existentialautotrip
Post for January 22 2023
# 1590
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Opening Picture
Feng Shui Fountain in Taipei, Taiwan
A modern "feng shui fountain" at Taipei 101, Taiwan
Alton Thompson - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:101.fountain.altonthompson.jpg
Feng Shui fountain at Taipei 101 entrance 7 on Hsinyi Road.
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Commentary
Part II of a discussion of the Health, Education, and Welfare of the American of the American people. What we want is an increase across the board: universal health care, free public education from pre-K through four years of college, and a wider and stronger safety net.
How to accomplish this several trillion-dollar expense? A bit by the overdue transfer of wealth from our ultra-rich citizens but most of the funding from taking a 25% stake in every large company doing business in the United States.
Why?
Because wealth in America is created by virtue of the infrastructure, the market, the capital markets, the intellectuals and creators and the highly trained, highly motivated workforce.
The creation of these circumstances costs vast sums that are not accounted for in our current economic model.
It’s time to call in our chips.
We must continue the historically powerful, unrelenting, albeit glacial movement towards a decent life for all working Americans.
Money.
A false god.
But a great tool.
Books and Food
Oh! What a lucky gal I am..
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Kat’s Gen Z Corner
This is the second of nine books that I’ve selected as the best of the fifty books I read in 2022.
I selected this because Ruth Ozeki is one of the best storytellers and moralists of my generation. Just after Donna Tartt
This is the front cover art for the book A Tale for the Time Being written by Ruth Ozeki. The book cover art copyright is believed to belong to the publisher, Viking Press, or the cover artist.
It is believed that the cover art can or could be obtained from Viking Press.
But Gen Zees don’t only read. We also cook.
Dad, this is the beginning of a delicious butternut squash soup featuring the beautiful Le Creuset pot you gifted Will.
I used this recipe.
I like this person's recipes because they are clean, simple, and vegan.
Vegan Butternut Squash Soup - PlantYou
Adjustments:
1 head of garlic -- not 3. She's crazy for that one.
5 thyme sprigs, not 3
Pro tip: buy the butternut squash pre-diced - saves a headache.
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Tucker’s Screen Corner
Favorite Films of 2022 Part 3
Without planning to I’ve wound up with a few strange choices for this week’s entry. The first is that I’ve included a miniseries in my list of films. I promise it’s worth it though! I also included a film along with its sequel but both were phenomenal and how often do you see a film and its sequel released in the same year? The other two films are lovely entries as well. 2022 was a terrific year for the movies (and miniseries).
You can find mini reviews of these films here
ANGLER’S CORNER
Fishing bonanza and a .22
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Today was a fishing bonanza. The owner of the lodge gave us permission to fish a small private spring creek. The guide says he only does this a couple of times a year, so we hit the jackpot as we had about 10 miles of spring creek to ourselves, all set on the backdrop of magnificent scenery.
The creek is a very small body of water with impressively large trout.
The tone for the day was set when a big rainbow just crushed my fly on the very first cast of the day. And the fish just kept eating and eating so it was a rare and epic outing and may have ruined me for the rest of the trip!
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This morning the owner gave me a cool shooting demonstration which included throwing a coin into the air, pulling out that .22 pistol and hitting the coin.
Wyatt Earp?
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Art
Capitoline Wolf at Siena Duomo.
According to a legend Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus.
When they fled Rome, they took the statue of the She-wolf to Siena, which became a symbol of the town.
Capitoline Wolf at Siena Duomo. According to a legend Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus. When they fled Rome, they took the statue of the She-wolf to Siena, which became a symbol of the town.
Petar Milošević - Own work
Capitoline Wolf at Siena Duomo. By legend Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus. When they fled Rome, they took the statue of She-wolf to Siena, what becomes symbol of the town.
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Dinner/Food/Recipe
This week’s entry can be found in the Gen Z entry above.
It’s Butternut Squash Soup.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“Scientists tell us that the fastest animal in the world, with a speed of 120 mph, is a cow dropped out of a helicopter.”
~ Dave Barry
That is fast.
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Social Life
The holidays are over and for this single, older male the question looms, will my singleness morph into isolation?
From isolation to distortion.
From an ageing perspective, I don’t have an answer.
There are a half-dozen social events ripening but no definition.
Difference between social isolation and loneliness
Valentinadagum - Own work
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Local Bits
Wing’s Chicken House, facade
This unpretentious operation at 48 Beach St. features live, warm chickens.
In the morning, some meet their doom and then, although quite dead, get carried home by customers who appreciate that they are still warm.
The result is Boston’s best tasting chicken.
A constantly changing art display on Boston’s Greenway
I always bring a bag of bird and squirrel feed with me.
I love the three minutes of drawing a crowd.
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts, including links.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from dear friend, Dr. Kay Kane:
Happy New Year, Dom!
And you must be psychic.
I’m emailing from Antarctica having just read your blog.
Those are Gentoo penguins on the hill behind us :)
Looking forward to getting together in 2023!
XOX, Kay
Blog meister responds: what a great photo! looks like a great trip.
would love the details when we get together.
The earliest scientific description of Gentoo penguins was made in 1781 by Johann Reinhold Forster with a type locality in the Falkland Islands.
The species calls in a variety of ways, but the most frequently heard is a loud trumpeting, which the bird emits with its head thrown back.
And another picture, this from dear friend, Jim P:
”I was walking a few months ago on a path that runs between the fence of the military base and Route 130. I came across this golf ball next to a hole in the ground. Off coincidence? Someone’s idea of a joke? Spirits screwing with us humans?”
