Spare the .38 and spoil the child.

Before I post tonight I have to reiterate a very important "man rule" for all of you fellows reading with me.

I am pressed to do this because of a very unfortunate (and uncomfortable) incident I had today. Men, here is the deal: If you go into the bathroom and there are more than two urinals (four in this case) and only one urinal is being used, please do not go the urinal directly next to the person doing his business. That is not cool. It's right up there with watching Lifetime television or wearing a short- sleeve dress shirt under your suit in importance of man rule violations. Don't do it!

Anyway, let's talk.

I never want to hear folks say that only black folks are too harsh when they discipline their children ever again. Yes, we might put the rod to the little Rugrats when they get out of line, but they always live to see another day. You white folks, on the other hand, not so much:

"TAMPA, Florida — A suburban Florida soccer mom showed signs of trouble in the months before she was accused of killing her two teenage children: Her 16-year-old daughter told police in November she had been hit by her mother, and troopers investigating a car crash thought the woman had been using drugs.

The incidents were described in reports released Monday, several days after authorities say Julie Powers Schenecker, 50, shot and killed the kids because they were talking back and being "mouthy."

Story: Mom charged in teens' slayings out of hospital
Investigators found her soaked in blood Friday on the back porch of the family's upscale home. Later that day, at a county jail, Schenecker shook uncontrollably, her eyes wide.

Investigators said 16-year-old Calyx and 13-year-old Beau had each been shot twice in the head a day earlier — Beau in the family's car on the way to soccer practice, Calyx in her room as she studied at her computer

Both teens were killed with a .38-caliber pistol, which authorities say Schenecker bought five days earlier." [Story]

You bratty teens better let this be a lesson to you. You want your MTV but don't push your parents too much, because, if you do, you just might get something else.

Finally, I have been thinking about going back to church-- if only for the fellowship. I need to be in the company of some good god fearing people. I think about it, but then, unfortunately, some of you church folks show your true colors and cause me to change my mind.

"FLETCHER, N.C. - Authorities say a dispute over leadership at a church in western North Carolina turned from angry words to fist fights.

About 30 police officers from five agencies were called to break up fights Sunday at Greater New Zion Baptist Church in Fletcher, about 94 miles (150 kilometres) west of Charlotte.

Henderson County Sheriff's Capt. Jerry Rice says no one appears to have been seriously hurt.

Church members are divided over the recent ouster of the Rev. LeVonia Ray as pastor of the church. The fighting apparently began over whether a vote should be held to reinstate him.

Rice says there were about 75 people at the church when police arrived, but not all of them were scuffling. No charges have been filed. " [Story]

Oh Lawd! Thank goodness no one was hurt. I bet the next sermon is going to be really interesting at New Zion. Here is hoping that the Reverend works in Matthew 5: 38-40 in that bad boy.

The Book of Devine

One of my prized possessions is the old trunk my father used in 1950's when he was in the military. Notice that it has his Social Security number stenciled right on it.



Obviously it dates back to a time when people were not so paranoid about identity theft, perhaps because those were the days when your Social Security number was only used for Social Security, and not as a pass-code to every database about you. In fact I wouldn't show you that picture except that my Dad has been dead and buried for years and is now beyond being robbed in the material world.

One of the many reasons I wish my Dad were alive is so I could ask him about an insignia on the trunk. With it's iron crosses it looks almost like some Nazi artifact, although my father never served in World War II nor was he ever stationed in Germany.



However, maybe it's a decal my Dad got from his father, who did serve in World War II and who did bring a lot of Nazi stuff back from Europe. My Grandfather served all over Europe but never saw a moment of combat, serving instead as one of the military cooks; a humble wartime calling but an essential one because, as my Grandfather used to say, "An army marches on its stomach."

My Grandfather was full of war stories, which unfortunately I've forgotten most of. It is a shame that when we are young we only half-listen to the tales of our elders, only to wish when we are older that we could rehear them, but the tellers have vanished into the realm beyond telling.

