It Was a Different Time

I found my way to a YouTube posting of an early Johnny Cash performance. He's singing There You Go on the television show Ranch Party. This is from the mid or late 1950s. Just Johnny, a bassist, and an electric guitar player (the Tennessee Two). It made me realize how different music on TV has become.

Look at Johnny Cash here. He's so darkly slicked-back. He looks rather like Desi Arnaz as Ricky Ricardo. Dig the gold jacket. And he's soooo restrained.

Meanwhile, the bass player, Marshall Grant, is just boppin' and poppin' back there. You can't tell from this still shot, but he's chewing a big 'ol wad of gum; out of time with the tune.

And then, there's Luther Perkins, the guitar payer. He's playing a classic country-style Fender Telecaster. I played a Tele in my youth, and I always focus-in on them when I see one played.

Perkins is playing a very restrained "plunkety-plunk" lead-line throughout the song. This still is from his solo (you know, the part where the guitarist usually grimaces and poses and wrings the poor guitar's neck).

There's not a note out of place in his solo. There's not a lot of flash or fire, either. It's perfect, but it's so under control. There's a moment just at the end of the solo when Cash leans back and, I think, calls a chord change out to Perkins.

This is classic stuff, but it is also remarkably stiff and the players, with the exception of a happy, bouncy Grant, seem oddly uncomfortable.

(Via Mr. Dante Fontana's Visual Guidance LTD)

I Wonder if There's Going to be an "Open Fort?"

Each summer, either going to or heading home from The Tyler Place, we pass Fort Montgomery. It is a weathered 19th-century military installation that juts out into Lake Champlain on the New York side just south of the Canadian border.

I've often thought it might be cool to visit, but it doesn't look like it is "open."

It turns out that, for just the low, low price of somewhere between 3 and 9.95 million dollars, it could be ours! The fort, and some additional land, is on sale on eBay, according to the web site The Lay of the Land:

365 acres with frontage on, and under, Lake Champlain is for sale in northern New York. The property comes with a 19th century fortification, Fort Montgomery, that while in need of some repair, is still largely intact. Furthermore, the property abuts the Canadian Border, making this an excellent opportunity to add to the defense of the nation.

I could be tempted. Ever since we started visiting in Vermont, both Karen and I have thought about moving there. It's a lovely place and that far upstate part of New York is nice too.

But Colleen and Christina won't hear of it. They want to stay here in Delaware where they have life-long friends.

I can respect that. But a fort on Lake Champlain would be pretty neat. And maybe we could get some cannons. (Via BLDG BLOG)

At Herring Point

I found a spot of local beach I'd not been on before on Sunday.

I took advantage of the bright sunshine and warmer weather to go in search of a few benchmark locations in Cape Henlopen State Park. I found that the Parks folks have opened up some new beach access points, making it easier to get onto the beach at Herring Point, near the Great Dune.

This is an interesting spot. The beach has eroded enough to uncover old tree stumps from when there was a coastal forest here. There are old jetties and breakwaters and birds and shells and dunes and grasses.

I also took some time to climb to the top of the coastal gun emplacement bunker at Fort Miles. It gives a fine view of the Point of the Cape and of the Harbor of Refuge.

Please don't tell anyone, but this time of year is really the best time of year to see Cape Henlopen State Park.

I Get So Confused

"Only count your sunny houres"
Originally uploaded by bc anna.

I get confused about daylight savings time. I have to stop and think whether we are entering it or leaving it. I think we've just entered it and now should call our hours "EDT."

The Daylight Savings switch always leads to a day or two of general uncertainty for me. We handle the clocks with no problem, but the difference in daylight as it relates to the clock leaves me feeling disconnected for a while.

I understand that measured time, as we have diced it up with our 24-hour clocks and what-not, is itself an artificial construct. But I get used to how the day is parceled out and measured. When we change that, even slightly, I feel out of sorts.

Here's An Even More Radical Idea

There's been some discussion lately here in the First State about selling off one or more of our Toll Roads as a way to fund transportation improvements.

If you think that that would be a drastic step, you're not likely to endorse the proposal put forward (we hope with tongue in cheek) by a blog called "The Needs of the Few" out in the Midwest: "Let’s outsource Delaware."

It sounds radical, maybe even a little extreme. But it’s a win-win proposition. We’ll sell off Delaware to the highest bidder. I’m thinking it would probably go to Europe, because Europe seems to be fond of lackadaisical countries that seemingly have no purpose (reference Portugal, Belgium, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg). We’ll be rid of the deadweight, and the profits from the sale will go towards the budget deficit. Probably no one would even notice that Delaware was gone, as it’s merely the 46th most populous state in the nation. No one even lives there.

