CULTURE/SOCIETY and POLITICS: My Earth Day Tradition Continues

This is from me, and not some reprinted material. - OlderMusicGeek

Well, for the second year, I've continued my Earth Day tradition of turning all my electrical stuff off and even unplugging them, so the clocks and little computers in them aren't sucking electricity too.

I did it last year, and my daughter wasn't too thrilled with it. I thought she would never survive the computer withdraw!

Well, this year didn't go much better.

I didn't even realize it was Earth Day until I got at work. I was going to walk on Earth Day, but it was a little late now!

I still went home at lunch and unplugged everything but the fridge!

And at work, I survived without my mp3 player! It was hard, but somehow I managed through!

Then I walked to my daughter's school to get her instead of picking her up with the car. She had called me and said she would meet me half-way.

When I saw someone down the road, I waved. I didn't get a response. So I jumped up and down and waved my arms wildly. She finally waved back.

Then I was thinking, what if it isn't her?

But it was. I told her what I was thinking, and she said that she was thinking that if that wasn't me, she was really going to be scared!

Well, last year, I agreed to go out to eat if we could go somewhere where they didn't use any power to make the food. My daughter thought of getting untoasted sandwiches at Subway's!

I agreed to do it again this year. So I asked her if she wanted to go straight to Subway's! She did!

So we walked the 2 miles or so that Subway was from her school.

For half the way there, my daughter tried to convince that I should let her on the computer because of all the things she did for Earth Day at her school.

She talked about how she planted a tree and hurt her fingers, how she picked up a park and cut her finger on glass, how they had to learn without overhead projectors and I don't remember what else!

But I held firm.

Well, to fast forward, on the way home from Subway's, my daughter bumped into a school friend at a park and spent the evening playing with there anyway.

And me, not thinking, used the cellphone to talk to an old friend. I thought afterwards, that was using power that I shouldn't be using on Earth Day! Dang, next year, I'll only take emergency calls!

And my daughter did get to get on the computer anyway, because she had some schoolwork to do. But I made her unplug it again once she was finished!

And that was pretty much it! But I did what I could to help the planet for the day!

CULTURE/SOCIETY and SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY: The End Of The Mistletoe?

I found this through Yahoo. It's from The Telegraph in The U.K. - OlderMusicGeek

Christmas kissing at threat because of mistletoe shortage
The future of a traditional kiss under the mistletoe is in doubt, as the plant is in danger of dying out because of modern farming methods.
By Louise Gray
Last Updated: 7:15PM GMT 05 Dec 2008

Horticulturalists blame a loss of ancient orchards and intensive harvesting methods that mean only the female plant with the berries is taken.

For this year at least, mistletoe is safe as a mild wet winter has ensured a profusion of plants.

But the future is in doubt. England's apple orchards, mistletoe's favoured habitat, have declined by 57 per cent in the past 50 years.

Jonathan Briggs, an ecologist, said the way the plant is cut for sale is also a threat.

Harvesters cut only the female plant, which has berries, leaving the male plant that will continue to grow and ultimately poison the tree.

"The Christmas market was previously a way for farmers to make a bit of money from something they did anyway,'' he said. "These days, only the stuff with berries is cut and everything else is left.''

Without action now, Mr Briggs said mistletoe may not survive.

"There's no crisis yet,'' he said. "But there might be one in 25 years if people don't manage mistletoe properly. It's a lost knowledge we need to regain.''

The evergreen with white berries is hung in doorways over the festive season. As a symbol of peace – and fertility – it is the custom to kiss beneath the decoration.

According to tradition, when the last mistletoe berry is gone there should be no more kissing.

