USS John F Kennedy in Malta

I received this picture today from my aunt. It was forwarded with this question:

Have you ever considered how big a U.S. aircraft carrier really is?

Here is a picture of the USS John F Kennedy (CV-67) docking in Malta. The comparison to buildings, automobiles, and city streets gives some conception of its size.

I couldn't resist posting this picture of JFK, which was the first ship I was ever assigned to in the Navy. Stationed in Spain in the early 70's, I was ordered TAD (Temporary Additional Duty) aboard CV-67 in the North Atlantic (for about a month, as I recall). If memory serves, we were participating in a NATO exercise. We crossed the Arctic Circle aboard ship, making us all Blue Noses. This designation is similar to that of Shellback (for one who crosses the Equator aboard ship) but did not entail the extensive initiation process of Shellback.

I later served on another short TAD trip aboard the Kennedy (CV-67) in the Mediterranean. The memorable part of that trip was being flown off the ship on the carrier's COD, nicknamed Caroline, in honor of President Kennedy's daughter.

I previously wrote about my time aboard aircraft carriers here.

Happy Birthday, Arnie; Long Live the King!

Today is the birthday of the most important name in the history of Golf. If you love Golf and wonder why it has become the popular spectator sport and pastime it is today, you must understand Arnold Palmer, the King. Arnie is 80; long live the King!

I have seen Arnold denying this in a number of venues in recent days. He doesn't consider himself to be a King and has fought the notion until he recognized it was a futile effort. The Golf Channel has made a big deal about his birthday, counting down the days for weeks now. And why not? Without Arnold Palmer, there would be no Golf Channel. Without Arnie there might not be a Tiger Woods.

Without Arnie, I might never have become a golfer. My Mom and Dad introduced me to golf via Shell's Wonderful World of Golf and other TV shows we watched about golf. Many focused on Arnold Palmer. They loved the game themselves, and they encouraged me to caddy at our local Country Club, which at the age of 12, introduced me to a wonderful world that has stood me in good stead over the course (!) of my 57 years on this earth.

At the Country Club of Ashland, I learned to play golf by caddying for some of the best golfers in the area, and by listening to our pro and the top amateurs talking about the golf swing. I caddied for a few years, worked in the pro shop, worked as the caddy master, cleaned clubs, mowed greens, watered the fairways as an assistant to the Head Greenskeeper, worked in the Pro Shop. Basically, I worked everywhere around the Country Club except the kitchen.

Although I haven't always had time to play as much as I would like, when stationed in Rota, Spain, and Yokohama, Japan, I was able to play many weekends a year at the excellent golf courses provided by the U.S. Military.

But this post is really about Arnold Palmer and the effect he's had not only on my life but on the world. If you have paid any attention to the media in recent days (and especially if you watch the Golf Channel) you may have noticed that the King, Arnold Palmer, turned 80 on September 10th. I will not try to recreate all of the wonderful accolades and tributes to Arnie that have been written in recent days, but to give you a taste, here's a link to a nice article, fittingly in a Pennsylvania paper. PGA.com also has a great collection of recollections of Arnold Palmer by members of the PGA (club pros) who had the pleasure of meeting him.

My main point about Arnold Palmer is how he brought golf into the world of the average person. His advent coincided with the rise of television and the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, an avid golfer and a friend of Arnie. He spurred U.S. participation overseas with his faithful participation in the Open Championship, for example. He always had time to greet people and to sign autographs. He was the quintessential everyman and the model citizen of the golf world, a courteous gentleman, who made more friends among the throngs of fans than any of us could imagine. His sportsmanlike behavior, emulated by his good friends, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, became the standard by which golfers in subsequent generations would come to act—to treat one another, and their fans, with honor and respect.

In an age when athletes in most professional sports stand out for their brushes with the law or gambling on their sport or domestic abuse, golf stands apart, seemingly in a world of its own. Arnold Palmer and his wife Winnie created and support hospitals, cancer research, the March of Dimes, and were just simply always involved in using their wealth to help people. Furthermore, Arnie—the friend of kings, presidents, and movie stars—always had a moment to smile at a child or the person who cleaned the locker room. As a guy who worked at that kind of a job as a kid, I know how much that means.

If Arnie had never appeared on the scene, I might not be an avid golfer today, and therefore I owe him a great debt of gratitude. Thank you, Arnold Palmer. Thank you, Arnie, and Happy Birthday from one of your biggest fans.....Long live the King!