I live here. I might notice.

...and Then It Warmed Up

Here's what the Snow Girl looked like late this morning. We've warmed up considerably since Wednesday's pretty snowfall and Thursday's icy roads.

We found a trace of snow, the buttons that made up parts of the face, and the carrot nose. I'm impressed that the ball that formed the head was still visible as a separate part.

Walking in Dover, yesterday, I found a small patch of snow hiding in the shadow of a bench.

I imagine that's gone now too.

The Final Crop?

We live in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, an area that has grown at what sometimes seems an alarming pace in the 21 years we've been here. Sussex has traditionally been a rural county, with an economy dominated by agriculture. Eastern Sussex, where our town of Lewes is located, is a retirement and resort area, featuring beaches, ocean and bays. We still have farmland, but it is devolving into developments around us.

That's why I'm fascinated by an art project in Arizona, near Phoenix. Matthew Moore is an artist who is watching his family farm fall to encroaching development. His response has been a series of art projects using the remaining fields as his canvas.

Rotations: Moore Estates is an exact replica of the first planned community being built on my family's land. The homes have been planted in sorghum and the roads in a black-bearded wheat. The project is a third scale of the actual development, which can be seen to the east of the project.

Mr. Moore has also carved a new-home floor-plan into a 20-acre field of barley.

I've always enjoyed corn mazes, but this is something bigger.

(With thanks to WFMU's Beware of the Blog)

Snow Day? Snow Girl.

We didn't get a huge amount of snow yesterday, but it was enough to cover the roads and the night was cold enough to turn that covering to ice, at least on the back roads. The result was a day off from school for Karen and the girls.

Christina made her traditional Snow Girl. Much of the snow had melted by the time I returned this evening. Snow Girl was gamely hanging on.

Paul's Back

Paul has brought his Progressive Postings out of the garage. He says the fall election was enough to keep him happily qiuet for four months

It took awhile for me to return from cloud nine. Progressives had a slew of victories last November, however it is time to get back to work.

And he does, looking into issues both national and local. Welcome back, Paul!

Did I Jinx It?

There I was on Saturday, thinking spring and digging higher temperatures. I called the change of season too soon, I guess.

This evening, we're looking out at about three inches of snow that fell during the day today. It's not a spring snow, either. This is a fluffy cold-weather snow.

We could see school delays in the morning. The main roads look mostly wet, as evidenced by this image from shortly after 8:00 p.m., just outside Rehoboth Beach. Things could be a tad slick in the morning.

Thanks to the DelDOT Interactive Traffic Map site for the image.

Feeling The Urge to Get Outside

It feels like spring is just around the corner. Stormy skies have given way to sunshine and rising temperatures. The days are getting longer.

In younger days, this sort of weather made me want to drive down back roads in rural Maine, listening to acoustic Grateful Dead and looking for water -- ponds, lakes, the Gulf of Maine -- and mountains. Water and mountains represent nature for me; I always want to get out into or onto them at this time of year.

Now that I'm older and more settled, this time of year has me looking at the yard with a gardener's eye. I'm not very good at it, but yard work brings me that same natural feeling.

This is also when my urge to walk and take photos comes on strong. I've spent the last two months nursing back and sciatic problems. Yesterday, though, I took a short lunchtime ramble (about a mile and half) in Dover. It was a test-walk and I wasn't crippled by pain.

Things are looking up.

What the...!

This white flag flapping along Route 9 in Georgetown caught my eye this afternoon. It is one of two flying in proud advertisement outside a cosmetic medical clinic.

In bright red letters on a stark white field:

COSMETIC
BOTOX-LASER

This is the sort of advertising approach I associate with a Used-Car lot. Not a medical office.

I can't help screening this mental motion-picture:

IRIS-IN. Interior. Medical Office.

A nervous-looking WOMAN sits on the very edge of an examination table.

DOOR OPENS.

A MAN enters, wearing a plaid, frayed, Doctor's Coat and with a slicked-back toupee.

MAN: Say little lady. Whats it gonna take to get a syringe-full of botulinum toxins injected into those sweet cheeks of yours today?

WOMAN: Ummm....

FADE-OUT

Conceptual Inflation

I realize that I am just a cranky literalist, but there are a few instances of "conceptual inflation" that have been bugging me lately.

Riding to work this morning I heard a character in a radio commercial say that she "would be more than happy" to do something. How can you be "more than happy?"

I also keep hearing that people are "110 percent" in support of things, or "120 percent behind" something. That's just not possible.

