Dayhoff Carroll: www.kevindayhoff.org Westminster Md Online - The Winchester Report, by Kevin Earl Dayhoff: Runner, writer, artist, fire and police chaplain Mindless ramblings of a runner, journalist, and artist Westminster, Hampstead, Manchester, Taneytown, Union Bridge, Mount Airy and Sykesville in Carroll Co, Maryland... and Frederick Co. Westminster Fire Dept., Firefighters, police officers, Carroll Co Sheriff's Office, Md St Police. Chaplain duties, Religion, Grace Lutheran Ch.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Dayhoff: A brief review of the Westminster Navy, and its role in American history
Folks have been asking where they may find my brief review of the Westminster Navy, and its role in American history… Here you go:
The Westminster Eagle column for Wednesday, April 1, 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff (649 words)
She was once a proud ship, a ruler of the waves and a queen of the sea. The “Patapsco Militia Ship Westminster” was her name.
The days of glory for the PMS Westminster are now gone as she sits askew on the ground with a list and sigh on the shores of the Patapsco River in back of the Westminster utilities work shop on Manchester Road.
The once proud ship is hardly noticed by passersby in their hustle and bustle traveling to and from Westminster. It's an inglorious plight for the once proud master of the seas.
No one knows, for example, that the PMS Westminster was the ship used by George Washington in his famous crossing of the Delaware River.
This event has become confused with the passage of time. Initially George Washington crossed the Patapsco River on his way to the Battle of Brandywine.
The event stirred such emotion and passion that the news media wanted it recreated for the 5 o'clock news. By then General Washington had travelled far from the Patapsco River so they used the Delaware River for the reenactment.
It's only fitting that the Patapsco River near Westminster should have such a rich and colorful nautical history.
This area of Carroll County was founded by the Carthaginians shortly after the 3rd Punic War which raged in the Mediterranean Sea from 149 to 146 BC.
After Carthage was destroyed by the Romans, a small band of seafaring Carthaginians set sail for a new home and settled in the valley by the natural port offered by the Patapsco River in what we now know as the Lucabaugh Mill Road and Manchester Road area near the new Westminster Cranberry water treatment plant.
The Carthaginians named the Patapsco River after Patroclus, the gentle and amiable friend of Achilles in Homer's “Iliad.” A rival group of natives at the time confused Patroclus to be "Petapsqui" – the Native American word for backwater or tide water covered with foam which was actually the froth formed by the discharge pipes of the large stills operated at the time by the Patapsipiss tribe of brewing Native Americans.
The well read Carthaginians were also aware that the site where Ulysses successfully sailed past the Sirens was actually on the Patapsco River.
The exact spot is the bridge over the railroad and the Patapsco River on Manchester Road just north of Westminster.
The Sirens, if you'll remember, were sort of a sea goddess who lured to destruction those who listened to their songs. When Ulysses sailed under the bridge towards Westminster to attend a public hearing, he stopped-up the ears of his companions with wax and had himself tied to the mast of his ship.
Ulysses thereupon passed safely, and the Sirens, disappointed at their loss, drowned themselves – which is exactly what many of us want to do after attending most public hearings in Westminster.
George Washington wrote in his “Maxims: Transcripts of Revolutionary Correspondence” that he felt that Westminster-on-the-Patapsco ought to have been the site of the nation's capital. The planners confused the name Patapsco with the name Potomac and well, the rest is history.
When President Abraham Lincoln began his trip to Gettysburg to deliver the Gettysburg Address; the plan was for him to travel up the Patapsco River on the PMS Westminster, disembark, and travel by land for the balance of the trip.
Upon reaching Westminster, Lincoln was thereupon informed that Carroll County's road system was a bad collage of stoplights, confusion, and overcrowded roads which go from nowhere to nowhere. So he took the train.
These are but a few of the legendary exploits of the PMS Westminster and the Westminster Navy. A proud heritage only a few Carroll Countians know. Now you know it too!
Well, maybe not. Happy April Fool’s Day.
That’s my two-cents. What’s yours?
I’ll look forward to your comments in the readers’ comment section below.
Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster.
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/)
SDOSM 20090510
Kevin Dayhoff: www.westgov.net Westminster Maryland Online www.westminstermarylandonline.net http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Carole King “It’s Too Late” released April 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPeVbEg1DHE
This version here is from the 1971 album… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q8884GxUIU
The song came up in my April 29, 2009 The Tentacle column, “The Mockingbird’s Song”
The reclusive and enigmatic childhood friend of Truman Capote, Harper Lee, celebrated a birthday yesterday. She was born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama…
Carole King
Album: Tapestry
Song's name: It's Too Late
Song info: Lyrics and Music: Toni Stern and Carole King feat. Dina Carroll
Lyrics:
Stayed in bed all morning just to pass the time
There's something wrong here
There can be no denying
One of us is changing
Or maybe we've just stopped trying
And it's too late baby, now it's too late
Though we really did try to make it
Something inside has died and I can't hide
And I just can't fake it
It used to be so easy living here with you
You were light and breezy
And I knew just what to do
Now you look so unhappy
And I feel like a fool
And it's too late baby, now it's too late
Though we really did try to make it
Something inside has died
and I can't hide it
And I just can't fake it
There'll be good times again for me and you
But we just can't stay together
Don't you feel it too
Still I'm glad for what we had
And how I once loved you
But it's too late baby, now it's too late
Though we really did try to make it
Something inside has died and I can't hide
And I just can't fake it
Don't you know that I...
I just can't fake it
Oh it's too late my baby
Too late my baby
You know
It's too late my baby
http://www.loglar.com/song.php?id=3
19710400 Carole King Its Too Late released April 1971
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Pearls and a cigarette
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thank Goodness Its Friday: David Bowie in the man who fell to earth part 1
Thank Goodness Its Friday: David Bowie in the man who fell to earth part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0-8SY7DVNo
May 28, 1976 by Nicolas Roeg
The novel was written by Walter Tevis in 1963. The screenplay adaptation was written by Paul Mayersberg.
The music was by John Phillips (Yes that John Phillips of “The Mamas and the Papas,”) and Stomu Yamashta.
Starring David Bowie.
20081031 19760528 David Bowie in the man who fell to earth part 1
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Among my most prized possessions are words that I have never spoken
October 23, 2008
I’m not sure when Orson Scott Card said this; however the following quote ought to be an everyday mantra for anyone in the public spotlight.
It is certainly a thought that many in the blogosphere ought to take to heart…
It reminds me of the great admonition that I often repeated to myself when I was an elected official – although critics will suggest that I, all too often did not follow my own advice enough: “Never miss an opportunity to sit down and shut up.”
"Among my most prized possessions are words that I have never spoken." Attributed to Orson Scott Card
20081023 Among my most prized possessions are words that I have never spoken
http://www.ornery.org/
Friday, September 26, 2008
City's fiscal woes extend to previous officials by Dr Wack
Letters Posted 9/24/08 http://explorecarroll.com/opinion/1084/letters/
Perhaps Kevin Dayhoff is still working in landscaping. Regardless, Westminster residents deserve better than the manure he shoveled in his column in The Westminster Eagle ("Be critical of spending, but MML has been worthwhile"), Sept 17.
[KED note: For more on the picture of me shoveling manure, please see: January 21st, 2001 - 20031008 KED Mucking Out Stalls.JPG http://tinyurl.com/o4yrwc ]
Perpetuating the lie about the city paying for a dinner for elected officials, staff and family members is bad enough. The city hasn't paid for that dinner since Dayhoff lost his reelection bid for mayor in 2005. Before that, Dayhoff never seemed to mind ordering drinks and food on the city tab.
His reservations about the creation of new positions which include the new city administrator are puzzling as well. Before he was against it, ex-Mayor Dayhoff was a vocal advocate for hiring a city administrator.
Most importantly, Dayhoff seems to have forgotten that all the financial problems the city now struggles with were all present the first day he became mayor in 2001, and yet for his entire term, no progress was made solving them. He also neglected to mention his attempts to have the city pay for a laptop computer to use at home, as well as reimburse his mileage for trips to Annapolis and outside the state on business that the council, at that time, didn't deem to be beneficial to the city.
