The Supremes sing some funny tunes...
can't quite get a handle on these recent decisions.  The evisceration of the most critical elements of the Voting Rights Act seems even more baffling in light of the subsequent decisions on Gay marriage.  Ruth Bader Ginsberg seemed  stunned and called the VRA decision an act of "hubris"  and that the court had "erred egregiously".  On the face of it, it looks like an instance of a major shift in the political/cultural winds where "Civil Rights" as it pertains to "race" is considered old news with a (mis-guided) perception that justice has been served in that regard and so the rules and laws intended to enforce those rights are now anachronistic.  But "Civil Rights" as it pertains to sexual preference and life style is now the issue in need of attention and moral/legal/ethical review--and so, well, and so it goes.  Wonder how long those lines at the predominantly black polling stations are gonna be now that there's no one even pretending to keep watch.

 There is now a sign on the out of service escalators at Grand Central Station North Entrance.  It says the escalators will be out of service as of June 3rd.  Huh?  It's been broken since January!  Is this to cover their tracks so they can subtract 6 months of no repair progress from the official record?  Or is it just a spelling challenged sign maker?  January--June...both start with J so I guess it's easy to see how one might confuse the two. And as I stood there reading the sign, I burst out laughing when I got to the end of their little polite public notice where they had the gall (and guts?) to call the never ending repair job an "enhancement" to our services for our customers.  Orwell himself couldn't have said it better. 

Can't maintain the every day posting (haven't for some time)-- and even every other day has become daunting of late...so I may resort to more imported content like this from time to time to delude myself that I'm not a total slacker.  This time around it's all from Drew and Natalie Dee at Toothpaste for Dinner and Married to the Sea.  I love what they do and they've been doing it day after day for almost a decade.

 

Eric Hoffer is back...

Whenever I mention his name to people, I get nothing.  I've done it quite a few times over the years and can count on my finger the  number of nods he gets.   But I happened to notice that my previous post about him featuring selected quotes garnered an unprecedented (for me) number of hits. So I'm going to give him the floor again, but first ...while Hoffer hunting, I came across, oddly enough, (but then nothing is odd when you're following your nose online) Steve Snedeker’s Landscaping and Gardening Blog where I found a Hoffer inspired soul-mate taking time out from his   building of wondrous and beautiful things to scribble a few words in tribute to the Longshoreman Philosopher.
You can read what he has to say about Hoffer at: http://www.stevesnedeker.com/3951/five-people-who-have-influenced-me-the-most-eric-hoffer.html 

...and if Landscaping and Gardening is more up your alley, you can just go ahead and check out his impressive site which is full of glorious photos and fascinating craftsmanship, design and fine writing.

Now, take it away Eric...

“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” 

“The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.” 

“The weakness of a soul is proportionate to the number of truths that must be kept from it.” 

“Rudeness is a weak persons imitation of strength.” 

“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and turns into a racket.” 

“Things which are not" are indeed mightier than "things that are". In all ages men have fought most desperately for beautiful cities yet to be built and gardens yet to be planted.” 

With Lyndon Johnson

“Jesus was not a Christian, nor was Marx a Marxist.”

 “To the child, the savage, and the Wall Street operator everything seems possible, hence their credulity.” 

“The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.” 

“There would be no society if living together depended upon understanding each other.” 

“There are no chaste minds. Minds copulate whenever they meet.” 

"The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbors as ourselves: we do unto others as we do unto ourselves. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant of others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves."

Thank you Eric, always a pleasure. 

A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind
Chiasmus, Implied Chiasmus, Spoonerisms and other related diversions

• The value of marriage is not that adults produce children, but that children produce adults. - Peter de Vries
• I'd rather be looked over than overlooked. - Mae West.
• Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. - Jacquelyn Small.
• In the 70's I threw in the 90's;
  In the 90's I throw in the 70's. - Frank Tanana.
• The instinct of a man is
  to pursue everything that flies from him, and to fly from all that pursues him. - Voltaire.
• When religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine;
  Now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic. - Thomas Szaz

"Invention is the mother of necessity." — Thorstein Veblen

"When it comes to religion, some things have to be believed to be seen." — Ralph Hodgson

"Only the young die good." — Oliver Herford

Robert G. Ingersoll's:

"An honest God is the noblest work of man."

"Time's fun when you're having flies"
--Kermit

In the mid-1980s, Sports Illustrated ran an article that included a photograph of some official timers at a track meet. The caption said:

"These are the souls that time men's tries."

