WHO'S ON FIRST!

Observation of the Day!

Opening Day is here. Nothing says Spring like the opening day of baseball seaon. It is a time to enjoy the optimism of spring training before it gives away to the realities of the long season.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame is 100 years old this year and will be song by millions during the season. A celebrity will once again lead the crowd at Wrigley in the grand old song.

It is the day the died hard baseball fan has anticipated all winter. Dave Barry said this about the baseball fan ,”If a woman has to chose between catching a fly ball or catching a baby, she will chose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there are men on base.”

There is nothing funnier than the old Abbot and Costello routine, Who’s on First. It is over fifty years old, but never fails to make me laugh.

Have a nice opening day!

Sam

ERASING ART FROM THE BEACH!

Observation of the Day!

On the ocean walk from Coronado Shores to the Hotel Del Coronado a local artist of sorts made beautiful sand designs in the cul-de-sac between the Shores and the Del for the enjoyment of those passing by. He creates his art by sprinkling a little sand on the street and then using a broom creates these small bits of natural art. Everybody loved them except one jerk old man whose condo in the Shores overlooked the art scene. He complained that by using sand it was hurting the beach or something like that. What a jerk, crank and dare I say asshole. He went so far as to contact the Coronado police and the old artist was issued a ticket and forbidden to make his art. It must be a remote ordinance concerning the care of the natural habitat of the beach. Hey, it's the beach, sand blows up on the street, naturally. It is hard to imagine anyone being so petty. But you have never lived at the Shores.

My friend Tom was passing on is way to the Del when some boys on bicycles, carrying their surf boards, ask Tom what was going on. Tom explained and one kid said, "Aw Dude, we really liked his stuff." Tom was thrilled that for a minute he was a "DUDE!"

Have a nice day!

Samuel

THIS JUST IN!

News you need to know, or not!

My home town of Marion, Indiana is like most small industrial towns in the midwest. The downtown is always struggling to get businesses to move downtown to the abandoned stores. The Marion Chronicle reported the following news.

"Everything clicked for Jak Christeon and Josh Perin when they looked at the Grant County Courthouse square as a potential site for their new tattoo business.

They had been scouting several Indiana communities, including Marion. After a morning looking at locations on the Bypass, they went downtown to check out the square “almost as an afterthought,” Christeon said.

As luck would have it, the building’s previous occupant had been a jeweler, and the ceilings and walls already had the artistic decor the duo sought."

“It had that feeling,” Perin said. “Somehow we just knew.”

It is a pretty sad state of affairs when a tattoo parlor is hailed as an improvement.

*****

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.

Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The women then called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said. Oh! Yeah!

She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.

"Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her," The TSA is prepared for this sort of thing.

Hamlin was publicly humiliated and has "undergone an enormous amount of physical pain to have the nipple rings reinserted" because of scar tissue,

OUCH!

*****

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - The head of the top U.S. phone company AT&T said on Wednesday it was having trouble finding enough skilled workers to fill all the 5,000 customer service jobs it promised to return to the United States from India.

"We're having trouble finding the numbers that we need with the skills that are required to do these jobs," AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told a business group in San Antonio, where the company's headquarters is located.

So far, only around 1,400 jobs have been returned to the United States of 5,000, a target it set in 2006, the company said, adding that it maintains the target.

A sad state of affairs for America. It is like building the border fence with illegal Mexicans because Americans won't do the work.

*****

Larry King has been named "least sexy talk show host" in a new AOL poll.

Finally an accurate poll.

*****

People who send excessive texts and emails may have a mental illness, according to an article in a leading psychiatric journal.

What about bloggers?

*****

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

MANATEE COUNTY - Prosecutors are moving ahead with a case against one of two 93-year-old men picked up during undercover prostitution stings.

Milio, according to police records, tried to pay $20 in November to an undercover officer on 14th Street West.

Milio recently told the Herald-Tribune he was only flirting with the woman.

"I haven't had that in years," he said. "Ninety-three is kind of old."

Carlos Underhill, 93, will not be charged, although he does not deny stopping to chat with the "good-looking girl" who made eyes at him and turned out to be an undercover officer.

Police say Underhill was willing to pay $30 for sex and that he promised to come back a few hours later to consummate the deal.

Prosecutors say that they cannot move ahead with the criminal case because there is no way to prove Underhill planned to come back.

"All I was going to do was talk," he said Monday. "It wasn't for sex. I am 93, you know."

I had better watch it! I'm seventy you know and have had prostate cancer and like to talk to young women.

It was twenty-six years ago today that I suffered a heart attack. Take a lickin' and still tickin'. I will always remember this date not because of the heart attack, but because it was also the day we introduced mozzarella sticks to the world.

Have a nice day!

Sammy Carl

A LITTLE HUMOR FOR TODAY!

Starbucks-The end of the Universe

By

Louis Black

Humor is based on truth.

Have a nice day!

Sammy Carl

LIAR, LIAR PANTSUIT ON FIRE!

Oh Hill, you're just like Bill.

Hill's memory is foggy.

Bill wagged his finger like a doggy.

Your aide will spin it,

But Hill you have already stepped in it.

Liar, liar pantsuit on fire.

Oh Hill, you're just like Bill.

Have a nice day!

Sammy C.

THE ORIGIN OF THE CARDINAL RULES!

Observation of the Day!

Last year at this time I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I went home from Coronado a little early to begin eight weeks of radiation therapy. Fortunately, it looks like I beat it. I was surprised that I contracted cancer, since heart disease was my demise of choice. I harbored the myth that if you have one disease you wouldn't have the other. I was wrong.

If you are an older male, you will probably develop prostate cancer at some point. It seems that this is just the way it is.

