finding the BackBar presents a challenge. The address is 7 Sanborn Court, Somerville, MA 02143. Simple enough. Until you get to Union Sq. You have to find the alley that is Sanborn Court and once you find the alley you have to find the door. The door is numbered 5, not 7. And to say that the signage is modest is giving it the benefit of the doubt.
Back Bar has been acclaimed by tens of magazines and newspapers as the best bar in Boston and among the best bars in the world.
Condolences to the family of former boxing champion, North Ender Tony DeMarco.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“The greatest gift is a passion for reading.”
― Edmund Burke
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Sunday night I ate supper at the BackBar in Somerville. The meal was a pop up affair prepared by Howard D’s friend Tse Wei Lim, chef and writer (from Singapore), Harvard Class of 2002.
Tsei has a blog:
https://letthemeatcake.substack.com/archive?utm_source=menu-dropdown&sort=top
Meal was Singaporean Street Food: soup and a noodle bowl of a dozen ingredients.
It was delicious.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Bear formerly in front of FAO Schwarz
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Short Essay*
Matthew Amodio is an American game show contestant. A PhD student in computer science at Yale University, he has won $1,518,601 in 38 appearances on Jeopardy! (as of October 8, 2021), making him the third millionaire contestant (based on regular-season play) after Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer. Across all American game shows, he is the tenth highest-earning contestant of all time.
Jeopardy!
Amodio is the third-highest earner of all time in regular-season play, second-most successful in consecutive games won[17] and fourth-biggest all-time winner. During season 37, Amodio qualified as the first seed in the next Tournament of Champions.
Amodio's winning streak came during an interregnum in the show's hosting position after longtime host Alex Trebek died in November 2020, during which the show has been helmed by guest hosts. Amodio's streak has spanned episodes hosted by Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton, David Faber, Joe Buck, Mike Richards and Mayim Bialik.
Strategy
Amodio is noted for his strategy of consistently prefacing his responses with "What's" instead of adjusting the interrogative pronoun to fit the response. He chose this method because Jeopardy! rules allow any question containing the correct response to be used; by not having to adjust the pronoun, he has one less thing to think about when formulating a response, potentially speeding response time. He has credited Wikipedia's format for allowing him to meander through various topics in a random but logical progression and learn content quickly.
Over the past several months, Ohio State graduate and Medina County native Matt Amodio is making the amazing look routine on "Jeopardy!"
Amodio continued his dominating run on the game show by winning $50,800 for his 38th straight win on the show and has pushed his total winnings to $1,518,601.
Once again, Amodio easily outdistanced his competitors, Claire Lyon, an engineer originally from Ashland, Kentucky, who finished with $7,291 and Max Godnick, a producer originally from New York, New York, who finished with $3,999.
Amodio and Lyon correctly answered "duck-billed platypus to the question "British zoologist George Shaw looked for stitches when he first saw this mammal in 1799, thinking he was being tricked."
With his win, Amodio has a new goal to get on "Late Show with Steven Colbert."
* 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, October 11, 2021
Welcome to the 1,247th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Anthony Minghella
head shot of deceased film director, Anthony Minghella
Gerhard Kassner ; Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin - Original publication: Feb 05, 2004 Immediate source: https://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2004/05b_starportraits_2004/05b_starportraits_2004.php#navi=20693&item=18359
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Commentary
Looking forward to dinner tonight: a pop-up meal prepared by respected chef Tse Wei Lim, chef and writer (from Singapore), Harvard Class of 2002. He’ll be at the BackBar in Somerville.
Looking forward to an overnight in New Hampshire at my niece’s home at the foot of Mt. Monadnock. Daivd, Lisa, and I will be in the middle of nature for a full day to peep, forage, and enjoy each other’s company.
Looking forward to sports today: both the Patriots and the Red Sox are playing.
And looking forward to getting to work on my manuscript.
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Reading and Writing
I am reading a manuscript written by a dear friend.
He’s entrusted his emotional expression to me.
I am honored.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“Never apologize for showing feeling.
When you do so, you apologize for the truth.”
― Edmund Burke
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
I had a bit of lamb left over. I bought a wedge of Eggplant Parmesan from Eataly.
Together, with a piece of Tatte baguette, they made a satisfying supper.
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Short Essay*
Anthony Minghella, CBE (6 January 1954 – 18 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007.
He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The English Patient (1996). In addition, he received three more Academy Award nominations; he was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for both The English Patient (1996) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), and was posthumously nominated for Best Picture for The Reader (2008), as a co-producer.
Minghella was born in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England that is a popular holiday resort. His family are well known on the Island, where they ran a café in Ryde until the 1980s and have run an eponymous business making and selling Italian-style ice cream since the 1950s. His parents were Edoardo Minghella (an Italian immigrant) and Leeds-born Gloria Alberta (née Arcari). His mother's ancestors originally came from Valvori, a small village in southern Lazio, Italy. He was one of five children, a sister being Loretta Minghella, and a brother Dominic Minghella who would also become a screenwriter and producer.