One story I remember that my Grandfather used to tell involved an Irish monk and his sacred mission regarding a book. At the end of the war all of Europe was flooded with refugees of various types, people who had been displaced by the war and who were now returning to their homes - if their homes even still existed.

My Grandfather said that one day driving in Germany he came upon an elderly Irish monk who was walking along the road, carrying an old book. He stopped his jeep and asked the monk where he was going. The monk replied that he was trying to return to Ireland, from which he had fled after his monastery had been bombed.

"What is that book you're carrying?" my Grandfather asked.

"It is the only thing I was able to save from the ruins of my monastery," the old monk explained. "It is a book of genealogy dating back to the fourteenth century."

My Grandfather asked to see the book, and then was shocked to read its title - The Book of Devine. In it was the listing of the name, birth, baptism, marriage and death dates of every member of the Devine family going back five hundred years! My Grandfather quickly showed the old monk his dog tags.

"Look!" he cried," My name is Devine! This book is the only known complete record of my family history! I must have it!"

"NO!" the old monk exclaimed, "It is the last remaining relic of my monastery, and I have made a sacred vow that I shall return it to Ireland where it belongs. You cannot have it."

My Grandfather laughed, "Sorry old padre, but if you'll notice I have a gun and you do not, and I'm taking this book back to America with me." Then he walked to his jeep carrying the Book of Devine and returned to the base.

That night my Grandfather went to the tavern with his friends for a night of drinking, and as he walked there he kept thinking that he saw a shadowy figure behind him just out of view. When he got to the bar he saw a small shape slip in the door just behind him. Looking in the direction the figure went he recognized the old monk seated in the corner. There he sat and stared at my Grandfather from across the room the whole evening, making it difficult for my Grandfather to relax and enjoy himself. Finally at closing time my Grandfather went up to him demanding, "What are you doing here? Leave me alone!"

"Give me the Book of Devine." the old monk solemnly stated. My Grandfather refused and returned to the base.

The next morning, as my Grandfather left the base, a little down the road he saw a familiar figure standing by the side of the road. "Old man, this is a military installation! What are doing here?"

"You know why I am here." the old monk stated. "Give me the Book of Devine."

"Go away you old fool!" my Grandfather ordered. "Leave me alone!"

But every day for the next week, when he left in the morning and when he returned at night, there would stand the old monk. Whenever he went to the tavern, there the monk would appear sitting in the corner. Always when my Grandfather confronted him he would make the same, solemn demand.

"Give me the Book of Devine."

Soon it became time for my Grandfather to leave to return to America. As he left the base driving the jeep carrying him to the waiting plane, as always there was the monk waiting down the road, only this time he was standing in the middle of the street, blocking the way.

"Get out of the road, you idiot!" my Grandfather commanded. "Or I'll run you over!"

"Kill me if you must," the old monk replied, "for I prefer death to failing in my sacred duty before God to return the Book of Devine to Ireland."

My Grandfather could see that the monk was serious, and would not get out of the road. The resulting stand-off in which my Grandfather attempted to threaten and cajole the monk to move was both time consuming and futile. The delay soon threatened to cause my Grandfather to miss his plane, and he was anxious to return to his family in the Pine Point section of Springfield. Finally my Grandfather reached into his duffel bag and took out the ancient text and angrily hurled it at the feet of the old monk. "Take it and get the hell out of the way!"

The old monk snatched up the book, "Bless you my son!" he said as he quickly ran off and vanished from view. My Grandfather made it to his plane with only seconds to spare.

Is that story true? My Grandfather had the gift of blarney (that's Celtic for bullshit) so one can never be sure. But whenever he heard that anyone was returning for a visit to the old country, he would always tell that story and urge the traveler, "Keep an eye out for The Book of Devine!" No one has ever found it.

Returning to 2011, all it ever seems to do in this new year is snow. Here the usually congested King Street in downtown Northampton is left deserted by the weather.



Even media personalities like David Pakman had to dig his own car out from the snow.



