Site Map: MAIN / This Page       How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news. Isaiah 52:7

Good Mountain Press Presents DIGESTWORLD ISSUE#156
== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
~~ TOP TEN LIST of WHAT PEOPLE WANT ~~


Like Us? Let the Editor know with a short email Click Here!



Google
Web www.doyletics.com

LIKE US? To Receive a Monthly DIGESTWORLD Reminder, Click the Link to Send Email Request: SUBSCRIBE

NOTE: Place Cursor over a photo for a few seconds to read text description.



CLICK FLAG TO OPEN FIRST-AID KIT.
All the tools you need for a simple Speed Trace
IN ONE PLACE.
Great Way to show Gratitude for DIGESTWORLD is to use the above Google Search Engine to Search this Site
or the entire Web wherever you find it in DIGESTWORLD pages.
Much Thanks in Advance for Clicking on the Google +1 Above to Show You Liked Us.

== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~     In Memoriam: Robert H. Schuller (1926-2015)     ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author of How To Move Ahead with Possibility Thinking, founder of "Hour of Power" TV Broadcasts, and visionary who
built the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~

== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
WELCOME TO   DIGESTWORLD ISSUE#156   June, 2015
== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
Quote for the Happy Month of June:

Tough times never last; tough people do.
Robert A. Schuller, Author of "The Be Happy Attitudes" and many other books on living life fully.

== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==

By Subscription only.
Editor: Bobby Matherne, Asst. Editor: Del Matherne
[To Contact Editor Click Here!]
To Subscribe, Click Here or copy into your Browser
this URL: http://www.doyletics.com/subscrib.htm
To Unsubscribe, see bottom of any DIGESTWORLD Issue.
©2015 by 21st Century Education, Inc, Published Monthly.

To Read All of Bobby's Writings Click Here!

== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
~~ Click on Heading to go to that Section (Allow Page First To Fully Load). NOTE: DIGESTWORLD is a Trademark of 21st Century Education, Inc. ~~

DIGESTWORLD

GOOD MOUNTAIN PRESS Presents ISSUE#156 for June, 2015
                  Archived DIGESTWORLD Issues

             Table of Contents

1. June's Violet-n-Joey Cartoon
2. Honored Readers for June
3. On a Personal Note
       Flowers of Shanidar Poems
       Movie Blurbs

4. Cajun Story
5. Recipe or Household Hint for June, 2015 from Bobby Jeaux: Handy Microwave Cover
6. Poem from Colour :"An Epistemological Litany"
7. Reviews and Articles featured for June:

8. Commentary on the World
      1. Padre Filius Cartoon
      2. Comments from Readers
      3. Freedom on the Half Shell Poem
      4. Example of Google being Useless

9. Closing Notes — our mailing list, locating books, subscribing/unsubscribing to DIGESTWORLD
10. Gratitude

== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==

DIGESTWORLD ISSUE#156
== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ARCHIVED DIGESTWORLD ISSUES ON THE WEB  
~ ARCHIVED DIGESTWORLD ISSUES ~
2000: INAUGURAL YEAR: Jun  
#1 Jul  #2, Aug  #3, Sept  #4, Oct  #5, Nov  #6, Dec  #7
2001: Jan  #8,  Feb  #9,  Mar #10, Apr #11, May #12, Jun #13, Jul #14, Aug #15, Sep #16, Oct #17, Nov #18, Dec #19
2002: Jan #20, Feb #21, Mar #22, Apr #23, May #24, Jun #25, Jul #26, Aug #27, Sep #28, Oct #29, Nov #30, Dec #31
2003: Jan #32, Feb #33, Mar #34, Apr #35, May #36, Jun #37, Jul #38, Aug #39, Sep #40, Oct #41, Nov #42, Dec #43
2004: Jan #44, Feb #45, Mar #46, Apr #47, May #48, Jun #49, Jul #50, Aug #51, Sep #52, Oct #53, Nov #54, Dec #55
2005: Jan#051,Feb#052,Mar#053,Apr#054,May#055,Jun#056,Jul#057,Aug#058,Sep#059,Oct#05a,Nov#05b,Dec#05c
2006: Jan#061,Feb#062,Mar#063,Apr#064,May#065,Jun#066,Jul#067,Aug#068,Sep#069,Oct#06a,Nov#06b,Dec#06c
2007: Jan#071,Feb#072,Mar#073,Apr#074,May#075,Jun#076,Jul#077,Aug#078,Sep#079,Oct#07a,Nov#07b,Dec#07c
2008: Jan#081,Feb#082,Mar#083,Apr#084,May#085,Jun#086,Jul#087,Aug#088,Sep#089,Oct#08a,Nov#08b,Dec#08c
2009: Jan#091,Feb#092,Mar#093,Apr#094,May#095,Jun#096,Jul#097,Aug#098,Sep#099,Oct#09a,Nov#09b,Dec#09c
2010: Jan#101,Feb#102,Mar#103,Apr#104,May#105,Jun#106,Jul#107,Aug#108,Sep#109,Oct#10a,Nov#10b,Dec#10c
2011: Jan#111,Feb#112,Mar#113,Apr#114,May#115,Jun#116,Jul#117,Aug#118,Sep#119,Oct#11a,Nov#11b,Dec#11c
2012: Jan#121,Feb#122,Mar#123,Apr#124,May#125,Jun#126,Jul#127,Aug#128,Sep#129,Oct#12a,Nov#12b,Dec#12c
2013: Jan#131,Feb#132,Mar#133,Apr#134,May#135,Jun#136,Jul#137,Aug#138,Sep#139,Oct#13a,Nov#13b,Dec#13c
2014: Jan#141,Feb#142,Mar#143,Apr#144,May#145,Jun#146,Jul#147,Aug#148,Sep#149,Oct#14a,Nov#14b,Dec#14c
2015: Jan#151,Feb#152,Mar#153,Apr#154,May#155,Jun#156,Jul#157,Aug#158,Sep#159,Oct#15a,Nov#15b,Dec#15c
2016: Jan#161,Feb#162,Mar#163,Apr#164,May#165,Jun#166,Jul#167,Aug#168,Sep#169,Oct#16a,Nov#16b,Dec#16c
2017: Jan#171,Feb#172,Mar#173,Apr#174,May#175,Jun#176,Jul#177,Aug#178,Sep#179,Oct#17a,Nov#17b,Dec#17c
2018: Jan#181,Feb#182,Mar#183,Apr#184,May#185,Jun#186,Jul#187,Aug#188,Sep#189,Oct#18a,Nov#18b,Dec#18c
2019: Jan#191,Feb#192,Mar#193,Apr#194,May#195,Jun#196,Jul#197,Aug#198,Sep#199,Oct#19a

To Receive a Monthly DIGESTWORLD Reminder — Click Here.

For Best View of Text and Photos, Decrease Width of Window Until Years Almost Double Space

== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
1. June Violet-n-Joey CARTOON:
== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==

For newcomers to DIGESTWORLD, we have created a webpage of all the Violet-n-Joey cartoons!

This month Violet and Joey learn about Sentimental Reasons.
"Sentimental Reasons" at http://www.doyletics.com/images/051415vj.gif

== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
2. HONORED READERS FOR June:
== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==

Each month we choose to honor two Good Readers of our DIGESTWORLD from those all over the World. Here are the two worthy Honored Readers for June, 2015:

Gary Travis in Arizona

Maddie Jorgensen in Jacksonville

Congratulations, Gary and Maddie!


== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
3. ON A PERSONAL NOTE:


== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==



Out Our Way:

SHAKESPEARE'S 400TH ANNIVERSARY

William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 and we commemorate that date annually in our Shakespeare Society by having a Black Tie Dinner in the Rex Room of Antoine's. We do the reading of a play during an elegant meal and the following week we perform that play to an audience in New Orleans. Our performance was graced by a Dr Michael Kuczynski, chair of Tulane's English Department, who announced the planned arrival of Shakespeare's "First Folio" at the Newcomb Art Museum on May 9, 2016. He explained that his group is planning a Jazz Funeral to celebrate Shakespeare's death the way we fete well-known New Orleanians who have died. A very slow dirge called the First Line begins the parade, and when the suitable time comes (the preacher releases the body), an up tempo Second Line begins as all the paraders pull out umbrellas or handkerchiefs and wave them over their head as they gyrate to the music down the street. Willie will be impressed! Now, if funding can be found, this group has been invited to a Dress Rehearsal for the big New Orleans event across the Pond in Stratford on Avon on the exact 400th anniversary of the Bard's death, April 23, 2016. Next April and May will be big months for Shakespeare fans.

KENTUCKY DERBY CLUBHOUSE

May 2nd was reputed to be the Biggest Day in Sports: The NBA Playoffs, A Heavyweight Championship Fight in Las Vegas, The Kentucky Derby, and LSU had the last game of a series against Miss State, among other sports events I may missed. We had to DVR the LSU baseball game on ESPN because it was Kentucky Derby Day. Del and I spent the day at the Timberlane Country Club with a hundred of our close friends and neighbors. The Ladies each wore a large elegant hat for the event. They looked gorgeous but getting a hug was problematic. We enjoyed les fruit de mares served up by the oyster shucker in a Cajun Pirogue. I'm so old that I remember when pirogues were only used for fishing and duck hunting, not as large serving trays. With my white and blue seersucker suit on, I wore my White Skechers I save for special occasions, and as a result I missed a good chance to get the bootblack to shine my good dress shoes at the event. Guys loved the Bourbon Tasting Bar and the cigars being offered by the attractive Cigar Lady, who resembled a certain Kathy we know.

The favors for each guest consisted of an actual Lucky Horseshoe (which I later nailed next to our name plaque over our garage door in the points-up lucky position), some Reserve Bourbon, and other goodies. It was a fun time last year and I have looked forward to this year's Derby Day. The buffet was scrumptious and the fun and festivities continued well past the great Run for the Roses by American Pharaoh, who looks destined for a Triple Crown. It was tough saying goodbye to our Club President Carl Panebiango who has brought our club from the brink of ruin to a flourishing golf and country club. The things he innovated are too long a list, but we have refurbished bunkers, asphalted the cart paths on south 9 holes, built a new deck for our swimming pool with all its leaks fixed, and had a surge in membership activities at the club. While golf clubs are closing around the country, ours is going strong. "Where are the divots?" our friend Phil, who usually golfs at Audubon Park and other public courses, asked when his foursome tried out our course. Ours is the best maintained course in the area and very reasonably priced. When my son-in-law Greg and his son Aidan played 18 holes here, the greens fee and an electric cart came to $35 for both of them.

SHORING UP THE AGED

My White 2000 Maxima is turning 16 soon. How much is that in human years? 120 perhaps? It only has 125,000 miles on it, and with my putting only 3,000 miles a year since working out of my home (used to drive 50,000 a year), I expect it to last another 10 years or so. Heck, I can't buy a new car which plays audio cassettes, which it still does! Plus it plays Audio CDs which are my favorite way of listening to Teaching Co. Courses, also it's about the cheapest way to purchase courses. I drive daily to and from PJ'S Coffeeshop about twenty minutes each way, enough time to listen to one and a half lectures. It is prime lecture time for me except on Saturday Mornings when Big Pete plays Traditional New Orleans Jazz on WWOZ.ORG. When nothing good is on the Radio, I can pop in a Tape with some Louis Armstrong on it or Luis Beethoven.

Anyhow, it required two repair jobs this month. First the AC was not cooling efficiently for the first time since I've owned this car (2004). A trip to the Nissan Dealer for a recharge solved that problem. Later in the month, I noticed a slight hesitancy when starting the Maxima. It reminded of the cranking and cranking American cars in the '50s used to require to start. So I didn't think much about it, till the next morning I returned from PJ's and my car wouldn't even turn over. Used the POWER DOME Del gave me and the rest of her "boys" for Christmas. It got the car started and I had Del follow me to the dealer. About three miles from the dealership, it began running sluggishly and I angled for the right side of morning rush hour on Lapalco Expressway and got into a parking lot. I restarted it but it soon died again, so called AAA and they came to tow it to dealer. Del had been waiting with me for AAA to come and needed a bathroom break, so I suggested she drive to our usual PJ's and bring us back some coffee. She arrived back shortly before AAA and we drove to the dealer for a donut to go with our coffee.

Turned out my alternator had broken. I checked my records and found it was the first time it needed replacement. Another testimony to the sturdy Japanese autos and parts. Cost $800 and I budget about $2000 a year for maintenance to keep it in prime running condition. Still looks great and sporty for a 120 year old.

One day I saw my friend Mark Bickham with his 1959 Bentley outside of Dos Jefes Cigar Bar uptown and got a photo of him with his new acquisition. I asked him the difference between a Bentley and a Rolls Royce, and he said "$100, the Bentley is cheaper and with left-hand drive for the American driver." He said he's planning some shoring up of his vintage Bentley in the coming months.

Another thing, this second trip to the dealer gave me a chance to get my annual oil change. I do this in May or June as it gives the motor fresh oil during the hot summer months. This has worked fine for me some 10 years since I began driving the White Maxima full time.

MOTHER'S DAY AT THE PALACE

Okay, it was the Palace Café, one of Dickie Brennan's restaurants. We were invited to join our son John and his wife's parents, Rohan and Irene, for an early supper there. Rohan's son who works there was unable to get us an earlier time, which worked out fine as we had a chance to show Irene and Rohan our home before heading down to Canal Street to eat. Also I got a chance to watch the rest of the LSU baseball game against Mizzou, in which LSU took to complete a sweep of the No. 2 ranked team in the country. Rohan loves LSU Baseball and we enjoyed the game together while the girls and John walked and looked over the gardens.

Before we began eating, Irene asked if I would say Grace, and I was delighted. I had been thinking a lot this morning about Mom who died on Mother's Day. I said, "I'm looking around this table, and everybody I see had a mother. My own mother died 15 years ago on Mother's Day, so I want to remember her, and thank God for all of our mothers and bless this food from the bounty of Jesus Christ, our Lord."

Came home and we watched Selfridge as Mr. Grove welcomed his family back home from relatives since his wife died in a pedestrian accident. He acquired a house keeper and nanny. Story ended with Harry Selfridge proposing marriage to the scheming Estate Lady and she accepted. Her brother will have to go to America without her. Will she tell Harry or will she still abscond with his money? A new French pilot is getting sweet on Harry's daughter Violette as her club owner beau is getting deeper into gambling with a private club and Baccarat. A sweet cliff-hanger with things to ponder as we await the next Season.

