The Red Brick Times

2001. The year of 9/11. The year of losing Lenore and Jim Mosher and Skippy the Penk. The year of losing my stepmother, a wonderful person who also died way too young. I'm tempted to say that 2002 can't be worse but on the last day of 2001 we learn that India and Pakistan have mobilized their nuclear weapons. Lovely. Just fucking lovely. As if looking back isn't bad enough the "hope springs eternal" that a brand new year usually offers to some degree or other seems absent this time, even foolish. I'm really a ray of sunshine today aren't I? Sorry. I do still wish all of you, especially Alice, the best in this new year and will drain a glass (or two) to that thought this evening. And oh, if anybodys hungry check out the comment thread on my post from last Friday.

Posted 1:42 PM by whatley (0) comments

Hey! News! This is an OPEN INVITATION to anyone in this motley gruesome crew who wants to go to a New Year's Eve party in Peninsula, Ohio. My host told me that she once showed up with 7 carloads of extra people to one of these parties, and the group loved it. She says that she wants to perk up the party somewhat, and I think you people are just the odd ducks to do it. Just think ... a chance for cultural cross-pollination with other Cleveland area artists and miscellaneous wildlife. If you wanna join the train, lemme know at one or more of my email addresses ( alldrew@7393.org - hit the "check mail" button at the left, alldrew@kellnet.com, alldrew@peoplepc.com ) and I will coordinate departure times, destination address and the like. The start is 8PM, so leaving here at 6:30PM will permit travelling the 54 miles to Peninsula via the Turnpike (closer if you are not at the left end of the County as am I ). Russ, here is the invitation that you asked for. Bring the rest of the crowd and the crock pot of pottage and let's putt! Everyone bring a little something - bottle of wine, hogshead of mead, bumper of beer, horse's doovers, crispy critters, life-sized inflatable Liberaces, you know the drill. I will be driving a 4-door Taurus so can take three other people (4 if you are friendly). I was told that we should dress casual, but one step up from flannels and blue jeans. Remember school clothes? Boy will they be surprised that we look so good and act so odd.

So shake out of your doldrum and kickstart the new year with the new and unexpected. You are not THAT old, yet, are you?

Posted 11:39 PM by Andy (0) comments

I've done some revision of the FOWL web page. The feedback form never did work. The host server says they support FrontPage but they don't like it. Sorry if you thought you were sending feedback. I never got it. Now, instead of filling out a form, you go to the bottom of the page where it says webmaster, click and you should launch your email directed to me. I would sure appreciate someone testing the page letting me know how it works for you. It will probably be different with macs and netscape users. If that's you, and something doesn't seem right, let me know. Microsoft products expect the world to be using Microsoft products. So if you don't use Internet Explorer you aren't worthy.

Posted 6:32 PM by Ray (0) comments

Alice's condition has not been a secret, especially, but it hasn't been something that I eagerly talk about either. After returning from our wonderful car trip to California this summer Alice had a routine mamagram. We soon learned that she had early stages of a potentially agressive form of breast cancer. She was strong and decisive (who would have guessed?). Within weeks the surgeon performed a modified radical mastectomy. She was out of work for about six weeks. Her recovery has been steady. Her (and my) emotional well-being has been like a roller coaster. I will always remember the events of Sept. 11 as the day before surgery. There is no call for alarm. There is every reason to expect a full recovery. Alice has just received the third of six chemotherapies. The side effects seem to be reduced each time but the impact is still overpowering. If you missed the solstice toast this year, one reflection that I included was that recent adversity has shown how we are strengthened, whether you consider the nation, a community or a marriage. I see it, and I feel it. I hope the new year brings us strength.

