Thanksgiving Parade

Over 20 huge helium balloons.   I'm told it's the 2nd largest Thanksgiving parade in the country, second only to Macy's!   Several hundred thousand spectators!   Stamford is big time!

Benetton's UnHATE Campaign

Well...they've done it again and the Pope and the Catholic Church are really pissed! I think it's brilliant!   The image of Benedict kissing Ahmed el Tayyeb, an Egyptian imam and a prominent figure in Sunni Islam, appeared on a banner which was draped over the side of a Renaissance stone bridge near the Vatican, in the center of Rome.



Unfortunately this particular shot only lasted a few days, because Benetton conceded to the powers that be at the Vatican and decided to no longer use the image as part of their unhate campaign.   Benetton took down the banner.

The Vatican also went ballistic when Benetton used this priest/nun image in one of its' campaigns about 20 years ago.



I'm lovin' it!   Awesome!

Connecticut? October? Snow? Huh?

Hey!   It's still October!   What's with this white stuff covering my Jag?   A record snowfall yesterday for Connecticut...broke the history books!   750,000 homes lost electricity!   Fortunately, we didn't!



Today's aftermath...snow covered pumpkins, mums and a boston fern!

A Postcard from Croatia

My daughter and son-in-law live in Munich, Germany.   I'm told that Munich is about a 12 hour drive to the southern shores of Croatia.   We just received a postcard from them!

And I quote....

"Put it on your to do list, in capital letters: CROATIA!   I'm telling you.   Forget St. Martin, Turks & Caicos.   Take your Jamaica money and start browsing the web for flights because OHMYGOD it's breathtaking."

If nothing else...I think it's time for a trip to Munich...with a side trip to Croatia?

The Road to Dubuque

The Journey:
It was the spring of 1964.   I was a high school senior.   I wanted to attend Temple University…but I guess I missed the application deadline.   At the time, I couldn’t afford Temple anyway.   So, I decided that once I graduated, I would work for a year; save up some money and apply to Temple the following year.

In June of that year, my minister, Rev. Edler G. Hawkins, caught wind of my plans.   He was not happy.   “Rev” (that’s what we called him) was a second father to many of us teens growing up in the south Bronx (New York).   He insisted that I go to college in the fall.   His opinion was that if I got a job, I would probably spend my money on a piece of a car and drive around the neighborhood thinking how cool I was…and I’d never go to college!   (He was probably right, but I didn’t think so at the time.)

I reminded “Rev” that it was June…far past the deadline to attend any college that fall.   His response was…”let me work on it”.   He asked for copies of my high school transcript.   A few weeks later, “Rev” told me he had “arranged” for me to attend the University of Dubuque in Iowa!   Huh?   Iowa!   You gotta be kidding me!   Where is Iowa anyway?

In those days (the 60s)…I had never been further west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!   Hell…I’d never been further south of Philadelphia (thank God)!   I was a New York City boy!   I told “Rev” that I was really grateful and sincerely appreciated his efforts…but I wasn’t going to anybodies Iowa!   “Rev” insisted.   He had done so much for me…how could I say a flat out no?   We reached a deal.   I would go to the University for just one semester…and if I didn’t “like” it…all bets were off and I could return to the Bronx!   No questions asked?   His response…”that’s a deal”!

Early in September of 1964, I boarded a Greyhound bus at New York City’s Port of Authority bus terminal.   Over thirty hours later, after a connection in Chicago and a few “roadside bus stops” enroute to Dubuque, I arrived at the bus depot in downtown Dubuque.



From the time I left Chicago, until the time I arrived in Dubuque…I never saw another black person…not even on the bus!   Again, this was 1964.   My instructions were to call the President’s office upon my arrival…and then catch a cab to the campus.   The cab pulled up to Steffen’s Hall and Gaylord Couchman, President of the University, personally greeted me!   That first semester came and went and the rest is history.


The Epilog:
I later learned that “Rev” and Dr. Gaylord Couchman attended New York’s Union Theological Seminary together.   I think they may even have been roommates!

I often look back and reflect on my four years at the University.   It was truly the best of times during the worst of times.   The year prior to me attending, a church was bombed in Alabama and President Kennedy was assassinated.   There was, and continued to be, a great deal of civil unrest and racial injustice.   There was “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama…that I viewed from afar…on a black & white TV in the University’s student union lounge.   I watched National Guardsmen block blacks from entering southern universities and use fire hoses on innocent & peaceful demonstrators across the south.   On top of all of this…there was the ongoing and ever escalating Viet Nam war.