One other assertion he must be challenged on is that the current administration "campaigned on the need for increased spending, taxes, etc." No current city official ever made those statements, and Dayhoff knows it.
Robert Wack, council member, Westminster Common Council
Westminster
http://explorecarroll.com/opinion/1084/letters/
20080924 Citys fiscal woes extend to previous officials by Dr Wack
Related:
http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2008/09/westminster-eagle-westminster-mayor.html
and
http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2008/09/westminster-eagle-be-critical-of.html
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 Westminster Eagle: “Westminster mayor says MML convention spending was worth it” By Katie V. Jones Westminster Eagle: “Westminster mayor says MML convention spending was worth it” By Katie V. Jones Posted on http://www.explorecarroll.com/ 9/17/08 http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2008/09/westminster-eagle-westminster-mayor.html
Recent Westminster Eagle and Sunday Carroll Eagle columns by Kevin Dayhoff: Be critical of spending, but MML has been worthwhile Published September 17, 2008 by Westminster Eagle There has been a fair amount of discussion of late regarding published accounts of the June trip by 15 appointed and elected officials from Westminster... http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2008/09/recent-westminster-eagle-and-sunday_23.html 20080923 Recent Westminster Eagle and Sunday Carroll Eagle columns NBH: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/60014.html 20080917 Westminster mayor says convention spending worth it KJones
Westminster Eagle: Be critical of spending, but MML has been worthwhile by Kevin Dayhoff Posted on http://www.explorecarroll.com/opinion-talk/ 9/17/08 http://www.explorecarroll.com/opinion/1005/be-critical-spending-but-mml-has-been-worthwhile/ Posted on “Soundtrack” on Monday, September 22, 2008: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2008/09/westminster-eagle-be-critical-of.html
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/
Thursday, August 21, 2008
20080807 “La Policía” © by Kevin Dayhoff
Writer’s note: A shortened version of this appeared in the Sunday Carroll Eagle on August 17, 2008: “And now, for this week’s installment of ‘La Policia,’ in the Opinion section of the paper.
_____
Carroll County’s reputation for low crime and an aggressive approach to public safety is not a recent phenomenon.
Over 80 years ago on July 16, 1925, the editor of the American Sentinel newspaper in Westminster, Joseph D. Brooks wrote that many “years ago Carroll county was known to criminals all over the state as an ‘open door to the penitentiary,’ and many there were who entered by way of that door.”
However, as one can imagine when a community determines any public policy to be of paramount importance there are bound to be impassioned conflicts and dramas.
Writing for the Historical Society of Carroll County in 2001, Jay Graybeal noted in his introduction of the 1925 newspaper article, “Why the Listlessness of the Sheriffs of Carroll County?”; that it seems that Mr. Brooks had become unhappy with the Carroll County sheriff and state’s attorney and was letting them know that in no uncertain terms.
Carroll County history is replete with colorful conflicts, many of operatic proportions, between the Carroll County board of commissioners, the Carroll County delegation to Annapolis, the state’s attorney’s office, and the sheriff.
In the most recent act of this ongoing opera, on October 4, 2007 the Carroll County board of commissioners opted to move forward with a plan to form a county police department headed by an appointed chief of police.
Not willing to disappoint future historians, troubadours from far-flung regions of the Carroll County Empire then entered the stage and chaos ensued. I read several of the news accounts with the soundtrack of “Les Misérables” playing in the background.
The only disappointment is that Victor Hugo, the author of the classic 1862 novel, is not available to write about it.
Just as with any good storytelling, “La Policía” the current epic Carroll County constitutional conflict over the future of the police in Carroll County has many layers, story lines, strong personalities, and plot twists.
The frenzied operatic moments are reminiscent of what a collaboration between the famous 19th-century composer Richard Wagner and his father-in-law, Franz Liszt, would have looked like; with the emphasis of folks attempting to promote a plan for the future that cannot escape the past.