Posted 12:42 PM by Ray (0) comments

Anybody have New Years Eve plans? I think the only time in the last 10 years or so I even bothered staying up 'till midnight was to watch 2000 roll in. What a turnip I've become. Save me from myself. Invite me to a party. From my twenties I remember New Years as the party night (see, I do remember a few things from back then). I'd get invited to three or four and ever so carefully plan in what order to hit each one. Them was the days. Now my only plan is maybe doing a crock pot of spare ribs and sourkraut for New Years Day dinner, something my mom used to do every year when I was a kid. Yum. I don't think I've had it since then. Hungry?

Posted 10:09 AM by whatley (0) comments

Jerry Falwell wins major award! I think we can all get behind him on this one.

Posted 2:20 PM by whatley (0) comments

Well, that was exciting. Blogger is back online after a security breach sometime Christmas day. As I mentioned in my email user and ftp passwords were suspected to have been stolen. I've changed our ftp password, though that's something that has always been transparent to you anyway. You may want to change your user password, or not. I don't really think it matters. At some point I might recreate the directory structure on our server to better protect us from potential threats should this sort of thing happen in the future. That'll mean a slightly different URL for getting to the blog. I'll let you know here before I do that. In the meantime let the posting re-commence!

Posted 8:02 AM by whatley (0) comments

Wednesday was Boxing Day. In tune with and in time for our current holiday season and somber remembrances is this retrospective of an English Boxing Day remembrance from WWII as the Germans were dropping V1's and Incendaries on urban England. The Pantomime is a long-standing English Boxing Day tradition for the entire family. We are not alone.

Posted 2:26 AM by Andy (0) comments

For those of you who have revived the traditional custom of Bundling, here is a Christmas Eve Couscous for you-you as you coo-coo with your bundle of joy.

Posted 5:28 PM by Andy (0) comments

For Vegetarians and those saving their carnivorous intent for the following day, Meat-free holiday traditions: Ukrainian Christmas Eve.

Posted 5:20 PM by Andy (0) comments

Christmas Eve Salad is another recipe in a collection of Holiday cooking from the American Southwest.

Posted 5:17 PM by Andy (0) comments

Sicilians know how to spend Christmas Eve. Try the Christmas Eve Fish Dinner .

Posted 5:14 PM by Andy (0) comments

According to legend, on Christmas Eve in Germany rivers turn to wine, animals speak to each other, tree blossoms bear fruit, mountains open up to reveal precious gems, and church bells can be heard ringing from the bottom of the sea. Reisbrei (Rice Porridge), Lebkuchen (Spice Bars) and Egg White Icing all await Santa Claus as he visits.

Posted 5:10 PM by Andy (0) comments

A Loska a day keeps the blues away. A favorite Slovak dish.

Posted 5:06 PM by Andy (0) comments

Buon Natale! Christmas Eve Italian Style.

Posted 5:03 PM by Andy (0) comments

To remain all snug and comfey, here's some traditional Christmas Eve Recipes from Poland. Have a Krupnik and Wassail!

Posted 4:58 PM by Andy (0) comments

We finally got our first bit of snow that actually stuck to the ground last night. I even had to scrape my windshield when leaving solstice. In that spirit here's a snowball fight for you to get into. It's done in "Shockwave" and has been around for a few years now but I think it's still one of the coolest little games.
Merry Christmas everybody!

Posted 11:00 AM by whatley (0) comments

Always alert to threats from space, the North American Defense Command (NORAD) keeps a watchful eye overhead. On Christmas Eve, they make sure that Santa stays to his assigned route by tracking him as he flies. Will they let him approach the White House? What about all the good little Generals and Admirals at the Pentagon? Tune in as the story unfolds.

Posted 12:36 PM by Andy (0) comments

Santa Claus, like all pilots, gets regular visits from the Federal Aviation Administration,
and it was shortly before Christmas when the FAA examiner arrived. In preparation,
Santa had the elves wash the sled and bathe all the reindeer. Santa got his logbook out
and made sure all his paperwork was in order.

The examiner walked slowly around the sled. He checked the reindeer harnesses, the
landing gear, and Rudolf's nose. He painstakingly reviewed Santa's weight and balance
calculations for the sled's enormous payload.