The view out the window of Dunkin Donuts.



A few months ago I showed you this tasteless graffiti on a dumpster outside a UMass frat-house.



Since then someone has painted something more politically correct over it.



Filmed entirely at the Forbes Library in Amherst.


Sunrise on Springfield's Porter Lake by Burt Freedman.

Monday Matticchio - Tiger in the Snow

The Friendship

A couple of people have written to ask whatever happened to the longstanding friendship that I had had, the one that seemed to have come to an end.

It came to an end, unfortunately.

It is a long and complicated story, of interest to no one at this point.

Because the friendship had been for so many years, I could not let it go casually.  I looked at the relationship and at the friend long and hard.  I looked at her many good qualities and at the traits -- we all have them -- that are less admirable.  She's bright, she's funny, she's witty; she has many talents involving floss and fiber.  She is generous; she feeds the hungry, visits the sick, all of those kinds of things.

We had a difference of opinion.  It escalated.  This happened and then that.  Finally she was very rude and hurtful to me when we were with a group of people.  Rather than drawing further attention to her behavior by addressing it then and there, I waited until later, imagining that she would look back on what happened and apologize.  When she didn't, I told her how hurt I had been by her behavior.

She did not care.  That was the deal breaker for me.

There will be those who will read this who will know who and what I am talking about.  Heck, for all I know, the woman I write about  may read this.  And to all of them, I want to be perfectly clear:  This woman is not a bad person.  Far from it.  She is basically a very good person.  She just lacks a quality that I find essential after so many years.

Private Prison Watch AZ: Legislative Delegation

Legislative Delegation and Press Conference

on Prison Privatization

Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 11:00am

Arizona Capitol House Lawn

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) will send delegations of volunteers to meet with key legislators and deliver the testimonies and other materials gathered through our Public Hearing on Prison Privatization (Tucson, October 27, 2010) and other activities.



We will then gather on the House lawn for a brief press conference to report on our meetings with the offices of the Arizona Secretary of State and Attorney General, discuss our opposition to prison privatization, and renew our call for an immediate cancellation of the recently re-released RFP for 5,000 new private prison beds in Arizona.



Carpools from Tucson will be organized—please contact us at 520.623.9141 or email cisaacs@afsc.org to participate!



Caroline Isaacs

Program Director,

American Friends Service Committee

Arizona Area Program

103 N. Park Ave., Suite 111

Tucson , AZ 85719

520.623.9141 p/520.623.5901 f

www.afsc.org/az

Killing us softly: The Death of Brenda Todd.

For those of you who missed it in the Phoenix New Times last week...Thanks, Stephen, for following this.

Those women in Perryville are all in danger due to the gross medical neglect and cost cutting measures that we keep hearing about. If Brenda's family is out there reading this, please contact me: Peggy Plews (480-580-6807). I will help you connect with a good attorney. These people need to be held responsible, or nothing there will change.

---------------------------------------

Brenda Todd's Death: Did Arizona Department of Corrections Personnel Ignore Her Cries for Help?

Phoenix New Times
Stephen Lemons
Thursday, January 27, 2011

Like most death announcements from the Arizona Department of Corrections, the one for Brenda Todd, who died January 21 in custody at Goodyear's Perryville Prison, is spare and unemotional.

It relates that Todd, 44, was found unresponsive in her cell, that medical responders attempted to revive her, but were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead. It also indicates that her death is "under investigation" by ADC.

Since Todd's death, I've been in touch with several individuals who claim Todd pleaded for medical attention days before she was found dead, and that she even banged on the wall or door of her cell the night before her demise, asking for help.

Todd was doing 2.5 years for an aggravated DUI out of Pinal County. She was housed in Perryville's minimum security Santa Maria Unit.

One of her fellow prisoners at Santa Maria Unit was Leona Nieves, who met Todd while Nieves was doing a ten day stint for aggravated DUI.

Nieves, who was given supervised release on Sunday, January 23, remembers Todd complaining about chest and neck pains during the two or three days before her death. She also believes Todd was on medication for asthma.

