historymike

On Artificial Christmas Trees

2011-11-27T21:21:00.004-05:00

For many years we had an annual pilgrimage to a local tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree. This was a ritual that even I - someone jaded at Christmas hoopla and commercialism - actually looked forward to enjoying, and our large family would brave even the worst elements to select and cut our own tree.

This year, however, my wife talked me into buying an artificial tree. Actually, it was more like "my wife went out and purchased an artificial tree," and I did not need to be convinced. I am pleasantly surprised at the quality and user-friendliness of this tree.

All told it took me seven minutes to assemble this tree, which was complete with a lighting system. With a natural tree I cannot think of a single facet of procurement and installation that did not take hours to complete, and I have many memories of hacking oversized trees to make them fit our house and itchy arms from pine needle pokes.

It seems to me that we paid $40-$50 the last few years for natural Christmas trees, so the $230 we paid for this tree will pay for itself in just a few years. Add to this the fact that there is no maintenance, and that the tree does not seem to interest our dogs, who in the past have shown great interest in the various smells associated with a natural tree. I recall the year one of our dogs went berserk and destroyed a tree and a bunch of ornaments, and I suspect that the neutral odors of an artificial tree will not provide scents that fire up the canines.

So goodbye, natural trees: we had many good memories, but I am getting too old to be tramping through mud and snow to chop one of you down.

November Rose

2011-11-24T12:30:00.002-05:00

Strangely, one of my rose bushes decided to wait until the second half of November to offer up its last blossom of the year. The weather had been in the high 40s (Fahrenheit, for any non-US readers) and almost every leave has fallen from the nearby oak, maple, and hickory trees, yet this rose bush responded to some stimuli that prompted this out-of-season flower.

I did trim the rose bushes a few weeks ago, which might have spurred some growth, but the odd appearance of a red rose so late in the year was a surprise. Beautiful, but still a surprise.

Target Practice

2011-10-22T20:31:00.003-04:00

Left: AR-15-wielding historian

I took some time out of my schedule this weekend to join some colleagues on an outing to test some military weapons with historical significance. In the image on your left, I am lining up to shoot an AR-15, which is the semi-automatic version of the M-16 rifle.

We fired quite a variety of weapons today, ranging from a Mauser Gewehr 98 to an early twentieth century variant of the M1 Garand. We also fired quite a few different military handguns, and after today's demonstrations I have a much greater knowledge and awareness of military technology.

And no fun, whatsoever, was enjoyed by the participants in blasting away at targets for three hours.

Ahem.

Left: firing range target

I am far from a regular at the range, and I have fired rifles or muskets only a few times in my life. I was surprised that with some training (two of the participants are ex-military personnel) I could hit with some accuracy targets 100 yards away.

This has less to do with any skill on my part, and a bit more to do with the coaching. A larger part of the equation, though, is that military weapons are designed to be as user-friendly and easy-to-learn as possible. The AR-15, in particular, was relatively simple to operate, and on my first ten-round practice I hit in the black on the target five out of ten times.

I was much less successful with the Garrand and the Mauser, both of which I landed in the black three of ten times. The Mauser is also a physically punishing weapon, with a strong kick and an especially loud report. If I were an infantry soldier, I would prefer the AR-15 to the other weapons.

Fall Colors

2011-09-17T15:03:00.002-04:00

Not only have I been away from the blogosphere the past few weeks, but I have spent little time tending my gardens. Thus, it was with some amazement that I paused to take in the beauty of a section of my yard that quietly emerged as an impressive patch of fall colors while I was too busy to notice.

I wish I could tell you every flower variety that I planted, but I tend to be somewhat impulsive in my seed selections and placement. Sure, I spend a minute making sure I plant full sun flowers in full sun, but I often forget after a few weeks what it was I planted. I know that there are about six marigold varieties, some nasturtiums, and three or four different types of zinnia in this garden, but I am clueless as to the names of at least six other flowers.

I suspect that the pink and purple flowers are some plant in the Aster family, but I cannot remember what the tall spiky red flowers are.

Anyway, the plot turned out well in spite of the almost total lack of weeding and watering I provided since late August.

Blog Hiatus

2011-07-27T16:18:00.003-04:00

I will not be active on this blog for an undetermined amount of time. I have a heavy workload at the moment, and I am also gearing up for an extremely busy fall semester.

I should also add that my blogging Muse seems to have taken flight, and I will also use this time to figure out what this site is supposed to be about. When I was active as a freelance journalist the site complemented my news-related writing, but these days I have a diminished desire to post.

Anyway, I'll be back at some point in the future and we will chat further. Ciao!

Daylily Season

2011-07-15T20:17:00.002-04:00

Among the more spectacular colors presented by our collection of perennials are those offered by the dalilies we have planted over the years. Specimens like the one pictured on your left bring unexpected hues to the yard at a time when the spring colors have all disappeared.

I also like that daylilies need very little in the way of maintenance, and they will produce flowers even in the driest years. Of course, they thrive when regularly watered and fed a general fertilizer, but I have some daylilies that I completely neglected while I was still in graduate school that never fail to return each year.

My wife and I, however, are of two different minds when it comes to separating daylilies to split into new colonies. I prefer the thick clusters with bunches of blossoms, while she likes to spread the color more widely. Of course, splitting daylilies eventually gives you multiple stands for the price of a single plant, but there is the lag time to consider as the divided plants grow to the mass of the formerly joined cluster.

First Sunflower of 2011

2011-07-06T09:37:00.002-04:00

I have long been a fan of the simple sunflower, and over the past few years I have planted quite a few in my gardens. This year I set aside a 10'x20' patch of yard to create a massive sunflower garden, and the first of these flowers opened this morning, which is pictured on your left.

My dogs, of course, were uninterested in the project, and they trampled a greater number of sunflower seedlings than I expected In order to keep alive the dream of a wall of sunflowers, I was forced by canine destruction to plant more seeds. Hence, I may not get the simultaneous wave of colors I envisioned, but over the course of the summer I should have non-stop sunflower blossoms until October or so.

Interestingly, there are at least a half-dozen sunflowers that spontaneously emerged from seeds left over sunflower heads mauled by squirrels and finches last year. I originally planned a garden of rows of progressively shorter varieties (taller in back, shorter in front) but at this point it is anyone's guess how this will turn out.

But heck: half the fun of gardening is comparing design with results.

On Patience in Gardening

2011-06-29T18:20:00.002-04:00

I started the garden pictured on your left about three years ago, and the idea to create this space was almost accidental. I had a spot that used to contain a rotting tree stump, and I had some flagstones that were collecting dust in another corner of the yard, and I decided to see if I could turn the space into something besides another patch of lawn.

When I selected my initial perennials for perennials for the space, I did not take into account soil pH and sunlight needs, and I was consequently disappointed when the purple fountain ornamental grass I planted did not return. The next year I went with some Stella d'oro lilies and some bright red Asiatic lilies. In the center I added a Rose of Sharon plant, and during the spring there are some daffodils and tulips for early color.

Of course, it was another two years before the plants in this space filled out to the point where I achieved something like a wall of color. Thus, this garden took about four years to emerge as a colorful source for peaceful contemplation, though the happy accidents are more fun than simply filling the space with a bunch of annuals each year.

The 2011 Arrival of Tiger Lilies

2011-06-18T17:20:00.004-04:00

Over the last half-decade I have used this blog to record horticultural markers for the seasons, and the arrival of the first tiger lily of 2011 sent me back into my blog archives. The first tiger lily emerged on June 9 in 2010, June 21 in 2009, on June 18 in 2008, and on June 17 in 2007. Tiger lilies, which have the scientific name of Hemerocallis fulva, first bloomed in my yard on June 17 in 2006.

Thus, this year's flowers arrived somewhat near the end of the scale, as today is June 18. With the heavy rains of this past May (23 rainy days) I expected that the tiger lilies would arrive early, but this is not the case. Perhaps they need warmth more than moisture to kick into gear, as this spring was a bit cooler than average.

Still, though many gardeners scoff at the common Hemerocallis fulva (also known as "ditch lily" to even more scornful gardeners, for whom the tiger lily is considered invasive) I look forward to these orange flowers the way I do old friends. They provide strong colors, they are easy to maintain, and they grow in almost any soils and conditions. I have some in shady areas, dry areas, full sun areas, and even in a rock-strewn patch behind the garage where the former owner dumped motor oil.

Cornucopia of Roses

2011-06-13T14:43:00.003-04:00

In the past two years I have begun to pay more attention to several rose bushes my wife planted in the early 1990s. While "neglect" is a strong word to use for my previous efforts at taking care of these plants, suffice to say that I did little more than hack them down when they became overgrown, and they suffered from black spot and insect degradations, despite my wife's suggestions that I treat the plants with rose sprays.

The past two summers I have applied some preventive fungal inhibitors, and I also gave the plants some fertilizer. In addition, I have been much more meticulous in removing dead stems and keeping the soil around the base of the plants free from debris.

We were amazed at how much healthier, vigorous, and blossom-yielding several of the rose bushes were this year. Perhaps we might also add that this was a very wet spring, but the net result has been a veritable wave of magenta-hued flowers in the yard.

Moral of the story: when your wife suggests something, she is probably right.

Delphinium

2011-06-05T18:33:00.004-04:00

A few years ago I picked up a small Delphinium plant, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well this plant adapted to my garden. In my region the Delphinium plant produces multiple rounds of blue-violet blossoms, and last year we had three separate flowering periods with these plants.

The brilliant blue and violet hues the plant produces contrast well with many other colors. As you can see in the image, the bluish colors mesh well with the yellow irises, and the constancy of the blue Delphinium makes for unexpected color bonanzas when later blossoms arrive. From another angle they also pair well with some red and pink poppies that are hidden in this image.

The various species of Delphinium are rather toxic, though, so be sure to keep Delphinium away from small children and pets. The plant produces the toxic alkaloid delphinine, which can be fatal in large doses.

This perennial plant can be propagated from seed, or you can also split the rhizomes and start new colonies in other gardens. In this garden the Delphinium grew from a single stalk to about eight stalks in three years: moderate growth, but not the type of plant that overwhelms a garden.

Asparagus Curse Lifted

2011-06-01T19:50:00.003-04:00

I recall at least five previous attempts to grow asparagus in my garden, and each of the earlier efforts were dismal failures. I tried a variety of techniques, from adding heavier amounts of potassium to varying water levels to trying full and partial sun locations.

All were busts.

I looked skeptically at the package of asparagus crowns at the Andersons general store a month ago, but I threw them in the cart just the same. Weeks went by with no signs of life, and I was just about to till this space in favor of an easier vegetable like squash when I noticed the first asparagus spears that have ever sprouted at Château Brooks.

Yes, there are only four or five spears, and yes: there is still plenty of time for my dogs to trample these plants. Yet I remain hopeful that I have finally mastered the art of growing asparagus, and I look forward to next spring for the first bountiful harvest of fresh picked asparagus.

Bearded Iris

2011-05-27T20:28:00.005-04:00

The seemingly endless rain we have experienced in Northwest Ohio over the past ten days has certainly been appreciated by the plants in my gardens, and my iris plants look strong and healthy. A brief break in the torrential downpours yesterday gave me a few minutes to snap some pictures of the emerging irises.

My wife planted most of our irises a decade or more ago, and they bring welcome bursts of color in between tulip season and when the summer flowers start blooming. I also like that the irises stand up well against the frantic feet of my squirrel-chasing dogs, and a pocket of irises is almost an impenetrable barrier to my scampering canine companions.

Crabapple Tree in Bloom

2011-05-13T14:12:00.004-04:00

One of the highlights of the seasonal colors that appear in our yard is the blooming of the crabapple tree pictured on your left. For a week or so the tree produces brilliant pink and fuchsia petals, and local bees become almost drunk in their gorging on nectar and pollen from these flowers.

I too derive a state of near intoxication from the color this tree brings each year. I remember trying to work on my dissertation a few years ago and being almost lured, Siren-like, by the powerful beauty of this crabapple tree.

Interestingly, while this was a wet and early spring, this crabapple tree was about a week behind its usual schedule of blooming the first week of May. Occasionally the tree will burst into color around April 30, but this year it was mid-May before the color arrived.

Digging Puggle

2011-05-09T21:14:00.004-04:00

Left: Puggle in full-blown gurrowing mode

Pictured on your left is one of our Puggles, whose name is Chauncey Gardner. I suspect that pound-for-pound this 20-pound dog is capable of excavating more cubic feet of earth than just about any other dog.

I am not sure what sort of critter Chauncey thinks he is going to catch with his digging. I have been filling in the 3-foot hole every day, but in 30 minutes or so Chauncey is able to revert the ground to its former holey state. I suppose I could just let him dig in this same spot: it is out of the way, it is not near the root systems of any significant plants, and the time he spends on this massive hole he is not digging other holes in my yard.

Left: Momentarily surprised Puggle

I had to set up the second photo, and I was shooting for a Scooby-Doo "ruh-roh" feel in the next image. I called Chauncey's name in an excited voice and he popped up to see what was going on. I managed to get lucky and snap the shutter at the right moment, and the picture came out pretty much as I envisioned it.

It is difficult to get angry at such a happy little dog, and his digging is just a minor quirk as far as I am concerned. Heck, for all I know he might be inadvertently aerating the earth in the places he digs.

