Beatlemania


The 45th anniversary of the Beatles’ appearance on Ed Sullivan cannot go unmentioned here. Still working on my comprehensive list of songs, but in the meanwhist, as they in “Life of Brian” (George Harrison was a big Monty Python fan):

On episode #5602 of JEOPARDY!, which aired 6 January 2009, there was a whole category of BEATLES LYRICS
$200: “Sont les mots gui vont tres bien ensemble tres bien ensemble”
$400: “Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door, who is it for?”
$600: “You say yes I say no you say stop and I say go go go”
$800: “Beep beep mm, beep beep, yeh!”
$1000: “I once had a girl, or should I say she once had me”
Answers below.
***
One of those music memes that was circulating a few years ago:
Artist/Band: The Beatles
Are you male or female: Rocky Raccoon; Mr. Moonlight
Describe yourself: Fixing a Hole; Fool on a Hill
How do some people feel about you: Come Together; Day Tripper
How do you feel about yourself: Long and Winding Road; Getting Better
Describe what you want to be: Something; Bad Boy
Describe how you live: Twist and Shout; Searchin’
Describe how you love: Ain’t She Sweet; A Taste of Honey; All My Loving; All You Need Is Love
Share a few words of wisdom: Tomorrow Never Knows; Wait; Get Back
***
The Beatles (1963-70)

***
Cryptoquip:
Beatles hit about a street on which people congregate and create plays on words: Punny Lane
***
Any Time At All “a unique musical blend of The Beatles and Traditional Irish and American Flatpicking tunes”
***
JEOPARDY responses: “Michelle”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Hello Goodbye”, “Drive My Car”, “Norwegian Wood”; all ultimately answered correctly, though “hello Goodbye” was muffed by two contestants before the third got it right.
ROG

The Blue Nevus

When I saw my primary care physician back in November, she asked me how long I had had that discoloration on my scalp.
I said, “What are you talking about?”
Indeed, there was something there, though neither my wife or I had noticed it. My doctor wanted me to see a dermatologist. Naturally, that takes awhile.
So it was only 10 days ago when I went to the dermatologist, who said, “Ah, you have a blue nevus.”
Now does that not sound like a car or a flower or perhaps something in space?
No, the blue nevus is a variant of a common mole. It is composed of melanocytes, the cells which produce the melanin pigment, which have a spindled to epithelioid appearance. This nevus gets its name from the distinct clinical appearance because of the pigmented cells within the dermis.

So what should I do about it? I noted that my doctor saw it in November but had not seen it in my ptrevious annual visit. Its recent appearance was an issue for my dermatologist; if I had had it for 20 years, he wouldn’t have thought much about it. This not being the case, he said he thought we should have it removed.
I said when should we do that?
He said, “Now, if you’re up for it.”
He numbed the surface with a topical liquid, then gave me a shot (which didn’t hurt), then removed the nevus, needeing three stitches to patch me up. It was a bit more bloody gauze than I would have expected from such a little mole.

I was to come back this past Thursday to remove the stitches and to get the results of the biopsy. I wasn’t worried, since these are almost always benign. On the other hand, in the United States, Blue nevi are most frequently noted in Asian populations, where the prevalence is estimated to be 3-5% in adults. They are found in 1-2% of white adults and are rarely found in blacks.

So I’m atypical. “Blue nevi are twice as common in women than in men.” Also, “Rare cases of malignant melanoma have been reported arising in association with cellular blue nevi.”

I return to the dermatologist as scheduled, got the stitches out and good news about the nevus. The one down side is that it was deep, and it might come back someday, so I may undergo this procedure in the future.

ROG

QUESTIONS about Comfort Food


About.com listed the top 25 comfort foods, each linked to an appropriate recipe either traditional or updated.

Here’s my take on each:
• Apple Pie – I like; maybe with vanilla ice cream, it’s comfort food,
• Baked Beans – not a huge fan. Hated as a kid, will eat now. No.
• Banana Pudding – more likely vanilla pudding with sliced bananas in it
• Beef Stew – maybe
• Brisket Pot Roast – probably
• Chicken & Dumplings -possibly, though haven’t had in years
• Chicken Pot Pie – eh, it’s OK, but not comfort food.
• Chicken Soup – no. Mushroom soup, yes.
• Chili – I like chili, but never thought of as comfort food.
• Chocolate Chip Cookies – there was this local brand called Freihoffer’s which made the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. Either they’ve changed the formula or my taste buds have changed, but they just don’t do it for me anymore.
• Corn on the Cob – like it, not comfort food
• Fried Chicken – comfort food
• Gelatin – I only eat when I’m sick, so comfort food
• Green Bean Casserole – not a big fan
• Hot Dogs – not really. Saturday lunch or the ballpark.
• Ice Cream – sometimes
• Macaroni & Cheese – almost always, especially baked, the way my wife makes it. My daughter won’t even touch the stuff with the dayglo cheese powder.
• Mashed Potatoes – can be, depending on the mood
• Meatloaf – mash potatoes with meatloaf – now THAT’S comfort food
• Potato Salad – no. I eat it, but does not meet the level of pleasure necessary.
• Pumpkin Pie – no. I like it fine, but doesn’t quite get there
• Shepherd’s Pie – I didn’t even know what this was until about 15 years ago when, with the help of my girlfriend (now wife), I made it for 40 people I can see how it could be comfort food, but I always associate it with stressing over g=feeding a large number of folks.
• Spaghetti – no, and I do like spaghetti.
• Tomato Soup – not fond of tomato soup. Actively HATED Campbell’s tomato soup as a child, haven’t tried it since.
• Tuna Casserole – probably.