After one treatment, I thought I had left my hat at the cancer center radiation department. I asked the nurse the next day if anybody had found it. They had not seen the hat, but would keep an eye out for it. I commented that when you are an old man, "First you get prostate cancer, then you lose you hat." Of course I eventually found it in my hat department at home. I guess I forgot where I put it, but that is another story.

Whenever I have something wrong me, I want to understand the issues as much as possible. In my research I found a newspaper article about treatment of prostate cancer. Doctors found that each of the three main types of therapy — radioactive seed implants, radiation and surgery — cause different problems. Urinary irritation was worst after radioactive seeds. Bowel problems were greatest after radiation. Sexual function suffered the most after any treatment, although surgery caused the greatest damage.

After reading this, I had a new understanding of why we older men must observe the three cardinal rules of old age:

1. Never pass by an opportunity to urinate.

2. Never trust a fart.

3. If you get an erection, always have sex even if you are by yourself.

The unknown author must be an older male and have had prostate cancer treatment. He is a wise old man.

Have a nice day!

Sam

.

SONG OF THE WEEK!

End of the Line

The Traveling Wilburys

The Traveling Wilbury's was a made up group when some of the greatest singers and song writers came together to compose and play original music together. Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynn became The Traveling Wilburys. They wrote and played some great fun music together .

The Wilburys will sadly never be together again because Roy Orbison died before this video was shot. You will notice the tribute to Roy by the rocking chair with a guitar in the seat. George Harrison died later of cancer.

In the menu section below the video are several other songs from the group as well as Part One and Part Two of the video about the coming together of the group. It w is obvious in the video that they all had a great and creative time composing and making this music. This work was not work for them. I urge you to check out the story and their other music.

Have a nice day!

Sammy Carl

HAPPY EASTER!

This is a day the Lord has made.

Rejoice and be glad.

HAPPY EASTER!

A MEXICAN BAPTISM!

Observation of the Day!

I get emails all the time about the Mexican immigration problem. Some of them are down right racists and some of the information is just not true. I do not support illegal immigration. We need to stop it at the border. We need to have a identification system that works, and then we can punish employers for hiring illegals. The current system does not work. I support a program that will allow current undocumented aliens a path to citizenship. Deportation is just not practical and will break up families with the most harm done to innocent children.

I would put forth that the Mexicans in the United States more represent the concept on which America was founded than some some of the "legal" immigrants. These people at great risk crossed the border for a better life for their families, just as our forefathers.

Much of the views on Mexican immigrants depends on the part of the country you live. Many of the harshest critics have never met a Mexican family on a personal basis. I admit that my views are colored by a Mexican family I have more or less adopted. I am considered the grandfather of the kids. I love them.

Several years ago I attended the baptism of my beautiful granddaughter, Maddie. This is the story.

A Mexican Baptism

A few years ago I had the pleasure of attending a baptism of little Madeline Reyna. She is the eight month old daughter of a young Mexican family I have sort of adopted. Carolina is like the daughter I never had; and Luis, Ricky and Madeline are my grandchildren.
.
As I stood outside the beautiful old Catholic church in South Minneapolis, the various baptismal families began to arrive. It was a heart warming to see the little children dressed in their Sunday best. Their clothes were sparkling and spotless; White dresses for the girls and little white suits for the boys. Each and every one of them was beautiful, innocent and precious.

Later at the baptismal party, the adults all sat in small groups in Spanish conversation. They are bilingual, but prefer Spanish within their group, just as we would prefer English with other Americans if we were bilingual and in Mexico.

There were twenty or more kids who sat together or ran around all speaking fluent, non-accented English. These children are an important piece of the next generation of Americans; piñatas, tortillas and all.

Our families were all immigrants at one time or another. Many of our own ancestors didn’t speak English, but worked hard and sacrificed to establish the next generation and the future of our families in America. In this modest backyard, full of happy children, I witnessed the legacy of America continue.

God Bless America!

Have a nice day!

Sam

THIS JUST IN!

This Just In!

News You Need to Know, or Not!

On Feb. 20, police found the Mayor of La Mesa, California, Art Madrid, drunk and lying on the sidewalk near his SUV, its engine running. A city employee was slumped over on the driver's side. Police drove them home without testing or citing them, raising questions of favoritism. Ya Think?

It was an odd scene when the city of La Mesa honored its Mothers Against Drunk Driving DUI Officer of the Year on Tuesday. Mayor Madrid, presented the commendation.

What more can I say!

*****

To hear Jesse Ventura tell it, he’s either out to become president or an expatriate.

In the opening to his fourth book, due out April 1, the former wrestler and governor of Minnesota writes: “As I begin to write this book, I’m facing probably the most monumental decision of my 56 years on this planet. Will I run for president of the United States, as an independent, in 2008? Or will I stay as far away from the fray as possible, in a place with no electricity, on a remote beach in Mexico?”

Jesse, please just go away!

*****

I listened to George Bush’s speech to the Economics Club of New York. I had a feeling he had no clue as to what he was talking about. Perhaps he does know, but this man has no ability to communicate even when reading the speech. One of the essential traits of a leader is the ability to articulate a vision. No wonder he is not viewed as a good leader.

*****

CEOs say being bald doesn't impede success and, given a choice, it's better to be bald than short. So widely held is this conventional wisdom among top executives that when asked to choose, most CEOs say they'd take 2 more inches of height over a full head of Robert Redford hair.

*****

Then why do we sometimes see bad toupees in the executive office, when platform shoes would be more appropriate. Now I know why Ross Perot was not elected president.

*****

WASHINGTON - Assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian plans to run for Congress, complicating a Michigan race that is expected to be among the most competitive in the nation.