Tulip Time

2011-05-04T13:15:00.002-04:00

After planting hundreds of perennial bulbs last fall, I have been impatiently waiting for spring to arrive. The recent warm weather and rains have been kind to my gardens, and in particular the tulips have rewarded me with some spectacular color this year.

Unfortunately the curious squirrels dug up and devoured a fair number of bulbs, but that is an annual battle. I figure I will compensate for the inevitable squirrel feasts by factoring in a 20 percent or so shrinkage from rodents, and that by planting a few extra bulbs in each area enough should survive the rodential onslaught.

Peleliu Fishing Trip, 1945

2011-04-24T20:47:00.004-04:00

Pictured on the left is a group of Seabees in 1945 with some fish they caught near the island of Peleiu. My grandfather is in this picture, and he is the third Seabee from the right.

My guess is that these large fish are examples of some type of sea bass, though the many decades that have passed have eroded any memory of the fish type. In fact, even though I spotted my grandfather in about three milliseconds after looking at this picture, he seemed reluctant to give me much more than "yeah, that's probably me, but who knows?"

Not sure if he was just being self-effacing, or if he just didn't want to talk about Peleliu when we visited with him the other day.

Attack of the Irradiated Historians!

2011-04-19T22:54:00.004-04:00

As part of my attempt to determine the extent of dysfunctionality of my gallbladder, I underwent testing at the nuclear medicine department of Flower Hospital today. The test performed was called a HIDA scan, and the procedure involved the injection of the radioactive nuclear isomer Technetium-99m into my bloodstream, which causes the liver, gallblader, and duodenum to glow for a gamma camera.

Interestingly, while considered safe for humans, Technetium-99m has the potential for setting off anti-terrorist radiation detectors that Homeland Security has placed in airports and other strategic locations. The accompanying photograph depicts the radiation card I received and was told to carry for the next three days (the half-life of Technetium-99m) on the off chance that my status as an irradiated human being might trigger a false security breach somewhere.

One of my students today also suggested that - should such an act of false radiation alert occur - that simultaneously shouting Allahu Akbar would not be found humorous by Homeland Security types.

Life No More

2011-04-18T20:20:00.002-04:00

The wind storm that roared through yesterday seems to have taken a nascent avian life, and I felt a brief pang of sadness at seeing the broken egg shell on thr ground. There were no mourners for the former occupant of the shell, and I suppose even the bird's mother had yet to develop much of an attachment to what was little more than a warm lump the size of large grape.

Maybe the grey April skies that dumped a brief snowfall this morning brought down my spirits, or maybe I am simply in a funk. Yet the sight of the unfulfilled life haunted me for more than a few minutes, and even hours later the cracked shell seems depressing.

Spring Daffodils

2011-04-14T17:52:00.002-04:00

I have been rather ill of late. The beginning of my health woes involved a kidney stone for which I had to go through outpatient surgery last week, and now I have some gastric-oriented problem that keeps me nauseated and in pain all day. I had an ultrasound today to see if gallstones are the problem. If not, I probably have a peptic ulcer, or some other source of gastric annoyance.

Fun times.

Anyways, it warmed my heart to see that the daffodils are beginning to brighten up the yard, as nothing screams "SPRING!" like the bright yellow flowers of these perennial friends. The combination of sunshine and yellow petals did not cure me, but for a few minutes the day was a bit brighter.

Use Google for Sunrise and Sunset

2011-04-10T19:39:00.003-04:00

The folks at Google never cease to amaze me.

I was trying to time my early bedtime this evening by checking the sunset time, as I have an almost pathological inability to sleep when the sun is out. Perhaps this has something to do with my childhood, growing up with a father who instilled in me a rather intense work ethic.

Or maybe I just have a strong circadian streak in me: who knows.

Anyways, when I typed in the word "sunset" in the Google search bar, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the top search result was a customized sunset time for my area. Typing in "sunrise" brought a similar result, with the following handy information: "7:01am Monday (EDT) - Sunrise in Toledo, OH 43623: 11 hours 17 minutes from now ."

Friendly, fast, accurate: what more could you want?

Humorous Weather Icon

2011-04-10T08:07:00.002-04:00

I am not sure if this is a new graphic at Intellicast.com, my favorite weather site, but I chuckled when I saw the fog icon this morning. The graphic features an out-of-focus automobile with its lights on, suggesting the conditions a motorist would face in foggy conditions.

Then after I thought about this further, I struggled to think of another image that might convey the nature of fog. A blank gray blotch would capture the gloominess and lack of visibility, but a website visitor might mistake this for a coding error.

Perhaps fog simply lacks the more spectacular meteorological extravaganza of, say, a thunderstorm or a blizzard, and the best image we can create to represent fog is one that captures the effects of the weather, rather than the weather itself.

Anyways, the fog was short-lived in Northwest Ohio, and by dawn it had mostly evaporated around my house.

Canine Hoarding

2011-04-08T17:19:00.003-04:00

Pictured on your left is Missy, a nine-year-old terrier mix we adopted through Planned Pethood a few years ago. Missy suffered serious abuse and neglect in her previous home, and though she is much more social than when she first arrived, she still has some moments of feistiness.

In the image Missy has rounded up most of the fillable bones we set out for the dogs, and every time another dog ventured within a few yards of her "stash," Missy chased them away. Her acquisition methods were also quite impressive, as she managed to simultaneously keep tabs on the bones the other dogs were chewing. As soon as they walked away from a bone, BAM! She raced over, grabbed the unattended bone, and added it to her collection.

Pretty funny stuff, unless of course you were one of the pooches who had a bone purloined by Missy. I should add that most of the dogs made the mistake of setting up chew-camp near Missy, and thus made it easier for her to spy on their treat.

If I were a dog, I would take the treat behind a couch or someplace that was a bit more defensible. Then again, if I were a dog, I would probably not possess enough cognitive skills to work out such a solution.

Dwarf Lake Iris (Iris lacustris)

2011-04-02T16:03:00.004-04:00

The interminably long winter that has been the bane of my existence over the past five months finally seems to be abating, and I was pleased to see that some bulbs I planted last fall have started to sprout and blossom. Pictured on your left are some violet Crested Dwarf Iris flowers, also known by the scientific name of Iris lacustris.

These early-blooming rhizomes are a welcome addition to the color provided by the various crocus varieties that started appearing a few weeks ago in my yard. Accompanying this visual burst of color is the growing awareness that the many months of frozen temperatures are close to an end, and I cannot remember a winter that seemed so unwilling to leave.

I also see quite a few tulips and lilies poking out of the ground, and while I am leery of planting any seeds just yet, I suspect I am but a few weeks away from sowing the annuals and garden vegetables.

A-freaking-men, that: I cannot recall a winter I despised as much as this past season.

Blog Hiatus

2011-03-14T14:52:00.004-04:00

My workload this semester is consuming almost every waking moment, and I apologize for being less than conversational of late. I expect another week or so of intensity before I begin to see any sort of reduction in the amount of work before me, so if you are wondering where the heck I have been (or will be) then you have your answer.

In the meantime, be sure to donate a few bucks to those in need in Japan after last Friday's mega-quake. The American Red Cross is accepting donations on its Web site and via text message. To make a $10 donation to the group using a mobile phone, text REDCROSS to 90999.

White Squirrel Redux

2011-03-07T18:46:00.002-05:00

While out walking with my wife this sunny afternoon, we came across a denizen of the neighborhood that I have previously blogged about. This white squirrel can be found within a few hundred feet of the same spot on any given day, and over the past year the squirrel seems to be increasingly comfortable around humans.

I suspect that the unusual appearance of this particular squirrel has endeared the rodent to nearby humans, and that people have been feeding the squirrel by hand. We were able to get with six feet or so of the squirrel, and if we had a couple of peanuts, the creature no doubt would have sauntered right up to see us.

The Quote Shelf

2011-03-01T15:20:00.002-05:00

A frequent feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

There are only four ways in which a ruling group can fall from power. Either it is conquered from without, or it governs so inefficiently that the masses are stirred to revolt, or it allows a strong and discontented Middle group to come into being, or it loses its own self-confidence and willingness to govern. These causes do not operate singly, and as a rule all four of them are present in some degree. A ruling class which could guard against all of them would remain in power permanently. Ultimately the determining factor is the mental attitude of the ruling class itself.

-- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

Strange Snow Formation

2011-02-26T22:09:00.002-05:00

While looking out my back door this evening, I noticed an unusual shape in the snow on the deck. Pictured on your left is a nearly perfect right angled snow formation on a deck post.

Knowing that right angles are somewhat rare in nature, I wondered how this shape came to be. My best guess is that this shape was formed as a result of the partial melting of what was originally a sphere, causing the flat surface that was underneath the snow to shift at a 90 degree angle when some of the snow fell off the side of the post.

And no: this was not man-made. There were no footprints in the fresh snow anywhere near the post in question, though perhaps an enterprising unladen swallow could have performed such a feat.

Al Stewart - "Year of the Cat"

2011-02-23T18:03:00.002-05:00

I always loved this song as a kid, and recently I have been playing the bejeesus out of this Al Stewart tune on my iPod. The following live version of "Year of the Cat" was recorded live in 1976 on the BBC program The Old Grey Whistle Test:

The songwriting is brilliant (though Stewart has mentioned it is not among his personal favorites among his recordings) and there are lines with sheer beauty, like the opening of the second verse: "She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain." I also enjoy the seamless solos in the instrumental break, which morph from cello to acoustic guitar to electric guitar to saxophone.

In addition, the musicianship in the song is impeccable. I especially enjoyed hearing George Ford's bass work in the digitized version of the song, an element of "Year of the Cat" that unfortunately became washed out on the tinny AM transistor clock radio I owned in the 1970s.

Six minutes of sonic joy: what more could you ask from a musician?

Northwest Ohio Ice Storm

2011-02-21T11:30:00.003-05:00

Left: ice-coated branches of a cherry tree

I have to admit that there is a certain beauty associated with the aftermath of a winter ice storm. Pictured on your left are some ice-coated branches of one of my cherry trees that glisten in the grey post-storm light.

The sounds of an ice storm are also unique, beginning with the crunching of human feet and vehicle tires across the frozen landscape. Each passing breeze also creates a crackling noise in the neighborhood trees that is not unlike popping corn, or perhaps the sound of distant fireworks.

Yet the damage associated with a severe ice storm far outweighs any fleeting aesthetic pleasures, and my yard took quite a beating in the storm that passed overnight. My yard is strewn with many dozens of goodly-sized branches, including the 20-foot fir limb that crashed down while I was beginning some cleanup.

Left: limb from a fir tree broken by heavy ice accumulation

My yard better resembles a war zone, or the aftermath of a severe wind storm, than it does a quiet winter scene. I will be spending many hours chopping up these limbs and branches, and I suspect I will have enough firewood for the chiminea to handle three years' worth of outdoor parties.

A large broken limb in my neighbor's yard also hangs precariously over the power line that services my house. I am tempted to go cut it myself, but I would not want to be the party responsible if I guessed wrong and caused a power outage. I suppose the best course of action is to call Toledo Edison and hope they get to the problem before the broken limb completely snaps off.

Or luck could be on my side: the limb might break, glance off the line, and be nothing more than another branch to clean up.

First Crocuses

2011-02-20T13:30:00.002-05:00

Given the lengthy and bone-chilling nature of the current winter, I was heartened to see that some of my crocuses have begun to sprout today. This is the earliest I can recall seeing crocus sprouts, and I am not sure if this is: a) the markings of a different crocus variety; b) a true sign of spring's imminent arrival; or c) a false start due to the warm temperatures we experienced the past five days.

Of course, no sooner had I uploaded this image than I looked out the window to see thick, fluffy snowflakes falling in the latest winter storm. Still, the sign of fresh green life brings me some hope that this bitter winter is waning, and that in a few weeks we will finally say goodbye to a particularly brutal stretch of cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls.

On Winter Daffodils and Seasonal Blahs

2011-02-16T14:49:00.003-05:00

I have been beset by a significant mental funk of late; I am not sure if this is a pronounced case of a seasonally-induced blues, or if I am just passing through a low level depressive phase. I do not much feel like writing, and most of my energy gets sucked up by work, though I should be grateful that I am not falling behind in the classes I teach during this spell.

In order to jar myself out of my melancholia, I purchased some daffodils at the store the other day. The flowers almost called out to me, and for a brief moment the fog lifted as I loaded them into my shopping cart.

I wish I could say the flowers brought me immediate joy, but this is not the case. Still, seeing some life in the middle of a rather dreary winter cannot hurt, and perhaps these flowers will last long enough for the first crocuses to appear next month.

I planted about 250 bulbs from a variety of tulips, daffodils, and irises last fall. This alone should be reason enough not to stick my head in the gas oven (sorry: this is not a suicide hint, just a bit of gallows humor).

Springtime: you cannot arrive soon enough.

Fighting Temptation and Saving Money

2011-02-11T13:23:00.004-05:00

I was late in making myself some lunch today, and I ran into an advertisement from a local pizzeria for some delicious-looking cheese bread. Despite working in the pizza business for several decades, I am always a sucker for a fresh-baked pizza or cheese bread, and it took considerable willpower not to pick up the telephone and place an order.