The very first act of La Policía is borrowed from Les Misérables. As the curtains rise, the scene before the bewildered citizen audience is the barricaded Carroll County office building.
It’s August 7, 2008 and the commissioners have just voted 2-1 to not move forward with the October 4, 2007 police plan.
As the smoke rises from the stage, there is a break in the action as members of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department are storming the barricades.
Blinking red and blue police lights reflect back and forth in the fog of the smoke.
In the background, the delegation to Annapolis forms the chorus and is softly singing.
The three commissioners are standing on top of the barricades. Commissioners Mike Zimmer and Dean Minnich are on either side of Julia Gouge, holding her steady as she waves an oversized Carroll County flag.
Office building employees have broken out the windows and are showering the storming sheriff’s deputies with office furniture.
The stage is littered with burning newspapers as the local media has shelled all the participants with folded newspapers shot from makeshift artillery.
Off to the side, Channel 13 news reporter Mike Schuh is attempting to interview Westminster Police Chief Jeff Spaulding. The only thing is - the chief has the 1971 Led Zeppelin classic, “The Battle of Evermore,” coincidentally, the title of the first act of La Policía, cranked-up so loud on the car stereo, no one can hear a thing.
Inside the office building the receptionist, Kay Church, is serving cookies, answering the phones and has armed herself with a salad shooter and big bag of carrots.
Ted Zaleski, the director of management and budget is huddled off to the side with Vivian Laxton, the public information administrator as they try and figure out who is playing what character from Les Misérables.
All of the sudden there is silence on the stage as famed local historian; Jay Graybeal emerges from the fog as a narrator, smiles and begins to softly tell the story of the history of the sheriff’s department.
“When Carroll County was founded in 1837, one of the first tasks…” of the newly formed government was to elect a sheriff. As with many aspects of early American government, its origins date back to the history of mother England.
According to some undocumented notes, “1200 years ago, England was inhabited by Anglo-Saxons. Groups of a hundred would ban together and form communities known as a “tun,” from where we get the word, “town.”
Every group of a hundred, or “tun,” as led by a “reeve,” which was the forerunner of what we now know as a chief of police.
According to Mr. Brooks, the reeve was “charged with the execution of the laws … and the preservation of the peace, and, in some cases having judicial powers. He was the King’s reeve, or steward over a shire … — a distinctive royal officer, appointed by the king, dismissible at a moment’s notice…”
Groups of “tuns” banned together to form a larger form of government known as a ‘Shire’” – what we now know as a county; and my old notes reflect that in order to distinguish the leader of a “Shire,” from a leader of a tun, the more powerful official became known as a “Shire-Reeve.”
Which is where we get the modern word “sheriff.”
####
20080807 “La Policía” © by Kevin Dayhoff
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Julia Child part of WWII era spy ring
Photo caption: It is not known as to whether or not Carrie Ann Knauer, pictured above interviewing Ms. Child in an undated photograph, followed in Ms. Child’s footsteps. She is indeed not only an excellent writer and cook - - but was she also once a secret agent? Kevin Dayhoff - File photo circa 2000.
Julia Child part of WWII era spy ring. Reports unsubstantiated that Carrie Ann Knauer was also once a secret agent
August 13, 2008
As you can read in the Associated Press story: “Other notables identified in the files include John Hemingway, son of author Ernest Hemingway; Quentin and Kermit Roosevelt, sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, and Miles Copeland, father of Stewart Copeland, drummer for the band The Police.”
However it has not been confirmed as to whether or not Carroll County’s very own “Rachael Ray” was ever a spy. We all know Carrie Ann Knauer’s work; she’s the prolific writer with the Carroll County Times who well known for her excellent coverage of Carroll County’s number one industry, agriculture, the environment and Carroll County’s number one love – food.
Did indeed, Ms. Knauer, pictured above interviewing Ms. Child in an undated photograph, follow in Ms. Child’s footsteps – and is indeed not only an excellent writer and cook - - but was also a secret agent.
Perhaps we’ll never know.
