Chair Class Warfare

A Sunset Hill and a Fremont chair both outdoors, but in different worlds.

 

Bombay Beach Chair – Found In Fremont?

This chair on the side of Fremont Avenue North reminds me of the Bombay Beach chair from three years ago. Maybe the chair (more properly, the recliner) migrated north for the summer?

Left: Recliner on the Side of Fremont Avenue North; Right: Recliner at Bombay Beach in 2010

The Cherry Pitter and How I Learned to Love Cherries

Before the cherry pitter, I rarely ate cherries. The thought of popping them in my mouth, and then spitting out the pit never appealed to me. Without the pit, thanks to the pitter, cherries are enjoyable. I’ve often wonder if it is less the mechanics of spitting out a pit and really some taste profile imparted by the pit in my mouth (even if for only a few seconds). The bitter almond flavor of cherry (and other fruits of the Prunus genus like peach and apricot) pits is called noyaux. Some say: cherry pits, eaters beware. Others say: don’t worry so much. The noyaux flavor comes about by some combination of cooking, steeping and smashing up of the pits. Crème di noyaux is used in few classic cocktails such as the Pink Squirrel. (I must get out more and see the world because I’ve never heard of this drink before searching for information about noyaux.) The other, more culinary-savvy half of Travelmarx posits it probably doesn’t have anything to do with pit flavor, but rather the part of the fruit that attaches to the pit which might be slightly more astringent and you get more of that when you don’t remove the pit. Whatever the reason - and even if it is all in my head (or mouth as it were) - it’s a shame, especially in the Northwest, not to be able to enjoy cherries when they are in season.

The 2010 Lunchbox

The phrase we’d like to kick off 2010 with is this: don’t poop in someone’s lunchbox. This was a phrase that came up over and over New Year’s Eve night with some friends as we joked around. The next day we kept saying it and realized that it is a pretty good guiding principle. If you are about to dump on someone’s ideas, manner of being, or general happiness, think twice before you do it. Please, don’t poop in another’s lunchbox.

The Great Cassette Purge – Lessons on Moving Your Media Forward

Here’s the scenario: 90+ cassettes of music from 1987-2001 that contain music I wrote, both instrumentals and songs with friends singing, 1 failing Nakamichi BX-2 tape deck (reverse doesn’t work), and angst that if I don’t capture what’s on those cassettes now it will get harder and harder. Sound familiar? Old media that you put off doing anything with.

We’ll I buckled down and hooked up the tape deck into the back of the computer and just started recording (using Sound Recorder in Windows Vista). I ended up with 50+ tapes ripped. The rest, I determined where not important. Sometimes I stopped and started the Sound Recorder and captured (to .wma) individual songs and sometimes I just recorded a whole side of the cassette as one digital file leaving it for a later project to extract out individual pieces.

The Sound Recorder tool in Vista and a generic audio card was fine for this project because the quality of the tapes was not really that good to start with.

The conversion took about 3 weeks. Now I’m storing the box of remaining cassettes for 1 month and if I haven’t gone back to it, out it goes. And the tape deck is going to Goodwill.

So what are my ruminations on moving your personal media (assets like images, documents, music, etc.) forward to live to see another day? They include two categories:

Lessons learned for the creation of media now that someday you might need to convert

• Create less to begin with. Note the pain you are experiencing during the conversion and let it guide what you create now that you’ll be wrestling with in the future.
• Label and date as you go along. It’s frustrating to try to make a decision later, perhaps years later, on something as whether to save or toss it if there is no date or context.
• Keep your media organized, you’ll thank yourself later. This includes items already on the computer too. Use well defined folders and names.

Lessons learned during the conversion

• Convert media when the time is right. It’s okay to hang on to some personal media/artifacts for a while until you find the right format to convert it into.
• Consider if you really need what you are converting. Are you really going to miss it? Can you buy it again? Maybe the cost of buying it is less than your time to convert it?
• Sometimes, taking a picture of all the items together as a keepsake is as effective as converting it over and having it sit around in a new format, never to be used. I think that sometimes people just want to remember what it is they had, but they don’t want to use it or play it.
• Consider scanning (with a scanner) objects that may not seem so obvious to scan. In this cassette-conversion project I scanned the cassette inserts (or the whole cassette if it didn’t have an insert) because what I wrote on the inserts or directly on the cassettes is how I visually remember the tapes. The color of the cassettes without inserts is important to my memory of them. Fortunately, this translates well to the computer because say in Windows you can name your scanned item “Folder.jpg” and then when viewing your folder, the scanned images becomes the folder’s icon, almost like a virtual cassette.
• Keep notes on how you are doing the conversion. You may stop and pick it up later and the notes will be indispensable.
• Consider keeping notes on what you don’t archive as well which could be just as interesting.
• Don’t, if you can help it, skimp on storage. Storage always gets cheaper so don’t make some decision during conversion time to save a little space if it means a huge compromise in the quality or how you’ll enjoy the media later.

