Remembering 9-11

From Parade Magazine.

On May 21, 2014, the National September 11 memorial Museum opened in Lower Manhattan.  The 110,000-square-foot-space features a charred ambulance from ground Zero, a World Trade Center column decorated with notes from first responders and a whole lot more.

Something else too put on your New York City agenda.

I still wish they had left part of the WTC's frame that stood so starkly after the collapse.  That alone would have been a suitable reminder.

They Got Their Start on "Another World"-- Part 2

KYRA SEDGWICK:  Played murder-for-hire victim Julia Shearer (1982-83)  Breakout Role:  Star of blockbuster TV crime series "The Closer (2005-2012).  Now at age 48: Alongside Sylvester Stallone in the film "Reach Me."

KELSEY GRAMMER:  Played emergency-room physician Dr. Canard (1984-85).  Breakout Role:  Pompous shrink Frasier Crane in sitcom "Cheers (1984-93).  At age 59: Human villain Harold Attinger in "Transformers: Age of Extinction.

WILLIAM H. MACY:  Played Frank Fisk (1982).  Breakout Role:  Hapless would-be kidnapper Jerry Lundegaard in "Fargo (1996).  At age 64: Patriarch of dysfunctional Gallagher family in TV series :"Shameless."

LINDSAY LOHAN:  Played mischievous teenager Alexandra "Alli" Fowler (1996-97).  Breakout Role:  Separated-at-birth twins Hallie and Annie in the "Parent Trap" (1998.  At age 27: Star of reality TV show "Lindsay" about her post re-hab life.

No Comment on the Last One.  --Cooter

They Got Their Start on "Another World"-- Part 1

From the May 2014 AARP Bulletin "A Boomer's Look at 'Another World,' Where Stars Were Born."

"The groundbreaking TV soap opera "Another World" debuted on NBC 50 years ago this month and remained a pop-culture fixture for 35 years.  A lot of now-famous stars cut their acting teeth on the show.  Here are just a few:"

MORGAN FREEMAN:  Played Dr. Roy Bingham, a dignified architect in Bay City (1982-84).  Breakout role: chauffeur Holt Colburn in "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1989.   Now, at age 76: Johnny Depp's mentor in "Transcendence."

BRAD PITT:  Played Chris, a high school basketball player (1987).  Breakout Role:  Geena Davis' hunky one-night stand in "Thelma & Louise (1991).  Now at age 50:  Producer of--and abolitionist laborer in acclaimed film "12 Years a Slave."

I have to say that I never watched it, but sure do recognize these names.

You Have to Start Somewhere.  --Cooter

1960s: A Decade of Sports Upsets-- Part 2

NORTHERN DANCER--  Fifty years ago in May, the Canadian-bred horse defeated the heavily-favored Hill Rise at the Kentucky derby by a neck and pounded his way into racing history by finishing the race in a record two minutes.  The thoroughbred not only claimed the 1964 Derby title, but also became on eof the most successful studs in history.


JOE NAMATH--  "The Jets will win on Sunday.  I guarantee it," Jets quarterback Joe Namath famously boasted in 1969--even though the NFL's Baltimore Colts were the overwhelming favorite.  But Super Bowl III made an honest man out of Broadway Joe as he and his AFL Jets dominated the whole game--and MVP Namath exited the stadium, right index finger raised to the sky.  (Who's No.1.  Was he heading to Disney World?)


MIRACLE METS--  Being a Cubs fan, this one is a bit hard for me, but...  The New York Mets were the butt of jokes for the first seven years of their existence.  They became the Miracle Mets in 1969 by making a late run to the National league pennant, then upsetting the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.  (Boy, was that a rough season at the end for the Cubs.)

--Cooter

1960s: A Decade of Upsets in Sports-- Part 1

From May 2014 AARP Bulletin "Power of 50: A Decade of Upsets" by Carol Kaufmann.

