The desk upon which my computer sits doesn’t have casters, but it’s from exactly the same era – red formica top and all, and has a set of matching red vinyl chairs. I love retro stuff like this. If my wife’s younger son ever gets out here with a truck or something, it’s his. Until then, I get to enjoy it.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Striptease Tie
The Nothing Box. I always wanted one of these, but the fact that it died hard after a year put me off.
The Pet Rock
The Invisible Dog – another brilliant idea from the 70’s.
Pogs. Originally the stopper for a glass bottle of milk – today the perfect example of a collecting craze created by marketing and based on nothing. Happily, short-lived.
Original pog.
Spoon chopsticks.
Found at Thomas Herbert’s website of practical and impractical products.
In my book, coolness almost always trumps practicality.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Milk isn’t the only thing that was airlifted into Berlin during those days.
Colonel Gail Halvorsen, the “Candy Bomber.”
“Between the years of 1948 and 1949 Berlin Airlift pilot Lt. Gail Halvorsen was so struck with the friendliness and excitement of the Berlin children that he wanted to do something special for them and to spread a little cheer to their beleaguered times in Berlin during the blockade. Lt. Halvorsen decided to start his own operation and named it “Operation Little Vittles” He practically bought out all the candy available where he was based and out of strips of cloth created miniature parachutes and attached the candy to them. At the beginning, Lt. Halvorsons buddies gave up their rations of candy and gum and also their handkerchiefs to help the cause. The American Confectioners Association asked Lt. Halvorsen how much candy and gum he could use. They sent tons of candy and gum to Westover AFB for processing. 22 schools in Chicopee Massachusetts converted an old fire station into a Little Vittles headquarters. They made parachutes, tied on candy or gum and sent the finished product to Lt. Halvorsen at Rhine Main AFB. When the supplies came on line at Rhine Main all of Lt. Halverson’s squadron and others helped drop the candy and gum. They then air dropped the candy over the city of Berlin (including East Berlin until the Russians told them to stop ) to the eagerly waiting children. By January of 1949 Lt. Halvorsen had air dropped more than 250,000 parachutes loaded with candy on the city of Berlin bringing a little joy to the nearly 100,000 children of Berlin during the Russian blockade.” (From konnections.com)
I had the privilege of knowing Gail when he was the bishop of a neighboring congregation in 1978. A kinder man you could never hope to meet. One man, with a powerful intention, who made a difference in the lives of countless children.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
From the October 2012 issue of the AARP Bulletin, this outrage:
Carol and Paul Kurland of Leavittown, PA, both in their late 80’s, added their daughter’s name to their bank accounts to allow her access to funds if they faced a sudden health crisis. “Given our advanced age, we thought it was a good idea,” Carol Kurland says. “But we fell into a trap.” Sadly, their daughter Amy, 56, died last October. Two months later, the Kurlands got hit with a tax bill for several thousand dollars. They were amazed to discover that, under Pennsylvania law, a third of the money in their accounts was considered to be Amy’s. They had “inherited” it and now owed 4.5% as tax. “Our daughter had none of her own money in the accounts,” says Kurland, “and in fact, had never even visited that bank. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue says it regularly hears from unhappy people in similar situations. Banks in the state are not required to inform customers who add names to accounts that they’ll owe taxes if the new person dies first.
Six other states – Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, and New Jersey – also tax inheritances. Four of them – Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, and New Jersey – exempt parents of decedents, according to Jonathan Griffin at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
After the Kurlands’ tax bill arived, bank officials suggested that granting their daughter a power of attorney could have averted the liability.
“Why didn’t they tell us this before?” asks Carol Kurland. “You lose your daughter, and then you have to go through this. It’s been a bear.”
Takeaways:
The Old Wolf has spoken.
I try to keep abreast of science news, but this one slipped totally under my radar.
In October 7, 2009, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope discovered an enormous and previously unknown infrared ring around Saturn. Scientists think this ring may help solve the mystery of why Iapetus looks like the yin-yang symbol. Read more at NASA.
No, not the band. I didn’t even know there was a band named Hüsker Dü.
