Thursday, July 31, 2008

Fewer homeless

“The U.S. had 12% fewer homeless last year than in 2005, and the greatest decline occurred among those who chronically live on the streets or in emergency shelters, according to a federal report to be released Tuesday.” USAToday reports (HT Black and Right) Homeless advocates, liberals, progressives, etc. are not happy about this. Chronic homelessness especially is down, and this could put these guys out of work! It’s a huge report--144 pp. Read it if you dare.

Lakeside--a favorite place to eat

We haven’t been doing much eating out in restaurants--just our little concession to higher prices--but we are outside. Some things get repeated on the house menu because of leftovers, but they’re still tasty.


Sunday
    bratwurst
    Potato salad
    Asparagus
    applesauce
    Rice pudding
Monday
    Salmon patties
    Asparagus
    Tomatoes with mozzarella and olive oil
    Fresh blueberry pie
Tuesday
    Pork chops
    Potato salad
    Fresh beets
    Blueberry pie
Wednesday
    Meat balls in tomato sauce
    Fresh green beans with onions
    Beets
    Fresh peaches with Cool Whip and cookies
Where's the sweet corn, you ask. My husband hates it. So I eat it either for breakfast or lunch, by myself. Two minutes in the husk in the microwave. Fabulous.

Silly, inaccurate campaign ads


It's nothing new, of course. Campaign ads are intended to misinform, to terrify and mangle the truth. Take McCain's ad about the Obama "celebrity" status. Frankly, when I see an articulate, emotional speech in front of masses of Germans, Britney Spears is not who comes to mind. I'm just saying. . . It's scary!

And when Obama looks deep in our eyes and assures the TV audience that he wants to bring us back to some fabled time in history when we were such terrific folks with a proud past just as the U.S. Congress votes to apologize for slavery and Jim Crow laws, I do wonder how much this son of an Kenyan knows about being black in America.

Gigolo Golf--If I'd only known

This appeared on Craig's List
    "Please help me out as I need a place to stay next week near OSU. I am coming to town for the golf tournament. I am in my 40s, SWM, 6'3" with an athletic build. I have an air mattress so only need a room. Thanks"
View from our place, complete with outhouse

Now why do you suppose he described himself if he only needs a room? At least he can spell. If he'd checked a map, he'd see that the golf course is a long way from OSU. You could probably walk it in 45 minutes, or take the bus for an hour.

Dress code violations

There’s been a lot on the news lately about public schools instituting a dress code--mostly to get the guys out of those saggy, huge, underwear exposing jeans and the girls to tuck it in a bit. I’ve been “on vacation” for four weeks and I’ve seen every violation from skimpy to slovenly to salacious--but mostly on people my age or older! When I was a child, “slovenly” was an older adult with only one working strap on the bib overalls and tobacco juice dribbling down the chin, or a blue haired woman wearing a food stained, feed-sack apron with a run in her stockings. Today, that is practically formal wear for the over-60 crowd at leisure.

Honey, it’s OK to cover up your sagging saddle bags, lumpy knees and purple spider veins--truly it is, please! The wrinkled look was in style a few years ago, but that was for 100% linen. In polyester cotton with a touch of lycra, it’s just messy. Ladies and Gentlemen! Where is the pride, dignity and good taste you had in the 1950s, 1960s, and even the 1990s? The other day at a public event on the lakefront I saw a woman who must have been a stunning prom queen in 1949--very long legs and a lovely figure with beautiful white hair. But in short shorts? Oh my. She wasn’t wearing glasses, but I was. Those kinds of dimples are for old Shirley Temple movies.

This was OK for the 1950s

“Hang on droopy” as we sing at football games in Columbus. As the waist expands, and you purchase capris or shorts to accommodate, there’s nothing to fill out the back of the pants. I’m walking behind you or sitting in the aisle seat at the auditorium. It’s not pretty.

The younger people, however, are cleaning up their acts. I’ve seen some gorgeous 30-something moms pushing baby strollers, wearing cute circle skirts and full coverage darling t-shirts and sparkling sandals. They look fabulous. Then comes granny--often 10 years younger than me. She looks like flattened fauna, as we used to say in the vet library. I’ve even seen some mini-skirts on the 20-somethings that look great--but that’s the last cut off for looking good in that 1960s fashion retread. The younger women are heading for the dock in beach cover-ups; Oh! that their grandmothers were doing the same.

Ben Stein laments the demise of the neck-tie in the business world, but he apparently hasn’t taken a look at vacation wear.

Another blogger gone

In my last post, I mentioned some links to women bloggers, now silent. David Durant, Heretical Librarian, also turned in his blogger keys and has left the building. Dave is the trifecta of librarianship bravery. Not only is he in a female dominated profession, but he is a conservative in a profession where liberals outnumber conservatives 223:1 (which accounts for the real banned books--the ones that never get to your library's shelves), and in addition he joined the North Carolina National Guard after the war started. He gained some fame by having one of his blogs printed in the Chronicle of Higher Education. During my last remodeling of my web page, his link fell off my list of librarians, so as an apology, I'm listing HIS very interesting list of links on terror, international affairs, and radical Islamism. I'm slowly looking through them, only some of which I've read before, so I don't know how many are still current.

The War on Terror and International Affairs

Across the Bay
American Enterprise Institute
American Footprints
Benador Associates
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Committee on the Present Danger
Council on Foreign Relations
The Counterterrorism Blog
Defend America
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
The Jamestown Foundation
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA)
Long War Journal
Michael Yon
The National Interest
9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America
Small Wars Journal
StrategyPage
Threats Watch
Victor Davis Hanson's Private Papers
Winds of Change

Radical Islamism, The Middle East and Reforming Islam

Ali Eteraz
Apostasy and Islam
Arab Media & Society
Asharq Alawsat
Big Pharaoh
Center for Liberty in the Middle East
Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World
Daily Star (Lebanon)
Daniel Pipes
Faith Freedom International
Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism
Hammorabi
Healing Iraq
Initiative for an Open Arab Internet
Interfaith Strength
Iraq Blog Count
Iraq the Model
Iraq Updates
Irshad Manji
Islamist Watch
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Jihad Watch
Laura Mansfield
Martin Kramer on the Middle East
The Mesopotamian
Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
Middle East Times
Middle East Transparent
Secular Islam
Site Institute
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Watch

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

It's happened again

Now Deborah has closed for repairs. If you are a woman blogger, and I link to you, it's almost a given that you will fold your tent, change jobs, leave your husband, or enter a family crisis that will prevent you from blogging. I'm coming up on the 5 year anniversary of blogging, and there will be no gal pals to help me celebrate. Last I looked, The Laundress and Florida Cracker were still plugging away.

Would posting calories help?

For lunch today I had onions, peppers, carrots, broccoli and cucumbers grilled in a little olive oil. It was fine; tasted good. But I topped it off with some sugar-free peanut butter chocolate ice cream. The calories were posted on the carton. And I ate it anyway.
    Will posting calories prominently really make Americans think twice and order more healthy items? "Anecdotally, you hear constantly about people who've changed their choices," say [New York City] Commissioner Frieden. "You go into fast-food places and you hear a lot of buzz online."

    Elisabetta Politi, director of nutrition at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center, isn't so sure. "Some of our clients know so much about nutrition they could teach the classes, but does that help them control their weight? Absolutely not," she says. From WSJ Health Journal
The editor of this story needed to find a different photo to show how rising prices for food are hurting people.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Lakeside children grow up quickly

Lakeside is a summer community on the shores of Lake Erie established by the Methodists in 1873. Some people come just for a week; today a first timer sat on our front porch reporting all their experiences. Some come year after year for a few weeks; some of us own our homes and when retired, we can stay most of the season. At last night's awards for shuffleboard, one little boy was from California, one girl from New York. But whether a weekly, monthly, or seasonal family, the children seem to grow up over night because you see them just a few days each year.