"The 1960s would prove to be a decade in which colorful and larger-than-life characters beat the odds.  Here's a look at several of those who seized a moment some 50 years ago and became enduring legends."

MUHAMMAD ALI:  Olympic gold medalist boxer Cassius Clay stunned the boxing world by beating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach to win the heavyweight crown in 1964.

Two days later, "the Greatest" announced that he had joined the Nation of Islam and he soon changed his name to Muhammad Ali.  Now, how did Howard Cosell say it?

BILLY MILLS:  A Marine lieutenant and member of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribe, Billy Mills pulled off one of the greatest upsets in history at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo when he won the 10,000-meter run, becoming the only American ever to win the event.

More to Come.  --Cooter

More Than a Lot Upset With NBC

The NBC network definitely didn't make any friends with us tonight.

The Hawks-Kings game is being shown only on NBC Sports Channel which we don't get on basic cable.

Also, what about that 8 PM start?  Come ON!!

Like I said, we don't get it and all the bars in Sprting Grove are closed for Memorial Day.

I'd say this is one we're not going to watch.

Thanks a Lot NBC!!  --RoadDog

The Old McHenry County (Il.) Courthouse-- Part 2

From Wikipedia.

The Old Courthouse of McHenry County, Illinois, was built in 1857 of an Italianate design to resemble that of the Cook County (Chicago) courthouse.

It was designed by John M. Van Osdel, the first licensed architect in Chicago.  The adjoining structure, the Sheriff's House and Jail were built in 1887.  McHenry County government was located there until 1973 when it moved north on Ill.-47.  It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Currently, it is empty, but at one time the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum was located in it.  Chester, the creator of the comic strip Dick Tracy lived in Woodstock for fifty years.

--DaCoot

McHenry County Old Courthouse-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

There was a prominent picture of the cupola of the Old McHenry County Courthouse in the May 13, 2014, Northwest Herald under the headline "Restoration work continues" showing a man working amid the scaffolding surrounding it.

The caption under it reads "Renovations continue Tuesday at the Old Courthouse in downtown Woodstock.  Workers for Renaissance Restoration are installing copper on the roof of the dome.  City officials continue to talk with potential developers about the historic property."

There is also work being done on the front steps as well as a lot of the back of the building which I noticed when I drove by it.  It is located right on the historic Woodstock Square.

Right now, the building is vacant, but the town is looking to get someone in it to set up business and keep up with repairs.

A scene from "Planes, trains and Automobiles was filmed on the front steps of the structure.

Hoping They Do.  --Cooter

First New York Regiment-- Part 5: 1779 Operations in Central New York and Major Watson's Capture

In the spring of 1779, the 1st NY marched west along the Mohawk River and returned again to Fort Schuyler where they relieved Col. Peter Gansevoort's 3rd NY Regiment.  Much of 1779 was spent campaigning against the Iroquois Indian settlements in the area.

This was in the central New York and Finger Lakes region and in response to British and their allied Indian attacks on American settlements in the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys.

On April 18, 1779, the regiment attacked the British garrison at Oswegatchee, west of Fort Ontario, but failed.  On April 21st, Goose Van Schaick led a successful expedition against the Onondaga Indian settlements.

During the rest of the summer, Tory and Indian forces attacked the garrison at Fort Schuyler, capturing several soldiers of the 1st NY including Lt. William Scudder, later reported as a prisoner of war in Canada.  This would most likely be when Major Watson was captured and also held in Canada.

--DaCoot

First New York Regiment-- Part 4

In May 1778, the regiment marched south to Valley Forge in Pennsylvania to join Washington and were placed under the command of Brigadier-General "Mad" Anthony Wayne.

On June 28, 1778, they met British General Clinton's army retreating across Jersey country to New York City.  A rear guard action between the two armies became known as the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey.  The First NY served on the American left in the action.  Here, Captain Joseph McCracken had his left arm shot away by a British cannonball.

He was promoted to major and on May 29th was transferred to the 4th New York regiment.