The World is Ending: Hand Out Leaflets

When I found this leaflet from the Jehovah’s Witnesses left at our front door and unrolled it to read the message, I just felt so sad for the people who live with this burden that the world is going to end. What a drag, seriously. If I believed the world was going to end I would not be handing out leaflets warning people. I know how selfish not to let people know. Instead I’d be spending the time doing the things I love. Maybe the folks that left this leaflet love handing out paper? Or maybe it’s a membership drive? (In past “end” years membership surged, go figure.)

The artwork of the leaflet reminds me of the supremely silly Gathering Storm ad (fear, fear, fear). At least Colbert spoofed it really well (‘like watching the 700 Club and the Weather channel…’).

Thank You Notes: The 3-3-3 Rule

Several years ago we attended an etiquette talk and the one thing we remember from that talk is the 3-3-3 rule: take 3 minutes to write 3 lines no more than 3 days after – or something like that. Well, recently we got a thank-you collage which totally blew that rule to bits. It was one of the best thank-yous we’ve ever received. Does one write thank-you notes for thank-you notes?

Snow Graffiti

The first day of winter hit Seattle hard with snow and temperatures that haven’t been seen for some time. On a stroll out this morning to enjoy the snow and chat with neighbors we came across some graffiti written on the snow on some bushes. The perps also spray painted snow on cars.

Favorite Christmas Card

It’s that time of year again for sending Christmas cards. As we were taking stock of our supply of cards, this card from Sweet-Relish Paperie made me chuckle. It is titled Christ versus Santa Claus. Inside it says “Happy Christmas”.

New England State Nicknames

Do you know the nickname of your state? Your neighboring states? Didn’t think so. While in New England this week, we got to thinking about state nicknames. The “official” nicknames for some New England states are: Connecticut the Consitution State, Maine the Pine Tree State, Massachusetts the Bay State, New Hamsphire the Granite State, Rhode Island the Ocean State, and Vermont the Green Mountain State.

An unofficial nickname for Connecticut is “Nutmeg State” which always baffled me. It’s not because nutmeg (Myristica fragans) was grown there. The common explanation is that shrewd peddlers would sell small carved nobs of wood shaped like nutmeg to unsuspecting customers wanting a little something from the spice islands. Try grinding that for your pumpkin pie. [ref]

Door-to-Door Magazine Sales

It hasn’t happened for a while, but today I popped out front to do a little yard work and wham, a young door-to-door salesperson showed up selling magazines. You’ve heard the story, a young person trying to earn points to get a job, or scholarship, or something else. To do this, they must sell magazine subscriptions. In this case this young person whose name was Jessica and was from Texas and was working for the firm http://www.dntconnections.com/. She told me that they send “kids” like her around the country to get “experience”. Why would they spend the money (and risk) to send a single mother (she told me she was) to live in a hotel in a far away city to sell magazines doesn’t make sense to me.

Type of questions I was asked: “Are you a generous person?” and “Do you believe in second chances?” My response to both was “no”.

So, I told her I would not write a check or give money, but would consider logging on to a Web site and ordering and trying to give credit to her. The company DNT Connections exists, but you can’t order anything that I could tell. Figures.

After a little more digging (see resources below), I realized that yes, these magazine crews do go around the country and that all not all is well in this little-understood industry (i.e., deaths and exploitation). The lesson I’m coming away with is that trusting your first instinct to be very wary is okay and if you want to help people in this age bracket do it locally through other more reputable organizations. Be on the watch for emotional questions like the ones given above. It’s rehearsed.