A link to the original article
A link to all my Christmas posts

Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you're celebrating!
MY CHRISTMAS INTERNET RADIO STATIONS
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Edition
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Rock and Punk Edition
OlderMusicGeek's Christmas QuickMix

powered by PANDORA
But if you don't have Pandora, you can hear some of songs at http://www.playlist.com/oldermusicgeek

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Spreading Cheer

I found this on Yahoo. - OlderMusicGeek

Secret Santas in 3 states spread cheer, $100 bills

ST. LOUIS December 5, 2008, 09:15 pm ET · At a suburban Goodwill store on Friday, Theresa Settles selected a large, black comforter to warm her family until she can raise the money to turn the gas heat back on. A petite woman approached, her face obscured by dark sunglasses and a wrapped winter scarf, and handed Settles two $100 bills stamped with the words "secret Santa." "The only condition," she said, "is that you do something nice for someone. Pass it on."

"I will," Settles said, the only words she could get out of her mouth.

The secret Santa was a protege of Kansas City's undercover gift giver, Larry Stewart, who died of cancer nearly two years ago. Stewart roamed city streets each December doling out $100 bills to anyone who looked like they might need a lift.

Before his death in January 2007, Stewart told a friend how much he would miss his 26 years of anonymous streetside giving, during which he gave away about $1.3 million. Stewart, from the city suburb of Lee's Summit, made millions in cable television and long-distance telephone service.

The friend promised Stewart he would be a secret Santa the next year. "He squeezed my hand and that was it," said the Kansas City Santa, who would say only that he was an area businessman and investor. "I honored a promise."

Two secret Santas, one from the Kansas City area and the other from the St. Louis area, descended on thrift stores, a health clinic, convenience store and small auto repair shop to dole out $20,000 in $100 bills, hugs and words of encouragement to unsuspecting souls in need.

In this economy, they weren't hard to find.

Cynthia Brown, 40, was laid off three weeks ago from her food service job. Santa found her at the St. Louis County health clinic and gave her $100, exactly what she had asked to borrow from her mother a night ago to buy food.

"I have three daughters, and I can't get unemployment yet. I was down in food," she said.

Leotta Burbank, 50, of West Frankfurt, Ill., was at a thrift store Friday to buy decorations for her sister-in-law's room at a St. Louis hospice, where she is dying of pancreatic cancer.

When Santa gave her money, Burbank collapsed into his arms and wouldn't stop hugging him.

"God provides," she said. "This is real emotional for me."

For the secret Santas, it's not about keeping Stewart's memory alive as much as the meaning behind his legacy.

"It's not about the man, it's not about the money, it's about the message," the Kansas City Santa said. "Anyone can be a secret Santa with a kind word, gesture, a helping hand."

He said the money is given without judgment, but on the condition that the receiver pass along a kindness to someone else. Stewart began his holiday tradition at a restaurant in December 1979, after he had just been fired. He gave a waitress $20 and told her to keep the change and was struck by her gratitude.

Stewart also gave money to community causes in Kansas City and his hometown of Bruce, Miss.

The secret Santas want to expand their operation to every state, but so far only nine givers operate in Charlotte, N.C., Phoenix, St. Louis and Kansas City. They plan to start giving in Detroit this holiday season.

———

On the Net:

Secret Santa World, http://secretsantaworld.net

A link to all my Christmas posts

Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you're celebrating!
MY CHRISTMAS INTERNET RADIO STATIONS
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Edition
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Rock and Punk Edition
OlderMusicGeek's Christmas QuickMix

powered by PANDORA
But if you don't have Pandora, you can hear some of songs at http://www.playlist.com/oldermusicgeek

CULTURE/SOCIETY: A Bunch Of Halloween Tests

These are just what I found to be the more interesting Halloween quizzes at blogthings. - OlderMusicGeek

What Your Cute Monster Says About You

You are a simply happy person. You still view the world with a childlike innocence. You have an easy going attitude, and you value harmony. You love freely and inspire others to love. You inner demon is frailty. You are easily beaten down by life. People think you're cute because you are optimistic. Your outlook on life is charming.

The Cute Monster Test

You Are 50% Witch

You've got some pretty witchy stuff going on. Even if you're not a witch, you've got to admit that you're a little freaky. You have a strong independent streak - social norms be damned. More power to you. Luckily, the time when you would have been burned at the stake has passed!

Are You a Witch?

