You can have your art and eat it too. Sugar fit?
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A Musical Seder From the Israel Philharmonic – Happy Passover!
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Hyperrealistic Illusion Cakes 😱 Realistic Cakes Looks Like Everyday Objects
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The White House’s Virtual Passover Celebration
In case you missed it, be sure to watch the first ever celebration of its kind. After a year like we had, this is a joyous gift.
Virtual Passover Celebration with Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff.
For some reason YouTube is having a wee bit problem with the broadcast. After you click on the link, go to 20:55 on the time counter in order to access the beginning of the video. See below for a photo of where it starts.
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My girlfriend Debbie asked me to comment on the Miami Beach Spring Breakers.
https://debbienigro.com/spring-break-has-gone-beyond-wild-in-miami-beach/
Facebook Facts
THINGS TO PONDER:
Thank you SZS
The devil whispered to me, “I’m coming for you.” I whispered back, “Bring pizza.”
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Me: (sobbing my heart out, eyes were swollen, nose red)…I can’t see you anymore. I am not going to let you hurt me like this again!
Trainer: It was a sit up. You did one sit up.
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Having plans sounds like a good idea until you have to put on clothes and leave the house.
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It’s weird being the same age as old people.
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When I was a kid I wanted to be older…this is not what I expected.
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Life is like a helicopter. I don’t know how to operate a helicopter.
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Chocolate is God’s way of telling us he likes us a little bit chubby.
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It’s probably my age that tricks people into thinking I’m an adult.
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Marriage Counselor: Your wife says you never buy her flowers. Is that true?
Him: To be honest, I never knew she sold flowers.
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Never sing in the shower! Singing leads to dancing, dancing leads to slipping, and slipping leads to paramedics seeing you naked. So remember…Don’t sing!
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My wife asked me to take her to one of those restaurants where they make the food right in front of you. So I took her to Subway and that’s how the fight started.
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During the middle ages they celebrated the end of the plague with wine and orgies. Does anyone know if there is anything planned when this one ends?
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I don’t think the therapist is supposed to say “wow,” that many times in your first session but here we are…
If 2020 was a math word-problem: If you’re going down a river at 2 MPH and your canoe loses a wheel, how much pancake mix would you need to re-shingle your roof?
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I see people about my age mountain climbing; I feel good getting my leg through my underwear without losing my balance.
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We can all agree that in 2015 not a single person got the answer correct to, ‘Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?’
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So if a cow doesn’t produce milk, it a milk dud or an udder failure?
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If you can’t think of a word say “I forgot the English word for it.” That way people will think you’re bilingual instead of losing your memory.
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I’m at a place in my life where errands are starting to count as going out.
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Coronacoaster noun: the ups and downs of a pandemic. One day you’re loving your bubble, doing work outs, baking banana bread and going for long walks and the next you’re crying, drinking gin for breakfast and missing people you don’t even like.
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I’m at that age where my mind still thinks I’m 29, my humor suggests I’m 12, while my body mostly keeps asking if I’m sure I’m not dead yet.
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Don’t be worried about your smartphone or TV spying on you. Your vacuum cleaner has been collecting dirt on you for years.
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I’m getting tired of being part of a major historical event.
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I don’t always go the extra mile, but when I do it’s because I missed my exit.
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How many of us have looked around our family reunion and thought “Well aren’t we just two clowns short of a circus?”
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At what point can we just start using 2020 as profanity? As in: “That’s a load of 2020.” or “What in the 2020.” or “abso-2020-lutely.”
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You don’t realize how old you are until you sit on the floor and then try to get back up.
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We all get heavier as we get older, because there’s a lot more information in our heads. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Don’t Miss These Stories
LPC Approves Tishman Speyer’s Rooftop Park at Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall – New York YIMBY
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After Tony Hsieh’s Shocking Death, Zappos Looks to Move Forward
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Elsa Peretti, Star Designer of Elegant Jewelry, Dies at 80
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/21/fashion/elsa-peretti-dead.html?referringSource=articleShare
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Yours for £1: what would you do with a traditional red phone box? | Design | The Guardian
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This $5.5M floating mansion in Miami is not your average houseboat
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Two Chicago Stories, Both True
Another story from Michael Sommer. Thank you
STORY NUMBER ONE
Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago . Capone wasn’t famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.
