Christmas Season 1969

It has been 40yrs this yr since the holiday season of 1969. The end of a decade....and a difficult one at that. We had our 9-11 , the 60's had a strangeness all it's own. I was a senior at High School. Home for my last Christmas Season while in High School. In thinking back to that time I especially remember the anger of that time. The 60's opened up real wounds within this country. The political side of my family was staunch Republicans. They did not know it at the time but they were beginning a 40yr domination of political life in this country beginning with the election of Richard Nixon the previous yr. At the New Year turn of the decade there was little sign of conservative joy....just exhaustion and a sense of the world having gone somewhat crazy. As for me.....I was more hopeful. I was thrilled with the prospect of getting the hell out of Maple Hill High School. 5 more months and counting. But my home town was I think typical of many spots , angry , upset at the culture , fearful of loosing what they had. I remember the bitching at my Aunt and Uncle's house during Christmas Dinner that yr. Bitching about drugs , hippies , music with no mention of Christ that I remember. Dick Nixon would save us from the counter culture. But you could feel a harder edge to that time of peace. Oh and did I mention Vietnam and the war going on.....talk about wedge politics. We had the water shed moment of Kent State ahead of us a few months down the road but Woodstock was also inbedded in the nation's culture. That event was only a few short months before. The 60's still effects our politics & culture but you know....that was one of my favorite Christmas times I remember. I was ready to move on....dispite having to thank my mother for the soap on a goddamn rope I got as a stocking stuffer. My life was ahead.....unix time , a new time was about to start . America was moving on to a new decade and damn so was I .....goodby hometown....High School. on to the shock of the new. But that feeling of going beyond myself that yr still stays with me. Warm potential.

Lion of the Senate now gone

Well Ted Kennedy died on my birthday. Whether one loved or hated him I must say he was a heavyweight.....in a Congress of many lightweights perhaps a handfull of lightheavyweights in Congress now in power. The man once he stopped running for President did his homework. Knew his stuff & knew the people around him. Trust me he did not forget you when you were out of power and perhaps down. Not common among Pols. Family members who were in politics were sometimes shocked when they left the arena how they were quickly just a face in the crowd to their former "political friends" If you can't do anything for me why are you attempting to talk to me. So just for that basic piece of humanity , thank you , Ted.......RIP...... You took what life presented good & often tragic and became an uncommon Pol.

Winter in a Baseball Stadium

As the current baseball season is now way past the midway point I recently recalled a trip to the old Shea Stadium in the middle of January afew yrs ago. When one is all most alone in an off season park , in the cold and snow there is generally a longing for the future. The next season to come. But I sat with my Dunkin Donuts coffee and just took in this quiet moment....so many games....but so many days of absolute quiet. No game....no one. I lost track of time , set for more than an hour froze my behind on that plastic seat.A baseball field in limbo....awaiting spring and it's warm weather restart hundreds of miles away. For being in a huge modern city these stadiums shelter out a great deal of their noise and clutter. Giving some peace....

Permanent Anger Voting Block vs Christianity

Listening to political radio Limbaugh....Hannity....Urban AA Radio I think it time for me to simply say this. This is a raw meat example of feeding your angry core of a particular voting block. Feed them some anger & lets face it hate....wala.....angry people finding a home in someones expression of how bad the other side is. A reliable block of voters who are encouraged to feel left out, ignored and not thanked enough for their contribution to the collective whatever. Now my great question....is this a good example to hold up as samples of Christian thought. We hear alot of moral talk from these voices on the media , especially Limbaugh , but where is the foundation of Jesus...DO UNTO OTHERS.....etc. Frankly it is easy to do the hate than the Love stuff. Builds a more conformed base of voters as well. Let me put it this way.....it should take more than being antiabortion to be a good Christian or for that matter Jew or Hindu etc. These voices of anger & rage seeking concensus with a sizeable enough group to become a "CLUB". Of course using this "club" in the political venue which is done not only on the political battlefield but vastly to much in many churches gives some a feeling of satisfaction but frankly blots out The Spiritual arena. Taking many on an ancient road to dispair by amnesia of original purpose.