You Are a Werewolf

You are moody and easily provoked. You are highly loyal and protective of those you love. While you can be intense at times, you are generally a laid back person. But if a fight comes your way, you will fight 'til the death if necessary. You seem normal to most people. No one understands how different you can be. It's like a switch flips for you sometimes - and then you're a completely different creature.

Are You a Vampire or a Werewolf?

You Should Be a Ghost

You are seen as shy and introverted. You like to blend in... or disappear. You see Halloween as the day you can sit back and enjoy what other people are doing. You don't scare all that easily on Halloween. If anything, you tend to scare people. You don't try to be scary, but you do tend to lurk around and catch people by surprise.

What Classic Halloween Costume Should You Wear?

You Are a Werewolf

You're unpredictable, moody, and downright freaky. You seem sweet and harmless, until you snap. Then you're a total monster. Very few people can predict if you're going to be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. But for you, all your transformations seem perfectly natural. Your greatest power: Your ability to tap into nature Your greatest weakness: Lack of self control You play well with: Vampires

What Kind of Monster Are You?

You Are Candy Corn

Your Halloween personality is whimsical, colorful, and creative. You see Halloween as a time to get your creative juices flowing. Each year, Halloween can't start soon enough for you. You tend to go all out for Halloween. You decorate like crazy and always dress up.

What Halloween Treat Are You?

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

You're a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else's day - and you'll dress up if you think of a really fun costume. You definitely think of yourself as someone who has a dark side. And part of having that dark side means not showing it. Your inner child is stubborn and a bit bossy. You fear people taking advantage for you. You are always worried about protecting your own interests. You're prone to be quite emotional and over dramatic. Deep down, you enjoy being scared out of your mind... even if you don't admit it. You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

You Are a Little Scary

You've got a nice edge to you. Use it.

How Scary Are You?

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Origin Of Beggar's Night

Well, tonight in my town - yes, TONIGHT - children are going from home to home in costumes telling jokes in order to get candy. If you want to know why they are going tonight and why they are telling jokes, I've done the courtesy of reprinting an article from last Halloween in our paper. I don't guarantee it's accuracy though! - OlderMusicGeek

Jokes set local Halloween apart
MARY CHALLENDER
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

Detroit has Hell Night.

Carbondale, Ill., used to have Fright Night.

When it comes to bizarre local Halloween traditions, however, few communities can match the (my town) metro area and its 50-year-old ritual of - well, let's just call it Bad Joke Night.

In most places, the Halloween tradition goes like this: The kid says, "Trick-or-treat." The homeowner gives him candy.

In (my town) and surrounding suburbs, it's more like this: The kid says, "Trick or treat." The homeowner says "What's your trick?" Then the kid tells a joke of the sort usually found on Bazooka gum wrappers.

Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?
He didn't have any guts.

Whether or not the homeowner is amused, the kid gets candy.

There may be children elsewhere in the world who follow this unusual practice, but if so, anthropologist Ken Erickson has never run across them. Erickson directs the Center for Ethnographic Research at the University of Missouri.

"That is totally cool," said Erickson, who has conducted research on Halloween customs in the United States. "I never heard of that before. That is totally fun."

Erickson isn't the only one in the dark. In the 1990 book "Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History," author Lesley Pratt Bannatyne, one of the nation's foremost authorities on the holiday, traced the evolution of Halloween from colonial times through its modern-day commercialism. Although the book contains many references to trick-or-treating practices across the United States, telling riddles never enters the equation.

A mushroom walks into a bar. "You'll have to leave," the bartender says. "We don't allow mushrooms in here." "Why not?" asked the mushroom. "I'm a fungi."

The credit for providing (my town) children with the perfect outlet for their most groan-inducing jokes largely goes to one woman, Kathryn Krieg, director of recreation for the (my town) Playground Commission (later the Parks and Recreation Department) for 43 years.

When Krieg assumed her post in 1931, kids on Beggars' Night were more likely to clamor "Soaps or Eats" than "Trick or Treat." Every year the newspaper ran a long list on Nov. 1 of youths arrested the previous evening for crimes ranging from soaping windows and sidelining streetcars to setting fires and throwing bricks through windows.