The so-called "Dr. Death," who was released from prison last year and remains on parole, will run as a candidate with no party affiliation for a congressional seat representing Detroit's suburbs, an associate said.

Now maybe he will help congress commit political suicide. PersonalIy, I don’t think congress needs any help.

*****

In a bid to get Sen. Larry Craig's disorderly conduct conviction overturned, defense lawyers filed a brief Tuesday, taking issue with the prosecution's "exaggerating flourishes," including the use of term "prehensile stare" to describe the senator's peering into the men's room stall at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Whud the hell did he just say?

Former American Idol contestant Sanjaya has become a bat mitzvah singer. He appeared at a bat mitzvah in Long Island, New York for free.

Does this tell us his market value?

Have a nice day!

Sammy C.

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!

Happy St Patrick's Day. It is the day when everybody is Irish. It is just like Cinco De Mayo when everybody is Mexican. It is a day when the Chicago River is green, the beer is green, and there is green pizza and corned beef tacos. (true) Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

*****

You’ve blessed me with friends
and laughter and fun
With rain that’s as soft
as the light from the sun-
You’ve blessed me with the stars
to brighten each night
You’ve give me help
to know wrong from right
You’ve give me so much
please, Lord give me too
A heart that is always
Grateful to you.

Have a Happy St. Patty's day

Sammy O'Arnold

YEA! RAH! MARION

Observation of the Day!

I read the Marion Chronicle-Tribune online everyday. For those who may not know, I was born and raised in Marion, Indiana. Marion High School-Class of 1955. My parents are buried there and many of my closest friends still live there. I read the paper for one primary reason, the obituaries. If you don’t read the obituaries, you are too young. My father used to get the paper every morning and before he would reach his reading chair he would go to the obituaries. My brothers and I always had a chuckle over that routine. We no longer find this amusing. We are old enough to understand.

However, I am not writing this observation about obits. I am writing about the Indiana and Minnesota high school sports tournaments. If you know anything about basketball, you know high school basketball is king in Indiana. Of course the state high school basketball tournament was ruined by the class system. It was about the last state to adopt the class system for high school basketball. Never again will there be another little school like Milan win a state championship, This small town team's story was the basis of one of the best sports movies ever made, Hoosiers.

Minnesota also went to the class system in hockey, ruining the one of the best high school hockey tournaments in the country. High school hockey was as big as high school basketball was in Indiana. What is odd is that small schools from hockey rich northern Minnesota can chose to be Four A. That’s another thing, everyone has an A classification. Lord help us is we had a B level. Feelings would be hurt. Grief counsellors would be called. In Indiana all things came to a halt when it was tournament time. It was the same in Minnesota with the hockey tournament.

The sport was ruined by the concept that if you lose, your feelings will be damaged forever. No child left behind. It is an era where scores are often not kept. BS! As with us all, we discover someday that we weren't good enough at some level. Winners move on and seek out what they are good and do it well.

Pat Ruesse, my favorite sports writer, once said that they should just send everybody a trophy and then they can decide if the should keep it. At all high school tournament games it has now become a tradition to introduce everybody, the cheerleaders, the pom pom girls, the mascot, the trainer, the water boy, the assistant coaches, the head coach and finally the team. It takes forever. Sid Hartman, the venerable ancient Minnesota sportswriter, once said, “If the crowds at the tournament get any smaller, they will probably introduce the crowd.

Before I got to the obituaries this morning, I learned that my Marion Giants were returning to the finals of Indiana State High School Basketball Championship. Over the years, the Giants have been one of the most successful teams in Indiana high school basketball history, winning the state championship eight times. This was mostly under the old system.

My dad played for the Giants, mostly as a bench warmer. I did not, but I was in the cheer section. Too short, too slow. My high school era was the darkest period in Marion Giant basketball history. We never got out of the sectionals and were beaten by a little school from Gas City. Good luck to the lads.

TWO BITS, FOUR BITS, SIX BITS, A DOLLAR! ALL FOR MARION STAND UP AND HOLLAR! YEA! RAH! MARION!

Have a nice day!

Sammy Carl

A LITTLE HUMOR FOR TODAY!

THIS JUST IN!

BREAKING NEWS

OMG! I JUST DID THE GOVERNOR! (NY Post headline)

Can't you just see the expression on her face when she discovers she has not been doing George Fox? It is probable that the next word from her mouth was, "AWESOME!" $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!

"The NY Gov's working girl is out of a job and needs to pay the rent. Her music sales are up on an online music download website and Hustler and Penthouse reportedly want to pay 'Kristin' around $1 million to bare it all (via NY POST). Not bad for a days work where no clean up is required. "..

"With all this new money coming in, her court-appointed public defender is probably on the way out. "(NY Post)

AMERICAN CAPITALISM AT ITS BEST!

Have a nice day!

Sammy C.

KING OF THE FAIRY PRINCESSES!

It is Good to be the King!

I can’t be the Mayor of Einsteins and a Mayor at the Coronado Golf Course at the same time. I am too junior at the bar to be elected mayor of the Coronado Bar and Grill, and so I proclaimed myself king. But king of what?

I got into a conversation about the signs of the zodiac with a thirty something female friend. While looking up some zodiac things on the web, I came across a site that sold ceramic fairies, one for each sign of the zodiac. I learned that fairies are currently a pretty big collectors item. I sent one to my friend, and she loved it. A friend of hers saw it and loved it as well. So, I bought one for her, and she loved it. AH HAH! Sounds like a plan!

I gave one to Doe of course, my original girlfriend. When I meet a lady who I think will make a good princess, I learn their birth date and send them a surprise Zodiac Fairy. There are no age requirements.

As I gathered momentum, I hit on my Coronado destiny. King Of The Zodiac Fairy Princesses. It is good to be not only the mayor but the king. I now have Zodiac Fairy Princesses everywhere. So many left to crown; so little time.