Just prior to my graduation, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated!   Shortly after my graduation there was the infamous 1968 Democratic national convention and the resulting riots in Chicago, Illinois.

For me, the university provided a tranquil, calming shelter from much of the insanity that helped define the 60s.   I received a solid education, both academically and socially.   I made lifelong friends.   I remember the times I spent with some of my Iowan friends and their family on their farms…chasing (corralling?) pigs and driving huge combines!   I also remember how saddened I was just days before my graduation, because I knew this phase of my life was coming to an end.   I knew it would never be the same again and it has never been.   That’s life.



To this day, when I’m asked where I attended college…I always get the following question; “How did a kid from the south Bronx wind up in Dubuque, Iowa?”   My standard response is; “How much time do you have?”

The Background:
As I mentioned, I grew up in the South Bronx…in close proximity to the burned out neighborhood that President Jimmy Carter visited back in the 1970s.   Back in the 1950s, we had kids from all races, religions and ethnicities attending my elementary school (Public School #54).   However, each group lived in different sections of the “neighborhood”…but we all attended PS 54.

As time passed, whites moved out.   After elementary school, my Mom had concerns about me attending the local Junior High School (JHS).   The neighborhood was in transition and the local schools’ academic status was questionable.   So, just prior to the beginning of the school year, using my great-grandmother’s address…(in another part of the Bronx), she “arranged” for me to attend a “better” Junior High School.

I arrived at JHS 127 and quickly realized that I was the only black in a student population of almost 1,000 teenagers.   Needless to say, I stood out like a sore thumb…and I felt it.   The first few months were difficult for me but as time passed, I learned to adapt.   I developed some great friendships but had to lie to them about where I actually lived.   In those days…I was not supposed to attend JHS 127!   If anyone knew my true address…I would have been expelled.

A few years later…I attended James Monroe High School.   James Monroe was a “mini” United Nations.   Again kids from all ethnicities, races and religions attended…and our friendships knew no boundaries!   I think it was about 70% white (Irish, Italian, Jewish, WASP), 25% black/Latino and 5% Asian.   It was truly a United Nations.   The total student body was huge…over 4,000!   Our claim to fame was that we had the second largest stage in New York City…second only to Radio City Music Hall!   There were 1184 students in my senior class alone.   There was also another Paul Clayton who I didn’t even know!   His ranking was #1183 out of the 1184 seniors graduating that year.   They mistakenly sent his transcript to Dubuque!   That’s a whole ‘nother story!

Ingredients Disclosure!

It scares me to think that a measurable percentage of Americans think she is/was Presidential material.   She won the Iowa straw poll and that's even scarier.   I went to college in Iowa!   Based on the latest polling numbers...she should fade into our past.   She can't fade fast enough..and take her buddy...Mr. Santorum...with her.   What has this country come to???

Just a Family

As posted in today's New York Times.   Another blog entry here.   This hits close to home!   My two daughters are in mixed race marriages...and I'm proud of it...and them and their spouses too!   Aside from my own two daughters...we know almost a dozen other mixed race couples of that generation.   Maybe it's more of an east-coast, cosmopolitan thing?   I'm just sayin'.

Happy Birthday...and Happy New Year too!

A recent in depth database query conducted by Anybirthday.com suggests that October 5th is the United States most popular birth date.   It seems that on average more people are born on this day than any other.

According to the inquiry, an average of 12,576 people are born each year on the 5th of October.   It also suggests that some 968,000 Americans celebrate this day annually.

What makes this early October birth date so fashionable?   October 5th holds a not-so-surprising significance, as conception would have fallen right on New Years Eve.

Orchard Beach

It's been at least 50 years since I last stepped on the sands of Orchard Beach.   Why today?   My brother told me about a gathering of "old timers" from the south Bronx.   There were about 40+ folks there.   Aside from my brother...I only knew one other person.   He caught me up on all those that are no longer with us...including his brother and sister....and a few of the "dudes" from the "block".   Also got an earful about those who have been or are still incarcerated.   Still glad I went.






More about the history of Orchard Beach here.

Vote Yes...Drive No!

OK ladies of Saudi Arabia...King Abdullah will now allow you to vote...in 2015!   How will you get to the polls?   God only knows...'cause you still aren't allowed to drive!   Go figure!