Resources

Government site that has some good information in case you did buy and need to know your rights
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/tmarkg/magzn.shtm

An exposé from the Portland area from two young women who spilled the beans:
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=115501199061804400

A site dedicated to exposing this industry:
http://www.travelingsalescrews.info/mainpage.html

True stories from people who worked on magazine crews:http://www.magcrew.com/

To All the Watches We Loved Before: Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes

As I was taking a last look at all the watches we collected over the last 20+ years I just had to hear Disco Tex and the Sex-o-lettes. In my head, somehow the watches reminded me of the Disco Tex’s classics: I Wanna Dance Wit’ Choo and Get Dancin' ("...my chiffon is wet darling..."). The watches were in a brown paper back buried in the closet, much like many a Disco Tex record? Sorry, if these songs enter your brain.

Loath to Clutter the Desk - Wireless Printing

Of the many pressing issues us repats must deal with, the inevitable cluttering of the house is certainly high on the list. Shelves and desks were clean when we returned, almost spartan. Now they are slowly filling up with stuff. Though, one small victory is that we finally figured out that our HP Office Jet 7310 All-in-One Printer can be used wirelessly. Yeah. It works like a charm and there are a few less wires in our office (think One Less Bell To Answer – the 5^th Dimension – oh, the audacity of that medley!).

Scorpion in Florence?

Forgot to post this but in Florence we once had an interesting visitor: a scorpion. We found him under a wet sponge in the kitchen. It kind of freaked us out. We photographed it and put it outside. It was pretty small, about 1.5cm. We confirmed with WhatsThatBug and they said it was a scorpion. Still, would say the mosquitoes in Florence are still more annoying.

ET and the Vatican

 

After reading this article on the BBC about the Vatican’s statements about extraterrestrial life and even the mention that they are organizing a conference on the anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birthday, we just had to say: "woah". A step in the right direction (if not a little late) compared to some other religions and belief systems that are so patently backwards in thinking. 

On a related note, Travelmarx has nothing but praise for Microsoft’s (gulp) World Wide Telescope project. Truly awe-inspiring.

The Black Plague

We were talking about the Black Death, or Black Plague of the 14th century in my Dawn of the Renaissance course. It really hit Florence hard in 1347-1348. Something like two thirds of the population of 120,000 of Florence died. No one knew what was going on or had any answers. So, one common response was that 'we are being punished by God for something.' Along those lines, and to file under ironic, were the self-flagellants whose goal by some accounts was to help absorb God’s wrath. You could even pay a flagellant to flog himself if you weren’t inclined to flog yourself. The flagellant movement became especially popular during the Black Death and ironically, roving bands of flagellants may have actually helped spread the plague. It’s a case of trying to defend yourself against something and only making it worse.

The commissioning of art at least in Florence and other areas of Tuscany pretty much came to a halt. Who had time for art when everyone was dying? Those with means moved out of the cities and retreated to country estates and survived reasonably well. In fact after the plague passed, they came back to places like Florence and bought up quite a bit of land in these decimated cites on which they would build the grand palazzos of the Renaissance. But this didn't happen overnight, it took several decades to recover from the plague.

The cause of the plague? There seems to be disagreement over whether it was a form of bubonic plaque (spread by fleas on rodents) or non-bubonic form (flea bite and respiratory spread). At any rate, it only took about one week to die. A scary time indeed.

Renaissance Florence Wedding

If you decide you want to get married in Florence, you can do it at the Palazzo Vecchio and hire people in Renaissance costume. We picked up this brochure the other day in the Office of the Calcio Storico Fiorentino. Looks to be about 52 Euro per character. So as to not look like a cheapskate, you should hire at least 8 characters.

The woman on the brochure is Maddalena Doni. Her wedding portrait was painted by Raphael in 1506 and is in the Pitti Palace Galleria Palatina. She married Angelo Doni and it was quite the wedding or so we were told. Check out that necklace. For more on her “pose” see this post.

Doing Family Research in Palermo

We were in Palermo over Easter doing some family research. This post can be considered part II of the previous post On-the-Ground Italian Family Research. Let me just breathe a sigh of relief and say that we got everything we needed and everyone we worked with was helpful.