"Time wounds all heels"

Groucho Marx

An (apocryphal) Edwardian toast goes:
"Here's champagne for our real friends and real pain for our sham friends."

 experimental psychologists 
pull habits out of rats.

  "Hangovers are the 
wrath of grapes"
Dorothy Parker

 Bill Clinton was the subject of one in a contest held some years ago by The Washington Post. In reference to the Monica Lewinsky debacle, here was the winning entry.

Bill Clinton before: "I don't know how I can make this any clearer."

Bill Clinton after: "I don't know how I can clear this with my Maker.

• In a deliberate spoonerism, Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson once stated, "Speaking as a Christian, I find the Apostle Paul appealing and the apostle Peale appalling" (in reference to Norman Vincent Peale, who had opposed his candidacy).

...and my mom liked the one about the theatre usher who asked: 
May I sew you to a sheet? 

On Father’s Day I expect to hear from my sons because their mother will remind them. And a quick "Hey, happy D-Day dad"  is more than enough for me. After all, they're busy young men, with things to do, people to see,  etc… So I hereby offer to relieve them of  any further time consuming obligatory chores by providing the following...

...Father’s Day Message to me,

as I imagine it might come from my sons:

Dear Dada, on this special day
from we the son’s you raised

Come words of our deep gratitude

 so we may be forthwith praised

Our whole lives long you toiled and cared

with guidance through many a trial

Then just when we felt safe and sound

 you changed our domicile

You taught us much of many things

 like music and how life's funny

Though precious little of what we could use,

like how to manage money

From you we learned to ride the waves

and play on beaches sandy

And now we live in Brooklyn where

 none of that stuff comes in handy

But you did your best and don’t we know,

you do it still so well

But what it is you actually do

We simply cannot tell

You’re the reason we grew fit and strong

yet in truth there is another

And though it may be news to you,

that reason is our mother

But Father’s Day is here today—

A day to honor with joy

but not to you, cause we know you think

it's a venal business ploy

Yet all in all, it’s really all good

cause life's about perspective

and who’s your dad is one of those things

that isn’t an elective

But thank you Dad, we think you’re the best

straight and true as an arrow

Though you’re the only one we’ve ever had,

So our reference points are narrow.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

Broken Escalator Phenomenon

...namely the sensation that when walking onto an escalator which is stationary one experiences an odd sensation of imbalance, despite full awareness that the escalator is not moving.

The phenomenon was tested on a group of 14 volunteers...
and the Sherlocks on the case of A False Sense of the Kinetic in Stationary Objects  found that what is responsible is a “dissociation between knowledge and action” in the brain. Simple enough...but in the 

Mitch Hedberg's classic observation

behavioral science equivalent of legalese they elaborated:

 …it demonstrates dissociation between the declarative and procedural systems in the [central nervous system]. Since gait velocity was raised before foot-sled contact, the findings are at least partly explained by open-loop, predictive behaviour. A cautious strategy of limb stiffness was not responsible for the aftereffect, as revealed by no increase in muscle cocontraction. The observed aftereffect is unlike others previously reported in the literature, which occur only after prolonged continuous exposure to a sensory mismatch, large numbers of learning trials or unpredictable catch trials. The relative ease with which the aftereffect was induced suggests that locomotor adaptation may be more impervious to cognitive control than other types of motor learning.

So this got me to wondering if there were other similar such phenomenon in which behavior follows a perception disconnected to reality.

FOX News Brain Freeze:  Medicare/Medicaid supporters/recipients/ beneficiaries who rail against "ObamaCare."

Omnipresent Aqua Blindness:  Clean, safe, free potable water everywhere and yet millions willing to buy same thing in bottles.

Literary Hype Hypnosis :  How books like The Art of Fielding become best-sellers.

Distilled Agave Disassociation: The perception that a 90 dollar brand of Tequila is three times better than a 30 dollar one.

Attn: Fellow Metro-North Commuters

Here's what I learned about why Grand Central Station escalators are entering their 6th month of uselessness.

Five escalators at the terminal are out of service. (And are not usable as stairs)

Three of the broken escalators are in the terminal’s northern end, including one that carries commuters up from deep lower-level tracks and from there the 3 staircases to get to street level at the North End total 143 steps.

The longest escalator — which has been out sporadically over the last few years, including for two months in 2010 — broke in January and is being rebuilt.

It is supposed to reopen by June, (isn't it June yet?) 

The cash-strapped MTA has let privately owned subway escalators and elevators stay shut down for years, failing to force the companies that own the machinery to fix it, according to a 2011 audit by the MTA inspector general .