I am their protector and hugger! I am not a sugar daddy, but I am sweet. Being both a mayor and a king keeps me young. And yes, I am still a dirty old man, but I wear a crown.

Have a nice day!

Sammy Carl

King of the Zodiac Fairy Princesses
Mayor of Einsteins

MAXYNE ARNOLD (1912-1995)

Observation of the Day!

Maxyne Arnold (1912-1995)

March 12, 2008 is today and the thirteenth anniversary of my mom's death. It is one of those dates we never forget. The picture above was taken at a Marion Giants basketball game and captured the spirit of our mom. Ironically, it would be at a Marion high school basketball game where she had a stroke that would lead her down the road to heaven two years later.

Mom was as outgoing and social as my father was quiet and self-contained. In the picture you can just see my father's nose and part of his face, outgoing and social verses quiet and self-contained. The description of her in her high school year book reads, “It’s nice to be natural when you’re naturally nice.” Mom and Dad’s wedding announcement in the Marion Paper declared, ”The bride is a popular young lady from Jonesboro and active in its social affairs.” Those two brief statements capture our mother perfectly.

May she rest in peace.

Sam

SONG OF THE WEEK!

Tom Wait is not for everybody, but I love "most" of his music. He is a very talented songwriter and singer. His bluesy guttural voice captures the story he is telling. I have many favorites. Ol' 55 captures an the era of the fifties, when our teenage years centered around cars.

ol'55

Well my time went so quickly, I went lickety-splickly out to my old '55
As I drove away slowly, feeling so holy, God knows, I was feeling alive.

Now the sun's coming up, I'm riding with Lady Luck, freeway cars and trucks,
Stars beginning to fade, and I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer,
Oh, Lord, let me tell you that the feeling's getting stronger.

And it's six in the morning, gave me no warning; I had to be on my way.
Well there's trucks all a-passing me, and the lights are all flashing,
I'm on my way home from your place.

And now the sun's coming up, I'm riding with Lady Luck, freeway cars and trucks,
Stars beginning to fade, and I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer,
Oh, Lord, let me tell you that the feeling's getting stronger.

And my time went so quickly, I went lickety-splickly out to my old '55
As I pulled away slowly, feeling so holy, God knows, I was feeling alive.

Now the sun's coming up, I'm riding with Lady Luck,
Freeway cars and trucks, freeway cars and trucks, freeway cars and trucks...


Enjoy!

Sammy

THIS JUST IN!

News You Need to Know, or Not!

As the Los Angeles Times reported last week, the governor has been spending nearly every night in his Brentwood mansion, shuttling between Sacramento and Southern California in his private jet.

The governor uses his own money to pay for his Gulfstream flights, which price out at about $10,000 an hour, the Times reports.

And what about the cost to the environment? The governor's staff says he purchases "carbon credits." Such credits are aimed at offsetting the greenhouse gases generated by his flights but do nothing about the particulates and smog-forming compounds they spew into the air.

Obviously, this green-leaning governor is sensitive about the apparent hypocrisy of his daily jet-setting.

He should be. Carbon credits? It is good, however, to be a rich governor.

*****

Human Sushi Platter.

By Tom Horgen Minneapolis Star Tribune (edited)

Naked under two roses and a large daisy placed you-know-where, she lay still for more than an hour as people plucked raw fish off her body at Temple, the downtown Minneapolis restaurant that held its inaugural naked sushi party this weekend.

About 200 other Minnesotans thought the same, forking over $75 apiece to partake in this rare culinary adventure. You might expect a drooling crowd of male hedonists, but the diners -- evenly split between men and women, and ranging in age from 20s to 50s -- were calm and curious, though they did mingle about with ear-to-ear smiles, as if each had just won the Powerball.

Minneapolis' health and licensing officials signed off on Pham's venture after witnessing a mock trial, he said. What city health official would miss this?

Dudes. Half the models were men. "It's only fair for the ladies," the owner said.

The male model didn't mind going totally hairless either, which was a requirement for each model (they were paid $100 an hour, plus tips). The whole thing seemed like a walk in the park for the soft-spoken Jaworski. Waiter there is a curly hair in my sushi.

But eat they did. Upon entering Temple that night, every diner was issued one pair of fine wooden chopsticks. They were also given a list of rules: Don't speak to the models, don't touch the models and don't say anything inappropriate. You might be eating raw fish off a semi-naked person, but please don't treat them like strippers. Why not? Party pooper!

Chopsticks in hand, Lily Crooks, 25, stood with a group of friends just feet from one of the male models. After watching someone else make the first move, she rallied her group: "OK, now we better move in."Her roommate Ellie Blades, 27, went straight for the male model's chest. Crooks, the right thigh.

When asked about the sushi's quality, Blades smiled and said: "It was the best piece of salmon I've ever had in my life." You Betcha!

*****

The quotation of the week came from Clinton adviser Harold Ickes. "Too much is yet unknown about Senator Obama," he said during a Clinton campaign conference call on Wednesday. Now that raises a fascinating philosophical issues we have not pondered since the philosopher Donald Rumsfeld instructed us that while there are "known knowns," there are also "unknown unknowns," those we "do not know we don't know."

HUH?

*****

By Henry Samuel in Paris
French women are becoming increasingly assertive in their sexual habits, while one-in-five younger French men "has no interest in sex", according to one of the most comprehensive surveys of the nation's love lives. I am not sure what this says about French men!

*****

Joshua Coleman, a San Francisco-area psychologist and author of "The Lazy Husband: How to Get Men to Do More Parenting and Housework," said equitable sharing of housework can lead to a happier marriage and more frequent sex.

Honey, where’s the vacuum?