This just in: birthday quotes from Arnie's fellow tour professionals and luminaries like Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Hawaiian Nihongo

Our niece, Pam, and her friend, Becky, recently went on vacation in Hawaii. Knowing how I love Japanese, they sent me this picture of a Subway menu in Japanese. Becky pointed out that BLT is in English. What is fascinating is that about 80% of this menu is in English adapted into the Japanese language phonetically. It's something we might call Nihonglish (Nihongo is Japanese for the Japanese language). By learning a 46-character syllabary called Katakana, you could read 80% or more of this menu.

There are only a few actual Kanji (Chinese characters used to write Japanese) on the menu, and since they mostly use the On-yomi (that is the Chinese reading of the Kanji), they represent Chinese sounds/ideas adopted into Japanese.

In fact, the only real native Japanese on this menu, in one sense, are the few Hiragana (another 46-character syllabary, used to write native Japanese words and to add grammatical endings to the Kanji) along with a couple of Kanji using the Kun-yomi (Japanese reading of the character)!

Top Line says "Sabuay"-wa furesshu de Shinsen dakara itsumo oishii!" Subway fresh. Because it's fresh, it's always delicious). The two Kanji are read Shinsen, a second way to write the meaning "fresh."

Second line: "Okisa-wa 6 inchi to 12 inchi, rappu mo arimasu."—Sizes we have: 6-inch and 12-inch, and also wraps.

Third line: "Yasai-wa oSukinamono o oErabi Kudasai." Literally (Regarding) vegetables (polite prefix) favorites or choices (polite prefix) choose please (humble word)—Choose the vegetables you would like. The prefix "o" added to the beginning of Sukinamono and Erabi is an example of word beautification and makes the language more polite. The word Kudasai is a form of please that shows humility on the part of the speaker (writer). When written as a Kanji, it points downward, as follows:

* Beji Deraito (Yasai to cheezu)"—Vegi Delight (Vegetables and Cheese)

* Tahkee Buresto (Shichimencho Muneniku)—Turkey Breast (Turkey Breast, but the word Shichimencho is interesting. It is the designation for a Turkey, but literally it means something like "Seven-Faced Bird," perhaps in reference to the various colors reflected by the turkey’s wattle.)

See more discussion of the word turkey in various languages on my blog here.

* Roesto Bifu —Roast Beef

* Sheefudo to Kurabu (Sheefudo to Kanikama) — Seafood and Fake Crab

* BLT (Baykon, Retasu, tomahto)—BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato)

* Hamu—Ham

* Roesto Chiken Buresto—Roast Chicken Breast

* Sabuay Kurabu (Tahkee, Roesto Beefu, Hamu)—Subway Club (Turkey, Roast Beef, Ham) (Notice crab and club are both transliterated the same into Katakana.)

* Itarian BMT (Peparoni, Sarami, Hamu)—Italian BMT (Pepperoni, Salami, Ham)

The BMT was supposedly originally named after the "Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit," but now is called Biggest, Meatiest, Tastiest.

* Tsuna (Tuna—this is the closest we can get in transliterating Tuna into Katakana).

* Teriyaki chiken—Teriyaki chicken

* Korudo Kahto Conbi (Hamu, Buroeni, Sarami)—Cold Cut Combi(nation) (Ham, Balogna, Salami)

* Chiken, Baykon Ranchi (Chiken, Baykon, Yasai)—Chicken Bacon Ranch (Chicken, Bacon, Ranch) (Note here that the word Lunch would also be transliterated Ranchi.)

* Steiki to Chizu—Steak and Cheese

* Pasutorami—Pastrami

* Beji Maxu (Yasai Hahmbahgah)—Vejimax (Vegetable Hamburger)

* Kizzu Paku (Kora Paku)—(Hamu, Tsuna, Softo Durinku, Tahkee something and it fades out-can't make out the characters, Durinku, and more unreadables)--Kid's Pack (Children's Pack) (Ham, Tuna, Soft Drink, Turkey, ........, Drink,....

* Onomimono: Softo Durinku (Okii, Chui, Chiisai) Kara oErabi Kudasai, Gyunyu, Uroncha, Kocha mo Arimasu—Beverages: Soft Drinks (Large, Medium, Small) Choose, We also have Milk, Oolong Tea, and Black Tea.