The greatest country on earth?

According to NBC New's "Education Nation" broadcasted today, of the 34 developed nations...America ranks:

• 14th in reading
• 17th in science
• 25th in math

and...1/4 of 8th graders cannot read at grade level!

Source

Today was a good day!

My son-in-law's uncle and his family just relocated from Ecuador to Connecticut via Tampa.   His uncle was born in this country...but moved back to Ecuador years and years ago.   They left Ecuador with some suitcases and that was it (to the best of my knowledge).

They found an apartment here in my home state...but they lacked the basics; pots, pans, drinking glasses, table, chairs, etc.   We had an attic full of that stuff.   They came to pick it up today.   The look of gratitude on their face was beyond description!

To cap it off...I was looking at the late evening news well after they left with their "goodies" to learn that the three American captives were released from Iran.   Yes...today was a good day!

A History Lesson from My Girlfriends!

I don't think they can ever be elected President of the United States...but was scares the hell out of me is the number of Teabaggers who think they can!

The Pitch: Banning all religion!

An Australian television program named "The Gruen Transfer" challenged two advertising firms to create an ad banning religion.   The results were both creative if not brilliant!

Twenty nine eighty three & the "flip side".

That's how many innocent Americans died 10 years ago.   I watched the coverage today...channel surfing.   Tears flowed...especially when the youngsters read the names of those killed and ended their reading naming their Mom or Dad.   Some were only 10 years old.   I'm sure it would have been a proud moment in the eyes of the parent they lost in this tragedy.

But...there is a "flip side" to this tragedy.   While we lost 2,983 Americans on that tragic day...

• another 5,500+ American soldiers have lost their lives in 2 atrocious wars!
• 35,000+ US troops have been seriously injured
• 1,000+ coalition troops have been killed
• 8,000+ Afghan civilians have been killed
• 8,000+ Afghan troops have been killed
• 30,000+ Iraqi troops have been killed
• 850,000+ Iraqi civilians have been killed
• 150+ journalist have died
• 1,200+ contractors have died

Source

And at what cost?   We've spent over $3 trillion dollars on this fiasco.   That's approximately 1/3 of our total deficit!   What else could we have done with that money? Roads, bridges, jobs, schools, state governments?   The list could go on.   And where were all the Republicans and Teabaggers when Dubya gave the go-ahead on two UNFUNDED wars?   These are the same clowns that brought this country to the brink of default!   It makes me sick to my stomach!

But then again...this stuff always has!

Last Night's Republican debate in 45 seconds!

Reagan!   Taxes!   Reagan!   Taxes!   Reagan!   Taxes!

The pundits are now saying it's between Perry & Romney!   The good news...we can say goodbye to Crazy Eyes!   But, then again, that may not be good news!   Why?   It would be a hoot to watch Mrs. Marcus go up against the President!

And there are those who think she is Presidential?

"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians.   We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane.   He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?'   Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now.   They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending."

President GOD!

Genesis of the Judeo-Christian & Islamic Faiths

Genesis, the first book of the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible, contains two origin stories, both of which are accepted as the creation of the world by today's Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths.   In the first, God says, "Let there be light," and light appears. In six days, he creates the sky, the land, plants, the sun and moon, animals, and all creatures, including humans.   To all he says, "Be fruitful and multiply," which they do.   On the seventh day God rests, contemplates his handiwork, and gives himself a good evaluation.   In the second story, God creates the first man, Adam, from the earth.   He makes a garden in Eden for Adam, but forbids him to eat fruit from the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."   Adam names the animals but remains lonely.   God anesthetizes Adam and makes one of his ribs into the first woman, Eve.   A talking serpent persuades her to eat the forbidden fruit, and she convinces Adam to do likewise.   When God finds out, he drives them from the garden and makes man mortal.

Source: LiveScience

2nd Anniversary!

Yep!   I started this little spot here in blogsville 2 years ago today!   Why?   Someone new entered this world on August 23, 2009.   Who?   My grandson that's who!   Happy Birthday Romell!

BFFs from Geneva, Switzerland!