The flash point came on Halloween in 1938 when (my town) police answered a record 550 calls concerning vandalism. Krieg, along with the Community Chest' group work council, began a campaign to encourage less violent forms of Halloween fun.

They set aside Oct. 30 as Beggars' Night and got the word out to the public that on that night - and only that night - children would be allowed to go from door to door and say the phrase "tricks for eats." The council urged that "eats should be given only if such a 'trick' as a song, a poem, a stunt or a musical number, either solo or in group participation, is presented."

The next year, the group work council again promoted the Beggars' Night concept, this time as a way to aid the war effort. An article published in (my town newspaper) on Oct. 29, 1942, carried the headline "Kids! -Don't Help the Axis on Halloween" and included this poem encouraging proper behavior:

"Soap and ticktacks are taboo,
Ringing doorbells? Not for you.
Thoughts of pranks, you must detour,
Lest you bet a saboteur."

The Beggars' Night program was so successful that by the mid-1940's, the number of Halloween police calls in (my town) had been cut by more than half.

After the war, Krieg continued to issue annual bulletins in the Register laying still more Beggars' Night ground rules, including that children should stay in their own neighborhoods and that parents should turn on their porch lights for trick-or-treaters and accompany small children on their rounds.

Each year, she reiterated that children should not be given candy until they earned it "with a stunt, song, or riddle."

Now on Beggars' Night, a group of preteen girls will occasionally sing a song or a shy kindergartner opt for a cartwheel. For the most part, however, every trick-or-treater old enough to memorize one tells a joke.

Why did Dracula visit the blood bank?
He needed to make a withdrawal.

Krieg retired in 1974, a few years after the Register stopped running her yearly admonition to make children work for their candy. By then, the biggest Beggars' Night concern wasn't the danger trick-or-treaters might represent to the public but the danger some members of the public might represent to trick-or-treaters. Krieg died in March of 1999 at age 94.

The joke-telling ritual continues, as does its legacy: Reduced vandalism. Instead of tales of marauding youth, the only Halloween-related story to appear in the Register last year was about a gathering of local witches.

If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
Pilgrims.

I remember when my daughter was 2 and trick-or-treating. She was too young to tell a joke, but since she was dressed as Queen Amidala, I taught her to sing the theme to Star Wars! - OMGeek

A link to other Halloween posts on my blog

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Honey, I'm Home

This is a Valentine's Day post from the blog, The Sneeze. - OlderMusicGeek

Stevie's Home! (A Valentine's Love Tip)

A long time ago when my wife was my girlfriend and we were LIVING IN SIN, a tradition was born. I'd like to now share it with you all.

I came home from work one day and found her in front of the computer. I said "Hello," and she barely grunted back. I don't even think she looked up.

Half-jokingly I responded, "Okay, we're gonna try this again." I walked out the front door and came back in a few moments later...

"STEVIE'S HOME, STEVIE'S HOME!!! YAY!!!" was the new over-the-top cheer I was greeted with. It was accompanied by a hug and kisses. And I loved it.

What began as a joke quickly became an ongoing practice that continues to this day in our house: The person who is home first must make a small fuss when the other person gets there.

Does it sound silly? Yes. Do I promise that it will set the tone for a nicer evening just about every time you do it? Yes.

The world is full of douchebags, guys. Take 3 seconds out of your precious day to make a fuss over each other. Do it like you mean it. Do it as a goof. Just do it a lot. I promise you'll be glad you did.

A link to the original post
A link to a follow up post on The Sneeze

ENTERTAINMENT: Some Interesting Takes on Colors

These are some interesting commercials made by the paint company, Adicolor. I found them using StumbleUpon. I think they're the most interesting take on colors since Ken Nordine had a go. - OlderMusicGeek



A link to other Adicolor commercials

And here's some videos that were done to some of the tracks from Ken Nordine's album, Colors.