Have a nice day!

Sammy C.

THE FRONT ROW!

The Front Row

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever.

Book of Eccleziates

There are at least three generation of ladies named Anna Marie in Doe's family. The current occupant of the name is our niece, Anna Marie Chamberlain. Her sister asked me if I had ever written anything about Bud and Cece Chamberlain, Doe's mom and dad. Unfortunately, I guess I haven't. I will have to work on that. However, I do have a piece on Anna Marie, the great aunt of the current Anna Marie. It is such a pretty name.

When Anna Marie died, I wrote this piece about the passing of the generations.

The Owens family of brothers and sisters all sat quietly in the front row of the sanctuary of the funeral home looking forward to their older sister, who lay in the casket looking very frail and even older than her eighty years would imply. They sat there in solitude with their own special memories of their big sister, Anna Marie. She was preceded in death by her brother Harvey J. As they say in the obituaries.

They rest of the family, sons and daughter, nephews and nieces sat behind them. Who was Anna Marie and what did her life mean to those in the room? Each has their remembrances of who she was. The younger members of the Owen descendants don’t know her at all beyond asking the question as to who was that really old woman at the family gathering. The young seem to only see the old. They never look into their eyes and see that this person was also there age once, and they had all the hopes and dreams that these kids have. The old have lived a full life full of experiences. But youth never asks.

Dr. Sherwin B. Nuland in his book How We Die writes, "The greatest dignity to be found in death is the dignity of the life that preceded it. This is a form of hope we can all achieve, and it is the most abiding of all. Hope resides in the meaning of what our lives have been."

Anna Marie’s sister, Jo, put together a scrap book of photographs that depicted some of the life of Anna Marie Owen. It showed a beautiful young girl and woman, yet a woman that never married until she was fifty-seven, and then was widowed just three years later. I saw the real Anna Marie for the first time through that scrap book. The priest in his eulogy talked of Anna Marie as a visionary. She made the best of her choice to be a teacher. In those days woman had basically three options in career beyond that of mother and homemaker, teacher, nurse or clerical. Anna chose teaching, and then followed Harvey J. to Europe to teach military dependents in Germany and Italy for more than seventeen years. She traveled to Europe well before it was as ordinary as it is today. She was a woman of culture. She took beautiful pictures of various scenes and cathedrals all over Europe. One of the cathedrals was visited by her niece, Anna Marie, as part of a school trip. The younger Anna Marie marveled that the older Anna Marie had stood in the same spot as she many years before. It created a special bond for her. It’s too bad they could not have shared that bond while aunt Anna Marie was alive.

Anna Marie was a religious person. The priest gave her the last rights, but even from her near comatose state when the priest gave her permission to go to a greater place she answered she knew and thanked him and she died in the early morning hours the next day.

What we saw in the scrap book was the real Anna Marie. What we see in the casket was a small body ravaged by Alzheimer's and alcoholism. I wonder what demons drew her to alcohol. Was it her lost happiness in widowhood? Everyone has demons and weaknesses in their lives. In her religious beliefs she commented that suicide was a sin, but did she hasten her death through alcohol? Alcohol and Alzheimer's was not what her life was about. It is a detraction to what had been a life of adventure and the rewards of teaching the young.

And so the front row mourns in their way and we mourn in our way from the second row, knowing that some day too soon we will take our places on the front row and mourn as the older generation mourns today. In the back of the room the thought hasn’t even come up yet. The younger generation is too far removed from the first and second row. We know we are about to inherit the role of front row mourners, the older generation. And we will become the generation of the unasked. We can take comfort in the fact that we a merely playing out life’s predestined roles as all before us have done, and the world moves forward and we all move up to the front row.

Have a nice day!

Sam

LISTENING TO THE DAWN!

When I was a young boy, my brother and I used to spend a few days with our grandmother. It was an old house belonging originally to our great grandparents. We slept up stairs in a dark and scary small half finished bed room, sleeping on an old-fashioned feather bed. I recall to this day those dewy sweet smelling sunny mornings as the summer sun rose. In the distance a turtle dove would make its early morning call. Today when I hear a turtle dove's call, I immediately think of those summer mornings in Jonesboro, Indiana.

Listening To The Dawn

By

Me

Cooo Kaa Koooo, calls the mourning dove; listen to the dawn.

It calls back the black of night and dims the moon to make room for the gray of dawn

It calls to the rising orange of the sun to turn gray to blue and suck back the dampness of morning dew.
.
It calls to its lover, and its lover calls back.

It calls to me, snug in my bed, listening to the dawn.

Its call adds a gentle consistency to my life.

It calls to all who listen to the dawn.

It calls, and then quiet, giving away to the noise of the day.

Cooo Kaa Kooo calls the mourning dove; listen to the dawn.

Cooo Kaa Kooo.

Have a nice day!

Sammy Carl

HONEST SMOKE!

Today I return to the archives. This piece was written to reveal a life lesson that became a core belief I have always carried forward in living my life.

Honest Smoke

I was an early experimenter in smoking. I started smoking in the open and in front of my parents at the ripe old age of sixteen, but I was sampling the vice long before I came out of the smoking closet or in the case at Beaver Dam Lake, a two holed out-house. I didn’t do drugs or drink alcohol in high school -- smoking was my sin of choice.

Smoking today is viewed quite differently than it was in the days of my youth. Smoking is now viewed by society as the mother of all vices and no-smoking policies are enforced by non-smoking, holier than thou, mostly reformed smokers -- the smoking police. You can see the poor smoking wretches huddled outside their office buildings on very cold, blustery days trying to keep warm, but always serving their personal demon. It’s the price they pay for their sin. And I must say I don’t really care. It’s a rotten dirty death dealing habit. However, coffin nails are still a matter of personal choice -- this is America.

