Good evening, Netizens...

I just read where a group in Detroit are going to use empty shipping containers to build a 17-unit condominium project. The price? $1.8 million dollars.

According to the Detroit Free Press, they are going to stack empty shipping containers four high, install windows, doors, plumbing, stairs and heating; toss in landscaping and balconies, too.

Developers plan to offer units measuring 960 to 1,920 square feet. Prices will range from $100,000 to $190,000. All this for (gasp) shipping containers?

I wonder if it would pass inspection by our City Building Inspectors here in Spokane? Could we house homeless people this way?

What do you think of the idea?

Dave

Good afternoon, Netizens...

When the initial news of the earthquake disaster in China hit, I admit I was skeptical when the Chinese authorities stated they would allow emergency supplies, but not emergency medical personnel, to enter the disaster zone. However, in light of continuous coverage of the disaster, particularly after considering the huge scope of the damaged areas, a damage field approximately the size of the State of Texas according to the AP, it would seem to me they are doing as well as can be reasonably be expected, given the abysmally poor working conditions.

Throughout the day and yesterday, it has seemed to me that the foreign press is largely unfettered in their stories about the disaster, given the number of reports I have read today.

After all is said and done, if you consider the incredible numbers of rescue and military personnel who fought their way through incredible rubble to the epicenter of the earthquake and compare that directly to the ongoing disaster of Hurrican Katrina, perhaps the Chinese rescue effort is better than what we have witnessed here in the United States.

All you have to do to fully appreciate their position is try and conceptualize 15,000 dead, knowing there may be an addition to that body count, before they are done.

One thing is certain: the Chinese government seems fully-aware the whole world is watching, and appear to be doing their best to mitigate world opinion, while rescuing countless more dead and injured.

Could this disaster have been handled better? It's a tough question, but it will do for today's Wild Card.

Dave

This week's theme: words related to beards.

Vandyke or Van Dyke or vandyke (van dyk) noun

   A short, pointed beard.

[After painter Anthony Van Dyck or Vandyke (1599-1641) who painted portraits of people having these v-shaped beards.]

A painting by Anthony Van Dyck showing a vandyke:
http://abcgallery.com/V/vandyck/vandyck40.html

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=vandyke

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"And, a young man with a Van Dyke and kinte cloth shorts was Dirt Devil-ing the floor around a mannequin in one of the few windows in which mannequins were dressed."
   Frank DeCaro; Barneys Countdown: It's Retailing, Not a Revolution;
   Newsday (New York); Sep 8, 1993.

  "The Van Dyke, however, is shaped like a V and comes to a sharp point. It usually, but not always, has a mustache with it, suitable for
   twirling."
   Jim Kershner; Is it Too Late to Jump on Goatee Trend?;
   The Spokesman Review (Spokane, Washington); Jun 15, 1996.

............................................................................
My greatest skill has been to want but little. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

Send your comments to (words AT wordsmith.org). To unsubscribe, update address
send gift subscription, etc., visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/vandyke.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/vandyke.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/vandyke.html

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

The acronym MSM, which implies mainstream news media, has always struck me as a big odd, because the number of alternative sources of news are often much better at covering important news items. All it requires, in my opinion, is the gift of discernment, viewers being able to tell which stories are accurate and true and which ones are at least partially fabrications or distortions.

Good morning, Netizens...

(Taken from the Fortunes, a massive collection of infamous quotes which resides on most civil Unix boxes)

(1) Don't unplug it, it will just take a moment to fix.
(2) Let's take the shortcut, he can't see us from there.
(3) What happens if you touch these two wires tog--
(4) We won't need reservations.
(5) It's always sunny there this time of the year.
(6) Don't worry, it's not loaded.
(7) They'd never (be stupid enough to) make him a manager.
(8) Don't worry! Women love it!

Dave

This week's theme: words related to beards.

dundrearies (dun-DREER-eez) noun

   Long flowing sideburns.

[After the bushy sideburns worn by actor Edward A. Sothern who played the part of Lord Dundreary in the play Our American Cousin (1858), written by Tom Taylor (1817-1880). This was the play being performed at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC during which Abraham Lincoln was shot.]

A picture of dundrearies:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3a/Lord_Dundreary.jpg

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "[Jack] narcissistically fluffed out his imperial* and his dundrearies." Patrick Leigh Fermor; Sex O'Clock High; New Statesman (London, UK);   Mar 1, 1963.
   * imperial : a small pointed beard under the lower lip.