On the yard, Todd would tell anyone who would listen of her ailments.

"She's like, `I'm having trouble breathing, I have chest pains, the back of my neck hurts,' Nieves recalled Todd telling her. "A lot of times, she would go to lay down, because she just didn't feel good. But...even that wasn't making her feel comfortable."

Nieves said Todd informed prison staff of her symptoms, and she was told to fill out the paperwork to see a doctor. Nieves said she believes Todd was supposed to see a doctor the day of her death.

This next part, Nieves did not hear directly, but only discovered second hand from other prisoners. However, I've also gotten reports second-hand repeating this charge from relatives of prisoners at Santa Maria Unit and from local prison rights activists.

"The girls were saying they could hear [Todd] pounding, asking for help," said Nieves of the hours before Todd was discovered dead. "That's when they overheard [a corrections officer] saying, `Go lay down, sleep it off.'"

If true, Todd's death could be eerily reminiscent in some ways of the infamous 2009 death of Marcia Powell, a Perryville prisoner left for four hours in a human cage in the blazing Arizona sun. Some witnesses said Powell pleaded for water but was rebuffed by corrections officers.

In the fallout from Powell's death, reforms were implemented by ADC, at least 16 ADC employees were either sanctioned or fired, and ADC ultimately submitted a more than 3,000 page report to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, seeking indictments.

However, last year, the MCAO declined to prosecute any of those involved due to what it called "insufficient evidence."

Next of kin was located for Powell, her adoptive mother, but she declined to get involved.

Sure, Todd's death doesn't involve an outside enclosure. But the statements of Nieves and others raise serious concerns about how prison staff respond to inmates' basic needs, such as medical.

Todd was apparently a low-maintenance inmate, with absolutely zero disciplinary write-ups.

ADC spokesperson Bill Lamoreaux declined to comment on the allegations regarding Todd pending the outcome of ADC's investigation.

I also talked with ADC spokesman Barrett Marson, who explained that ADC will not be able to complete its investigation until the county medical examiner's report is in, and ADC will have no comment on the death until that time.

Blogging Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu

Actually, I'm not ill; it's more like the winter boogie blues.

"Old man winter's got a hold on me, too,
I've got the blogging pneumonia
and the winter boogie blues."

Taking a little break to re-group. I reserve the right, however, if something super blog-worthy happens in my life, to post.

Talk to you soon ....

Run Haley! Run! A political opportunity is a terrible thing to waste.

We are in day six of the Egyptian uprising-revolution-crisis-protests, whatever you want to call it, and my man Hosni still refuses to call it quits. (Hillary, I saw you on television tonight and you must have aged 10 years since the last time I saw you. Oh well, that's why they pay you the big bucks; to figure out how A-merry-ca is going to balance on the fence with this one. )

Still, it's nice to see that your boy is bringing the economy back from the dead. I know that the wingnuts are hoping and praying that he fails, but hey, such is life in the A-merry-can political arena: The other guy can do no good.

And speaking of the political arena; I see that Mississippi's finest is considering a run for the White House. Unfortunately for him he has some...well.... issues.

"Barbour argues that his generation of political leaders attended integrated schools, but his 1965 high school class -- he was valedictorian -- was segregated. He enrolled at the University of Mississippi three years after a bloody battle in which federal troops and marshals were ordered on campus to enforce the court-ordered enrollment of James Meredith as Ole Miss' first black student.

"I went to integrated college, never thought twice about it," Barbour said this past fall in a webcast interview with Peter M. Robinson of Stanford University's Hoover Institution, with whom he served in the Reagan administration.

It's true that the university was integrated, but just barely: Though Ole Miss had an enrollment of at least 3,300, the yearbook shows fewer than a dozen black students when Barbour arrived as a freshman in 1965.

One of them, Cleveland Donald Jr., said he didn't know the future governor, who joined a fraternity, got involved in student government and helped organize campus concerts. With no chance of joining a fraternity himself, Donald tried to attend a meeting of a Christian student group.