Two quick points: 1) I am trying to lose weight; and 2) I am trying to rein in unnecessary expenses so we can remodel our kitchen. Both of these goals are antithetical to the purchase of a calorie-laden cheese bread, so I decided to look around the kitchen to see what might work as a substitute for this craving.

A couple of leftover wheat hamburger buns jumped out at me, as did some two slices of low fat Provolone cheese. I baked the two at 500 degrees for a few minutes, and I substituted a little olive oil for the butter. Sprinkling a bit of Parmesan cheese and Italian seasonings, and voila! Homemade cheese bread that was at least half the calories of something I might have purchased (I estimate this was about 450 calories), and I did not shell out $4-$5 on an unnecessary purchase.

The taste was reasonably close to what I imagined the commercial cheese bread would be, and I am sure that my arteries were no worse for the wear after eating this creation.

Dogs vs. Squirrel vs. Snow

2011-02-06T11:07:00.003-05:00

The fresh accumulation of another six inches of snow last night did not deter my dogs in one of their primary missions, which is to keep the property as squirrel-free as possible. The new snow brings the total snow pack to just under two feet, though the dogs managed to trample down the snow under this crabapple tree:

Interestingly, when I played back this short video, my dogs (now inside) ran immediately to the east windows and began barking in the direction of the same tree. It seems clear to me that this was a form of canine language, as they not only responded to the sound of the barks, but they specifically went to a certain place and stared at the exact same spot.

Super Bowl XLV Prediction

2011-02-05T20:19:00.004-05:00

In keeping with my past traditions, I am posting my annual Super Bowl prediction. Now, though I would not recommend taking anything I say straight to your bookie, I can say that last year's prediction of a victory by the New Orleans Saints raised my Super Bowl prognostication record to 5-0 since joining the blogosphere half a decade ago.

This year I see the aerial exploits of the Green Bay Packers being a bit too much for the defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers, while the unfortunate loss of center Maurkice Pouncey will continue to hurt the offensive line of the Steelers (though his replacement, Doug Legursky, might be alittle better at pass protection). A late TD by Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson will be the difference maker in a close game, with the Packers coming out on top 27-21.

I think the Packers will also come out ahead in the turnovers category, picking off a Ben Roethlisberger pass and scooping up a funble along the way. Green Bay, meanwhile, will only turn over the ball once, probably from a deflected pass. MVP for the game: Aaron Rodgers, who returns to the superhuman playmaking that has carried the Packers for the past two months (setting aside the pedestrian numbers he put up against Chicago two weeks ago).

Other recent successful Historymike predictions:

2009 Prediction: Steelers 27, Cardinals 21 (Actual 27-23 Steelers win)
2008 Prediction: Giants 27, Patriots 24 (Actual 17-14 Giants win)
2007 Prediction: Colts 27, Bears 21 (Actual 29-17 Colts win)
2006 Prediction: Steelers 24, Seahawks 17 (Actual 21-10 Steelers win)

Feel free to leave your own predictions and/or homer hate mail in the Comments section.

Snowmageddon 2011: Round Two

2011-02-02T19:12:00.002-05:00

The second (and larger) wave of Snowmageddon 2011 turned out to be somewhat less devastating than early projections suggested. Certainly this was one of the more impressive winter storms in Northwest Ohio the past few years, but it might not even be the biggest storm of the decade.

We benefited from a sudden northward surge in the sleet/freezing rain line, as the early snowfall was interrupted with a few hours of dense sleet. This was kind of a pain in the arse to clear - even with a new snowblower - yet I did manage to clear four driveways and a significant section of the street in 2-1/2 hours.

Not bad for a forty-something with a wicked upper respiratory infection.

Today's workout was more of the backbreaking labor effort. The 8-10" heavy snow was a struggle for the machine to move, and many times I had to really lunge into the work. My neighbor's driveway, for example, received an unkind gift from both an east-west and north-south plow (he lives on a corner) and I spent a good half-hour destroying a two-foot mountain of snow at the base of his driveway.

Still, this was considerably less strenuous than the days of a shovel.

Snowmageddon 2011: Round One

2011-02-01T10:23:00.003-05:00

I just finished clearing away the first wave of what is being billed as the biggest winter storm in decades in this area (as well as setting snow records in many other parts of the country). We received 4.5 inches of snow overnight by my measurement, and later this afternoon the main blast should start arriving in Northwest Ohio.

This year I have been blessed by the acquisition of a new snow blower, which my wonderful wife bought for me. After dutifully shoveling snow for approximately four decades in cities like Detroit and Toledo, I suppose I paid my precpitative dues.

I am amazed at what a time saver the snow blower has turned out to be. I cleared three driveways in about one hour this morning (I have two elderly neighbors who patiently endured the many years of noise and hijinks from our children, so I consider this to be a form of penance). With an old-fashioned shovel I estimate the same amount of work would have taken me at least three hours, and this does not include the street clearing I can bring about with the 24" swath of gasoline-powered doom I can wreak on accumulated snow.

Even better, I no longer suffer from the inevitable backaches that accompany snow shoveling. It was almost a foregone conclusion that my snow-clearing efforts would bring on at least moderate back pain, and I can recall a few winters where a steady snowfall over a period of weeks meant non-stop backaches for me.

Thus, I await the worst that Snowmageddon 2011 can send my way. Bring it.

Out Sick

2011-01-30T13:59:00.002-05:00

My apologies for the lack of posts of late. I came down with a wicked little upper respiratory and sinus bug, and I have had zero energy left after working.

As I get older I find that recovery time from even the most mundane illnesses increases significantly. Once there was a time when I bounced back from even the harshest influenza attacks quickly, but in my upper 40s I no longer seem to be able to muster that instant recuperation of my 20s.

I wish the rest of you well in avoiding the myriad seasonal viruses lurking about this year.

Crescent-Less Rolls

2011-01-22T10:35:00.003-05:00

Pictured on your left is an example of the hazards of attempting to cook breakfast before drinking the first cup of coffee in the morning. I thought I would surprise my wife with breakfast this morning, but I neglected to actually shape the little crescent rolls I baked.

The particularly funny part was when I was peeking into the toaster oven and wondering why the rolls were not rising in the usual manner. Luckily it dawned on me what I had done, and at least I was able to avoid over-cooking the now-flattened flaky bread.

The end result was a thin-but-flavorful bread product with more of that crispy exterior, though less of the soft, fluffy interior bread. I also took my eye off the bacon, winding up with extra-crispy slices, though in my defense I think the Kroger-brand bacon I bought was a grade or two below ideal in quality.

At least the eggs were error-free.

Rapid Rhetoric: MAZEWAY

2011-01-20T22:01:00.002-05:00

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word or phrase I came across that I have never previously used.

mazeway (MAYS-weigh) n. a system of socially constructed and learned rules for human interaction.

I stumbled upon the term mazeway in an article entitled "The Delaware Prophet Neolin: A Reappraisal" by Dr. Alfred A. Cave, a history professor at the University of Toledo (an excellent article, by the way, if you have any interest in Pontiac's War or other topics related to British-colonist-Native American interactions after the Seven Year's War).

The term was coined by anthropologist Anthony F. C. Wallace in a theory known as the mazeway resynthesis to discuss some of the ways in which religious syncretism occurs. J.S. Price offered a succinct explanation of the theory:

Wallace (1956) applied the term "mazeway resynthesis" to the change in belief system which occurs in prophets, the mazeway being to the individual what culture is to society, so that the prophet awakes to a new reality which he or she then tries to impart to followers; if successful, the prophet becomes the leader of a new religious movement; otherwise, he or she is alienated from the parent group and is likely to be labelled as mentally ill.

So there you have it, all you would-be millennial prophets reading this post: navigate well your mazeway, or you face the likelihood of being tossed in an institution.

The Quote Shelf

2011-01-15T15:37:00.001-05:00

A frequent feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.
-- Voltaire

On Ray Padula and Excellent Customer Service

2011-01-12T14:44:00.003-05:00

Last September I penned a post about my purchase of a Ray Padula thumb control hose nozzle. I liked the operation of the innovative sprayer, but the device broke after a three-foot fall, and I was disappointed at what I thought might be poor workmanship.

I recently received an email from the Ray Padula customer service folks, and after reading my post they offered to send me a new nozzle. I thanked them, gave them my address, and promptly forgot about the exchange after I went on vacation.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Ray Padula people sent me not one but three replacement nozzles. The dedication to customer service exhibited by Ray Padula Incorporated was far above and beyond what most normal companies would do in this situation, as most corporations would simply ignore the comments of a blogger.

Thus, in fairness, I felt it appropriate to post about my positive experience with Ray Padula, Inc., and that the superior customer service has created a ton of goodwill in me as I make future decisions on gardening and landscaping products. Any company that will go this far out of the way to keep a customer happy is a company worth doing business with.

Thanks, Ray Padula!

On Nicolas Cage and His Pyramid Tomb

2011-01-08T22:40:00.003-05:00

(New Orleans, LA) While sightseeing in New Orleans at some of the above-ground cemeteries, I stumbled onto a curious pyramid-shaped tomb with the Latin phrase OMNIA AB UNO ("everything from one") carved on it.

The tomb - which is as yet unfilled - is owned by noted actor Nicolas Cage. Folks around New Orleans have quite a few theories about the tomb and Mr. Cage, and I was unable to determine a consensus opinion about the tomb. Some New Orleans residents hate it, some love it, but nearly everyone agrees that Cage at least has one item that the IRS cannot touch in its quest to seize the wealth of Nicolas Cage for back taxes and penalties.

One conspiracy-theory aficionado I spoke with hinted that Cage is a closet Mason, though I suspect the Masonic imagery in the pyramid tomb owes more than a passing nod to the National Treasure series.

Treme Brass Band at Saint Louis Cemetery

2011-01-06T21:03:00.004-05:00

(New Orleans, LA) My wife and I decided to walk from the French Quarter to the historic Saint Louis Cemetery this afternoon. While we were soaking up some of the history in the graveyard, a funeral procession entered the cemetery, complete with music provided by the Treme Brass Band.

I was familiar with the concept of a jazz funeral prior to my visit to Saint Louis, but of course I never witnessed such a sight in northern climes like Toledo and Detroit. The musicians and marchers snaked their way in between the above-ground tombs to their final destination, and I tried not to be the typical annoying tourist by interfering with the ceremony.

I was struck by the differences between the somber funeral processions to which I am accustomed and the celebratory joy of a jazz funeral. Certainly the late Drextal Brumfield's family grieved the loss of this young man, but I found the musical homage to be much more uplifting than the funerary dirges I am used to hearing.

While I hope to live many more decades, I hope that my own mourners would remember the happier times, and I would have no problem being serenaded by a jazz band on my way to the Pearly Gates.

Barge on the Foggy Mississippi

2011-01-05T18:37:00.003-05:00

(Maurepas Swamp, LA) I came upon the pictured river barge in a rural area about 40 miles upstream from New Orleans today. I found the rising morning fog to be a bit eerie, and the fact that I could not see any human inhabitants on the vessel made the scene even more mystifying.

In fact, other than the tour bus I was on, there was almost no sign of human activity in and around this stretch of the river. The lack of bird sounds and traffic noises made the scene appear almost apocalyptic as I stared down from a 20-foot levee onto the mighty, mighty Mississippi below me.

Cue the theme from Deliverance.

System Tool 2011: Combatting An Especially Nasty Virus

2011-01-03T10:02:00.006-05:00

Left: pink screen of misery created by System Tool 2011

My laptop got nailed today by a particularly wicked virus/malware infection called System Tool 2011. The virus pretends to be an antivirus program, but it really operates for two purposes: 1) to try and dupe people into giving out their credit card number; and 2) to try and duper users into deleting important system files, turning their machines into slave drones.

Luckily, I had enough common sense not to fall for either ploy, but this virus was a royal pain the the arse to eliminate. If you get hit with this virus, DO NOT allow it to delete any files when it prompts you with scary messages.

One of the biggest problems with System Tool 2011 is that the virus hijacks useful programs like Task Manager, regedit, and msconfig. System Tool 2011 will also detect and shut down legitimate antivirus programs. The first thing to do is to restart your computer in safe mode with networking: as the computer is booting up, look for the prompt that asks you to hit F10 for boot manager and hit F8 for advanced boot options (the function keys might be different on different operating systems). This will allow you to operate your computer without System Tool 2011 taking over.

You can try to manually remove all the associated files and registry entries, but this can be both cumbersome and confusing, as System Tool 2011 generates random alphanumeric names for files and registries. Thus, my unwanted guest called itself gLagg00309, a name that did not jump out at me as a likely target for manual removal.

I recommend two programs to combat this deadly virus: Malwarebytes and RKill. RKill is a process-killing program that will allow you to temporarily shut down any components of system-hijacking viruses, while Malwarebytes was the only antivirus program I tried that could kill all traces of System Tool 2011.

Both programs, by the way, offer free versions available for download, and I am gratefully sending each group a cash donation via PayPal to reward them for their selfless efforts.

I suspect that this virus entered my computer via a Facebook application. I normally avoid all Facebook apps (mostly out of annoyance) but I think I accidentally clicked someone else's app and wound up with a backdoor trojan.

