Getting Back to Normal Life
Jun. 26th, 2023 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fauxkloreCelebrity Death Watch: Cynthia Weil was a songwriter who, along with her husband, Barry Mann, was responsible for a lot of popular songs, such as “You’ve Lost That Loving’ Feelin’” and “On Broadway.” Roger Squires was a prolific crossword compiler, who used the pseudonym Rufus in The Guardian and set Monday puzzles for the Daily Telegraph. Michael Batayeh was an actor, best known for appearing in Breaking Bad. Ronald L. Baker was a folklorist who wrote extensively about place names in the American midwest as well as collecting midwestern humorous folk tales. Bob Bolin pitched for the San Francisco Giants and, later on, the Red Sox. Byron Barton wrote and illustrated children’s books. George Winston was a pianist, mostly noted for new age music. Norma Hunt owned the Kansas City Chiefs football team. Roger Craig was pitcher and later, as a manager led the 1989 San Francisco Giants to a National League championship. Francoise Gilot was an artist and was Pablo Picasso’s partner from 1943 to 1953. The Iron Sheik was an Iranian-born professional wrestler. Wade William Goodwyn was the national desk correspondent for NPR. Julie Garwood was a romance novelist. Firouz Naderi was the program manager of NASA’s Mars exploration mission at JPL and later became the director for Solar System Exploration. Roger Payne was a biologist who recorded humpback whale songs. Treat Williams was an actor, who was notable for playing Berger in the film version of Hair. Carol Higgins Clark was a mystery writer who followed in the footsteps of her mother Mary Higgins Clark, with whom she coauthored several novels. Cormac McCarthy was a novelist, primarily of violent Westerns. Christy Digham was a singer with the Irish group Aslan. Robert Gottlieb was the editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and The New Yorker, as well as being on the board of directors of the New York City Ballet. Luisa Gander was the first lady of Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2009. Donald Triplett was the first person diagnosed with autism. Glenda Jackson was a movie actress. Paxton Whitehead was an actor who appeared on Broadway, as well as in movies and television shows. Gus Newport was the mayor of Berkeley, California during the time I lived there, though I remember nothing about him. Gregory Klinishov was a co-creator of the Russian hydrogen bomb. Teresa Taylor played drums for the Butthole Surfers. Dick Hall pitched for the Baltimore Orioles, as well as other teams. Isabel de Costa Ferriera was the first lady of East Timor from 2012 through 2017. Max Morath was a ragtime pianist. Frederic Forrest was an actor, noted for playing opposite Bette Midler in The Rose.
Robert Hanssen was an FBI investigator who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the U.S. for over 20 years. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. The park where he was arrested is only about 2.5 miles from my home.
Astrid Gilberto was a samba and bossa nova singer. She recorded with Stan Getz and Antonio Carlos Jobim, but is best known for her hit recording of “The Girl From Ipanema.”
Pat Robertson was a televangelist and Republican politician. He founded the Christian Broadcasting Network and Regent University and played a significant role in turning the Republican party toward Christian conservative ideology.
Ted Kaczynski was the Unabomber, a mathematician who isolated himself and set out on a terror campaign with several bombings, which he claimed were to bring attention to environmental issues. Two of those bombings were at Berkeley during my time there, by the way.
Silvio Berlusconi was an Italian media tycoon who became a three-time prime minister.
Henry Petroski was a cvil engineering professor who wrote several books about industrial design and the history of common objects. His book To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design is a good read as is The Pencil.
Daniel Ellsberg was the whistleblower who released The Pentagon Papers, classified documents about U.S. decisions regarding the Vietnam War, parts of which were published by the New York Times and the Washington Post. He earned me 10 ghoul pool points.
Sheldon Harnick was one of the greatest lyricists to write for musical theatre. The shows he worked on with Jerry Bock include Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, She Loves Me, The Rothschilds, and The Apple Tree. But he also had several other collaborators. I also recommend his early song, “The Boston Beguine,” from New Faces of 1952. I met him a few times, since he often went to the York Theatre, and he was always amiable. Even though he was 99, I was surprised by his death, since he always seemed so vigorous.
John Goodenough was the oldest person ever to win a Nobel Prize, having won the Chemistry Nobel at the age of 97. He was responsible for the development of lithium ion battery technology. He was on my ghoul pool list, earning me 22 points, which puts me in second place for now.
Non-Celebrity Death Watch: Elden Carnahan was a stalwart of the Loser Community. In fact, he was pretty much the founder of the Loser community, having started up the regular brunches and the nrars.org website. He had been diagnosed with glioblastoma about a year ago, so his death was no surprise. I’ll still miss his unique sense of humor and his dedication to bringing people together. Also, the origins of our regular on-line sessions of (mostly) codenames have their origin in a games night he started with members of his family.