Finally, they were ready for the check ride. Santa got in, fastened his seat-belt and
shoulder harness, and checked the compass. Then the examiner hopped in carrying, to
Santa's surprise, a shotgun.

"What's that for?" Santa asked.

The examiner winked and said, "Well, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but you're going
to lose an engine during take-off."

Posted 11:48 AM by Andy (0) comments

Happy Solstice everybody!

I stumbled onto this local Better Business Bureau site while surfing around for information on auto glass repair services in Elyria. All three I was interested in were listed. There wasn't a huge amount of info about them but enough to steer me away from one. It's a nice resource.

Posted 8:45 AM by whatley (0) comments

Every day on my way to work there's at least one driver, and most days two or three, who mistake their morning commute for a NASCAR tryout. What's wrong with these people? What the fuck are they thinking? Maybe I'm more sensitive to this now that I'm driving a new car which, by the way, got baptized Tuesday evening on the way home. A small rock got thrown up on the innerbelt and made a tiny ding in my windshield. It's especially vexing because the ding is right in the middle of my sightline. Anybody know if there's a cheap fix for that?

Here's a very cool brain game called Reflections. You have to use various prisms and mirrors to bend a laser beam and hit targets. There are 20+ levels and it gets pretty difficult.

Follow up (11:30am): I just spoke with my insurance agent about the chip in my windshield. As Mike mentioned in his comment there is a technique for repairing small chips and cracks but it is highly not recommended when the problem is in the main sightline. Bummer. I gotta replace the windshield (silver lining: it falls under my policies "no deductable"). They gave me three places I can have it done in Elyria: Al's Auto Glass on E. Bridge, Central Glass on S. Abbe, or Guardian Glass on Yourshire Ct. Can anyone recommend which I should use?

Posted 8:55 AM by whatley (0) comments

Belated update on my brother Dick:
As you know from Sally's post a couple of weeks ago, Dick is home and has survived whatever it was. It was a torturous experience and in the end the doctors had no idea what happened. He got sick, became delirious, he got better. It could have been this or it might have been that or .... well no one seems to have any idea what was at the root of it all. Bottom line? He is home, he is as well as he can be and this crisis has passed. We are, as a family, grateful for your thoughts and prayers. Thanks.

Posted 10:17 PM by jeichenlaub (0) comments

Now commences the long winter evening around the farmer's hearth, when the thoughts of the indwellers travel far abroad, and men are by nature and necessity charitable and liberal to all creatures. Now is the happy resistance to cold, when the farmer reaps his reward, and thinks of his preparedness for winter . . .

Henry David Thoreau,
"A Winter Walk,"

Posted 2:42 PM by Andy (0) comments

Who can resist the Personalized Shakespearean Insult Service?

Posted 1:10 PM by Andy (0) comments

Do you put off putting together? 'Twas the Night for Assembling, a cautionary tale for the season.

Posted 11:42 AM by Andy (0) comments

Christmas Carols for the Psychiatrically Challenged

SCHIZOPHRENIA: Do you Hear What I Hear?

MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER: We Three Queens Disoriented Are

DEMENTIA: I Think I'll Be Home for Christmas

NARCISSISTIC: Hark the Herald Angels Sing about Me

MANIC: Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants and..

PARANOID: Santa Claus Is Coming to Get Me.

PERSONALITY DISORDER: You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll tell you Why.

DEPRESSION: Silent Anhedonia, Holy Anhedonia, All is Flat, All is Lonely.

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER: Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock... (Better start again.)

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY: On the First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me (and then took it all away).

BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER: Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire.

Posted 11:38 AM by Andy (0) comments

I recall Christmas trees from my youth that could have been portrayed by Dali or Picasso without much need for interpretation, so full were they of "character". But one man's father went to greater lengths each year, as written in Butt Ugly Christmas Trees as a recollection. Complete with a background rendition of "Silver Bells". Select the "Next" button to go to the second page of the story.