The 1st spent the rest of 1778 encamped at White Plains and Peekskill on the Hudson River.

--Cooter

First New York Regiment-- Part 3

On November 21, 1776, Captain Joseph McCracken was placed in command of the First Company of the First Regiment.  In December of that year, some contingents of the First participated in Washington's Crossing of the Delaware River to attack the Hessians at Trenton.

In 1777, the regiment did garrison duty at Albany and Fort Schuyler in New York.    During August of 1777, the First New York accompanied General Benedict Arnold for the relief of Fort Schuyler.  After the British withdrew from their planned attack on the fort, six companies remained to reinforce the garrison.

That fall, 24 men were detached as General Philip Schuyler's "Guards" where they remained for five years.

In November 1777, the regiment was finally reunited to go into winter quarters at Schenectady, New York.

--Cooter

First New York Regiment-- Part 2

There is a re-enactment group for the regiment called 1st New York McCracken's Company 1777 and I found out this was the company Major Watson served in during the war.

In the spring of 1776, the regiment garrisoned various fortifications around New York City.  They assembled for the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776.  In August 1776, Colonel Alexander McDougall was promoted to brigadier-general and commanded the 1st and 3rd New York regiments and Connecticut militia.

On October 28, 1776, the 1st New York distinguished itself at the Battle of White Plains in defense of Chatterton's Hill.  The American Army retreated from White Plains in November.

The 1st was then placed under the command of Colonel Goose Van Schaick following the Third establishment of the New York Line Regiments and their enlistments were now up after one year.

More to Come.  --DaCoot

The Revolutionary War's First New York Regiment

From 1st New York McCracken's Co. 1775 site and Wikipedia.

After coming across this regiment as being the one McHenry County's Major Watson (his first name, not rank) served in during the American Revolution, I did some more research on it.

The 1st New York Regiment was authorized 25 May 1775 and organized in new York City from June to July under the command of Colonel Alexander McDougall.  Their enlistment ended 31 December 1775.  The second 1st New York Regiment was organized 19 January 1776, again under McDougall.

It participated in the invasion of Canada, Battle of Valcour Island, Battle of Saratoga, Battle of Monmouth, the Sullivan Expedition and the Battle of Yorktown.

They were furloughed 2 June 1783 at Newburgh, New York and disbanded 15 November 1783.

From Wikipedia.

--Cooter

McHenry County's Major Watson: Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Veteran

From the Village of Hebron, Illinois, site.

Continued from April 26, 2014.

In the War of 1812, Major Watson enlisted again and was captured at Ogdensburg, NY,  and held a prisoner in a prisoner ship off Chatham, England, until 1815.  He was discharged at Baltimore and was ill for eleven months before he returned home to St. Lawrence in New York.

According to the Sons of the American Revolution, many veterans came to Wisconsin because their $8 a month pension made them rich in the area as that was often the only money seen on the frontier.  Therefore, the old men were greatly welcomed by relatives.

Major Watson died March 16, 1840, aged 100 years, 3 months and 16 days.  The death took place at the home of a daughter, Clarissa, Mrs. Daniel Downs in southern Wisconsin.

The Hebron-Linn Cemetery is just south of the Wisconsin border in Illinois.

Who's have Thought a Revolutionary War Veteran Buried in McHenry County.  --Cooter

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Fictional Mothers-- Part 3

8.  It could be argued that the fictional mother Eliza, the slave in "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN" had the greatest fictional mother impact in the history of literature.  The scene where she and her son flee from slave catchers across the partially frozen Ohio River took only two paragraphs in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, but had a great impact in plays of it.  Of course, this book can be said to be a major reason for America's deadliest war.

9.  MRS. INCREDIBLE from the "Incredibles" had superpowers, but also was seen caring for children, although she did drop one son off at an orphanage when she learned he did not have superpowers.