Most everybody, particularly in the fifties and sixties smoked. Most of my friends smoked in high school. My old Ford must have looked like it was on fire, as smoke from our before school cigarettes poured out of the car as we stepped out to go into the school building. Cigarettes and cigars were advertised on television. In every movie, actors both men and women all puffed away on the screen. I saw an old clip of Janis Joplin, the legendary rock star who eventually died of a heroin overdose, on a Dick Cavette show in the sixties, and she sat right next to him smoking a cigarette, blowing the smoke his way. Smoking was considered cool, sophisticated and just normal.

One warm summer day, with way too much time on our hands, my neighborhood friends, Frank Wilson, Jerry Weisenauer and I decided we wanted to have a smoke and spent some time trying to figure out where we could get the tobacco. I came up with the solution to our nicotine dilemma. I knew that Uncle Jake, our next door neighbor, kept his cigars in a smoking cabinet in his living room. It was in the afternoon, and I figured I could perhaps sneak into his house without anyone knowing and steal a cigar. I was right. There was nobody downstairs. I figured that if I were caught in the house I would just say I had come over to visit. The cigars were right where they should be. I quickly grabbed one and silently sped out the door with no one being the wiser. Ha! Ha! What a clever boy was I.

We disappeared under a big leafy bush tent that served as both our hide-out and the left field fence of the back lot baseball field. We lit up and passed it around. My brother, Terry, joined us a little later to share a few puffs.

Mom called that it was time to come and get washed up for supper and everybody went home. As I passed her on the way into the house, she smelled the cigar smoke on my breath and clothes. Why did I think she could not smell the smell of a smelly cigar? She asked if I had been smoking. I quickly admitted the crime with a quiet and mumbled, “Yes”. How could I do anything but admit the truth with the evidential smell clinging to every part of me?

“Where did you get the cigar?

”We found it. It was all wrapped”. Honest!

Mom was mad, of course, but this was not the first time I had been caught using the forbidden “weed”. I fully expected she would tell Dad, and there would be some level of punishment administered. Based on past smoking convictions, I wasn’t too worried about what punishment might be handed out. I could take it like the man I was pretending to be. However, this was a crime of a repeat offender who had perjured himself under questioning by my ultimate judges -- my parents. As I found out, I was subject to larger crimes and punishment and a life’s lesson learning event of most epic proportions.

When Jerry got home, his mom asked the same motherly smoking question, as to where we got the cigar, and he was too quick to say, “Sam stole it from Uncle Jake’s house.” (Uh-oh!)

Of course, Mrs. Weisenauer was not one to keep a secret, so she called my Mother and told her the truth, according to Jerry. Terry and I were quickly banished to our beds without supper, a frequent form of punishment for rather serious offenses. I could live with it, although I was hungry. A little later I heard Dad coming up the stairs -- Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! (Uh-oh!) As he entered our room, I could see that he held his house slipper in his hand. He whacked my butt good, and then moved to the other side of the room to administer the same punishment to my brother. Although I’m sure there were other spankings, this was the only spanking I ever remember my Dad giving me. It hurt, but I could live with it. I figured that my punishment was over, and I had made it once again through the sentence. (Uh-oh!) The paddling was a good one, but not nearly the punishment that was still coming.

He said, “That was for smoking, but that’s not the end of it. (Uh-oh!) For stealing and for lying about where you got the cigar you, Jerry and Frank are going to go over to Uncle Jake’s tomorrow and tell him that you stole one of his cigars, and you are to do the talking. (Uh-oh!) “What about Terry?”, I asked. “He wasn’t in on the stealing, so he doesn’t have to go”, Dad replied. I guess in legal terms, he was considered an accessory after the fact. I thought to myself, “Boy, that doesn’t seem fair (I knew enough to keep my mouth shut though). This has gotten way out of hand. This is really serious. I’m not sure I can take it. Another house slipper whack would be better than this.”

The three of us walked into the Campbell’s house about noon the next day. They were all seated around the table in the kitchen getting ready for lunch. I did the talking, as instructed, and told them what I had done and that we were very very sorry. There were even a couple of tears shed. We were forgiven, but in retrospect, they must have had to do everything possible to keep their snickers muffled at our obvious pain. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I suppose that was a secondary lesson learned. Do what you have to do and get on with it. This experience made me more of a man than any cigarette or cigar ever did.

It was lessons learned about honesty and confession. It didn’t stop me from smoking for a long time, but it did teach me about the importance of honesty and a personal code of conduct that I have carried with me all of my life. The consequences of dishonesty and lying are too great, and it had nothing to do with a spanking.

Honesty is at the core of my soul, and my parents lovingly placed it there. They understood how and when to teach the most important lessons of life.

Honesty is always the best policy; confession is good for the soul, and the country still needs is a good five-cent cigar.

June, 1996

Have a nice day!

Sammy Carl

TOUCHING KIRBY!

Observation of the Day!

A new baseball season is fast approaching. I always thought Spring Training was a great term for the coming of a new season. Just like spring signals warmer weather ahead, Spring Training is always a period of of extreme optimism for the local team, even though you know your guys will be down in the standings in a month or two.

Kirby Puckett died two years ago today. To Minnesota Twins fans, he was the epitomy of the Twins. He was elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. He was Mr. Twin.

I have a few personal memories of Kirby that I will never forget:

My boys and I attended the sixth game of the 1991 World Series. In the club house before the gameKirby said. " Get on my back boys, I'll carry you." And he did. Kirby made a spectacular catch in center field in the top of the ninth and then proceded to hit the game winning home run. As Jack Buck said. "And we'll see you tomorrow night".

