Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 412

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No concert this weekend. Actually, the next artist taking the stage must change due to unforeseen extenuating circumstances. James Brown (the Godfather of Soul) will be rescheduled. Next up: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Journey. Date TBA (possibly 28th Sept).

This weekend our handbell choir starts the season with a fun rendition of Children of the Heavenly Father. For those interested, listen to a studio recording here.

Benevolent Impalers (my football fantasy team) rolled to 2-0 record with a convincing victory over a personal rival (a friend since my first day in college) who is also a perennial power in this league. I remained cautiously concerned because no team has ever made the playoffs with only two wins.

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Allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh recently surfaced. Contrary to many others, I refuse to judge the man on the merits of college-days behavior.

Although I haven’t watched any of the Democratic debates to date, plus I don’t plan on watching any in the future, columnist Maureen Dowd (New York Times) offers this interesting perspective.

Not only does President Trump wants to ease air quality standards, he wants to block states from setting clean air standards. Hmmmm …. Seems the Republican call for “States Rights” is not surprisingly silent.

An obvious contradiction. Polls show that Americans want fuel-efficient vehicles. Yet, in practice, Americans purchase many large SUVs and trucks. Wonder how that correlates with partisan voting.

How’s this for logic? Socialism offers free health care for all. Joseph Stalin was a Socialist. Stalin killed millions. Say no to Medicare for All.

To lead you into this week’s satirical headlines, The Onion provides a timeline of capital punishment in America.

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Weekly Headlines from The Onion (combos welcome)

Huge box of extra organs left on curb outside hospital
Adoption agency gives couple who waited long time an extra kid free of charge
“Flatbread means pizza,” man explains to visiting father
Nike recalls sweat-wicking shirts that pull gallons liquid directly from wearers’ bodies
Philadelphia to become DirectTV, Pennsylvania after cream cheese manufacturer loses naming rights
Grizzled beer can used as ashtray watches another headstrong 12-pack come and go through patio

(My Combo) Headstrong grizzled man waited long time to pull extra cream cheese from huge box

Interesting Reads

Spreading misinformation
Why big data continues to get bigger
Losing at Waterloo
Why school buses are yellow
How Americans view China
(Graphic) World economy by countries on one chart
(Photos) EyeEm Photo Awards

To send you into the weekend, my favorite video by The Cars. R.I.P Rick Ocasek. In the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

On Murals of Belfast

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While cruising the British Isles in 2017, Belfast fascinated me. In my past post about Belfast, I opened the post with the following: Belfast, Northern Ireland is beautiful, interesting, and gut-wrenching – and we were only there for a part of one day. On one end is the natural beauty, architecture, vibrancy, and history – and the other end The Troubles – what the locals call the Northern Ireland Conflict (1968-1998).”

Belfast, Northern Ireland has a history of conflict – especially in the past one hundred years. Many of us remember the conflict from fierce conflict that raged their land from the 1960s well into the 1990s – a conflict centered around politics and religion. Today, Belfast is a beautiful city. Yet, visitors who have a sense of history about The Troubles carry a strange and troubling feeling during their entire stay.

The Peace Wall that separates sectors of the city is anything but peaceful, while its stories feel like a punch in the gut. Beautiful murals are found throughout the city – but many are dedicated to the heroes of one side or the other. Others make political statements, and other commemorate battles or events.

I wanted to feature the murals, but do so got lost in the shuffle. So, I stumbled across what I do have when cleaning out the blog closet. Besides, Belfast’s murals would fascinate Resa.

The first is a different collection – especially when seeing their location (the last pic).

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Commercial Court is located in the part of the city known as the Cathedral Quarter. It’s a courtyard loaded with murals that included famous people. Enjoy the collection. Recognize anyone?

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Unfortunately, I didn’t capture many of the murals I saw around the city. For more information about Belfast’s murals, see the links below the video. They are fascinating, and not very subtle.

More Information

From PBS
From EuroNews
An interactive featuring Commercial Court – Beware of the instructions

Another video

On a Beach Walk: No. 56 (Wisdom)

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I like walking the beach. It’s good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

Wisdom conjures many thoughts. What is wisdom? What does it mean to be wise? How do we become wise or achieve wisdom? How do we share wisdom? Does wisdom prevents us from seeing what needs to be seen? But it’s hard to imagine wisdom getting in the way. Regardless of the answers, there is no doubt that wisdom does not mean one as all the answers.

I think about how a baby transitions into a toddler.  The time from squirming to rolling over to  crawling to walking to running with accidents along the way. Isn’t wisdom similar? Doesn’t wisdom allow us to get our feet below us over time?

Looking at the transitions we go through in life – from the confined childhood to the pains of adolescence to the growth in adulthood to the resignation as we age. Think of all the wisdom gained during life. The mistakes that become experiences allowing us to be smarter today than yesterday as we turn the pages of life.

