A Beverage of Choice

The current photo of Trump & Romney at dinner revealed the beverage of choice as H2o with a slice of lime, although I suspect Mitt would like to see the wine list. It recalls a story from WWII when U.S.Lines vessels were delivering supplies to the North African campaign via the Egyptian port of Alexandria. Many ships had to sit at anchor awaiting a berth and this day our captain was ashore and the mate was in his bunk in his underwear bearing up under the stifling heat. Now the British General Viscount Montgomery had a habit of visiting the ships at random and this day he selected our vessel. The mate heard the activity as Monty and his entourage came up the gangway and he sprang from his bunk and broke out a bottle of Scotch to greet the visitors. But Monty didn't drink and none of his leftenants would dare accept a wee dram even though their throats were parched. Fast forward and poor Mitt had to settle for H2o - but it might have been sparkling Perrier.
tjs

Quote of the week

 With respect to the claim of "bringing back jobs", Warren Bennis, a management consultant observed "The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment." Presumably, the robots are on their own.
tjs
(Quote from NYT Thomas L. Friedman 11/23/16)

Rivalry

Thanksgiving weekend usually marks the scenes of football rivalries i.e. Penn vs Cornell, Army vs Navy, Harvard vs Yale but the one that comes to my mind is that between Boston College and Holy Cross, two Jesuit institutions in Massachusetts. In 1942 Boston College was a powerhouse led by all-American Mike Holovak and they were heavily favored to win, so much so that their supporters planned a victory celebration at the Cocoanut Grove Night Club in Boston. But Holy Cross upset the favorite and the B.C. celebration was cancelled. That was the night of the tragic fire that consumed the night club resulting in the loss of over 400 lives. Mike Holovak and many of his team mates then went off to WWII to face another fate.
tjs

Poor Butterfly

Poor Butterfly - from the song of the same name. A large contingent of Monarch Butterflies make their nesting place in central Mexico adjacent to avocado groves. But as the demand for avocados grows, to keep pace with the demand some farmers will be planting and encroaching on the nesting places. It is said that we Americans each consumed seven pounds of avocados in 2015 double that of five years before. Holy Moly! or should that be "guacamole".
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/world/americas/ambition-of-avocado-imperils-monarch-butterflies-winter-home.html?_r=0

The Bottomless Keg

A job at Labatt, one of Canada's major breweries, came with an unusual perk - free beer for life. But now the retirees have been cut off. By contrast, current employees get a free case every other week and bonus cases at Christmas in lieu of a turkey. I always knew there was no free lunch but now it has extended to the after party. Alas, we shall have to let those old folks cry in their beer - as long as it lasts, eh!
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/world/americas/canada-labatts-fee-beer.html?src=me&_r=0

A Personal Credo

The late Kenneth Clark was the Director of the National Gallery in London during WWII. His personal credo is below which will help to wipe away the current funk:
-I believe that order is better than chaos.
-That creation is better than destruction.
-I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta.
-That knowledge is preferable to ignorance.
-And I am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology.
Words to live by!
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/books/kenneth-clark-biography-james-stourton.html

Lost & Found

Bailey, won't you please come home? Yes, a tree can grow in Brooklyn and a dog named Bailey can get lost there too. But thanks to social media and concerned neighbors the missing canine did return. Some years ago I had a conversation with a retired Army officer who when on active duty was assigned at the Brooklyn Army terminal processing G.I.s on their way to Europe. A certain recruit arrived in town with his dog which he placed in a local kennel while he tried to drink Brooklyn dry. He was poured aboard ship and after arriving in Germany he wired his congressman seeking his help in locating his pet. My friend, then a Lt. Col., found a large envelope in his in box bearing a large stamp "M.C. (member of Congress) reply in 48 hours." Thereupon, three officers found themselves paging thru the Brooklyn Yellow Pages in an effort to locate this dog. Such is the power of Congress - and they didn't have Social Media.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/nyregion/world-or-at-least-brooklyn-stops-for-lost-dog.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fnyregion&action=click&contentCollection=nyregion&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2
pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

The Great Beyond

Robert Weber, a witty cartoonist for the New Yorker Magazine died recently at age 92. A few years ago he was asked to list "three things you haven't done yet." He replied:
1 - Voted Republican
2 - Fallen out of bed.
3 - Turned down a glass of champagne.
And he did all his work with charcoal.
tjs

William Tell

Last Saturday's matinee at the Metropolitan Opera was a performance of Rossini's William Tell. During an intermission a man was seen sprinkling a white powder around the orchestra pit which caused alarm and a cancelling of the remainder of the opera. The perpetrator explained it was the ashes of a friend and opera lover and part of his deal with the deceased to leave bits of him in all the opera houses he would visit. When I hear the William Tell Overture I think of that masked stranger on the white horse who might have "unmasked" the sprinkler and dissuaded him before he made an "ash" of himself.
tjs