JESUS AROSE

This little ditty was inspired by Wikipedia's list of the variations on Gertrude Stein's famous sentence, "A Rose is a Rose is a Rose." Here are the credits of each line in the order they appear below: (WS's Romeo and Juliet), (Gertrude Stein in "Sacred Emily", a poem) (Bret Easton Ellis in his 1991 novel American Psycho) (Book by Umberto Eco) (From Singing in the Rain lyric) (Villain in computer game Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?)(From Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited) (Bobby Matherne, 2015)

               Jesus Arose

A rose by any other name
       would still smell as sweet.
A rose is a rose is a rose.
A Rolls is a Rolls is a Rolls
The Name of the Rose.
Moses supposes his toes are roses.
Rosa Zarrosas-Arroz
The Moon is the Moon is the Moon.
The Sun is the Sun is the Sun.

Jesus Arose


TO ORLANDO ON THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

We promised our friends Gust and Janet in Orlando a visit and they began talking about taking us to a new Wax Museum and I thought I'd like something a bit livelier, so we opted for Universal Studios and the new Diagon Alley section which just opened. The added bonus was a trip between the two parks on the Hogwarts Express which all fans of Harry Potter know is how he got to Hogwarts School of Wizardry.

On the train, the window is filled with sights along the way, including a fly-by by Hagrid the Professor and Hedgewig the White Owl of Harry's. Meanwhile shadows of Harry and Hermione walk past the compartment doors looking for something in the hallway. Frogs and spiders crawl over the door as they pass. I reached down to pick up a phantom spider from the floor and the twenty-something guy across from us jumped a bit.

But I digress, first we had to drive from home to Orlando and not having done it, I had estimated 13 hours, but as soon as we set our Z10 map to the Valantasis's home, it said 9 hours and 30 minutes. We had planned to stop over night on the way, and kept to that plan, finally settling into a Holiday Inn Express in Gainesville. It was easy to find by eyesight, but the GPS couldn't find it and our calls to the Inn didn't clarify the GPS location, so we simply remembered the Exit No., saw the Inn and turned into it right off I-75. We were hungry when we arrived so I asked the desk clerk for directions to the Cracker Barrel Restaurant we had seen from I-75, and what he said was useless, "Just go through parking lot." Did that mean walk all the way down the road to the exit ramp road and come back to the restaurant. We looked around and all we saw was some utility building across the parking lot. Well, guess what? That was the side of the CBR! Once again I found Cracker Barrel was not all it was CRACKED UP to be. That's the last time we go there. They frosted me when they substituted cane syrup in their formerly all Maple Syrup, so no more breakfasts there with Wild Maine Blueberry Pancakes and Whipped Butter.

Besides it took too long to tame the blueberries and whip the butter into submission. I choose the pecan crusted catfish (which Del had for her entree at the Palace Café for Mother's Day). I didn't expect it to be as good, but it was lousy and half of the catfish was almost raw. Apparently all the new specials are lousy, not even worth the $5.95.

We came back from supper to Room 303 to rest and watch LSU baseball game streaming on my laptop. I was able to get the WiFi hooked up to my Laptop and plug the VGA cable into the LG screen TV.

I noted that I need to carry an LG TV remote whenever we might be staying at a Holiday Inn Express. I could manually turn the TV on/off with push buttons on side, and select the INPUT as PC, but to get the screen size to increase, I'll need the remote. I also needed a phone plug to run into LT to get sound off the LG TV. [NOTE: On the way home, the HIE had same TV and WiFi, but the LAN connector also worked so I plugged directly into the LAN broadband.]

LSU won the third game with an impressive 8-1 score on top of a great pitching job by Alex Lange. The rain delays and Thursday starts have played havoc with his becoming the Friday night or first game starter by mid-season. Plus Alex's pitching has returned to form since the arm stress which kept him out one series. He got the start for the Tigers and held South Carolina to one run on only one hit in five innings of work, striking out nine and walking three.

Nobody toll me so, so let me toll you: from Gainesville to Orlando, there are a lot of TOLL roads with lots of TOLL booths, so be prepared with a lot of change, or use the SUN PASS lanes and let them bill you later. It costs $2.50 for the bill in addition to the tolls, so we tried the EXACT Change lanes and almost got stuck. On about the fourth stop, the sign had read 50 cents and Del had the fifty cents, so we stopped at the Cash Only no Change hopper, but it said 1.00, and Del did not have enough change, had about 6 pennies adding up to 91 cents, so I took her purse and noticed that one of the pennies was actually a dirty dime and we had 1 cent in change left after I got out of the car to drop the change in hopper, as tossing the loose change could cause us a big problem if one of the coins missed the hopper. There was no one to help us if we didn't have change, so after that we went only to the Toll Person stations where they make change, but it takes longer. Very confusing signage obviously as the 50 cents sign was intended for an earlier exit apparently. So be aware of the TOLL-tality confusing roads and signs.

Gust and Janet live in a large gated community, at the end of Fawnlake Lane, about a mile long. Their back yard is filled by a patio and pool, covered by a screened framework. Beyond their pool is a long pond which is surrounded by tree-covered wild areas full of deer. Ducks flew in and out of the pond and we saw multiple deer, mother and fawn, etc in the next several days. Janet fixed a nice supper of shrimp pasta and a salad which included one of the large cucumbers from our garden. Then they took us on a drive through night-time Orlando's downtown area.

We first met Gust and Janet on our month-long cruise from New Orleans to Istanbul. We passed many an afternoon cruising across the Atlantic playing Pay Me! with them. You can see us with them in this DIGESTWORLD Issue, DW125. Similarly we played several times with them, and each of the four of us had a good run of wins in the course of our visit.

Our first day was devoted to Harry Potter and we drove to Universal Studios to see the new Diagon Alley area and ride the Hogwarts Express Train to and from the Hogwart's area. First we stopped to take photos of the four of us, each couple in front of the Universal Globe. I shot a view of the Globe with all of the word UNIVERSAL visible with an eye towards adding a shot of me riding the word like a cowboy.

To that end, I looked for a nearby low fence that I could do my cowboy pose. Found a gently curving pipe fence and had Del take the photo. The result can be seen at the top of the Movie Blurbs section HERE. After that, we stopped for an ice cream cone in Schwab's Drugstore (renown spot on the corner of Hollywood and Vine) where Del and Janet played two starry-eyed starlets waiting to be discovered.

Once we rode the Express to Hogwarts, we had lunch in the Hogsmead Dining Hall. I had the fish and chips which were hearty and good. All in all a good visit into the imagination of J. K. Rowlings as brought to life by Universal Studios. What an amazing woman: She went from an unemployed single mother on welfare to the richest woman in Britain in only three years! Imagine that. She did.

The next day of our visit involved swimming in the pool, photos of deer in the area around the pool, some 8-Ball with me and Gust, a trip to Winter Garden including dinner at a restored old hotel on their patio and more PAY ME! All too soon it was time to head back. We left about 9 am the next day to avoid the rush hour and we drove all the way to Milton, Florida, right above Pensacola area. I had my laptop set up and ready to go when they postponed the LSU game for an hour or so due to the possibility of a thunderstorm.

It never even rained nor did lightning strike, but listen to the weather man and you can waste a lot of people's time. It was a tough game against Auburn who opened up 5-0 in the first inning. LSU came back to make it 5-3, then Auburn went up to 8-3. But in the sixth inning, LSU got six runs and went head 9-8 and closed the game that way.

HOME AGAIN

Thursday morning in Milton, we got a quick hotel breakfast and hit the road for home. No rain, clear skies all the way. Was glad to be back home in Louisiana when we stopped at the LA Visitor Stationoutsied Slidell. Got home by noon, unpacked, and had the green beans and rice for early supper before the LSU game against Arkansas. No idea of the hectic night ahead of us. Game was due to be broadcast on SECTV at 7 pm and I was looking forward to watching it on the big TV in our Screening Room, but fate had other plans. A large thunderstorm went over us and we lost power.

I got out the Power Dome and listened to the game on the radio in it. Then I decided after a few innings, the power might not come back on for the whole game and decided to watch it on my Z10, so I needed to use our portable power pack to keep Z10 charged while I watched the game. When the WatchESPN streaming got stuck, I'd switch to radio till I had WatchESPN refreshed. Only way I've found is to close the app and restart it. Radio was a couple of seconds ahead of the app video, so I didn't miss much of importance. About halfway into the game the power came on to stay and we switched to SECTV in Timberlane Screening Room. First time we've had a power outage with the new ENTERGY power company's texting service I had signed up for a couple of months ago. They sent regular texts to confirm if our power was still off. First estimate was one hour, but it took two hours, however the power stayed on the rest of the night.

The day after the storm, I had to re-stake our tomato plants which had blown over and put some green onion starts into the ground. I thought there were no eggplants or okra, but discovered a tiny eggplant on one plant, and about 2 dozen nice sized okra on the row of okra plants that had been knocked almost to the ground by the high winds. With them kneeling for me, I could see and pick their okra pods with ease before assisting them to rise up from their prayer. Our blackberries were done when we got home from Orlando, but Connie made us some blackberry jam with the ones she and Don had picked while we were in Orlando. Another fearful thunderstorm blew through a few days later, early in the morning, which resembled a hurricane for about 15 minutes with sheets of horizontal water spraying us from the west. There's some tree limbs to be cleared and I won't have to water the garden for a few more days.

AND SO IT GOES

One of the fun movies watched last month was "And So It Goes", and that title is a good way to bring these personal notes to a close. Hope you found them fun, edifying, and interesting. I will add any last minutes note here.

Del and I stopped at Felix's Oyster House on Iberville for oyster before heading to Keyes House for the Krewe gathering for the Feast Day of St. Joan of Arc. No chairs so we stood at open place at the bar and a guy handed me an oyster on the half shell without my even asking for one! Met a nice couple, Paul and Michelle, visiting from Naples, Florida, and struck up a conversation with them as we ate our oysters. Del and I each had one dozen. Michelle and I talked about oysters, and I gave her my recipe for oyster dressing. Paul and I talked about Shakespeare and the upcoming celebration next May in New Orleans which will include a Jazz Funeral for the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

Later, at our first meeting of the Krewe of Joan of Arc, and Del and I got to meet interesting people, Elizabeth, Jade, Ott, musician and friend of Norbert Slama, Raphaël Bas, and Captain Kirk aka Amy Kirk Krewe Captain. We had refreshments, some introductions, a poem being read, and Amy introduced me and I gave my calling card, "Pas de Jeanne d'arc, pas de Nouvelle Orleans, pas de La Louisiane, and pas de French Quarter (should have said, Vieux Carre)" which will be the theme for my talk in Sept. About 7 pm we paraded carrying our Banners with Sayings of St. Joan, stopping at her Golden Statue near the river where we layed flowers and tokens in her honor.

EVERY GOOD THING MUST COME TO A NEW BEGINNING

For the past 31 days, May has been a beautiful Spring month with veggies growing and temperatures warming. The frigid weather of this past winter is a distant memory as we enjoy sitting outside on our patio reading as the southerly breezes from the nearby lakes waft over us. May began with Kentucky Derby Day at our Timberlane Country Club. Bourbon bar, shoeshines, Cigar Lady, and a Pirogue full of oysters freshly shucked, and even more. Prime month for my LSU Baseball Team which is currently Ranked No. 1 and is a Top National Seed. Next stop, Omaha and the College World Series. Our New Orleans Saints NFL Football team made a great draft, picking up a lot of defensive and offensive linemen and linebacker, plus a strong candidate to replace Drew Brees in a few years. Our artichoke bushes were fruiting when another strong wind from a thunderstorm knocked them down again. Artichokes were first planted in America here in Louisiana, but soon migrated to the non-windy area of central California where huge fields of them grow tall and strong and rarely get blown down, so far as I know. We dug up our Irish potatoes from our Veggie Garden, and have been enjoying cucumbers and blackberries from our side gardens. Our figs trees are lush and we expect a bumper crop of LSU and Celeste figs this year. The Easter lilies bloomed late this year, well into May, and have been replaced by gladiolus and other colorful lilies.. Till we meet again in the summer-bringing month of June, God Willing and the River Don't Rise, whatever you do, wherever in the world you and yours reside, be it blustery or balmy, Remember our earnest wish for this new year of 2015:

MAY THE WORLD BECOME PEACEFUL AND SERENE IN TWENTY-FIFTEEN

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:
To those Good Readers who are puzzled by How the Moon could be Rising In Front of a Mountain, Click on Photo. To see 161021 photo, Click Here. ALSO: if you are puzzled because you No Longer get our Monthly Reminder, you may have Changed Your Email Address without notifying us. NOTIFY US NOW by a simple Click Here!

Here's the Sting:
You will NOT receive a Monthly Reminder unless you have Re-subscribed under your new address to DIGESTWORLD.

If you've already receiving DIGESTWORLD Reminders, ignore this message.

If you're not subscribed, and would like to Subscribe to DIGESTWORLD Reminders to receive one short email a month to inform you of the latest ISSUE, now's a good time. SUBSCRIBE NOW by Clicking Here.

Yes, this message does no good to those who changed their email address without notifying me — but it can alert those of you who are going to change your address.

If you've changed or are planning to change your email address, Click Here to SEND NEW ADDRESS. (Alternate way is to copy into your Browser this URL: http://www.doyletics.com/subscrib.htm )

EASE OF VIEWING NOTES:

NOTE: For Internet Explorer Browsers, DIGESTWORLD is best viewed at 100% Zoom and the Window's width sized so that Digest Archives lines are single-spaced, just barely. Adjust Window width so that Mountains almost touch the Archive Numbers, especially if you find some Photos overlapping text.

PHOTO CAPTIONS (CURSOR FLYOVER ISSUE RESOLVED):If you have been enjoying the photos in DIGESTWORLD, but have wondered who or what you were looking at, you will now be able to hold your cursor still over the photo and the photo's description will appear. (Test on Butterfly-Crab Image at Right.) We spend a lot of time writing these photo captions and hope you will read them. All the Archived Issues have been updated to provide descriptions when your cursor rests for a second on a photo. Note that older Reviews have not been updated. If you haven't finished reading text when description disappears, move cursor away and back on photo to finish. We thank you for your patience and hope this pleases you.


Quotes Selected from quotes.htm this month:

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, — but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, American Jurist and Author

I think it not improbable that man, like the grub that prepares a chamber for the winged thing it never has seen but is to be, may have cosmic destinies he does not understand.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, American Jurist and Author

One must begin to make experiments in Self-Study, even if on occasion a mistake is made. It is better in most cases to do it wrong than not to do it at all. A wrong beginning can be corrected, if the psyche does not fight too much against correction, but if no beginning is made, nothing can be corrected, and there is no hope of making any progress from the crystallized psyche state to the open essence state.
E. J. Gold on page 132 of Autobiography of a Sufi

An ulcer, gentlemen, is an unkissed imagination taking its revenge for having been jilted. It is an unwritten poem, an undanced dance, an unpainted watercolor. It is a declaration from the mankind of the man that a clear spring of joy has not been tapped and that it must break through muddily, on its own.
John Ciardi, American poet addressing a group of powerful businessmen.