............................................................................
This is my living faith, an active faith, a faith of verbs: to question, explore, experiment, experience, walk, run, dance, play, eat, love, learn, dare, taste, touch, smell, listen, argue, speak, write, read, draw, provoke, emote, scream, sin, repent, cry, kneel, pray, bow, rise, stand, look, laugh, cajole, create, confront, confound, walk back, walk forward, circle, hide, and seek. To seek: to embrace the questions, be wary of answers. -Terry Tempest Williams, naturalist and author (b. 1955)

Share the magic of words. Send a gift sub: http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html

Remove, change, or subscribe address: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/dundrearies.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/dundrearies.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/dundrearies.html

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...
(Picture attribution: (AP Photo/Color China Photo)

It is hardly “breaking news” this morning because practically every news source in the United States is suffering an overload of disasters, from the record-breaking earthquake in China, to the volcano that is still erupting in Chile to the incredible debacle in Myanmar. What probably should be news, but may not be mentioned at all, is that while both China and Myanmar are willing to accept emergency food and medical supplies, they will not let emergency personnel into their countries. That is utterly asinine.

As you can see from the picture, where a hospital has collapsed as a result of the earthquake, they could easily use all the personnel and heavy equipment they could get.

However, the situation in China this morning is truly a disaster of monumental proportions. At the present time, according to AP there are over 12,000 dead thus far, and they are still digging in the rubble looking for more bodies.

Can you imagine what would happen to the Hospitals on Spokane's South Hill if we had an earthquake of this magnitude? Can you envision both Sacred Heart and Deaconess collapsing and sliding down the face of the South Hill? Don't say it couldn't happen, because it could.

Do you think we would allow Chinese emergency earthquake specialists to enter our country in the face of such an emergency?

My guess is yes. What is your opinion?

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

You would think on a day, such as today, where disasters have struck all around the world in a matter of days I would be somber, even sad, at such a loss of life. Then I saw this picture.

The banner should read, "Ted Kennedy cuts the cheese in a public meeting."

Yes! Even Ted Kennedy suffers from flatulence, but given who he is, everyone either ignores it or, in this case, gets a good laugh out of it.

This, of course, is my interpretation of the picture. Yours may differ.

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

Oh, dear, oh, dear what can the matter be...(traditional)

I can tell you what is the matter. It's MONDAY! It's time to hitch a ride on that big red wagon and it's back to work we go!

Having paid while I feel was a proper and due diligence to the Mothers of the world yesterday, I thought it only proper that I allow my penchant for humor to be allowed to run loose this morning, and thus our picture of the day, contains a bit of amusement, as we have 5 women waiting for the perfect man. I suppose we could envision a similar group of men sitting in a circle waiting for the “perfect woman”, although there might be some clinical changes to the table setting. (substitute beer bottles for the tea cups maybe.)

There has been a 7.8 earthquake in the Sichuan Province of China. One presumes, since they felt it as far away as Bangkok that they must have felt something at the Olympic headquarters where they are preparing for the World Olympics. Of course, the early-arriving tourists who understand how repression works in China probably pretend not to notice the buildings swaying at all. The news wires speak of 7600 dead, although that number could rise as they begin digging out collapsed buildings.

So here we are on what promises to be a rainy Monday. Hitch up your knickers, put on your best professional face and it's off to the races we go! Pour yourself a cup of today's Community Comment Virtual Espresso Bar blend, “Garbanzo Bean Reprieve”, have a seat at the bar and get ready for another day in Paradise, and as you partake of the ambiance this is your Monday Wild Card.

Enjoy!

Dave

Over the years we have featured weeks of words about words, we have had words about birds, and now it's time for, well, words about beards.

Are bearded people irritating? While some find a beard on a man attractive, it repels others. Like barbed wire, literally speaking. The words barb,
barber, rebarbative, and beard are derived from the same root: Latin barba (beard). And though many bards have beards, there is no connection between the two words.

Though most men have only a fleeting interest in pogonotrophy (growing of a beard, from Greek pogon, beard + -trophy, nourishment or growth), growing it now, shaving it when the fancy strikes, for some, beards are a serious
business.  There's even a biannual championship event for the bearded:
http://worldbeardchampionships.com/

This week we'll see five words having to do with facial hair. They are pure beard words as the week starts out, and like beards growing slender at the bottom, as the week ends the connection becomes slender too.

sideburns (SYDE-burnz) plural noun

   Hair grown on the sides of a man's face, when worn with an unbearded chin.

[After Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-1881), who served as a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War, and who earned more recognition for his side whiskers than for his military career. Eventually the term burnsides
morphed into sideburns as such a facial pattern was on the sides of a face.]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=sideburns

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "Queensland paramedics claim they have been threatened with the sack unless they shave off their beards, moustaches and sideburns."
   Darrell Giles; Paramedics' Facial Hair Threat; The Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Australia); Apr 20, 2008.