It was the greatest baseball game I had ever witnessed to this day, and I got to share this memory with my sons.

*****

Kirby lived not far from where we do. It was really fun and interesting to go to the neighborhood health club and see Kirby Puckett, Hall of Famer, playing pickup basketball in the gym.

*****

I was at Byerly's supermarket in Edina one day and who should be pushing a shopping cart down the aisle toward me, but Kirby himself, Cheerios and all. As I passed I put my hand on his shoulder and said, ' Woman's work is never done is it Kirby? He chuckled and gave me that unforgettable smile. However, the thing I remember most was that his shoulder was like touching a steel ball, even after he retired.

*****

Kirby Puckett was joy. Unfortunately, we will not see him tomorrow night.

Have a nice day and PLAY BALL!

Sammy Carl

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

Announcement From Samuel C. Arnold
Mayor of Einsteins and King of the Fairy Princesses

After a meeting with myself, I have come to the conclusion that if I am truly Looking For Nirvana then I must cease political comments and opinions. There will never be a Nirvana in the partisan political environment of today.

To remind myself and my readers, I reread my mission statement from the top of the Blog

Looking for Nirvana

Nirvana is a special state of perfect happiness and calming peace; free of pain, worry, the external world and our internal self? We are all looking for Nirvana. There is no perfect Nirvana on Earth, it only exists in heaven. What we can do here on Earth is look for those little everyday Nirvanas. I hope to find some along the way.

There is nothing further from this state of being than politics and politicians. Therefore, I say goodbye to political comments and opinion.

Have a nice day!

Samuel C. Arnold

AN EXTRA: Cactus Cuties Sing the National Anthem

Some of the pop stars who always try to be cute with a unique version of the National Anthem could take a lesson from the lovely young ladies.

This comes from an old friend, Jim Aldrich.

Sam

MICHELLE OBAMA SHOWS HER COLORS!

Political Observation of the Day!

A few weeks ago Michelle Obama stated that for the first time she felt good about America. This is a woman who has risen to the top of her profession and attended Princeton and Harvard Law. She didn't feel good about the opportunities she had?????? Spare me Mrs. Obama.

In another piece written by Byron York and reported on Drudge, York points out some other things about an appearance in Ohio.

Michelle Obama: "Don't Go Into Corporate America" [Byron York]

I have a new story today about Michelle Obama's visit to Zanesville, Ohio, where she met with a group of women at a local day care center. According to the U.S. Census, Muskingum County, where Zanesville is located, had a median household income of $37,192 in 2004, below both the Ohio and national averages. Just 12.2 percent of adults in the county have a bachelor's degree or higher, also well below the state and national averages. About 20 percent don't have a high school degree. Nevertheless, Mrs. Obama urged them to foreswear lucrative professions like corporate law or hedge fund management and go into the helping industry, even if the sacrifice is great:

As she has many times in the past, Mrs. Obama complains about the lasting burden of student loans dating from her days at Princeton and Harvard Law School. She talks about people who end up taking years and years, until middle age, to pay off their debts. “The salaries don’t keep up with the cost of paying off the debt, so you’re in your 40s, still paying off your debt at a time when you have to save for your kids,” she says. BS! Obama!

“Barack and I were in that position,” she continues. “The only reason we’re not in that position is that Barack wrote two best-selling books… It was like Jack and his magic beans. But up until a few years ago, we were struggling to figure out how we would save for our kids.” A former attorney with the white-shoe Chicago firm of Sidley & Austin, Obama explains that she and her husband made the choice to give up lucrative jobs in favor of community service. “We left corporate America, which is a lot of what we’re asking young people to do,” she tells the women. “Don’t go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse. Those are the careers that we need, and we’re encouraging our young people to do that. But if you make that choice, as we did, to move out of the money-making industry into the helping industry, then your salaries respond.” Faced with that reality, she adds, “many of our bright stars are going into corporate law or hedge-fund management.”

What she doesn’t mention is that the helping industry has treated her pretty well. In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office. And that does not count the money Mrs. Obama receives from serving on corporate boards. She would have been O.K. even without Jack’s magic beans.

She is a full blown hypocrite, elitist and Limousine Liberal! It is this kind of crap that totally turns me off. Playing a class warfare card is as bad as the race card as far as I am concerned. I am sure the student loans captured the short fall of the nice scholarships to these Eastern Ivy League elitist schools. As I have said before, I am leaning to Obama if he doesn't go too far left. I am leaning back to McCain at the moment because of Mrs. Obama.

Rant Over!

Have a nice day!

Samuel C. Arnold

IS A BIKINI A SPORTS OUTFIT?

Observation of the Day!

The Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue is on the news stands. It is not mailed to libraries, so you have to buy it. Of course it will bring the usual letters of protest that these beautiful woman and their bikinis do not belong in a sports magazine. Subscriptions will be canceled and feminist will be outraged.

However, dirty old men, like your old observer, could not disagree more. We believe it is sports related. Fantasy sports leagues are formed, played and written about. We have fantasy football, fantasy baseball, even fantasy golf. Why can’t we have fantasy hotties?

In our important issue related discussions at the Coronado Golf Course bar, we got around to the Swim Suit issue. The question was raised as to when the first Swim Suit issue was published. One leading member of the council said twenty years. I said it was closer to fifty. He then challenged me that it was closer to twenty than fifty, and we bet a dollar. I volunteered to Google it.

The first issue was published in 1964, 44 years ago. I win. Why has Sports Illustrated continued to publish this issue that causes outrage and cancellation of subscriptions? $35 million dollars in advertising sales in 2005. Follow the money.

The Swim Suit issue is credited with making the Bikini a must wear at the beach, including ladies who shouldn’t. Bikinis have been good for the fashion industry. Never has anything so small cost so much. We love Bikinis.

