Right Track - State

This could just as easily be a Tirade as it's apolitical and a "pox on both their houses!"  Do we really need a State Department?  I mean really, is it necessary to have someone swanning around all over the world, doing what exactly?  I believe Mrs.Clinton, who I think has performed the role as well as anyone, bar the upset in Benghazi, has racked up over 100 countries in her four years in office.  Apart from no doubt adding to her waistline with all the rubber chicken dinners and copious cocktail parties, what exactly has she achieved?  I don't think the so-called brilliant Condaleeza Rice did any better.  I used to hear her talk after some crisis or another and never learned anything from the woman.  Recently a retired Marine was incarcerated in Mexico unjustly.  Did the State Dept get him out?  No, it was Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News Channel.  In the last ten years, the Arabs hate us just as much, the Persians even more so and Pakistan is a basket case, in spite of numerous trips - to do what precisely?  So let's seriously look at this department and see if we can't at least pare it down.

Tirade - Facebook

I don't mind Facebook; I look at it most days.  But I've noticed a disturbing trend recently.  The habit people have of posting pictures of the food they're about to eat. Now really, is this the best we can come up with?

I appreciate that most lives are somewhat mundane, but just think about it; does anyone enjoy seeing other people's food displayed, no doubt at a time when the viewer is not about to undertake such an event.

Now, even worse, how does a greasy pork chop appeal first thing in the morning?
Come on people!

Music Track - Sweet Breeze

I played a music track from a film the other day; it was not a very successful film but I liked it and the music too.  Here is one of the main themes from anoher movie that should have been successful but wasn't.  It's Heaven's Gate with Kris Kristoferson - see what you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDaxp4ddNqY

Very Old Rolls

I'm grateful to my brother-in-law Tony for sending me this interesting piece.

Mr. Allen Swift ( Springfield , MA.) received this 1928 Rolls-Royce Piccadilly-P1 Roadster from his father, brand new - as a graduation gift in 1928.

He drove it up until his recent death.....at the age of 102.

He was the oldest  living owner of a car that was purchased new.

It was donated to a Springfield museum after his death.

It has 1,070,000 miles on it, still runs like a Swiss watch, dead silent at any speed and is in perfect cosmetic condition. (82 years). That's approximately 13,048 miles per year (1087 per  month).

They don't make them like they used to!

Holland

Recently along with a group of friends I've been considering some of my favorite places in the world.  Having submitted my list of five, I realised that I left out one, Holland.  It's a much underrated country but I spent a lot of time there.  It has an atmosphere all its own and some of the finest scenery.  Of course, you have to drop your eyes down in admiring the place as it really is flat, but up close there is much to enjoy and if I ever get the chance I would like to go back there again.  They do have a funny tradition of putting nutmeg on their brussel sprouts however; this I truly disliked!

Video - TV

I want one of these.  http://www.cseed.tv/design/movie.html  My friend Denise sent me this; I wonder if she's bought one yet?  I'm sure they're not too expensive!

Sunday's Column - Presidents

This Sunday's column was about the two presidential libraries we have in S. California.  The above is Nixon's library in Yorba Linda; Regan's library is in Simi Valley.  What always impresses me is the grandeur of Reagan's and the much more modest place of Nixon.  Both presidents are buried at these libraries, and a visit is always an interesting experience.  When The Sun gets the piece up on its site, you'll be able to read it at www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels

Right Track - Chicago

Many thanks to my friend Don in Orange County for this interesting stuff on the "windy city!"

Should the U.S.should pull out of Chicago?
Body count: In the last six months - 292 killed (murdered) in Chicago (221 killed in Iraq)
President:  Barack Hussein Obama (d)
Senator: Dick Durbin (d)
House Representative: Jesse Jackson Jr. (d) (Not for much longer although he was still elected in absentia in 2012)
Governor: Pat Quinn (d)
House leader: Mike Madigan (d)
Atty. Gen.: Lisa Madigan (d) (daughter of Mike)
Mayor: Rahm Emanuel (d)
The leadership in Illinois- every one Democrats.  Not a single Republican they can blame - Oh, except George W. Bush (r),  of course.
Thank you for the combat zone in Chicago.

Tirade - death

I know that it has become fashionable to change the name of things we feel uncomfortable about.  I've lived long enough to notice the many changes for the name of non-white people.  I'm not sure what good that has done for them but it's happened nonetheless.  When I was a child, it was considered polite to refer to any woman as a "lady," no matter her station in life.  Somehow that seems to have gone into disuse, which makes me feel a little odd at times.
The latest nonsense I note is the fashion of referring to people who have died as having "passed."  Now what is that all about?  Does that make the death any easier to bear?  What's next? "Gone into a state with which we cannot communicate?" Come on People!

Music Track - Tailor of Panama

I always liked this movie, the Tailor of Panama, and I'm surprised that it only played to mixed reviews.  I particularly liked the music as well, so here it is - Hang on for the sad song at the end - the last two minutes sung by Rita Connelly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccSerkyZt4U

Food

These are what we call chips!