Not too long ago, a young mother to be--daughter of a friend--ate a meal with us, then the next summer brought along the baby, and now that baby will be a sophomore at Dartmouth. Zip. Just that fast! The hormone-energized teens I used to watch under the street light on the corner are now bringing their own kids here to spend time with grandma and grandpa.

For awhile we had a little one who sat on the porch, played tea party with dollies on the deck and fished off the dock. We lost her in the divorce, but she has 9 other grandparents, so really didn't need us. About four years ago my husband painted her fishing at the dock from a photo. The picture looked so much like her we really couldn't hang it, so finally it went up for sale. Last week I looked at it, and suggested we put a "sold" sign on it--I really didn't want to sell it. And this was the third season it was for sale. Last night we got a call from someone who had seen it in the restaurant and inquired. He called us and said his 4 year old granddaughter had fallen in love with it, and would we sell it. So we did. Well, I still have the dollies.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Monday Memories--Mother's garden


I've got beets and beet tops in separate pots on the stove; fresh zucchini, asparagus and green beans in the frig; a half finished blueberry pie on the counter; an ear of corn and a paper sack of peaches on the table. Except for the peaches, they all remind me of Mother's garden in Franklin Grove (the fruit trees were there, but except for the cherry tree, rarely produced). Raspberry bushes were along the west side of her garden, and blueberry bushes next to the corn field fence. Asparagus grew wild along the lane to the house and the country roads around Franklin and Ashton. Occasionally, we could encourage Mom to stop a few minutes to chat or have a cold drink of water, but could see her fingers twitching in her gloves, anxious to get back to the rich soil and pesky weeds.

Norma's most wonderful adventure

When our children come to Lakeside, we think it's really odd that they leave for places outside the gates like Sandusky or Port Clinton. One place I've often heard about is The Kenny House in Port Clinton--massage therapy. This year my daughter gave me a gift certificate for a massage. This morning I drove to Port Clinton to meet Ms. Magic Fingers, Nancy Barna, M.T., Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Reflexologist. Wow. I've only had one other massage in my life--maybe 5 years ago--and they just don't compare. From my little toes to my neck, to all the lumps and bumps on my back, Nancy gently removed all signs of stress and age. Yes, folks, I'm only 30 years old this afternoon. I stopped by Wal-Mart on my way back to Lakeside, and upon checking out the clerk asked me about my day, and I told her it was fabulous and why. I even smiled when I ran the plastic for my groceries, something I never do. I ate potato chips all the way back home, something I shouldn't have done, but it seemed a great way to top off the experience (I gave up chips in 2006), and I sang along with the Carpenters on the oldies station. Treat yourself if you're vacationing or live on the peninsula.
    The Kenny House
    226 Adams Street
    Port Clinton, Ohio 43452
    1-419-734-5943
    By appointment
To be a licensed massage therapist in Ohio requires 600 hours of training and passing the state exam (State Medical Board, Massage Licensing Division, 77 S. High Street - 17th Floor, Columbus, OH 43266-0315).

Don't be fooled! Ask for the best!

Is there a word in English for this "ism"

A friend sent me Eli Saslow's article "In Findlay, Ohio False Rumors Fly" from WaPo, July 7-13 (weekly). Frankly, it is one of the most outrageously hateful mish mash of anti-middle America that I've ever read. Anecdotal? It's beyond that. A whole article about how white midwestern small town folk are anti-Obama based on one person living in Findlay, Ohio. Imagine a whole race or segment of society condemned because of some behavior of a black citizen or an Asian or Hispanic--the outrage would put the journalist out of work. I'm amazed. Just amazed. Even for WaPo this is one of the worst stereotypes of white (older), small town Americans I've ever seen.

I'll just have to remind you what I think about people who are afraid of Obama and his cronies. I wrote this on May 20 for this blog, while the "is it racism or sexism" debate about Hillary and Obama was still going on, when Iraq and its outcome was still an issue, and before Obama did his World Tour as our emperor-to-be.
    Conservatives believe that if a black candidate talks about raising our taxes until our investments are destroyed, regulating what car we can drive, wants judges who will make the constitution their personal playground of their own values and beliefs and waffles on what he said about concessions to militant Moslems who want to destroy our ally Israel, that he's not a good guy to put in the White House. We have a lot of history books (at least those published before the early 90s) that tell about what happens with appeasement--either pre-WWII with the Germans or post-WWII with the Soviets, or with North Korea to close out the Korean War, or even the worse course which was to run off whimpering the way we did in Vietnam. Millions died from our "talks and concessions."
This blogger confronts Saslow's article falsehoods.

Newsbusters busts him for fuzzy math in a different pro-Obama article.

I've looked through Saslow's archives. He is so in the tank for the left, he should be a librarian!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Lakeside 2008, John Davidson

Lakeside has its roots in the Methodist camp meeting tradition--but Bible class with J.C. Penney and WCTU conventions were never like this. John Davidson was a crowd pleaser last night--a real pro. He graduated from Denison University in 1963, so he even stopped by our gathering of the Directors Club Reception, hosted by a Denison president, at the hotel early in the evening. The dimpled, cute hunk of the 70s and 80s hosted the Tonight Show over 80 times and was popular on Hollywood Squares and still performs in musical theater and night clubs. Increasingly, he’s popular with us older folks with a versatility ranging from big band to hip hop and rap. I was sitting next to two stunning 80-somethings, tall, straight, silver haired and beautifully dressed, so John’s put-on temper tantrum (lying on the floor of the stage) about being 67 and a grandfather might have fallen a bit flat for some in the audience well beyond that. Especially since he seems to be in terrific condition for running down aisles, up stairs, and dancing with his back-up singers, The Inflatables. He has always been able to make an audience laugh by making fun of his image as America’s dimpled sweetheart. He said he used to “be cuter than Donnie Osmond--no, I used to be cuter than Marie!” Got a good laugh, although the young’ens might not have known what he was talking about. Although he’s been gray for a number of years, his hair was brown again having been dyed for his role in Chicago. Here’s a little video that shows some of his talents.

His final piece was from Man from La Mancha and he closed with "Impossible Dream." We have a Lakeside music box (attached to a painting of the pavilion) that plays that and for years we'd play it as we left our cottage--the impossible dream that came true.

How to save lives

During the last gasoline crisis in 1973-1974, 11,000 people didn't die in auto accidents. Maybe one of them was you, or your father so he was around to see that you were born. Americans will protest the war and/or high gasoline prices (not necessarily the same people), but ask them to slow down or drive less? Heresy! But like 35 years ago, fewer people are dying on our highways. Just here in the midwest, "Indiana fatalities are down 26%; Ohio's rate is off 20%, and the state recorded just six deaths over the Memorial Day weekend, the fewest in 38 years; Illinois' total also is off 20%, and Wisconsin is down about 30%." Traffic deaths fall

And for all our healthcare penny sorting and pie charts, trying to guess if Joe Sixpack would just lose 20 lbs how much would the nation save in diabetes or cardiovascular treatment, think of all the people who weren't even in non-fatal, but injury producing accidents. The savings in medical costs must be astronomical when you add those non-injured people to the list of 11,000.

Yes, cars are safer; roads are better; cops are being more vigilant. But if you drive 55 you really are more likely to arrive alive, that's not just a slogan. (In metropolitan areas you may even arrive sooner because traffic flow is smoother.) And you'll also save a few tankfuls on a long trip. But common sense isn't very common, is it?