............................................................................
It is better to have loafed and lost than never to have loafed at all.
-James Thurber, writer and cartoonist (1894-1961)

Discuss this week's words on our bulletin board: http://wordsmith.org/board
Remove, change address, gift subs: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/sideburns.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/sideburns.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/sideburns.html

Dave

The picture is of breast cancer survivors, something else to remember on Mothers Day.

Good morning, everyone...

I remember Mama in only a vague sort of way, because my only visions of her often came at inopportune times in my life, and then nearly always of situations where she was rendered totally powerless by my Father. It is terribly ironic that the only picture I have of her is one a digital picture of her taken by my son as she lay in a funeral home in Illinois, frail and withered, having died a slow and miserable death from Alzheimer's Disease. Even then the fractures in my family were never more evident than some of the family feuds that erupted after her passage.

Good morning, Netizens...

Today is Mothers Day, a most important day to one and all, for it is the day we honor and commemorate our mothers, grandmothers and generations of women before our times.

In today's picture, we have a picture taken from my archives (of unknown lineage or ownership), featuring a collective of mothers and grandmothers in Spokane who frequently appear at various public functions and often stir the pot of public opinion in a number of scandalously-delightful ways. They call themselves “The Raging Grannies” which in this day and age somehow seems quite fitting, since there seems to be a fair amount we should be raging about. The Grannies have appeared at various vigils, the Spokane Folk Festival and and various other locations and times. They are an eclectic, highly literate collective of mothers and grandmothers who seek to bring Peace to this tired old world using music and a sense of humor.

To quote a small portion of their philosophy, “From the most ancient times, the strong, wise, older women were the ones who advised, mediated and fought for what was right. Belief in the Disir or Divine Grandmothers, the Mothers of Time, is ancient and runs through all societies.”

To learn more about them, please go to: http://www.raginggranniesspokane.org/index.html

It somehow seems fitting to me that on Mothers Day, we should honor those mothers and grandmothers who get out of their rocking chairs and try to help mankind overcome its limitations, to bring about Peace and to cure its ails. I would hope that my Mother, if she were alive today, would be a member of the Grannies somewhere and speak out.

Happy Mothers Day, Grannies, and Mothers everywhere...

Dave

Good evening, Netizens...

This has been a 93 hour work week, excluding driving to and from various places across the sphere, and at age 62 and change, anytime I manage to accomplish such a task, I fully expect to pay a hefty price.

I will fully expect that any issues, including the hotly-contested opinions I have written about the Spokane Police Department, will keep for another day.

Therefore, after rising before 2:00 AM this morning, at midnight tonight, I am quietly going to curl up with my virtual cat and simply go to sleep out behind the stage with the garden gnomes.

Please gracefully pardon me if I snore.

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

A ticket agency in the traditionally Jewish 13th District of Budapest, which was attacked by Hungarian ultranationalists. (Attila Kisbenedek/Agence France-Presse )

Originally it was early last year when I first heard about the rise of the Neo-Nazis in Germany and other parts of Eastern Europe, and although the facts were pretty sparse here in the Inland Northwest, I made a mental note to myself to follow up on this. Unfortunately, due to a number of different issues, all of which took precedence over the rumors of the rise of Neo-Nazis disguised as Socialists, for a short time I lost track of developments. Last evening at a social engagement, however, I heard first-hand testimony about the rise of the Neo-Nazis in Hungary, and with only a tiny bit of digging on the Internet this morning, discovered that the rumors I had heard lo these many months ago were true.

The rise of Antisemitism is sweeping through parts of Hungary and surrounding countries.

You might want to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Rl1Rtd4WI

It I s everywhere In my brief search this morning, I have identified cadres of what amount to preliminary “shock troops” that have gone on the offensive, not only in Hungary, but portions of Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, Yugoslavia and even in Canada, to name just a few. I was astounded to read where a cell of young Israeli neo-Nazis accused in a string of attacks on foreign workers, religious Jews, drug addicts and gays in Israel.

In the coming weeks I will persevere in getting more information about the changes taking place throughout Europe and elsewhere as what I perceive as a truly hideous trend continues.

You might ask why I would bother. In a number of instances, the antisemitic right wing have attacked gays, gypsies, traditional Jews and their sympathizers. They have repeatedly sought to publish articles which deny the Holocaust, and they have sought and obtained positions of power and authority in several key government positions.

The next time around they might decide to come for us.

Dave

Good evening, Netizens...

