5.11.2023 – Toe-curlingly bad

Toe-curlingly bad …
in words of one syllable
George Bush said it best

Quoted now by so many, as George W. Bush left the platform after the inaugural address of President Donald Trump, said to his wife, “That’s some weird shit.”

Not sure that this has ever been improved on.

And it is still applies to the current day.

In his article, “Toe-curlingly bad television: Trump’s torturous town hall backfires on CNN“, subtitled, “Truth didn’t stand a chance as the former president talked too fast to be factchecked and too shamelessly to be interrupted,” David Smith of the Guardian wrote:

The nausea came gradually, then suddenly, and with disconcerting familiarity. We had been flung back in time to the political hellscape of 2016. Only the second time around, it was somehow worse.

By chance I was reading in the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 13, where the Prophet writes about false prophets in Israel saying, “Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash.

And it reminded of a another country.

Especially when Ezekiel went on to say …

Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, even if these three men — Noah, Daniel and Job — were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.

even if these three men …

Noah,

Daniel

and Job …

were in it,

they could save only themselves by their righteousness,

declares the Sovereign Lord.

Folks, last time I checked, those three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, weren’t anywhere near us.

5.10.2023 – every great river

every great river
every sea, belongs to none
and belongs to all

Based on the line, Like every great river and every great sea, the moon belongs to none and belongs to all.

From Moon Landing, by EB White, July 26, 1969; in Writings from The New Yorker, 1925–1976.

Mr. White was writing about the Apollo 11 moon landings in 1969,

The picture is from the Calhoun Street Dock on the May River in Bluffton, SC.

Mr. White watched the moon landings, like I did, on television.

I was at the Calhoun Street Dock on the May River in Bluffton, SC, last night.

Mr. White was referring to the moment when the Astronauts planted the US Flag in the surface of moon.

last night, my wife said it was such a nice night, with the temp in the low 80’s, we should go see the sunset at the bluff over the river.

I am thinking of how many people were there to see it.

To see the view.

To share the view.

And come away with their own thoughts.

It belongs to none.

It belongs to all.

At the same time.

Neat trick!

With the tide, the light, the season, it is always a new scene, a different view, at the bluff over the river.

Not saying I could never get tired of it.

But I am willing to take on the research project.

5.9.2023 – when the first person

when the first person
I see when I get to work
is me, what a start …

The building where I work on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, used to be a restaurant.

It is something we try not to think about when we think about what might be on the other side of lowered ceilings or under carpets or behind doors that are sealed shut.

A building that 30 years ago was occupied by food service in a sub tropical climate …

Besides what may or may not be lurking in the walls of the building, we deal with the design of the building, the layout of the rooms and hallways and the way my company wedged offices and office furniture into a restaurant.

Believe me, it is … interesting.

I once walked my wife through this place and she is still laughing.

I enter the building through what was the old main entrance of the restaurant.

The double door opens onto a landing of a broad wooden stair case.

To go downstairs is to go down to the basement where the bar and restaurant kitchens were located.

There are spooky narrow hallways that go back and around and old service stairs that are now blocked off.

It was down here that the corporate server room was located until a couple a years ago when a company did a disaster assessment, they recommended that having computer servers below sea level in a building five blocks from the sea was not the best idea.

To go upstairs is to go where most of the offices are located.

The stairs lead right up into a door that opens out without benefit of a landing which can be an adventure during the work day.

Opening the door and stepping into the hallway, the first person you see is yourself.

At the end of this hallway, facing the door, is a massive framed mirror.

I understand it is a relic from the restaurant days and as the basement was also the location for the restaurant restrooms, the mirror allowed you to make any last moment wardrobe corrections before you returned to your table.

It is kind of surprise.

I get up in the morning and start the process of coming awake.

Shower and cups of coffee help.

Driving out to the coast, over the bridges to the island with the sunrise in my face helps.

Navigating the quiet streets of a resort town in the early morning, watching out for those healthy joggers and bikers, helps.

But nothing wakes you up like a cold slap in the face (or the could fingers of death) then to be confronted with a head to toe reflection of how the world sees you to start your day.

I can form an image of myself all on my own.

I don’t spend a lot of time on my clothes, on what I wear to work, but I do try to make sure I am presentable.

I have a beard, now gray, then blond, so it is a kind person that says I have a beard and I will admit it is more for the sake of not having to shave than any other reason.

I don’t worry much about how my hair looks except to say when I start worrying about how my hair looks, I get it all cut off so there isn’t much hair to worry about in the morning.

But I DO have a certain image of myself.

I DO, in my mind, think it is about 1990 in the age of my body.