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Unfortunately, no one has figured out how to do this

"Yesterday [July 20] the Trust for America's Health released their report Prevention for a Healthier America: Investments in Disease Prevention Yield Significant Savings, Stronger Communities. They found an investment of $10 per person per year (that would be 2.7 or 3 cents a day) in proven community-based programs that included ways to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, prevent smoking, and stop use of other products containing tobacco could save the United States more than $16 billion each year within the next five years. The ROI (return on investment) would be $5.60 for every dollar spent." Seen at the National Nurse Blog

Do you know of any community or private or personal program to increase exercise, stop smoking or lose weight that actually "works?" It has to be a personal decision, and some people have been dealt a bad set of genes and can't really do much. I read health and medical journals like an addiction, and I have yet to see one program succeed. And for all that, you would be, if it worked, adding years in the 80s and 90s, which would eat up any savings, because we've all been told how expensive end-of-life care is.

Do you know what I saw at the hospital on July 2-3 after my return from our fabulous Italy trip? A hierarchy of obesity among health care staff based on education, age and position. I was treated by two female doctors, both trim (and I suspect foreign). They were hospitalists, probably early 30s. The RNs were all attractive with normal BMI (if there is such a thing), but a little older and heavier than the hospitalists. The med techs were younger than the RNs and much heavier, some were obese. The food service women were older and much heavier than the med techs. The housekeeping staff, if foreign born were very thin, if American, extremely over weight.

I'm just saying, if nurses (or the office of a National Nurse) know what to do about unhealthy lifestyles, they can start letting hospital staff in on the secret. I have no idea who Trust for America's Health is, but a quick browse reads like a liberal lobbying group/think tank which will support itself on endless taxpayer and foundation grants and then become a regulatory agency with great power over our
lives.

Eat less, move more. Fight FEMA-tizing your health care.

How much water this year?


All the Great Lakes have above average water levels this year. The lowest was around 1934. Our high yesterday for Erie was 174.35--Lake Superior is the BIGGIE at 183.400. You can check all this and other interesting stuff at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes Water Levels Site.


Yesterday was a perfect day in the neighborhood. After breakfast at Avery's in Marblehead, we drove over to the Marblehead Lighthouse and took a stroll.

Lakeside 2008, Week 7

Some great programming this coming week. Tonight is John Davidson at Hoover Auditorium. There is a lecture series on the middle east in the mornings, and a global health lecture series in the afternoon. All the programs look good. The one on bird flu will be given by my old friend and Sisson Hall colleague Dick Slemons of the OSU Vet school.

I've looked at the Rhein Center offerings and see two art classes I'll try (i.e., sign up for since there is a lottery system to prevent overcrowding). "Beginning Pastels" by Jean Garverick is offered M and T at 3:30 for $10 (she's the featured artist in this summer's art show), and there's a one shot class on oil painting with Harol Cunningham on Thursday morning. I don't work in either medium, so this might be a nice introduction.

Last week's watercolor class was a bit truncated because we were in Columbus on Monday and Tuesday. Friday we did portraits, not my strong suit since it is best if the painting resembles the person. I didn't have much here, but this is me from a 2006 photograph. In the transition from photo to watercolor I lost 10 lbs and 20 years and appear to have picked up a nasty sunburn.

I really miss this

As a former Veterinary Medicine Librarian (1986-2000) and before that an Agriculture Librarian (1978-1982) I really miss books like this. Yes, even at $195 I would have purchased it, taking it to lunch and coffee break, swooning over relationships and paradoxes. I might have even posted the cover on my bulletin board and reviewed it in my monthly newsletter about new titles. Reading about bugs always builds my faith in creation. Helminths, arthropods, nematodes, bacteria, worms. Oh, it's all so interesting, but who has the time to keep up?

Word Alone Newsletter

A Lakeside friend noticed my "Digging for the pony. . ." blog essay on the ELCA sexuality statement in the printed Word Alone Newsletter. Look through the archives--it's an interesting publication even if you aren't a Lutheran. All mainline protestants are going through the same battles.

My final paragraph where I urge UALC to leave ELCA was deleted from the reprint.
    I don't know what our congregation (UALC) is waiting for--it took this sexuality task force seven years to write a mish-mash and hodge podge and submit it to the people of God as a serious work. Every paragraph looks like the sentences were drawn from a hat of former reports and pasted to a page. It is an insult to our common sense and a travesty of our faith. It's time to go. It really is. These people will not back down; they'll just wear us out.

Getting fat on the border

There is a restaurant called "On the Border." I checked a map, and we have one in Ohio--in Columbus. Think fish or beans and rice are a healthy, low calorie choice? Think again! On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos with rice and beans tops out at a whopping 2100 calories, 130 grams of fat, 169 grams of carbs and 4750 mg of sodium. My arteries are clogging just writing this!

It costs $9.49 and features 3 fresh flour tortillas, stuffed with Dos XX beer-battered fish, creamy red chile sauce, shredded cabbage, cheese and pico de gallo.

To think they're blaming McDonald's for the obesity epidemic!

I've learned to like beans and rice. I make a package of boil-in-the-bag rice (can't cook rice to save my soul--worse than my coffee) and mix it with a can of drained black beans and refrigerate it. It will last about four lunches. I grill some onions and peppers in olive oil, add a cup of the beans/rice mix, and toss in some frozen corn. Heat about 2 minutes in the microwave in a glass dish covered with a damp paper towel. Yummy. And it probably has under 350 calories. High in protein, calcium, iron, as well as all the stuff that rice is fortified with, and flavor. It will take you through all the way to supper.

It's just Disney

That about sums it up for me. He's a cute cartoon character who gives wow'em speeches.
    The New York Times’ David Brooks looks at the same speech [in Germany] more analytically. “When I first heard this sort of radically optimistic speech in Iowa, I have to confess my American soul was stirred. It seemed like the overture for a new yet quintessentially American campaign. But now it is more than half a year on, and the post-partisanship of Iowa has given way to the post-nationalism of Berlin, and it turns out that the vague overture is the entire symphony. The golden rhetoric impresses less, the evasion of hard choices strikes one more,” Brooks writes. The only semi-controversial point Obama made in the speech was when he “called on Germans to send more troops to Afghanistan. The argument will probably fall on deaf ears. The vast majority of Germans oppose that policy. But at least Obama made an argument…Obama has benefited from a week of good images. But substantively, optimism without reality isn’t eloquence. It’s just Disney.” From WSJ Blog on politics summarizing the media flush and rush to Obama

Friday, July 25, 2008

Lakeside 2008 Tour of Homes and Craft Show

Yesterday (Thursday July 24) was the Tour of Homes sponsored by the Lakeside Women's Club and the Craft Show on the lakefront. At the show I met photographer Roger W. Fair of Catawba Island who has two books about Lakeside available, Lakeside: Flags of our nation, and Chautauqua chairs. I looked through them, and he has really captured the community.