Having been out at a dinner and social event for most of the evening, I have been remiss in posting this bit of information, but you late-night readers may want to know that all charges against Michael Lyons, the 20 year-old police arrested on various misdemeanors have been dropped.

Moreover, based upon what hearsay information I have learned, the settlements between the City of Spokane and the other people arrested are likely to be made null and void, including those against Zach St. John.

As usual, I will comment further once I know the full ramifications of the dismissal of charges, but I do hear the pattering little feet of attorneys making their way toward the Court in the near future, which does not bode ill for people that were arrested.

Dave

This week's theme: eponyms.

babbitt (BAB-it) noun

   A self-satisfied narrow-minded person who conforms to conventional ideals of business and material success.

[After the main character in Sinclair Lewis's 1922 novel Babbitt.]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=babbitt

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "'I've learned to be a merchant without being a Babbitt,' [David Schwartz] told Journal Sentinel book editor." Jim Higgins; Bookseller Sought to Feed the Soul; The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Jun 8, 2004.

............................................................................
The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out
of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. -M.
Scott Peck, psychiatrist and author (1936-2005)

Looking for word/quotation archives: http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives.html
Unsubscribe, change address, etc: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/babbitt.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/babbitt.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/babbitt.html

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
And remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly & clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull & ignorant;
they too have their story.

(An excerpt from Desiderata by Max Ehrmann (1872-1945) written in 1927.

Hang in there! It's Friday! At long last, we have made it through the week, and we only have a few more hours to go before the weekend arrives.

Lots of things are shaking around the world, and even a few here in Spokane. If you are of a mind to do so, you might read the entire poem by Max Ehrmann and carefully think upon it as we approach the weekend together.

http://www.businessballs.com/desideratapoem.htm

Then having properly prepared yourself, here is the Wild Card for Friday, May 9, 2008.

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

Today we are once again going to take a trip into the Virtual World, albeit a different virtual world than the world of the Virtual Ballroom in which you are sitting, sipping thoughtfully away on today's Virtual Espresso blend, Ponderous Miasma, which is being served by our thoughtful and meticulous staff. The only capability required of you to enter this new world of impossible anguish, the horrific sense of loss and perhaps even death itself is that you have a heart, one that is capable of compassion and grief-sharing.

While we have been going over and under the missing video of last summer's fiasco in the park, I just received the following news bulletin from KREM:

The Spokane Tribe is upset with the City of Spokane for removing and throwing away the statue of Chief Garry from Chief Garry Park in North Spokane.

Now this is something to scream about. Thoughts? Opinions?

Good afternoon, Netizens...

One of the truly great vocalists of Nashville fame has passed away today. Eddie Arnold, known for his buttery-smooth baritone and his sidekick Chet Atkins who helped produce most of his songs, passed away in a care facility today in Nashville.

He was just a decent man, a fine singer, and a gifted gentle performer. Rest in Peace.

Dave

Good evening, Netizens...

After a very frustrating afternoon performing the lowest-level research imaginable, but getting a lot of answers, I believe I have the reason why a Spokane Police Investigation, including a number of arrests and the “missing” video tape all have created such a controversy surround the Spokane Police Department. However, before you assume the worst, you probably should go read Jim Camden's thorough and technically-accurate reports here:

http://www.spokesman.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=14825
http://www.spokesman.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=14863

Then I will add some comments of my own about the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Spokane Police Department and its involvement in the demonstration in Riverfront Park and consequential arrests. I have been in contact with several person(s) from the Spokane Police Department and nearly all of them have stated emphatically that there was no malice of forethought about the video which surfaced just prior to the court trial of Michael C. Lyons that was supposed to take place Tuesday.

First, by their very nature, the CIU do not always share the product(s) of their investigations with other departments within the SPD. Actually, can we rewrite this to say few if any of their reports ever end up in the Police. Granted, that may be a flaw in the system design which I would speculate will be or is being addressed already. Moreover, some of their reports and data are not “shared” because upon occasion, they are a part of an ongoing federal investigation. That does not seem to be the case in this instance.

Rather, as several people have stated, this was human error, pure and simple. If they learned from their mistakes, and in this case I believe they did, then we have a better product that will serve us well into the future.

Unlike most journalists in Spokane, I have seen the CIU up close and personal, and they do perform a thankless but extremely vital job, but that is all I can say about THAT.

One of the things they didn't do, unfortunately, is correlate their videos and reports with other ongoing police investigations. However, that was a human error, as I have stated. I doubt they will repeat that error in the future.

Of course, your results may differ.

Dave

This week's theme: eponyms.

gargantuan (gar-GAN-choo-uhn) adjective

   Gigantic.