10.  CLARE HUXTABLE was the elegant, smart and loving mother played by Phylicia Rashad on "The Cosby Show," but was also a successful lawyer and equal counterpart to Cliff Huxtable.  But in Bill Cosby's original vision for the show, he was to be a chauffeur and she a plumber.  And, someone better help you if she got mad at you.

--Cooter

.

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Fictional Mothers-- Part 2

4.  Cruel STEPMOTHERS doing all those bad things were occurring in stories and plays long before the Brothers Grimm.  This was a common plot in Greek and Roman plays.  So much so that the Latin word for stepmother, noverca, also referred to a site in military jargon that was too dangerous to use as a camp.

5.  ANGELA LANSBURGER played the evil mother in the 1962 film "The Manchurian Candidate," even though she was only three years older than Laurence Harvey, who played her son.    In TV's "The Golden Girls," ESTELLE GETTY played Dorothy's mother even though she was actually younger.

6.  "Brady Bunch" mom FLORENCE HENDERSON did not really "date" Barry Williams who played her oldest stepson on the show, but did go out to dinner with him once.

7.  One really strange MOTHER was the mid-1960s show"My Mother the Car," the story about a man whose car is the reincarnation of his dead mother who spoke to him through the car radio.    It is sometimes listed among the worst TV shows ever, even though some of its writers, Allan Burns and James L. Brooks, went on to create one of the best shows ever, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

No Taking a Date Out In That Car.  --DaCoot

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Fictional Mothers-- Part 1

From the May 11, 2014 Chicago Tribune by the intrepid researchers Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer.

Always a great pleasure to read their Ten Things columns.  Almost makes the $3 for a Sunday Trib worth it.

Before it gets too far from M.D. 2014.

1.  The death of BAMBI's mother in the 1942 animated film was so sensitive that they kept the actual killing off-screen.  His 8-year-old daughter Diane cried after seeing an early screening.

2.  BARBARA BILLINGSLEY was the Beaver's mom and famously wore pearls and high heels on the shows.  She, however, wore flats at first, but switched to high heels in later seasons to stay taller than Tony Dow (Wally) and Jerry Mathers (Beaver).  Of course, that talking "Jive" on the movie "Airplane" had me rolling in the aisles.  The last thing you'd ever expect to see out of the Beaver's mom's mouth.

3.  LOUISA MAY ALCOTT was not a mother, but her Mrs. march "Marmee" in "Little Women" who was one of the most admirable mothers in literature.  Louisa's own mother, Abigail May Alcott was related to Samuel Sewall, one of eight judges who sentenced 20 women to deaths as witches in Salem, Massachusetts.  Of the eight, Sewall was the only one to publicly express regret later.

Mama Told Me Not to Come.  --Cooter

The Golden Age of Holiday Music-- Part 2

What can be referred to as the modern golden age of holiday music began in 1932 when a couple of songwriters named J. Fred Coors and Haven Gillespie wrote "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town."    During the next two decades we got "Winter Wonderland" (1934),
"The Little Drummer Boy" (1941),
"White Christmas" (1942),
"I'll Be Home for Christmas" (1943),
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (1944),
"Let it Snow! Let it Snow, Let it Snow" (1945),
"Here Comes Santa Claus" (1946),
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1949), and
"Frosty the Snowman" (1950)

After Last Winter, DON'T Let It Snow.  ----Cooter

The Golden Age of Holiday Music (Christmas That Is)-- Part 1

From the December 15, 2013, Chicago Tribune "Christmas sings of our shared humanity" by Rick Kogan.

Never too soon to start your Christmas shopping (just ask any retailer) and, hey, it is just over six months away.  Just saying.

The Apollo Chorus is Chicago's oldest musical organization was founded in 1872, only two years after President Grant (one-time resident of Galena, Illinois) signed a resolution that made Christmas an official national holiday.  (I didn't know that.)

In 1879, they began preforming Handel's "Messiah."  Always one of my favorites.

"OK, perhaps 'I Saw  Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' is more to your taste.  It doesn't matter.  Most of us never tire of holiday tunes. (and we might get to start hearing full-time Christmas music stations the day after Halloween, even Labor Day, in their wild variety.