* Supu: Kuramuchyaudah, Burokkari Chizu, Chiken Nudoru, Bifu Vejitaburu—Soup: Clam Chowder, Broccoli-Cheese, Chicken Noodle, Beef Vegetable

The Black Circle in the upper righthand corner says that you can add Bacon for 50 cents to the 6-inch or a dollar to the 12-inch sandwich.

This was also posted on Bonnie's Beans Blog here, with some additional Japanese language information.

Oxford English Dictionary Online

I discovered an interesting and useful piece of information today. The Oxford English Dictionary, with its wonderful wealth of information about our language, is available on line through many libraries, one of which is the Denver Public Library. This link will take you to the entry point. All you need from there is a library card. Fantastic stuff!

The OED site home page is here.

Following is a quote from the site concerning the genesis of this historic work:

"The Oxford English Dictionary has been the last word on words for over a century. But, as with a respected professor or admired parent, we count on its wisdom and authority without thinking much about how it was acquired. What is the history of the Oxford English Dictionary? Exploring its origins and development will give new insight into this extraordinary, living document.

How it began

When the members of the Philological Society of London decided, in 1857, that existing English language dictionaries were incomplete and deficient, and called for a complete re-examination of the language from Anglo-Saxon times onward, they knew they were embarking on an ambitious project. However, even they didn't realize the full extent of the work they initiated, or how long it would take to achieve the final result.

The project proceeded slowly after the Society's first grand statement of purpose. Eventually, in 1879, the Society made an agreement with the Oxford University Press and James A. H. Murray to begin work on a New English Dictionary (as the Oxford English Dictionary was then known)."

Read more here.

Beauty Barn

A few weeks ago, Hannah's riding class held what they called "Beauty Barn." Each rider was to spend the entire class period creatively grooming her horse. Here's Hannah with her horse, Corky.

Hannah loves to braid hair and is very good at it. Here's how she braided Corky's mane.

Another view of Hannah's beautified horse!

The End!

(Note the braided tail!)

A is for Appraise and Apprise

I hope this post will apprise you of the difference between apprise and appraise.

After reading it, you can appraise it (and apprise me of your conclusions, if you so desire).

The confusion in usage between apprise and appraise has come to my attention on numerous occasions on the radio and in person in recent days. This is my appraisal.

Interestingly, people often use appraise when they mean apprise.

I do not believe I've ever heard people use apprise when they mean appraise.

People never think to say, "the jeweler apprised the gem collection." They do say (incorrectly) "Johnny's mom appraised his teacher that little Johnny would not be in school on Tuesday."

A simple rule of thumb: You apprise people. You appraise things. You appraise things for people. You apprise people of your appraisal of things.

To appraise means to put a value on. If you appraise me, you are putting a price tag on me. That's not nice.

To apprise means to inform.

Below, some dictionaries apprise us of their appraisal of the two words.

ap·praise
tr.v. ap·praised, ap·prais·ing, ap·prais·es
1. To evaluate, especially in an official capacity.
2. To estimate the quality, amount, size, and other features of; judge.
[Middle English appreisen, possibly from Old French aprisier, from Late Latin appretire : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin pretium, price]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company

Origin: 1400–50; late ME apraysen to set a value on, prob. a conflation of aprisen to apprize and preisen to praise (with sense of prize)
Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009

ap⋅prise
verb (used with object), -prised, -pris⋅ing.
to give notice to; inform; advise (often fol. by of): to be apprised of the death of an old friend.

Origin: 1685–95; appris taught, informed, ptp. of apprendre; see apprehend
[French apprendre, appris-, from Old French aprendre, to learn, from Latin apprehendere, apprēndere; see apprentice.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Word Origin & History
apprise: "to notify," 1694, from Fr. appris, pp. of apprendre "to inform, teach," lit. "to lay hold of (in the mind)," another metaphoric meaning of L. apprehendere (see apprehend).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

Congratulations, Dalia!

It is a pleasure so soon after the 4th of July, our Independence Day, to welcome someone who has just become a citizen of the United States of America.

Dalia is a friend and coworker at Affordable American Insurance. Here she is, with her three children, in front of Mt. Rushmore, a symbol of the best this country has to offer.

Dalia had been studying and preparing for citizenship for years. Finally last week, her dream became a reality in a ceremony in which she, along with about 280 others from 75 countries, were officially naturalized citizens of the United States.

I have always been proud of the fact that ours is a nation of immigrants, welcoming new citizens from around the world. We have been greatly enriched by that process. We have provided sanctuary for the oppressed, economic opportunity for the disadvantaged, and hope for the downtrodden. In return, our nation has been greatly blessed by the hard work and creativity of our newest citizens.