I also helped on the tour by pointing architectural features and history of Green Gables, the home of the Women's Club. Here I'm explaining about the technology used by American carpenters to achieve the fancy trim on the carpenter gothic cottages.
    "Although this isn't the original, notice the "gingerbread" on the peak. By the mid-19th century, the steam powered scroll saw had been invented, and there were pattern books for homeowners to select the design and detail. The earlier Gothic Revival style used actual stone, but this was something the ordinary citizen could afford. Carpenter Gothic houses were constructed all over the nation during the mid-19th century, but especially in campgrounds and resorts like Lakeside. The original design of Green Gables lays out like a cross, and this wasn't only spiritual symbolism--with windows on all sides it was good ventilation. The windows look like chapel windows--there was a sense that this lifestyle was wholesome and spiritual. Carpenter Gothic homes are easy to add to at anytime. Steamboat Gothic is more elaborate and tried to imitate the wooden railings and columns on steamboats."
After saying this about 20 times I was losing my voice and stepped inside for some lemonade and cookies in the meeting room, the flat section that was added on to the original building.
Then in the evening, a near full-house at Hoover Auditorium enjoyed the fabulous and versatile Sandi Patty. Wow. What a voice. And her warmth and interaction with the audience were some of the best I've seen here. In the early 90s she was the highest paid CCM performer and then had a huge fall due to an adultery/remarriage scandal, but is quite popular again.

The Obama Band Wagon

The media suck-up for the Obama campaign trip abroad has really been amazing. Obama's credentials, both foreign and domestic, are so weak it's like a cram before the final exam. I read one account where there was one photographer left to cover the McCain campaign at one northeast stop. Another where a reporter asked someone about the McCain candidacy and the guy didn't know who he was. Last night I was walking through the living room and caught a few moments of Charley Gibson covering the McCain campaign in Ohio. They actually interviewed 3 Ohioans on what they thought of Obama! Nice balance there. It really doesn't matter what Obama says or does on this trip--he's getting so much free face time with the folks, that if there really were a "fairness" doctrine, all the broadcast and cable corporations would lose their licenses. No bias here. Move along.

Perhaps my memory of former presidential campaigns has dimmed, but I don't remember candidates needing to assure the audience (foreign) that they really do love their country (then follow it up with all that we've done wrong). Do you suppose the Germans were puzzled? I do remember the 2000 campaign and that Bush promised to heal all the hostility and distrust the Clinton administration had spawned. Obama's lines here are just sort of rip and read from 8 years ago.

Obamania in Germany

Michael J. Fox Foundation awards 9 grants

"$2.4 million has been awarded to nine research teams to validate nine promising therapeutic targets in Parkinson's disease. To attract an industry sponsor with the resources and expertise to chaperone any new therapeutic requires a critical mass of evidence. This award could help any one of the nine teams bring a target to the point where optimization, preclinical work and ultimately clinical testing, will be viable. Projects funded in this cohort of Target Validation awardees fall into three categories: targets for therapies to alleviate symptoms of PD; approaches focused on dyskinesias, the excessive, uncontrollable movements brought on by long-term dopamine replacement therapy; and targets with potential to slow or stop progression of Parkinson's." From The Alchemist, July 23

Here's an item from 2007 on the circumstances of his illness, his first book, and his second, which was supposed to be out by now, but I haven't seen it. It also includes an inaccurate reference to the dust up over his 2006 campaign ads--I was listening to Rush Limbaugh that day, and know he didn't say what he was accused of by liberals--rarely are they accurate in their interpretation. The media watch dogs, always looking for an opportunity to bash talk radio, really rose to the occasion making a molehill into a volcano. The real moral issue, killing embryos for stem cell research, the left never wants to address. But Fox's viewpoint that he is "lucky" is inspiring to read. I really enjoyed his first book. Monday night at Lakeside we'll be seeing "Back to the Future," one of my all-time favorites.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Lakeside 2008, week 5

Last night at the auditorium we enjoyed the wonderful toe tapping performance of Rhythm in Shoes from Dayton. Their program says, "Based in Dayton, Ohio, the creative capitol [sic] of the Heartland, RIS has toured in 47 states as well as Canada, Japan and Ireland, pursuing the company's mission: to engage the world in music and dance." I had no idea Dayton was more creative than Columbus, Indy or Chicago.

Today the craft show on the lakefront begins. I've already inspected the early set ups and saw some great things. The Women's Club Tour of Homes is also today. Marian the Librarian called me Saturday with a plea to help as a hostess. Usually, I say No to these things, but based on the time schedule and job requirements, it looked pretty easy. So today I'll be telling people about the architecture and history of Green Gables, the home of the Women's Club, which is Steamboat Gothic and built in 1883. I have an encyclopedia of American home styles here at our cottage (picked up for $1 at a Port Clinton book sale) and looking at it, I think Green Gables is actually "carpenter Gothic," not "steamboat Gothic."
    Steamboat Gothic architecture, a term popularized by Frances Parkinson Keyes novel of that name, is sometimes confused with Carpenter Gothic architecture, but Steamboat Gothic usually refers to large houses in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys that were designed to resemble the steamboats on those rivers. From Wikipedia
This week I'm taking a watercolor class from Bob Moyer. We bought one of his paintings last year in the art show. I missed the first two classes because we were in Columbus.

There was a huge storm when we got here yesterday, but it then cleared and now it is cool and sunny, just perfect for all the activities and visitors today.

On education, a voice from the past

This is a repeat--I came across it today while looking for something else. Here's an excerpt:
    "I remember my father's opinions on schools and education. Children, his own or relatives or yours and mine, who had problems in school had one of three problems (or all three): they were 1) lazy, or 2) dumb, or 3) delinquent. With so many siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins, children and grandchildren, most of them well educated and living nearby, he learned eventually to keep his unpopular opinions to himself, or leave the house if education came up for discussion. But if you had asked, that would be the answer. He didn't believe in pathologizing bad behavior or sin, and the only acronyms that would have passed his lips were BS and SOB.

    Dad was an observant man and may have learned this in his own family. Although Dad went on to college, his brother 17 months younger didn't finish high school. If family lore can be believed, this kid was a problem from the beginning--definitely "oppositional defiant disorder." He had to be "encouraged" to attend the local country school by my grandfather walking him there with an occasional swat and nudge with the boot. But one of Dad's little sisters was reading the newspaper to her blind mother at age 4, and they weren't quite sure how she learned to read so she started school at that age. The brother grew up to be bigger than my dad with a mean, rebellious streak which kept him alive in many dangerous missions in WWII. There's a place for everyone, and apparently it isn't always school."
Dad was born in 1913 and died in 2002--just to give you some context.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Is there anything new in this study?

JAMA reports that decreased physical activity plays a critical role in the increase in childhood obesity in the July 16, 2008 issue, but doesn't really supply any evidence that activity and obesity are linked. Think back to your own childhood. Weren't you much more active at 10 than at 16 or 17? If they have data for the 1950s and 1960s, I'm betting it shows the same decrease, yet kids are fatter today.

I lived in two small towns--I walked (or ran) everywhere when I was a kid. I even rode my bicycle 5-10 miles to the next town to visit friends. I had a horse and went on trail rides--if I could catch him. I went to summer camp where we hiked. I earned extra money by detasseling corn (a gross, awful but very physical job). At 16 or 17, the automobile had taken over my life, and even though I could occasionally talk my mother into a ride to school, I had a driver's license for my social life.

At my class blog, I have a photo of a group of us on our bicycles ready to go on an overnight camp-out as Girl Scouts, then some photos of us four years later on a picnic to which we had driven. Which required more physical exertion--biking or stuffing our faces?

I'll let Sandy take this report apart line by line, she's good at that; for me and my peers, I'll just remind you that teens are pretty much the same today as we were in the 1950s. All this study does is document that 9 year olds are more active than 15 year olds in the U.S. They'll need to look for other causes for obesity, because teen girls have always had this pattern of activity. The conclusion is, of course, there is a need for a new government policy or program to address the problem. FEMA-tize the children.

Barbara Boxer's shorts in a knot

We all know women like this--they don't listen, just wait to pounce. Guys do it too, but I'm allowed to criticize women. If you can't attack a man's science credentials or his research [Roy Spencer, testimony on climate change], go after a totally unrelated source.