"There are many theories about why that is....   And you will hear from others that 'music in some ways helps prepare us for the harshness of winter's arrival."

More to Come.  --Cooter

Deaths: Cornellus Gurlitt-- John Houbolt

CORNELLUS GURLITT, 81.  Recluse whose horde of more than 1400 modernists artworks set off an international uproar over the fate of the trove looted by the Nazis.  Died May 6, 2014.  And, coming so soon after that recent movie.


JOHN HOUBOLT, 95.  NASA scientist whose lunar-orbit rendezvous plan helped land man on the moon in 1969.  Died April 15, 2014.  His death and the previously mentioned one of William Dana are two of the reasons we were able to get to the Moon and space.

Deaths: Bill Dana-- Pioneer Pilot for Space Age

BILL DANA  (1930-2014)

Bill Dana's X-15 rocket plane had stopped climbing at 306,900 feet and he began descending the 58 miles down to the Mojave Dessert.  "The horizon appeared as a ring of bright blue around the shell of the Earth with darkness above, he later said.  "I knew I'd gotten all the altitude I needed to qualify as a space adventurer."

He helped usher in the Space Age in the 1960s by flying rocket planes to supersonic speeds and stratospheric heights died at age 83 May 6, 2014.

Test pilots are considered to be the best of the best.  And back then, they had little assurance they would survive.    Over his 48-year career he flew more than 8,000 hours in more than 60 aircraft.  Several of them now hang in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

But, he is probably best-known for his work in the X-15 Program.

Bonnie and Clyde Burial Spots

From Find-A-Grave.

I was wondering if the two were buried together until I read the last item in the list from the previous post.

BONNIE PARKER: B. October 1, 1910, in Rowena, Runnels County, Texas.  D: May 23, 1934, in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.  Buried at Crown Hill Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas.

Her only spouse was Roy Glenn Thornton (1908-1937), also an outlaw.  They separated.  he was killed in an attempted prison breakout.  Buried at the Hutchings-Alston- Haden Family Cemetery in Weldon, Texas.

CLYDE BARROW  B. March 24, 1909, in Ellis County, Texas.  D. May 23, 1934, in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.  Buried at Western heights Cemetery in Dallas, Texas, next to his older brother Marvin "Buck" also an outlaw.

There is a marker memorial at the site of Bonnie and Clyde's death site in Louisiana.

--Cooter

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Bonnie and Clyde-- Part 2

6.  Clyde chopped off two of his toes while in prison.

7.  A car accident impaired Bonnie's walking.

8.  Souvenir hunters tried to cut off parts of Bonnie and Clyde's bodies at the scene of their deaths.  Some 130 rounds were fired into their car.

9.  Their bullet-riddled car is on display at a casino.

10.  Bonnie and Clyde were buried separately even though they wished to be buried side-by-side.  But Bonnie's mother had her buried in a separate Dallas cemetery.  Clyde is buried next to his brother Marvin with a gravestone inscribed with his hand-picked epitaph, "Gone but not forgotten."

Interesting Stuff,  --DaCoot

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Bonnie and Clyde-- Part 1

From the History Channel by Christopher Klein.

There were pictures and more information in the article.  I'm just listing them.

1.  Bonnie died wearing a wedding ring, but it wasn't Clyde's.

2.  Bonnie wrote poetry.

3.  The Navy rejected Clyde when he tried to enlist.

4.  Clyde's first arrest came from failing to return a rental car.

5.  Bank robberies were not the pair's specialty.  Even though they often been depicted as stealing from the rich and powerful financial institutions, but they had many more robberies of mom-and-pop gas stations and grocery stores.  Sometimes their take was only $5 to $10.

More to Come.  --Cooter

The Real Bonnie and Clyde Car

From the Whiskey Pete's site.

OK, from yesterday's post, you know that a fake Bonnie and Clyde death car is at the Volo Auto Museum in Illinois, but I got to wondering where the real one was.