1966: Animated Incredible Hulk Episode

2011-01-02T20:32:00.003-05:00

This may very well be the most poorest quality animation I have ever seen, but watching the first episode of the Marvel Comics cartoon The Incredible Hulk filled me with nostalgia:

I did glean a few interesting historical insights from this, like the presence of the evil Russian-sounding assistant Igor in a Cold War era cartoon. I also found interesting a conversation with Doctor Bruce Banner's girlfriend, who was told by her father to pipe down:

"Keep out of this Betty: it's man talk."

Also intriguing was the presence of a proto-hippie who wandered into the desert testing site for the gamma bomb. As Banner tried to rescue the hipster (an effort that ultimately exposed him to gamma radiation) the cool cat tried to dismiss Banner: "Cool man: it's a free country, right?"

Give it a quick watch: there are worse ways to spend six-and-a-half minutes, and you also get to hear the cheesy theme song: "That ever-lovin' Hulk.... Hulk, Hulk."

My New Career: Cover Model

2010-12-30T19:05:00.003-05:00

The periodical is not exactly Vogue (or even People) but I can hold my head high and proudly announce that my ugly mug has made the cover of at least one magazine.

I was contacted by an editor of Obesity: A Research Journal for an upcoming issue dedicated to sleep apnea. The editors had scoured the Internet looking for a photograph they could use of a patient wired for a sleep study, and they came across a blog post last year in which I discussed my own sleep study experience. We negotiated the terms (admittedly light years away from the sort of cash commanded by supermodels) and voila! Instant cover model status for yours truly.

Though I am about 20 pounds overweight today, at the time of the photo I was only about 10 pounds beyond my ideal weight. Luckily, the upward angle of the self-held camera made me look considerably pudgier, but a 2010 photo of me would be much more appropriate in terms of heftiness than this image.

And to those who chuckle and scoff: exactly how many covers has your face graced? I thought so.

The Quote Shelf

2010-12-28T23:00:00.001-05:00

A frequent feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Film Review: The Fighter

2010-12-23T22:36:00.002-05:00

Paramount Pictures, 2010
Directed by David O. Russell

I reluctantly agreed to go to the movies the other day, and my less-than-enthusiastic attitude had nothing to do with David O. Russell's The Fighter. I was simply in a rotten mood and would have preferred to wallow in my self-pity for a few hours.

Thus, the fact that I actually enjoyed The Fighter says something about the quality of this film.

Mark Wahlberg stars in the true story of "Irish" Micky Ward, a blue collar boxer from the town of Lowell Massachusetts who achieved a measure of fame (and a few titles) in his thirties, an age when many fighters are trending down in their careers. This is one of the better roles that Wahlberg has ever appeared in, and I have since discarded my formerly dismissive attitude toward Wahlberg's acting abilities: Wahlberg was convincing, and he showed significant talent at developing a nuanced character.

Yet what most engrossed me was the portrayal by Christian Bale of Ward's older brother, Dicky Eklund. Bales must have lost 30 pounds in getting ready to play the crack-addicted Dicky, and the drug-induced insanity of Dicky was almost frightening in its stark reality.

The Fighter is not a pretty film, nor is it a sentimental heart-tugging piece of maudlin film making. You will cheer at times, and at others you will cringe at the harsh depictions of life on the meanest East Coast streets you might imagine. Ultimately you will walk away with a much greater understanding of the seamy world of professional boxing, and the cinematic ride is much more enjoyable than watching one of the cartoon-esque Rocky installments.

Rapid Rhetoric: TINTINNABULATE

2010-12-22T14:41:00.002-05:00

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word or phrase I came across that I have never previously used.

tintinnabulate (tin-tin-AH-byoo-layt) v. to ring; to sound like a small bell; to make a tinkling sound, like the chime of bells.

I knew that this word was somehow related to bells, as I recognized the Latin root word tintinnabulum ("bell"). I came across the word tintinnabulate in an 1874 collection of the works of John Ruskin:

Which indeed it is; and travellers are always greatly amused at being allowed to ring this bell; but it never occurs to them to ask how it came to be ringable:—how that tintinnabulate roof differs from the dome of the Pantheon, expands into the dome of Florence, or declines into the whispering gallery of St. Paul's.

Here, though, Ruskin used the word tintinnabulate as an adjective, whereas modern writers would be more likely to use the adjectival forms tintinnabular or tintinnabulous.

And no: you may not ring my bell.

Unhappy Clown

2010-12-16T14:00:00.003-05:00

I came across this photograph in a collection that my 93-year-old grandfather recently dusted off for us. In this 1968 image I have been dressed up for Halloween, and it is clear that I was unhappy about the choice of costume.

Or unhappy about something.

I was a rather difficult child for my parents to raise, as my interests were quirky. I loved collecting rocks and conducting quasi-scientific experiments, activities for which I found few fellow participants in the blue collar Detroit neighborhoods in which I grew up. I suspect that this particular Halloween I wanted to get dressed up as an astronaut or something equally geeky, and that the costume my mom lovingly designed was utterly deplorable to me.

I think I was well into my teen years before I started learning the value of interpersonal relationships, as well as the need to make at least something of an effort to fit in. Some folks go through their early years being outcasts on the basis of social rejection, but for the first 12 or 13 years of my life I had little use for other people, and I almost willingly chose isolation over engaging in activities that did not appeal to me.

This was less of a built-in rebelliousness and more of a stubborn willfulness to follow my internal agendas. I still have some of this streak, but I think I am better at going along with the group in social settings than I used to be, and my wife knows how to subtly encourage me toward social interaction whenever I gravitate toward my metaphorical island of isolation.

But I'll be damned if I will ever wear a clown costume again. Sorry, Ma.

Facts I Learned From Grading College World History Exams Today

2010-12-14T15:58:00.011-05:00

As a college history instructor, I come into contact with all sorts of desperate attempts by students to accumulate enough points to achieve a desired grade in my classes. While grading final exams today I came across enough nuggets of dubious wisdom to create a blog post.

Truth be told, I could probably write a book with this funny stuff, but I would likely get sued for royalties.

Anyways, on with the lowlights:

1. The short term cause of the breakup of the Soviet Union was the way the Soviet Union betrayed everyone.

2. Killing fields - important because you couldn't step foot in them, if you were caught in it you had to be ready or you were instantly killed. The field was full of war all the time.

3. Vietnamization: Where Vietnam people changed. The people changed the outlook on where they lived. It went from everyone trying to kill each other to the people actually getting along.

4. Ayatollah Khomeini: Was a Soviet leader who replaced Nikita Khruschev. Ayatollah made the first republic party.

5. Karol Wojtyla: Was a king of Iran before the revolution who spent a lot of money on unnecessary gala parties and on secret police.

6. Le Duan was a Communist of the Vietnam War, and a lot of people part of the war knew who he was. Le Duan was arrested by the French and taken to jail during the years 1955-1975.

7. The Vietnam War itself was between the Northside of Vietnam and the Red, White, and Blue beautiful United States of America. People were loosing [sic] their family and friends to this war left and right. April 1 of 1975 is when the war really started. Or you could say the first fired shots gets [sic] popped off.

8. The Soviet Union and the United Stats [sic] of America fought against each other in the "Cold War," they were rivals until the end of WWI. After WWI the Rusian [sic] Empire grew a revolution to kill the Royal Family. After they were killed Russia was under the rule of Stallin [sic].

9. [Short term causes of the breakup of the Soviet Union] There were a shortage of food, supplies, and plant detilization [sic] that killed alot of people. The citizens of the Soviet Union wanted to turn to capitalization for their country.

10. The 1954 battle in which the Vietminh defeated the French was better known by name the First Intifada.

12. The Soviet leader who came to power in 1985 was named Mikhail Grovenstock.

Dogs Round a Fireplace

2010-12-11T19:10:00.003-05:00

We added a gas fireplace to our home last year, and the occupants of the house who are most enthusiastic about the acquisition are the canines. When we fire up the gas jets the dogs almost immediately gravitate to positions near the warm hearth.

There are occasionally turf battles over the best spots, but the 35,000 BTU fireplace kicks off enough heat that even the most determined pooches can only sit in front of it for 20-30 minutes before they start to pant and move away. Interestingly, our furnace rarely kicks on when we have the fireplace going, and our gas usage actually dropped last year, since we can set the thermostat low and only heat the rooms where we are most active.

Bombed Japanese Radio Station: Peleliu, 1945

2010-12-08T19:24:00.003-05:00

I have been looking through my grandfather's collection of old photographs in recent weeks, and I never cease to be amazed at the amount of history he has witnessed in his 93 years on the planet.

My grandfather served in World War II as a SeaBee on the Pacific island of Peleliu a few arriving a few months after the Battle of Peleliu. Pictured on your left is an image he took with a Brownie camera in early 1945 of a building that once housed Japanese radio operations for the island of Peleliu.

The pockmarked scene looks positively desolate, even for being a casualty of war. My grandfather told me that every week or so another Japanese soldier would be discovered on the island, continuing to hide and hold out hope until the end that the Japanese would eventually prevail against the Americans. Of course, with radio communications being severed to the Japanese imperial military command, these lone soldiers had no way of knowing that the war was mere months away from being over.

New Wheels

2010-12-04T16:29:00.002-05:00

Pictured on your left is my 1995 Hyundai, an extremely dependable vehicle I purchased a few years ago for the almost-criminal price of $700. Over the past few years I have sunk very little into this vehicle, and since it has just over 100,000 miles, I figured that an investment in new wheels and tires would be worthwhile.

The rusted steel wheels that came with the vehicle were increasingly difficult to balance, and I also grew tired of pumping up the tires every few days, as tire sealant only goes so far with pitted and dented wheels.

Yet what really surprised me was not the smooth ride on the new wheels and tires, but how good this car looks without four rusted steel wheels. I almost did not recognize the car when I picked it up from the tire store.

I also had the tire guys go to a 14-inch rim over the 13-inch wheels that came with the original vehicle. This was in part due to the fact that the 13-inch OEM wheels are scarce, and frankly a bit more expensive than the 14-inch wheels that were modified for my car.

Anyways, I look forward to a smoother ride and fewer chuckles from some of my new car-obsessed friends: this car looks pretty damned sharp for a 15-year-old machine.

Navy SeaBee Daredevil: World War II

2010-12-03T20:01:00.004-05:00

I have been spending quite a bit of extra time with my 93-year-old grandfather in the two years, and my wife and I visit him every week. Pictured on your left is a somewhat blurry image of my grandfather as a younger man during the Second World War.

He served in World War II as a SeaBee on the Pacific island of Peleliu a few arriving a few months after the Battle of Peleliu. In the image my grandfather is engaging in some hijinks with fellow SeaBees, and they were trying to get the military Jeep to go airborne on a small hill on the rocky beaches of Peleliu.

On an island with no women, scarce alcohol, and little in the way of entertainment (not to mention encountering the occasional solitary Japanese soldier who had refused to surrender), you take advantage of any opportunity for amusement that presents itself.

My grandfather's primary role was as a vehicle mechanic, so I suppose he could justify such tomfoolery as a "road test" of a vehicle sent in for repairs. He also has some funny stories about "borrowing" a steamroller that he fixed to tool around the island with his buddies.

First Snow

2010-12-01T12:16:00.002-05:00

Nothing puts an exclamation mark on the change of seasons in quite the same manner as the first arrival of snow each winter. Folks in Northwest Ohio received a brief dusting of snowflakes today, and though fall and spring are my favorite seasons, I do look forward to the occasional accumulation of snow.

The dogs seemed a bit surprised to see the fluffy white stuff on the ground today, and they are about equally split between the frolickers and the finicky canines. Two of the dogs rather gingerly wandered out, while the two Puggles (Eddie Haskell and Chauncey Gardner) romped in the light snow like polar bears.

Me? I had to dig up the window scraper and drive a bit more slowly to work, though I allowed myself a few moments to feel a few melting snowflakes on my face, drifting back for a moment to a time when snow could mean a snow day, with limitless possibilities and a break from the school day routine.

Reality quickly returned, however, and it is back to work for me.

Book Review: Freedom

2010-11-26T17:17:00.006-05:00

Franzen, Jonathan
New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux
2010, 562 pages

I became familiar with the work of Jonathan Franzen some years ago when I stumbled upon his 2001 novel The Corrections, a witty and sometimes scathing satire of contemporary American suburbia. While I found the novel fascinating, I found Franzen's prose to be even more spectacular, and I marvelled at the author's ability to create beautiful and challenging sentences that simultaneously seemed effortless.

Franzen's newest novel, Freedom, will certainly appeal to those who enjoyed The Corrections, though the satire is toned down a bit in favor of social commentary. Using the lives of a dysfunctional family as a literary vehicle, Franzen examines such issues as metastatic consumerism, unthinking partisanship, and ecological sustainability. Franzen toiled to make readers dislike most of the main characters, and yet they manage to redeem themselves and even offer hope for the future.

Part of the appeal of Freedom to me is the depth of knowledge that Franzen possesses in a wide range of fields, and several times I found myself putting down the book to read up on topics the author referenced, subjects as seemingly diverse as the Cerulean warbler and mountaintop removal mining.

Part of Franzen's appeal as a writer can be found in the esoteric bits of humor and pathos found throughout the book. It takes a little knowledge of the Vedic traditions to known that the character Lalitha - devoted to reducing human population growth - has a name associated with the devotion to the Hindu Divine Mother, and the fact that Lalitha at one point considers getting her tubes tied cannot be a coincidence. Likewise, the Berglund family comes of age on Barrier Street, which seems to be a wry commentary about conflict in a gentrified and atomized neighborhood.

The conceptual understanding of freedom takes on many meanings in Freedom, from an individual desire to be free from want and worry to larger issues about the freedom of entire nations. Moreover, Franzen challenges readers on simplistic notions about what, exactly, constitutes a state of freedom, and examines people who attain what they believe to be freedom only to find that the freedom they sought was a chimera, and perhaps they were freer while still shackled to obligations like marriage, family, and work.

Freedom is not a light read, nor is it the kind of book that offers simple solutions to complex problems. Yet the book will likely stay with readers long afterward, forcing them to re-examine their lives and question their place in the world. Freedom is far more than literary gymnastics, and the ride is well worth the metaphorical ticket.

Random Wikiness

2010-11-25T09:47:00.003-05:00

When I am bored beyond measure - or when I am seeking intellectual inspiration - I occasionally visit Wikipedia and make use of the Random Article function. This button is located on the left sidebar of the main Wikipedia page, and a click on the Random Article link is a journey into the millions of constantly changing Wiki articles that Wikipedians have created and edited.

My first stop into the world of random Wikiness took me to a page that examines the life of major league baseball manager Joe McCarthy,
the first skipper to win pennants with both National and American League teams. A 1997 poll by the Baseball Writers Association of America named McCarthy as the second greatest manager of all time, right behind Casey Stengel. McCarthy, who managed MLB teams from 1926-50, was well before my time, and I only knew of him from reading books like Strange But True Baseball Stories as a kid growing up in the 1970s.

My next randomized journey took me to a page dedicated to Bill Nelson, an experimental rock musician and composer. I was vaguely familiar with the band Be-Bop Deluxe, for which Nelson might be most famous, though only in a tangential way. This page served as a reminder to check out some of Nelson's music. Here is a YouTube clip of Be-Bop Deluxe if you are curious about the band and the man who some call one of England's greatest guitarists.

I next took a Wiki-trip to the unrecognized nation of Transnistria, a territory that broke away from the Republic of Moldova in 1992. The Moldovan government does not recognize the secession, which was triggered by the perception that Moldova restricted the civil rights of ethnic minorities. The region contains about a half-million people, and though the 1992 cease-fire has held, repeated attempts to broker a peace settlement have stalled.

My random page-viewing ended with a reading about the California barberry, a holly-like shrub with serrated leaves that produces round purple fruits that resemble grapes. Typically found on coastal mountain slopes, the California barberry is edible, but it is sour and contains quite a few seeds, or so I am told. The fruit has also been used as a dye, and there is a history of the California barberry being used for medicinal purposes. Some gardeners prize the plant as an ornamental, though the growth rate of the California barberry may be a bit slow for impatient horticulturalists.

A Bunch of Dogs

2010-11-23T15:36:00.002-05:00

The lighting in this image is horrible, as the sudden appearance of the sun this afternoon made futile my attempt to capture all of my dogs in a single frame. Still, it was a moment of peace and happiness for the canine members of my family.

We adopted all of the dogs in the photograph, by the way, from Planned Pethood, a Northwest Ohio volunteer organization involved in pet rescue and low-cost spay/neuter programs. If you have a couple of dollars in a PayPal or checking account that you have a burning desire to see go to a worthy cause, consider donating to the group.

I have worked with many volunteer and charitable groups over the years, and Planned Pethood by far delivers the most bang for the donated buck. The group uses almost every penny of the received donations in programs that directly benefit rescued animals and that reduce the overpopulation associated with unwanted pets.

The Perils of Failing to Proofread

2010-11-21T21:03:00.005-05:00

Despite the fact that I teach college for a living (and in the writing-heavy field of history) I am not normally a grammar or spelling Nazi in the real world. Yes, I have my pet peeves, such as writers who start using apostophe's where apostrophe's are not needed as plural's in sentence's, but other than my stance as a radical apostrophist, I am quite forgiving of poor spelling and tortured grammar.

Still, occasionally I have to scratch my head at the benighted efforts of business owners when they create advertising with spelling or grammatical errors. Such was the case with the gutter cleaning entrepreneur, who promised "debree-free" gutters in a Xeroxed flyer that appeared on my porch today.

Perhaps the owner is being deliberately cute here, misspelling the word "debris" in an attempt to appeal to the sort of person who thinks it is kewl to spel badd 'n' stuff. But to most of the literate world, misspellings reflect poorly on a business owner.

Jess sayin', dood.

Book Review: The Professor of Secrets

2010-11-17T18:12:00.003-05:00

Eamon, William
National Geographic, 2010
368 pages

The mailboxes at my university office and house regularly fill up with more books than I could ever possibly read, let alone review, and there are times when I stare at the growing stacks of unread texts and feel almost guilty at the collecting dust. Then I grab a duster and the guilt dissipates, while the books often wind up on shelves, lonely reminders of unfinished business.

Yet there was something about William Eamon's The Professor of Secrets that immediately jumped out at me, and I found myself quickly hooked by the story of 16th century surgeon and alchemist Leonardo Fioravanti. Eamon, who is the Regents Professor of History and dean of the Honors College at New Mexico State University, crafted a highly entertaining work of medical history that reads like a novel, and the book is the rare text that can be appreciated by scholars as much as general readers.

Fioravanti was as much a showman as a healer, and his barnstorming brand of medicine contrasted sharply with the highly theoretical world of Renaissance physicians. Surgeons as well as physicians in the 16th century were quite different from their modern counterparts, and one of the most fascinating aspects of The Professor of Secrets involves Eamon's inclusion of standard medical treatments for common ailments. Syphilis patients might be subjected to a regimen of highly toxic substances such as mercuric oxide by the likes of Fioravanti, while the "wonder drug" known as theriac - which had its origins in the classical world - might be prescribed for almost any acquired illness or ingested poison. Of course, these "cures" might be even worse than the conditions for which they were administered, but this was a world just entering the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution.

The Professor of Secrets will delight as much as the book will edify, and I highly recommend this intriguing look at early modern medicine. The book contains thorough footnotes, an extensive bibliography, and quite a few illustrations and images that further enhance the textual narrative.

The Quote Shelf

2010-11-15T16:07:00.000-05:00

A frequent feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.

-- Mohandas Gandhi

Busy...Busy...Busy

2010-11-10T11:46:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past few days. I took on some extra teaching this semester, and one class in particular is giving me a workout: this is an upper level American economic history class, and I have been spending an unprecedented amount of time (by my standards, at least) reading and prepping.

I expect that this is the peak of zaniness, and that by the weekend I will have reduced the mountain of work back down to a manageable size.

Unless, of course, it becomes animate and devours me.

Missing His Mama

2010-11-06T10:39:00.003-04:00

Pictured on your left is our quirky Puggle, Eddie Haskell. He is forlorn because his favorite human being, my wife, is away for the weekend, and his sole source of comfort is the last shoe my wife wore before leaving for her trip.

Truth be told, I miss my wife, too, though I draw the line at shoe-sniffing, at least as far as you know.

Eddie Haskell sulks and sighs when my wife is away for more than an hour or so, and he seems to be smart enough to know that when she takes a small suitcase out the door that his mama will be away for a while. Eddie had the prototypical "hang dog" look as she left, and no amount of extra attention from me is going to distract him much from pining away for his mama.

Rapid Rhetoric: RUFESCENT

2010-11-04T19:20:00.002-04:00

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word or phrase I came across that I have never previously used.

rufescent (roo-FESS-ent) adj. tinged with red; reddish in tint.

I came across the adjective rangiferine today while perusing an 1888 book entitled The Avifauna of British India and its Dependencies. The word is of Latin origin, and is derived from the present participle of the verb rufescere ("to become red" or "to redden").

The term was used quite a bit in relation to a discussion of an Indian example of the Asian desert warbler (Sylvia nana):

The whole of the lower parts white, with, in the freshly-killed birds, a just perceptible rufescent tinge; wing lining and axillaries pure white ; wing pale brown, narrowly margined and tipped with rufescent white ; the tertiaries pale dingy rufescent with brown shafts.

The term rufescent seems to be a favorite among ornithologists, as the Rufescent Tiger Heron, the Rufescent Screech-owl, the Rufescent White-eye, and the Rufescent Prinia are among the many birds whose rufescence has been an inspiration to their monikers.

Book Review: A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War

2010-11-01T18:51:00.003-04:00

Nordyke, Phil
Zenith Press, 2010
192 pages

Few American fighting forces can boast the sort of storied history associated with the exploits of the members of the 82nd Airborne Division, an airborne infantry unit of the United States Army. Phil Nordyke's A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War provides a laudatory collection of images (some never before published) related to the unit's role in numerous campaigns in the European theater during the Second World War.

Over the years I typically cast a wary eye at pictorial histories, as there is a tendency in such books to produce trivial or superficial text to accompany the images. Nordyke, however, skillfully avoided this trap, and the chapters provide both detailed photographic captions as well as insightful accompanying text.

What I liked most about this book is its intriguing blend of photographic themes. There are of course plenty of images in the book related to combat, but Nordyke also included some fascinating shots of everyday life for members of the 82nd Airborne Division, like the image of troopers walking with a pair of mules hauling 81 mm mortars. Both World War II specialists and general readers will find A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War a useful and informative addition to their libraries.

Trying to Catch an Image of a Falling Leaf

2010-10-30T22:45:00.004-04:00

I had this idea yesterday that I would run outside and take a few pictures of falling leaves. In my vision of the planned activity, I would just set up the camera, look for a leaf, and POOF! Instant image.

Reality, however, was a long distance from my simplistic plan.

For starters, leaves are in constant motions, and the first few images I took were quite blurry. After fooling with the shutter speed for a bit, I came to the conclusion that it would be virtually impossible to try and predict the sudden twists and turns a leaf might take, and that an automatic setting was just as good as trying to plan this shot. I wanted top contrast the bright blue sky with a red, yellow, or brown leaf as it wafted to the ground. Easy enough, right?

I snapped dozens of pictures, achieving clarity on some half-leaves while winding up with muddled, out-of-focus images of many other leaves. Finally, on what might have been my 50th image, I was rewarded with an image that, well, did not quite suck.

I did not get all of the stem on this one, but it satisfied my desire to capture the image of a falling leaf. After I finished, my neighbor said I should have just taken a picture of a leaf still attached to a tree and then cropped it.

I would have called him a wiseguy, but his method would have achieved the same effect in 1/10 of the time, and truth be told: it is more fun to simply watch falling leaves than to get irritated trying to preserve such images for posterity.

October Tornado Warning - Lucas County

2010-10-26T11:56:00.003-04:00

It seems strange to think of tornadoes in late October, but the National Weather Service just issued a tornado warning for Lucas County in Northwest Ohio. The screaming sirens reminded me that we folks at the northern end of Tornado Alley can find severe weather in all seasons.

To the southwest the skies are darkening quickly, and this storm may bring winds of 90 mph, so if you are reading this post and live near Lucas County, consider taking cover.

I am herding my dogs into the house and getting ready to relocate to the basement if this storm rolls in as predicted.

The Quote Shelf

2010-10-24T19:58:00.001-04:00

A frequent feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

People need trouble: a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it. Artists do; I don't mean you need to live in a rat hole or gutter, but you have to learn fortitude, endurance.
-- William Faulkner

Red-Tailed Hawk

2010-10-20T15:08:00.004-04:00

I heard the Red-tailed hawk pictured on your left long before I saw the magnificent raptor circling over my house this afternoon while I was raking leaves. Also known by its scientific name Buteo jamaicensis, the Red-tailed hawk is one of the most common birds of prey in North America, though as someone who has spent most of his life in the city I still get excited to see one in my neighborhood.

I thought I lost the bird in the time it took me to run in and grab my camera, but a minute or two later I saw the hawk circling again, its four-foot wingspan large enough to create a shadow on the ground below.

I suspect that the hawks in the vicinity of my house have been feasting at times on the rats that have wandered into our neighborhood due to the recent construction on Secor Road, which likely disturbed rodent habitats in sewers. In 20 years of living in this West Toledo house I never saw a rat until this summer, and just this morning I found another dead rat in my front yard.

So I welcome the presence of these large raptors, which not only provide entertainment but likely keep down the population of unwanted pests.

On Moments of Sheer Beauty and Jackasses Who Disrupt Moments of Serenity

2010-10-18T19:40:00.005-04:00

I paused yesterday afternoon for a few moments to appreciate to the red roses pictured on your left, a series of out-of-season blossoms from a rose bush that I may have tricked into thinking it is still growing season by extra watering. It had been a stressful and depressing week, and for a brief few moments the red roses seemed to auger the possibility of a period of better days.

I walked into the house to find my camera to record the moment, and as I snapped a few pictures I heard the sound of an approaching vehicle in need of exhaust work. It turned out to be an older model red pickup truck, and there were about five young men in the cab and the truck bed.

"Nice shirt you are wearing, faggot!" was the first words I heard, the jeering clown referencing the formal clothing I was wearing to go to a funeral a little later. Then the stupidity of the brave idiot was joined by other similar drivel from the ~~chicken-shit~~ occupants of the rapidly accelerating truck.

My first instinct was to throw down a challenge to the morons, but I thought that this course of action was pointless. At best I would just end up in a verbal exchange with a group of quasi-Neanderthals, and the worst case scenario would be that they would return in the middle of the night and vandalize my property.

So I watched the laughing fools drive off, continuing to shout at random people they encountered. I suspect that alcohol may have fueled the impulsivity and recklessness of the teenagers, but I was mostly disappointed in the disruption of my Zen moment. Yet the irritation soon passed, and the beauty of the red roses remained. I could choose to hold on to my resentment, or I could spend a few more minutes enjoying the warm fall afternoon with the unexpected pleasure of brilliant red roses.

I chose the latter.

On Erie Orchards and Small Children

2010-10-16T18:22:00.005-04:00

Like many Midwesterners, we heeded to the call of the cider mill this sunny October afternoon, taking a drive up to Erie Orchards to partake in the fall festivities. Normally I grumble a bit at the tackiness of some of these places, and certainly the presence of an Elvis impersonator and vendors selling plastic trinkets would normally rile up my inner curmudgeon.

Yet this was a different sort of trip, as we brought along my baby granddaughter Isabella and my niece's toddler, Lily (pictured on your left). Some of the activities that seem mundane or even kitschy take on a different meaning when you are accompanied by small children. For the kiddies such events are grand fun, or are at least new and exciting, so we can derive a different sort of enjoyment just being around the little rascals as they run in the hay, feed the reindeer, and fend off the yellow jackets.

Oh, and surprisingly we saw very few yellow jackets at Erie Orchards today. I am not sure if this was coincidental, or if the folks running the place actively suppressed the populations of hornets and wasps, but this was the first time I ever visited an apple orchard in which I was not at least momentarily annoyed by the persistence of buzzing pests.

Sun, cider, doughnuts, and good company were aplenty, and perhaps I turned the corner on being more amenable to the tradition of pumping currency into local apple orchards.

In Memoriam: Glenn J. Ames, Scholar and Mentor

2010-10-15T06:53:00.007-04:00

It was with great sadness that I learned yesterday of the death of University of Toledo Professor Glenn J. Ames, my dissertation advisor and a longtime friend and mentor. I knew that he had medical issues, as I took over several classes for him this semester when he went on medical leave, but I was unaware of the seriousness of his health concerns; when I last saw him two months ago he looked fine.

Rather, in retrospect, I now know that he simply put on a brave face and convinced me he was fine, despite what turned out to be terminal cancer: this must have been the stoic New Englander in him.

Glenn Ames was a prolific writer, with six academic books and countless articles to his credit. Yet I will remember him most for his excellence in teaching and guiding his graduate students, and I know that I learned a great deal from him in the decade that I worked with him.

Glenn loved to make history relevant to students, especially non-history majors in the survey classes. He had a remarkable lecture style in the large section surveys, which often had as many as 300 students. He effortlessly blended humor, pathos, and history into lectures that were as entertaining as they were instructional, and when I was his teaching assistant in some of these classes students frequently described Glenn as their all-time favorite history teacher.

I liked working with Glenn at the graduate level, as his style fit my own approach to research and writing. He allowed his graduate students to find their own research topics, and he tried not to interfere with the academic self-discovery process that comes with working on a project like a dissertation. Yet when necessary he knew when to step in and redirect a struggling student, and he was quite helpful in navigating the Byzantine bureaucracy that goes along with completing a graduate degree.

I would be remiss in this brief panegyric if I did not mention my appreciation to Glenn Ames for his help in completing my own dissertation last year. He enthusiastically backed a project that is much broader in temporal and geographical scope than is typical for a dissertation, and he recognized that the dearth of comprehensive literature on my topic meant that this was a needed contribution to the historiography of European expansion. My research in many ways reflects the efforts of Glenn to guide me in the process of being a professional historian, and I will forever be grateful for his advice.

Glenn regularly attended commencement exercises at UT, even when he did not have a graduate student walking in the ceremony. You could always spot him in the crowd, as he wore doctoral garb from his alma mater, which featured the distinctive University of Minnesota colors. Little did I know that when he hooded me last year that he would be participating in one of the last graduations in his life.

One of my favorite Glenn Ames stories is related to a guest lecture he gave at a graduate seminar called "Teaching History in College." He was talking about teaching a large section of undergraduates in a survey (1000-level) class, and one of the graduate students remarked that it seemed daunting to teach in front of a crowd of hundreds of students. Glenn told the class: "Look, these are college freshman, and they know almost nothing about world history. All you really have to remember is that Hitler lost the Second World War, and even then: you could probably let him win it once in a while and none of the students would notice the error."

Glenn's point was not to trivialize history, mind you, but to remind the next generation of college history teachers that it is understood that a beginning teacher will forget facts or misspeak on occasion, and that generally survey-level students are unaware of minor weaknesses in a lecture. In fact, part of the process of becoming a teacher is to work through a screw-up and learn to better prepare for unanticipated questions and lecture gaffes: they will happen, and they can be opportunities to improve the next time you teach the topic.

The greatest joys in Glenn's life were his two children, Miranda and Ethan. When he taught summer classes, the kids were frequently guests in his classes, and he frequently talked about the children in and out of class. Glenn used to have this ongoing gag that he worked with his son in which he would supply Ethan with a couple of answers to obscure questions he would ask in the class. When the students would be clueless, he would have Ethan supply the answers. Imagine the looks on the faces of the college students when a kid of eight or so would nail the answers to these difficult questions.

I am glad that Glenn got to spend so much time with his children, as he was able to take them to places like India and Portugal when he was working in archives. Yet it seems patently unfair that a guy of only 55 years of age should be called away while he was still so young; my heart goes out to Miranda, Ethan and the rest of his family, whose own pain must be excruciating.

The world has lost a good person, and while Glenn Ames might not be a household name, I am sure that the many thousands of students he taught in his 22 years at the University of Toledo would agree that he was an extraordinary individual with a love for life. Adeus, meu amigo.

Yellow Archangel - Lamiastrum galeobdolon

2010-10-11T12:12:00.003-04:00

I have a few shady spots in my yard that I have called "dead zones" over the years for their seeming inability to sustain any significant ornamental plant growth. This year I decided to try out a few hardy perennials in an effort to dispel the notion that these places must forever remain barren.

One of the most successful of the additions has been yellow archangel, pictured on your left. Also known by the scientific name of Lamiastrum galeobdolon, this rhizome-based plant appears to be thriving in a nutrient-poor area under a maple tree in my yard. I started out with a handful of small plants I ordered on eBay, and in just a few months I have cultivated a pair of thick 6-square-foot stands of yellow archangel.

Yet not all horticulturalists and botanists love the lowly yellow archangel, and it is considered by some folks to be a noxious weed for its invasive tendencies. I can see where this plant would be difficult to control by a casual or lazy gardener, as it sends out tendril-like vines that spread fairly quickly, and the plant can be propagated by even the smallest piece of the rhizome.

So if you are thinking of adding this plant to your garden, be aware that yellow archangel should be isolated from other plants and that you may need to be aggressive in controlling its spread.

On Rich Iott, Nazi Uniforms, and Imploding Campaigns

2010-10-09T20:36:00.006-04:00

Pictured: Rich Iott, second from right, in a Nazi Waffen SS uniform; photo courtesy of The Atlantic

I have been watching with some amazement the news reports related to the revelation that congressional candidate Rich Iott has participated in historical re-enactments as a Nazi soldier. For at least four years Iott was a member of the Wiking Historical Re-enactment Society, which is dedicated to the study and re-enactment of the history of the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking.

Let me begin by saying that as a historian I see significant pedagogical value in historical re-enactment, and that participants can learn a great deal about the periods and peoples they are covering. And no: I do not believe Rich Iott has any Nazi sympathies. Moreover, as a voter I had yet to decide (until this debacle, at least) whether I would vote for Marcy Kaptur (thus preserving the Toledo area's influence in the powerful House Appropriations Committee) or Rich Iott (who at least talks about a return to fiscal responsibility).

That being said, there are few controversies that Kaptur operatives could dream up that would be as effective as the gift that Rich Iott provided them with these Nazi uniform photos. I can just imagine Kaptur campaign aides sitting around the table when word of the photos emerged:

"Let me get this straight: we have photos of Rich Iott in Nazi regalia? Not Photoshopped, right? Hmmm...... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

And so on.

Here is how this will probably play out: Iott will spend an entire week just before the election backpedaling and denying he is a Nazi. Kaptuir will take the high road, saying something like: "I have no reason to think Rich Iott is a Nazi sympathizer, and it is perfectly acceptable for historical re-enactors to wear period clothing, like Rich Iott and his son when they wore Waffen-SS uniforms for several years." She probably will not even put a loaded qualifier in there, like "Rich Iott needs to come clean to the voters about his views on the Nazis," because the photos are enough of a bombshell.

But the coverage from newspapers, television programs, radio talk shows, and Internet blogs and message boards will inevitably cement the terms "Rich Iott" and "Nazi" in the minds of voters. Military veterans and adherents of the various forms of Judaism will be the groups most likely to turn away from Iott, of course, but the word "Nazi" does not play well with very many voters. Just turning away a few thousand voters offended by pictures of Iott in a Nazi uniform is highly significant in an off-year election in which the total vote will probably be 220,000 or so.

What is going to hurt Iott more from this is the slowing of the money spigot in the remaining weeks. The last-minute cash that would normally be thrown at what seemed to be a fairly close race is going to drop off to a trickle, as no one likes to toss money into what is perceived to be a doomed campaign. Let's face it: for the next 3-7 days there will be thousands of news stories and blog posts with images of Rich Iott in a Nazi uniform, and only the most true-believing of Iott supporters are going to cough up cash as this story continues to circulate.

Prior to the Nazi photos I saw this race as something like a 53-47 Kaptur lead, but after the next week those numbers are going to move decidedly in Kaptur's favor, and I suspect Kaptur will wind up in the high fifties after Nazi-gate. Unless the Iott campaign has its own nuclear option, like a picture of Kaptur in a BDSM outfit or one of Kaptur tossing puppies off a bridge, Rich Iott is doomed. And the PMA scandal seems to have zero traction in this race, so Iott is wasting his time trying to beat this dead horse to pull the campaign plow.

Things look pretty grim for Rich Iott based on the New York Times and their FiveThirtyEight Forecast for Ohio's 9th congressional district. They are predicting a 61-36 victory for Kaptur (margin of error at the moment is 8.9 percent) and they give Kaptur a 99.7 percent chance of victory.

Pictured: Rich Iott in a Nazi Waffen SS uniform at an undated Wiking ceremony; photo courtesy of The Atlantic

Imagine if Iott had collected and released a bunch of images from his re-enactment events and included the so-called Nazi image in its proper context: as part of a larger interest in military history. Then pundits who took the Nazi image out of context would look like people deliberately twisting an innocent image for political gain, and this "story" would have little effect (I do not believe for a single second that Rich Iott is a Nazi sympathizer or fetishist).

Instead, we have Iott scrambling to explain why he is in a Waffen-SS uniform, and this will dog him for at least a few days. Moreover, the repeated airing of these images will stick to Iott in subtle-but-substantial ways among undecided voters.

In my opinion this is a significant PR problem for Iott, and unfortunately it was handled stupidly. This is yet another race that should have been focused on issues, but instead will be derailed by poor planning and irrelevant Internet history.

Moral to the story: if a politician has anything that could be twisted and used as political hay, it is best to get it out in the open and "own" the material. Getting it sprung into the campaign by a political opponent almost always guarantees that the candidate will be on the defensive addressing the charge, and this is a waste of both financial and political capital. Also, just deleting material from a website doesn't make it disappear, as tools like the Wayback Machine theoretically keep Internet material alive forever.

In the case of Rich Iott, the Internet images he thought had been erased are going to sink his campaign.

A Tale of Gubernatorial Debates, University Administrators, Lowly Adjuncts, and Misplaced Priorities

2010-10-08T15:55:00.010-04:00

Left: Governor Ted Strickland and challenger John Kasich at the University of Toledo's Driscoll Alumni Center; photo courtesy of AP/Andy Morrison

I did not watch the debate between Governor Ted Strickland and challenger John Kasich last night. The reason, though, had less to do with political disinterest and much more to do with extra work I created for myself by standing up for the rights of my students.

And also, because of my proclivity for being bull-headed.

I arrived about 8:40 am on Wednesday for my scheduled 9:00 am class in the University of Toledo's Driscoll Alumni Center. I am a full time faculty member at Bowling Green State University, but I agreed at the last minute this semester to take a teaching assignment that unexpectedly opened up at UT, the institution at which I earned my doctorate. This is kind of a Yoda-Young Jedi situation of sorts, except that I am more like a middle-aged and graying Jedi whose powers are mostly limited to those involving PowerPoint and dry erase markers.

Anyways, I was immediately bombarded by students who told them that construction contractors were telling them to go to a classroom in the Memorial Field House. The contractors said that the classroom was going to be used for the gubernatorial debate. Neither I nor my TAs received any notice of this. No emails, no memos, no text messages: no communication whatsoever.

Even worse is the fact that I was giving a scheduled midterm exam that day to my class of 240 students. In a logistical sense this took priority over simply canceling class, because it would be a full week before class meets again, and frankly I have never unilaterally cancelled a class in my teaching career.

So I first had to retrieve the 80 or so students mistakenly sent a quarter mile away to the Memorial Field House, and they were understandably angry about the disruptions. Even stranger was the fact that my students were directed to a room that already contained a class in session, so two classes were simultaneously disrupted for the price of one.

I had a rather heated exchange with one construction worker who marched into the class just before the test to tell me I wasn't supposed to be in my own classroom (admittedly my less-than-cordial discussions with the construction workers probably fueled their irritation, and I am a long ways from the sort of Gandhi-esque Satyagraha that might have been a more useful approach, but I digress).

However, what most disturbs me is the repeated interruptions by University officials and construction workers during the exam. Several times UT officials walked into the room and asked questions like "what time are you going to be finished" and "I thought this class was cancelled," while the construction workers seemed to be going out of their way to make as much noise as possible. Saws and drills continued in the hallways and entranceways, bulky equipment kept being noisily dropped, and I could see that a number of my students were irritated at the chaos.

I will pause and point out that the sole exception to the institutional insanity was C. Vernon Snyder, the University's Vice President for Institutional Advancement. He walked into the room, told me that the exam could go on as scheduled, and seemed to be one of the few people in this saga who understood that educating students should be UT's top priority. Unfortunately, the marketing/communications folks and construction workers more than made up for Snyder's voice of reason.

This situation was almost like the Keystone Kops in its unfolding, except for the fact that my students are real human beings who pay a great deal of money for the privilege of attending classes at UT. Surely they deserve at least as much notice of the disruption as the aides to the candidates, and undoubtedly the planning for this event began months ago.

Left: screen shot of a spreadsheet I received several hours after my class detailing the proposed shifting of classes to accommodate the gubernatorial debate

So now I have a class of angry and confused students, and I will inevitably wind up with extra work in trying to make things right (drawing up replacement exams, working with the Testing Center to schedule retakes, determining the statistical effects of the disruptions on exam scores, developing a reasonable scoring adjustment, and manually changing 240 grades). It would have been easier to simply cave in and reschedule the exam, but there were larger principles at stake.

While this is not quite a David-and-Goliath story, I write this post with the full recognition that my words might one day haunt me. Perhaps I might some day seek full time employment teaching at UT, or perhaps on another job search this type of post will mark me as a malcontent. However, occasionally we need to take public stands when we encounter wrongheadedness, and to my way of thinking the importance or teaching and learning at a university trumps the fleeting publicity associated with hosting a gubernatorial debate.

But enough about me: this is a class largely composed of first-year students new to college life, and for many of these students this may have been their very first college exam. I ask what it says about a university when no one bothers to take the time to give advance notice on room cancellations, or when televised political debates are more important than what is supposed to be our principal mission: educating students. In addition, a total of 14 classes and approximately 2000 students were inconvenienced through this decision by university officials, and these problems could have been avoided had the university simply used one of its existing non-academic auditoriums, like the Doermann Theater.

Or better yet, simply passing on the event. After all, other than a few brief mentions during coverage on C-SPAN and local television, the University really received little publicity from this event.

In all my years in academia as a student and as an instructor I have never seen a series of events more dysfunctional and ill-conceived than this decision, and I think the University's half-hearted, after-the-fact mea culpa via email to me rings hollow. It seems that it is more important for UT to garner a few moments of televised publicity than to concentrate on its core responsibilities to students.

Yet to be fair I was in some ways blessed yesterday morning: the teaching assistants assigned to the class - Stephanie Crawford and Emily Ruckel - kept their cool while the course professor fumed and muttered, and they helped brainstorm ways to deal with the chaos. At one point I was reluctant to leave the stage at the front of the classroom, perhaps irrationally thinking that if I walked into the hallway someone from the university would grab the stage and announce the closing of the room. The TAs gave me the figurative and literal muscle I needed to manage a multi-faceted maelstrom, and ultimately the exam happened.

Boo-yah.

Lost Dog, Secor-Laskey Area 10-5-2010

2010-10-05T16:01:00.002-04:00

Pictured on your left is Buddy, a Puggle we are fostering with Planned Pethood. He escaped earlier this afternoon in the Secor-Laskey area.

Buddy is a five-year-old male Puggle who weighs about 40 pounds. He is gentle and friendly, though sometimes a bit of a fraidy cat around strangers. Unfortunately, he is wearing his old name tag and collar, so people who find him might try to return him to the house of his deceased owner.

If you find Buddy, you can email Planned Pethood at pets@plannedpethood.org or call 419-826-FIXX(3499), or you can email me at mebrook@bgsu.edu. Thanks for any help you can provide!

Out Sick

2010-10-03T20:15:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts the last few days, as I have been hit by a wicked little influenza-type bug. I did get the combination influenza shot this year, which is normally the epidemiological equivalent of gold bullion, but over the past two days I have been lethargic, achy, feverish, and flat-out grumpy as heck.

This short post is the first moment in the past few days in which I can stay upright for more than 10 minutes at a stretch, so perhaps I am on the mend.

I trust that your visiting of this site will not result in acquisition of the contagion that sidelined me.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug in Northwest Ohio?

2010-09-29T15:50:00.004-04:00

Left: possible Northwest Ohio sighting of the brown marmorated stink bug

I have been reading about the rapid spread of the brown marmorated stink bug in parts of the U.S., especially along the eastern seaboard. So it was with some surprise - and a bit of trepidation - that I noticed what appeared to be a brown marmorated stink bug crawling up the siding of my house today.

The insect, also known by the scientific name of Halyomorpha halys, gives off a pungent odor when crushed, and homeowners in problem areas are having a difficult time getting rid of the pests. While the insects are not harmful and do not carry disease, their telltale aroma has frustrated many U.S. homeowners. They are attracted both to landscape lighting as well as warmth, but most folks seem to find that there are few preventive measures one can take to make a yard less attractive to these bugs.

The reason I think that this is the brown marmorated stink bug is the presence of white bands on the antennae, which is supposed to be the signifier of the species. Unfortunately, I did not think to collect the creature and ship it for analysis, but I am sending along to entomologists the photograph for study.

On Ray Padula, Disappointing Purchases, and Poor Quality Merchandise

2010-09-29T14:15:00.004-04:00

Ray Padula hose nozzle: creative design but cheap construction

Before recently purchasing a Ray Padula thumb control hose nozzle, I was just remotely aware of the multi-million dollar business that Ray Padula has developed. Since a 2007 push to enter the national retail market, Padula's company has developed 300 newly patented, patent pending, and exclusive hose-end products, according to the corporate website.

When I needed a new hose nozzle, I was intrigued by the new design on the Series R hose nozzle I saw at a local retailer. Instead of squeezing a trigger, you simply flick a lever with your thumb to turn on the water.

For the first two weeks I was quite happy with my $10 purchase, but today I learned that this hose nozzle is a poorly-constructed waste of money. I reached for the nozzle after dropping it on the ground and I noticed that the mechanism upon which the nozzle adjustment is seated had cracked.

A closer inspection showed that this mechanism is plastic, and that even a three-foot fall onto the lawn was enough force to break the nozzle adjustment device, rendering the hose nozzle worthless. The internal mechanism looked to be PVC coated with a shiny metallic finish, a far cry from the "die cast metal inner housing" the website claims for nozzle construction.

So, potential buyers beware: my experience with Ray Padula hose nozzles has been a bust. The traditional metal trigger-handled hose nozzle looks a lot more enticing right about now, and I doubt I will ever purchase a Ray Padula product again after this disappointing experience.

On the Merits of Driving Used Cars

2010-09-27T17:42:00.002-04:00

Pictured on your left is the 1995 Hyundai that I purchased approximately 40 months ago for $700. In the period of time that I have owned this vehicle, I have spent approximately a thousand dollars on various mechanical issues, including brakes, shocks, a tuneup, a set of tires, and a pair of door handles.

A friend once kidded me about the "clown car" I bought, citing its purple color and relatively small body as evidence of its supposed hilarity. Yet when I crunch the numbers, this vehicle has cost me about $42 a month in initial investment and repairs, and with only 104,000 miles on the odometer, I suspect that this car has many more years of reliable service left.

So to those of you contemplating the purchase of a new automobile or truck, I suggest that you take a closer look at buying a used vehicle. Sure, my 1995 Hyundai is nothing special to look at, but in my 30 years of driving I have never owned a vehicle that cost me so little while providing almost uninterrupted service.

Moreover, the body on this car has just a handful of rust spots and even fewer dings. It is true that purple is an unusual color, but the vehicle still has a glossy sheen to its paint job. If I choose to continue to drive it at the rate of 10-12 thousand miles a year, I might have ten more years of life left in the machine, and that overall cost of ownership continues to shrink every month I keep this vehicle on the road.

Think about the money you are tossing away on a brand new vehicle every month before you sign that loan agreement for a shiny car at the dealership. Consider also the lost income from investments that $200-$400 per month in savings might bring you, and then look me in the eye and tell me a new car is worth every penny.

Microsoft CAPTCHA Hell

2010-09-24T11:05:00.002-04:00

Left: Unintelligible Windows Live - Microsoft screen CAPTCHA

All I wanted to do was unsubscribe from an annoying email from Microsoft. However, I wound up with a 30-minute ordeal trying a variety of methods to get the Microsoft Windows Live site to issue me a new password so I could remove my email address from their system.

The process seemed simple enough, as there was a friendly "Forgot your password?" prompt. However, most of the written CAPTCHA character collections contained at least a few indecipherable squiggles, and after about a dozen CAPTCHA failures I decided to try the audio CAPTCHA.

Fail.

The audio CAPTCHA used by Microsoft has a woman speaking numbers as several other voices speak, making it difficult to even hear the 10-digit sequence, let alone type it in as the voice rapidly ripped through the numbers. On top of that, it sounded like the Microsoft CAPTCHA designers deliberately added electronic hiss and crackle to the mix, making for an audio production almost beyond comprehension.

After about a half-hour of frustration, bouncing back and forth between audio and written CAPTCHAS, I managed to get lucky and find a written string that I could actually read. This, however, was a heavy price to pay for unsubscribing to Microsoft's emails, and it leads me to believe that this is a deliberate attempt by the Windows Live folks to make it almost impossible to stop receiving their quasi-spam.

Facebook Fail: Popular Social Networking Site Crashes

2010-09-23T16:02:00.002-04:00

Left: screenshot of Facebook's DNS message to users

In what is probably evidence of the popularity of the social networking site (yet an event that will likely double the productivity of American workers), Facebook has been unavailable to users for at least an hour today.

Facebook down? Perish the thought.

This comes on the proverbial heels of yesterday's outage, though the official Facebook statement (via their Twitter page) denies a connection: We’re currently experiencing some site issues causing Facebook to be slow or unavailable for some users. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. This is unrelated to yesterday’s outage.
Judging from the hundreds of Tweets and blog posts already floating around the Internet, I suspect that "some users" is probably a number in the millions.

I began noticing slow page loading around 1:00 PM EDT, and by 2:00 PM or so the site was offline. As of this writing (4:09 PM EDT) the site remains unavailable, and the half-dozen or so people I conversed with on other sites confirmed that this is a systemic problem.

On the Beaches of the Outer Banks

2010-09-23T11:22:00.000-04:00

An acquaintance sent me a link about a house built by Carolina Designs that caught my eye, and I thought back to several trips we have taken to the Outer Banks. While the weather is still quite warm in Northwest Ohio, I have fond memories of times spent on the peaceful beaches of the Outer Banks.

Some of my favorite vacations have been those laid-back trips where there are no significant plans beyond sitting in the sun and watching the waves roll in, like a vacation a few years ago to Atlantic Beach. While there are sections of the Outer Banks that are certainly commercialized, much of the region is still relatively undeveloped: lots of uncluttered beaches and a sense of time unchanging.

Such pristine settings are more likely to be found in a Southern Shores vacation, as other stretches of the Outer Banks have become tourist meccas. I recall driving for long stretches in the Southern Shores without seeing the sort of commercial and residential sprawl associated with overdeveloped places like Nags Head.

The end of the fall semester is a long ways off for me, but for a few moments this morning I allowed myself to pine away for some time at the beaches of the Outer Banks.

On the Restorative Powers of Green

2010-09-22T14:04:00.003-04:00

I was out working in the yard for a few hours, time I should have been spending on lecture prep, when I paused to wipe my brow. I was taken aback by the brilliant green colors that surrounded me, and I went inside to fetch the camera to try to recapture the moment.

The image on the left gets some, but not all, of the powerful hues of green that caught my eyes. My lawn is a work in progress, and truth be told there are plenty of weeds and non-fescue grasses in the mix, but I generally keep the lawn watered throughout the summer. With the recent rains my lawn is a collection of brilliant green hues, and I stood for a moment in awe of the strength of the green that seemed to blanket my yard.

There are certainly other angles of my yard that lack eye appeal, but for this one moment the yard seemed more than just a collection of plants and lawn: it seemed to be animated and burgeoning with life.

Two Pretty Girls

2010-09-21T14:55:00.002-04:00

Pictured are Missy (left) and Candy (right), two rescue dogs we have adopted over the past few years. They both just returned from the grooming salon, and if I might be so vain, they are the prettiest girls around.

Of course, they had only been home an hour or so before the squirrel-chasing and grass-rolling began to tarnish their newly coiffed fur, but after all: they are just dogs.

Just glad I was able to take a picture before the canine hijinks commenced.