SPENCER: In conclusion, I am predicting today that the theory that mankind is mostly responsible for global warming will slowly fade away in the coming years, as will the warming itself, and I trust you would agree, Madam Chair, that such a result deserves to be greeted with relief. That concludes my testimony, and I’d be willing to answer any questions.

BOXER: Okay. I also want to point out on that on your own blog you said you never were told you couldn’t speak about your scientific views. And lastly, I guess is a certain congratulations, Rush Limbaugh referred to you as the official climatologist of the Rush Limbaugh Excellence in Broadcasting Network.

Trapped in the Net

There's an informative article in the July 9 JAMA about web searching for information about physicians (JAMA: 300:2; 213). It suggests that the internet is both the friend and foe of the physicians. However, the same applies to anyone of any profession, or even a retiree such as myself who has a "presence" on the web. I'm going to substitute the word "you" for "physician," and "client" for "patient," so you'll see what I mean. All this is paraphrased from the article.
    States [or agencies or employers] now routinely publish information about your education, training, certification and publications.

    These sites may also include information about disciplinary actions.

    Information about lawsuits and [other employment problems] are often available with a dozen keystrokes.

    Increasingly, data about your performance are being made available in the public domain.

    Some information not available to the general public is shared by professional groups and insurance companies, and then indirectly to clients.

    Personal information is readily available on the web.

    Mortgage deed registries are now available online.

    With just a last name, in some cities, a client can obtain your home address, home price, and mortgage information.

    It is also possible to infer if you are married or in a domestic partnership by determining who is the co-owner.

    Several Web sites will complete discreet "digital background checks" for a small fee.

    Date of birth, criminal records, marriage records, bankruptcy records, small claims court filings, complaints to police and judgments are available on the web.

    Social networks sites, popular with younger web users, are a goldmine of information on hobbies, favorite movies, and relationships.

    Social networks often post photos of others in the network linking personal information about your friends, cyber and otherwise.

    Clients can determine what groups you belong to--who is your favorite sports team, your favorite political and social causes, musical tastes, sexual orientation, etc., and it's not to hard to track your whereabouts with a check of the leisure sites for your town.

    Sometimes there is slanderous information about you on the web on a blog or other social network site.

    Sometimes there is negative information about someone with your same name.

    The younger you are, the more tech savvy you are, the more likely it is that you've willingly traded your privacy for a presence on the web.

    The best way to control the information is to be pro-active--create your own web page so it appears first. Research shows that the average web user views 1.9 pages of results per search term.

    If you have a social networking site, use the privacy controls to limit access to your most special friends and family.

    Be aggressive about slanderous material about you on the web. This article suggested a WSJ story of Feb. 17, 2008, "Starting out: washing your Web face," by S.
    Banjo.

    Regularly conduct a web search of your own name, in all its forms with quotation marks.
I'm not sure I blogged about it, or just wrote the supervisor, but after I discovered pleasant little bios and photos online about the staff of a day care center that included the names of the women's husbands and children and their interests, I was able to find all sorts of information about them using public information from the county auditor and local newspaper stories about their children and husbands (sports schedules and leisure events). If I'd been a stalker or burglar, everything I needed was available within a few keystrokes. I urged the supervisor to take down the personal information about her employees because there's way too much information out there about all of us, including where the windows are on our houses, and the access roads. Sometimes when I look up a person, all I find are donor records for their university or favorite charity from the latest newsletter. That often supplies age (graduation date) and residence. Certainly an idea of assets and interests. But what a search that could start in the hands of the wrong person. Church newsletters are online these days, with home phone numbers for the head of this or that ministry and committee, as well as photos! These photos turn up in Google Image searches. And on and on.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Good news about tomatoes

Apparently there's no salmonella threat. We can eat tomatoes again.
    Although the FDA still believes that fresh tomatoes may have been a source of the bacteria in the early days of the outbreak, last week it said it is now safe to eat them because the trail had now turned toward fresh peppers.

    Dr. David Acheson, the beleaguered FDA associate commissioner in charge of the probe, on Monday called the discovery of a genetic match for the salmonella strain on the jalapeño "a very important break in the case," although the ultimate source of the contamination has yet to be found.

    Acheson was clear that, although the pepper came from a farm in Mexico, it has yet to be determined whether the source of contamination was on the farm, at the distributor or somewhere in between.San Francisco Chronicle
But there's more good news about tomatoes. New research shows the mechanism behind tomatoes' protective effect against prostate cancer. Rats fed tomato paste plus FruHis, a carbohydrate derivative present in dehydrated tomato products, lived longer than those in any other group. On postmortem examination, prostate tumors were found in 18% of rats in the tomato paste plus FruHis group compared with 39% of rats in the tomato paste only group, 43% of rats in the tomato powder group, and 63% of rats in the control group.

A combination of lycopene, an antioxidant in tomatoes that also protects against DNA damage, and FruHis caused a greater than 98% inhibition of prostate cancer cell growth in vitro compared with single agents. (story from JAMA, July 2, 2008, p. 33) Research published in Cancer Research 2008;68[11]:4384-4391.

Gasoline prices in Ohio

We never thought we'd be happy to see $3.77 a gallon, but since it was $4.09 over the week-end, seeing the price steadily go down as we neared Columbus was sort of nice. In the vicinity of Polaris on Rt. 23, it was $3.77; in Upper Arlington it was still $3.95 on Henderson Road, but today was $3.85 on Kenny Rd. But then, there's a Gulf storm coming. . . Let's get drilling again and build some refineries. Alternatives are fine, and we need them for their new jobs, but let's not kid ourselves into a Depression. Al Gore hasn't stopped flying or driving or heating and cooling his giant house. He just wants you to.

Carbama or Bush Lite?

Today I heard someone refer to Obama as "Carbama" meaning he was a lot like Carter. Frankly, I don't see the resemblance, especially not in clarity of speech. When Obama doesn't have a teleprompter, I don't understand anything he says, there are so many stammers and start-overs. Carter--maybe you think he was ineffective--but he didn't waffle and wiggle. They're both Democrats but that's about all you can say.

Listening to Obama track to the center to pick up the undecideds and the unhappy Obamacons I hear only Bush-Lite. He's been talking about the danger of nuclear weapons. Isn't that just an earlier word for WMDs? And he's talking about the need for a surge in Afghanistan. WMDs and surges. Bush-Lite.

Monday, July 21, 2008

New rule on abortions proposed

Apparently the NYT couldn’t find a single person to contribute a quote on why employees should not be required to perform tasks that they find morally or ethically objectionable. NYT story on Abortion provider proposal. It's called editorializing the news.

From WSJ health blog: “A rule under consideration by the Bush administration could broaden employment rules that now cover abortion to include emergency contraception. Under the proposed rule, employers that get federal funds would be required to guarantee that they won’t refuse to hire health-care workers who object to providing abortions.”

Hey folks, there are plenty of health care providers, doctors, nurses, and techs who have no qualms about abortion related deeds. But don’t discriminate in employment against those who do have a few scruples left about destroying human life. They are probably an underserved minority.

The growth of Wal-Mart

This is stunning. I remember the first time I walked into a grungy, crowded Wal-Mart in Florida. Probably early 80s. We didn't have any in Ohio and I'd never heard of the chain. Several years ago we toured Arkansas and witnessed what it has done for that state. But this growth data is amazing. Seen at Club for Growth. http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

Today Wal-Mart affects everything you do or buy, whether or not you ever shop in one. If it's shipped, or packaged, or stored, or tagged with security, or manufactured, Wal-Mart's methods have influenced it. Wal-Mart's done more for the poor in employment and raising their access to material goods than all the government programs, and probably more for poor countries than all our government bail-outs and aid.