Darkness chills, but Light fills what Truth wills.
Bobby Matherne, American Writer, written December 6, 1997

There ain't no education in the second kick of the mule.
Harold Rogers Congressman from Kentucky addressing the House August 5, 1998

New Stuff on Website:
This short video clip shows the excitement of Kentucky Derby Day at Gretna's Timberlane Country Club. Lloyd Giardina and Beth Lanier are just finished dancing.
From Flowers of Shanidar, A 1990 Book of Poetry by Bobby Matherne

INTRODUCTION
       In a small dark cave in the hills of Northern Iraq near the Turkish border the excavator Ralph Solecki found in 1960 the bones of a young man placed in the recess between two large boulders. Analysis of the remains from the cave of Shanidar determined that the burial occurred over 60,000 years ago.
       Soil samples collected near the bones were only analyzed several years later and produced a quite unexpected result. Ordinarily a small random assortment of pollen grains would be found in funereal soil samples, but the Shanidar soil analysis revealed thousands of pollen grains from wild flowers of the region. Flowers of rose mallow, hollyhocks, hyacinths, and other indigenous varieties of flowers had been systematically collected and transported to the cave of Shanidar as a funerary tribute.
       Astonished, the scientists were confronted with the earliest known evidence of a burial ritual. From the very dawn of mankind a message had come down to us, written in pollen grains from the flowers of Shanidar, of the birth of a new consciousness — the consciousness of death. (Note: scientists with no apparent interest in the evolution of consciousness have tried to evaporate away the meaning of these pollen grains. I pity them.)
       How far have we progressed in the knowledge of ultimate destinations in the 600 centuries since that funeral celebration? As we stand before the door to the new millennium, do we dare to knock? Are we ready for the new flowers of Shanidar and the birth of consciousness that will surely accompany our passage into that new era?


These poems are from Bobby Matherne's 1990 book of poetry, Flowers of Shanidar and have never been published on the Internet before. Here in the beginning of the new millennium, we are publishing a poem or two each month until all poems have been published on-line. (Flowers drawn by Artist Maureen Grace Matherne) The rest of the five poems come from Bobby's 1995 book of poetry, Rainbows & Shadows, all of which will be published for the first time on-line.

1. Chapter: Shadows

This month, as we near the completion of Bobby's first book of Poetry, Flowers of Shanidar,
we continue with a poem from the Shadows Chapter of his second book of Poetry,
Rainbows & Shadows (1995).
      This month we read

            The Coercion Bell

Till 1835
Freedom reigned supreme
       and rang across the land
The dulcet tones of Pass and Stow
       proclaimed the Constitution's plan.

When on July the eighth,
The Freedom Bell rang out
       at Justice Marshall's funeral
'Twas in justice that a crack appeared
       in freedom's brassy apparel.

The new republic's bell
       rang a sour note and thus it's ever been
Freedom walks right out the door
       when coercion finds the back way in.





2. Chapter: Hyacinths

      Undercooked Poetry

Undercooked poetry
       is not good for you
Better put it on the barby
       for another turn or two.

Ley lines are lines of force
       buried in the earth
Where they intersect, of course,
       there's sensitivity and mirth.

Poets are points of sensitivity
       they lay lines in their books,
Vibrating centers of society
       and everyone who looks.

Words are sacred feats,
       an auditory sacrament,
They resonate with jungle beats
       and shouts of encouragement.

Just strew the words upon a page
       and mix in some new ideas,
Your poems will be all the rage
       in a half a million years.



3. Chapter: Rainbows

This month, as we near the completion of Bobby's first book of Poetry, Flowers of Shanidar,
we continue with a poem from the Rainbows Chapter of his second book of Poetry,
Rainbows & Shadows (1995).
      This month we read a poem inspired by the malapropisms of Calvin Preston:


            Idyll of March, I and II of IX.

             I.

Poems,
Vowels, continents
Mountains, and volcanoes
All form in their own water,
The finest blue harvest over the moon
To irrigate you to life.

             .  .  .

             II.

Beware the Idle of March,
Wee Poets who,
No longer professors by faith,
Do the hieroglyphic dance
Upon the page.
We, peons in the wind,
Upwind, of course,
With our steady rock fingers
We pen our slip of words
Hoovering over one spot
So the mile-minute man will catch it.

             .  .  .

4. Chapter: Shadows

This month, as we near the completion of Bobby's first book of Poetry, Flowers of Shanidar,
we continue with a poem from the Shadows Chapter of his second book of Poetry,
Rainbows & Shadows (1995). Note: this was written before Putin began ruling with an iron fist.
      This month we read

            DRUGS CZAR-US

Who would have thought
       that
       Russia would get free enterprise
       and the USA a Czar?

that
       Russia would give artists free expression
              and the US would outlaw:
              artworks in Cleveland
              music in Miami and
              free expression of beliefs
              everywhere

that
       Russia would free the Baltic States
              and the US would send troops
              to Columbia

that
        Russia would guarantee human rights
       and the US would chip away
       at the Bill of Rights

that
       Russia would get a McDonald's
              and we would get a Drugs-R-US?

5. Chapter: Chapter: Rainbows

This month, as we near the completion of Bobby's first book of Poetry, Flowers of Shanidar,
we continue with a poem from the Rainbows Chapter of his second book of Poetry,
Rainbows & Shadows (1995).
      This month we read

                    Inner Vent

There are things in me

       that are heaven sent

To get them into you

       I must the thing invent.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Movies we watched this past month:

Notes about our movies: Many of the movies we watch are foreign movies with subtitles. After years of watching movies in foreign languages, Arabic, French, Swedish, German, British English, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, and many other languages, sometimes two or three languages in the same movie, the subtitles have disappeared for us. If the movie is dubbed in English we go for the subtitles instead because we enjoy the live action and sounds of the real voices so much more than the dubbed. If you wonder where we get all these foreign movies from, the answer is simple: NetFlix. For a fixed price a month they mail us DVD movies from our on-line Queue, we watch them, pop them into a pre-paid mailer, and the postman effectively replaces all our gas-consuming and time-consuming trips to Blockbuster. To sign up for NetFlix, simply go to http://www.netflix.com/ and start adding all your requests for movies into your personal queue. If you've seen some in these movie blurbs, simply copy the name, click open your queue, and paste the name in the Search box on NetFlix and Select Add. Buy some popcorn and you're ready to Go to the Movies, 21st Century Style. You get to see your movies as the Director created them — NOT-edited for TV, in full-screen width, your own choice of subtitles, no commercial interruptions, and all of the original dialogue. Microwave some popcorn and you're ready to Go to the Movies, 21st Century Style. With a plasma TV and Blu-Ray DVD's and a great sound system, you have theater experience without someone next to you talking on a cell phone during a movie plus a Pause button for rest room trips.
P. S. Ask for Blu-Ray movies from NetFlix, and if it says DVD in your Queue, click and select Blu-Ray version.
Hits (Watch as soon as you can. A Don't Miss Hit is one you might otherwise have missed along the way.):
“Stripped” (2014) is what all these folks interviewed have done for some significant portion of their lives: created comic strips. Wonderful interviews of how they started, how they work, and how they rarely get any time off.
“Two Night Stand” (2014)
quirky love story in a blizzard. How do you say goodbye when you’re snowed in?
“Left Behind” (2014)
Nicholas Cage is a philandering pilot when people began disappearing all over the world. Lucky for his passengers, Cage’s life wasn’t as exemplary as his co-pilot, and he is left behind to attempt to land his airliner while flying on fumes and to find his atheist daughter.
“The Hunter” (2011)
Willem Defoe hunts for the Tasmanian Tiger and reports there is none left.
“Saint Vincent” (2014)
of Sheepshead Bay is the name a ten-year-old Jewish boy gave to Bill Murray his super-crotchety neighbor when asked by his Catholic school teacher to describe someone he knew who acted as a saint. This will seem strange for the first 2/3rds of this movie. A DON'T MISS HIT! ! !
“Mr. Turner” (2014) greets us with a full-blown career as a famous artist and we experience his method of mixing paints, stretching canvases, walking through magnificent landscapes to paint them, and how he gets grief from his ex and sex from other women. We watch one day at the academy as he returns to his painting which all the artists thought was complete and put a single glob of red paint on it and left. “Gasps!” went up. “Ruined!” all agreed. But was he done? Only Mr. Turner, whose most eloquent speech was “Hmp”, knew the answer. These two and a half hours of movie flew by until finally God was finished with this great master painter of the faraway hills. A DON'T MISS HIT! ! !
“Wild” (2014)
a young woman says goodbye to her druggie past by walking the Pacific Crest Trail alone. This is her story. Along the trail, Cheryl Strayed into Cheryl Found.
"The Pianist" (2002)
our second viewing (See DW44)triggered by my reading of "Play It Again" which features Chopin's Ballade No. 1, the piano piece which rescues famous Polish pianist when he plays it for a Nazi commander. Gritty portrayal of first ghetto and life in Warsaw under the Nazis. A DON'T MISS HIT ! ! ! !
"Savannah" (2013)
James Caviezel shows his acting chops as Ward Allen Savannah River Market Hunter, born to shoot ducks for a living, and when Federal regs came in the 1920s he and his career were soon dead ducks.
"Four Minute Mile" (2014) high school reject from Track Team teams up with Mr. Myagi character who starts him running in water, carrying auto tires across a pool underwater, and shapes him into a record miler.
"Machine Gun Preacher" (2011)
with Gerard Butler playing real-life missionary saving lives of black kids in lower Sudan from rebel thugs.
"Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" (2014)
he wished for to level the playing field with his family. Judith Viorst's classic kid's book brought to life for everyone who's ever had a very bad day.
"Allies" (2014)
Brits and Yanks must steal German maps to grab the offensive during leadup to Battle of the Bulge. Will they get the help they need to succeed?
"All Relative" (2014)
Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson with a modern twist, perhaps happier ending?
"Carolina" (2003)
along with her sisters, Georgia and Maine, named by state in which they were born by their itinerant father, Randy Quaid, get together with their grandmother in her hobo-like L. A. Quarters every Christmas. North or South, her new British beaux asks; how can she keep a twit who just doesn't fit in her eclectic family? Shirley is a hoot as the flamboyant grandmother! Fun from beginning to end. A DON'T MISS HIT! ! !
"Big Eyes" (2014)
Margaret can paint and Walter can't, but he can lie and still credit for her work until one day she tells the truth and opened everyone's eyes! A DON'T MISS HIT! ! !
"The Gambler" (2014) can't quit till he finds something more important than money.
"Horrible Bosses 2" (2014)
Horrible Acting 2, but movie is so bad it's good and Funny 2.
"Gran Hotel"
(2014) new batch of streaming episodes of the internecine battles of the owning family of the Gran Hotel. Begins with recovery from the explosion and the search for Alicia who was abducted in the confusion. Series ended after 66 hour long episodes. Great for binge-watching. Does Alicia and Julio survive to walk off into sunset together?
"All Relative" (2014)
Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson with a modern twist, perhaps happier ending?

Misses (Avoid At All Costs): We attempted to watch these this month, but didn't make it all the way through on most of them. Awhile back when three AAAC horrors hit us in one night, I decided to add a sub-category to "Avoid at All Costs", namely, A DVD STOMPER. These are movies so bad, you don't want anyone else to get stuck watching them, so you want to stomp on the disks. That way, if everyone else who gets burnt by the movie does the same, soon no copies of the awful movie will be extant and the world will be better off.

"Foxcatcher" (2014) was a big fat dumb turkey with a mute wrestler and a rich spoiled kid who took whatever he wanted when he grew older but never grew up. Some true stories are better untold.

Your call on these — your taste in movies may differ, but I liked them:

"Bloodline" (2015) the prodigal son returns with progeny of troubles for himself and his respected family proving that Father Knows Best.
"Beyond the Lights" (2014)
and the screaming fans and purple makeup is a real woman and real singer.

== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
4. STORY:
== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==

Le Boudreaux Cajun Cottage, drawn by and Copyright 2011 by Paulette Purser, Used by Permission

The Bible records the first man and woman as being named Adam and Eve, but we in South Louisiana know better: They were really Boudreaux and Marie.

Now that Garden of Eden was situated somewhere southeast of New Iberia. One day Boudreaux was walking around the Garden of Eden and feeling very lonely, so God asked him, "Boudreaux, what is wrong with you?"

Boudreaux replied, "Lord, Ah ain't got nobody to talk wit me".

God told Boudreaux that he was going to make a companion and that it would be woman named Marie.

God said, "This person will gather food for you, cook for you, and when you discover clothing she'll wash it for you. She will always agree with every decision you make. She will bear your children and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them. She will not nag you and will always be the first to admit she was wrong when you've had a disagreement. She will never have a headache and will freely give you love and passion whenever you need it."

Boudreaux was overjoyed and said to God, "Lemme axe you sumpin, wat will a woman like dat cost me?"

God replied, "An arm and a leg."

Then Boudreaux asked, "So wat can Ah get for a rib?"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sent in by Jo Ann Montz. I read it in bed while Del brought me my morning coffee. Del is a Prime Rib. And, no, guys, it doesn't happen very often.

== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
5. Household Hint for June, 2015 from Bobby Jeaux:
(click links to see photo of ingredients, preparation steps)
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Handy Microwave Cover

Background on Handy Microwave Cover: Leftovers have acquired a bad name, probably from food that didn't taste good when it was first eaten that was later saved and warmed up the next day. But home cooked food, in our experience, always tastes better the next day. Something about the flavors permeating deeper into the food which makes it tastier the second and third time around. When I cook for Del and me, there is usually enough for six servings, which means we save the food to eat the next day in the fridge. Some foods save well in the freezer, and some do not. From experience we know which do best in the fridge. Sometimes we heat the entire Tupperware container (s) that the food was stored in the fridge and serve it out on dinner plates. But when the amount in the Tupperware is more than two servings, we serve it out on dinner plates, and reheat it in the microwave. (Let us pause here to pray for those unfortunate souls who believe that microwaves do more than just vibrate the food into warmth; they have to wait for a long time for their food to be warmed up and they dirty pots and pans to reheat their food.)

Ingredients
Dinner Plate
Glass cover


Preparation
To acquire the glass cover, we put into use the cover of a Corningware Bowl whose bottom was lost or misplaced. If you have such a bowl, but don't use it very often, place its cover into use for this purpose. These glass covers are oven-proof, sturdy, and easy to clean. The heavy glass top knob rarely needs a mitt to remove it from the plate. Cheap plastic food covers have none of these attributes, as you may have found out already.

Cooking Instructions
Serve the food on a dinner plate. We eat a lot of cooked food over rice, so we serve the rice covered by the appropriate amount of stew, beans, courtboullion, or whatever. This works equally well for spaghetti or other pasta.