Anagrafe Information

Here is some information about the anagrafe offices (link 1 and link 2). They are in Italian. Unfortunately, they don't tell you the most important thing which is that the office for old records is right across from the main train station, conveniently located. It’s a grayish, formidable looking building with brown signage above the windows saying “Muncipio di Palermo”. During off hours, you can’t really look in any windows because everything is shut up. Normal hours are something like 8:30 to 1:30 (check to confirm). When you enter through a gate on the side of the building (away from the ocean) there are several doors to choose from. One door is the place you pick up previously requested information or things that are already in the computer. It’s the “sportello”. The other door has a security guard inside and that’s where you should go if you need to do research. You want to ask the guard to take you to door #6. It’s just to the left of the elevator past the guard post. Below is a picture of the building with the main train station in the background.


Once inside the door, you meet someone there and you can state what you need. As usual, having all the information on one or more sheets of paper and easy to read will help. Also be prepared to take notes as it will help to record dates and volume/number from the index (more below).

You can get photocopies for just a few cents apiece or you can ask for an extract. The extract might take a day or so to process since the information has to be typed into the computer. Then you can just go to the sportello and have the extract printed out.

Note that the first step the person helping you will take is to consult the indexes. The indexes are listing by date of births, deaths, marriages that list the volume (located elsewhere in the office) where the actual information is. Pictured below is the shelf that contains the index information from the 1800s.


Palermo Cemetery Information

There are four main cemeteries in Palermo (that we know of): Capuchin (location), Santa Maria de Gesù (location), Sant’Orsola (location), and Rotoli (location). We found staff on hand always to answer our questions, so stop at the main office (near the main entrance) and begin by asking someone to check the records. You can do this at all four cemeteries discussed here.

The Capuchin Catacombs is a huge tourist attraction because of the mummies in the basement – so to speak. The entrance to the touristy part is different but close to the main entrance to the cemetery. Just inside the gate to the right is an office where you can ask someone to look in the records. You need date of death and name. The Capuchin cemetery is just east of the city center. You can walk to it from the main train station in about 35 minutes.

Sant’Orsola is not as much of a tourist attraction, though I think there is a church inside (Santo Spirito) that is listed in some of the guide books. Again, you can walk from the central train station to the cemetery in about 20 minutes. A plan of the cemetery is shown below.


Santa Maria de Gesù is located quite a bit south of the city. Take a taxi or a bus(#210 from bay #2 in front of the main train station – for more info on buses see http://www.amat.pa.it/).

Rotoli is located quite a bit north of the city. Take a taxi or a bus (#139 from bay #1 in front of the main train station). This is the largest of the cemeteries and the most likely place to look. A plan of the cemetery is shown below. The sad thing here is that a fire wiped out all records before 1933 – this ultimately sank our search because we were looking for someone before this date. However, not is all is lost, because in most cases you can search for a related family member who died after 1933 and then use this to help locate the ancestor who died before 1933.

Note that the main office for the cemetery is where Via Papa Sergio turns into Via Vergine Maria (a truly miraculous kind of conversion :-)).

My Next Brunelleschi House?

Recently I had a tour of the Old Sacristy designed by Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446) and started thinking of his designs. Also, I did a mockup of Santo Spirito with the hopes of trying to learn something about the proportions. I got to thinking, why not build a Brunelleschi house? Very simple design based around a courtyard that could be covered or not. If covered, maybe something like his Pazzi Chapel dome? Of course, the color scheme would be white and grey as is typical in these spaces. 

One of the square building blocks shown above, a side aisle bay, in Santo Spirito measures 11 braccia on a side which is about 6.42 meteres or 21 feet. All other measurements in the church are related to this basic measurement. (The graphics were created in PowerPoint.)

Anna Anna Bo-Banna!

Anna, Anna, bo-banna (*)
Banana-fana fo-fana
Fee-fi-mo-manna.
Anna!

Thank you Shirley Ellis and The Name Game video.

Okay, we’d be remiss to not mention what’s up with the neighbor (“vicina di casa”), Anna. Well, let me say Mark has the longest fuse of anyone I know and Anna lit it. Boy oh boy. Then I jumped in trying to swear at her and called her crazy (“pazza”) and rude (“maleducato”). (The latter insult she uses when she yells at people passing by.) The confrontation wasn’t pretty. In the heat of the moment we asked her if she stole our plants and we think she confessed to it. It was odd.

The incident that caused the blow up is so strange that I don’t even think I could describe it accurately. Our landlords (both the owner of the house and the property manager) have confirmed to us that her behavior has always been this way. What’s really sad or interesting is not that she is that way but the way we reacted. We wished we acted different and just ignored her. It would have been less energy.