I wish vibrant Christianity or remarkable education ideas could spread like this.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Lakeside 2008, Raccoon Run

Today was the 28th Annual Raccon Run with the one mile fun run at 8 a.m. and the 5K at 8:30. I took a few photos as we walked to the church service on the lakefront.

Here we have the Kete Family of Bay Village, Ohio.

Runners and spectators are important, but it couldn't be done with out the Lakeside volunteers.

Barbara and Marilyn match runners with their sizes.

A revival of chautauqua

When my parents were children, the traveling chautauquas were winding down in popularity (were popular from the 1870s-1920s). Movies, radio and the automobile were taking their toll on this "old fashioned" form of entertainment. There was one in Dixon, Illinois, close to where my dad grew up in Pine Creek, and one in Franklin Grove, Illinois, near the farm where my mother grew up (both were in Lee County, and there may have been others). People came from miles around and set up little tent cities, and enjoyed musicals, lecturers, medical shows, and entertainers. The peak year of the traveling chautauqua was 1924 when over 10,000 little midwestern towns hosted over 40 million people who came to be educated, entertained and uplifted. (American Midwest, 2007, p. 692). In fact, this is where I first heard of the Chautauqua movement because my grandparents had helped with the local organization. I didn’t know there were permanent Chautauqua sites like Lakeside, Bay View, Boulder, and Lake Chautauqua, NY until we first visited Lakeside. There is a movement afoot to revive the local traveling shows. Port Clinton hosted Ohio's traveling Chautauqua this summer.

Here’s a link to one called “New Old Time Chautauqua” which tours in Washington. They are having an Aqua Chautauqua this summer which looks like fun.

Founded by the Methodist Church, Lakeside on Lake Erie is one of the few remaining chautauqua communities that thrive today. I think there is one near Lancaster, OH, but I'm not sure it is called a Chautauqua community. I know there are permanent cottages, and entertainment. Each summer, Lakeside provides "spiritual, cultural, intellectual and recreational programs designed to nurture the mind, body and spirit." Sometimes, our summer population grows to near 10,000, but it's more like 500 in the winter.

See Illinois Harvest, Traveling Culture The above program photo is from the Redpath Collection

Blue, blue, my trash is blue

When we bought our summer cottage in 1988, it was an opportunity to redo a house with a color scheme (and someone else's furniture), so I chose blue, pink (mauve), and cream--certainly not a cutesy look I would have at home. The house is pink (mauve) and the outside trim matches the inside trim. I chose a coordinated wall paper border for each room with stylized sea birds, light houses, ducks, and flowers. It was fun. But that was 20 years ago, and a few things are showing some wear. The kitchen wastebasket, for instance. It's narrow enough to stand between the 20" electric stove and doorway, and tall enough to hold 2-3 days of trash, but last summer someone stuffed it a bit full and a small crack appeared, then another and another and another. I've reinforced the inside with large bands of sealing tape, but still the cracks appear. It has also gradually faded to gray from the afternoon sun, which is not part of the color scheme.

Blue plastic household items were all the rage in the 1980s and 1990s (I have coordinated laundry basket, dish drainer, dish pan, cooking tools, bowls, lamps, etc.), but they are scarce as hen's teeth today. Yesterday I prowled the Port Clinton Wal-Mart and Bassett's. Bassett's came close and I almost bought a white one for the size. They had the blue lids but were out of whatever container matched them.



I think I need to find an old timey hardware store or general store where the stock is infrequently updated, or kept forever until it sells.

I've seen some creative uses for old plastic, however, especially bags. I don't know what these artists will do when the environmentalists get all the women barefoot and pregnant again shopping with canvas bags and growing the family's food in our backyard gardens, eating by candlelight. Here's a very clever 1950s style dress done by a Kent State student, Cathy Kasdan of Cleveland, OH, for her thesis. Isn't it wonderful?

The artist writes, "The dress is all hand knit from grocery bags that were the result of actual trips to the grocery store. As soon as I told people I could use their old bags for a project they brought them in by the bag full, I received thousands! The plastic grocery bag came about in the 1950's along with futuristic optimisim about America, so I made a "typical" 1950's ensemble complete with pillbox hat and purse, not pictured. I am going to have my pieces in an art show on recycled art at the School of Art Gallery in downtown Kent along with a group of other people beginning April 19th." Seen at Craftzine.com

I could be wrong, but I really doubt that my trash container, dish drainer and laundry basket will ever be sought after for a museum of plastic. But you just never know. I have a blue-green glass electric wire insulator displayed on the book shelf that we dug up in the yard.

The closing of Starbucks

600 company-owned Starbucks stores are on the chopping block in a bid to weed out the losers and improve profitability. Here is
Ohio's list. None of these closings affect me personally, but today's WSJ reports customers are organizing "Save Our Starbucks" campaigns. I don't use Starbucks often--coffee is a bit strong for me, but it beats a fast food store if I have a choice. Another one has opened recently near our home in that ugly monstrosity on Tremont Road (multiple-use trendy), but it's within spitting distance of the Caribou and Panera's that I regularly use. I've seen Starbucks in some odd, difficult to reach locations, and they certainly aren't after drive-bys, because you'd have to plan miles ahead to figure out how to exit the main road and find the access. There's one on Bethel Road in Columbus between a shopping center and an underpass which you can get to only if you're driving east; there's one on the south side of Henderson Road in a maze and jumble of small food shops, banks and bars that you could miss if you blink; the access drive way for the new one on Tremont Road in Upper Arlington is so difficult to find that you might as well continue on and go to Caribou, just a block further south. Really, some of these seem designed for failure, or a training ground for difficult assistant managers, but what do I know? They aren't on the closing list. Maybe no one knows where they are?

Cross posted at Coffee Spills

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Lakeside 2008, Art class at the Rhein Center

This is the 10th season that the Rhein Center has been open. It's such fun to take classes there in a beehive of activity--kids painting rocks, grandpas making glass light catchers, moms building birdhouses, teen-agers learning watercolor--and last week, me learning to draw better. That was the name of the class and it was a short version of "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." As I've noted before, I was a good childhood artist, but quit some time in my teens. I tested high for art in college tests, but I didn't want to face the competition of those who'd actually had art training, so I've never had any formal art training, except taking classes for a week or two from local housewives, and hobbiests. I still draw and paint much like I did when I was 11 or 12. I'll quit for 20 years or so, and then start up again. I'm always 12. Here are 3 samples of age 12, age 34 and 64.

This is a bit fuzzy, but the center drawing is mine, 6th grade, Trigger.


Acrylic, probably about 1974

Watercolor about 2004

Anyway, I did buy a sketch book even though my drawing didn't change much during the class. It's very hard for me not to draw the way I've been doing it for 60 years.

