Dreaded Xmas Letter

 

Well folks and family here it is the dreaded Xmas letter.

Some of you may have noticed that your Christmas card had an address label this year. I assure you that this is not a sign of laziness on my part; it actually took longer to put the labels together than if by hand. I had been noticing that my handwriting, never exemplary, can now be categorized as atrocious, hence the labels. Rest assured though that now that we have you in our database we will not be bombarding you with junk mail. We have, however, sold your address and all that we know about you to the highest bidder.

So the end of this year finds us healthy and in the good spirits of the Season. We started the New Year with a trip to Lake Tahoe with Mom and Ena. In February we took a quick jaunt down to Southern Cal for a Disney Trip (long postponed since I hurt my foot. May found us in England and Denmark for three weeks and then the summer found us lolly gagging around the pool with the odd day trip. The fall found us once again up in Lake Tahoe for Shakespeare on the lake, and the usual fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving activities. Which brings us to Christmas which has snuck up on us once again.

So as we look ahead to the New Year we wish you and yours a Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

Love 

Gary and Dorothy

ps here is a handy link to my flickr account with pictures of what we have been up to for the last few years.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garison/

Jedi Mind Tricks Redux- These Are Not The Unions You Want

I was a little hasty in posting my previous blog. I did not fully appreciate the reason why it was ok for Police and Fireman Unions to retain their collective bargaining rights (ok I agree that fireman and policeman are a lot scarier than teachers carrying signs-mostly saying horay for our signs). Turns out that teachers are only Jedi Masters In Training.

Scott Walker "These Are Not The Unions You Want".

 

http://garygms.blogspot.com/2011/03/scott-walker-fraidy-cat.html

Best Non Beatles Single Song?

A case can be made that A Whiter Shade Of Pale is the best non Beatles song ever. Ok so I am making it! I remember hearing this song and watching Procol Harum perform this song on Top Of The Pops while on vacation in England in 1967. At the time I did not care much for it all, but when I came back to Vegas that summer it began to grow on me.

Every time I hear A Whiter Shade Of Pale I get a warm feeling; it transports me back to England and being with my Grandmother. I can pick this tune in one note. All these years later I still have no idea of what the words mean; it just has such an evocative mood, something to do with the Bach like Organ. Anyway next time you hear this song see what you think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Whiter_Shade_of_Pale

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1131

We skipped a light fandango,

Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor.

I was feeling kind of seasick,
But the crowd called out for more.
The room was humming harder,
As the ceiling flew away.
When we called out for another drink,
The waiter brought a tray.

And so it was that later,
As the miller told his tale,
That her face at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale.

She said there is no reason,

And the truth is plain to see
That I wandered through my playing cards,
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast.
And although my eyes were open,
They might just as well have been closed.

And so it was later,
As the miller told his tale,
That her face at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale.

California How To Not Pass A Budget Redux

Three men walk into a conference room. Two look at the hole in the roof and decide to pay to fix the roof, the third man eyes the same hole and says "I don't agree with you, what we need is less roof, and I won't vote to fix the hole unless you also agree to reform the of doors and windows". *

*- of course this is an over simplification, or is it?