What is known is that Ms. Knauer first burst into the news media when she came to the Carroll County Times in February 2002. Of course this coincides well with fact that Ms. Childs moved to a retirement community in Santa Barbara, California, in 2001…
We are also aware that Ms. Knauer has been known to disappear for periods of time in which her locational whereabouts are not disclosed…
Hmmm, makes you wonder, now doesn’t it.
####
Related Searches:
CIA Director William Casey
Office of Strategic Services
Kermit Roosevelt
military plans
Slideshow: International spy ring revealed
By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and RANDY HERSCHAFT, Associated Press Writers Wed Aug 13, 11:10 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Famed chef Julia Child shared a secret with Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg at a time when the Nazis threatened the world.
They served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt.
The full secret comes out Thursday, all of the names and previously classified files identifying nearly 24,000 spies who formed the first centralized intelligence effort by the United States. The National Archives, which this week released a list of the names found in the records, will make available for the first time all 750,000 pages identifying the vast spy network of military and civilian operatives.
They were soldiers, actors, historians, lawyers, athletes, professors, reporters. But for several years during World War II, they were known simply as the OSS. They studied military plans, created propaganda, infiltrated enemy ranks and stirred resistance among foreign troops.
[…]
Other notables identified in the files include John Hemingway, son of author Ernest Hemingway; Quentin and Kermit Roosevelt, sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, and Miles Copeland, father of Stewart Copeland, drummer for the band The Police.
Read the entire article here: Julia Child part of WWII-era spy ring
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Kevin is wondering...
Thursday, June 5, 2008
20080605 “Pretty in Pink” and Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”
Untold - A Pretty in Pink Trailer
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5dSFgY7ro4Y
For fans of the movie, “Pretty in Pink,” this YouTube is a video about “Pretty in Pink,” with Massive Attack’s “Teardrop,” for the soundtrack.
The poster, fayzabeam wrote:
This is DEFINITELY the last Pretty in Pink video for the time being! I wanted to experiment with using some dialogue from the film in a video, to see if it actually was possible to represent a slash subtext using the actual script. I had to be creative here, but I think it works! The song, whilst not contemporary to the film, works well as a backing track; the footage itself was built around one long, slow clip of James Spader that I'd forgotten to include in the previous videos and I desperately wanted to give a home to! Oh, one thing - there is some *strong* language in this video, because it has dialogue - consider yourself warned!
####
20080605 “Teardrop” by “Massive Attack”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yftOy8kz7aE
Best played at 11… JSD will understand that…
“Teardrop” was released as a single on April 21, 1998 by “Massive Attack.” It first appeared on their album “Messanine.” I had meant to post this on the 10th anniversary of its release and was overtaken by events. I get so annoyed when work gets in the way of art.
Related:
Dayhoff literature of the absurd
20080131 The “old” blog Kevin Dayhoff’s “Storage Closet” can be found here
20080605 “Pretty in Pink” and Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”
The poster, fayzabeam wrote:
Your moment of Zen to Teardrop by Massive Attack. These are fractured images from the Hubble Space Telescope. They are animated in iMovie on a Macbook. The reference to Portishead at the end of the film is an error. But once I posted it, I didn't want to pull the video so the error remains. Sorry.
Liz fraser
(love)love is a verb
Love is a doing word
Feathers on my breath
Gentle impulsion
Shakes me makes me lighter
Feathers on my breath
Teardrop on the fire
Feathers on my breath
In the night of matter
Black flowers blossom
Feathers on my breath
Black flowers blossom
Feathers on my breath
Teardrop on the fire
Feathers on my breath
Water is my eye
Most faithful my love
Feathers on my breath
Teardrop on the fire of a confession
Feathers on my breath
Most faithful my love
Feathers on my breath
Teardrop on the fire
Feathers on my breath
Another version:
Massive Attack - Teardrop (Dopaminex Remix)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VdCQ9NxxyTo
And yet another:
Massive Attack - Teardrop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6iUBd2D38E
For fans of the movie, “Pretty in Pink,” there is a YouTube video about “Pretty in Pink,” with Massive Attack’s “Teardrop,” for the soundtrack. Unfortunately I cannot put it on “Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack” because of the strong language content. Please find it here on Kevin Dayhoff’s Storage Closet:
20080605 “Pretty in Pink” and Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”
Untold - A Pretty in Pink Trailer
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5dSFgY7ro4Y
The poster, fayzabeam wrote:
This is DEFINITELY the last Pretty in Pink video for the time being! I wanted to experiment with using some dialogue from the film in a video, to see if it actually was possible to represent a slash subtext using the actual script. I had to be creative here, but I think it works! The song, whilst not contemporary to the film, works well as a backing track; the footage itself was built around one long, slow clip of James Spader that I'd forgotten to include in the previous videos and I desperately wanted to give a home to! Oh, one thing - there is some *strong* language in this video, because it has dialogue - consider yourself warned!