Lakeside 2008 and the switch to digital TV

There are groups worrying about Spanish language viewers and their old TVs, but not older Americans who speak English and have old TVs all over the house and at Lakeside. Our itsy-bitsy Lakeside TV was purchased, I think, in 1987. It works fine and is hooked up to an antenna on the roof that the previous owner installed. (It's caught in the tree limbs so we might be able to get more stations if it would move.) We get a ton of stations--ABC, NBC, CBS, two different Fox, public TV from Toledo and Canada, some that are shopping or religious which appear or disappear depending on the time of day. Really, it's more TV than any vacationer really needs. But because of the age of the set (it's old enough to vote, drink and join the military), I don't think we can even connect to cable, and the converter box probably isn't a possibility either due to only one thingy (my all-purpose tech word) on the back which currently connects to the antenna.
    “Lawmakers have expressed concern that switching to digital technology may negatively affect people who live near the Mexican border. Because Mexican broadcasters are not required to switch off their analog signals, some Hispanic residents of southern Texas or California may opt to rely on Mexican analog programming instead of upgrading their TVs to receive digital signals from U.S. stations. As a result, they would not be able to receive important public-safety warnings and emergency notices broadcast within the United States.”
In Columbus, I think we have 6 TVs; I know it's silly since I claim to not use much TV, but I'm sure we're not the only older Americans who think our reception is just fine. Has anyone in Congress worried or even asked about the environment? Calculate the landfill problem when households like mine dump all our 1970 and 1980s TV sets. They work fine--yes, it's not the clarity of HDTV, but then no one looks short and fat with bad skin flaws like they do on the newer widescreen flat digital TVs either.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Italy, Saturday Day 11, Orvieto

We had a free day to explore the city before we boarded the bus to drive to Rome for the flight home on Sunday. There was a Saturday Farmer's Market right around the corner from our hotel. Wonderful local produce, cheese, meat, flowers, and clothing.






Is Grove Parc Plaza an example of politics as usual for Obama crowd?

Boston Globe looks at housing in his Illinois district. Not much hope or change here; move along.

"As a state senator, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee coauthored an Illinois law creating a new pool of tax credits for developers. As a US senator, he pressed for increased federal subsidies. And as a presidential candidate, he has campaigned on a promise to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that could give developers an estimated $500 million a year.

But a Globe review found that thousands of apartments across Chicago that had been built with local, state, and federal subsidies - including several hundred in Obama's former district - deteriorated so completely that they were no longer habitable." Boston Globe article

The Developers were Obama buddies, according to the Globe.

“Campaign finance records show that six prominent developers - including Jarrett, Davis, and Rezko - collectively contributed more than $175,000 to Obama's campaigns over the last decade and raised hundreds of thousands more from other donors. Rezko alone raised at least $200,000, by Obama's own accounting.

One of those contributors, Cecil Butler, controlled Lawndale Restoration, the largest subsidized complex in Chicago, which was seized by the government in 2006 after city inspectors found more than 1,800 code violations.

Butler and Davis did not respond to messages. Rezko is in prison; his lawyer did not respond to inquiries.”

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Lakeside 2008 Nostalgia


That’s one of the big selling points of a Lakeside vacation--nostalgia. A return to a simpler, easier, less stressful time--sort of time travel in reverse. We began renting in 1974 and bought our cottage in 1988, 20 years ago. Believe me when I say, the Lakeside of today is not that of 20 years ago, and especially not 35 years ago, despite the 19th century cottages you might see. That quiet piece of Americana is a figment of our imagination; Lakeside’s what city people think small towns are today, and what small town people seem to remember of the place where they grew up. I grew up in two small towns and I remember outhouses, hand pumps in kitchens, linoleum rugs, kerosene stoves, and basements with dirt floors. Trust me, you don’t want that!

There were a handful of cottages selling in the $40,000 range in the late 80s, but they did need work. When we started renting in the 1970s, if there were comparable houses in Lakeside and Columbus, the Columbus house would cost more; by the late 80s, a Lakeside house of comparable size and modernity would cost more because many people were investing in second homes creating a demand.

Our first rental was an upper unit in a four-plex and cost $45 a week in 1974. We had a porch and I could see the lake and the children playing the park. That unit has now been combined with the one next to it and rents for about $1200 a week, but the view of the Lake is still there.

What I remember about Lakeside of the early 1970s is that renewal and upgrades were beginning. There was a gasoline crisis (in 2007 dollars it was higher than today), long lines at gas stations, and people were turning to places closer to home for vacations. At Lakeside, property owners were starting to straighten the foundations, replace moldy wall board, paint the cottages, and install an additional half bath under the stairs or in a closet, and maybe a ceiling fan. A few people had telephones, televisions and AC, but not many. Bicycles were old clunkers. I remember stopping by the Fountain Inn to watch a few minutes of a Soap Opera---many others were doing the same. Our unit didn’t even have a radio, I don’t think the vacuum cleaner worked, and the kitchen made me ill--couldn’t cook in it until about Wednesday.

By the 1970s, the large cafeteria eating places and boarding houses had disappeared because most cottages had kitchens, and government regulations put most of them out of business. But today’s "old timers" remember that Lakeside. If they are nostalgic for standing in line in the sun or rain to eat, it must be for the prices. But in the 1970s and 1980s the Hotel Lakeside served 3 nice meals a day, and it was lovely to eat in the dining room and look at the water. We really miss that, but the Association doesn’t seem to be able to hire a company that can make that work.

A huge difference I see today over the 1970s are the activities for children and family groups. When my children were little, there was bike riding, swimming, fishing, sailing lessons, hanging out with friends, a game of tennis if you could get a court, a playground, miniature golf and shuffleboard with adults, and story hour on Saturday at the Women’s Club. There was no children's beach; no kiddie pool. Now there are so many programs for kids in arts, crafts, music, sports, and spiritual life, I couldn’t even begin to count them. I think it reflects our need to schedule our lives or face panic. No child at Lakeside could possibly whine, “There’s nothing to do.” Programming for adults has more variety too, from nature walks, historical tours, wellness programs, and exercise routes as well as the usual lectures and Bible studies.

A number of things have disappeared from the Lakeside we first knew in the 1970s: The lakefront got chewed up in the high water period of the 60s and 70s, huge boulders were brought in to protect the property, then the water receded so the view is very different; old clunky bikes are all but gone--mine is 40 years old and has 28 year old tires, but it’s a rarity; boom boxes of the 1990s--all the kids have I-pods now; dress-up clothing--women are wearing shorts and baseball caps to Sunday services in the auditorium, and I’ve seen more butt-cracks on men in baggy cargo pants than anyone should be subjected to; the payphone-- everyone talks on cell phones; cigarettes--I rarely see a smoker in Lakeside, not even the litter; fixer-up cottages--you probably won’t find one if you’re hoping for a bargain--you’ll need to fix one up that was remodeled in the 80s; healthy weight--maybe it’s the baggy clothes but I’m guessing the average Lakesider is 30-40 lbs heavier than 35 years ago, although some still jog and the Raccoon Run is still popular; antique shops--I think there were four in the early 1970s--fun for browsing; automobiles are slowly moving to remote parking--there are more and more streets with yellow lines; fewer big name programs--in the past we’ve seen Pat Boone, Shirley Jones, Emmylou Harris, and others--now programming is more family oriented and few are extra charge--Eleanor Roosevelt actually visited right here where I’m sitting in 1940.

What’s here now that we didn‘t have then: modern kitchens; beautiful bathrooms; many new homes; more open porches; lavish flower gardens and decorating; The Rhein Center is now 10 years old--it’s been a wonderful addition for arts and crafts; lakefront church services--I think those started in the 90s; ATM machine; credit cards; Wi-Fi; cable TV; the current lovely lakefront Pavilion was built in 1988--we never saw the original one, only the horrid 1950s “modern” version; golf carts are everywhere; over 30 cottages have been redesigned or designed new by my husband--something we would have never anticipated in the 1970s when we first came through the gates.

What hasn't changed: the sunsets and sunrises; summer love; lines for ice cream; getting together with friends and neighbors you haven't seen for a year; beautiful Lake Erie; picnics in the park.