The problem is, I think, that we have debased our conversational currency to the point that we feel a need to inflate what we say. We've been too happy to do things. We've been too much in support of each other.

So now we have to be "more than" what is reality just to keep pace.

I'm happy to say that I think it's time for a market correction. I would be 100 percent behind that.

I Think I Like This, Sam I Am

Dylan-parody, as an art form, is about played out. But I've never heard anything like this: Dylan Hears a Who!

Why didn't anyone else think of this? Bob Dylan (classic 60's voice version) singing the words of Dr. Seuss.

I think this version of Green Eggs and Ham is definitive. But that's just me.

Have a Cookie

Christina made peanut butter chip cookies this morning. She's home sick with what I hope won't become a serious sore throat. I've taken a sick day to nurse her away from ill health. It doesn't take much; she's a sensible kid and knows when to chill out.

My work day was to be heavy with conference calls and on-line training. I've actually been able to take part in most of that, using my cellphone, a hands-free ear-piece, and the "mute" button.

I can report that the dozen or so state GIS coordinators who took part in training for the RAMONA GIS Inventory Tool were all jealous of these cookies during this morning's call.

Rotors: I, II, II at M, B, M

J Q W Z D V

K K

P D H

M M D Q S

D I

P N X K X

Q A X Q

E T N

L T A H S A

A Visitor from 1919

I got a thin, well-worn penny in change at the Safeway this noon when I bought my little salad. It looked elderly to me, so I shuffled the other quarters and dimes out of the way with a slight shake of the hand that cupped the change. When I saw the coin clearly, I was looking at the "tails" side and saw the twin wheat sheaves. I knew I had an early one. This coin is from 1919, which makes it one of the oldest I've seen.

Oh, For Jack's Sake!

Sometimes a headline is just perfect:

Suit tries to put the 'Christ' back in 'Halloween'

This was the headline on an AP story on the News Journal web site this afternoon. A family in suburban Philadelphia are suing school officials because their 10-year old wasn't allowed to dress as Jesus Christ for Halloween.

The school has a policy against promoting specific religions, according to the story, and "the boy and his mother are Christians who object to the pagan elements of Halloween."

If I may be multiply politically incorrect for a moment, let me say that here we have dueling stupidness.

Christian fundamentalists, please calm down. It's Halloween. Just a day when kids put on costumes and ask for candy. Grow up and let the kids be kids.

School administrators, settle down too. If the boy wants to dress as Christ, let him. If he's proselytizing and annoying the other kids, I suspect they'll sort the little prick out in their own way. There's no reason to let this escalate into a media case.

This is just so stupid. And now we have a story for everyone to comment on. This will not go well.

Though it does give me a great example of what depresses me about the anonymous commenting on the News Journal web site. Someone calling him- or herself SaneHatter had this to say:

GOOD! About time people of Christian faith stood up to the anti-christian morons in this country with their hypocracy and whinny crybaby I'm offended crap. God bless you son, may you win many times over.*

I followed the links back to the whole wonderful collection of SaneHatter's thoughts. This is a very unpleasant and angry person.

* (No, I did not bother to edit for spelling or grammar)

SiriuXM? I Say "Yes!"

There's word this evening that Sirius and XM, the two satellite radio competitors, plan a "merger of equals." Looking at this from a purely personal standpoint, I think this could be a very good thing.

Sirius and XM said as a result of the merger it hoped to offer listeners an "a la carte" option, allowing them to pick and choose the channels they wanted, such as Sirius' "Martha Stewart Living Radio" or XM's "Theme Time Radio Hour" with music legend Bob Dylan.

I like this idea. I chose Sirius based on their jam-band and NPR offerings. I regret the fact that all the baseball games are on XM, now maybe I will have a chance to get those as well.

Some object to this merger based on the idea that it would create a monopoly which might result in higher costs to consumers. That's a valid concern, but I think it would be worth it if we, as listeners, get a wider range of choices.

Our First Husband/Wife Blogging Combo?

I was pleased last month to discover Dino's Journal, a blog by an Indonesian gent who has moved to Newark to work on his MBA at the University of Delaware. This week-end, my internet drift-net caught a post by Dina Hakimi, who had posted a photo of Lehigh Road, in Newark.

Her "About Me" includes a note that she is from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. How many Indonesians, and from that city, I wondered, can there be in Newark?

So I read on and discovered that Ms. Dina is married to Mr. Dino. He refers to her as Mita and includes her in his blog-roll.

It has me wondering whether there are any other husband/wife bloggers in Delaware.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to read the impressions of two very new newcomers to our little state.