The Enigmatist: I went with a few friends to see The Enigmatist at The Kennedy Center on Saturday. I was excited to see this come to D.C. because several of my NPL friends had seen and enjoyed it in New York. Anyway, Squonk from NPL organized the outing and got the tickets. My friends, Cindy and Teri, came along. Cindy is very much not a puzzle person and, when she saw that we had to solve some puzzles to get in, she thought she would hate the show. But I got her through those and helped her understand them. There were also some puzzles throughout the show and Teri even got selected to give the answer to one of them. Anyway, David Kwong has created a unique mixture of magic, humor, and puzzles for a unique and very entertaining show. I admit that I have absolutely no idea how several of his magic tricks worked. Highly recommended for those who can get to it (and, if you aren’t local, go see it if he comes to your area).
JGSGW Meeting: This month’s meeting was about Shul Records America, which is attempting to identify where genealogical records from American synagogues can be found. It isn’t digitizing records itself, just pointing to what archives hold them. Right now it doesn’t look to be of a lot of immediate utility to me, but there may be some opportunities to get involved in some of their projects.
Money, Money: Between having bought a few plane tickets, insurance for two trips, and various other travel-related things, my bill for the credit card I use for travel expenses was more than twice what it normally is. And I still have to pay the balance for my December trip, as well as needing to buy two more plane tickets (one of which might end up on a different card, because it will probably be on American). I’ll have the costs of several hotel nights, too. Sheesh, I also have a New York trip in August. I have the money, but I basically spent two months of pension payments on travel last month. Good thing my short term savings account has the equivalent of about two years of income in it. Whew!
Robert Hanssen was an FBI investigator who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the U.S. for over 20 years. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. The park where he was arrested is only about 2.5 miles from my home.
Astrid Gilberto was a samba and bossa nova singer. She recorded with Stan Getz and Antonio Carlos Jobim, but is best known for her hit recording of “The Girl From Ipanema.”
Pat Robertson was a televangelist and Republican politician. He founded the Christian Broadcasting Network and Regent University and played a significant role in turning the Republican party toward Christian conservative ideology.
Ted Kaczynski was the Unabomber, a mathematician who isolated himself and set out on a terror campaign with several bombings, which he claimed were to bring attention to environmental issues. Two of those bombings were at Berkeley during my time there, by the way.
Silvio Berlusconi was an Italian media tycoon who became a three-time prime minister.
Henry Petroski was a cvil engineering professor who wrote several books about industrial design and the history of common objects. His book To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design is a good read as is The Pencil.
Daniel Ellsberg was the whistleblower who released The Pentagon Papers, classified documents about U.S. decisions regarding the Vietnam War, parts of which were published by the New York Times and the Washington Post. He earned me 10 ghoul pool points.
Sheldon Harnick was one of the greatest lyricists to write for musical theatre. The shows he worked on with Jerry Bock include Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, She Loves Me, The Rothschilds, and The Apple Tree. But he also had several other collaborators. I also recommend his early song, “The Boston Beguine,” from New Faces of 1952. I met him a few times, since he often went to the York Theatre, and he was always amiable. Even though he was 99, I was surprised by his death, since he always seemed so vigorous.
John Goodenough was the oldest person ever to win a Nobel Prize, having won the Chemistry Nobel at the age of 97. He was responsible for the development of lithium ion battery technology. He was on my ghoul pool list, earning me 22 points, which puts me in second place for now.
Non-Celebrity Death Watch: Elden Carnahan was a stalwart of the Loser Community. In fact, he was pretty much the founder of the Loser community, having started up the regular brunches and the nrars.org website. He had been diagnosed with glioblastoma about a year ago, so his death was no surprise. I’ll still miss his unique sense of humor and his dedication to bringing people together. Also, the origins of our regular on-line sessions of (mostly) codenames have their origin in a games night he started with members of his family.
The Enigmatist: I went with a few friends to see The Enigmatist at The Kennedy Center on Saturday. I was excited to see this come to D.C. because several of my NPL friends had seen and enjoyed it in New York. Anyway, Squonk from NPL organized the outing and got the tickets. My friends, Cindy and Teri, came along. Cindy is very much not a puzzle person and, when she saw that we had to solve some puzzles to get in, she thought she would hate the show. But I got her through those and helped her understand them. There were also some puzzles throughout the show and Teri even got selected to give the answer to one of them. Anyway, David Kwong has created a unique mixture of magic, humor, and puzzles for a unique and very entertaining show. I admit that I have absolutely no idea how several of his magic tricks worked. Highly recommended for those who can get to it (and, if you aren’t local, go see it if he comes to your area).
JGSGW Meeting: This month’s meeting was about Shul Records America, which is attempting to identify where genealogical records from American synagogues can be found. It isn’t digitizing records itself, just pointing to what archives hold them. Right now it doesn’t look to be of a lot of immediate utility to me, but there may be some opportunities to get involved in some of their projects.
Money, Money: Between having bought a few plane tickets, insurance for two trips, and various other travel-related things, my bill for the credit card I use for travel expenses was more than twice what it normally is. And I still have to pay the balance for my December trip, as well as needing to buy two more plane tickets (one of which might end up on a different card, because it will probably be on American). I’ll have the costs of several hotel nights, too. Sheesh, I also have a New York trip in August. I have the money, but I basically spent two months of pension payments on travel last month. Good thing my short term savings account has the equivalent of about two years of income in it. Whew!