[After Gargantua, a voracious giant, the father of Pantagruel, in a series of novels by Francois Rabelais (c. 1490-1553).]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=gargantuan

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "Walls were built around Constantinople, gargantuan chains were set over the Bosporus and the Golden Horn to prevent any attempts by the enemy to enter."
   Vercihan Ziflioglu; A Sole Burned Gate; Turkish Daily News (Istanbul); Mar 26, 2008.

............................................................................
I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves. -Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (1889-1951)

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/gargantuan.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/gargantuan.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/gargantuan.html

Dave

Good morning, Netizens...

In this morning's picture, musicians of Germany's Kammersymphoniker Berlin orchestra perform during a rehearsal for the media at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. On Friday, May 9, 2008 the orchestra will perform its first concert in the memorial. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

I cannot conceive of a better way to spend eternity than to have an orchestra of their caliber performing to commemorate the passage of so many. The victims may be nameless but I submit their spirits are part of us all.

Now we march forward, with one day to go before we reach the weekend and some much-needed rest for us all at the Heavenly Haven Virtual Restaurant. Have a seat at the virtual espresso bar with chrome handles and enjoy a cup of today's virtual espresso, Mandolin Delight, and let us begin the business of the day together.

Dave

Good afternoon, Netizens...

It is a lovely sunny and occasionally rainy afternoon outside, and the Community Comment Garden Gnomes have been busy again, I see, judging by the number of poster and signs opposing the Spokane Transit Authority tax and Mayor Mary Verner's sleight-of-hand regarding the Ombudsman. You can see these signs hanging in various places around the reflection pond, just outside the Virtual Ballroom. I was going to say something about this topic the other day, but got terribly distracted. The nice part about having Garden Gnomes running about the Virtual Ballroom is who can blame a simple old Gnome for having an opinion? Imagine THAT!

I would support the STA tax, were it but for a few minor issues, including the abuse of those STA Jeeps by management and so-called supervisory personnel. If everyone that works for STA would agree to a complete hiatus on using STA vehicles and use the bus to travel home from work each night, I would feel like the taxpayers were getting a more evenhanded deal. I have to pay for my own gas and transportation. Why can't they? I'm certain that if I stopped to consider it, I probably could utter something equally uncomplimentary about the Transient Center, the vapid and unimaginative way the bus routes are allocated and the empty buses we pay for, but I'll leave that matter to the Gnomes and bloggers.

As for the Ombudsman, nobody in their right mind would ever go so far as to suggest Spokane doesn't need an Ombudsman. That is, unless they happen to be a high-ranking officer in the Spokane Police Department. Perhaps I may be wrong in this, but the only real resistance I have sensed seems to emanate from within the rank and file officers, members of the Guild and/or their Supervisory personnel. Mayor Mary Verner, on the other hand, while admitting we need an Ombudsman, seems to think the Office of the Ombudsman can be made to run on less money. I wonder if that same delusion is what led us to believe our police are capable of policing their own mistakes? If we hire an Ombudsman without enough budget to perform their job effectively, isn't it the same as no Ombudsman, at all?

An old hillbilly friend of mine once shared a witticism with me that has stood the test of time. Clayton was an old-time sort of man, who wanted nothing more than to live atop his mountain and be left alone with Sack, his lop-eared coon hound. One satiny morning Clayton volunteered over a cup of espresso that, “You just should never neuter a watch dog. It'll make him lazy and all he'll do is lay around getting fat and farting all the time.”

Judging by the events of the last few days and months, as civilians, we need a watchdog in our corner. All the PR experts cannot put our Police Department back together with the public they are sworn to protect and serve without crediblity, and our transit system is an unrestrained major cash cow. Thus having a watchdog to keep an eye on the public servants is in our best interest.

Even the Gnomes and old hillbillies know that much.

Dave

Doesn't it feel like it was just yesterday??? Why didn't I buy reams upon reams of rolls of Forever Stamps. Then I wouldn't have all these piddly 1-cent stamps laying around with my 2-cent stamps and my 39-cent stamps with my 41-cent stamps (the 100 count roll, of which there are about 50 left….)

So, here's the thing: We've talked about reading less because we are on computers more – is this the same reason the post office is raising stamp prices again? I love technology and can't get enough of it – but has it taken away from the old fashioned, sit-down-and-write letters that we used to do with our friends and family? Does the post office cringe every time a new-fangled gizmo/gadget appears on the internet – like MyFace, YouTube, and others. I pay my bills online, I write to my entire family (and friends) online. The only thing I stamp are Christmas cards and birthday cards. I mean, after all – tradition should hold for those two holidays.