We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
“I thought I was a Tahitian Eskimo Mexican until I sent in my DNA test kit, and boy was I flummoxed when the results came back! I’m really Croatian with a mix of sub-Saharan! I guess I’ll be turning in my furry hat!”
We will meet at 10 am at the fountain in Lincoln Center, rain or shine. There is a Dunkin Donuts (and a Starbucks) nearby if needed.
We'll have some dumb balloon for recognition. Join us. We're friendly dogs and do not bite. Not a large group, I think, so good for conversation. Weather should be rain-free and cool.
Our leader Bulldog will lead us from there, wandering around the West Side, maybe all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge depending on time.
Lots of things to see along the route he has planned (see below the fold) -
Eels are very cool fish with remarkable life histories. They are also good to eat. Eeling, like crabbing, used to be a major cottage industry along the North American coast.
The first time I caught an eel, as a kid, I thought I had caught a snake. Unlike snakes, Eels are slimy and difficult to get a grip on.
Damming of rivers and streams is the likely cause of the drop-off of eel populations, just as with other anadromous fish.
24:13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
24:14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
24:15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,
24:16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
24:17 And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad.
24:18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?"
24:19 He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
24:20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.
24:21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.
24:22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,
24:23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.
24:24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him."
24:25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!
24:26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?"
24:27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
24:28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.
24:29 But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them.
24:30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
24:31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.
24:32 They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?"
24:33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.
24:34 They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!"
24:35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
An appealing narrative arc is always useful whether truth or fiction. Usually they are fictional, though. Raw truth doesn't lend itself to compelling narratives.
This last pain for the damned the Fathers found: "They knew the bliss with which they were not crowned." Such, but on earth, let me foretell, Is all, of heaven or of hell.
Man, as the prying housemaid of the soul, May know her happiness by eye to hole; He's safe; the key is lost; he knows Door will not open, nor hole close.
"What is conceivable can happen too," Said Wittgenstein, who had not dreamt of you; But wisely; if we worked it long We should forget where it was wrong.
Those thorns are crowns which, woven into knots, Crackle under and soon boil fool's pots; And no man's watching, wise and long, Would ever stare them into song.
Thorns burn to a consistent ash, like man; A splendid cleanser for the frying-pan: And those who leap from pan to fire Should this brave opposite admire.
All those large dreams by which men long live well Are magic-lanterned on the smoke of hell; This then is real, I have implied, A painted, small, transparent slide.
These the inventive can hand-paint at leisure, Or most emporia would stock our measure; And feasting in their dappled shade We should forget how they were made.
Feign then what's by a decent tact believed, And act that state is only so conceived, And build an edifice of form For house where phantoms may keep warm.
Imagine, then, by miracle, with me, (Ambiguous gifts, as what gods give must be) What could not possibly be there, And learn a style from a despair.
Maggie's Farmers are fans of William Empson, more for his books than for his poetry. For many of us, his 7 Types of Ambiguity (written at age 22) opened a door to a new world. A commenter here claimed that his The Structure of Complex Words is the best book ever written. Better check it out.
I think Bob takes his painting seriously. If he did not, I do not think he would agree to exhibit it.He seems to be a skilled amateur whose name lends weight to his artistic efforts, same as it does with Churchill's (or George Bush's for that matter).
Seems like he paints more from photos or from his imagination that plein air, but how could he? Well, I guess he could at his place in Scotland.
Once academia lost the agreed-upon, universally held notion of what classical learning was and why it was important, a steady unraveling process removed not just the mission but the mystery—and indeed, the beauty—from the American university. How ironic that the struggling university, in its efforts to meet changing political, technological, and cultural tastes and fads, willingly forfeited the only commodity that made it irreplaceable and that it alone could do well. And how sad, since once the university broke apart the liberal arts, all the religious schools, self-help courses, and CDs couldn’t quite put them together again.
Outside the venerable halls of Columbia, the University of Chicago, and a couple of others, Hanson's ideal version of higher ed for the free citizen is not so easy to find. In fact, it never was easy to find, but was reserved for the elites or for the self-educated. Self-education is difficult, though. It's always best to have a guide who has the big picture in mind. That's why we all love CDs from The Teaching Company, now Great Courses.
The 
We will meet at 10 am at the fountain in Lincoln Center, rain or shine. There is a Dunkin Donuts (and a Starbucks) nearby if needed.
5 common American gestures 
Just a few links this morning - thanks a lot United Airlines. Do you guys have any flights without 6-hour delays? 
"Rare heritage" corn. That's called marketing. I'd call this Krazy Korn.
This last pain for the damned the Fathers found:
I think Bob