Posted 11:32 AM by Andy (0) comments

Santarchy! "No force on earth can stop one hundred Santas!"

Posted 8:09 AM by whatley (0) comments

Well, I guess it's official. This years winter solstice celebration will be Sunday, December 23rd, in the afternoon, at Linda's. From now on should I get any new pertinent info I'll update the solstice page instead of posting. There's also a (trial) list of who's bringing what on that page.

Posted 1:49 PM by whatley (0) comments

Solstice update: I spoke with Linda Tarry last night and she has graciously offered to host our 2001 Winter Solstice on Sunday afternoon, December 23rd. She asked that I post this for her and request feedback as to whether this date and time would work for everybody. Please say Yea or Nay quickly as the time is drawing nigh.

Posted 8:41 AM by whatley (0) comments

OK, maybe I'm not a computer whiz like Russ and others, so I can't do the link thingamabob, (technical computerese) but I DO have an amusing site for you all to visit in your spare time. Go to E-bay.com and do a search for "butt ugly." Apparently there's a monthly contest. The descriptions are a howl! This month features some butt ugly Christmas decorations and my personal favorite- a butt ugly Tupperware relish dish.

Posted 4:55 PM by Sally (0) comments

Update on Dick Eichenlaub: I 'm talking with Robin as I type this. She'll tell John to make a post when he can. Robin says Dick is home from the hospital. Good news!

Posted 9:38 AM by Sally (0) comments

russ,I tried to post a long, fascinating rumination on life, transportation and justice, but, apparently, my computer ate it for luch...! oh, well. anyone with news on Dick Eichenlaub's condition would have a willing listener here... hope you all are well. Happy Solstice, sorry we'll have to miss it again, regrets, Russ & Shan

Posted 10:11 PM by Russ (0) comments

The Art of Laze Cookbook. I can't make up my mind which of these fine recipes I should use for solstice.

Posted 4:17 PM by whatley (0) comments

I had a revelatory experience today. Last night while I was working at home, dialed in to the corporate network, my work laptop threw a rod, couldn't find basic Windows and Outlook components, choked on Word for Windows files and generally kept retreating into a catatonic corner in which it ignored all of Mazlow's heriarchical needs: electrons, CPU, peripherals, input and IRQs (interrupt requests). It would not aknowledge the ubiquitous "three finger salute" that is the fourth-to-last resort of users everywhere. The third-to-last? Turn off the power switch. The second-to-last? Pull the plug. The last resort? Reprogram with a large axe.
I used the third-to-last several times and after about 5 hours of struggling, left it somnolent and flung myself into bed.

This morning, I returned the recalcitrant thing to the docking station at work, assuming that it would work again, since it had been perfect the day before. No luck. Same issues, sprinkled with "fatal exception error" messages and "the program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down" boxes in between rebooting. I was sorely tempted to the last resort. But I had an adjacent cubist summon the Computer EMTs, who fiddled for a time and then said "Unlock it so we can take it back to the shop." And, just like that, I was helpless. I couldn't call anyone (all numbers and directories are in the computer). I couldn't do any research (all files and data are Web-based). I couldn't answer email. I couldn't figure out which of a dozen meetings I was supposed to attend (all teleconference call-ins from around the country for various working groups and technical teams) since all the conference details, agendas and numbers were on the computer. I was reduced to an uncommunicative, inefficient, helpless blob of corporate protoplasm. And I realized one thing: this is the way it used to be before we were all so connected. There was actually time to plan things, to organize some of the files and paper information that has been slowly burying me as I dance attendance on the email demands and Web-based mandatory processes that never stop flowing. There was a feeling that it was actually possible to think about controlling one's own work day instead of being driven before the whip, like a horse dragging a wagon.

But tommorrow, when they return the little black box to my desk, there will be at least 100 email messages that I need to attend, and questions from my boss about "Why didn;t you get this done yesterday?" And the sound of grinding machinery will again speed to life in my head as I, one of the gears, pass along the motive energy that keeps the churning thing alive.