The timing for cooking varies, but generally a full plate as shown in the above photo heats up in 2 minutes. The way to tell if the food is hot enough is to feel the middle bottom of the plate. If it is cool, reheat for 30 seconds or so. Once you've reheated a certain food, you'll know how hot you like it and about how long to set the timer for. Ours has a One Minute button, so we generally do 1 or 2 pushs if we're not sure, then adjust from there.

Once the plate has been served, the food will be hottest around the edges, so mix the food bringing the outside edge material into the center while mixing. For food with large chunks, every reheating is an experiment, as each chunk will heat up differently. Better to heat large chunks of meat in a pot and reheat the side dishes in the microwave.

Other options
Rice freezes well, but pasta not so well, so we don't cook extra pasta. We cook enough rice for multiple meals and any leftover rice can be frozen. We usually keep packs of frozen leftover wild and long grain rice, in case we run out of freshly cooked rice, or decide on the spur of the moment to prepare Eggs over Rice for breakfast or supper. We microwave the rice for about 30 seconds and add the fried over-medium eggs on top of the warmed rice.

If you'll notice the blue plaid items on top of each microwave oven, these are fingertip hotplate mitts which are handy for taking hot plates from the microwave oven. Each has a magnet which attaches to the sides of the oven for convenience.
Simply slip your thumb and index finger of each hand into the mitts after the door is open and you can retrieve the hottest plate and move it safely to the table. If you put the mitt on top and the magnet end down the side, the magnet end will not flop into the food when you carry the plate to the table. (In top photo, we had not learned that trick yet.)

In heating up the beans, potatoes and rice shown in the photos, the rice was placed cold from the fridge on the plate and required an additional 30 seconds to the usual 2 minutes. The flat edges of the plate were still cool to touch and did not require the finger mitts. No-edged soup bowls will definitely require the finger mitts.

Cleaning of the Cover
This is the most important part of this Household Hint, and it took us a long time to discover this trick: PLACE THE COVER ON TOP OF THE MICROWAVE after each use or PLACE IT INTO THE DISHWASHER.

At our previous house, the Dishwasher was almost directly below the Microwave Oven, so after removing the cover from the last of the hot food, we would place the cover directly into the Dishwasher so it would cleaned the next time a load of dishes was washed. (See top left photo.)

In our new home, the Baker's Rack which holds the Microwave Oven is far from the dishwasher, and we learned to use the wire separator of the Baker's Rack to hold the Glass Cover when we remove it. We place a small towel to catch any liquid which drips from the Cover. When the Glass cover, after several uses, gets dirty from food splashing upon on it (which would have stuck to the walls of the microwave), then we carry it to the Dishwasher for the next load. (See bottom left photo.)


== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
6. POETRY by BOBBY from Colour :
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

             An Epistemological Litany

             What does it mean?
             What does it mean to ask a question?
             What does it mean to answer a question?
             What does it mean to be sure about one's answer?
             What does it mean to be unsure about one's answer?
             What does it mean to say I understand your meaning?
             What does it mean to say I don't understand your meaning?
             What does it mean to ask,
             "What does it mean?"


== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
7. REVIEWS and ARTICLES for June:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

For our Good Readers, here are the reviews and articles featured this month. The first and second reviews this month will be ones which were never published in early DIGESTWORLD ISSUES and will be of interest to our DIGESTWORLD Readers. The third and fourth reviews are new additions to the top of A Reader's Journal, Volume 2, Chronological List.

NOTE: some reviews here may be condensations of long Reviews, possibly lacking footnotes and some quoted passages. For your convenience, if you wish to read the full review or to print it out, simply CLICK on the Book Cover or choose Printer Ready option on the top line of a review page when it opens.

1.) ARJ2: Karmic Relationships, Volume 5, GA# 239 by Rudolf Steiner


We not only live in our body, we live in our karma. Rudolf Steiner

~^~

Have you ever fallen in love at first sight? Have you ever seen a ring and felt a strange thrill as someone placed it on your finger? Or simply felt an unexplainable attraction to someone you just met? These are examples of an old karmic relationship that will be soon played out in your life. You may wear the ring as a wedding ring for the rest of your life, or get married to the person, or remain friends for a long time. Steiner indicates that there are two types of karmic relationships, of which he calls the above examples "an inner bond" — which type of karmic relationship can be determined when someone has just met someone else.

[page 16] The karmic relationships differ entirely according to whether a man feels an inner bond or whether he can describe only the external characteristics of the other person.

As I read these words I was thinking of my cousin and his wife. She had just died at 57 after he had cared for her for the past ten years or so during her progressively debilitating illness. All the while her brain deteriorated, causing progressive paralysis, she kept her spirits up. If you went to cheer her up, you came away cheered up yourself, because she never felt bad for herself. She would yell into the next room if she overheard her husband saying that life was unfair to her, "Now, don't you be saying that!" She spoke as if her deliverance were at hand, her karmic balancing were in the works, and she knew deeply that it was fair, however unfair it might seem to others. One cannot understand if something is fair or not simply by looking at one lifetime — it would be like trying to understand a plucked flower without reference to the living plant which bore it, as Steiner said once. One cannot understand a jail sentence by only observing the behavior of the person in jail. One must examine the previous events in that person's life outside of jail before the sentence will begin to make sense. As Clare Booth Luce once said, "No good deed goes unpunished."

JoAnn Schwartz wrote on the Steiner98 list, "There is a lovely contemporary translation of the first chapters of the Old Man's thoughts on the Tao by Jesse Garon." [Editor's Note: JoAnn is referring to Lao Tzu as "the Old Man" and Lao's thoughts are his famous "Tao Te Ching".]

Here's a piece that resonates (for me):

"A wheel has spokes,
but it rotates around the empty center.

A pot is made from ceramics or steel,
but you keep things in the empty space.

A house is made from wood or brick,
but you live in the emptiness between the walls.

We work with something,
but we use nothing."

These words of Lao Tzu reminds me of the Sun, especially when Rudolf Steiner says that "the Sun is negative space" (page 23). When I first read these words I wondered immediately whether the driving force in the center of the Sun is a black hole. A black hole is an object in which the localized mass has become so great that it sucks light and everything surrounding it into itself as a vacuum does. Thus, a black hole can be considered a negative space.

Since the concept we know as "black hole" was unknown to materialistic or natural scientists in 1924, so far as I know, one might hazard a guess that Steiner originated the concept, received the information from the universe via his heart, that Rudolf Steiner understood the concept of black hole before the scientific concept was first created, that he understood it at the same time that scientists were beginning understanding literally the meaning of their mathematical equations that called for an infinite mass to exist at a singularity and attract surrounding mass into it. Prior to the creation of the black hole, singularities were considered to be impossible in the physical world, and now there are natural or materialistic scientists all over the world scanning the remote heavens for the proof of the existence of a black hole out there. And they are finding all sorts of likely candidates.

Materialistic scientists have never found a black hole nearby because they have been looking for them very far away. That's a sure fire way to make things more difficult, but it was necessary because the concepts of what a black hole looked like were so limited. What if a small 2 km black hole outside of its event horizon looked externally like the Sun, the medium-size star that brings us light? What if the black hole of the materialist scientists were the white hole or better yet, white source, of the spiritual scientists? In the spiritual world things are arranged in the reverse of things in the material world. What would be a fearsome light-sucking Machine to a Natural Scientist would be an awesome light-raying Spirit to a Spiritual Scientist.

Is it possible? It is, if the major source of the physical radiation of the Sun came, not from some thermonuclear fusion in its center as theorized by Natural Scientists today, but came instead from the Sun which acts as a large charged body moving in a galactic magnetic field. That would produce, according to Faraday, a generation of electrical energy or current. That flowing energy could be responsible for the radiated energy of the Sun. It is already postulated that the temperature of the atmosphere of the Sun is much higher than predicted for the interior of a thermonuclear fusion furnace. If there were no energy-creating agent in the atmosphere, the temperatures should be reversed: the Sun should be cooler in its atmosphere than in its center. What happens if a 2 km black hole is moving in a galactic magnetic field? Has anyone calculated that? How much energy would be created in the enormous atmosphere surrounding such a black hole?

I have often thought over the past thirty years that wherever there's a black hole, there should also be an associated white hole or white source of light. But I have always thought about the white hole materialistically as being somewhere and somewhen faraway away in a distant universe, up until now. Steiner leads me to see the situation close-up and personal. Right here and right now, the rays of the Sun's light are flowing upon me and my surroundings from our local black hole which has an associated and equally local white hole. A white hole, not in some distant Universe, but in our universe, inside our Sun — a white hole that exists in what is a remotely distant universe for the materialistic natural scientist — a white hole that exists in the spiritual world in our local Sun and can only be directly experienced by a spiritual scientist, up until now.

Rudolf Steiner says there are three kinds of space: filled space, empty space, and negative space. In the first space, if he walks into a chair, he hits it, in the second space, if there's no chair, he walks through the space without being held up or knocked.

[page 23] . . . there is a third possibility. I might go to the spot without being held up or knocked, but I might be sucked up and disappear: here there is no space, but the antithesis of space. And this antithesis of space is the condition in the Sun. The Sun is negative space. And just because of this the Sun is the abode, the habitual abode, of the Beings who rank immediately above man: Angeloi, Archangeloi, Archai. In the case of which I am speaking, the gaze of the Initiate directed towards these Beings in the Sun, the spiritual Beings of the Sun. In other words: a meeting of this kind that is not part of a karmic past, but is quite new, is for the Initiate a means of coming into connection with these Beings. . . . The way in which these Beings approach the Initiate reveals to him — not in detail but in broad outline — what kind of karma is about to take shape; in this case it is not old karma but karma that is coming to him for the first time. He perceives that these Beings who are connected with the Sun have to do with the future, just as the Moon Beings have to do with the past.

We have an old saying, I believe, that goes this way, "New as the Sun and old as the Moon." But how is it that the Beings of the Sun should be concerned with the future? In Chapter 7 he tells us that the Sun is the spiritual embryo of the future. We can feel the warmth of the blessed rays from the Sun falling upon us on Earth. Here's how he describes the process in the Sun.

[page 94] But when we know what the Sun is in reality, we shall feel: Up yonder, where the glowing orb of the Sun moves through the Universe, is the scene where the spiritual prototypes of future generations of men first take shape; there the higher Hierarchies work together with the souls of men who lived on Earth in their previous existence. The Sun is actually the spiritual embryo of the Earth-life of the future. In point of fact, it is the first half of the Sun-existence that we spend with the Gods, shaping together with them our future Earth-existence.

Here's how he describes the process on the Earth.

[page 94] For the being born of a mother has not arisen on the Earth; it is only the scene of action, as it were, that comes into existence on the Earth. A wonderful cosmic creation, formed in supersensible worlds, in the Sun-existence, incarnates into what is produced through physical heredity.

The Beings in the Sun have to do with the future because they assist humans in the time between death and a new birth in shaping their futures.

Let's revisit now, in light of these understandings in our hearts, what Steiner was talking about when he said, "a meeting of this kind that is not part of a karmic past, but is quite new". But first let's examine the quite old example, the one that stems from the Moon Beings. When we expand through the Moon Sphere in the time between death and a new birth, the Moon Beings record what we experienced in our previous life so that they may transcribe it into our new astral body when we incarnate once more on Earth. Thus it is that the old wells up in within us.

[page 19] We meet someone and form a bond with him, no matter what outward impression he makes upon our senses or aesthetic feelings. We do not think about his individual traits; our attraction to him is caused by something that wells up from within us.

Steiner goes on to add that, "When we meet other human beings, we are not inwardly stirred in this way." This person we just met does not show up in our dreams, for example. This is an example of a new relationship.

[page 22] When the Initiate meets a man in connection with whom the ordinary consciousness simply receives an aesthetic or mental impression unaccompanied by dreams, no picture rises up in him, to begin with. In this case the gaze of the Initiate is directed to the Sun, not to the Moon.

Thus Rudolf Steiner encourages us to think of the Sun not merely as the gaseous body of the Natural Scientist, but as the womb of the future of mankind.

"A wheel has spokes, but it rotates around its empty center," said Lao Tzu. The Sun has a fiery corona, but it rotates about its negative space center. We cannot enter a house by walking through the walls. The empty space of the house cannot be entered except where an empty space exists in the boundaries of the house. Then we can enter the house with our physical body.

We cannot enter the Sun with our physical body, it will be vaporized. The negative space of the Sun cannot be entered except where a negative space exists in the boundaries of the Sun. Just as we enter the empty space of the physical house with our physical body, so do we enter the negative space of the Sun with the negative space of our body. The boundaries of the Sun prevent our physical body from entering just as the walls of the house. The negative space of the Sun cannot be entered except where a negative space exists in the Beings of the Sun. The Beings of the Sun are the doorways to the Sun-existence.

In the following passage, Steiner is clearly talking about what we today call "black holes":

[page 87] In the Cosmos, space can even be empty of itself, so that at some point there is no space. . . but where the Sun is, there is even less than space. Suppose that here is the empty space of the Universe, and that in this empty space there is nothing, not even space, so that if you went there you would be sucked up and disappear. There is nothing there at all, nothing physical, not even space. It is the site of all that is spiritual. This is the nature of the Sun-existence about which the physicists would be so astonished. Only at the edge of this empty space is there something that begins to be as the physicists suppose. In the corona of the Sun there are incandescent gases, but within this empty space there is nothing physical, not even space! It is all purely spiritual.

"Think of the noblest organ of all — the human heart," Steiner tells us on page 26. In spiritual anatomy the other "organs might be depicted by sketching the Earth."

[page 29] But for the heart one would have to make a sketch of the whole Universe. The whole Universe is concentrated, compressed, in man. Man is in truth a microcosm, a stupendous mystery.

There is a flow from Love to Joy to Understanding between lifetimes and Steiner takes us backwards in time to show us that Understanding flows from Joy in a previous lifetime which flows from Love in an even earlier lifetime. First he asks us to consider a man with a remarkable ability to describe individuals or scenes, such a deep understanding does he have. What does one find in this man's previous life?

[page 30] And one finds that a man who understands the world around him was by nature capable of great joy, great happiness, in the preceding life. . . But this quality, too, was acquired in a still earlier life. How does a man come to have this joyousness, this gift of taking delight in his environment? He has it if in a still earlier earthly life he knew how to love. Love in one earthly life is transformed into joy, happiness; the joy of the next earthly life is transformed into warm understanding of the surrounding world in the third life.

In another passage he points to the importance of reincarnation and karma in the evolution of humankind.

[page 50-51] What passes over from one epoch of world-history into another does not consist of abstract concepts; it is human souls themselves who carry onward the fruits of each epoch.

One of the objections people of the 21st Century may have with Steiner's works is the detailed way he describes the spiritual world, almost the way a naturalist might describe a meadow that he had visited. But Steiner is a naturalist of the spiritual world and he is reporting to us about a place that he has visited and has direct knowledge of.