Welcome, Dalia. We hope you are as blessed to be here as we are to have you here!

My family has only been in this land for a few generations, so I too am a beneficiary of the largesse of a nation that opens its heart to the world with these immortal words, engraved on a bronze plaque, mounted inside the Statue of Liberty:

The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
—Emma Lazarus, 1883

Central City Opera Weekend 2009

We just returned from another wonderful weekend in Central City, Colorado. We saw two of the three operas in the Central City Opera House Association season.

The three couples arrived at our favorite Bed and Breakfast, the Chase Creek Inn, on Friday night.

Here's the group gathered in the Dining Room.

On Saturday afternoon, we saw the musical "A Little Night Music" by Stephen Sondheim. It was a lighthearted farce, and we enjoyed it very much.

Reviews:

CCO makes much of "A Little Night Music"

Daily Camera, July 6, 2009

Soprano McNair very much "still here"

Denver Post, July 3, 2009

Sunday afternoon we saw the opera "Lucia di Lammermoor." It was also very enjoyable but quite different from the Sondheim musical, not at all lighthearted.

Mad about her: Central City's spellbinding "Lucia"

The Denver Post, June 30, 2009

CCO Stages luminous "Lucia"

Daily Camera, June 29, 2009

Russian soprano finds depth in madness of "Lucia"

The Denver Post, June 21, 2009

Incredibly, the Central City Opera House, opened in 1878 and in its 77th year after reopening in 1932, has never performed a Handel opera. This year, that all changes, with the performance of Rinaldo.

Reviews:

A spellbinding staging of "Rinaldo"

Denver Post, July 14, 2009

Opera has a crush on Handel

Denver Post, July 5, 2009

Central City Opera House, Opening Night, 1932

Former Weekends

2008     2007

Happy 233rd to the Declaration

On July 4, 1776 a radical new document gave birth to "a new nation conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" (to borrow some famous words).


This great experiment is now 233 years old, and from my perspective, its successes have far outweighed its failures. Yet there are those who despise and are ashamed of that history. Do not count me among them.


To borrow more words from our 16th president, we are now "testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure."


Count me concerned about whether or not we can long endure, given the current state of affairs in this nation.


For further thoughts along these lines, check out Independence Day 2008 and 2007.

The full text of the Declaration of Independence can be found here.

Congratulations, Tony Fernandez

This is a very special blog post in honor of a very special person in our lives. My cousin Lissa's husband has been like another brother to me ever since we met in Spain many years ago (just as my cousin and I grew up like sister and brother, our families were so close). Today he is also my employer at Affordable American Insurance, the highly successful enterprise he and Lissa established, as well as my golfing buddy, and a very dear friend. Recently, Antonio was honored with a prestigious award, Rotary's Paul Harris Fellow for his efforts on behalf of the people of the Dominican Republic.

Tony Fernandez Honored with Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellow
Local Rotarian Honored for His Work Helping Needy Third-World Children
Thornton, CO (Rotary Newswire) 12 Jun 09 – Recently Tony Fernandez, a local business owner and Rotarian, was honored for his tireless efforts to help children in the third-world country of the Dominican Republic with Rotary’s prestigious Paul Harris Fellow.

Several years ago Tony was in the Dominican Republic with his family and church group when he realized the overwhelming need for health-care for the children of this impoverished nation and decided to do something about it. Shortly thereafter, he contacted the people at Project Cure (http://www.projectcure.org/) and got them to commit to giving him $1.5 million dollars worth of medical equipment. Project Cure gathers medical supplies that are no longer needed in our communities so that they can be donated to needy peoples around the world.

The real problem was getting all of these medical supplies from here in Denver to where they are needed most. Tony solved the problem by going to his local Rotary club (of which he is a member) and asking for a small donation of $3,000. He also approached a few other clubs asking for donation. All together local Rotary clubs donated $10,000 but that still wasn’t enough to get all of these supplies to the Dominican Republic. Tony took these funds to the local Rotary District and to Rotary International to get matching funds that totaled $38,100. At long last, Tony had the money needed to ship all of these valuable medical supplies to the Children’s Hospital in the Dominican Republic.