Posted 8:43 PM by Andy (0) comments

I started our winter solstice page today (yep, it's only two weeks from Saturday) even though I don't know for sure who's hosting it. I'm not even positive about the date, though Saturday, December 22nd sounds about right. The page is accessed on the left menu bar. Please start muttering among yourselves and let me know as soon as anything is definite.

Posted 3:36 PM by whatley (0) comments

Three things I've read today that made me think. They're ranked from the least to greatest amount of thought about. Thinking is good. Do some today!
1) This letter to the editor from the Eugene Register-Guard of Nov. 23rd.
2) FBI agents rebel over new powers, from The Guardian UK.
3) Justice Deformed: War and the Constitution, an editorial from the NYTimes.

Posted 12:39 PM by whatley (0) comments

This is the outline text of Peter Marsh's lecture to the Institute for Cultural Research at the King's Fund, London, November 17 2001:In Praise of Bad Habits.

An excerpt: Shaw upset more than a few medics with his forthright views on the role of their profession. And few doctors then, as now, aligned themselves with his dictum that health is not something which should be pursued for its own sake. Shaw said: "Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die." Shaw's line here reflects very much an old Russian proverb which, if you visit our humble SIRC office in Oxford, you will find displayed as you enter. It translates simply as "If you don't drink, and you don't smoke' you will die healthy."

A similar sentiment was also, and perhaps most famously, expressed by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. In his 'autobiography' he commented: "There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and every eatable, drinkable and smokeable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation. They pay this price for health. And health is all they get out of it. How strange it is. It is like paying out your whole fortune for a cow that has gone dry."

It was Mark Twain, of course, who also urged us to be careful when reading health books. "You might", he warned "die of a misprint."

Posted 10:22 AM by whatley (0) comments

Update on Dick:
[email from my Mom]
I did not go to the Clinic yesterday but Eleanor talked to him on the phone. �She said his words are clearer, not so muffled. He has been moved from the place I told you but I don't have a location yet. They are doing more tests. �He doesn't seem able to remember much from hour to hour. �He does not remember my being with him Thursday. Asked Eleanor why was he at the Clinic. The only memory he has is everything going black last Monday. If it is not a stroke I hope there is not a lot of brain damage. �Keep praying, we don't want to lose him. I'll see him later today and will get back to you tomorrow via e-mail. �Love all around, Mom (Josie)

Posted 3:08 PM by jeichenlaub (0) comments

For those of us suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (AKA: the Dark Side of the Farce), here is a well-done R. Crumb-style work called The Dark Hotel wherein our Hero, Drago, the night manager, a Serbian immigrant from the Yugoslovian conflict, heroin addict, political pitchfork murderer, presidential candidate, brings honesty and grit into the midst of modern politics with links to the Fascist/Communist/Government/Worker conflicts in San Francisco during 1934. Whew! I suggest you start with the previous story index, choosing episode #1 to work your way forward. The link is from Salon.com comics index and is worthy of a look. I especially liked the presidential campaign debates with Ted Koppel where "W' and Sen. McCain got into a fistfight and Drago was the hero of the moment.

Posted 12:10 PM by Andy (0) comments

The Red Brick Times

Monday, December 31, 2001

Sunday, December 30, 2001

Saturday, December 29, 2001

Friday, December 28, 2001

Thursday, December 27, 2001

Monday, December 24, 2001

Saturday, December 22, 2001

Friday, December 21, 2001

Thursday, December 20, 2001

Tuesday, December 18, 2001

Monday, December 17, 2001

Thursday, December 13, 2001

Wednesday, December 12, 2001

Tuesday, December 11, 2001

Saturday, December 08, 2001

Thursday, December 06, 2001

Wednesday, December 05, 2001

Tuesday, December 04, 2001

Monday, December 03, 2001

Saturday, December 01, 2001

An 1885 Schoolhouse Blog

archives