Some other report findings:

- While the MTA keeps an online list of out-of-service escalators and elevators, the agency omitted nine that were broken.

- The agency didn't even keep a list of which machinery is theirs and which are supposed to be fixed by outside companies.

- In some cases, it took up to 31 months for the MTA to get its legal office to notify the companies that their equipment was broken.

But MTA officials say they are working on resolving the issues, and despite the bureaucratic mess of it all, Grand Central is still one of my favorite places in NY.

Separated by a Common Language.

My son Eli sent me this link:

http://www.businessinsider.com/22-maps-that-show-the-deepest-linguistic-conflicts-in-america-2013-6#

It's 22 Maps that show how Americans speak English differently from each other...and here's 3 of them.  Sorry key and text is so small, but that's best I can do here...Use link to see all 22.

I've been around this "same thing/different word" block before, but after a little Googling and Pooling I found some new ones (I think they're new, haven't gone back to previous post to check)

• faucet (North) and spigot (South);
• frying pan (North and South, but not Midland), spider (New England; obsolete), and skillet (Midland, Gulf States);
• clapboard (chiefly Northeast) and weatherboard (Midland and South);
• gutter (Northeast, South), eaves trough (in-land North, West), and rainspouting (chiefly Maryland and Pennsylvania);
• pit (North) and seed (elsewhere);
• teeter-totter (widespread), seesaw (South and Midland), and dandle (Rhode Island);
• firefly (less frequent South and Midland) and lightning bug (less frequent North);
• pail (North, north Midland) and bucket (Midland and South).

"In the [American] South it’s called Coke, even when it’s Pepsi. Many in Boston say tonic. A precious few even order a fizzy drink. But the debate between those soft drink synonyms is a linguistic undercard in the nation’s carbonated war of words. The real battle: pop vs. soda."   (J. Straziuso, "Pop vs. Soda Debate." Associated Press, Sep. 12, 2001)

"In 1993, President Clinton was giving a news conference when someone mentioned that a certain Air Force official had criticized him. 'How could he say that about me?' Clinton responded. 'He doesn't know me from Adam's off ox.

 The "off ox" in a team of two oxen is the one farthest away from the driver--and thus least likely to be seen or recognized--thus,  "Adam's off ox,"  just means someone you're even less likely to know than Adam himself.

• "Sack and poke were both originally regional terms for bag. Sack has since become a Standard term like bag, but poke remains regional, mainly in South Midland Regional dialect."
  (Kenneth Wilson, The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, 1993)

'Heavens to Murgatroyd' is American in origin and dates from the mid 20th century. The expression was popularized by the cartoon character Snagglepuss - a regular on the Yogi Bear Show in the 1960s, and is a variant of the earlier 'heavens to Betsy'.

The first use of the phrase wasn't by Snagglepuss but comes from the 1944 film Meet the People. It was spoken by Bert Lahr, best remembered for his role as the Cowardly Lion inThe Wizard of Oz. Snagglepuss's voice was patterned on Lahr's, along with the 'heavens to Murgatroyd' line. Daws Butler's vocal portrayal of the character was so accurate that when the cartoon was used to promote Kellogg Cereals, Lahr sued and made the company distance him from the campaign by giving a prominent credit to Butler.

As with Betsy, we have no idea who Murgatroyd was. The various spellings of the name - as Murgatroid, Mergatroyd or Mergatroid tend to suggest that it wasn't an actual surname. While it is doubtful that the writers of Meet The People (Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy) were referring to an actual person, they must have got the name from somewhere.

Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/heavens-to-murgatroyd.html

And then there's this...which speaks for itself

This is a photo of:

a.  Brooklyn apartment of author Salman Rushdie

b. Newly discovered secret hideout used by Saddam Hussein near Basrah.

c. Three old Persian Rugs in the home of a NYC cab driver that were estimated to be worth over 1 million dollars.

d.  Sigmund Freud's consulting room couch.

e. Hotel room in Cairo that Sarah Palin refused to stay in due to "shabbiness".

If you guessed "c"  you're wrong, but if you guessed "e" ...you're still wrong.  The answer is "d".  And the couch is in serious disrepair and in desperate need of restoration.  If you have about 8,000 bucks to spare, you could be its savior--for which you will receive a full tax write off--and a complimentary "transference." 

Talking to my brother few weeks back, and he made mention that USA today eerily resembles the Roman Empire during its decadent decline.  I listen when my brother talks  ancient history cause he knows his stuff, and his thoughts prompted me to do a little searching around the topic...