The Political Back Alley

With the recent shooting in Washington DC by a Neo-Nazi it is time again to remember that within this world are dark side streets within any political culture. Von Brunn I believe was attempting suicide.....in his sunset he would be shot ....be a hero to fellow extreme persons in his back street culture but be finally dead. Suicide by police is uncommon but certainly been done multiple times. In our everyday lives we can easily forget that the badly lite back alley people still wander.....elope not with the sound of a different drummer but the sound of several rounds of gun fire. Whether the target be Jews or an Archduke or a Kennedy there is always that distant rumble of gunfire. The noise of everyday life blankets that distant rumble............we pass by with but a glance in that narrow passageway. Common sense keeps us away. Spawning there is the next loners death , strange vision of a world of separates or some great revenge upon a group of THEM. Take watch.....sometimes history is modified by that next killer...........WW1 or The Kennedy Administration as supreme examples. The back alley's have their own reinforcement system.

Dinosaur bone fossil found in island off Crotia

On a recent St Lawrence University Geology Dept student tour the teacher / student team may have discovered the first dinosaur bone fossil in that country. Further study of the fossil will continue in the fall. This could be a truly important find as no fossils of this type have been found in Croatia or that part of the European Union. The discovery was on the island of Myjet. It came from a local residents garden he was clearing. First reported here.

Boroleum X

Code name given to the room of Sterling Winthrop where old samples such as lung tissue from a man in the 1920's who had the Spanish Influenza were kept. Triple locked....special pass. Many samples were encased in wax. Some marked War Dept. Sterling was bought out in 1980's. Samples destroyed before buy out.

First Day of Spring and it's Snowing

As of this writing it is the first day of spring for the year 2009. It is snowing in 11001 and 06037. Despite this I am in a less unpleased mood than usual. Perhaps because I who enjoy history & archaeology have this sense of ancientness about this day. Great pains in older cultures went into calculating this day......observing this day ...........having expectations for this day & the near future. Through celebrations , spiritual ceremony and just knowing it is the first day of a new season. Survived the winter , expectations often turn more positive. The season which goes before all others in it's inport for the rest of the year. I am pleased somewhat, to be part of the equation ancient and modern of this day.

Oarsmen Society Part II

To add additional Info since my last blog I wish to include a few more facts. The Oarsmen Society after their low of membership in 1968 expanded to other schools. St. Lawrence University has had some members as well as Williams. Colgate has also contributed some members especially in the late 1970's. Initiation is generally after Spring break in the respective schools usually early April. Their financial situation is an area I have not been able to find much about , however , they did receive a substantial gift in 1970 which greatly aided the society to increase their number. A symbol some use to identify their group is a cross with 3 stars or dots under the cross. Another symbol is 3 dots in the shape of a pyramid with the number 322 in the middle. This seems to be a number shared by Skull & Bones of Yale. More often used in later yrs is simply the 3 dots in pyramid form without the number. A cross is also used at times in the middle of the triangle shape. It has been said that this symbol may be derived from a Medici family symbol. There have been deep lasting friendships made in this society while others have drifted off to never be formally heard from again. About the only well known person I was told was a member is Erin Burnett of the CNBC cable channel. She joined while at Williams.

Oarsmen Society

Within many of especially the older or more tradition laden universities are found private clubs or societies. Probably the best known is Skull & Bones of Yale University. Scroll & Key being another. The society I have found fascinating after I by chance discovered or heard about it is The Oarsmen Society. It was started circa 1947 at Cornell University by 3 students , two of which were GI Bill students at the time. It obtained it's name to obscure itself somewhat. One of the founders had rowed while in England. What it is essentially is a private society{they hate the word secret} that is dedicated to aiding those in their junior and senior yrs who become initiated to gain a philosophic underpinning to their life. Their basic document was written in the later 1950's by a long deceased actor named Jack Carson. Perhaps his most famous role was in the movie version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with recently deceased actor Paul Newman. This appx 14 page treatise give an essential guide to conducting ones life. How to ponder the existence of GOD etc. I have never read the full document for it is truly a guarded paper. Afterone is initiated it is not unusual for members to have dinners together to discuss their lives and ambitions. This is mainly done in the senior year. The only request after leaving school is on the second Thursday of February between 10:00 pm and 11:00 in the evening their local time one thinks over the past few months and of their fellow members. The members also do not discuss their membership except to spouses and close family members. This is essentially what I have uncovered in my occasional moments of research on this topic.