Capone had a lawyer nicknamed ‘Easy Eddie.’ He was Capone’s lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie’s skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.
To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well.
For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block. Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.
Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong.
Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was. Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn’t give his son; he couldn’t pass on a good name or a good example.
One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done. He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al ‘Scarface’ Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity.
To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified. Within the year, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street .. But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay.
Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine. The poem read: ‘The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.’
STORY NUMBER TWO
World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.
One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.
His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet. As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.
The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn’t reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger.
There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet. Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes.
Wing-mounted 50 caliber’s blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.
Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.
Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction. Deeply relieved, Butch O’Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier. Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return.
This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy’s first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.
A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man. So, the next time you find yourself at O’Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It’s located between Terminals 1 and 2.
SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?
Butch O’Hare was ‘Easy Eddie’s’ son.
Ballet On The Streets
David Chesky, an American pianist, composer, producer, and arranger, recently wrote a ballet that was supposed to be performed in Russia last year. Covid-19 prevented the production. David decided to do the next best thing. He sent the ballet to dancers all over the world so they could improvise to the music and entertain people on the sidewalks of their respective cities. The videos below are just a few of the productions that took place. Each city is listed on the title page.
I am working with David on a few projects. That’s why I know about his ballet and how he developed this creative concept. I wanted to share them with you. I believe these kind of outdoor performances could possibly be the next entertainment medium for all to enjoy.
David is also co-founder of the independent, audiophile label Chesky Records. He is also co-founder and CEO of HDtracks, an online music store that sells high-resolution digital music.
Chesky has won Independent Music Awards and received Grammy Award nominations. He has written jazz tunes, orchestral and chamber music, opera, ballet, and a rap symphony
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Interesting Origins Of Phrases We Use—thank you Michael Sommer
They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were “piss poor.”
But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn’t even afford to buy a pot; they “didn’t have a pot to piss in” & were the lowest of the low.
The next time you are washing your hands & complain because the water temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s.
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. Since they were starting to smell, however, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women, and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it . . . hence the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the Bath water!“
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof, resulting in the idiom, “It’s raining cats and dogs.”
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed, therefore, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, leading folks to coin the phrase “dirt poor.“
The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way, subsequently creating a “thresh hold.”
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while, and thus the rhyme, “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.”
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, “bring home the bacon.” They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and “chew the fat.”
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the “upper crust.”
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up, creating the custom of holding a wake.
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive, so they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.
And that’s the truth. Now, whoever said History was boring?
Happy St. Patty’s Day
We went to check out our friend’s Harry house in Wilton Manors. Then we celebrated the Irish with lunch at Rosie’s.
We had a surprise guest.
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Other Business
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Don’t let them take your temperature
on your forehead as you enter the supermarket
because it erases your memory.
I went for macaroni and cheese
and came home with two cases of Beer.
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It’s a five minute walk from my house to the pub. It’s a 35 minute walk from the pub to my house. The difference is staggering.
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Turns out it was a marble in the ashtray…
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MY MIND IS LIKE MY INTERNET BROWSER.
19 tabs open,
3 of them are frozen
and I have no idea
where the music is coming from.
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People who wonder
whether the glass is half empty or half full are missing the point. The glass is refillable.
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They say every piece of chocolate eaten shortens your life by two minutes.
I’ve done the maths.
Seems I died in 1537.
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Had I known in March
that it was the last time I would be in a restaurant
I would have ordered the dessert.
I don’t always go the extra mile, but when I do it’s because I’ve missed my exit.
Happy Birthday Ron Abel
The blond to the left, Sunny Sessa, (below) gave the blond to the right, Ron Abel, a very special birthday party that was completely over the top, in her Palm Beach home last week. Eliot and I were invited to Ron’s celebration. Most of the guests are involved in Broadway or Cabaret. It was a night of entertainment, games, and lots of eating. Ron gave a teary-eyed, life lesson speech that reminded us all to cherish the good times. So this is what 70 looks like.
DigiDame 