What I remember is the game, relentlessly promoted by K-Tel.
Back in 1974 or thereabouts, these K-Tel ads were a source of constant amusement; I used to joke that Hüsker Dü meant “up yours” in Sicilian.
I’m so glad that some of these gems were preserved for posterity. Isn’t that amazing!
The Old Wolf has spoken.
The Internet is full of glurges – stories designed to make the reader feel good, or uplifted, or inspired. You know – the kind of thing you find in the “Chicken Soup for the Left Handed Ginger Soul.”
Now, I happen to have a very sappy heart, so there are a lot of these that resonate with me, whether they are true or not – and a good percentage of them aren’t. But in the end there’s nothing wrong with a good story – witness the success of the recent 50 Shades of Gray, which to me has less redeeming value than a nice tale about six disabled puppies rescued by a one-eyed wolverine who had just been run over by a steamroller.
People have told stories since the beginning of time. Stories to entertain, but more important, stories to pass on traditions and values which were important to the society that preserved them. A good example appears in Elie Wiesel’s book, Souls on Fire
When the founder of Hasidic Judaism, the great Rabbi Israel Shem Tov, saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted.
Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Maggid of Mezritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: “Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer,” and again the miracle would be accomplished.
Still later, Rabbi Moshe leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, “I do not know how to light the fire. I do not know the prayer, but I know the place, and this must be sufficient.” It was sufficient, and the miracle was accomplished.
Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhin to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: “I am unable to light the fire, and I do not know the prayer, and I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient.”
And it was sufficient.
The Christian scriptures are also full of parables and allegories, and whether you put any particular stock in their historical or spiritual value, most of them boil down to a single message: “Don’t be a dick, and help other people whenever you can.”
So here’s a glurge for you. It makes sense to me, and I like the message, which I have found to be true both now, and in retrospect:
“During my second month of college our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50’s but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care even if all you do is smile and say ‘hello’.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.”
–Source Unknown
I believe that every person we encounter is there for a purpose. If we can leave them happy that we crossed paths, we have fulfilled our human responsibility, and no more can be asked.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
On July 20, 1963, a total solar eclipse cast its shadow over North America, and crossed over Bridgton, Maine, where I was attending Camp Wildwood. The dangers of looking directly at the sun were well-known, so they gathered us all into the lodge and had a television set up so we could watch the broadcast. I remember how uncanny it was (I was twelve at the time) to see the sky go so dark at mid-day, and through the windows of the lodge we were treated to that strange and unnatural crepuscular light which covers the area of the eclipse’s umbra. Ever since that day, I’ve been intrigued by the phenomenon, which is rare enough, but even rarer for any given geographical area.
In 1999, I had a business trip scheduled to Eastern Europe, and by miraculous happenstance I found myself in Bucharest, Romania – the “sweet spot” of a beautiful eclipse.
Eclipse Commemorative Button
500 Lei commemorative coin, the first such issue since 1906.
It was breathtaking. The sky around the totality was a dark purple, and while not totally cloudless was obscured only by wisps of high clouds which only added to the impressive beauty of the event. Given the upcoming schedule of total eclipses, this is probably the last one I’ll get to see – and I’m so grateful to have been on hand. But my appetite was whetted, and when an annular eclipse passed over Utah in May of 2012, I knew I had to be there.
This was what they call a “ring of fire” eclipse – the sequence below was taken in my shadow box, so the quality is not spectacular, but they give a good idea of the progression of the event. Again – truly breathtaking. We don’t see this happen all too often, and it left me with a heightened sense of awe for the size and complexity of the universe we live in.
… but this is what it looked like through our eclipse glasses. Quite a sight.
Lunar eclipses are more common, but I’ll always take the chance to watch one when it comes around. My little camera is not good at night shots, but I captured this picture of an eclipsing moon over the Oquirrh mountains on a bitter cold morning of December 10, 2011.
If I were richer than God I’d go chasing more of these celestial events, but since I’m not, the memories will have to suffice.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Eating herring the traditional Dutch way.
Playing in the World Game 