Minghella attended St. Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ryde, Sandown Grammar School, and St John's College, Portsmouth. Early interests suggested a possible career as a musician, with Minghella playing keyboards with local bands Earthlight and Dancer. The latter recorded an album titled Tales of the Riverbank in 1972, although it was not released until 2001. He attended the University of Hull, studying drama.[9] As an undergraduate he had arrived at university with an EMI contract for the band, in which he sang and played keyboards; while at university he wrote words and music for an adaptation of Gabriel Josipovici's Mobius the Stripper (1975) .
Minghella graduated after three years, and stayed on to pursue a PhD. He also taught at the university for several years, on Samuel Beckett and on the medieval theatre. Ultimately, he abandoned his pursuit of a PhD to work for the BBC.
Minghella's debut work was a stage adaptation of Gabriel Josipovici's Mobius the Stripper (1975) and it was his Whale Music (1985) that brought him notice.[12] His double bill of Samuel Beckett's Play and Happy Days was his directorial debut and debut feature film as a director was A Little Like Drowning (1978). During the 1980s, he worked in television, starting as a runner on Magpie before moving into script editing the children's drama series Grange Hill for the BBC and later writing The Storyteller series for Jim Henson. He wrote several episodes of the ITV detective drama Inspector Morse and an episode of long-running ITV drama Boon. Made in Bangkok (1986) found mainstream success in the West End.
Radio success followed with a Giles Cooper Award for the radio drama Cigarettes and Chocolate[13] first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1988. It was revived on 3 May 2008 as a tribute to its author director following his death. His production starred Juliet Stevenson, Bill Nighy and Jenny Howe. His first radio play Hang Up, starring Anton Lesser and Juliet Stevenson, was revived on 10 May 2008 as part of the BBC Radio 4 Minghella season.
Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), a feature drama written and directed for the BBC's Screen Two anthology strand, bypassed TV broadcast and instead had a cinema release. He turned down an offer to direct another Inspector Morse to do the project, even though he believed that the Morse episode would have been a much higher-profile assignment. The English Patient (1996) brought him two Academy Awards nominations, Best Director (which he won) and Adapted Screenplay. He also received an Adapted Screenplay nomination for The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a pilot episode television adaptation which he co-wrote and directed, was broadcast posthumously on BBC One (23 March 2008); watched by 6.3 million viewers. He vocally supported I Know I'm Not Alone, a film of musician Michael Franti's peacemaking excursions into Iraq, Palestine and Israel. He directed a party election broadcast for the Labour Party in 2005. The short film depicted Tony Blair and Gordon Brown working together and was criticised for being insincere: "The Anthony Minghella party political broadcast last year was full of body language fibs", said Peter Collett, a psychologist at the University of Oxford. "When you are talking to me, I'll give you my full attention only if I think you are very high status or if I love you. On that party political broadcast, they are staring at each other like lovers. It is completely false."
With Samuel Beckett's 100th birthday celebrations, he returned to radio on BBC Radio 3 with Eyes Down Looking (2006), with: Jude Law, Juliet Stevenson and David Threlfall.[16] An operatic directorial debut came with Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Premiered at the English National Opera (London, 2005), then at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (Vilnius, March 2006) and at the Metropolitan Opera (New York City, September 2006). The latter was transmitted live into cinemas worldwide (7 March 2009) as part of the Met's HD series and is now available on DVD. The ENO work was to have led to other operatic projects, directing again at English National Opera and collaborating with Osvaldo Golijov on a new opera for the Met and ENO, writing the libretto and directing the production.
He was honoured with the naming of The Anthony Minghella Theatre at the Quay Arts Centre (Isle of Wight). He made an appearance in the 2007 film Atonement as a television host interviewing the novelist central to the story.
His last work was the screenplay of the film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical Nine (1982); Arthur Kopit (book) and Maury Yeston (score). It is based on the film 8½. He shared credit with Michael Tolkin on the screenplay.
The Film, Theatre & Television department at the University of Reading, opened in 2012, was named in his honor.
* 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, October 10, 2021
Welcome to the 1,246th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Diabetes symptoms
Overview of the most significant symptoms of diabetes
Mikael Häggström - See above. All used images are in public domain.
Overview of the most significant possible symptoms of diabetes. See Wikipedia:Diabetes#Signs_and_symptoms for references. To discuss image, please see Template talk:Human body diagrams
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Commentary
I’m in a nice rhythm. It took several weeks to work it out. MY daughter Katherine flew the coop to start her adult life, taking her stuff with her, leaving me with scads of room. I am slowly taking advantage of the extra room and extra roominess.
And for the past several weeks I’ve been visiting and entertaining at a higher rate than usual. My socialization seems to be falling to its normal level.