THE BONNIE AND CLYDE GETAWAY CAR

You can see it for free at Whiskey Pete's Casino in Primm, Nevada, right on the California border off I-15. People traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas pass by the town.   It is the car they were in when they were killed in the roadside ambush May 23, 1934 (the other article said it was May 24th).  Over 100 shots were fired into it.

The display has the car and the shredded shirt Clyde was wearing that day as well as testimonies of people who witnessed it.

Bang. Bang.  My baby Shot Me Down.  --DaCoot

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Obscure Words-- Part 4

8.  If your uncle spent a lot of time on the BRIDEWELL he was likely the black sheep of the family.  This is a generic term for jail that comes from the 16th-century prison near St. Bride Church in London.  The City of Chicago called its house of detention a bridewell for more than a century beginning as early as the 1850s.    Well, I never heard of it.

9.  When a leader assigns competent underlings to a minor task to get them out of the way, the leader has STELLENBOSCHED them.  The word comes from the Second Boer War , when the British sent unproven officers to the South African town of Stellenbosch to mind the horses and handle any other chore as long as they were away from the front lines.  My wife likes to Stellenbosch me.

10.  And finally, the word LABEORPHILLST.

So, Now That Mark and Stephan Have So Improved Our Vocab.  Bring On Those GREs.  --Cooter

In case you're wondering, a LABEOPHILLST collects beer bottle labels.  I've tried, but they keep pulling apart.

It's a Fake and Full of Holes-- Part 2

The Bonnie and Clyde Deathmobile was so popular that it spurred a bunch of fakes which eventually drew their own law enforcement notoriety.  According to Brian Grams, Volo Auto Museum director: "In effect, Bonnie and Clyde's crime spree continued after death."

He has acquired one of the fake Fords that toured back in the 1930s and plans a live-action display this Memorial Day weekend detailing the history of the real and false exhibits of the era.

Re-enactor Justin Fiorelli will play a huckster, drawing in the crowds to see the bullet-riddled vehicle.

They have not the real original, but one of the original fakes and aren't afraid to say so.

In case you're wondering, (I was), the real Bonnie and Deathmobile is on display at Whiskey Pete's Resort and Casino in Primm, Nevada.

Wonder If It has Blood Stains?  --autom

It's a Fake and Full of Holes-- Part 1

From the April 30, 2014, Hi-Liter "Fake Bonnie and Clyde murder car to be displayed at Volo Auto Museum.

Eighty years ago this month, May 24, 1934, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were driving a stolen Ford V-6 sedan near Sailes, Louisiana, when the law ambushed them.  And made extra sure they were killed by pumping lots and lots and lots of bullets into them and their vehicle.

The pair were were very well-known back then and even more when the 1967 Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway movie "Bonnie and Clyde" was released.

Their story is well known, including the gunfight they had in Joplin, Missouri near good old Route 66.  But less is known about what happened to the car they were in when they died.  Naturally, hordes of curiosity-seekers descended on the deathmobile (and not the Delta Tau Delta one, either.)  It brought about quite a legal battle over ownership and later became a traveling anti-crime exhibit.  Kind of like those drunk driving and prom crash wrecks you see.

More to Come.  --Cooter

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Obscure Words-- Part 3

5.  The universal language VOLAPUK was anything but obscure in the 1800s.  It was invented by a Roman Catholic German priest who said he was told by God to create a language that was easy to master to bring people together.  The Chicago Tribune mentioned it many times, especially the 1890s.  No Tower of Babel for us.

6.  SFUMATO is a printing technique in which one tone blends into another, without sharp outlines.  Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is an example.  I wonder what term refers to lack of eyebrows.

7.  A QUINCUNX is the arrangement of five (I got that) things in which four of them form a square and the fifth is in the center.  The number five on throwing dice is called a quincunx.  Did you know what number you always come up with when you add the numbers on opposite sides of the die?