The Background:
I live in a suburb within a 45 minute commute from downtown Manhattan (New York).   Tonight, around 5:00PM, I had to run a last minute errand to the local super market for a few odds & ends.   Typically, this supermarket's parking lot is insanity...so I always park across the street...as I did this evening.   Ran in and got what I needed and ran out!   As I exited the supermarket's parking lot and was about to cross the street to retrieve my car, traffic prevented me from doing so.   While waiting for an opening in the traffic...a middle aged gentleman...standing at the curb ask me (with a foreign accent) if I knew where to catch a cab.   He was accompanied by a woman similar in age and a younger fellow (early to mid 20s?).   I told him that he should go back into the super market and ask them to call a cab.   He looked at me somewhat puzzled/confused.   He held the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag in hand that appeared to contain a few items.

• Me:   How long have you been waiting here?
• Him:   About 15 to 20 minutes!
• Me:   Where are you going?
• Him:   We are trying to get to the train station to go to Manhattan.
• Me:   Okay...I'm parked across the street.   I'll take you to the train station (3 minutes away)
• Him:   Really?   How much?
• Me:   Nothing!

We cross the street...and get to my car.   The three attempt to get into the back seat of my 4 seater.   I ask that someone get in the front with me (I think they still thought I must have been a "private" cabbie!)   Twenty something-year-old jumps in the front passenger seat...and I pull off.

• 20 yr old:   How much?
• Me:   Nothing!   (20 yr old looks at me in disbelief)
• Me:   So where are you from?
• 20 yr old:   Switzerland
• Me:   Wow!   What are you doing here?
• 20 yr old:   We are visiting my parent's friend.
• Me:   How long have you been here (in my suburb)?
• 20 yr old:   Just today.   My parent's friend is sick and they wanted to visit her.
• Me:   So how did you get from the train station to your parent's friend?
• 20 year old:   We took a taxi from the train station.
• Me:   Ah.   Yes, there are taxis at the train station...but otherwise you have to call one to come and pick you up to get back to the station (or anywhere else in this great suburb of mine)!
• Dad:   (in the back seat)   Yes...my son told me that but we didn't believe him!
• Me:   Well in Manhattan...you can stand on any corner and "hail" a taxi...but not here.
• Me:   So do you speak German?   (I then go into the whole spiel about my daughter and German son-in-law currently living in Munich)
• 20 yr old:   No...I speak French....I'm learning German.   My parents speak French and German (and obviously decent English!)
• Me:   When you get to Manhattan...be careful.   Do you need a taxi when you get back to Manhattan?
• 20yr old:   No.   We are staying with friends and we have "subway passes".
• Me:   Good!

We arrive at my suburban "commuter station".   Dad leans over from the back seat and insists that I accept $5 to pay for the "oil"!   I insist that I won't take it!   20 year old insists that I do!   I insist that I won't!   I ask that they give me a free ride when I get to Geneva!   We all smile.   They thank me profusely and exit the car.   As I drive off...I look back and they are waving.   My new BFFs from Geneva!   No names!   No numbers.   No e-mail addresses.   Life is good!

Books and a Beach!

I had the opportunity/privilege to lay on a beach and read some books.   That opportunity doesn't present itself too often, so one has to love/embrace it on the rare occasion that it does happen.   Bottom line...I need a beach to read!

The Beach!
Where?   Doctor's Cave Beach, Montego Bay, Jamaica.   It's usually listed as one of the top 3 things to do/visit in Montego Bay.   Water is cool, refreshing and crystal clear.   Walk out as far as neck/chest deep and you can clearly see your toes underwater.   Beautiful! Not the toes...but the fact that you can see them so clearly!

The books:
The Help - by Kathryn Sockett
Disintegration...The Splintering of Black America - by Eugene Robinson

I really enjoyed both...the beach and the books!

More Crazy Eyes!

"What people recognize is that there's a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline.   They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward.   And especially with this very bad debt ceiling bill, what we have done is given a favor to President Obama and the first thing he'll whack is five hundred billion out of the military defense at a time when we're fighting three wars.   People recognize that."

More on the lighter side!

NobleWorksCards

Cain: Impeach Obama over DOMA!

The latest from the Pizza Boy

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain suggested that impeaching President Barack Obama "would be a great thing to do" on a conference call with bloggers on Tuesday night, Politico reports. The former CEO of Godfather's Pizza predicted, however, that achieving such a goal would likely prove easier said than done. "Because the Senate is controlled by Democrats we would never be able to get the Senate first to take up that action, because they simply don’t care what the American public thinks," he said. "They would protect him and they wouldn’t even bring it up," Cain said, citing the administration's position on the Defense of Marriage Act as an impeachable offense."