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Mark Schweickart

Mike -- If I were still teaching a beginning composition class, I'd  give your song analysis a B+ for explicating some of the these fog-bound lyrics with a special bonus for the Golden Chain explanation. I'm still wondering who Sister Lucy is, and where "down here" is.  Then I would cryptically pen across the bottom of your composition, "I ain't going to work on Maggie's farm, no more," just to keep the fog billowing.

David Mitchell

Mike,

TAKE ME TO CHURCH !

U go on wit ya bad self man!  

Thomas Swain

Steve Hodges. Father Steve did the noon mass, today, at St. Tim's. As previously noted, his father passed on Thanksgiving Day. Service at St. Tim's on Tues. as previously noted.

Spoke to him at some length after mass. He looks good and is in good spirits, condsidering the past few days. As Jim stated, his personal surgery went very well.

Janie Albright (Blank)

Thanks Tom for the update on Steve. That must have been a really special Mass. So glad you had some time to visit. Hope to see you at lunch at Clare’s on the 12th. I just sent out a reminder now that Thanksgiving is over. 

David Mitchell

Tommy,

What a strange coincidence here. You and your family were the only people of all my friends who came to MY Dad's funeral !  So glad you got to see Steve. 

Janie Albright (Blank)

Now that Thanksgiving is over you can start thinking about our class Holiday lunch December 12! 

We will be having Italian salad, Homemade Lasagna and garlic bread from Berwick Manor and homemade Christmas cookies.  Iced Tea, soda, Beer or Wine. Cost is $10 and you can pay that day.  

Tuesday December 12th 11:30 AM

Clare Hummer Bauer’s house

1798 Ridgeview Rd. Columbus(Upper Arlington) 43221

RSVP by Dec. 8 if possible:  Watterson1966@aol.com

If you like bring an unwrapped gift to be donated to needy kids through the Bishop Griffin Center

Mark Schweickart

Hey everyone,

I think I have mentioned before about the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge that happens every year in November. The challenge is to crank out at least 50,000 words of a novel you have been procrastinating on. It is crazy how establishing a totally arbitrary deadline like this can motivate one to get something accomplished. This is the third time I have attempted this, the first two times I cheated a bit by doing memoirs, which were quite a bit easier than fabricating a novel. This time I have tried a more fictional approach. There are two main characters, and two time periods woven together. A 1958-60 period that is more semi-autobiographical, and a 1942-43 period that is set in the munition plants and racial turrmoil which engulfed Detroit that is more historical fiction.

Anyway, if anyone would like to take a crack at reading this, I would be happy to email you a PDF. Let me know at my personal email address, which is : sparto@ca.rr.com

And for any of you fellow retirees out there who are thinking about writing your memoirs or a novel, I can't encourage you enough to try this arbitrary deadline approach. It certainly has motivated me to churn stuff out, and I have been pleased with the results.

Linda Weiner (Bennett)

Dave, I know what you mean about music and worship in the non-Catholic communities. 

HOWEVER, Transfiguration Catholic Parish in Marietta (north of Atlanta) has contemporary music program with lots of clapping during “jumpy” hymns. You will hear applause after homily also. 

Missed it all terribly when we found ourselves back in Cincy until I found a black (culture) Catholic Church in the West End, St Joseph! Do those folks ever know how to worship! It was exhilarating to be a part of 11AM Mass (not so much at 9AM though). You will hear the “Alleluias” with losts of clapping & even occasional dancing behind the last pews. We even a Deacon who was a screamer and foot stomper—he could really get his point across. I know it sounds all holy-roller like we mocked as kids, but I love it! They were all in it: body, heart & soul. Still miss "St Joe" and our friends there since we moved.

David Mitchell

Linda, (and Jim)

I should back up and say I do love some Traditional Church (religious) music. (I will never tire of hearing a great children's choir or adult choral group). But it's is not that often that I hear it anymore outisde my own church and at other local congregations that lean toward the evangelical side. The whole idea is supposed to be about JOY for Pete's sake!

My last two or three trips to Columbus (as a guest at "Chateau Groff"), I usually end up with Keith at St. Agatha, and I'm sorry to say it's almost grueling. But I went over to St. Christopher on Grandview Ave. for a second Christmas Eve Mass (same night) and it was as different as day and night. The priest actually appeared to have blood coursing through his veins and gave a wonderful - as in JOYFUL - message. And the choir was wonderful! How hard is it?

