Back in 1973, Stevie Wonder and his band were guests on Sesame Street. They performed a great version of Superstition (YouTube).
I got such a kick out of this this morning that I had to post a link.
Sesame Street went on the air in 1969. I was already seven years old and too cool for "children's television." It was only as I became an adult that I caught on to what a great show Sesame Street can be. We used to watch it in college and I returned to it when I became a dad.
Watching this clip, I found myself wanting to see Elmo interact with a younger Stevie Wonder. Irrational, I know, since Elmo is a latter-day Muppet. But I think that Elmo is the coolest hipster they've had on Sesame Street in a long time. Even if some fuddy-duddies did dismiss his classic Elmo's Song.
This clip also makes me nostalgic for the days when music was performed live on television. The days when singers really sang and musicians actually were pictured playing instruments. The days when the performance might actually differ from the recorded version.
Reality. How I miss it.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
Fourth Golf Game of 2006
I took a half-day's vacation today to play a round of golf with several friends at Delcastle Golf Course, between Wilmington and Newark. The game was an unofficial "Annual DGS Golf Outing" organized by Sandy Schenck, a geologist at the Delaware Geological Survey -- the DGS -- and my partner in crime in organizing the Delaware GIS Community. That's Sandy teeing off on a par 3 above.
We were joined by another DGS geologist and by two guys from the private sector part of the GIS world. We've all known each other for few years and always enjoy spending time together. We had some good golfers along. And me.
The new clubs Karen gave me worked well. They are well-balanced and feel suited to my swing. I'm starting to hit some shots that I'm proud of. I carded a 108; well over par but not bad for me. Sandy broke 100; he said it was the first time.
I liked Delcastle. It's an older, established course. Unlike many of the courses in my part of Sussex County. Also unlike the courses I most often play, Delcastle has topography. There are ups and downs and rolling fairways. Very nice.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
What It Must Be Like to Be an Adult
Last night I had the interesting experience of chairing a portion of a meeting of the Lewes Planning Commission.
I've been a member of the commission for some time now. I have served as the Commission's Secretary. This spring, I was elected Vice-Chair.
Our Chair, Kay Carnahan, now works for a local real estate broker. Because her company has the applicant who was before the Planning Commission last night as a client, she recused herself. Responsibility for chairing the meeting fell to me.
This was a contentious application. It would be a small land use change, in comparison to all else that is going on around our town in the county, but it is almost in the center of town. Surrounding land owners object to the subdivision, at least in part because it would change the views of the Canal and waterfront hat they now enjoy. I understand why they would oppose the subdivision on those grounds. They also have concerns about drainage, which we share, though our engineers, and the local soil conservation office (which has jurisdiction over drainage), have approved of the project.
In the end, we voted to forward the application to the City Council with a recommendation for approval and with a statement of concern about drainage issues. I think that that was the appropriate action.
To get there, though, required several hours of presentation, questions, statements of opposition, and discussion. In chairing the meeting, I had to keep things under control, move things along, and make sure that everyone had a chance to speak. That included members of the Planning Commission who opposed the project and those who were wiling to send it on to the Council. There was also a young lawyer representing one of the opponents; she presented varying technical and legal objections in thick, lawyerly language.
I was glad that we had our City Solicitor along to advise us. I was also glad that the Mayor and several members of City Council were in the audience (along with a Council member who sits, ex officio, on our Commission).
I have to say that I was nervous going in to the meeting. I have run many meetings in my work for the State, but this was my first attempt at running a formal, legal meeting of an official city body. But, I had good advice from the Chair, before the meeting. I also had great help from the solicitor. The Commission members showed their professionalism and the tradition of collegial relations that we have established. And the people of Lewes, those for the proposal and those opposed, were polite and kind.
Our form of governance works. We have formal processes and large representative bodies for a reason. Not all interests are always satisfied. People will always leave a meeting like that feeling that they did not get their way. Not everyone is happy. But I think we all agree that we followed our format, we treated everyone with respect, and we did our best.
I think the meeting went well and I am proud to have been able to Chair a meeting that dealt with serious and contentious issues in such a gentle, polite way.
I've been a member of the commission for some time now. I have served as the Commission's Secretary. This spring, I was elected Vice-Chair.
Our Chair, Kay Carnahan, now works for a local real estate broker. Because her company has the applicant who was before the Planning Commission last night as a client, she recused herself. Responsibility for chairing the meeting fell to me.
This was a contentious application. It would be a small land use change, in comparison to all else that is going on around our town in the county, but it is almost in the center of town. Surrounding land owners object to the subdivision, at least in part because it would change the views of the Canal and waterfront hat they now enjoy. I understand why they would oppose the subdivision on those grounds. They also have concerns about drainage, which we share, though our engineers, and the local soil conservation office (which has jurisdiction over drainage), have approved of the project.
In the end, we voted to forward the application to the City Council with a recommendation for approval and with a statement of concern about drainage issues. I think that that was the appropriate action.
To get there, though, required several hours of presentation, questions, statements of opposition, and discussion. In chairing the meeting, I had to keep things under control, move things along, and make sure that everyone had a chance to speak. That included members of the Planning Commission who opposed the project and those who were wiling to send it on to the Council. There was also a young lawyer representing one of the opponents; she presented varying technical and legal objections in thick, lawyerly language.
I was glad that we had our City Solicitor along to advise us. I was also glad that the Mayor and several members of City Council were in the audience (along with a Council member who sits, ex officio, on our Commission).
