Behold, A Pail Horse

More Dreams

I was at a new job having a meeting. It was one of those meetings in which each person gets to speak for a few minutes and relate a new idea, then the immediately is forgotten forever, unless it is a really good one. It gets implemented and the boss takes credit for such a swell idea.  So we were all at sitting at tables in a meeting.

I then hear a mans voice outside and he is vigorously complaining. I look out the window and see a white, convertible Cadillac. The angry voice belongs to the comedian Gallagher and he is now shouting.

We get escorted to another large room with some refreshments. Gallagher is seated on a couch and is half asleep. I walk over to him and say hello. I see some yellow stains on his blue jean shorts and a damp spot.

He awakes and looks awkwardly at me.  I say, "I'm Marc."  Gallagher angrily tells me he knew that. I start to walk away, but then turn around and ask him how he knew my name is Marc. He stares at me like I'm an idiot and then sarcastically says, "Because my name is Marc and you look like a Marc."  (I should have known this!)  I then walk back to a chair and sit down.

An assistant to Mr. Gallagher comes over and tells him that he needs to get ready. He shouts at her, but gets up and walks to a hallway.  A few minutes later, I see he has changed his clothes and is wearing a pressed striped long sleeve shirt with gray shark-skin slacks. 

I hear him screaming at the assistant, "I'm not doing this show. I swear I am not. They aren't paying me enough."

Another assistant walks over and announces, "You have a phone call from your real wife" and hands him a cell phone.

The next night, I was in a car with some other people we were entering a ramp to go on the expressway. The ramp was very steep. At the apex of the ramp, the road dropped almost straight downward. 

The expressway seemed to be like a roller coaster with hills and valleys and dips and curves. I was also driving at a high rate of speed.

Suddenly I find myself on a deserted cobblestone road in Cincinnati. The road is lined with deserted and shuttered up old buildings that once were factories and offices at the end is a bridge.

Now I find myself at a doctors office. It is actually the office of a surgeon. She has a man on the operating room table. He is laying in a prone position on his stomach, with his feet hanging over the end of the table and drapes covering his body.  I discover that I am her assistant. She is operating on his right heel to remove a cancerous tumor.

She has cut into his flesh to reveal a big yellow glomulous mass.  I reach up to adjust the light and see the patient is a doctor that I used to know.

He is a surgeon named Pescovitz.  I go to the front of the table and ask him if he is comfortable.  The lady surgeon then yells at me that the light is too bright.  She wants me to turn it off and says that I should have known better.

I then find myself in an area that resembles a campsite or a park.  It is woodsie and has rows of picnic tables under a shelter. 

I see Dr. Pescovitz in a large laundry tub. I am puzzled, so I walk over and inquire as to his status.  He says he is comfortable and this is part of his therapy.

Last night I find myself once again at a bridge. I am on the Kentucky side of the bridge, which reaches Cincinnati. The sky is dark and glooming as it is in the glowming. I walk up the sidewalk and spot an old friend. I ask him what he is doing. He tells me that he is running on the catwalk under the bridge. He then jumps down onto a walkway that is covered with safety wire. 

There is a tiny mesh footpath. He then slips through a hole in the wire to a steel walkway that is painted green. It is about 18 inches wide.  There is no safety wire. It just dangles below the bridge. He shouts up to me;

"Hey watch me. I'm going to run to Cincinnati and back." He then takes off at a brisk pace making giant strides.  He comes back and then turns and runs off toward Ohio once again.

Whore Shoes

Last week I created the game “Weinergate,” which has unfortunately become passé since Rep Weiner is no longer news fodder.


However today, I am pleased to announce the creation of another game. While out shopping, I watched the young women walk by.  Their fashionable and provocative footwear became inspiration for:

 The Game of Whore Shoes.

It is played in a similar manner to the game of Horseshoes, however instead of pieces of iron, bent into a “C” shape, the player tosses ladies shoes.

Regulations mandate the shoes be made of black, red or pink patent leather or plastic and have 5” stiletto heels, or shoes that show the bare foot with a lot of straps and 5” stiletto heels, or be thigh-high black leather boots with 5” stiletto heels. Really, any woman’s shoe that you feel is unusually trashy should work.

• Each player gets a turn to through his or her shoe at a stake, which is 40 feet away.

• If it lands within 6” of the stake, the player gets 1 point.

• If the sole and heel of the shoe abuts the stake, the player has scored a ringer and the player receives 5 points.

• If the shoe lands on top of the stake, the player gets 10 points.

• The game is over after 20 pitches and won by the player with the highest score.

All you need to get started is a pair of street walker shoes that you think a hooker or a fashionable teen-aged girl would wear, and two metal stakes.

Start playing and have a great time!

Lady Blunt - Stradivarius Violin

The Lady Blunt

A pristine Stradivarius violin, which experts have described as the 'Mona Lisa' of stringed instruments has sold for a record £9.8million at auction, with the proceeds going to charity.


The Lady Blunt Stradivarius has fetched a groundbreaking price each time it's been auctioned and made £6million in 2008.

Until recently it was owned by the Nippon Music Foundation - a Japanese body whose aim is to increase public interest in music and which has a large collection of priceless antique instruments.

The Lady Blunt violin, made by Stradivarius in 1721, fetched nearly £9.8m following the online auction

However the organization decided to pass the instrument on to benefit victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

An auction conducted by London-based online auction house Tarisio on Monday night attracted considerable interest around the world before it was finally sold to an unnamed bidder for the record sum.

Stradivarius, regarded as the finest violin maker in history, made the instrument in 1721.