Later this month, Tony will gather a large group of local Rotarians to load all of these supplies into cargo-containers so that they can begin their long journey across land and over sea to the small Caribbean island nation of the Dominican Republic. In about 4 month’s time Tony plans to fly down to the Dominican Republic to meet with the first lady of that nation so that he can present over 1.5 Million dollars worth of medical supplies to her and her charity which is the local childrens’ hospital.

Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellow that is given in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world. Rotary International is the world's first service club organization, with more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary club members are volunteers who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self. For more information: http://www.rotary.org/en/AboutUs/Pages/ridefault.aspx.

About the Rotary Club of Denver Metro North: 
The Rotary Club of Denver Metro North was founded on April 24th, 2007 with 20 members and has done a large amount of service to the community and for the world in it’s short lifespan.

In 2007 this club hosted a fund-raising roast of former Thornton Mayor, Noel Busck, and raised $23,000 for Holy Cross Church for a rec-center expansion project. Last year they roasted Odell Barry (former Northglenn Mayor and Broncos football player) where they netted about $42,000 of which $21,000 went to the Butterfly Pavillion (to help them with operating expenses) and the other half went to other local charities by way of it's Rotary Foundation. This last year the Rotary Club of Denver Metro North roasted Jack TerHar (of Sil-TerHar Motors) to benefit The Broomfield Community Foundation (http://www.broomfieldfoundation.org/) and it's Rotary Foundation. They are still waiting on the numbers for that fund-raiser.

Every year the Rotary Club of Denver Metro North delivers free Thanksgiving dinners to many needy families in the local community. They've also participated in getting flowers from Denver’s Home and Garden show to senior centers in the community after the show to help brighten the days of local seniors.

The Rotary Club of Denver Metro North is composed of a wide cross-section of the local communities. They participate in many worthwhile Club, Vocational, Community and International Projects and they meet at the Egg and I at 855 Thornton Parkway, Thornton CO 80229 every Tuesday morning at 7am. Prospective members are always welcome as they're always looking for a few good people to help serve the local community and the world.

More information about the Rotary Club of Denver Metro North can be obtained by visiting http://www.denvermetronorthrotary.com/.



Earlier this year, Antonio and Lissa's insurance agency, Affordable American Insurance, was recognized as one of the Top 50 Family-Owned Companies in Colorado.

Homemade Pesto Pasta

Jill and Marissa decided to make homemade pasta the other night. Here are the wondrous results.

Beautiful fettucine.

A simple pesto sauce, some grated parmigiano, and voilà.


A simple, yet marvelous meal. A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and Thou...


Pam serving.

In honor of our Australian family and friends, we enjoyed a fine Cabernet Sauvignon from the Angove winery in the Coonawarra wine-producing region, southeast of Adelaide.

And for dessert, a delicious Baileys Frozen Russian.

Photos courtesy of NJ (Niece Jill)

Bike MS: Virginia's Ocean to Bay Ride 2009

Back in April, I posted an announcement about an event in which two of our cousins participated. They were to ride 150 miles to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Hampton Roads, Virginia. The event took place this past weekend, and I have it on good authority, they completed the ride (Bob's note on Facebook).

I did not realize they were part of a much larger team called the Killer Bees. Here's a little synopsis from the web site about their team.

Team Killer Bees is a group of 80 riders, who ride at different paces, and have been an award winning team, having raised over $300,000 in the past years for Multiple Sclerosis. They started as a small team of four riders, who one day finished a bike ride at a Killer B pace and thus was born the name of this highly recognized team. Last year, although the Killer Bees were the third largest team, of those three teams, their 49 active riders raised the most per rider ($1,180 each). After many years of participating in this event, the team has raised well over $300,000 to help find a cure!

Congratulations to the Killer Bees and to Bob and Em on a job well done. Thanks for inviting us to vicariously share your joy and excitement in this great accomplishment.

Our Old Chipiona Home

Friends recently made available pictures that brought back wonderful memories from our time in southern Spain in the mid-1970s.

Here is the front of our beautiful mansion/community house in Chipiona, Andalucia.

Unfortunately, the house was torn down in favor of apartment buildings in the 1980s.


From the balcony overlooking the celebration below. The Spanish tile in this house is the same as that found in the renowned Plaza de España in Seville, Spain.


"Our" beautiful stretch of beach on the Costa de la Luz in Chipiona.

Another view of the beach with the cathedral in the background.

A typical get-together at the Chipiona house, sharing food and fellowship with family and friends around the dinner table.

They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. Here we are in Colorado over 30 years later, sharing with family and friends around a fine feast!