####
20080605 “Teardrop” by “Massive Attack”
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
20080423 Tofu Dusk at the Mellow Mushroom
Tofu Dusk at the Mellow Mushroom
The story of the tofu sandwich at the “Mellow Mushroom” in six parts.
April 23, 2008 by
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5058mbS9zdc
Winston-Salem, North Carolina - - This is the story of Mrs. Owl and I having hummus with pita bread, a tofu sandwich and a calzone; at the “Mellow Mushroom,” 4th and
Storyboard
1.
2. 4th and
3. Mellow Mushroom, www.mellowmushroom.com
4. Ms. Salem Editing, Mellow Mushroom,
5. Ms.
6. Mrs. Owl, the newspaper reader, Mellow Mushroom,
7. And the band played on… Winston-Salem guitar player…
The end
http://www.youtube.com/kevindayhoff
http://gizmosart.com/dayhoff.html
E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org or kevindayhoff AT gmail.com
His columns and articles appear in The Tentacle - www.thetentacle.com; Westminster Eagle Opinion; www.thewestminstereagle.com, Winchester Report and The Sunday Carroll Eagle – in the Sunday Carroll County section of the Baltimore Sun. Get Westminster Eagle RSS Feed
Accept differences, Be kind, Count your blessings, Dream, Express thanks, Forgive, Give freely, Harm no one, Imagine more, Jettison anger, Keep confidences, Love truly, Master something, Nurture hope, Open your mind, Pack lightly, Quell rumors, Reciprocate, Seek wisdom, Touch hearts, Understand, Value truth, Win graciously, Xeriscape, Yearn for peace, Zealously support a worthy cause. (Author; Renee Stewart)
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
20080416 Today is Beatrice Dalle - French movie day
Today is Beatrice Dalle - French movie day
(17 fois Cécile Cassard) Pretty Killer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nTryJX7cn4
Scène de danse entre Beatrice Dalle et Romain Duris, tirée du film dix-sept fois Cecile Cassard (Christophe Honoré).
Now the party is over,
And I guess im over too,
The music is going slower,
I just cant take my eyes of you,
Pretty killer,
Little crime,
Dancing with another guy.
I have no chance to kiss you later,
I think I’ve lost too many times,
I am too drunk to be your lover,
You’re too sober to be mine.
Pretty killer...
There’s no more common eyedline,
no more djs to save my life,
what I could I do to froddon him,
I’ve forgot to take my knife...
37°2 le matin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIaU1us81Ts
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1drrmSLOIdU
Scène du film de Jean-Jacques Beineix où Béatrice Dalle s'emballe et verse un pot de peinture sur la caisse du monstrueux proprio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR0rp__rRAk
Thursday, January 3, 2008
20080102 Fragmentary patchworks
Fragmentary patchworks of autochthonous and foreign elements.
January 2nd, 2008 by
Happy New Year Mr. Isaac Smith. Thanks for the mention - The List (No, Not the Washington Post's). [Free State Politics
Michael Swartz's list of local blogs to watch in 2008 is pretty good. It is missing a few good blogs of note, however…
As much as I agreed with most, but not all, of Mr. Swartz’s list, your list is right on the money. I also miss Stephanie Dray’s Jousting for Justice. And I am very happy that Crablaw's Maryland Weekly is back…
And thanks for calling to our attention the Washington Post’s list: Year in Review 2007 - “The List: What's In and Out for 2008” BY HANK STUEVER - WASHINGTON POST STAFF WRITER - – what a hoot. (And don’t miss giving The Year That Was 2007 by Brian Griffiths a good read. He obviously spent some time thinking about it…)
Your post could not have been timed better as it came shortly after a conversation with a dear colleague who said they like my blog – although I’m too liberal.