Actually, my first experience with "Christian Rock" was in my first church down here St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church. First time there I hear these electric guitars and a drum up behind me in the choir loft and I turned around and thought - what the ????? They were terriffic! And they played weekly in their own restaurant and packed the house several nights a week with Rock, R&B, and Country. But in a Catholic Mass they were a shock - albeit a wonderful shock. 

As a life-long music lover I beleive there is all kinds of good music in all kinds of different genres. And then there is utter dross. 

I may have mentioned this before -- I just went to a concert in Charleston with two of the top Christian "Contemporary" singers of our day - Chris Tomlin and Matt Mauer. It was incredible!

Julie Carpenter

Sorry I won't be able to attend the luncheon--have to work that day. But my thoughts will be with you guys.

All my spare time is spent making cookies to send to my sisters for Christmas! Each year it seems to take longer and longer to make fewer and fewer cookies! Still, it's nice to retain some traditions during the holidays.

Hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season. 

Deborah Alexander (Rogers)

Sorry I have to miss the luncheon.  It's a work day for me, but I'll be thinking of all of you.  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Enjoy the holiday season and all it entails!

Timothy Lavelle

Mark....or if not Mark then anyone...assuming you are familiar with the subject.

I was daydreaming about another oddity I don't understand. My father-in-law has this tiny music box. It is far more amplified if he sets in on something solid before turning the little crank. (You get a call at 8:00 AM on your B Day and on the other end of the line comes this "tink ta tink tink, tink tink..."  Happy B Day music). So what I want to know is, how does the solid base you set this music box thing on amplify the music, and is that basicly the same as a guitar sound box or are theaudio amplification principles completely different.

30 years ago I found a box of Christmas cards for sale in a totally off the wall shop in San Fran, my all time favorite city in 'Murica. The message inside is normal and typically says "Merry Christmas". But the card front cover is a hand drawn depiction of a bunch of hospital patients in white robes singing on a stage. Above them is a banner announcing the "Bedlam Christmas Choir".

The choir is singing "Do you hear what I hear?"

Well, it's always made me laugh...but  am a sucker for odd humor.

Enjoy the season.

Mark Schweickart

Tim,

I'm no physicist, but I am pretty sure it is exactly, as you say, the same principle as the sound box of a guitar. The guitar box in contact with the vibration of a string, or a solid object touched by a tuning fork after the tines have been struck, or in your case, the table your music box is sitting on–they are all caused to vibrate at the same frequency as the originating sound, and therefore are amplifing the sound into the air, which means there are more air molecules being affected and travelling to your eardrum, and therefore it sounds  louder.

Also your Christmas card is funnier still, if one also associates that the word bedlam derives from the notorious medieval insane asylum in England called Bethlem Hospital, which in turn derived from Bethlehem. Okay, okay, you already knew that. Sorry.

Timothy Lavelle

Mark...Dude...excellent explanation, I think. Hell, you went molecular on me so I can't find fault. Thanks.

Bedlam...it does figure into a lot of old stories that center the action in or around London...it reads like a mix of horror and a carnival with people paying a fee, like some side show, to come in and watch "the loonies" who lived in squallor and filth.

Hey, while we're talking, do you guys need some rain??? We have rain on special sale up here if you need some!

James Hamilton, M. D.

Tim,

You can send us some of that PNW rain! It has been so dry here that I have been tempted to pass out bottled water to the deer! They prefer the "Deer Park" brand for some reason.

Timothy Lavelle

Great photo Jim,

I have a request. In view of the recent outing of so many different men who have acted in every conceivable way toward less powerful women, from embarrassingly rude to criminal...couldn't we reverse the field a bit and have a female deer looking at your horny guy in the photo and saying "Hey, dude, Nice Rack!"?

Humans....so typically human...

James Hamilton, M. D.

David Mitchell

I just got an email from Steve Hodges asking me if I would relay his gratitude to all who have sent him condolances on his father's passing. I think he is swamped with other matters, and I get the impression he is refraining from the class Forum. I assume his plate if full with his own health issues and other family matters right now. And I imagine his trip to Columbus for the funeral was all he could manage at this time.

Encouraging to hear him say how he enjoyed seeing Tommy Swain, Clare, and Joe G. at the funeral. I'm hoping to engage him in some conversation in he near future, but giving him some time to rest and catch up. Isn't it funny how much more importatnt these things become when we suddenly realize we are no longer 30 or 40?

David Mitchell

Tim and Mark,

You are reminding me of a couple of little tiny "music box" units that my grandkids got from their parents, who got the from their mother years ago. They are tiny little brass units about an inch in each dimension with a little crank on the side that turns a little barrel-like part with microscopic teeth tha tpass over a sort of comb of tiny thin brass leaves. One cranks out Noel but you can hardly hear it. Then you hold it against some hard surface and the sound jumps out at you. Wood works best. I guess that is like the soundboard on a piano - huh?