And so blogees, once again the Observation of the Day has become an important source of information and education. We are proud of our tradition of giving you news and information you need to know, or not.

Have a nice day!

Sammy Carl

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FROM JIM!

Observation of the Day!

This is another post from my brother, Jim, in his editorial on KOLD TV, Something to Think About.

"When searching for a new job most have to be careful. If you currently hold a job, your search will most likely be PART time. You will want confidentiality from perspective employers.

Here is what I think is a given: You must keep doing your current job or risk losing it while searching for your new job.

Are you with me on this?

The special exception is for incumbent political candidates. They get to announce to all of us that they are looking for a new job. They apply for this new job without fear of losing their old job, their full pay nor its benefits.

Here's Something To Think About: If an incumbent wants to run for a new political office, they must resign from their old political office. Why are they the few who can have their cake and eat it, too? I am sure in their minds it is justified.

How many of you have the right to announce to your boss you are looking for a new job, that you are doing it full time and that you expect full pay and benefits until you know if you got the new job or not?"

Have a nice day!

Jim and Me

GARDEN OF INNOCENCE!

Observation of the Day

Today's observation comes from the San Diego Union Tribune (edited). It is a touching story about the buriel of abandoned babies.

By Sandi Dolbee
UNION-TRIBUNE RELIGION & ETHICS EDITOR

March 1, 2008

Bare branches of trees in winter form slender shadows on the lawn, like fingers reaching out to gently rock a cradle. A raised marker welcomes visitors with these words: “Garden of Innocence. Final resting place for abandoned children.”

While most in the Garden of Innocence have individual markers, one tablet has more than three dozen names.
Annmarie joins them this morning, when she will become the 100th baby buried by a charity whose founder couldn't bear the thought of infants going unclaimed in death.

“These are human beings,” Elissa Davey said. “They don't deserve that.”

“To me, it's giving dignity to somebody who had none, and it's giving love to somebody who had none,” Davey added. “The people who come to these services walk away knowing that that baby is a part of their lives.”

Like many of those buried at the Garden of Innocence, Annmarie was a hospital stillborn. A spokesman for Grossmont Hospital said the family was unable to make any other arrangements. Others were found dead elsewhere, their grim discoveries in a landfill or trash bin, often making the news.

“We don't dwell on that part,” said Georgene Kruzel, a 54-year-old Spring Valley woman who became president of the group in January. “We dwell on making that life recognized. Our agreement with the county is we basically get the child with very little information. We don't need to know.”

Here is what Kruzel and Davey do know: It takes a village to bury these babies.

The initial land was donated by El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley (donations have subsequently helped buy adjacent property). Volunteers make the caskets and baby blankets, write poems for each child and supply a toy to be tucked into the coffin. The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic service organization, provides the honor guard.

Larry Campitiello, a local Knights of Columbus member, was there in full dress uniform for the first service nearly nine years ago.

“I showed up with six of my brother Knights,” remembers Campitiello, who is 71 now and lives in Rancho Bernardo. “We've had Knights of Columbus at every burial ever since.”

Baby-naming honors are rotated to volunteers, donors and anyone who expresses an interest, according to Davey. Campitiello and his wife named Baby No. 100. “My wife and I had three sons,” he explained. “We decided way back that if we ever got a girl, we would name her Annmarie.”

Even if there is a known birth name, Davey said the program gives the baby a new one. Her reasoning: “The person who gave them that name didn't care.”

The lining for Annmarie's casket was made by Alice Busch, a 60-year-old San Marcos resident who learned about the Garden of Innocence through the Mormon church she attends. The cloth is polka-dotted flannel, trimmed in lace. Busch said she wanted something soft and delicate, something that would bring comfort.

“I just have never had anything touch my heart like this has,” Busch said of the Garden of Innocence project. “You hear about these things all the time in the news, but you never hear about what happened to them afterward. Howard Sanders, a woodworker who heard about the program through his mother, crafted the coffin out of sapele wood, which has a reddish-brown luster similar to mahogany.

Sanders, a 39-year-old San Marcos resident, said he got involved because he felt it was the right thing – and because it may serve as an example of service to his own children.

“By doing this, I am able to teach my daughters that this is what we do,” he said.

Wally Hobbs, one of several funeral directors who volunteer their services, will deliver Annmarie this morning in his shiny hearse, a specially outfitted black van.

“I take pride in doing the funeral,” said Hobbs, 61, of All Faiths Mortuary and Crematory Services in Rancho Peñasquitos. “When it comes to children, they need to be loved.”

Even with the donated help, each funeral still costs about $400 in fees and other expenses. Those costs are borne by donations to the Garden of Innocence, a registered nonprofit charity.

Abandoned babies used to be buried in unmarked graves at the city-owned Mount Hope Cemetery. Now, after a certain amount of time elapses in which babies of at least 20 weeks in gestation remain unclaimed, county officials contact Davey.

The services are open to the public, generally drawing crowds of a handful of people to more than 70.

Some people, like a couple visiting San Diego on vacation, show up after reading the funeral notices like this one from a few months ago: BABY NANCY Saturday, December 15, 2007, at 10 a.m., Garden of Innocence – El Camino Memorial Park. Public Welcome. Garden of Innocence provides dignified burials for abandoned babies.
“People come for all kinds of reasons,” said Kruzel, the group's president. In the couple's case, the wife was grieving the loss of an adult son. “They came to the service and were uplifted,” Kruzel said.

Have a nice day and pray for the innocent!

Sam

A LITTLE HUMOR FOR TODAY!

A great story told by Jay Thomas about the Lone Ranger on Letterman.

This came to me from my sister-in-law, Ruth.

Have a nice day!

Sammy Carl