Stuff You Really Didn't Need to Know.  --DaCoot

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Obscure Words-- Part 2

2.  Here's one that I can really relate to: AFTERISM:  You won't find it in many dictionaries, but the word means a clever retort that you come up with too late.  The French refer to it as "staircase wit (l'espirit de l'escaller).  (Is this where we get escalator from?)    And, I have had some REAL Good Retorts, too.  Hey, Up the Down Staircase.

3.  Auto-Carriage-Speak.  The BROUGHAM was a horse-drawn carriage-- and early automobile model with an enclosed passenger compartment and exposed driver's seat.    The PHAETON, named after the out-of-control chariot driven by the son of the Greek sun god, was a carriage or auto with or without a cloth canopy.  Not to be confused with the CABRIOLET or the DROPHEAD COUPE, two early names for the convertible.

4.  You may have wondered about the that little grooved place between your nose and upper lip.  That's your PHILTRUM.  Adolf Hitler had a philtrum mustache that also can be called a toothpaste mustache.  So did Charlie Chaplin.

I Always Called Them Ragtops.  --Cooter

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Obscure Words-- Part 1

From the Feb. 23, 2014, Chicago Tribune by those noted researchers Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer.

This crazy winter has brought us some never-heard-before weather-speak words such as BOMBOGENESIS and WILLIWAW (not to mention that cursed P.V. thing.  In case you're wondering, the first is meteorologist slang for a type of rapidly intensifying storm and the second is a windstorm caused when cold air rushes down a mountain to the sea.  "Here's more about obscure language that we hope you'll be goshbustified (very pleased) to learn.  By the way, P.V. is that gosh-awful polar vortex thing.

I hate to say it, but I think some of these words were on my GREs.  I am sure they were making words up.

1.  A DOZENALIST is a person who advocates that people adopt a base-12 counting system, saying it will be easier.  And, besides that, our clocks are set to dozens already.  I thing I had some of that base stuff back in junior and senior high.  Didn't know them then, still don't.

Bombogenesis That Dozenalist.  --Cooter

National World War I Museum in Kansas City-- Part 3

This is definitely a place to visit in the next four years to commemorate the centennial of that long-ago war.

You can see a pair of woolen socks knitted by first lady Edith Wilson as a highlight of the home front war effort.

Nearby, there is a cane carved from the wooden propeller blade of a plane piloted by Quentin Roosevelt, youngest son of President Theodore Roosevelt who died in combat just four months before the Armistice was signed.  Future World War II and Korean War President Harry Truman was overseas as well as an artillery officer in the Missouri National Guard.

The writer mentions that there is so much to see and take in, that admission covers two days.

Near the end of the visit to the museum, you encounter an exhibit called "A World Transformed" which features reflections of various people who lived through the war.  You see that novelist H.G. Wells warned "If we do not end war, war will end us."

Another said: "It cannot be that two million Germans should have fallen in vain....  We do not pardon; we demand vengeance!"  These were written by a twice-wounded German soldier from Austria.  His name was Adolf Hitler.

--DaCoot

National World War I Museum in Kansas City-- Part 2

Visitors then get to see the trenches to which the soldiers fought on the fronts.  The war started as wars in the past with grand movements of troops, but soon bogged down into those trenches because of modern technology's new instruments of death such as mechanized tanks, airplanes with machine guns, chemical agents such as mustard gas and advancement and refinement of machine guns.

American neutrality in the first three years is explored.

"Millions of young Yanks ended up on the battlefields of Europe.  Their stories are remembered through personal items such as diaries, photographs of loved ones and shaving kits."

A variety of authentic vehicles like a 1917 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a Ford Model T ambulance with a dark green paint job.  A sign on it says that author Ernest Hemingway and McDonald's founder Ray Kroc were young ambulance drivers.

--Cooter

National World War I Museum in Kansas City-- Part 1

From the April 6, 2014, Chicago Tribune "Museum puts WWI into focus" by Jay Jones.