Speaking of music, it's Advent and here is one of my favorite Christmas Carols done in a very traditional way for Jim's sake. Just kidding Jim - I love this kind of stuff done the old fashioned way too.  And I love a choral group. Happy Advent Everybody. 'Tis the Season  

(Robert Shaw has the best choral arrangement even though it lacks a big pipe organ - which is also very cool !)

This hymn always gives me such a sense of anticipation !

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave,

Loved the video of the chorale singing O Come, O Come Emmanuel. I always enjoy Christmas music both religious and secular. Some favorites of mine are O, Holy Night (numerous artists) and Colorado Christmas (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band).

Christmas is a great time of year - unless you are a big buck trying to sharpen your antlers on outside decorated trees:

This is a common sight and every year there are stories about these unfortunate animals. I captured this image a few years ago near the Broadmoor Hotel. The bucks eventually shed their antlers about February and the Department of Wildlife will only intervene if the animal gets tangled to where it is unable to walk, eat or is in danger of strangulation.

David Mitchell

Jim,

My two favorite traditional Christmas Hymns - "Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel", and yes, "Oh Holy Night".

(And maybe you should throw in "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" too.)  

Timothy Lavelle

Movie suggestion: Been under the weather which got me roped in to going to see a movie about something nice, instead of my normal "7 people killed in the first 15 minutes" action flick or some new outer space thriller. Go see "Wonder".  Really uplifting. I think you will leave the theater saying, "Thank you Tim LaVelle, now where is my hanky?"

Me, just wondering out loud...while I think we should try hard, I don't think white people can ever understand what it is to be black and I don't think men can ever understand what it is to be a women. That remark is made in the context of individuals...not all black people or all women...like, "how do we ever really understand what it is like to be treated like a thing, a disposable thing, instead of a person?"  You know I am not religious but haven't we all lived blessed lives? Yeah, we have. Enjoy the movie.

Lawrence Foster

Over in the User Forum I have posted a Christmas story that I wrote.  I included 2 images that I found on the interenet that would help visualize what is a Welsh Pimsleigh.  One is from the 1977 NYC  Ballet production of The Nutcracker  with Gelsey Kirkland and Mikail Baryshnikov.

Please be aware that there is no such thing as a "Pimsleigh."  That word was made up by my daughter-in-law Lara and some of her friends.  Lara's mother is American, from California, and her father is from Wales, Great Britain.  Born and raised in Cardiff, Lara and a few girl friends attended undergrad at Reading College, England.  They met some other ladies from Wales, formed a good friendshp, and created an informal sorority.  Using the first letter of each of their last names they created the Welsh "Pimsleigh." 

Last year in my writing group we had a prompt to write that if you were stranded on a desert island what 5 items would you want to have.  Since it was around Christmas time we decided that we could write about Santa being stranded if we wanted to.  And that is the story I am telling here.  Hope you enjoy it.  Oh, and thank you to all of you who have sent me comments and feedback about the other stories that I have posted.  I do appreciate your taking the time to do so and the feedback has been helpful.    

I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as can attend the luncheon next Tuesday at Clare's.  Merry Christmas one and all!  

Joseph D. McCarthy

Okay everyone, PLEASE put away your books, pencils, pens, Iphones, other phones, tablets, and any other such related items.  Time for using that thing between your ears for the first part of our surprise QUIZ.

   Example:     26 = L. of the A.          26 Letters of the Alphabet. 

    Now answer the following.

  1.         7 = D. in a W.

  2.         6 = Z. in a M.

  3.    1.98 = P.T. on M. P. H.

  4.       24 = H. in a D.

  5.       50 = Y. for a G. W. A.

  6.     212 = D.F. at which W. B.

  7.       15 = O. in a P.  

  8.     101 = D. in the W. D. M.

  9.     100 = B. of B. on the W.

10.         7 = S. on the A. F.

11.         6 = S. to a S.

12.       16 = M. on a D. M. C.

You can start now.  Hint; some have something to do with tunes.  Good Luck

Joseph D. McCarthy

Oh Dave.  Can you please resolve one little question for me.  Al has tried to tell me that the Navy needed the BEST defense, but I question that supposition.

The Army often used Civilian guards around their bases;

The Air Force had guard (attack) dogs arounnd their bases; BUT

The Navy only had Marines.  Why?