Facebook Reunited Me With Sweet 16 Friend

Posted on August 31, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

I’m the one with my eyes closed. I was so cute. I didn’t think so at the time, but now 54 years later I see the cuteness.

I received this photo via Facebook messenger this morning. It came from a gal I was friendly with for a few years in high school. Joanne Engel was the Annette Funicello of our high school. She was beautiful, a great figure and a fabulous singer. I expected her to be a major star.

Annette Funicello

Joanne and her husband today. It’s easy to lift someone else’s photo on Facebook.

I’m not sure what happened to her career, but yesterday I spotted her name on a list of Facebook friends that was associated with someone I know who is a talent agent. I sent her a message asking if she knew me. She instantly responded “yes,” and we set up a time to talk next week. Meanwhile, she emailed this photo to me that documented my presence at her Sweet 16.

My talent agent friend found out that Joanne and I went to school together and she can’t believe we know each other. She knows the two of us from different walks of her life, so it’s difficult for her to comprehend the connection.

It is pretty funny.

I wish my eyes were open. I would have loved to frame this photo. I was hoping to recapture my thoughts way back then. That would be a treat.

Our Newest Project

Posted on August 30, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

Hear My Voice is a civic engagement platform that puts democracy back in the hands of the people. Featuring a smartphone app and website, HMV makes issue voting easy by presenting side-by-side comparisons of issues in a neutral, nonpartisan space.

We are very excited to be involved with HMV because they reach out to organizations with opposing views. You see sides in one place and decide where you stand. No Google searches required.

We spent the evening with Becky Kip, (second from left), who is the CEO and Founder of HMV, discussing objectives, strategies and implementations. We dined at Upland’s and one of the chefs joined our photo.

This is going to be a fun project. You will be hearing a lot more about HMV and the good it does.

MM ii

Robots Perform Funerals

Posted on August 29, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

Japan is leading the way. SoftBank, a Japanese multinational telecommunications and Internet corporation, has programmed its Pepper robot to perform Japanese Buddhist funerals.

That can only mean it’s just a matter of time that robots will be saying prayers over dead bodies all over the world. Japan has been a tech leader for decades.

Pepper demonstrated its ability to perform Buddhist funeral rites at the recent Tokyo Int’l Funeral & Cemetery Show.

SoftBank said Pepper and other robots can cut the cost of a funeral service by thousands of dollars.

Robots performing funerals may sound like a turn off now to many of us, but I can honestly say I am not fan of religious leaders talking about the dearly departed as if they were close friends. I hate that. Funerals are time to truly reflect. I don’t want phony presentations.

Are We Being Recorded ?

Posted on August 27, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

Joanne Wilson

I just read a blog post written by Joanne Wilson, an angel investor, blogger, and co-founder of the Womens Entrepreneur Festival at Gotham Gal Ventures.

Joanne is married to Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures. Together, they are two of the biggest investors in the tech business. When they give their opinion about technology trends and applications, I listen.

Joanne just wrote about her experience with Siri and Alexa. “Having Siri or Alexa overhearing everything in the privacy of my home and somehow knowing who else is around with their phones and then using that data to push information at me and them is something that I am absolutely not comfortable with. Those big ears might make life easier and perhaps a bit entertaining but 24/7 input is not ok. I am unplugging all of these devices immediately.”

Read more about what she has to say here.

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My Facebook Feed

Equal Topless Rights Parade

Posted on August 26, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

We had a topless show right in front of our hotel today in NYC. The Hudson Hotel is located on 58th between 8th and 9th Avenues. Eliot and I were going out for a casual walk at lunchtime when we noticed that the whole street was cordoned off for a demonstration.

There were topless ladies everywhere. They were protesting for equal topless rights. “If men can go topless, so can women.” I am in favor of equal rights for all but you won’t catch me topless. I need all the support I can get.

Eliot and I spotted our cousin Milo Hess, famous pop culture photographer, in the middle of the action. (Full head of white hair and camera in hand). See Milo below.

Today’s event reminded us that New York is still a city of surprises. Eliot and I enjoy the unexpected and appreciate the new and different. Live and let live.

The Solution To Yesterday’s Puzzle

The Hermitage

Posted on August 22, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

Our Russian tour guide gave us a real workout today. You don’t really get to lose weight because the bread and pastries are so fabulous. They were equally as good in the Scandinavian countries. I don’t remember any Smartours trip having such delicious food, both provided by the tour package and the restaurants we went to on our own.