"I went to one meeting and they moved off campus because several of them did not want me there," recalled Donald, now a University of Connecticut history professor.

Barbour said he remembers sitting next to a pleasant young black woman in a literature class, and that she let him borrow her notes.

"I had a great experience," he said of his time in Oxford, adding after a slight pause, "I didn't study too hard." [Source]

But all is not lost. It looks like Haley might have had a "road to Damascus" moment. No blinding lights for Haley, just good sound politics.

"Over the recent Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Barbour used emphatic language to address Mississippi's place in the civil rights area: "Deplorable actions including the murder of innocent people, young men in service to a cause that was right, will always be a stain on our history."

As part of the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides, Barbour plans to host a reception honoring the activists. And this month, Barbour used his final "State of the State" address to say this is the year for Mississippi to build a long-delayed museum dedicated to the civil rights movement.

"The civil rights struggle is an important part of our history," he said, "and millions of people are interested in learning more about it."

Amen Haley. I love when folks are willing to learn.

Finally, speaking of learning, I hope that you Negro parents will try to take the time to prepare your children to learn in school. I know it's hard, but please try. Folks are tired of trying to come up with innovative ways to help your children learn. From Hip Hop in Minnesota to straight up segregation in Pistolvania; it's one gimmick after another.

Whatever it takes I guess, but I can't help but think about the Ivy League ball player,Dau Jok, who had to -literally- write in the sand in school because they had no learning materials. No such excuse here. All it takes is just good old fashion work. In the classroom and at home. Remember, a "mind is a terrible thing to waste". Just ask Haley.

Sunday Safari - Goodbye Tiger

1960's wooden Tiger wall plaque, originally from a French Circus, at Fears and Kahn

We are approaching the end of The Year of the Tiger 

and I wanted to salute these majestic, wonderful creatures 

who unfortunately are constantly under threat of extinction.

Long live the Tiger!

André Hellé, Grosses bêtes and petites bêtes, 1912,

thanks to the always wonderful A Journey Round My Skull

  Sergio Ruffolo, Tigre homemade greeting card

 Meg Hunt for the Cloudy Collection

Celestino Piatti, illustration for Der goldene Apfel: Eine Geschichte, 1970

found thanks to a lovely post about tigers on Booktryst

Cathie Bleck, Tiger

 Ian McArthur, Tiger

Jan Młodożeniec, Tygrysek, 1961 

Sebastiano Ranchetti, Little Tiger

 Atsushi Hara

Dale Maxey, illustration from The Wild and woolly animal book, 1966,  

thanks to Bonito Club

 Pierre Bevès, Le tigre en bois, 1961, thanks to maptitefabrique

Antonio Ligabue, Tigre con ragno, 1953

 Józef Wilkon, Ksiega Dzungli (the Jungle book)

Star- Spangled Blunder.

Folks are still taking to the streets in Egypt, and if Mubarak doesn't go peacefully this might not end well.

Meanwhile, here in A-merry-ca, Rush is making fun of the Chinese, Joan Rivers is making fun of the First Lady, and Tracy Morgan is having older white lady fantasies. What a country! But you have got to love the land of the [only some are] free.

Which leads me to what I want to talk about tonight: My favorite rendition of the National Anthem was when fellow PK, Marvin Gaye, serenaded us with his version at the 1983 NBA all star game. Whitney wasn't bad, but Marvin's version was transcending.

So here comes poor Shai Warfield-Cross trying to put her own unique stamp on our national song, only to be told that her version wasn't quite "traditional" enough.

"BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – An Indiana school district that told a black teenager to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a "traditional way" after receiving complaints about her performance is drawing questions now about whether the complaints and directive were racially motivated.

Shai Warfield-Cross, 16, has performed the national anthem at sports events at Bloomington High School North over the last year without incident. But school officials said they received complaints about her performance during a game in Martinsville.

Principal Jeff Henderson told The Herald-Times in a statement that people had complained that while the words to the anthem were the same, the tune was unrecognizable. He declined to comment to The Associated Press.