Ay caramba - whatever.
Along that thread, another colleague said “Dayhoff … your problem is that you like everybody.”
To that I plead guilty – life is way to short. Then again, maybe not – I don’t like mean people; and that personality defect occurs in folks from all political persuasions.
I simply do not allow politics to dictate my friends - - and I don’t like folks who do pick their friends based on politics. (I’ll be having lunch later in the week with a dear friend with whom I disagree about everything when it comes to politics.) I can disagree with folks about issues, but more often than not – I like the person…
As far as your observation: “… his actual blog hard to read -- its look is extremely busy and most of the posts are just link aggregations…” Hey, you oughta be in my head…
At least with the blog, there is an attempt at organization… I also find my blog “hard to read” and try as I might, after blogging for a number of years, it is still way too busy.
Perhaps my blog is a manifestation of being a hypergraphic attention deficit disorder hyperactive dyslexic. Maybe – just maybe, one day I’ll figure out what I’m doing. Being a technology geek – one would’ve thought blogging would be easy for me. It is not.
At this point, on the blog evolutionary scale, my blog is a monkey on roller skates. The monkey may or may not be wearing a pink tutu - this is for you to decide.
Years ago, I thought blogging would be easy for a columnist and short story writer. It has not been the case. And within the last number of months, I picked up a third (newspaper) column every week; which just proves the “Peter Principle” is real. I’m now way beyond my intellectual and cognitive abilities.
Heckfire – some days, I’m proud to have even found the time, much less the cognitive abilities - to post “link aggregations.”
Meanwhile, I am painstakingly determined to promote constant attention on current procedures of transacting business focusing emphasis on innovative ways to better, if not supercede, the expectations of quality. What I really need in order to navigate the treacherous waters that lie ahead is a list of specific unknown problems I will encounter.
Always remember, the purpose of my blog is to discuss fragmentary patchworks of autochthonous and foreign elements as juxtaposed by the undeniable command mortality of insignificant self-inflicted syntactic semiotic economics which sometimes may cause irreproducible results unless there is a pre-emptive digital fallibility matrix which would require an integrated third-generational triangulated refinement of indefinite managerial potential.
As I wax philosophic with metaphysical postulations, incomplete aphorisms and inconsistent sophism that allows me to conclude, more and more sure, that the only true thing about anything is nothing.
Now I know you believe you understand what you think I just said but I am sure that you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
As always, your thoughtful consideration is appreciated regardless of the outcome on any particular issue. Whether we agree or disagree, always find my door open for friendly civil and constructive dialogue.
Pray for my wife.
Best wishes for a great 2008.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org or kevindayhoff AT gmail.com
His columns and articles appear in The Tentacle - www.thetentacle.com; Westminster Eagle Opinion; www.thewestminstereagle.com, Winchester Report and The Sunday Carroll Eagle – in the Sunday Carroll County section of the Baltimore Sun. Get Westminster Eagle RSS Feed
Friday, November 2, 2007
20071101 Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge
Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the
November 1, 2007
My October 31, 2007 – Wednesday Westminster Eagle column is up on the Westminster Eagle web site and it pertains to one of my favorite forms of literature, Southern Gothic storytelling and one of my favorite songs from my teenage years, “Ode to Billie Joe” by Bobbie Gentry.
I lost most the following paragraphs to my word limit…
Ms. Gentry was born Roberta Streeter in nearby Chickasaw County, Mississippi, on July 27, 1944, where she grew up in severe poverty on her grandparents’ farm. Her grandmother facilitated her exploration of writing and music when she traded a family cow for a piano. At the age of seven, Ms. Streeter – Gentry wrote her first song, “My Dog Sergeant Is a Good Dog.”