Our group only has 16 people. We started out with 18 but a couple from Northern California were called home when a member of their family was hospitalized. We never traveled with such a small group, but we soon became a family looking out for each other.

One couple comes from Trinidad and Barbados. Others are from Brooklyn, New Jersey, Chicago, West Virginia, and Arizona. One single gal is a history teacher at Huntington High School on Long Island. We are also traveling with a pathologist who told me some very interesting things that I will share in a future blog post.

One of our stops today was the fabulous Hermitage Museum. It was so overwhelming and beautiful that you felt the past was very present.

From Russia With Love

Posted on August 21, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

Everyone on the trip with us was super excited to get to Russia. We didn’t know what to expect. The local tour guide gave us a quick overview of St. Petersburg via a bus and river boat. The architecture is quite beautiful and the folks here look like everyone else in the world. Of course, we only traveled a few square miles.

The internet is quite good and the Marriott Courtyard is very accommodating. Tonight we went out to a Chinese restaurant which was terrific and the staff couldn’t be nicer. We pointed to pictures on the menu just like we did in Japan. Very civilized.

The Bullet Train from Helsinki to St. Petersburg.

After 3 1/2 hours, we arrived

A little too busy for me.

On our list for tomorrow.

Being silly

The ballet theatre

Stunning architecture.

Hermitage

Cathedrals

A mirror image of a ballet school housed in two separate buildings.

The onion domes

Just like the picture book.

Checking out that I am really here.

The Four Seasons Hotel

The world is the same all over. Everyone looking for a bargain out of the trunk of a car.

Russian license plates

Ditto

Our afternoon cruise

Capturing the sights.

Russian tour guide

Trying to see it all.

Fourth Time In Helsinki

Posted on August 20, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

We have been touring non-stop on this trip: buses, trains, over night cruises, ferry boats, and four city-to-city airplane trips. We are not done. Tomorrow, a bullet train to St. Petersburg. We walk about 10,000 steps per day and climb at least 10 flights.

We think this is our 10th Smartours trip but we are not sure. There might be one or two that we forgot about. We did count that we have been to this city four times because we needed to take Finnair. It never disappoints. Everyone is friendly and welcoming. We have been all over the world and still have many more places to go.

I hope we have the strength to continue these journeys and the world finds some peace. The horrors of this last week were very upsetting. We hope better days ahead.

The oldest restaurant in Helsinki. I just had the most delicious artichoke soup.

Helsinki seaport. The ships in the background are ice breakers.

The Helsinki Cathedral. Yes, I walked up all those steps.

The Sibelius Monument (Finnish: Sibelius-monumentti) is dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957).

The Sibelius Sculpture.

Sibelius himself

An upward view of the Sibelius.

Lovers Locks On A City Bridge

A Closer Look

Sky Wheel And Sauna Baths.

The Marketplace.

The Newest Sauna In Helsinki.

Harald Bluetooth

Posted on August 19, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

We had to come all the way to Copenhagen to learn how Bluetooth got its name. On a tour of Castles today, in an area just outside of Copenhagen called North Zealand, we were told that the name Bluetooth was taken from the 10th-century, second king of Denmark, King Harald Bluetooth. He was famous for uniting Scandinavia just as tech engineers intended to unite the PC and cellular industries with a short-range wireless link.

Listen to a quick explanation.

Frederiksborg Castle

Fredensborg Palace

Kronborg Castle, setting of Shakespeare’s Play Hamlet

We Arrived In Copenhagen

Posted on August 18, 2017 by loiswhitmanhess

We got to see The Little Mermaid today in Copenhagen. The bronze statue, by Edvard Eriksen, is displayed on a rock by the waterside at the Langelinie promenade.

Based on the fairy tale of the same name by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the statue is a major tourist attraction since 1913.

The Queen’s Tapestries at Christiansborg Palace

We also visited the Queen’s Tapestries at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. They were a gift from the Danish business industry to Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II on her 50th birthday in 1990. There are 11 tapestries.

The tapestries depict the history of Denmark and the world, including the Viking Age, the Middle Ages, the Absolute Monarchy, the Reformation, World War II, the Present and even the Future.