I suppose it’s definitional – it’s the stuff I like to eat when I’m sick or melancholy.

1. How would you rate the foods on this list as comfort foods?
2. What else wouuld you consider comfort food. Can’t think of anything else except Oreos with milk.

ROG

Do You Believe In Thaumaturgy?

My friend, the Hoffinator, wrote: “The headline I read included the phrase, ‘the thaumaturgic abilities of professors…’ I was curious, so I looked it up. Thaumaturgy is the performance of miracles. See if you can work it into a conversation…..”
Thus:
thaumaturgy [THAW-muh-tuhr-jee]-noun
The performance of miracles or magi.
thaumaturgic [thaw-muh-TUR-jik]–adjective
1. pertaining to a thaumaturge or to thaumaturgy.
2. having the powers of a thaumaturge.
thaumaturge [THAW-muh-turj]–noun
a worker of wonders or miracles; magician.
Also, thaumaturgist.
Interesting word. But it got me thinking that if pop songs replaced the word magic and its variants with thaumaturgy and ITS variants, it would make for some terrible scansion:

Black Thaumaturgic Woman by Santana

Thaumaturgic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf

Do You Believe In Thaumaturgy by the Lovin’ Spoonful

My Baby Must Be a Thaumaturge by the Marvelettes -hmm, actually that work, scansion-wise

***
Emotionally intelligent signage
***
The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community.
-Ann Strong, Minneapolis Tribune, 1895
***
DIY Dryer Sheets
Mix one part liquid softener to four parts water and place in an old spray bottle. Spray some on a dedicated washcloth and toss in the dryer along with the clothes. One bottle of liquid fabric softener lasts a very long time.
Here’s the website that has a lot of other good tips.
***
Mark Evanier linked to the opening of a mid-1960s TV show called Branded, starring Chuck Connors (“The Rifleman”). My sisters and I used to play “Branded”. We’d sing the theme together and take turns being the commander breaking the “sword” over our knees. (Usually it was a stick, but we also used to rip this piece of thin cardboard that used to be on the hangers when they came back from the dry cleaners.) And yes, I still know the song by heart.
***
Cool pics of the universe

ROG

Overheard cellphones

All of these events happened in January 2009.

I’m riding the bus when I hear this person behind me, evidently on a cellphone, start a conversation with “Yo, b***””. Now, I’m not one to judge how others treat their friends, but that was, in a public setting, distracting. More disturbing, though, was this person’s apparent vendetta against some 3rd party. Apparently, the person on the other line said something conciliatory re: said 3rd party, but my caller said, “When I hate someone, I really HATE ’em!”

Then the 2nd party mentions the 3rd party’s mother. 1st party: “Oh, someone should just SHOOT HER!” I discovered that the 1st party, who turned out to be male (but with a higher-pitched voice, which threw me on my identification) was 1) from out of town and 2) going to go to the military recruiting station. I realized that if this person did not notice the building, I wouldn’t tell him. Alas, he did find it.

You should understand that, as a librarian and as a Christian, I always try to help someone when I can. I was walking by another person who was standing in the 200 block of Washington Avenue, but told someone on her cellphone (a friend or a cab) that she was on the 200 block of Central Avenue. It was an easy mistake; this particular block is across the street from the FIRST block of Central Avenue. So I interrupted the caller and corrected her; she was very appreciative.

The would-be recruit, though, I would have let ride past his stop until he was miles away. I realized that this person, so filled with hate, and proud of it, I didn’t really want in the U.S. military. I was surprised that I could develop such an antipathy for someone whose face I never saw until he deboarded the bus. I wonder how good the psychological testing is for those entering military service?

Oh, and speaking of cellphones: I was crossing the street and this woman, I thought, was calling to me. No, she was on one of those hands-free devices, and when I turned around, she looked at me as though I were crazy. I have long thought that if EVERYONE had one of those instruments, we could all going around talking, with no one would know if we were talking to others or just to ourselves, and no one would know who really WAS crazy. ROG

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial