“The Continental Army suffered a bitter winter of Valley Forge, found glory across the waters of the Delaware and seized victory from Cornwallis of Yorktown. Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do. And at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, it had nothing but victory. And when dawn came, their star-spangled banner waved defiant.”
Besides the hilarious quote about the Continental Army (which was in service from 1775 to 1783) taking over the airports, the Continental Army would also have not been at Fort McHenry – which wasn’t built until 1798.
Well, the Tweets started flowing and have only recently started slowing down. By far, my favorite:
In truth, our Founding Father, Gen. George Washington, was at first a bit leery about planes. But the aggressive promotion of the commercial airlines’ reward programs pretty much forced his hand.
And it wasn’t long before all our Founding Fathers joined in with the flying.
Being the astute General that he was, Washington soon recognized the huge advantage that planes would provide. He shortly thereafter began taking military flight lessons, and it wasn’t long before he and his sidekick were bantering back and forth: “I feel the need … the need for speed!”
Shortly thereafter, George earned his wings:
But taking over the airports wasn’t all fun and games. Who can forget the tragic losses sustained at the Battle of the Baggage Claim Carousel?
The details of that battle tragedy was shared by one of those brave soldiers to his wife:
As we all know, this new mode of air travel did not always go smoothly. It played particular havoc with many of our Founding Fathers efforts trying to get to Philadelphia to sign our Declaration of Independence – as depicted in John Trumball’s famous painting.
Dearest Louisa, Our interminable delay at Gate 31 continues, and seating is inadequate; even the news is covering it now. Many approach the gate agent to enquire as to the arrival of our aircraft and to show their boarding passes. No answers yet. #RevolutionaryWarAirportspic.twitter.com/39B2oobDtk
Through my dedicated research, I was able to locate the actual photo commemorating this solemn event which, because of major flight delays, actually took place in the American Airlines waiting area on Concourse D, Gate 31 at LaGuardia:
(There can be little doubt that Trumball’s rendition is much more pleasing to the eye.)
Now, as back then, we all realize that the misery of missing a flight only leads to other travails:
Dearest Martha, please find enclosed a tracking number for my lost luggage at Philadelphia. It shall arrive to Mount Vernon via carriage in 21-25 days. Also enclosed is a receipt for the cost of parking my horse at Dulles for the weekend. #RevolutionaryWarAirportStories
Additionally, without a doubt, Trump’s YUGE revision of American history has forced others to revise their efforts.
People are saying that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is busy working on updating his “Paul Revere’s Ride” poem. [OK – Longfellow is long-since dead – I’m working on “Poetic License” here] And oddly enough, Julian Assange hacked Longfellow’s quill and scroll, and released these teasers:
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the Red Eye flight of Paul Revere …
[snip]
One if by land, two if by sea and three if by air
And Longfellow was not the only one needing to head back to the drafting board. Thomas Plane Paine has now updated his famous plea:
“Give me a parachute or give me death”
And for all of us who have felt sorry for media Fact Checkers’ endless task, forced into long, arduous hours given Trumps never-ending lies – on this July 4th Trump gave them a virtual day off with an easy-peasy gaffe:
I was getting ready to segue from “Friday Fun” through “Saturday/Sunday Smile” to “Monday Mirth”.
But fortunately I was FINALLY able to complete all the calculations and paperwork WRT my County Real Estate Appeal.
Using their own figures, I was able to justify lowering my Assessment increase from 15% to 5%. And I emailed it to them today – as the deadline is tomorrow.
Time will tell whether the Board agrees with me. But at least I made the effort, and it really was a very interesting undertaking.
(And who among us wouldn’t mind saving 10% on a tax bill?)
Interestingly enough this proverb is credited to Abraham Lincoln who, when aides wanted him to fire Gen. Grant for being a heavy whiskey drinker, Lincoln used one of his famous proverbs to guide his reply:
“An old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that it was not best to swap horses when crossing streams.”
So Lincoln, recognizing Gen. Grant’s extraordinary military wisdom and success, replied to the aides:
“But can you tell me where he gets his whiskey?”
“We cannot, Mr. President. But why do you desire to know?”
“Because, if I can only find out, I will send a barrel of this wonderful whiskey to every general in the army.”
Well, I’ve, yet again, decided to ignore that sage advice … and switched to a new meme for “Friday Fun” – which will now become a “Sunday Smile”.
Adding to the delay is that we recently received our annual Property Assessment from the county, and mine went up 15 percent! So I’m going to appeal.
The County Assessor Office admits there was a glitch in their calculation. Currently there are about 25,000 other homeowners appealing. I’ve got to get the paperwork done by Monday – and it obviously takes priority.
I had a post put together this morning, then it dawned on me that Friday was Sarah Huckabee Sanders last day as Twitler’s“Press Secretary”. And since I’m sure she was thinking something like Nixon: “You won’t have Sanders to kick around anymore” – I didn’t want to miss the opportunity for a serious review of her “contributions” from the Twitler White House.
So, it was back to the drawing board …
First of all, I think we can agree that Press Secretary Sanders was not nearly as easy to mock as Twitler’s first Press Secretary,Sean Spicer, was …
But, she has had her moments. So let’s begin our sojourn with Sarah’s “Service” such as it was …
Most assuredly she was well taught by Sean Spicer how to always shift the blame away from Twitler:
As a physician it appears she has a ptosis of her right eye. This is most certainly not her fault nor a moral shortcoming. But it has raised the question …
From the git-go, she welcomed going toe-to-toe with the infamous Liar of Iraq – Baghdad Bob.
One of the truly frustrating things is that she was PAID to lie to Americans EVERY SINGLE TIME SHE TALKED!
But in her defense, we must agree her bright and cheery countenance and demeanor – just like Mary Tyler Moore – was always a refreshing welcome …
When she was ensconced by her Right-Wing Zealots, she was fine. But if she ventured out into the real-world, like dining out, she realized she was truly a pariah …
Not to get too picayunish, but I think you’d agree that at times she did have some wardrobe selection faux pas …
And even though she had support from the most-evil of Twitler Aides – like Stephen Miller …
She finally realized that supporting Twitler’s endless lies was NOT the wisest career choice …
Realizing what an abject failure she was, she paid Miss Piggy (who knows how many MILLIONS) to fill in for her …
But despite all her efforts to distance herself from Twitler, Washington Post has still crowned her the well-deserved title of “Queen of Gaslighting” …
Today marks the Summer Solstice – and the beginning of summertime!
For a lot of folks, tradition is that the “official” start of summer occurs at Stonehenge – the 4,500 year-old Neolithic monument in England. At 15:54 UTC (that’s 10:54 a.m. CDT) summer officially begins. But for the thousands who gathered there in the darkness before sunrise today, the actual start is in the early morning hours when the sun peeks above Stonehenge’s Heel Stone (which leads up to the monument’s Stone Circle) and the first rays shine directly into the center of the circle … that’s the start of summer.
Now I’m not going to get all wonky with science about the Solstice – but I will share one illustration that gives a simple overview. The earth’s 23.5-degree tilt on its axis puts those of us in the northern hemisphere as close to the sun as we’ll be … hence, SUMMER!
But there are two other related areas I want to cover. The first is New York’s answer to Stonehenge: Manhattanhenge.
But instead of huge stones weighing up to 25-30 tons, they use skyscrapers to plot the exact alignment of the sun precisely dissecting the city’s grid of east-west cross streets.
But since Manhattan’s east-west streets are aligned at about a 29° angle clockwise from true east-west, they create Manhattanhenge a couple of weeks before and a couple of weeks after the Summer Solstice. The exact date varies each year, depending on the date of the summer solstice, but they usually fall around May 28th and July 12th.
The colloquial usage of “henge” to refer to any place where the rising or setting sun lines up with the surrounding structures has spread. Manhattanhenge is probably the best known, but other communities built on grid designs have their own “henges.” There’s Chicagohenge (it occurs on the equinoxes), Torontohenge, Montrealhenge, and even MIThenge.
In fact MIT was the first to notice this phenomenon down what has become called “The Infinite Corridor”. It’s a corridor that links buildings numbered 7, 3, 10, 4, and 8 (from west to east), and it measures 825 feet (251 meters, 0.16 miles or 147 smoots) long.
What better way to celebrate the beginning of summer than with some ice cream? And Dairy Queen is offering a treat on the DQ mobile app and with any purchase Friday you’ll get a free small regular or dipped cone. Download the app at www.dairyqueen.com/app.
But today is not only Summer Solstice day – but also National Smoothie Day (as well as National Selfie Day, Take Your Dog to Work Day, National Seashell Day and National Take Back the Lunch Break Day, according to NationalDayCalendar.com.) So let’s hope there’s a smoothie vendor close to you offering a sweet treat:
Edible Arrangements: Get $1.99 smoothies or fruit cups (if they don’t sell smoothies) through Sunday. The deal is available at stores and for in-store orders placed online with promo code SMOOTHIE.
Fruitlove: Get the new spoonable smoothie for free after a rebate from the Ibotta cashback app at select stores for National Smoothie Day.
Jamba: The chain, which recently changed its name from Jamba Juice, is giving away free small smoothies from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday.
La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Get a free Mocha Draft Latte with any purchase Friday at all café locations.
Planet Smoothie: From 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, get a free 16-ounce Mediterranean Monster smoothie. No purchase is necessary and limit one free smoothie while supplies last.
Potbelly Sandwich Shop: Through Friday, the chain is celebrating “Take Back Your Lunch Day” with a buy-one-get-one free offer on sandwiches, salads or Pick-Your-Pair.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe: As part of its National Flip Flop Day promotion, the chain is collecting donations through June 30. Donate $5 or more and get a discount for 5% off your purchases for the rest of the year. Learn more at www.nationalflipflopday.com.
I had NO idea there were so many smoothie outlets. I guess they’ve earned their Smoothies Day. But other food emporiums also have some good offers celebrating summer today:
Boston Market: Bring in any sandwich – whether it’s homemade or from a competitor – between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and get a free Boston Market sandwich.
Carl’s Jr.: The chain’s 100 Days of Summer promotion features a variety of limited-time offers and contests through August 20th.
Whale, Twitlerspouting off in another Tweet has yet again provided me (via the Internet) with some low-hanging fruit for Friday Fun.
I’m sure it’s not a breach of security …
GIF
To share with you Twitler’s latest Tweet faux pas. It was so embarrassing that he has since deleted it, so we’ll have to go with a screenshot:
And of course this started an Internet meme frenzy. But to set the stage, I think we need to understand that what you and I see is NOT what Twitler sees.
So when he welcomed the Prince of Whales to Winfield House in Regent’s Park (home of the US Ambassador to the UK) for dinner, while we saw this …
Trump saw this …
And when he toasted Charles, while we saw this …
Twitler saw this …
But apparently they had an enjoyable evening (no doubt helped by some soothing music from the orca-stra), because later Trump told a reporter:
“When I met with the Prince of Whales I told him my main porpoise as president was to build The Wall. And I told him it will be beautiful – just wait ’til you sea it.”
It’s no surprise that the Internet quickly geared up to weigh in with some artwork:
And there were witty Tweets, too.
Trump: “Are you sure Prince of Whales is spelled with an H”?
And to help him remember all those Queens, Princes, Prime Ministers, Presidents and other prestigious Poohbahs that he meets with every day, he has some help:
IN TRUMP’S ROLODEX
* Prince of Whales * Dolly Llama * Prime Minister True Dough * Emmanuel Macaroni * Angela Marble * Benjamin Not-on-Yahoo * King Salmon * The Poop
While many of us are so embarrassed and saddened by Trump’s boundless stupidity that it makes us blubber with shame, it’s reported that Queen Elizabeth II and Charles actually enjoyed a good chortle from his endless intellectual shortcomings.
(I know my puns are probably krilling you, but just in case you’re curious how youget two whales in a car … you start in London and drive west.)
But to keep the record straight, the official whale spokesperson wanted the last word to let everyone know …
there is no such thing as the fuckin prince of whales
Pretty sure we can all agree there were plenty of Twitler lowlights while on his European tour, so to make covering them easier, I decided to take a gander at them chronologically.
Before he even landed at Stansted Airfield (a former military base that’s further out and not as busy as Heathrow or Gatwick – so less of a disruption), the Brits started trolling him.
A cheeky teenager named Ollie Nancarrow mowed what can only be called a dickish greeting of a POTUS Penis (but decidedly NOT Twitler’s) in a field in his landing flightpath at Stansted.
In another field also on the landing flightpath he mowed a polar bear and “Climate Change Is Real”.
And who can forget the throngs of adoring crowds that Trump claimed welcomed him?
I kept hearing that there would be “massive” rallies against me in the UK, but it was quite the opposite. The big crowds, which the Corrupt Media hates to show, were those that gathered in support of the USA and me. They were big & enthusiastic as opposed to the organized flops!
Well, he is right that those huge crowds that formed were specifically for him – but they were all PROTESTORS!
So how about a Baker’s Dozen photos of them to get the flavor:
And to help Donny with his delusions, here’s what his ACTUAL arrival looked like crowd-wise when he was in “The Beast” (nickname of the president’s armored Cadillac) rolling on his way to Buckingham Palace:
And the trolling of Trump wasn’t just by protestors – there were laser lightshows, too. One was a great USS John SMcCain hat (minus any tarp) projected onto Madame Tussauds:
And one comparing UK presidential approval ratings projected on the Tower of London:
We should note that the slights by the Royal Family to Trump started even before his arrival. Unlike Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, the Trumps were not invited to lodge at Buckingham Palace during their stay. Nor were they granted a ride with the Queen in her open carriage, nor was he invited to speak to Parliament.
But the Queen did put out the good china for a white-tie State dinner with the Trumps – all EIGHT of them! Which begs the question: Who’s picking up the tab for the “kids” and their spouses to tag along?
And here are the “kids”, all decked out for the State dinner:
Of the six people in that photo, only two have even a remote reason for attending – Jarvanka. The other four – none at all!
And besides, staying in their usual grifter-mode, it looks like Ivanka is taking advantage of the free publicity to promote her new “Little House on the Prairie” clothing line. And Eric’s wife Lara looks like she’s wearing something my Mom would buy as an oil-tablecloth for the kitchen table back when I was in grade school. And how was Tiffany able to get a hold of one of Miss Kitty’s dresses from Gunsmoke days?
But none of that compares to the tuxedo (obviously tailored by someone who aligns with the RESIST movement) that Twitler wore to the dinner.
KIDDING! It wasn’t quite that bad.
But seriously, here’s how a real president pulls off a State dinner with royalty compared to how Trump mangled it:
(Besides looking like Pres. Obama just stepped out from a GQ photoshoot, notice how the Queen is beaming at him!)
And just in case Trump didn’t care for the menu selections, he stopped by Burger King first for some takeout.
The big question is, “Who Wore It Better” – Trump or Mr. Creosote from Monty Python fame?
But I think we should go a little easy on Donnie. From my obstetrics rotation I can still remember that the third trimester can be very difficult.
To close on a true highlight, we should give a tip-of-the-hat to a famous feline who lives in the Prime Minister’s neighborhood – Larry the Downing Street Cat. Although his official title is Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.
When Trump was visiting Prime Minister May, Larry settled in under The Beast and refused to move when Trump was ready to leave! Obviously he takes his vermin hunting very seriously. But the question is, was Larry hiding there because he saw a giant rat enter No. 10 Downing – or does he just like a high-end litterbox?
Either way, that is one pussy that is NOT going to be grabbed!
[I apologize for the late posting. And I’ll add a “Note to Self”: Never EVER again take on a project that has NO ending.]
On April 15th the world collectively gasped as we viewed the devastating Notre Dame Cathedral inferno that lasted for 15 hours and destroyed its iconic spire and most of its wooden roof. Two days later France’s Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced a competition to design a new roof and spire for the iconic structure.
“This is obviously a huge challenge, a historic responsibility. The international competition will allow us to ask the question of whether we should even re-create the spire as it was conceived by Viollet-le-Duc. Or if, as is often the case in the evolution of heritage, we should endow Notre Dame with a new spire.”
There has been no dearth of entries – and they’re still coming in, which has made this project bigger than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I thought it’d be fun to view some of the designs submitted so far. In my opinion, they range from the ethereal to the ridiculous.
But where to begin? I decided I’d start with what I consider the outliers – ones that are … hmmm … unique. But ones that I strongly doubt will ever (thankfully) come to fruition.
[A]
JETSON THEME
A Cyprus-based firm called Kiss the Architect created a what I would call a Jetson-Themed rendering of a futuristic spire with metal arches, circles and spheres wrapped around a central staircase.
[B]
GOLDEN FLAME
While not the most outlandish proposal (we’ll get there), but apparently the most controversial one is from French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, who wants to recreate the spire as it was the day it burned. Lehanneur has a reputation for transforming solid materials into a seemingly “liquid” state – so he envisions the Cathedral Spire as a massive golden flame.
[C]
QUASIMODO’S PENTHOUSE
A studio called Who Cares Design feels that Victor Hugo’s protagonist in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” deserves an upgrade from his belfry attic – so they proposed building a rooftop villa for Quasimodo. The penthouse, which would stretch across the cathedral’s crossing, is designed to replace Quasimodo’s previous home in Notre-Dame’s attic.
This is not your ordinary urban loft, as Who Cares describes it:
“A modern and light-flooded penthouse with two gigantic patios including a helipad and a spa with an indoor / outdoor pool. The new loft has a living area of 8.000 sq. ft. with two patios of 540 sq. ft. each. One rooftop garden is located on the east and the other on the west of the building.”
In the outlier competition we now move from the sublime to the ridiculous.
[D]
POOL – AND WE’RE NOT TALKING A RIVER CITY TROUBLED BY A BALKLINE GAME OF BILLIARDS
The Swedish firm of Ulf Mejergren Architects proposes a swimming pool on the rooftop, rather than rebuilding the spire. “Instead we are proposing a meditative public space; a complementary spatial experience to the building with unmatched views over Paris.”
[E]
PARKING LOT
The firm of Yung Yonge envisioned the roof of Notre-Dame being turned into a single-level car park as a dig at North America’s car culture. He tweeted the image with the caption: “If North Americans are put in charge of the Notre-Dame reconstruction”.
But the Irish architect Rob Cross (apparently inspired by Joni Mitchell’sBig Yellow Taxi lyrics “They paved paradise And put up a parking lot”) ran with the idea, turning it into a multi-level parking garage.
[F]
ROCKET LAUNCHING PAD
After seeing even more outliers like turning into a Louis Vuitton center, Circus Tent and McDonalds, Chilean-born designer Sebastian Errazuriz cried “ENOUGH!” – and suggested turning Notre-Dame Cathedral into a space-rocket launchpad in an “act of creative one-upmanship” designed to stop architects producing more proposals.
“This is not a serious a proposal for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame. This is an act of creative one-upmanship designed to ridicule every remaining, rapacious architectural firm still circling the carcass of Notre-Dame with an ‘idea’ for a new roof proposal.”
SERIOUS PROPOSALS
But there were also serious proposals, so let’s take a look at a few. And you’ll notice that glass is a popular design element in many of them.
[1]
CRYSTAL
The Italian firm of Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas proposed a contemporary design for the roof and spire made from Baccarat crystal, which would be lit up at night.
[2]
GLASS & STONE with TRADITIONAL SPIRE
Russian architect Alexander Nerovnya also proposes a fully glass roof, but with a traditional spire structure.
[3]
APIARY
Since 2013 Notre Dame has housed three beehives on a roof over the sacristy 100 feet below the main roof, just beneath the celebrated stained-glass Rose window. Each one of the hives has about 60,000 bees – and all 180,000 honeybees made it through the fire unscathed!
The Paris-based firm of Studio NAB wants to celebrate that miracle, so they envision a glass greenhouse roof that would actually house an apiary in the spire for the honeybees. And according to Lonely Planet, their design also includes planters made from burnt oak salvaged from the attic.
[4]
SPIRE OF LIGHT
The Slovakian studio of Vizum Atelier has focused on reimagining the iconic spire of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc as a beam of light. To accomplish this, they propose a tower with a powerful beam to shine a light up into the heavens. Their theory is that in the Gothic era, builders tried to reach the sky, like the Eugène Viollet-le-Duc spire. “Now, it’s possible to make it happen.”
[NOTE: WRT Instagram photo series – when you come to the frame w/ only ONE arrow (either forward or backward), if you click it – it will open in a separate Instagram window.]
The Amsterdam-based design firm studio drift is taking an ecological approach by designing a roof of plastic made from material salvaged from our seas. The collected plastic would be melted down and reformed in tiles to clad the roof. The tiles would be colored blue to relate to the sky above. Drift estimates that using recycled plastic instead of wood the renovation would save thousands of trees.
I’ll close (YEAH!) with the three that are the most fully fleshed out. It’s not that I favor them, but it’s clear that these firms were very serious in proffering their proposals.
[6]
STAINED GLASS
São Paulo-based architect Alexandre Fantozzi firm Aj6 extends Notre Dame’s magnificent stain-glass windows to the roof and spire itself. “In Gothic, there is the connection of the earth to the sky, and inside the Cathedral, the natural illumination multiplies in colors through the filter of the cover in stained glass,” he wrote on Instagram.
Miysis Studio has proposed combining a reconstruction of a replica of the iconic spire from the 19th century by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc with a modern glazed roof to “find the right balance between history and future” for the cathedral.
But the original 13th-century roof would be replaced with a modern structure constructed from a timber and steel frame as a glass-covered roof space, which would replace the timber structure with what would be known as the Forest – a garden for visitors.
[8]
MOST DETAILED – PALINGENESIS
I can’t help but feel that Vincent Callebaut Architectures has proffered the most detailed proposals for the renovation of Notre Dame. Whether they’re the best will be decided by folks much more educated in the full consequences of this undertaking than I would ever hope to be.
And I truly admire their proposal. (And it’s probably my favorite at this point.) But in all honesty (just like when I built my home working w/ my architect), I don’t get why architects insist on talking in this foreign argot/patois that us humans have NO chance of understanding.
Take a gander at how they detail their proposal:
Vincent Callebaut Architecture titled their project “Palingenesis,” which derives from Greek, meaning “rebirth.” The design combines gothic architecture and a biomimetic forest.
The company’s website explains that they “advocate for an exemplary project in ecological engineering that feels true to its time and avoids a pastiche architecture that turns the city into an open-air museum.
“Circular economy, renewable energies, inclusive social innovation, urban agriculture, protection of biodiversity, without forgetting beauty and spiritual elevation: our reconstruction project feeds on such values to deliver a deep, conscious meaning.”
What the HELL does that mean? Translation Please!
At any rate, here are their proposals:
I’m going to try to include a poll in post. NO idea if this will work, but let’s give it a try:
It looks like if you click on the link below in the Polls, you can vote. HOW & WHERE that is recorded I have NO IDEA!