Steven Strauss at Salon.com weighed in nicely and cites 8 particularly striking similarities..complete article at:  http://www.salon.com/2012/12/26/8_striking_parallels_between_the_u_s_and_the_roman_empire/

But if you haven't the time or inclination to read long articles foretelling the fall of the empire, I offer the following as a shortcut to the same general conclusion.

  

Check out the Grill on this baby!
This stunning silver sucker is the ultimate silencer for babes to the manor born.    Interested buyers:  It’s 14K white gold with 278 diamonds — ONLY $17,000.

Getting tennis elbow at the cocktail party? Wanna catch that Bridal Bouquet without spilling a drop?
Then you want the Wine Lanyard.  
The manufacturer promises that...

"You will never have to worry about soaking your date or fellow party guest again. This Silicone Sling leaves your hands free for all kinds of gestures and activities."

Those Taste Buds on your Colon will be delighted! 


Directions1. bring 4 cups of filtered water to  boil.  2. Grind 4 tablespoons  PurEnema Coffee  3. Reseal  PurEnema Coffee bag.  4. Add  4 tablespoons of PurEnema Coffee to the boiling water or as directed by your health professional.  5. let boil  5 minutes then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.  6. Remove from heat,  allow to cool to 98 degrees F. then Strain   7. Pour into Clean Colon Kit or other zero toxicity enema device.  8. Perform Coffee Enema as directed by your healthcare professional.

And the coup de grace-less. 

Wonder if the  Romans wore togas with Veni, vidi, vici stitched on...yes,
victory is sweet--and aside from the combined 100 million dead, assorted miseries and unfortunate other stuff that happened along the way, there's no denying who came out on top. (It was just the USA right?)  But regardless, two in a row is not much of a streak...you need a three-peat if you really want bragging rights. 

But it's easy to be snarky and find fault--the harder task is to confront oneself and ask if perhaps the clearest indication that the empire is on the downslope is that so many of those who might endeavor to make some much needed repairs are simply watching the parade from the sidelines and...blogging.




P.S.  thank you Blogspot for once again making the laying of a layout so difficult and frustrating. Give my best to Customer Service rep. Thomas, who tried and tried to be of assistance but was limited by the fact that he knows nothing. 

Day by Day-rivations.
(I was curious...and if you are too, read on)

The Greeks named them for the sun, the moon and the five known planets, which were in turn named after the gods Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronus.
They called the days of the week the Theon hemerai "days of the Gods".
The Romans substituted their equivalent gods for the Greek gods, Mars, Mercury, Jove (Jupiter), Venus, and Saturn. (The two pantheons are very similar) But for contemporary English purposes, the source is Germanic with roughly similar gods for the Roman gods: Tiu (Twia), Woden, Thor, Freya (Fria), plus Sun, Moon and Saturn.

Sun's Day

Middle English sone(n)day or sun(nen)day
Old English sunnandæg "day of the sun"
Germanic sunnon-dagaz "day of the sun"
Latin dies solis "day of the sun"
Ancient Greek hemera heli(o)u, "day of the sun"

Moon's Day

Middle English monday or mone(n)day

Old English mon(an)dæg "day of the moon"  Latin dies lunae "day of the moon"

Ancient Greek hemera selenes "day of the moon"

Tiu's Day
Middle English tiwesday or tewesday
Old English tiwesdæg "Tiw's (Tiu's) day"
Latin dies Martis "day of Mars"
Ancient Greek hemera Areos "day of Ares"

Woden's Day
Middle English wodnesday, wednesday, or wednesdai
Old English wodnesdæg "Woden's day"
Latin dies Mercurii "day of Mercury"

Thor's Day
Middle English thur(e)sday
Old English thursdæg
Old Norse thorsdagr "Thor's day"
Old English thunresdæg "thunder's day"
Latin dies Jovis "day of Jupiter"

Freya's Day

Middle English fridai
Old English frigedæg "Freya's day"
composed of Frige (genetive singular of Freo) + dæg "day" (most likely)
Germanic frije-dagaz "Freya's (or Frigg's) day"
Latin dies Veneris "Venus's day"
Ancient Greek hemera Aphrodites "day of Aphrodite"

Saturn's Day
Middle English saterday
Old English sæter(nes)dæg "Saturn's day"
Latin dies Saturni "day of Saturn"
Ancient Greek hemera Khronu "day of Cronus"

Sources:
http://www.crowl.org/lawrence/time/days.html
William Morris, editor, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New College Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1976

Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Portland House, New York, 1989
William Matthew O'Neil, Time and the Calendars, Sydney University Press, 1975