A few up-to-the-minute headlines in today’s local news.
And that’s today’s big news from the big city …
To tell the truth, I don’t recall where I took this photo but I’m going to guess it wasn’t east of the Divide.
The layering caught my eye – eons of sand deposits and run-offs over millions of years in oceans long since turned to dry and dusty lands.
Climate change …
When attempting to design printed templates – say a book, or presentation, or web page, it is not uncommon for the reviewer to be distracted by the text and overlook the layout itself. Lorem ipsum is used as a placeholder as it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters which looks like readable English but is itself unreadable.
The invention of the moveable-type printing press sometime around 1450 ended the practice of hand-writing books. Up until that time, there were perhaps only a few thousand books in existence in all of Europe. While the first printed book (perhaps) was Gutenberg’s Bible in 1455, there were more than 9,000,000 books in existence by 1500. For the first 100 years, the process of producing books was more or less a free-for-all. After about 1550, the printing process became standardized for the most part.
In the earliest days, many if not most books were printed in Latin, the language of the educated at the time – undeniably the influence of the church of those days.
In order to appeal to customers, printers used a “dummy text” to illustrate different fonts for books. As Latin was the language of the day, the dummy text used was a fragment of Latin prose. This practice died away as printing became standardized and printing languages shifted from Latin to local dialects.
Time passes …
In the 1960s, an advertising company used Lorem ipsum as filler text for advertising blanks. This allowed typesetters to be able to produce mock-ups quickly by simply replacing the text on pre-formatted copy.
About 1980, when PageMaker software was developed for desktop publishing, Lorem ipsum was used as a placeholder for developing page layout. Microsoft Word adopted the practice and now its use has become wide-spread.
Thought to be random Latin words, an America professor of Latin in 1982 traced the text to a 45BC work by Cicero: De finibus bonorum et malorum (“On the Ends of Good and Evil”). Lorem ipsum is a corrupted version of Cicero’s treatise.
Written in 45BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum is a philosophical work consisting of five books in which he explores competing theories of ethics, a popular topic during the renaissance. Lorem Ipsum is derived from Book 1 in which Cicero presents the Epicurean philosophy that the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain are the highest goods.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
“Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system. On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue.”
There’s more – much more … five books worth.
The books are available on-line (isn’t everything?) at https://www.loc.gov/item/unk82083889/
The season’s past but who doesn’t enjoy tulips in bloom?
I call this next section: “The Camera Never Lies“
(aka: “Just Playing Around“)
First published by Jean Oct 25, 2012
it’s a tap dance with
no rhythm.
it’s a waltz
counting 3-2-1.
no square dance has
four corners.
the tango isn’t
done with one.
the two-step is
out of step.
the last dance
will always be
ashes, ashes
we all fall down.
trying doesn’t
feel like doing.
even the leaves
don’t make sense.
when they dance
down the street
it sounds like rain.
Marlboros and a pay phone
A sample of some obscure – and maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today’s medley selection: Airdance: “Tamlin-Devil In The Strawshack – Return To Tchernobyl” 2003
A bit of fiddlin’ music here. Off the “Flying On Home” album
“One of the foremost exponents of New England style for the past 40 years, Rodney Miller’s exploratory fiddle style also invites quite a few surprises.“
“Flying on Home: Acclaimed as a masterpiece, this second album from Airdance features the playing of Rodney Miller, David Surette, Mary Cay Brass, Stuart Kenney, Sam Zucchini, and Marko Packard.“
Bringing babies … ?
Big birds that can weigh almost 20 lbs with wingspans that can approach 10 feet.
For the most part, storks do not inhabit North America – these were photographed in western Turkey.
aka: more than you ever wanted to know about my background
Dad turns 98 today. Still healthy … for a 98yo – still mobile, still not as dumb as I thought he was when I was 16, not in a nursing home. Hearing not so good … eyes not far behind. Still does yard work.
God willin’ and the crik don’t rise, I’ll see him on my trip back east come August.
A 1st Lt in the Army Field Artillery, a forward observer, Daddy played boom-boom games with the Chinese in Korea within an area known as “The Iron Triangle”. Never talked much about his time there; except one time he mentioned his camp was over-run by the Chinese – his dog was killed. Mentioned that just sort of as an aside. He didn’t talk about others but I can guess. I think he mentioned one time receiving a Purple Heart. Once. Long ago. Even now, he doesn’t answer questions.
Loved to watch MASH. Spent much of his Korea time in itty-bitty unarmed kites with propellers, or for a change, sometimes in forward observation posts.
Since he doesn’t talk about it, I search the history files. This one was interesting:
https://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/Korea/ForwardObserverArtillery
Apparently, he was one of the artillery participants in the Battles of White Horse and Pork Chop Hill. I never knew which battery he was assigned to but his brigade fired the last artillery shell of the war at the time he was there.
He was home in time for my first Christmas … barely.
A few years later, he got me hooked on trains – a lifelong addiction.
He won’t read this but Happy Birthday, Dad.
Today is Memorial Day …
Jean posted this in 2012 and suggested it to me. Even though he didn’t die in war, I didn’t want to wait until next March 11 so I thought I’d post it on Memorial Day … which is still worthy of a day to itself – May 30 – and not an excuse for a 3-day weekend.
I know I’ve mentioned
before that my dad served
in the Navy on the
USS Randolph during WW2.
As is so common with veterans,
he didn’t share many details
of his service with his family.
He talked about learning to box
and getting his nose broken.
He talked about making an
attempt in track and breaking
his ankle in the long jump…
or, was it pole vaulting?
The most serious thing he talked
about for a long time was one of
his mates who died from alcohol
poisoning after a day of drinking
in the hot sun.
If he was asked where he served, he would only say
“in the Pacific”. He mentioned being in Hawaii and
having no desire to go back. He enlisted after Pearl Harbor.
One day he showed us a scrapbook he made. The cover is a
piece of scratched plexiglass with some brown stains
near the edge. When I asked him what the stains were,
he said, “Oh, that’s blood from the Kamikaze pilot
who hit our ship.” He wouldn’t say anymore.
Not long ago, I read the book “Flyboys” by
James Bradley. It talks about US forces bombing a
tiny (three miles by five miles) island called
Chichi Jima and eight pilots who crashed there, were
captured, tortured and killed by the Japanese.
This book mentions the USS Randolph as part of the
support forces in the bombing raids on Chichi Jima.
This is where dad’s ship was when it was hit.
I lift a beer in memory to a couple of Mr B-Bar buddies from long ago.