EATING IN THE UK IN THE FIFTIES

For my UK Friends, the older one's at least!!!

* Pasta we don't think had been invented.

* Curry was an unknown entity.

* Muesli we knew about; it was called cattle feed.

* Olive oil was kept in the medicine cabinet - people put a teaspoon of it in the ears.

* Spices came from the Middle East where we believed that they were used for embalming.

* Herbs were used to make rather doubful medicine.

* A takeaway was a mathematical problem.

* A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.

* Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.

* The only vegetables known to us were spuds, peas, carrots and cabbage, anything else was regarded as a bit suspicious.

* All crisps (Chips to the Yanks)were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not. The salt came in a little twist of blue paper.

* Condiments consisted of salt, pepper, vinegar and brown sauce if we were lucky.

* Soft drinks were called pop.

* Coke was something that we mixed with coal to make it last longer.

* A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter.

* Rice was a milk pudding, and never, ever part of our dinner.

* A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.

* A microwave was something out of a science fiction movie.

* Brown bread was something only poor people ate.

* Oil was for lubricating your bike not for cooking; fat was for cooking

* Bread and jam was a treat.

* Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves, not bags.

* The tea cosy was the forerunner of all the energy saving devices that we hear so much about today.

* Tea had only one colour, black. Green tea was not British.

* Coffee was only drunk when we had no tea….. and then it was Camp, and came in a bottle.

* Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.

* Figs and dates appeared every Christmas, but no one ever ate them.

* Coconuts only appeared when the fair came to town.

* Salad cream was a dressing for salads, mayonnaise did not exist

* Hors d'oeuvre was a spelling mistake.

* Soup was a main meal.

* The menu consisted of what we were given, and was set in stone.

* Only Heinz made beans, there were no others.

* Leftovers went in the dog, never in the bin.

* Special food for dogs and cats was unheard of.

* Sauce was either brown or red.

* Fish was only eaten on Fridays.

* Fish and chips was always wrapped in old newspapers, and definitely tasted better that way.

* Frozen food was called ice cream.

* Nothing ever went off in the fridge because we never had one.

* Ice cream only came in one flavour, vanilla.  OK, occasionally strawberry!

* None of us had ever heard of yogurt.

* Jelly and blancmange was strictly party food.

* Healthy food had to have the ability to stick to your ribs.

* Indian restaurants were only found in India .

* Cheese only came in a hard lump.

* A bun was a small cake that your Mum made in the oven.

* Eating out was called a picnic.

* Cooking outside was called camping.

* Eggs only came fried or boiled.

* Pancakes were only eaten on Shrove Tuesday – and on that day it was compulsory.

* Cornflakes had just arrived from America but it was obvious that they would never catch on.

* We bought milk and cream at the same time in the same bottle.

* Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.

* Prunes were purely medicinal.

* Turkeys were definitely seasonal and came with feathers attached; it was your job to pluck them.

* Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.

* We didn't eat Croissants in those days because we couldn't pronounce them, we couldn't spell them and we didn't know what they were.

* Garlic was used to ward off vampires, but never used to flavour bread.

* Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and charging treble for it they would have become a laughing stock.

* Food hygiene was only about washing your hands before meals.

* Campylobacter, Salmonella, E.coli, Listeria, and Botulism were all called "food poisoning."

However, the one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties …. ELBOWS

The Wall

This is the 1000th piece that I've posted on the blog since I began in mid-summer 2010.  As it's a sort of milestone, I thought I would mention it.

I own a piece of the Berlin Wall.  I never saw it in reality, but its presence was a living scar that most people of my generation knew, and hated.  It was erected in 1961  And one of the images that we all remember so well was that of the "vopo" Conrad Schumann jumping over the wire that was the predecessor of the concrete slabs.

The piece I now own was bought at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.  It is fitting that it was bought there, as Reagan above all people was  responsible for the fall of that dreadful badge of failure to communism, and its many hateful flaws.  It's surprising to me that there are still people out there who believe it is a desirable system.  I'm unlikely to ever feel that way, but if ever I do I can always pick up this little piece of dirt and remember what it stood for.

English Accents part II

This fellow is pretty good.  If you have an interest in the many accents of the UK, he covers most of them.  The video lasts over nine minutes so you may not want to invest in all of it, although once I began I couldn't stop.  It will certainly show you the diversity of this subject. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu9q_vedO7w

Sunday's Column - History

This Sunday's column was a look at the history of where I came from and where I am now.  Quite a bit of difference in the two places, but both very interesting nonetheless.

Perhaps it's not fair to compare the majesty of St. Paul's in London to the relatively small "chateau" type dwelling of the late nineteenth century with Kimberly Crest in Redlands, CA.  But I did it anyway!

You can read the reflection at http://www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels/ci_22460691/old-world-new-world-have-their-monuments-history