Some who complained after the game in Martinsville — a predominantly white community about 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis — also said they felt the rendition was disrespectful to current and former members of the military, Henderson said.

Warfield-Cross' family says athletics director Jen Hollars told the teen last Friday that she would not be allowed to sing the anthem unless she modified her version and sang in a more traditional way. Hollars declined to comment and referred questions to Henderson, who said school officials told Warfield-Cross the performances should be more "traditional" to ensure the song's tune is recognizable. " [Story]

Yes, we have to be able to recognize our anthem. Besides, if you Negroes want to change the anthem why don't you just sing your own? Here in A-merry-ca the national anthem is sacred, we won't allow you Negroes to distort and make a mockery of it. That's for little white children to do. ... Let me stop. Hey, have a good night y'all, and God Bless A-merry-ca!

Bath

I hope she never thinks she's "too old" to play with toys in the tub.

♥

Avant-Garde in the Nursery

Polish avant-garde artist Franciszka Themerson (1907-1988) illustrated the delightful 

My First Nursery Book in 1947. Franciszka was a woman of many talents, whose 

endeavours included painting, illustration, graphic design, stage design, 

art direction, publishing, film-making and marionette theatre. 

In many of these projects she was accompanied by her husband, the writer, 

composer and film-maker Stefan Themerson, whom she married in 1931.

Visit the Themerson Archive to appreciate the many collaborative

efforts of this wonderfully creative couple.

My First Nursery Book includes four classic tales: Who Killed Cock Robin?, 

The Gingerbread Man, Three Little Pigs and The Three Bears.

It was republished by Tate in 2009.

The cover and endpapers scans come from a guest post on Curious Pages,

in which illustrator Carson Ellis presented some of the spreads from the book. 

Crafty Night!

I am soooo excited about Crafty Night! This month was the first time we were at our new location: ON3 Photography on Main Street in Bridgeport, NE. It is a gorgeous place.

How lucky am I??

I painted a banner for the happy event using a heavy canvas dropcloth & some black acrylic paint!

The sign was my favorite!!

 The project this month involved embellishing gloves with felt flowers & buttons.

Between crafting, we munched! The treats were simple & tastty! Butter pecan mini cupcakes with pumpkin cream cheese frosting, sliced granny smith apples with a homemade caramel dipping sauce & parmesan/white cheddar cheese popcorn. There was wassail, bottled root beer & vanilla cream soda to drink.

Everyone crafted away, visiting, laughing, & having a rather swell time!
We had crafters, even non-crafters in the bunch! Our ages spanned from 16years old to a lovely lady
in her 70's!! That's just awesome. Period.

Here are some examples of our handmade efforts. My favorite part is seeing the different spin everyone puts on their projects.

There were also prizes given throughout the night...

1 - A candle cozy from Becky at Hopewell Creek Designs

2 - A finger knitted skinny scarf made by moi

3 - A felted ball kit from Annie at My Green Toy Box

4 - I stitched up a sweet owlie mug cozy from THIS tutorial

5 - So bummed that there's no picture of the awesome oatmeal colored hat that my friend Susan knitted!

I made favors for everyone to take home. Included were a vintage soda bottle cap badge, a 1" vintage fabric button & a paint swatch notebook. Remember those adorable little ditties?

 I stuck little button stickers on each notebook (24 stickers for $1 at JoAnne's). LOVE.

Click HERE for the tutorial.

 After the night was over, I lingered for a few hours. I even went out on the street & peeked at the banner one last time from outside. Eep!! It's so cute!!!

I couldn't be happier about my first Crafty Night of the new year. I am looking forward to next month. The theme for February: knitting!!!

Crafty Night is run by donations. I don't make any profit by doing this. I do it because I love making stuff & I just thought it would be fun to share that with others.

Be sure to visit the new Crafty Night facebook page HERE!!

And look for my giant prom corsage-like gloves in the shop soon!

♥