Rapid Rhetoric: RANGIFERINE

2010-09-20T20:20:00.003-04:00

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word or phrase I came across that I have never previously used.

rangiferine (rahn-gee-FAIR-een) adj. related to or like reindeer; belonging to the animal genus Rangifer; resembling a reindeer.

I stumbled upon the adjective rangiferine today while perusing a 2001 book entitled Infectious Diseases of Wild Mammals. Humans, it turns out, are prone to debilitating infection by all types of animal brucellosis, including rangiferine brucellosis. The disease typically can be found among reindeer and caribou in northern Canada, and the transmission between members of the genus Rangifer and humans is usually caused by ingestion of unsterilized milk or meat from infected animals.

Interestingly, the U.S. experimented with a variety of brucellosis bacteria known as B. suis as a potential biological weapon. B. suis became the first weaponized biological agent in its development at Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas, but brucellosis did not prove to be deadly enough to warrant mass production. I suppose we will really be in serious trouble when (not if) biological weapons experts figure out a way to weaponize a disease like malignant Mesothelioma.

Dog Days of September

2010-09-18T22:57:00.006-04:00

I spent most of the day at the annual Dog Days of September, which is held at the Lucas County Fairgrounds. Non-profit organizations and a wide variety of commercial vendors related to dogs gather here each year, and the event usually draws a few thousand people and their canine pals.

Interestingly, I saw new Lucas County dog warden Julie Lyle at the event. In the many years that I have attended this event (and other area events associated with dog ownership) I never saw the previous warden Tom Skeldon in attendance. It was refreshing to see the dog warden walking around, chatting with people and petting the numerous pooches.

Left: Dachshunds running in the Wiener Nationals

Another component of the Dog Days of September is the annual Wiener Nationals races, featuring local Dachshunds and their owners competing to see which of the short-legged rascals is the fastest. There was quite a crowd for the four-plus hours of Dachshund racing, though admittedly many of the dogs need coaxing to reach the finish line on the 20-yard course. Of course, I would want to make sure that my laptop insurance was paid up before bringing along the computer, but that is another story altogether.

So, if you have a few hours to kill on this day next year, you could do far worse than the Dog Days of September. There are lots of dog-related activities and some food vendors (human as well as canine), and non-profit organizations like Planned Pethood benefit from greater exposure and the material and monetary donations collected at these events.

Blog Slackery - An Apology

2010-09-16T15:13:00.004-04:00

My apologies for the lack of posts the last few days: I am eyeball-deep in work right now, and after a series of 14-hour days (plus some extra duties playing nurse as my wife recuperated from a two-week illness) I have found myself both exhausted and time-limited.

I hope to return to some semblance of "blog-active" in the next few days. If not, I might always take advantage of the energy boosts associated with a product like a fat burner in order to improve my levels of motivation and concentration.

The Quote Shelf

2010-09-13T20:50:00.000-04:00

A frequent feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.
-- Franz Kafka

Denard Robinson: An Early Assessment

2010-09-12T09:49:00.005-04:00

Denard Robinson stiff arms a Notre Dame defender; Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Like all Michigan fans, I was wowed by the superhuman performance yesterday of Wolverines quarterback Denard Robinson. The sophomore rolled up 258 rushing yards and 502 yards of total offense against Notre Dame, rushing for two TDs and passing for another score.

While Robinson's season is only two games old (and these are the only two games in his career that Robinson has started at quarterback for Michigan), I think a few observations are in order.

1. Robinson reads defenses well. I was impressed with the way the young quarterback changed plays several times after getting a look at the defensive packages shown by both Connecticut and Notre Dame. Robinson also made adjustments after the snap, and he has excellent vision of the field for such an untested player.

2. Robinson has a stronger arm than we were led to believe. The passes that were most off the mark in the first few games tended to be those beyond the reach of receivers on deep patterns, and if I were a football coach, I would much rather have a quarterback overthrow a receiver than to loft up an underthrown, easy-to-intercept pigskin, like a dieter choosing a thick juicy steak instead of the best OTC appetite suppressant.

3. Robinson has confidence. Tons of it. What most impressed me about Denard Robinson in these first two games was how self-assured and poised this kid looked. After most plays he had a smile on his face, and on the game-winning TD drive Robinson looked positively unflappable.

4. As good as he has looked, Robinson can play better. While Robinson has a solid grasp of the offensive system, he will begin to better finesse the possibilities. This is especially true at the tight end position, as Robinson has yet to fully exploit starting tight end Kevin Koger and his running backs.

5. Robinson needs to temper his killer instinct. While I liked his aggressive decision making, there were several third down short-yardage situations yesterday when Robinson should have focused on getting the first down instead of taking shots downfield. This is especially critical in closer games, and one might argue that several offensive drives were stalled by Robinson's eagerness to target an open receiver deep downfield.

6. Robinson has displayed remarkable accuracy. The statistics tell a considerable part of the story: 69.4 percent completion rate, 138.3 passer rating, and zero interceptions in the first two games. Yet even some of Robinson's incompletions were remarkable, including a beautiful pass in the corner of the end zone that was dropped by the wide receiver.

7. Robinson should be a surprise early favorite for the Heisman Trophy. Yes, it is only the second week, and we really do not know the true quality levels of opponents Notre Dame and Conneticut, but the numbers Robinson has posted in two weeks are jaw-dropping. The second half of Michigan's season is brutal, though at least the Wolverines get to play Iowa and Wisconsin at the Big House. Still, even Heisman frontrunner Terelle Pryor cannot match the yardage totals Robinson has accumulated thus far. Landry Jones, the Oklahoma QB, has been impressive (albeit while throwing a few picks), while Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder probably torched his Heisman chances in an ugly loss to the Sooners yesterday. Boise State's Kellen Moore has been consistently strong, but the Broncos never seem to get enough love from experts and voters. At this point I see Robinson and Pryor as the top two Heisman candidates.

Deadheading Sunflowers

2010-09-10T22:11:00.004-04:00

I began experimenting with the process of deadheading sunflowers by accident, as I merely wanted to remove some of the unsightly half-chewed flowers heads that the squirrels and goldfinches have attacked. After a few weeks, though, I noticed that the plants in which I removed dead flower heads seemed to undergo an additional burst of flowering, as though they suddenly found the horticultural equivalent of a product like apidexin UK.

In years past I simply allowed the sunflower plants to bloom, wither, and die, after which I chopped down the stalks for compost. However, this year the plants seem to be productive much longer, and the pruning of dead flower heads and withered leaves seems to force the plants to continue the mechanism by which flower buds appear.

The flowers that appear after the deadheading process commences tend to be smaller and a sometimes bit on the spindly side, but I suppose this is the price one pays for screwing around with natural plant rhythms. I also would not recommend sunflower deadheading if you plan to collect seeds, or if you plant sunflowers to feed the local wildlife. However, if sunflower blooms are what drives you to plant the seeds in the first place, consider aggressively pruning your sunflowers to stimulate more blossoms.

Woodland Sunflower: Helianthus Divaricatus

2010-09-09T21:24:00.004-04:00

Last year I scavenged from an abandoned commercial lot a sample of the woodland sunflowers (Helianthus divaricatus) that are pictured on your left. The plant did not seem to be thriving when I transplanted it, and I had doubts as to whether it would return this year.

Alas, my fears were unfounded, and this plant spread into several dozen four-foot stalks loaded with yellow blossoms. The first flowers appeared around the 20th of July, and seven weeks later the plants are showing no signs of letting up with the color extravaganza.

I have no magic formula for the success with these flowers beyond the fact that I simply transplanted them in an area that was partly shaded, just like I found them, though one might suspect that I used the horticultural equivalent of a product like HGH. The spot the plants occupy has traditionally been a poor place for plants to grow, as road salt from the winter tends to run off my driveway and the street into this spot. The woodland sunflowers, though, seem to be thriving in the slightly salinated soil.

Mystery Plant: Seeking Suggestions

2010-09-08T16:54:00.003-04:00

Pictured on your left is one of several mystery plants that sprouted in a shady area of my yard. As I mentioned in previous posts, my purchase this year of four cubic yards of topsoil brought with it a variety of unexpected plants and weeds.

Due to the fact that the leaves first appear as tubelike protuberances that unfold from a roll, my wife suggested that these plants might be a variety of Canna lilies. This would be especially strange, as Canna lilies generally do not survive the colder winters of this region, and I am sure that I did not plant any Cannas in this area. Of course, it is possible that the vendor's mounded topsoil in which the seeds or rhizomes were then transferred to my house was deep enough to have protected any material fit for propagation in my yard, like a weightlifter finding a free dietary product after ordering a protein supplement from proteinpowder.net.

Anyways, feel free to take a guess in the Comments section. I hope that the plants will take on an easily identifiable form before the first frost.

On the Dove World Outreach Center, Religious Belligerence, and Common Sense

2010-09-06T18:53:00.006-04:00

Left: the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida

I have been reading with some concern the news that the non-denominational charismatic Christian church Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida has plans to burn copies of the Qu'ran on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The event is likely to spark worldwide protests by all sorts of people, not the least of who happen to be Muslims, and General David Petraeus suggested that American troops might be put in danger by this act of religious belligerence.

Church member Fran Ingram, posting on a blog on the church website, offered the following reasoning for the upcoming book burning: We are using this act to warn about the teaching and ideology of Islam, which we do hate as it is hateful. We do not hate any people, however. We love, as God loves, all the people in the world and we want them to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Setting aside all the other issues related to why this is an idiotic idea (and setting aside my despair at the growing irrationality of a rising number of anti-Muslim Americans), I would like to focus on the last clause in Ingram's statement: "we want them to come to a knowledge of the truth." I suspect that if members of the Dove World Outreach Center were really concerned about saving the souls of adherents of the Islamic faith, they could begin by adopting a less confrontational approach. Every faithful Muslim who hears of this abominable act of religious bigotry will be disturbed by the news, and I highly doubt that angering the people you want to persuade of the righteousness of a cause is an effective method of "outreach."

There is also an element of conspicuous and deliberate antagonism here that as a Christian I find reprehensible. Instead of leading by example - in the manner of Christ Himself - the folks participating in the book-burning are sinking to the very level of inflammatory zealotry that they supposedly deplore in the actions of the radical Islamic extremists who attacked the World Trade Center. Sure, it is only burning books and not thousands of dead civilians, but the sentiments are eerily similar between the book-burners and the 9/11 terrorists: each despises those whose creeds they hold to be heretical.

On a side note, my Lebanese neighbor (whose family happens to practicing Muslims) came by my house this evening to ask if he could borrow my 3/8" power drill, as his was broken. When I walked over to the house to drop the tool off, I saw that they were installing a set of vertical blinds. I ended up spending an hour drilling holes, hanging vinyl blinds, and chatting with the Yussef family about the weather and the excellent fattoush Mrs. Yussef has been dropping off each night (this is Ramadan, if you were unaware, and practicing Muslims share their nightly feast with their neighbors).

So, getting back to the point, I pose the following question. Which practicing Christian do you suppose made a better impression on "heathen" Muslims: me, by loaning my drill and time to hang some vertical blinds, or folks like Fran Ingram, whose idea of "outreach" involves the immolation of the book considered to be most sacred to people of the Islamic faith?

And for the misguided zealots who plan to burn books next week: I pray for your lost souls. I highly doubt that God looks upon your actions with favor, and I suspect that one day you will be called to account for your recklessness and bellicosity in the name of Jesus Christ.

Wintercreeper

2010-09-04T14:39:00.004-04:00

I have been experimenting this year with different plants in some shaded areas of my yard in which previous efforts to produce healthy plants have been unsuccessful. In one area under a tall pine tree I have long struggled to grow even grass, though I think the wintercreeper (pictured on your left) that I planted will break this trend.

Also known by its scientific name Euonymus fortunei radicans, wintercreeper is a hardy vine that can withstand cold winters and fairly dry conditions (though the plants are not drought resistant) and wintercreeper seems to be thriving in the shaded area under this tree. The plants fall under the category of broadleaf evergreens, and they propagate fairly easily from cuttings: several cuttings I took I simply soaked in water for an hour, planted them in moist soil, and watered regularly.

My goal is to produce a dense ground cover that will inhibit weed growth, while providing color most of the year.

Out-of-Season Ditch Lily

2010-09-02T19:05:00.004-04:00

This has been a strange year for the perennial plants around my house. Spring arrived a few weeks early, and many of our perennials appeared 8-10 days or more ahead of schedule. A few weeks ago I had some Easter lilies blooming in late August, and today I noticed another unusual event: the blooming of a ditch lily in September.

Normally the last of these flowers has blossomed by mid-July, but for some reason one of the lilies decided to grace us with a few extra orange flowers. Now, if I can just keep the dogs away from the spot to enjoy the last few orange lilies of the summer.

Dining Monarch

2010-09-01T13:11:00.002-04:00

Yes, it was just a Monarch butterfly, one of the most common members of the Nymphalidae family in North America. And yes: it was just feeding at a plain old sunflower, one of the more common members of the Asteraceae family in North America.

So sue me: I spent a few minutes when I should have been grading papers just watching this non-event.

I found the act of butterfly-watching to be peaceful, bringing me a sense of calm in the middle of a hectic day. At least until my Puggle, whose name is Chauncey, decided to thrash about and send the Monarch floating away. Even still, I could not get irritated at the dog in my brief moment of quietude.