Other nostalgia since the gate fee was ten cents, with a few highlights of the season:

1873: Lake Shore Christian Home becomes Lakeside Company
1874: Lakeside dedicated, 5,000 people attend the program
1890: Francis E. Willard, of WCTU is speaker
1895: Susan B. Anthony lectures; Governor William McKinley is speaker
1901: Lorado Taft lectures on art; Gen. Booth, founder of Salvation Army is speaker
1921: Fisk Jubilee Singers; Lutheran Chautauqua begins
1922: William Jennings Bryan
1924: Dr. E. Stanley Jones
1929: Billy Sunday preaches to 5,000
1934: Amelia Earhart speaker; Lowell Thomas--reserved seats $.25
1936: Mary McCleod Bethune speaker
1939: Last run of the Northern Ohio Electric Railway between Toledo and Marblehead
1940: Eleanor Roosevelt visits Lakeside
1940s: Gov. John W. Bricker led a Bible class
1950: Robert Taft teaches Bible Class
1951: Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra
1956: Marian Anderson sings; first Lakeside Art Show
1954: Island View platted; J.C. Penney teaches a Bible class
1965: Al Hirt, Jazz trumpeter; William Warfield; Mike Douglas; season pass $25
1970: Norman Vincent Peale
1972: Doc Severinson in concert
1973: Roger Williams plays; Lionel Hampton orchestra
1974: The Bruce family rents on Plum for their first visit to Lakeside
1975: Barby Bright and Jane Aigler open an art store
1981: Fred Waring
1982: Victor Borge
1983: Douglas Edwards, CBS News; Norman Vincent Peale
1984: Four Freshmen perform
1985: The Osmonds; Ray Charles; Duke Ellington Orchestra; Dale Evans
1989: Emmylou Harris; season pass: $175
1991: Shirley Jones (there was a storm and the power failed--the show went on with a generator)
1993: Four Lads; Four Freshmen
1996: Four Aces, Four Lads;
2002: The Turtles; Gaelic Storm
2003: Crew Cuts; Gary Puckett; season pass: $335
2005: Russ Taff; Phil Keaggy
2006: CeCe Winans; season pass $395
2008: John Davidson; Capitol Steps; Sandi Patti; season pass $435


19th century restored Lakeside cottage with landscaping

Why should I have to shop around?

Wal-Mart no longer carries the J.R. Watkins face cream I learned to love after purchasing it at the Port Clinton store last summer. I wonder if I can sue to require them to do so? Why should I have to shop around or send for it?

When I was researching the Gee accident story, I see Dr. Rebekah Gee, MD, MPH, an obstetrics and gynecology resident in the MGH/BWH combined residency program in Boston, was a plaintiff the Wal-Mart Massachusetts case forcing the mega-retailer to carry, Plan-B, a product the founders and owners find immoral and unhealthy. It kills embryos--it’s an early abortion without the trauma of thinking about a potential life.

It’s just amazing. Protesters try to force Wal-Mart to relocate or not build, denying jobs and low cost products in the area, and when they do jump through the hoops, they try to force them to change not only their business practices, but their personally held ethics and religious values.
    Feb. 14, 2006 (Just in time for Valentine‘s Day, Wal-Mart announces it will carry Plan B) “A new [Massachusetts] state law that took effect late last year following heated debate on Beacon Hill requires all hospitals to provide the morning after pill to rape victims. It also allows pharmacists to dispense the pill without a prescription, but does not require them to do so. . . .

    Sam Perkins, a lawyer for the three women, praised the board's decision and said he was prepared to file lawsuits in other states should Wal-Mart not overturn its policy. Abortion rights groups and women's organizations have also urged Wal-Mart to change its policy.

    "From our point of view, they've bowed to the pressure of litigation, in part," Perkins said.

    The plaintiffs — Katrina McCarty, 29, of Somerville, Julia Battel, 37, of Boston, and Dr. Rebekah Gee, 30, of Boston — were turned away when they tried to buy emergency contraception pills at area Wal-Marts.

    The women said they knew they would be refused when they went to the Wal-Marts in Quincy and Lynn and that the action was planned with the abortion rights groups and lawyers.

    "I'm proud to be able to tell my patients that they now can go anywhere for their prescriptions," Gee said. "My patients should not have to shop around." “
Gee’s attempt to fill the prescription was not personal, but a part of a planned action by abortion rights groups and Planned Parenthood. President Gee is a Mormon if I remember correctly. Should make for some interesting family discussions.

Now, will Wal-Mart be required to stay open all night, or to rush purchasers to the front of long lines at check-out? Will they need to stock kiosks outside bars on college campuses? How far do they need to go to satisfy the abortion lobby?

Happy Anniversary Ohio Sea Grant

Tomorrow, Friday July 18, Ohio Sea Grant will host its 17th State Legislature and Congressional Day on the shores of Lake Erie, giving state and local elected officials a chance to learn more about the issues facing the Great Lakes and what Ohio State University has done over the years to solve those issues. Ohio Sea Grant celebrates its 30-year anniversary as a NOAA program this summer. One of the dinner speakers will be Charles E. Herdendorf, Director Emeritus of Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab. He lectured at Lakeside last summer, and it was one of the most interesting programs we ever had.

What about heterosexual partners?

Seem to be a few inequities in the tuition break for OSU employees. Gay partners get a tuition break, but not garden variety partners? Technically, I suppose that's because of Ohio's marriage law--that marriage is between one man and one woman--but there are plenty of couples who live together for other reasons (hiding assets, don't want to lose pension benefits, are still married to someone else, etc.) who might wish to have a tuition break.
    "Eligible dependents of some Ohio State employees no longer have to wait to take advantage of the university’s reduced tuition benefit.

    Staff and tenure-track faculty have had a three-year wait from their date of hire to become eligible for the dependent tuition benefit. But starting fall quarter 2008, sons, daughters, spouses and same-sex domestic partners of eligible OSU employees can take a 50 percent reduction based on in-state undergraduate general and instructional tuition rates — 75 percent if two parents or partners work at OSU."
Why not foster children, siblings, nannies, and live-in in-laws? Y'all come. The state coffers are full!

President Gee's daughter and husband injured

According to the Columbus Dispatch, OSU President Gee's family has been injured in a scooter/SUV crash in Pennsylvania. We saw thousands of these scooters when we were in Italy (I think gas is about $9 a gallon there), but then, there weren't too many SUVs with which to collide. I remember Rebekah as a teen when her dad was heading OSU the first time. Her mother Elizabeth died of cancer; Gee later remarried and divorced.
    E. Gordon Gee's son-in-law suffered what authorities said were life-threatening injuries Saturday night while riding a motor scooter in suburban Philadelphia with Gee's daughter, Rebekah.

    Dr. Allan Moore, 31, was operating the couple's 2001 Vespa when it collided with a sport-utility vehicle. He was in critical condition last night in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with abdominal and head injuries.

    His wife and passenger, Dr. Rebekah Gee, 32, was in fair condition in the same hospital with a broken leg and other injuries.

    Rebekah Gee, the Ohio State University president's only child, was seated behind her husband as they traveled on a neighborhood street in Bryn Mawr, Pa., shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday.
According to the article, the police didn't say whether they were wearing helmets. Two doctors. Service in ER during training. One would hope so.

According to Wikipedia, President Gee has held more university presidencies than any other American. Prior to his resumption of the presidency of Ohio State on October 1, 2007, Gee was chancellor of Vanderbilt University from 2000 to 2007 and president of Brown University from 1997 to 2000, of the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1985 to 1990, and of West Virginia University from 1981 to 1985. I remember him best as an advocate of good library services and his bow ties.

Update: Allan Moore died on July 24. OSU account.