The violin was named after Lady Anne Blunt, the granddaughter of Lord Byron

However it didn't get its name until more than 150 years later when Lady Anne Blunt - who was the granddaughter of Lord Byron and a talented musician - took ownership.

Regarded as one of the finest examples of an instrument made by the Italian craftsman, it has been in the hands of collectors for almost its entire history - which makes it virtually unique among violins.



Master craftsmanship: Experts said it was rare to find a Stradivarius in such pristine condition

The Messiah

And it is considered to be as good as the Messiah, a 1716 Stradivari bequeathed to The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, on the condition it can never be played.

The density of the wood used is what's thought to give Stradivarius violins their uniquely sweet sound.

Tests were carried out on violins made by Stradivarius and another renowned Italian violin maker, Guarneri del Gesu, along with eight 'modern' violins.

Experts discovered that variations in wood growth density, determined by tree growth cycles, were considerably larger in the modern violins.

Early growth wood, produced during spring, is more porous and less dense than late growth wood which provides more structural support rather than transporting water.

The early and late growth wood in the modern instruments had noticeable different densities not present in the older instruments.

Experts concluded that wood treatments used by the Italian craftsment may have contributed to the instruments' sound.

Lady Tennant

Kazuko Shiomi, president of the foundation, said, 'While this violin was very important to our collection, the needs of our fellow Japanese people after the March 11 tragedy have proven that we all need to help, in any way we can.

'The donation will be put to immediate use on the ground in Japan.'

Following the auction The Lady Blunt has been hailed as the best-preserved Stradivarius to be sold in 100 years.

Jason Price, director of Tarisio, added: 'Fine instruments appreciate in value just like fine works of art, and the Lady Blunt is the most significant violin that a collector can buy.

'In the world of stringed instruments, it is the equivalent of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa or Michelangelo's David.'

Solomon Ex-Lambert

Christopher Reuning, of Reuning and Son Violins in Boston, added, 'Rarely does a Stradivarius of this quality in such pristine condition and with such significant historical provenance come up for sale.

'It still shows the tool-marks and brushstrokes of Stradivari. The Lady Blunt is perhaps the best-preserved Stradivarius to be offered for sale in the past century.'

Dandy's House

I am not certain why I called my grandmother Dandy.  Perhaps I was too young to voice the word "granny" or perhaps it was because she would say to me, "You are sure a dandy."  Dandy is what I called her.

Today I learned that her former home has been put up for sale. The fellow that purchased it paid $9,000.  It was in horrible condition.  He gutted most of the house and beautifully rehabbed the property.   

Below are pictures from the multiple listing service.  Each strip contains 3 pictures except for the 1st with one picture and the last with two pictures.

Weinergate The Board Game and The Doll

This was inevitable.

Sarah Palin, Paul Revere and Obama's Gaffes

Today NPR discussed Palins mis-reference to Paul Reveres historic ride. I am curious why they haven’t pointed out some of Obamas historical gaffes.

She recently said of Paul Revere's historic ride, "He who warned uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed."

It is clear that Sarah Palin needs some remedial American history lessons. But what of our current President?  He has made quite a few historical gaffes, both during his campaign run and in office.

For instance:

In March of 2007, Obama gave a speech in Selma Alabama stating his parents got together because of what happened in the 1965 Civil Rights March. “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama, Jr. was born.” However, his parents were married in 1961 and he was born August of 1962.

In a campaign speech Obama stated he has visited all 57 states so far. His aides would not permit him to go to Alaska or Hawaii.  So that makes 57+2 states???

In October of 2008 Obama made a speech before Congress stating, “"And I believe the nation that invented the automobile (USA) cannot walk away from it." Historians give credit to Karl Benz of Germany for inventing the first automobile to use the internal combustion engine.

During a speech in Indiana he stated, “America's confronted constantly evolving danger, from the oppression of an empire, to the lawlessness of the frontier, from the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor, to the threat of nuclear annihilation..” Of which bomb was he referring to? I read there were quite a few.

He also pointed out that his uncle was part of the American troops to go into Auschwitz. Russia liberated Auschwitz. Perhaps his uncle was Russian. It could of happened.

In a speech that emphasized victory in Afghanistan is not our goal. Obama stated, "I'm always worried about using the word 'victory,' because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing surrender to Macarthur.” The Emperor did not sign the surrender before Macarthur. General Umezu and Japanese foreign minister Shugemitzu on the Battleship Missouri signed this historical document that ended WWII.

Earlier this year he stated, “Long before America was even an idea, this land of plenty was home to many peoples. The British and French, the Dutch and Spanish, to Mexicans, to countless Indian tribes. We all shared the same land." This was from the same speech he left out “endowed by our Creator...” from the Declaration of Independence.

BTW, the USA was founded in 1776 and Mexico in 1821.

This May, 2011, on his Irish trip, he signed the guestbook at Westminster Abbey, 24 May 2008.

Weiner

When I was a kid, the most popular weiners in Cincinnati were made by Kahn's Meats.  Their slogan was "The Weiner, the World, Awatied."

As of late, that seems to be the news of the day.  Congressman Anthony Weiner is accused of showing off his on Twitter.  The news outlets could utilize that same catch phrase. 

Weiner will not say the weiner in question is his little member of Congress.  In fact, in the latest news videos, he appears to be interviewing for the Ice Capades, since he is skating around the issue so much.  He claims that he has begun an investigation to see about this leak.

Perhaps the reason he does not want to discuss the issue is because it is such a little news story.


We all will await to see if the news on this case pricks up.