Why Templar Saint ?

Why my blog name? Well , in part it derives from my ancestors Masonic past. But that is only really 10% of the reason. It goes back to circa 1957. A new TV series was in part being filmed near Ocala Fl. Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges. They were filming some exteriors there and the underwater sequences at nearby Silver Springs. My Aunt and Uncle were managing a nearby Motel where Bridges stayed while filming. A guest arrived one August afternoon. A man of eastern looks but of more a British manner. He was there to talk with Bridges on some topic. Probably entertainment related. She agreed earlier to provide a picnic dinner for these gentleman. She delivered it to the Springs. Late in the evening they returned, spent a half hour in the bar , a few cigarettes etc. Late the next morning long after Bridges had gone off to the set the english sort of gentlemen was about to check out. My aunt an avid reader of detective fiction finally got up her courage to comment on the authors work. She then pulled out from under the desk her copy of one of his books. Yes he would sign it but first he wanted her recipe for her spicy deviled eggs he had in part dined on the night before. My aunt gladly complied. He signed the book plus drew for her a cartoon type human stick figure with a halo and signed that piece of paper as well. You see the author was Leslie Charteris......author of the Simon Templar mystery series. Templar was otherwise known as The Saint. The book was The Saint in New York. Don't know where the book ended up.....the stick figure is framed and hangs on my wall. The logo from the man himself. Templar is not as well known today.....but trust me Ian Fleming borrowed alot from Charteris when he created James Bond. You all know him. So in a sense, The Saint lives on in a very small way in my office in 06037 and with my blog name as well.

Lincoln Lost

Yesterday was the 200th anniversary of Pres. Lincoln's birth. Speeches , reassessments of the man and his time as President etc. My comment today is an observation that came to me after a discussion with a southern relative not very long ago. If you look at the voting map district by district as I have it does not take a math major to realize that the current Republican Party has become a deeply Southern Party. It reminds me of the old solid south when it was Democratic. My uncle Belton was what was referred to as a yellow dog Democrat. They could run a yellow dog for office and they would vote for them. This of course stems from the Civil War and Reconstruction. The last Presidential election that was close to a solid south election was 1964 when Johnson was elected in a landslide. Much has changed in the intervening yrs. The Civil War is still close to many a southerners heart. The War of Northern Aggression as it is sometimes referred to down there. Pres. Lincoln it seems to me has become the crazy aunt in the attic for the conservative Republicans. One of the founding fathers of the Republican Party , the man obsessed with Union and the Gettysburg address. He is now the family embarrassment to many southern Republicans. Pres. Obama it seems has taken over the Lincoln Brand. The new man from the midwest paying frequent homage to the former. The current regional Republican Party does not know what to do with Lincoln. This I believe weakens the party , lessens it's history and
impact on the present. As the Republican Party attempts to reconstruct itself as it did after the 1964 election should be aware of the biblical adage of gaining the world and loosing it's soul. For Lincoln seems lost & yet to be rediscovered by his parties ancestors.

From Ripple to Riesling

The other night I attended a fund raising event for a NYC based human service agency. It was a wine tasting event....cheese....food events. My wife Elizabeth and I purchased 4 bottles from some of the exhibitors. On the way back home that night I thought about my younger days. America back then was not a wine nor exotic beer country back then. I remember attending several high school graduation parties in the summer of 1970 { the legal drinking age was then 18}. Wine was not on the list nor was any beer more exotic than Schlitz. My buddies Ron Kunicki and John Connellyand I spent a few evenings seeing school chums at the frequent graduation parties , drinking a few brews etc. Some of these people we would never see again. We did not yet want to see over the close horizon to college and beyond. That all could wait. I remember one week from our graduation we set outside of one of our parents cars on a small secondary road oddly namedFunk Road. We had a bottle of Ripple. Made by the Gallo Vineyards this was a cheap rotgut wine. About to start summer jobs we were poor seniors......but proud. Did not matter at that moment. Ripple came in a cork screwed shaped was a red wine with a semi sweetness. This wine did not have legs. I believe the cork screw shape was to aid wine drunks to hold onto the bottle. Later that summer my two buddies and I attended the Powder Ridge Music Festival in Connecticut. It was billed as a second Woodstock but was much a fizzle as far as the music part went. Most groups had a court injunction slapped on them so they never came. Ripple was a very common product at that loosely named music festival. That was really our last hurrah.....it was August , college approached just over our personnel bend in our youthful road. By the way , we were not a trio of drunks......just young , walking somewhat reluctantly towards our so called futures our parents had dreams about. Soon we were off to college. The years have gone by. I still know my childhood friend Ron. We tend to drink Merlot or a Riesling. This is not just because they don't make Ripple anymore. WE BECAME THOSE TAX PAYING < HARD WORKING < VOTING < CHILD RAISING ADULTS. We moved on. Wineries once confined to Europe or the west coast and even the southern tier of NewYork now are widespread. Micro breweries appear in small towns and cities from Lake Placid to Brooklyn , NY. America changed as our culture expanded. Wine once an oddity for maybe a Thanksgiving now common even in a local gin mill. In a truly odd way that generation looking for something different came upon and helped create this market. Slight snobs , graduating from a Ripple to Reasoning and Riesling.