[page 41-42] We do not expect our fellow-men on Earth to talk about a meadow in the way that pantheists or monists or would-be philosophers talk about the Godhead; we expect a detailed description of the meadow. And the same applies to the spiritual world. It must be possible to describe the concrete details. People to-day are still unaccustomed to this. Many who are not out-and-out materialists will accept generalities about the existence of a spiritual world and so forth. But when this spiritual world is described in detail they often become indignant because they will not admit that it is possible to speak in this way of the Beings and happenings of the spiritual world. If human civilization is not to fall into chaos, more and more will have to be said about the realities of the spiritual world. For earthly happenings too remain obscure when people have no understanding of what lies behind them.

One such person for whom generalities were fine, but the details confusing was Maurice Maeternick, who said in his book, The Great Secret, that he found Steiner's introductions to his books reasonable, but in the middle of the books found much that bewildered him. Steiner says, in one of his rare attempts at humor:

[page 65] We might vary slightly one of Lichtenberg's remarks, by saying: "When books and an individual come into collision and there is a hollow sound, this need not be the fault of the books!"

With that as prologue, let's examine what Steiner reveals happens to a man immediately upon his death:

[page 70-71] The world outside his body now becomes his field of experience and therewith what hitherto was inner world becomes outer world, what hitherto was outer world becomes inner world. We pass out of our personal existence into world-existence. The Earth — so it appears to Imaginative cognition — makes it possible for us to undergo death. The Earth is revealed to Imaginative cognition as the bearer of death in the Universe. Nowhere except on Earth is death to be found in any sphere frequented by man, whether in the physical or spiritual life.

In other words, this is what Christ came here to remind humans on Earth of by doing it himself. We are in the physical body, the body of death on the planet of death, to experience death, and to learn from the lifetime we spent on Earth between birth and death.

If one considers the two perspectives of karmic debt, one finds that a relationship with a person one newly meets may be a continuation of a previous karmic relationship or it may be the beginning of a new karmic relationship. Thus, if a woman holds a gun at you, you might well ask her, "Is this a karmic debt you're settling?" And if she says "Yes!" your answer would be "Do what you must." If she says, "No." Then it's a karmic debt she's creating for herself, and your answer would be "Reconsider." Whichever way she or you respond, your karmic relationship will be played out, will be balanced.

Another objection to Steiner's writings might be made by women who in the 21st Century might object to his writing mostly of the reincarnations of men, or to his focusing mainly on their male reincarnations. In a review of an earlier volume of this Karmic Relationships series, I mentioned how Steiner saw that the female incarnations during the Middle Ages, for example, tended to be active observers of life, rather than active participants, and from the soul knowledge added during that life, fructified the life of the next incarnation as a man. Here Steiner lays out for us that this situation was changing, even a hundred years ago at the turn of the 20th Century.

[page 103] You will realize that when examples of this kind are being given to-day, the male incarnations are the most likely to be conspicuous because in earlier epochs it was almost exclusively men who played any important part. Incarnations as women are intermediate. Today, when women are beginning to be important figures in historical life and development, the time is coming when female incarnations will be increasingly significant.


~^~

Read/Print at:
http://www.doyletics.com/arj/kr5rvw.shtml



2.) ARJ2: Capitalism and the Historians by F. A. Hayek

Everyone knows that what everyone knows is usually wrong. Here's one example: everyone knows that unfettered capitalism is evil. In the movies, the power-mad industrialist puts up satellites to blow up the world if his demands for world domination are not met. Pick any Hollywood movie of the past 30 years, and if there's a large capitalist enterprise involved in the plot, chances are that its head will be the bad guy, the evil villain of the plot.

This book describes how this originally got started. F. A. Hayek and other writers knowledgeable of the period explain how the lies told about capitalism in England and America in the 1800's made capitalism sound like the villain it never was. Instead, capitalism was actually a good member of the village — a good villain — one that provided better jobs and food to poor folk that otherwise would have died, as many did in fact die of starvation before capitalism showed up. But since some problems continued in England simultaneously with capitalism, albeit in different locales from where capitalism existed, nevertheless capitalism got the blame from the historians. These were respected historians, but ones who had a socialist axe to grind, and who hoped, not without justification, that the majority of folks reading their fictional drivel wouldn't bother to check out the facts of the matter. This book checks out the facts of the matter and sets the facts straight for those who would prefer living in a rational society in freedom rather than living in an irrational one in indentured servitude to coercive bureaucrats.

These same skewed historians want us to think that this bad rap got started due to the evils of capitalism in 19th Century England when rapid industrialization pushed wages down, lowered the standard of living for families, produced dark windowless housing units in ramshackle apartment buildings, and pressed children into servitude working long hours in factories for pennies. The images of collapsing jerry-built (from jury-built) housing units, deformed children slaving in hot factories, streets over-flowing with raw sewerage, and overcrowded factory towns are brought up to us as part of their indictment of capitalism. And all this is carefully documented by these historians. Carefully, but not accurately, because the evil villain is unmasked by an unbiased analysis to be the coercive state practices, not capitalism.

In these essays concerning the treatment of capitalism by historians, the authors of these papers analyze the history of the 19th Century in England and America to uncover some salient facts:

  • When wages went down, it was during a period of deflation — more people were working and their money could buy more sustenance than before.
  • Ramshackled, jury-built housing was built by homeless individuals, not the factories. Factories built decent, sturdy houses for their workers.

  • The standard of living of families dropped when state laws prohibited children from working in the factories. They went from many wage earners to one.
  • More deformed children worked in factories than on the farms because the work was lighter and out of the weather. [Note: deformities were due mainly to swaddling and other types of bandaging of infants that prevented them from learning smooth normal operation of their limbs and storing such learning as automatic doyles before their memory transition age of five years old. See Doyletics: Click Here]
  • Windowless housing units were due to the state tax on windows, causing many apartment buildings to actually board up such windows as were already present.
  • A large Irish immigration overloaded towns with workers eager to "work for pennies" to replace the children recently outlawed from the factories. As for the worth of a penny, one need only read this sign from a pub of the time, “You can get drunk for a penny, Dead drunk for twopence.” [Note: obviously there were no minimum wages back then.]
  • One suspects that these capitalist-slamming historians were not writing about objective facts, but were merely re-hashing the interpretations of the biased social commentators of the time. These historians merely wrote what gentlemen of London society were saying at the time, "that the people, from starvation, oppression, and over-work, had almost lost the form of humanity." A gentleman made this remark to a Mrs. Cooke Taylor who had just returned from actually inspecting the conditions in Lancashire that the gentleman had referred to. She asked where he had seen such misery, and he replied that he had never seen it, but had been told that it existed. Mrs. Cooke Taylor's personal comments about the conditions in Lancashire were:

    [page 21] "Now that I have seen the factory people at their work, in their cottages and in their schools, I am totally at a loss to account for the outcry that has been made against them. They are better clothed, better fed, and better conducted than many other classes of working people."

    The Marxist writer, Engels, wrote that the clothing of working people was in very bad condition, that cotton had replaced wool as the primary material.

    What he left unstated was that the woolen industry had labored under the strictures of the Statute of Labours since Elizabethan times. (Page 71) The cotton industry, sans such coercive restrictions, grew rapidly and came to be the material of choice for new garments. In a similar fashion, the American South, sans coercion, was a flourishing economy in the period 1830 to 1860 due to free trade, cheap navigation, easy monetary policies (none), and low taxation. With the South seceded from the Union, the Congress proceeded in the period of 1861 to 1865 to pass all the restrictive laws that the South had earlier fought as a member of the Union. Similar to what happened in England, apologists for the state and historians blamed capitalism for creating slavery and masked its intent to promulgate state coercion to replace the so-called horrors of capitalist coercion.

    L. M. Hacker, writing an essay about America, points out that Josephson's The Robber Barons was based on "anecdotes, half-true tales, and uncritically handled court records". On such a tenuous basis the following three attitudes became part of "what everyone knows". It doesn't take much imagination to see that these attitudes are projections onto capitalism of the state's own coercive folly, which continues to the present day, up until now.

    [page 80]
    (1) that great fortunes in America were built up by fraud;

    (2) that the country's natural resources were looted in the process; and

    (3) that the social consequences of private ownership and wealth were unhappy — in creating classes, in subordinating agriculture, in building slums, etc.

    Hacker on page 81 pinpoints the existence of the first "Freedom Spectrum" [See ARJ: Sic Itur Ad Astra], albeit in an inverted form of the spectrum of the percentage of state intervention, from all to none. Hamilton weighed in on the all side ( 0%Freedom) and Jefferson on the none side (100% Freedom). The history of America has since been a move from Jefferson's 100% end of the Freedom Spectrum to Hamilton's 0% end, up until now. And at every step of the way to 0% Freedom, the path has been strewn with half-true tales and fraud.

    One example is the reports of the exorbitant profits that mega-industrialists like Andrew Carnegie were supposed to have made. Historians love to cite those profits as examples of the evils of capitalism, those obscene profits, they like to call them. They do so only by ignoring the gross overcapitalization of Carnegie Steel, which Andrew Carnegie only adjusted immediately before he retired to fifteen times the arbitrary book value that had previously been set. Yet historians base their claim of obscene profits on this same abysmally low book value.

    Bertrand de Jouvenel makes the point that coercion has the opposite of the intended effect when applied to unwanted human behavior. When one knows the worthlessness of what they desire, their behavior tends to damp away, but when coercive laws are passed, the outlawed behavior begins to grow, as the behavior seems more desirable. The first method creates societal stability, the second, societal instability. One look at our experience with Prohibition is enough to convince anyone of the wisdom of Jouvenel's statements.

    [page 95] These phenomena warn us that a result contrary to the intention may be obtained when social devices [i.e., coercion] are used to raise the moral level of human behavior. It is, moreover, well known that any attempt to change man's actions by means other than a change in his spirit is usually futile and anyhow not a moral improvement.

    Jouvenel on page 100 makes a cogent point that the vast improvement of worker's conditions that is widely attributed to union pressure and "good" laws would have likely occurred anyway. He says that all the political action has "merely shaken from the tree the fruit it had borne." Unions, in other words, do not produce fruit and laws do not produce fruit, the entire tree produces fruit, from the ends of the roots to the tips of the branches, but to listen to "what everyone knows," one could be led "to the belief that fruit is produced by shaking the tree."

    The closing paragraph of the book by W. H. Hutt provides an apt summary of the contents of the essays of this fine book that should be on every capitalist and freedom-lover's bookshelf:

    [page 183 to 184] The two main conclusions suggested by this discussion are, first, that there has been a general tendency to exaggerate the "evils" which characterized the factory system before the abandonment of laissez faire and, second, that factory legislation was not essential to the ultimate disappearance of those "evils." Conditions which modern standards would condemn were then common to the community as a whole, and legislation not only brought with it other disadvantages, not readily apparent in the complex changes of the time, but also served to obscure and hamper more natural and desirable remedies.

    Read/Print at:
    http://www.doyletics.com/arj/cathrvw.htm



    3.) ARJ2: Intoxicated by Life by Paul V. O’Leary

    The Christmas Party of 1958 is the linchpin which holds this incredible story of the O'Leary family together. Its telling fills the pages of this book, echoing the haunting images of its eponymous Chapter One, "Christmas Party". Take this scene, which could only be reported from a pre-teen eye witness to the event which occurred in the hall closet where Paul was charged by his mother to hang the overcoats of the houseful of guests as they arrived. Unseen at first he witnessed this scene unfold.

    [page 1] "Drink it! Go on, drink it! It's not gonna kill you."
           She pushed the half-full juice glass at him, the type once used for grape jelly. I watched as she shoved it aggressively at her brother's face.
           "I don't wanna drink it, Deidre! It stinks! Plus, it's still wahm!" complained Jimmy. He pleaded in a low voice, "Please, Deirdre! Don't make me drink it. It'll make me sick!"
           "Well, if you wanna see my cunt, you're gonna havta drink it. That's the deal. That's what we 'greed on. I'll show you my cunt if you'll drink my piss. Now drink it, you little shit, or I'll throw it at ya!"
           Oh my gawd! What was this? My cousin Deirdre had just uttered the C word! My chaotic thoughts were suspended like shattered shards of broken glass floating in the ether.

    This paragraph is like the knockout punch Rocky Marciano blasted Jersey Joe Walcott with in 20 seconds of the first round of their rematch. It hits you with such a force, that you'd rather stay on the canvas till the count of 10 than get up for 15 more rounds of such a beating. Except . . . except . . . if this paragraph hits you with a jolt of reality and lands right on your funny bone, you'll know this is the right stuff, not some airy-fairy fictional account of a made-up family.

    It happened at a Boston Christmas Pahty, fer gawd's sake, full of drunks, Irish-style drunks. You may joke about the Boston accent, "Pawk de cawh in de Hawahd Yawd" and all that, but I lived near Boston and our sweet real estate lady, Marge Lovely, would not turn her head in a gathering if I called her, "Marge". I had to learn to say "Mahdge" to get her attention. Best to put up with the curious spellings in the dialogue of this book, dear Readers, it's how people actually speak in the area, even polite people. But the Irish in this story are mostly rip-roaring drunk and their vocabulary is nothing, if not, at times, as salty as Deidre's proffered drink, as risque as his Uncle Jim's popsicle, as obscene as an angry Irish sailor, and as downright rude as W. C. Fields was to kids. So enjoy this peek into a book which will shock you, delight you, make you roll on the floor laughing, and leave you wondering how the author survived this upbringing. This is a story of a survivor, but he mostly appears as an observer, as this story is about how he outlasted his wonderfully dysfunctional family.

    Paul was an innocent, at least before the closet incident.

    [page 10, 11] "Was innocent" was the operative phrase, because the encounter with Deirdre and Jimmy in the closet, along with the other events of that evening, shook my childhood naivete. They forced me to look at my family, at other people, and at life, in a new way. The events of Christmas 1958, encountered in innocence, endured in confusion, and absorbed as experience, led to a better understanding of the true character of my Irish Catholic family, whose story this tale means to tell.