And having finished the first draft of Part One, I feel as though I’ve produced a tangible document, a proof that my creative efforts will come to fruition. This is calming.
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Reading and Writing
On Friday I started a tight editing of the first part of my manuscript. First assignment, verify all dates and include covid which wasn’t here when I last rewrote these chapters.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
― 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 Katherine in response to Jim Pasto’s request for details on her meditation week:
Hi Dad,
I did a weeklong silent meditation retreat at a center called Spirit Rock, located in the hills about 30 minutes north of San Francisco. Waking up at 5:45am to the sound of a gong, about 80 of us sat in meditation for about six hours a day. It seemed like an impossibility at first, but really became a life changing practice that has, as Jim writes, shaped my relationship with myself and the world for the better.
The center was started by my favorite Western Buddhist teacher, Jack Kornfield, who -- along with Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein -- largely helped bring the practice to the West. Mino introduced me to him, and I've read a few of his books and listen regularly to his podcast and guided meditations. Sharon Salzberg started her own center in Barre, MA called Insight Meditation Center, where I will try to visit sometime next year. I hope to make retreat an annual tradition; it's a beautiful and intense time to reset and reflect and grow. It's kind of like how you can spend four years in a Spanish classroom and not get as much out of it as you would by spending four months in South America. It's an immersion experience for your mind.
I hope this helps. Thanks for the opportunity to share, and I really would be more than delighted to talk to anyone even mildly interested in the experience.
Love you,
Katherine
Blog meister responds: Sweet. Tomorrow we’ll publish Jim’s reaction to Katherine
Dinner/Food/Recipes
Thursday my cousin Lauren joined me for dinner. We had slow-roasted roast lamb with broccoli, brussel sprouts, and rice. The lamb, 2.3lbs, cooked at 200* for 70 minutes [30 min/lb] then broiled for 15 min for color and finish, was a perfect rare without being bloody.
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Community Photos**
PG planting in yellow at night
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Short Essay*
The classic symptoms of untreated diabetes are unintended weight loss, polyuria (increased urination), polydipsia (increased thirst), and polyphagia (increased hunger). Symptoms may develop rapidly (weeks or months) in type 1 diabetes, while they usually develop much more slowly and may be subtle or absent in type 2 diabetes.
Several other signs and symptoms can mark the onset of diabetes although they are not specific to the disease. In addition to the known symptoms listed above, they include blurred vision, headache, fatigue, slow healing of cuts, and itchy skin. Prolonged high blood glucose can cause glucose absorption in the lens of the eye, which leads to changes in its shape, resulting in vision changes. Long-term vision loss can also be caused by diabetic retinopathy. A number of skin rashes that can occur in diabetes are collectively known as diabetic dermadromes.
Diabetes mellitus (DM), commonly known as just diabetes, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased appetite. If left untreated, diabetes can cause many health complications. Acute complications can include diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state, or death. Serious long-term complications include cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease, foot ulcers, damage to the nerves, damage to the eyes and cognitive impairment.
Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough insulin, or the cells of the body not responding properly to the insulin produced. There are three main types of diabetes mellitus:
Type 1 diabetes results from failure of the pancreas to produce enough insulin due to loss of beta cells. This form was previously referred to as "insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus" (IDDM) or "juvenile diabetes". The loss of beta cells is caused by an autoimmune response. The cause of this autoimmune response is unknown.
Type 2 diabetes begins with insulin resistance, a condition in which cells fail to respond to insulin properly. As the disease progresses, a lack of insulin may also develop. This form was previously referred to as "non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus" (NIDDM) or "adult-onset diabetes". The most common cause is a combination of excessive body weight and insufficient exercise.
Gestational diabetes is the third main form, and occurs when pregnant women without a previous history of diabetes develop high blood sugar levels.
Type 1 diabetes must be managed with insulin injections. Prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes involves maintaining a healthy diet, regular physical exercise, a normal body weight, and avoiding use of tobacco. Type 2 diabetes may be treated with medications such as insulin sensitizers with or without insulin. Control of blood pressure and maintaining proper foot and eye care are important for people with the disease. Insulin and some oral medications can cause low blood sugar. Weight loss surgery in those with obesity is sometimes an effective measure in those with type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes usually resolves after the birth of the baby.
As of 2019, an estimated 463 million people had diabetes worldwide (8.8% of the adult population), with type 2 diabetes making up about 90% of the cases. Rates are similar in women and men. Trends suggest that rates will continue to rise. Diabetes at least doubles a person's risk of early death. In 2019, diabetes resulted in approximately 4.2 million deaths. It is the 7th leading cause of death globally. The global economic cost of diabetes-related health expenditure in 2017 was estimated at US$727 billion. In the United States, diabetes cost nearly US$327 billion in 2017. Average medical expenditures among people with diabetes are about 2.3 times higher.
*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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