I have to say that I was nervous going in to the meeting. I have run many meetings in my work for the State, but this was my first attempt at running a formal, legal meeting of an official city body. But, I had good advice from the Chair, before the meeting. I also had great help from the solicitor. The Commission members showed their professionalism and the tradition of collegial relations that we have established. And the people of Lewes, those for the proposal and those opposed, were polite and kind.
Our form of governance works. We have formal processes and large representative bodies for a reason. Not all interests are always satisfied. People will always leave a meeting like that feeling that they did not get their way. Not everyone is happy. But I think we all agree that we followed our format, we treated everyone with respect, and we did our best.
I think the meeting went well and I am proud to have been able to Chair a meeting that dealt with serious and contentious issues in such a gentle, polite way.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Third Golf Game of 2006
I played a practice round of 18 holes at the Midway Par Three this evening. Karen surprised me with new clubs for Father's Day and I wanted to get a feel for them before a game I plan to play upstate on Friday. That will be on a fairly long course, with real golfer-type guys. I don't want to be too embarrassed.
The Midway course is all short par threes, but there is a variety of lengths and the greens are in very good shape. It's a good place to work on your short game. I'll try to get out to a driving range at lunch some day this week as well.
For many of the holes, I was hitting two balls. On the 15th hole, 105-yards, I tried the 8-iron. Both shots were pin-high, but both were hooked a bit left.
I was astounded out how similar the two shots were. They ended up about a foot apart!
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Tracking the Jacaranda
As I noted last month, I have been nursing a Jacaranda tree in a pot on my front deck. This is a tree that my friend Sandy had started and passed along to me. I let it get too tall for comfort, so this spring I pruned it rather drastically. Now, I'm pleased to see it growing again.Being obsessive by nature, and blessed with a digital camera, I have started photographing this tree each week and posting the results in a flickr photoset.
Starting this small project reminds me of a project I thought about, but never started, back before digital photography. There's a lovely old Sugar Maple tree that stands alone in a field on my commute from Lewes to Dover. Years ago, I took a photo of this tree and thought about taking a regular series of photos, over time, to track its growth and changes.
But I put off starting that project. Then came the great ice-storm of some winters ago, which hit that tree hard. It was greatly reduced for a few years. Just as it started coming back, work began on Sugar Maple Farms, a development in that field. They've preserved the tree, but the view is not quite the same.
Ah, well.
Friday, June 16, 2006
More on the Delaware.gov Update
As I mentioned the other day, the folks who run the delaware.gov web portal for Delaware State government are looking for opinions as they think about ways to improve the services.
They have announced a Focus Group meeting for next Wednesday (6/21/06) and invite users to take a quick Online Survey about the existing portal.
I've had a few good comments on my earlier post on this subject, which I will pass on to the portal team. Other thoughts?
They have announced a Focus Group meeting for next Wednesday (6/21/06) and invite users to take a quick Online Survey about the existing portal.
I've had a few good comments on my earlier post on this subject, which I will pass on to the portal team. Other thoughts?
Is This Legal?
It is tacky, I know that much.
There are at least four of these truck-mounted billboards on my commute. They seem to be a way to get a billboard up without getting it properly permitted as a permanent sign.
I wonder of these are regulated? Or are they a way to take advantage of a loophole?
I imagine Fritz, over at Sneaking Suspicions, would know the answer.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Tags? Yes, Tags
I'm experimenting with adding del.icio.us tags to my blogger posts. I'll be playing around with formatting for a bit.
I feel it is important to try to grow. Or, I was getting bored.
I feel it is important to try to grow. Or, I was getting bored.
Busy, Busy, Busy
Good heavens, I've been getting sparse in my blogging lately. I'm not really sure why.
We've been busy. We're in the transition from school-year to summer schedules. The girls have been out of school for a week now. Karen's year-end in-service sessions ended yesterday. We're not quite into our summer groove yet.
The girls are in final rehearsals for their dance recital on Saturday. Karen was at the Seaford Senior Center for a concert with her church bell choir this evening. It gave me a small amount of alone time.
I haven't been entirely sure what I want to blog about lately. Political posts seem out of my league; the Delaware political blogging world has become quite heated recently. Much of the arguing is about the race for State attorney General this fall. I'm not sure I care that much about that race.
I've not had a lot of time to take new photos, though I hope to get back into the groove soon.
I guess I'll have to do better.
We've been busy. We're in the transition from school-year to summer schedules. The girls have been out of school for a week now. Karen's year-end in-service sessions ended yesterday. We're not quite into our summer groove yet.
The girls are in final rehearsals for their dance recital on Saturday. Karen was at the Seaford Senior Center for a concert with her church bell choir this evening. It gave me a small amount of alone time.
I haven't been entirely sure what I want to blog about lately. Political posts seem out of my league; the Delaware political blogging world has become quite heated recently. Much of the arguing is about the race for State attorney General this fall. I'm not sure I care that much about that race.
I've not had a lot of time to take new photos, though I hope to get back into the groove soon.
I guess I'll have to do better.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Second Golf Game of 2006
Things You Never Expect to See on the Golf Course
I played 18 holes with Andy Southmayd this morning at Bethany Bay. We were surprised by this dead fish on the first fairway. Despite that omen, we had a good round.
I surprised myself with some decent shots and scored a few pars. We were fairly even through the first 9 holes, but Andy puled away over the second 9 and beat me by several shots.
Bethany Bay is a pleasant, though little, course. We had to play through some random sprinkler activations.
We were also interested to note that the one par-4 on the course is being shortened to a par 3. There is a row of garages that back up to the present seventh fairway. They appear to take something of a beating, though, so the hole is being re-configured.
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