    His mother, Mary Ellen McCarthy O'Leary, hated the name O'Leary and Paul inherited her dislike of the name. She'd say, "If you're not careful, you'll grow up to be an O'Leary." (Page 24) Only on Christmas Day were the O'Leary side of the family allowed in Mary's home; the rest of the year, they lived in a place called Pine Court. The other epithet Mary would hurl at Paul was, "You're just like your Uncle Jim!" Here's a quick snapshot of the two uncles, Jim and Denis, two prime examples of the Pine Court O'Learys:

    [page25] Uncle Denis, Son Number Four, was a diluted version of Uncle Jim, like a Scotch and water with too much water. I'd like to say that Denis was a colorless and odorless variety of Uncle Jim, but I'd be lying about the odorless part. He dressed like Jim, walked like Jim, didn't bathe like Jim, and like Jim was fumbling and incompetent with women. He didn't talk like Jim; Jim was garrulous. You couldn't shut him up, especially after a few drinks, when "loudmouth" was the better moniker. Uncle Denis, on the other hand, was quiet and rarely spoke. We never mistook his silence for introspection or depth; not all still waters run deep. Perhaps he was guided by Abraham Lincoln's adage: "Better to remain quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." We all knew Denis was stupid. Denis knew he was stupid. Being stupid is like being dead: everyone knows it but you. He sorted mail at the South Boston Postal Annex all his life. Never got promoted. Never changed jobs. Just sorted mail, manually, five nights a week, on the midnight shift.

    Paul's father was John Vincent O'Leary, Vincent being the obligatory middle name for the O'Leary offspring thereafter, and one son escaped it because Mary was not there to enforce it. She had extracted a pledge from her husband, but his recurrent bouts of "liquid amnesia" his promises to his demanding wife were often overlooked. JVO, as he is called in this book, is a title that reminds me of an expensive cognac, but JVO rarely partook of cognac, as he was not a sipper, but a gulper. A gulper of booze, and a gulper of life. He was happy having worked himself up to Vice President of his bank, but Mary wanted him to be President. He maneuvered the board into electing him President, but was chagrined to find that what he envisioned as a crowning achievement of his life, his wife considered only to be a stepping stone. Becoming President meant a step up in their standard of living and a step down in their marital harmony from which they never recovered. She drank to be able to live with JVO, and JVO drank because that's what he did. His banking work as President was over by 10 a.m. and the rest of his day was spent schmoozing with his big banking clients in various country clubs, and getaways, from which he invariably came home barely able to stand.

    Uncle John and Uncle Bill, Mary's brother, moved into JVO's home after returning from the War and remained there; two men who came to dinner and never left. John lived on the top floor and was rarely seen; heading off to work early each morning, and climbing up the rear stair to his bedroom, coming down only for dinner and returning back up. Virginia, Paul's sister (Vee for short), recalls John this way when she was a young girl, having only a vague idea how boys were different than girls.

    [page 75] One of Virginia's earliest childhood memories involved watching Uncle John through the keyhole in the hallway bathroom door as he jerked off in the shower. His daily appointment with Mary Palm and her five friends was Vee's introduction to the world of men. The little girl knew that boys had a "pee-pee," but she didn't know it squirted something other than "wee-wee" until she spied on Uncle John. His only relationship to me was that he liked to give me a friendly whack across the top of my head (ooh, that hurt!), or a "noogie" on my shoulder, anytime he caught me unawares, which was all too often.

    Uncle Bill couldn't have been more different from his brother unless he had been a girl. They were like yin and yang, and John had all the yang. Even Bill's left middle finger was useless for shooting the bird because its top had been lopped off in a machine shop before the war. It became useful later to him in some Red Skelton-type stunts he pulled.

    [page 79] After returning home at war's end, he'd tell all who'd listen that he lost his finger while testing the wind direction in a foxhole opposite the German lines. He used that half finger most effectively to get laughs the rest of his life by putting it in his ear or up his nose and pretending it was stuck. That he didn't take himself seriously was one of his endearing qualities.

    JVO was a successful banker, a rip-roaring drunk, a productive if absent father, but he was not a womanizer.

    [page 84] JVO was not a sexual creature. At some level men are sexual creatures, but a few have no affinity for the chase, no nose for the "the scent of the hunt." When it came to women, Father was a fumbler, an amateur, a tyro. He was the Mick in the old joke where the female victim complains to the police that she has just been raped by an Irishman. When the cop asks how she knows it was an Irishman, she replies, "Because I had to help him!" . . . He had no girlfriends, never had a lover, and flirted innocently at the margins. Mother was his first, last, and only.

    Paul, as a member of the dysfunctional family, does get some mention when he relates how he was expelled from several elementary schools for "excessive laughing". His laughing fits in the second grade matured into stammering in the fourth grade.

    [page 106] The next year, grade five, I was given one-on-one tutoring by a speech pathologist, a very kind man who helped my speech improve dramatically. He was a father figure, the first adult male I could confide in. By the sixth grade I could speak without a stammer much of the time, and I began to lose weight. By high school the stutter was mostly gone. I grew tall, thinned out, and left my Howdy Doody years behind me. I managed to get through childhood as only partially damaged goods. Who could ask for more?

    Paul's life was drastically improved in grade six when he discovered the most unexpected possibility: Parents who don't drink! He was at a classmate's house on a Saturday night, a time when the O'Learys would already be drunk by then. He assumed his friend's parents were being polite because he was there. So he asked him out of curiosity, "When do your parents start drinking?"

    [page 129] "They drink ginger ale or Coke. I've nevah seen my parents drunk. Evah!"
           Parents who didn't drink? Who could believe it? I let the conversation move on because I didn't know how to deal with this revelation. I thought about it again and again over the following days and nights, repeating to myself. His parents don't drink; his parents don't drink. The idea that this could possibly be true seemed bizarre. After speaking with other classmates and questioning my sister Virginia, I learned that there really were grown-ups who did not drink, did not get high every evening, and did not get drunk at every party. It was possible to become a teetotaling adult and be accepted by society. This was news to me! I thought that becoming an "adult" meant that you had to learn how to be a drunk when you grew up. The notion that this was not true made me so happy!

    His own dad, JVO, was a 24/7 drunk by this time and his mother had turned into Vokarella, and she used Dixie Cups to disguise her circadian reality. When Mary was in her cups, it was Dixie Cups.

    [page 131] As a throwaway designed for short-term use, it furnished less credible evidence of alcoholism than a tumbler. Vodkarella could not abide a glass. . . . Uncle Bill referred to his sister as the "Dixie Queen" (which he probably wanted to be, in another context). He would whistle, sing, or hum the refrain to "Dixie" when he saw her need for a drink or when he wanted one himself. "I wish I were in Dixie," hummed under one's breathe, had quite another meaning in our house. It signaled, "Time for some schnapps."

    It was though Mary could see her reflection in a glass as a drunk, but not in a Dixie Cup. His mother never got drunk playing "vodka solitaire", but she couldn't face the fact she had become a drunk like JVO. She did become violent at times, like the day Paul came home from school and tried to avoid her, giving simple answers to how his day went as he continued walking out of her presence. She began batting him around and he responded with six-grader version of Ali's "rope-a-dope". Then Virginia, his savior, appeared.

    [page 133] As Mother reared back for another blow — it's not easy to hold a broom by the straw end and swing it like a bat — Virginia ripped the broom out of her hands, threw it on the floor, grabbed Mother by the shoulders, and spun her around. With her right hand on Mother's throat and thrusting her left index finger between her eyes, Virginia roared, "Stop it, you drunken bitch! Don't you ever touch him again. If you beat him again, I'll kill you with my own bare hands!" She pushed Mother sharply against the stove, and Mother fell to the floor.

    Paul writes later that the Cynic's Handbook defines "family relationship" as "a license to abuse." He explains:

    [page 137] The above vignette is offered not so much to gain your sympathy, but to explain how I could have evolved a cool detachment from my parents at such an early age. My description of the 1958 Christmas party was, by and large, the way I saw it then. It is not a portrayal of an adult's view of a child's experience, but a recollection of my point of view at the time.

    In the famous movie — "A Christmas Story" — it is seeing the events through the eyes of young Ralphie that makes it so charming and unforgettable, a real classic to return to every year and enjoy it over and over without it ever getting stale. For me it helps that I grew up in that era, the early 1940s portrayed in the movie, I was a red-head boy, I wanted a Red Ryder BB gun, and I was told, "You'll shoot your eyes out." I got one for Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed it, never once endangering anyone's eyes. Though I must admit my brother Stevie used it to shoot the grocer delivering groceries in his back, probably only causing a sting, but that sting was nothing to the stings Stevie received later when Daddy got home. I remember hearing the whacks that Stevie got from Daddy in the hallway he enclosed to mete out punishment for egregious behavior on our part. If he couldn't determine who did the deed, all four of us boys got whacks with his razor strop, but Stevie was immediately recognized by the grocer, and the rest of us were spared, though sternly warned against any repeat.

    So much of Paul's life reminds me of my own, except for the rampant alcoholism. My parents drank for parties in their 20s and 30s, usually cocktails like "7n7" (Seagram's 7 and 7-Up), but rarely afterward. Dad gave up beer altogether at age 59, and the only wine we ever had at the house was Mogen David blackberry wine for Thanksgiving Day. We went to the beach as a family and occasional picnics, and whenever someone had caught a lot shrimp or crawfish, we'd have a big seafood boil, with fried trout or catfish as sides. Our ping-pong table turned into a Cajun banquet table and the house was full of uncles, aunts, cousins, and other neighbors. We never went on long trips together, the one exception was when I was seven and my parents went to Milwaukee to visit my aunt's relatives. No room for me in car, so I stayed with my Grandpa Clairville in a small bayou town for a week, during which I learned to read and enjoy the daily comics in the Times-Picayune, Alley Oop, Lil Abner, Dagwood, etal. It is a love I retain today and cannot understand folks who disdain comics. Like Paul none of our birthdays were celebrated.

    I was really hurt by this the first time when I turned 16 and the party on the ping pong table was not for me, and no one even remembered my birthday. My Sour Sixteen became Sweet Sixteen when Brenda, a girl I had met the previous summer, had returned to her Aunt's home nearby and she called to rescue me from my despair. I invited her to the movies and we spent the night together. My best birthday present ever, my only one for several decades. We celebrated our kids birthdays but rarely ever our own birthday. Four birthday parties a year seemed to be enough.

    After all of the "potty" language liberally sprinkled throughout this book, one would not be surprised if Paul were to describe JVO's bathroom etiquette. Nesting is the euphemism JVO used for the process my wife and I refer to, "I'm going to sit down and think about it."

    [page 148] Let's begin with "nesting." Nesting, a term coined by JVO himself, was frequently heard around our house, as in "Don't bother your fathah! He's nesting." Nesting describes the prolonged, peaceful pleasure of reading a newspaper, doing a crossword, and smoking a Cuban while sitting on the John giving birth to a BM. A Zen master in the art of nesting. JVO could not and would not be disturbed once the "nest" had commenced. Not that he had any medical problems in that department: as a banker, "deposits" were his forte. Nesting was to JVO what meditation is to a Generation Xer: an extended interlude of tranquility. away from the irritations and distractions of daily life. He merely carried to extreme what we all do every day. He would not truncate or abort his nest, whether visitors had arrived or someone important was on the phone. Nesting, whether of ten or thirty minutes' duration, was sacred and inviolable. When he finally did vacate the bathroom, residual clouds of cigar smoke helped mask his colonic bouquet.

    JVO wanted to open a new branch for his bank and made application through the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in Washington, D. C., a place where dreams go to die unless resuscitated by a large infusion of untraceable cash. Is there a cynic alive to prove that it's different today? Apparently the application was held up by JVO's buddy Tip O'Neill until JVO lubricated the bank account of an Irish buddy JFK. Something was clearly rotten in Camelot, a modern-day Hamlet might opine.

    [page 186] "Good-bye." said JVO. shaking his hand and leading him to the door. He escorted Kennedy's bagman-in-chief down the stairs, across the empty lobby, and out the shade-drawn front doors.
           JVO's cloak of naïveté was shredding fast. First, the betrayal by his mentor, the near loss of his job, and his own counterbetrayal and coup to become president. Now he was being asked to pay a cash bribe to a young man from a powerful local Irish family who had set his sights on the US presidency itself. All of this intrigue, stealth, and manipulation to get bureaucratic permission for something he, by law, was entitled to, depressed him and reinforced his cynicism and melancholia. Show me a cynic, and I'll show you an idealist who has lost his virginity. I'll show you John V. O'Leary.

    Paul's maturation got another jump start from jazzman Sonny Stitt who told him what life was like for a jazz musician. This short story blew the bluesy smoke away from Paul's dreams of becoming a jazz saxophonist. Sonny tells Paul about his older brother who gave up a promising jazz career to become a doctor.

    [page 216] "He's a doctor. He has a house; he has a wife and kids. He has a regular life, a steady job, and a steady income. He knows where he will be tomorrow, next week, and the week after that. He knows who will be with him and who will take care of him. He has a family who loves him, and he loves them."
           He leaned across the table and spoke just loud enough for me to hear. "I have none of that. I have no home: I have no wife. I'm on the road 365 days a year. I have no life. You think I have jazz, and that's true. I have jazz, but jazz is my art. I have no life."

    Later Paul found out that his idol, Sonny Stitt, died at age 58. By then Paul was on his way to being a respected lawyer and specialist in real estate transactions, doing something his father did by the seat of his pants without any degree at all.

    JVO's propensity for going to sleep in his chair with a lit cigar in his mouth finally caught up with him, and it was Paul who suffered the most existential angst from the blaze which ensued.

    [page 224, 225] My precious record collection, a veritable history of rock 'n' roll from Bill Haley's 1954 "Rock Around the Clock" through 1963's "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen, was no more. Equally searing was the loss of my jazz collection: LPs by Basie, Blakey, Brubeck, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ellington, Garner, Getz, Gillespie, Mingus, Monk, Mulligan, Parker, Rollins, Stitt, Tatum, et cetera. All gone. Melted into one great mass of black vinyl on the den floor beside the burned-out hi-fi and twisted metal of the album racks. God was I angry! I am pissed off even now, forty-five years later. I never saw the lava field in person: I only heard about it from Mother and Uncle Bill. JVO never said one word to me about it. Not one. No offer of replacement. No apology. Nothing.

    No doubt this is difficult for millennials to appreciate, given that they can burn copies of these songs at will today, but it was Paul's musical treasure. You could hold each song physically and turn it over to see what song was on the B side. You could jump into the pile joyfully like Scrooge

    McDuck into his swimming pool of money. Now it was all gone. . . On a sad note, the artist who made the song "Louie, Louie" into a rock and party classic in 1963 was Jack Ely, who died about a week ago. On May 3, 2015, I sent this email to Paul O'Leary re Jack Ely, the lead singer of the Kingsmen in 1963:

    I just read where you mentioned "Louie, Louie" when talking about the molten lava of vinyl after your father's conflagration. I had just days ago read about the death, a week ago, of Jack Ely, the lead singer. It was a piece written by Roy Peter Clark, a favorite journalist of mine, on "Headlines from Poynter" — the title of his piece is 'Why "Louie, Louie" should be an anthem for journalists'. He wrote, "The original lyrics, written and performed by Richard Berry in 1955, describe a sweet island romance."