President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed it as "The War to End All Wars."  Unfortunately, he was wrong, but some 9 million soldiers died between 1914 and the time the Armistice went into effect November 11, 1918.
The National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, puts a human face on the war.  The museum sits at the foot of the 217-foot Liberty Memorial tower.  Within ten days of the end of the war, the citizens of Kansas City had raised $2.5 million to build the tower as a tribute to those who had died.  It was dedicated on Nov. 11, 1926.

You reach the museum by crossing a glass bridge over a "field" covered with 9,000 red poppies, a traditional symbol of the war.  You learn that each poppy represents 1,000 killed in the war.  You then see a 12-minute film setting the stage for the war, three years before the United States entered it.

--Cooter

Catherine Buckley: Titanic Victim-- Part 2

Her body was recovered on April 28, 1912, 13 days after the Titanic sank.  by the recovery ship Mackay-Bennett and then taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia and forwarded to Boston on May 3rd.

Information from the recovery:  "Body No. 299.  Female. Est. age 18.  False teeth, top.  Hair, dark.  Clothing: long blue overcoat; blue serge jacket & skirt, blue corset; white blouse; grey knickers; 10 s in siler; 1 pound in gold; $5 note in purse; satchel; Third Class Ticket No. 329944.  Name Catherine Buckley."

The wake was held at her cousin Nellie Buckley's house on Baker Street in West Roxbury.  The funeral was at St. Theresa Church.

Catherine Buckley: Titanic Victim-- Part 1

From Find-A-Grave site.

On April 28th, I wrote about the author of the article I was using for information had been given the name of Catherine Buckley when she boarded the Titanic Experience.  I did some more research on Catherine Buckley.

Catherine Buckley was born on June 3, 1889 in Ovens, County Cork, Ireland and is buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.  She was the only Irish victim of the sinking to be buried by her relatives.  She died at age 22.

Catherine was originally booked to cross the Atlantic on the White Line ship Cymric, but service on that ship was withdrawn.  She was journeying to America to stay with her sister Margaret at 71 Mount View Street, Roxbury, Massachusetts.  This became a bone in family relations as her parents had wanted her to stay in Ireland to take care of them in their old age.  After her death, her parents never forgave Margaret.

Got Waylaid Again on the Titanic

Sitting here listening to WDRV playing their Album Sides Thursday semi annual show where they will be playing VINYL album sides all day.  That is what I'll be listening to all day.  As their deejays say, this is the way to listen to those old classics.  Right now, CCR's Chronicle (side 4) '76.  Fantasy released a double-vinyl record.

Doesn't get much of a better way to pass a rainy, cold day like we're having here on the Wisconsin-Illinois border.  It has been cold and rainy since Monday.  Sunday, it was just cold and sunny.  Still waiting for the warm.

Anyway, on the last post, I mentioned the Jane Hotel in Manhattan as having two drinks named after the Titanic.  The article got the information from  didn't have any more information than that.  So, I looked it up and found more of a Titanic connection.

Then, that led me to a long list of around 19 Titanic-related sites, mostly in Manhattan.

Well, That Took Quite Awhile.  DaCoot

The Titanic Trail-- Part 5: United States

INDIAN ORCHARD, MASSACHUSETTS-- has the storefront museum of the Titanic Historical Society and has a collection of postcards, trinkets and other related memorabilia.

PIGEON FORGE, TENNESSEE--   has cork and canvas life jackets that saved a pregnant Mrs. Astor and is a part of an extensive collection at the Titanic Museum.

NEW YORK CITY--  has the grave of John Jacob Astor at Trinity Church Cemetery at W. 155th St. and Broadway.

At Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx are the graves of the  Macy's owners, Mr. and Mrs. Isidor Straus.

The  Carpathia docked at Pier 54.  The Jane Hotel'a bar has a "ST-705" drink named for the number of survivors.  They also have a bourbon-based "Unsinkable Molly Brown" drink.

--Cooter