Gaining wisdom requires an awareness of the here and now that allows us to experience life and gain wisdom. But each of us do it differently because life affects us differently. Afterall, we range from the hard headed to the heavy hearted.

Every person is a collection of stories – some positive, others negative – a collection that we pass along through conversations at work, among friends, and within the family. A few people pass along their experiences through biographies. Others do so through a fictional book based on personal experiences or someone else’s life.

Experience is a history one shares with others – a history involving wisdom. However, humanity has a way of repeating the mistakes of others by proclaiming, “this is different.”

Experience allows us to deal with the unknown corner – to discover what’s around the corner or to avoid it – now that’s using wisdom!

Life has a way of slapping down past experiences with hopes of shedding a new light – a new way. After 12 years of teaching I discovered I had done a great job of doing it wrong. That internalization allowed me to step into a new frontier with confidence and gather new wisdom. At least I saw the light that the majority of my colleagues did not see – or chose to ignore it.

Wisdom – that process of thinking about our experiences, knowledge, understanding, and sensibility to make a choice.

Wisdom – the criss-crossing of interacting brain cells one uses for the betterment of both self and the many.

While much wisdom may comfort some, can wisdom get in the way? Can wisdom prevent us from seeing the reality or the vision? Experience and wisdom can block a fresh view – so we need someone to look at the situation through a different lens; a move that could move us to a different paradigm.

I look at the sea and wonder how many stories it holds. Then again, wisdom tells me that I’m thinking metaphorically.

Wisdom – something that comes from discernment while promenading the sand; after all, I like walking the beach for it is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

On a Weekend Concert with The King: Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

The Producer’s Guidelines

1. Only songs performed by Elvis Presley
2. No duplicate songs
3. Include the song title in your introduction text so others can see it
4. One song per person (on Day 1)
5. To prevent browsers crashing from loading too many videos, please paste the URL as part of your last line (not a new line) – (I do not mind unembedding, so no  apologies are necessary)

Note: Return on Day 2 to submit more songs without limits. (My typical signal is posting a song for all attendees.)

“What I’d Say”

 

Next Concert: The Godfather of Soul – James Brown – TBA (either 28 Sept or 5 October)
 
Past Concerts (Category): Beatles, Ex-Beatles, Moody Blues, Queen, Neil Diamond, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Carole King, Elton John, Billy Joel, Crosby Stills Nash & Young (the group), Doobie Brothers, Michael Jackson

Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 411

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The concert stage will be active this weekend as we transition from the King of Pop to The King. Elvis Presley will be in the building to take the stage this Saturday, 1:00 (Eastern US)

Cincinnati is in the midst of an unseasonable blast of summer. I’m ready for the transition into fall – which will happen soon.

The new season of Dancing with the Stars starts on Monday. Although I’m not acquainted with most of the participants, I’ll be watching.

Just saw the movie Blinded By The Light (trailer). Interesting, despite a slow beginning.  I would describe it as sad and inspirational – frustrating and joyful. Thumbs up!

One more week to go in my golf league. I haven’t been happy with my swing the past two years, but hey – I still enjoy the game. Meanwhile, I jumped into fantasy football for the first time in a long, long time. Trying to prove the pundits wrong because I’m currently the underdog every week! Never fear – the Benevolent Impalers won the opener!

So far, I’ve enjoyed going through my blog closet finding unfinished posts. There are more to come!

Wondering: Instead of e pluribus Unum (“one out of many”), has America became a land of prejudices based on political ideology, race, gender, sexuality, and religion/personal belief?

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As this post is published, Democratic candidates are participating in a 3-hour debate in Houston. Meanwhile, I’m counting the number of pieces in a large bag of recently shredded paper.

It’s always interesting reading and watching various perspectives of September 11 2001. That day impacted the world. That day brought much of humanity together. Outside of this statement, President Trump and 9-11 should not be used in the same sentence, same paragraph, or the same story.  That day is much more important than him, and anything about him.

To lead you into this week’s satirical headlines, The Onion provides famous instances of censorship in US history.

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Weekly Headlines from The Onion (combos welcome)

Dog stool pretty much picked over by the time fly arrives
Distraught man still finding painful reminders of long-gone hoagie around apartment
Fashion designers announce plans to wave with both hands, bow slightly
Longtime Sleepytime Tea addict has to use 6 bags just to feel drowsy
Scholar wishes someone would refer to him as preeminent
Man overcomes fear of public urination

Interesting Reads

Antarctica’s only native insect
Something about private labels
Painter William Blake
Symbolism and the albatross
New species with a headline fitting for The Onion (at least look)
(Infographic) Your brain on beer vs. coffee
(Photos) Australian Geographic photo contest winners

To send you into the weekend, here’s an unexpected song and artist from the norm. In the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.