    Hope you enjoy the reasons for its transition from "island romance" to "greatest rock song of all time", as reported by someone who commented on Roy's article:

    As The Daily Beast reported, "The sound engineer had hung the microphone from the ceiling. Ely had to stand on his toes, stare at the ceiling, and essentially scream-sing into the microphone." Ely said as much during an NPR interview a while back.

    Years later, Paul was living with his parents in a town on the Cape, and they had acquired a pig who JVO quickly became attached to. One day it escaped from its pen and caused havoc running through the small Main Street and its stores. The Chief of Police called Paul to ask if it were his pig.

    [page268, 269] I called the chief back and confessed; the truant in the pink suit was my pet pig.
           The next hour was spent with two police officers and several neighbors chasing Piggy across fields, forests, and marshes, scampering back and forth across Main Street twice more in the process. Believe me, a pig is clever and can anticipate your moves several steps in advance. She was no easy catch. Forget about capturing her in an open field; that's impossible. She was too quick, and effortlessly evaded us. She was easier to catch if cornered. but how to manage that? Several times she presented what looked like a good chance, but in close quarters she had the advantage and slipped away. That was part of her strategy: feigning easy capture, only to fly through our hands at the last moment. We almost caught her in the salt marsh when she stepped into a peaty pool and got briefly overwhelmed by mud, water, and salt grass. But she was wet and slippery and squirmed out of my and a cop's hands. Who knew what an adventure catching a "greased pig" could be!

    My daughter Carla at the tender age of five knew because, at a Union Carbide company picnic, she was chasing a greased pig. She gave up and came back to me, exclaiming, "I couldn't catch him, Daddy. He had twice as many feet as I do."

    Things went from bad to worse for JVO when he was arrested for drunken driving and no one was around to save him from the disgrace of spending a night in the drunk tank in jail. All his high-placed Boston buddies were gone and he was alone in his ignominious state. Mary's drinking got the best of her and soon she didn't have a leg to stand on, both having been amputated to save her life from gangrene due to poor circulation.

    At one point Paul discovered that JVO who had been threatening to throw them out of their house had been paying both his mortgage and theirs as well, having been too drunk to notice. (Page 299) In the war between the O'Learys and the McCarthys, both sides lost. (Page 305)

    Paul O'Leary gave me a copy of this book while my wife Del and I were attending a conference in New York City. Del began reading it first and I couldn’t pry it from her hands, only wonder at her laughing at so many places as she read the book straight through. Once I got it, I did the same. Don't laugh, it can happen to you. Then you will laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

    If this book were made into a movie, it might be called "A Christmas Story" which, as you may recall, stars a ten-year-old boy in his adventures growing up. I can imagine in some future decade, parents watching Darren McGavin with his "obscene sexy-woman leg" of a lamp in the original "Christmas Story" with their children on Christmas Eve, and then sending the kids to bed to wait for Santa Claus, while the two of them enjoy themselves watching the R-Rated "Christmas Story" based on this book, laughing uproariously when little Paul thinks aloud, "She said the 'C' word!" Or when the O'Learys pick up unconscious Uncle Jim, half-frozen and face-down, from the snow bank, into which he fell while peeing, revealing his snow cone of a dick. Or the 2:00 a.m. farewell when Aunt Jo slipped on the driveway ice, grabbed for Uncle Denis who was pushing Uncle Gerry in his wheelchair, and the three of them slid down the driveway into the street like a drunken Keystone Kops routine, ending up in the gutter, where Mary thought all the O'Learys belonged.

    Paul writes, "It all seemed more like a family circus than a family circle." Perhaps the movie could be named "A Christmas Circus" complete with JVO and Mary as dual Ringmasters, three rings of liquid amnesia fun, a car with dozens of O'Leary clowns stumbling out, and that one slippery pig that no one could catch, namely Paul O'Leary, who escaped the clutches of the family circus, eschewed alcohol, made a life for himself, and outlived the rest.

    Read/Print at:
    http://www.doyletics.com/arj/intoxica.htm



    4.) ARJ2: Who Wrote Bacon? William Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, or James I? A Mystery for the Twenty-first Century by Richard Ramsbotham

    Tom Brown wrote in his first book, "The Tracker", that he learned to track rabbits so well that he could come up behind one and tap it on the back. The author of this book quotes from Tom Brown's later book on page xi, "If you track fast enough, you eventually reach the end and find a set of prints with the animal's feet still in them." Apparently Ramsbotham has been tracking down the authorship for so long that he was able to come upon the author, not only of Shakespeare's works, but also of Francis Bacon's and James the First's works, and, he could tap him on the back. But in doing so, like Tom Brown's rabbit, he would disappear before he could be identified further. Tom Brown found a rabbit, Ramsbotham an author, but both eluded their grasp. Brown didn't need to keep the rabbit, only track it; Ramsbotham didn't need to keep the author, only track down the source of the three great author's works.

    Thomas Paine wrote the prototype of the Declaration of Independence, but the final edition, done in calligraphy was written down by Thomas Jefferson. Few people today credit anyone but Jefferson as the author, just as few credit anyone but Shakespeare as the author of "Hamlet" etal. Benjamin H. Levin in his well-documented novel of Thomas Paine's life, To Spit Against the Wind, reveals that, not only did Paine write the declaration of independence based on his original ideas in the pamphlet "Common Sense", but when Jefferson penned his version, he diluted Paine's phraseology and removed key phrases that might have obviated the need for the Civil War some 90 years later. Let us, through Levin's eyes, glimpse over Paine's shoulder as he reviews the changes Jefferson made to Paine's initial draft:

    [page 181 To Spit Against the Wind ] As he read on, Paine noted more and more alterations. "Undisguised tyranny of the King" had been entirely omitted. "Deluge us in blood" had been modified to "destroy us." There were so many changes that the draft had lost the mask of Thomas Paine and now wore the façade of sensitive Jefferson. But it was a Declaration of Independence . . . independence! And Jefferson had retained the antislavery clauses.


    Clearly, to the unbiased mind, Tom Paine was the hidden benefactor who worked behind the scenes to help Tom Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence. To Paine, getting his ideas accepted was more important than getting the credit for them. Even as modified by Jefferson's euphemisms and slavery leanings, it was a document Paine could be proud of, and for him that was enough. In the crunch of events precipitated by the acceptance of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the true inspiration and authorship of the document was glossed over and forgotten, up until now.

    Similarly it was with Bacon, Shakespeare, and James I's works according to Ramsbotham in this book. Who was the equivalent of Tom Paine to each of these three? As he reveals in the course of this book, the evidence is strong that there was one such "Tom Paine" which acted behind the scenes for Bacon, Shakespeare, and James I, but he is unable to identify the person. Thus one might sum up this scholarly book by saying: Who wrote Bacon? has the same answer as who wrote Shakespeare and who wrote King James.

    But we get ahead of ourselves. First Ramsbotham went to a performance of Much Ado about Nothing where the main actor came out afterwards and thanked the audience as well as "the spirit of Shakespeare, who was present". As Ramsbotham read in the program later, that same actor claimed that spirit to be also the "spirit of Francis Bacon." This led Ramsbotham on his ten years of research into this matter which culminated in this book.

    His first revelation came when he finds that Rudolf Steiner claimed that one spirit, one initiate, inspired both Bacon and Shakespeare.

    [page 4] Steiner states, unequivocally, that both Bacon and Shakespeare were inspired by the same individual, termed by Steiner as an "initiate". But he does not name this person.

    Ramsbotham discovered some Baconians who claim that Francis Bacon wrote the King James Bible. This eventually led him to his amazing insight about James I: that it was the initiate that Steiner referred to.

    [page 4] One evening, dwelling on this material, it suddenly struck me, with a profound jolt, that it was this same historical individual who Steiner was seeing as the inspirer of both Shakespeare and Bacon.

    Ramsbotham spend a lot of time explaining the reasons for his confidence in Rudolf Steiner's words, but as many of my Good Readers are already convinced, as I am, of the veracity of Steiner's teachings, I will skip the explanations. For the skeptical or curious, the book is quite explicit and is available to read for oneself.

    [page 7] If readers can follow the details of what Steiner describes, and then of the supporting evidence, which provides such extraordinary confirmation of Steiner's claim, they will, I hope, concur that along this route we have indeed been able to uncover many of the mysteries surrounding the authorship of Shakespeare.

    As the mystery begins to unfold for Ramsbotham, he finds this quote by Steiner, "The work of Bacon and the work of Shakespear point to the same source — a source that is beyond the earth, but which is represented in the earthly realm." (Page 27) Steiner quote continues:

    [page 28, Steiner] From exactly the same source that the Bacon-Shakespeare inspiration stems from — and even proceeding from the same initiated personality — stem for Central Europe the spiritual stream of Jakob Boehme and of the Southern German Jacobus Baldus.

    [page 28] This unusual expression — an "initiated personality" — echoes with Steiner's earlier statement about James I, that he had within him an "initiated soul".

    This is how Ramsbotham came to understand that some unnamed initiated soul was the font of the inspiration which flowed into Bacon, Shakespeare, and James I, among others. No wonder some materialists like James Dawkins could find evidence to claim that Bacon wrote Shakespeare, after all each drank the waters of inspiration which streamed from the same spiritual fountain.

    [page 30, Steiner] Some spiritual stream, some spiritual tendency might be working in a particular directions, perhaps quite subconsciously, among wide circles of human souls. And the presence of this spiritual stream might come to expression in one single person in such a way that what the rest only dimly divine, what wide circles of people, perhaps whole peoples, dimly divine, he formulates in clear ideas.

    According to Ramsbotham, "The riddle is not to do with whether King James is to be seen as the initiate behind Bacon and Shakespeare, but only with how he is to be seen as this initiate." (Page 35) James I was regarded by nearly everyone as opposed to anything occult, which would have served an initiate inspiring Bacon and Shakespeare very well as a red herring to lead any foxes astray from the real matter and to leave James I alone in peace. It worked well, as Adrian Gilbert writes, "For all his dislike of occultism, James I is the first British monarch definitely recorded as having been a Freemason." (Page 39)

    Ramsbotham names three plays, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, and Cymbeline which highlight the relationship between Shakespeare the author and James I the king.

    [Page 48] Yet exploring a little further we discover, to our amazement, that some kind of link between Shakespeare and King James has been detected in every single play of Shakespeare's from 1603 onwards.

    Ramsbotham avers that the journey which unfolds in Shakespeare's play might mirror the inner development of James I. Then he reports what Kernan does in his book which completely ignores any inner connection.

    [page 51] He gives us an immensely detailed description of all the interrelationships between Shakespeare and King James, while completely ignoring the possibility of any inner influence. He reminds one in the end of someone who has chanced upon Aladddin's lamp, sensed there to something hugely important about it, and therefore described for people in every detail its exact shape, size and physical characteristics, without discovering the one thing that makes it so important — the Genie inside!

    If Kernan had only rubbed the lamp the right way, his words would not have rubbed us the wrong way. Ramsbotham is saying, in effect, in this book, "The Genie in the lamp can no longer be ignored."

    Much like Mozart, Shakespeare's words flowed errorless from his pen, with nary a blot. The editors of the First Folio said, "His mind and hand went together, and what he thought he uttered with that easiness that we have scarce received from him a blot in his papers." What his editors suspected was that Shakespeare received the Genie and what Rudolf Steiner perceived was the presence of the Genie, the initiate soul who inspired Shakespeare.

    [page 53] Rudolf Steiner describes Shakespeare as being inspired from a source in the spiritual world, and states that Francis Bacon was inspired from exactly the same source. We may also speak of a "who" however, for this source was "represented in the earthly realm" by an initiate, who "stood behind" both Shakespeare and Bacon.

    Ramsbotham identifies this person in the earthly realm as James I after whom the King James Bible was named. Is it too far-fetched to imagine that the same person responsible for guiding the hands of Shakespeare and Bacon might have been able to guide his own hands and those of the scholars who wrote the famous Bible still in use today, and the preferred Bible of many? Needless to say, Ramsbotham found it necessary to say and emphatically so.

    [page 56] Needless to say, if we see King James as the initiate behind Bacon and Shakespeare we can credit him with his own Bible!

    After all, there are reports that visitors observed the eight-year-old James translate the Bible from Latin into French and from French into English so well that few men could have added anything to his translation. (Pages 72, 73)

    Our intrepid author Ramsbotham gets to the bottom of the matter in which Peter Dawkins claims not only that Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays but that Bacon also wrote the works of King James, Rosenkreutz, Andreae, Spenser, Marlowe, and others. (Page 61). We could only laugh, if Dawkins were not so serious in his claims.

    [page 60] Dawkins's picture — where everyone is Francis Bacon — whatever else we may say about it, presents us with a terrible story-line; unless we should laugh at the ridiculousness of it, as we do at Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, when he wishes to play all the roles.

    There are a lot more details in this well-researched book, but I was struck by his report of how the 21-year-old King James performed a Solomonic act called the Feast of Peace in which he forced the warring lords of Scotland to attend a great banquet in which a public proclamation of concord was made as the foes drank to each other, and the King to them all.

    What was amazing to me was that a similar Feast of Peace brought the warring sides of the American Civil War together, a deed perhaps inspired by James's earlier deed. In the 1880s America was still suffering from the ill will and recriminations of its divisive war when a King invited the representatives of the Union and Confederacy to a banquet. This American King was Rex, the King of Carnival, whose motto is well known as Pro Bono Publico, for the good of the public, who invited the New York Regulars and the Fighting Tigers of the Louisiana Militia who fought bitterly against each other in the Civil War to attend a banquet in their honor in New Orleans. Through similar toasts and blessings as King James arranged to the Scottish lords, the Rex organization brought a huge groundswell of reconciliation to the young country of the United States of America and helped the heal the wounds and reconcile all fellow countrymen to one another. This Feast of Peace filled the newspapers of America and helped replace acrimony by brotherhood and love.

    Let us hope that Richard Ramsbotham with his book can perform a similar Solomonic Feast of Peace between the warring factions who claim Bacon, among other likely candidates, wrote Shakespeare, and bring some sense of peace to the matter by revealing there was one initiate, one Genie, who lit the lamps of Francis Bacon, James I, and William Shakespeare and helped these three men to fill the world with science, religion, and literary achievements for the rest of time.

    Read/Print the Review at:
    http://www.doyletics.com/arj/whowrote.shtml

    = == == == == == == == == == ==

    I hear often from my Good Readers that they have bought books after reading my book reviews. Keep reading, folks! As I like to remind you, to obtain more information on what's in these books, buy and read the books — for less information, read the reviews.


    == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
    8. COMMENTARY:
    = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

    In this section I like to comment on events in the world, in my life, and in my readings which have come up during the month. These are things I might have shared with you in person, if we had had the opportunity to converse during the month. If we did, then you may recognize my words. If I say some things here which upset you, rest assured that you may skip over these for the very reason that I would likely have not brought up the subject to spoil our time together in person.