When Ms. Gentry first released the song, it was the “B” side of a debut “forty-five” which featured a song, “
The narrator of the story is not identified in Ms. Gentry’s haunting and mysterious tale of a young man who commits suicide. The song comes to mind as Halloween is upon us and thoughts wonder to trick or treating or the community Halloween Parade - and ghost stories.
The column started out as an “evergreen,” an obligatory column for a particular seasonal event in the year.
Many of my colleagues who write for newspapers abhor “evergreens,” however I have always seen them as a challenge to come up with a different angle on a perennial topic, in this case, a piece on Halloween.
The piece started out very differently as when I neared deadline I jettisoned the customary tome on ghost stories in
I got off on a tangent with a variation on the old “
As with many of our customs, observances and holidays, Halloween evolved over many centuries as a combination of several non-Christian ancient harvest celebrations and rituals combined with religious celebrations. The roots of Halloween go back as far as the 5th century BC in Celtic
For the economic historian, it is widely accepted that Halloween came to
Halloween is upon and thoughts wonder to trick or treating or the community Halloween Parade.
And ghost stories.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Among some of the old favorites in Carroll County are the Ghost of Furnace Hills; the Civil War soldier that roams around in Cockey’s Tavern; the ghost of the old Rebecca at the old jail, which now houses Junction, a drug abuse treatment center; and the headless apparition of Marshall Buell at the old Odd Fellows Hall in Westminster.
[…]
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Let’s go watch Billy Bob throw a public official off the Rt. 140 Bridge
October 31, 2007 by
It was forty years ago in the late summer of 1967 that we first learned from “Mama” that the nice young preacher, Brother Taylor “said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge. And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the
I first heard the song, “Ode to Billy Joe,” by Bobbie Gentry that summer on WCAO on the AM dial of the car radio. It was also in this time period that I became firmly hooked on the existential - “Southern Gothic” genre of storytelling.
To refresh your memory, the song can be found on the web at www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZt5Q-u4crc.
Other examples of authors of the Southern gothic genre of writing include William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, Eudora Welty, Truman Capote, and Harper Lee. Tennessee Williams once described the genre as stories that reflect “an intuition of an underlying dreadfulness in modern experience.”
Who can forget: It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day… And mama hollered at the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet." And then she said she got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge. Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the
Of course another intriguing feature of the story is that it takes place in
Ms. Gentry has to this day remained circumspect about the haunting and mysterious tale of Mr. MacAllister, but one thing we do know is that the “
The song comes to mind as Halloween is upon us and thoughts wonder to ghost stories.
Halloween ghost stories are fascinating as often they involve aspects of unexplained historical events, enigmatic dialogue, and inexplicable characters. However, over the years, I have become much more enamored with Southern gothic storytelling, which is frequently more creative – and often more disturbing in the manner it which it peels away the layers of a community or society; yet does not tell a reader ‘what to think,’ but nevertheless causes the reader ‘to think.’
Just like Halloween stories, the song’s plot makes known several themes. The first of which is obvious in that just like many popular Carroll County Halloween stories, it reveals a snapshot of life in a particular period in history.
But it is the other prominent theme that is particularly disturbing as it peels away the layers of indifference that contemporary society shows towards our fellow human beings – or in the case of “Ode to Billy Joe,” the loss of life.
In present day
In the song the family of the narrator nonchalantly mentions the gentleman’s death: “Billy Joe never had a lick of sense/ pass the biscuits, please.” Of course the narrator of the story cares: “Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite? I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite.” Other than that, they may as well been having a dinner conversation about the weather.
Happy Halloween. By all means, please enjoy some of the old favorites in Carroll County like the Ghost of Furnace Hills; the Civil War soldier that roams around in Cockey’s Tavern; the ghost of the old Rebecca at the old jail, and the headless apparition of Marshall Buell at the old Odd Fellows Hall in Westminster.
Better yet, the next chance you get, go to the Carroll County Public Library and re-read Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” or Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood.”
Or, of course, you can attend a good ole’
E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr AT org
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