Hi,
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the first American newspaper being published Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestic (1690), the first female Supreme Court Justice (Sandra Day O’Connor 1981), Greenwich Mean Time began (1676), the Pacific Ocean was discovered (1513) and National Parks Sequoia & Kings Canyon were established (1890). Birth anniversaries include novelist William Faulkner (1897), composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906), actor Christopher Reeve (1952), baseballer Phil Rizzuto (1917) and cartoonist and children’s author Shel Silverstein (1930).
To me, two things are in concrete and indisputable. Global warming is happening, just look around the globe. And the most profitable companies lobby hard to keep us using carbon based fuels. Exxon brags they spend $100M a DAY searching for new sources of carbon fuel. And gun violence in America is out of control. We have the most lax gun laws in the world, I believe. (If not the most lax, we definitely are one of the laxest). The NRA lobby is as powerful as the energy lobby and they insist on stopping any sensible solution, this is just nuts. This “It’s absolutely my way or your gonna be fired” has to stop. We need compromise on all kinds of things, we have too many important issues we need to find common ground to find solutions. The two politicians in Colorado were recalled for their belief in gun control, not for their overall performance. Professor David Guth, of the University of Kansas, is suspended indefinitely for Tweeting after the Naval Shipyard shooting “Blood is on the hands of the #NRA. Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters”. I agree, poor taste and judgement, but to be fired?
Hunt Auctions in Exton will auction off memorabilia from Pittsburgh favorite son Bill Mazeroski‘s collection on November 6. A short list of items on the auction block include the home jersey with champagne stains from after winning game 7 in the 1960 World Series, a bronzed bat from that series as well as his cleats. Also included will be a bat given to him by Roberto Clemente, six of his eight Gold Glove Awards and much more. Bill and wife Milene decided it was time to clear out “the clutter”, he’s keeping his rings and many other significant pieces.
A short while ago I read about a woman that was in a relationship with a man in Florida and posed for provocative pictures for him. They had a nasty break up and he started posting them on line. She was embarrassed and wanted him to stop. The quote she made that has stuck with me is “Why doesn’t someone help me make him stop?”. #1, why did you pose for them? #2, and this is my big deal, why should “someone help” her? She did it, I feel bad she’s embarrassed, but she did it. She was in a relationship that didn’t work out and there’s prices we pay in life for choices we make. I’ve made plenty of poor life choices in my lifetime and basically either figured out how to make it better or live with it. I never would have wondered “why doesn’t someone help me”. That’s a problem with our society, we are always looking for someone else to bear the burden. When I was in Florida, the country subsidized hurricane insurance. I lived in paradise and wasn’t going to say no to the subsidies, but the entire time I thought it wasn’t right. You can construct a house in hurricane zones that are hurricane proof (at least to a Cat 5), if you make the lifestyle choice to live in paradise and not have properly build housing, you need to pay the higher insurance rates. If you live in a fabulous house with fabulous weather in California on a hillside prone to mudslides, have the insurance or be sure it’s built to withstand mudslides. That’s not to say I’m so cold that I’d turn my back on people effected by catastrophes, I frequently donate to relief funds. But once you are back on your feet with food, water and shelter; you need to make a lifestyle choice about your future.
Now on to a lighter subject. In the 1970’s, Kermit the Frog made the iconic song “It’s not easy being green”. The word green has so many meanings, environmentally friendly, money, envy, etc. The Silver Eye Center at 1015 E Carson Street, Southside has an exhibit Green. They took seven photographers and tasked them with creating exhibits of “green”. Dylan Vitone, associate professor at CMU curated the exhibit and one of the photographers, Joe Johnson, decided to look at green as money and has a series of pictures he took at casinos in Reno, NV. Kim Beck decided to look at all the different aspects of green grass in lawns. She focused on how weeds, fertilizers, lawnmowers and other factors effect grass. Also taking a gardening view on green, Sue Abramson decided to look at variations of green in her garden. In particular, she highlights elephant ears she has in her garden (having spectacular elephant ears here in my garden, I can relate to how spectacular they can be). 😉 Peter Beste chose to look at green in an urban environment. Peter is actually teaming up with author Lance Scott to create the book Houston Rap, a pretty gritty work. Other artists showcased include Judy Natal, Ed Panar and Adam Amengual.
The historic Terminal Building in the Strip took a step toward preservation this week. Preserve Pittsburgh and Lawrenceville architect Sarah Kroloff made the nomination and the nomination went before the Pittsburgh Planning Commission this week and the nomination was strongly endorsed by our city historic preservation planner. The Commission could issue a recommendation during their October 15 meeting. If they recommend approval, the nomination then goes before City Council to decide whether to grant the historic status. The Evil Empire Buncher Group 🙂 says they will continue with their development behind the Terminal Building even if it gets historic designation. Well I guess they would, they own all that property back there. They might just have to put some work into making the project doable by re-work their plans.
If you’re one of those hunter enthusiasts that love the sport, but are not into venison, there’s a solution for you. Hunters Sharing the Harvest program, underwritten by Consul Energy has approved meat processors in Washington, Westmoreland, Fayette and Greene counties that will process the meat, then donate the venison to food banks at no charge to you. For a list of the approved butchers, go to their website.
They are having the 19th annual Arts and Crafts Festival at the Washington County Fairgrounds the weekends of October 18 – 20 and 26 -27. They expect 230 vendors to have booths. So if you’re looking to do a little early Christmas shopping, they’re waiting for you. 🙂 More info at their website or by calling 724-862-4577.
Enjoy your early Fall weather,
ed