I DO, in my mind, think it is about 1990 in the age of my face.

I DO have a certain image of myself.

I get to work and step inside my building.

I walk up the stairs and I open the door and step into that hallway.

I look and the first person I see is myself.

And I say to myself, “Who is that guy?”

What a start!

5.8.2023 – beware stations near

beware stations near
notorious Orlando
International

I was discussing travel advisories that countries around the world issue for the United States and I got to thinking, just what do these advisories say?

At this time, I have a Niece and Nephew-in-law who are working in at a hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo about which the United States Dept of State has issued a Level 3: Reconsider Travel warning with the usual comments like:

The eastern DRC region and the three Kasai provinces (Kasai, Kasai-Oriental, Kasai-Central) due to crime, civil unrest, armed conflict and kidnapping.

The U.S. government has extremely limited ability to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens outside of Kinshasa due to poor infrastructure and security conditions.

So I looked up the the current and official Foreign travel advice for Travel in the United States as issued by His Majesty’s Government Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Under Safety and Security: Road Travel, HMG warns:

Driving is on the right hand side of the road.

Check the weather conditions before embarking on a long journey.

Do not sleep in your car by the roadside or in rest areas and avoid leaving any items on display in your car.

Petrol stations that do not display the price of fuel usually charge considerably more than the national average for a gallon of fuel. They’re often found close to tourist destinations and airports, and notoriously near to Orlando International Airport.

There you are.

Beware gas stations notoriously near to Orlando International Airport.

The Online Oxford Learners dictionary defines notoriously as in a way that is well known for being bad.

On the other hand, those have Gas Stations made the list.

You can almost hear, The U.K. government has extremely limited ability to provide emergency consular services to U.K. Subjects close to tourist destinations and airports, and notoriously near to Orlando International Airport.

5.7.2023 -instagrammable

instagrammable
moments that did not make it
on to instagram

Any one who reads these essays will know that I often rant about the instagrammable moment.

The idea that proof of being somewhere is better than the being there itself.

For example, 80% of the people who visit the Louvre in Paris are there to see only the Mona Lisa and when they get their 60 seconds in front of the painting, they turn their back on Lisa del Giocondo so they can position their iPhone to take a photo that captures their self with the painting in the background.

Viola, the instagrammable moment.

These moments can be based on an event as well.

Their self at Times Square on New Years, at a big league ball game or taking a walk on a beach at lunchtime.

Something to show you are where you are and other people aren’t.

There hasn’t been a British Coronation in 70 plus years.

For many, it could be a once in a life time event.

An event, that if you were present at, would almost demand to memorilized with an instagrammable moment.

Yet …

As I watched the pageantry playout on my TV and men bowed and women curtsied, not once did I see a slender white box of an iPhone.

I did not see the extended arms of the Instagram Salute.

I did not see anyone turn their back, a breach of etiquette all its own, so that someone could capture that instagrammable moment.

I like pageantry and such.

I’ll watch Inaugurations.

I’ll watch the funerals of past Presidents.

On Christmas Eve, it has become a tradition started after setting out all the gifts and candy for Christmas Morning, that the wife and I watch the service from St. Peters.

Of late, all of these events are filled with the image of people making images.

As an aside, how a Secret Service agent makes the split second decision that someone is reaching out with an iPhone and not a weapon is beyond me.

Last Christmas it comes to mind that one person in St. Peters in the background behind the alter was making such a show to capture selfies that a Vatican Official had to tap her on the shoulder to please sit down.

But yesterday in Westminster Abbey, I didn’t see a one.

When I first noticed I was so pleased that the people in the Abbey were there for the sake of being there and not proving they HAD been there.

When I time to think about it, my thought was, HOW did the Brits accomplish this?

Did Charles have a note at the bottom of the invitation saying something like, “Please refrain from taking selfies. In respect to the moment, the use of hand held devices is prohibited.”

If the invitations did have such a line, would the Brits go along with it?

And you know, I think they would.

You can find lots of indications that Brits don’t like they Royalty but I think that while they say it, they don’t mean it.

I remember a clip of an interveiw of one time Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan by Dick Cavett.

Mr. Cavett was asking about the process of Royal Honors and Mr. Macmillan explained that when he was in charge he would contact people and say, “I have in mind to recommend you to the Queen for a Knighthood,”

Mr. Macmillan explained that way, the honor would be turned down before it was ever offered (it ever one was ever turned down – Even John Lennon took an MBE before, years later, he gave it back).

Mr. Cavett grasped the idea and summed it up saying, “So you wouldn’t be saying no to the Queen.”

Mr. Macmillan agreed, “Saying no to the Queen? It just isn’t done.”