Kirsten Jillibrand : Big Tent New York Democratic Pick

Recently , our esteemed Gov. has appointed Rep. Jillibrand as the new Senator for our state. That seat being vacated by Senator H. R. Clinton. A few evenings ago I attended a dinner party near 11001. Soon into the first course I realized that I was the designated upstate guy. I grew up in her now former congressional seat. Questions arose about her 100% NRA rating. Her hick upstate area she came from. The congressional district I grew up in. After several minutes of downstate bitching I simply made the point that she was a big tent Democrat. The kind of Democrat that people vote for, the kind that win in their district. My old hometown area is in the Columbia/Saratoga area of the state. The Hudson Valley region. The home of esteemed United States President Martin Van Buran. Her political genetics go deep there , her Grandmother was Polly Noonan for instance. She headed the powerful Woman's Democratic Club in Albany. This organization was part of the old Democratic Machine. Long lasting and well organized a smaller version of present day Chicago. West of the river was Democratic to the east was Republican. This has been a traditionally more conservative area atleast since the Civil War. Even Hudson Valley neighbor FDR when President had a difficult time cracking that District. The area has long since lost it's factories and papermills. It is now more suburban , with a large segment that has remained rural , still populated by small farms , apple orchards , horse breeding stables and many small hamlet towns. People deer hunt up there. So , to win as a Democrat one has to possess atleast a conservative tint. Ms. Jillibrand went to an Ivy League College. Lived part of her life in Manhatten , is a Lawyer trained at what is often referred to as a left coast university. Hopefully.....some of the Dinner party guests will calm down. Politicians have something for everybody......even downstaters who are unclear as to what is over that Westchester County horizon to the north.

Random Chance

Last spring I spent an interesting week in the London area . I was visiting my daughter doing a semester in England. One of my favorite memories was visiting the House of Commons for Question Period. It was right before local elections and polls and the real vote would show the Labor Party was about to take a bath. It was a brutal confrontation , the Prime Minister at his dispatch box fielding catcalls & laughter from the opposing party. An angry Labor party with a stone silence showing their displeasure at the rumpled looking PM. They say American politics are rough. Ha. After the session ended I filed out , few milled outside the Chamber. The young student friend of my daughter who was interning there and got me in the gallery rejoined me to complete the tour he was leading me on. Outside the chamber are statues of Thatcher & Churchill. The right foot of Churchill shines as if polished. It was explained to me by my young guide that MP's and other staffers and occasionally PM's rub his foot for good luck. I did as well , my right hand reaching out and adding my rub to so many others. I just could not resist......like throwing coins in a fountain. A friend of mine refers to luck as hoping the laws of Random Chance is on you side. It seemed those laws were not on Gordon Brown 's side that week. Such is ones political fate sometimes. Sometimes it's cycles of the body politic , misreading polls , money all ways money of course. Random chance has brought me to begin this blog on politics and other random thoughts. I met a writer for NBC News recently at a dinner party. Her husband was also a writer. Though not a good writer , I was encouraged to blog. Why not I was asked....have you read some of the blogs out there? So my random chance encounters may have sparked a lucky moment for me. I plan to explore a wide variety of subjects from politics to religion.....travel to education.....books to baseball.....inner peace to scotch. BE SEEING YOU.