    1. Padre Filius Reads a Sign in the New Orleans French Quarter this Month:

    Padre Filius, the cartoon character created by your intrepid editor and would-be cartoonist, will appear from time to time in this Section of DIGESTWORLD to share with us some amusing or enlightening aspect of the world he observes during his peregrinations.

    This Month the Good Padre Learns that Joe E. Lewis Distrusted Camels:


    2. Comments from Readers:

    NOTE: I love hearing from all my Good Readers and including your missives here (slightly edited).
    If you prefer any comments or photos you send to be private, simply say so and they will not be published.
    • EMAIL from David and Maddie in New Mexico:
      Believing photos more eloquent than words to describe their experience on horseback, Maddie sent us this photo. The cowboys in shades look vaguely familiar, especially if the guy would have a bowtie on.
    • EMAIL from Good Reader:
      I am including this email and my response as it may help others to understand that I can only give permission to use items that I personally create on my website. Any material I quote in a review is allowed for me to use, but I cannot offer permission for others to use. Bobby

      EMAIL: Hello
      I am writing a book entitled Faith Forward, Wellness Tools for Women and would like permission to use your "tool box" graphic.
      Thank you

      ~~~~~~~ My REPLY: ~~~~~~

      It is not my permission to give. As a reviewer I can quote phrases and occasional graphics from books I review. Here's the information on the publication of this book.

      How to Develop Your Thinking Ability by Kenneth S. Keyes, Jr. Drawings by Ted Key Published by McGraw-Hill/NY in 1950

      If you wish to use the graphic, it may be in public domain after 65 years. Copyrights used to last 50 years, but I believe that has been bumped to 75, however, probably not retroactively. So it's your call. It's only a human-law. No one will likely complain, and if they do you can apologize. Do not credit me as the source, as I am not; I'm just a reviewer.

      If you do use it, show your gratitude by giving credit to the artist Ted Key for the art and to Ken Keyes for the words on each tool,. at the least. These are important tools for an ecology of the mind, and ultimate credit goes to Alfred Korzybski for hhis classic work of 1933 "Science and Sanity" which is worth a read today. A friend of mine in Milwaukee reported to me a few months ago that he was reading it and thought I would enjoy it. He's right. I did enjoy and learned a lot from the year-long work I put into reading it back in 1978.

      Know that I commend you for asking permission; the next best thing is to show gratitude for the creator of the work.

      Best wishes for you in all your endeavors.
      Most cordially,
      Bobby Matherne

    3. Poem from Freedom on the Half Shell: "Weird Occupations"


    Give me your poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free and I will give them taxes, regulations, restrictions, and every manner of unfairness ever created by persons saddled with the illusion that they can decide what is best for someone else's welfare. The individual, like the business professional, knows what's best in a given situation and, given the freedom, will take that action. The forces of coercion are prying open the shell that contains the living muscle and spirit of the American people — will we resist those forces and keep our muscles and spirit alive, free to open at will, or will we give up like the oyster and settle for "freedom on the half shell?" Here is another poem from Freedom on the Half Shell:


            Weird Occupations

    Einstein was a patent office clerk.
    Isaac Newton was director of the mint.
    Nikola Tesla was a ditch digger.
    Benjamin Lee Whorf was a fire inspector.
    Will Rogers was a rope twirler.
    Ben Franklin was a printer.
    Jesus was a carpenter.
    Peter was a fisherman.
    Matthew was a tax collector.
    Moses was a sheepherder.
    Krishna was a butter thief.
    Mohammed was a soldier.
    Thoreau was a pencil maker.
    Thomas Paine was a girdle maker.
    Wilbur and Orville were bicycle mechanics.

    Surely these men were more than their
          Weird Occupations.


    ~^~


    4. Example of Google being Useless

    This month I was reading out of Ralph Waldo Emerson's journal. At one point he wrote about Hamlet's "pleached doublet" and I Googled the phrase and guess what I got: the exact phrase I was reading in RWE's journal! An exact, interesting, but otherwise useless answer to my Search! First time this has ever happened to me when I wasn't expecting it.

    Good search, however, and usefully, I was able to see examples of "pleached doublets", my green pirate shirt is one. Pleached means interwined, e.g., the two sides of the doublet being tied together with cords like a shoelace!

    Google has become the modern Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as imagined by Douglas Adams in his droll and delightful book of that name. Good to have with you wherever you are in the Galaxy.

    A word to the unwise: Don't pull out your Smart Phone and beginning Googling what someone is saying, especially NOT in the middle of a sentence. You are in a conversation with people, not machines! If you don't have anything to add from your own knowledge, just keep silent and no one will know. Pull out your "Google Toy" and everyone will know. The rest of us in the conversation can Google for ourselves, but if we're polite we won't interrupt someone with Google trash.



    == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
    9. CLOSING NOTES:
    = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

    Thanks to all of you Good Readers for providing the Chemistry which has made this site a Glowing Success. — Especially those of you who have graciously allowed us to reprint your emails and show photos of you and by you on this website — you're looking good! As of June 1, 2019, it enters its 20th year of publication. The DIGESTWORLD Issues and the rest of the doyletics website pages have received over 21.6 MILLION VISITORS ! ! !

    We have received over ONE MILLION VISITORS per Year to the Doyletics Website since its inception June 1, 2000, over twenty years ago. Almost 2 million in the past 12 months. We are currently averaging about 150,000 visitors a month. A Visitor is defined as a Reader who is new or returns after 20 minutes or more has passed. The average is about one visitor for every 10 Hits.

    IMPORTANT NOTES about DIGESTWORLDtm

    Our DIGESTWORLD came into existence years before Facebook and all the other social media which interrupt people's schedules many times a day. All our photos, reviews, cartoons, stories, etc, come to you via a link inside of one short email Reminder at the beginning of each month. We hope you appreciate how we let YOU choose when to enjoy our DIGESTWORLD Issues. To Get a Monthly Reminder, Click Here .

    We especially want to thank you, our Good Readers, in advance, for helping our readership to grow. NOTE our name is now: DIGESTWORLD. Continue to send comments to Bobby and please do create links to DIGESTWORLD issues and Reviews on LinkedIn, on your Facebook page, and on other Social Media. When you copy any portion of a webpage or review, please include this text: "Copyright 2018 by Bobby Matherne".
           Email your friends about the reviews, the handy doyletics Speed Trace, the Household Hints, the cartoons, the Cajun jokes, the recipes, the poems, and the photos in all the DIGESTWORLD Issues archived on our website. Urge them to subscribe to the DIGESTWORLD Reminder so they won't miss a single issue!
           The Subscription Process SIMPLE: no Reply Confirmation is required. An email to the Editor with your First and Last names is all that's required. There is never a charge for viewing any page on our website; nor for any of the guidance we offer to people using the FIRST AID KIT or asking for help with doyletics in any other areas.
           For those who are able to contribute to the site we offer a year's subscription for receiving the DIGESTWORLD Monthly Reminders for $50.

    ~~ NOTE: DIGESTWORLD is a Trademark of 21st Century Education, Inc. ~~

    The cost of keeping this website on-line with its 300 Gbytes of bandwidth a month is about $50 a month. Thank you, our Good Readers, for continuing to patronize our advertisers when they provide products and services you are seeking as you visit any of our web pages. Remember the ads are dynamically displayed and every time you read even the same page a second time, you may find new products and services displayed for your review. Our reviews, digests, tidbits, etc, all our webpages act as Google magnets to bring folks to the website to learn about doyletics and frequent our advertisers, so they support one another in effect.

    We welcome your contributions to the support of the website and research into the science of doyletics. To obtain our street address, email Bobby at the address found on this page: http://www.doyletics.com/bobby.htm and we will send it to you. Every $50 subscription helps toward keeping this website on-line for another month. If you can't send money, at least show your support by sharing your favorite Issue of DIGESTWORLD and Reviews with a friend.

    We wish to thank all Good Readers who have made a contribution to the doyletics.com website! Special thanks go to Chris and Carla Bryant in Corpus Christi and Gary Lee-Nova in Canada!


    You can read a description of how to do a Speed Trace (either in English or Spanish):

    Learn to Do a Speed Trace Here



    Or Watch Bobby extemporaneously explain How to Do a Speed Trace on Video:



    To make a connection to the Doyletics website from your own website, here's what to do. You may wish to use the first set of code below to link to the site which includes a graphic photo, or to use the second set of code for a text-only link. Immediately below is how the graphic link will look on your website. Just place this .html in an appropriate place on your website.

    <CENTER> < — with graphics link — >
    <A HREF="http://www.doyletics.com/index.htm">Learn to Do a Speed Trace Here<BR>
    <IMG SRC="http://www.doyletics.com/doylepb.gif" width="309" height="102" border="2" TITLE="Learn to Remove Doyles — all those Unwanted Physical Body states of fear, depression, migraine, etc." ALIGN=middle><A/></CENTER>

    <CENTER> < — text only link — >
    <A HREF="http://www.doyletics.com/introduc.htm">Learn to Do the Speed Trace at doyletics.com <A/>
    </CENTER>

    Check out the new additions to the Famous and Interesting Quotations at:
    http://www.doyletics.com/quotes.htm

    == == == == == == == == == == ==

    My reviews are not intended to replace the purchasing and reading of the reviewed books, but rather to supplant a previous reading or to spur a new reading of your own copy. What I endeavor to do in most of my reviews is to impart a sufficient amount of information to get the reader comfortable with the book so that they will want to read it for themselves. My Rudolf Steiner reviews are more detailed and my intention is to bring his work to a new century of readers by converting his amazing insights into modern language and concepts.

    == == == == == == == == == == ==

    A Short Email Reminder for the Newest DIGESTWORLD Issue is mailed monthly to:

    Friends and associates
    People who have expressed interest in Bobby's writing.
    People who have Asked to Receive the DIGESTWORLD Reminder.

    Please Don't Bug Us

    Nothing BUGS US more than losing Hale-and-Hearty, Ready-to-Read Good Friends from the DIGESTWORLD Reminder List.


    So we've made it easy for Good Readers who have changed their Email addresses and Friends who would like to begin receiving the DIGESTWORLD Reminder at the first of each Month:

    IT'S EASY to RE-SUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE:
    CLICK HERE!

    As of August, 2011 we have begun using a Contact Manager with an Email Merge feature which allows us to send personalized Emails to everyone in our Contact List. You can receive the colorful Email containing the DIGESTWORLD Reminder beginning with "Dear [Your First Name]". It is important that we have your First Name, so if the name you are addressed by in your Reminder is not your first name, please notify us of the name you wish us to use. For convenience you can send a quick email to give us your name by Clicking Here. To Contact Bobby, his Email address is visible on this page.

    NOTE: As of 2018 the Topica.com List messages are NO LONGER READABLE!

    Please do your part by letting us know of any email address change so that you may continue receiving the DIGESTWORLD Reminders. Most of our Readers come from folks who don't get these Reminders, but we offer the DIGESTWORLD Reminder as a service to our regular Good Readers. To send us your new email address, CLICK HERE! .

    If you discovered this page by a Google Search and want to SUBSCRIBE NOW
    Simply Click the Link at right to send an Email Request: SUBSCRIBE

    If you have enjoyed a particular issue, let us know, especially around the first of each month when those "lost soul" messages are bugging us, Send us a quick email by Clicking Here!

    If you have a friend or two that you think would enjoy reading the DIGESTWORLD, suggest they view the current DIGESTWORLD Issue and perhaps they'll decide to Subscribe.

    To unsubscribe from the DIGESTWORLD Reminder List:
    Click Link at right to send a Blank email to: UNSUBSCRIBE

    If the above links which provide canned emails don't work on your system, you can send a Subscribe/Unsubscribe request to the address found on this page: http://www.doyletics.com/bobby.htm Please include your first and last name when Subscribing.


    == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
    10. GRATITUDE - in Three Easy Steps:
    = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

    Maintaining a website requires time and money, and apart from sending a donation to the Doyletics Foundation, there are several ways you can show your gratitude and support our efforts to keep doyletics.com on-line.

    One would be for you to buy a copy of my Dolphin Novel, The SPIZZNET File. Books May be ordered in hardback or paperback form from Xlbiris the Publisher here:

    online: http://www.xlibris.com/TheSPIZZNETFILE.html

    email: orders@xlibris.com

    The best source at the best price is to order your copies on-line is from the publisher Random House/Xlibris's website above.

    Two would be for you to use the Google Search Engine for your web searches or to find an item on doyletics.com website. New reviews will have a place to do a Google Search at the top and the bottom of the reviews. Just enter a search phrase in the box below to do a Search. Note you can check whether to Search just this site or all websites.

    Three would be for you to let us know you like us by Subscribing to our monthly Reminder. One short email each month with a link to our Latest DIGESTWORLD Issue will keep you apprised of our latest reviews, photography, poetry, Cajun stories, recipes, Movie Blurbs, Travels, and even more! Simply Click Here: Subscribe Me!

    Thank you in advance!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Google
    Web www.doyletics.com

    Like Us? Subscribe to Receive a Monthly Email
    Reminder of New Reviews & New DIGESTWORLD Issues — CLICK


    ~^~

    == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
    22+ Million Good Readers have Liked Us
    22,454,155 as of November 7, 2019
      Mo-to-Date Daily Ave 5,528 Readers  
    For Monthly DIGESTWORLD Email Reminder:
    Subscribe
    ! You'll Like Us, Too!

    == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==

    Any questions about this DIGESTWORLD ISSUE, Contact: Bobby Matherne
    CLICK HERE TO OPEN OUR FIRST-AID KIT.
    Look at George Burns, Bob Hope, both lived to 100. Doesn't that prove that "He who Laughs, Lasts"? Eubie Blake at 100 told Johnny Carson, "If I'd known I'd live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself." Do you find nothing humorous in your life? Are your personal notes only blue notes? Are you unhappy with your life? Fearful? Angry? Anxious? Feel down or upset by everyday occurrences? Plagued by chronic discomforts like migraines or tension-type headaches? At Last! An Innovative 21st Century Approach to Removing Unwanted Physical Body States without Drugs or Psychotherapy, e-mediatelytm !
    Does your Face sometimes resemble the Faces Below? If so, Click on the Faces or Flags to Dig into our First Aid Kit.


    To follow Research in the science of doyletics, Read our Monthly DIGESTWORLD Issues.
    Click Here to get Monthly Reminder.


    For Copies of Reviewed Steiner Books, Click on SteinerBooks Logo below.

    Visit Bobby's Other Reviews, Articles, and Essays

    Books are Lighthouses Erected in the Sea of Time


    Counselor?
    Visit the Counselor's Corner for Suggestions
    on Incorporating Doyletics in Your Work.



    e-mediatelytm is a Trademark of 21st Century Education, Inc. Prototyped 2000.