Blog meister responds: Weird.
Intergalactic golf?
And some news from Jim P:
Hi Dom,
As always I enjoy getting your email that the new blog is ready to read. I still miss getting it everyday but no sense living in the past 😊
I think I mentioned my friend and colleague William Giraldi to you. He is a well known author (his novel Hold the Dark was a Netflix movie). His new novel, About Face, is set in Boston and the narrator is from the North End.
Would you mind sharing this with your other readers?
https://www.wgiraldi.com/page/aboutface
William Giraldi’s About Face Is a Surreal Tale of Celebrity Obsession in the Internet Age | BU Today | Boston University
Blog meister responds: Love it! Thanks, Jim.
A tragicomic novel of a fame-obsessed American society yet again on the brink.
Evoking such classics as Elmer Gantry and The Day of the Locust, William Giraldi’s About Face boldly transfers the perennial literary themes of celebrity, ambition, and obsession to twenty-first-century Boston.
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Travel
Dear friends of Tuscany,
The end of Day Three finds us arriving in Siena, checking into hotel and having a starred Guide Michelin dinner.
Let’s look at Days Four and Five.
Day 4 is a non-driving day. We’ve covered a lot of territory from Days 1 to 3 so a day walking around Siena is a perfect palliative.
While there are many lovely things to see in the Tuscan countryside, (Florence is excluded here, not considered as the countryside) none come close to what Siena has to offer.
Using the dependable Guide Michelin ratings, Siena has more three-star sites and sights than the rest of the Tuscan countryside combined.
We’ll wake to a leisurely breakfast on the ***Piazza del Campo, surrounded by brilliant architecture.
Piazza del Campo, with Palazzo Pubblico and Torre del Mangia
Ricardo André Frantz (User:Tetraktys) — Personal work
Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italia.
Breakfast over, we’ll spend a glorious day walking around one of the great small cities of the world. What will we see?
Some examples, all Guide Michelin three-star rated:
* Torre del Mangia: climb the tower for breath-taking views of Siena and Chianti
* Duomo di Siena, the Cathedral, one of greatest examples of Renaissance architecture
© Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
* The marble pulpit within, a masterpiece and one of Nicola Pisano’s greatest works.
* Pinacoteca museum
*Buonsignori Palace with its marvelous art
* Palazzo Pubblico, one of the finest vernacular buildings in Italy. Synthesizes all the characteristics of Sienese Gothic.
* Museo Civico, several rooms within the Palazzo Pubblico containing great art
* View from the Santa Maria dei Servi, of the sloping hill on which the Cathedral is built and the countryside
* Bernini’s sculptures: the greatest of the Baroque: The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep color, grandeur, and surprise to achieve a sense of awe.
And these edifying and re-creational moments are interspersed with stops at cafes for espresso or lunch, and artisanal shops, famous stores, street snacks, and gelato, brought to a fitting conclusion by a great dinner at a starred Guide Michelin restaurant.
If this isn’t one of the great days of our lives we are missing something.
Day 5 is a leisurely drive to the seashore, stopping along the way when we feel like it. We’ll get to Viareggio and rent an umbrella and table at a fine hotel. We’ll swim, walk the beach, lunch by the sea, walk the resort town.
When we’re ready, we’ll return to our hotel in Siena for dinner and a well-deserved sleep.
I’m looking forward.
Of course, a promenade by the seashore is de rigueur.
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Short Essay*
Feng shui, sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is an ancient Chinese traditional practice which claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term feng shui means, literally, "wind-water" (i.e. fluid). From ancient times, landscapes and bodies of water were thought to direct the flow of the universal Qi – "cosmic current" or energy – through places and structures. More broadly, feng shui includes astronomical, astrological, architectural, cosmological, geographical and topographical dimensions.
Historically, as well as in many parts of the contemporary Chinese world, feng shui was used to orient buildings and spiritually significant structures such as tombs, as well as dwellings and other structures. One scholar writes that in contemporary Western societies, however, "feng shui tends to be reduced to interior design for health and wealth. It has become increasingly visible through 'feng shui consultants' and corporate architects who charge large sums of money for their analysis, advice and design."
Feng shui has been identified as both non-scientific and pseudoscientific by scientists and philosophers and has been described as a paradigmatic example of pseudoscience. It exhibits a number of classic pseudoscientific aspects, such as making claims about the functioning of the world which are not amenable to testing with the scientific method. Some users of feng shui may be trying to gain a sense of security or control. Their motivation is similar to the reasons that some people consult fortune-tellers.
A feng shui spiral at Chinatown station (Los Angeles Metro)
Arnold C - Own work
A feng shui spiral in Chinatown. Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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People
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English guitarist. He rose to prominence as a member of the rock band The Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to an instrumental style with focus on an innovative sound, and his releases spanned genres and styles ranging from blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion and a blend of guitar-rock and electronica.
Beck was ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone and other magazines' lists rankings of the greatest guitarists. He was often called a "guitarist's guitarist". Rolling Stone described him as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock".[8] Although he recorded two successful albums (in 1975 and 1976) as a solo act, Beck did not establish or maintain commercial success like that of his contemporaries and bandmates. He recorded with many artists.
Beck earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times and Best Pop Instrumental Performance once. In 2014, he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.[10] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first as a member of the Yardbirds (1992) and secondly as a solo artist (2009).
Beck playing live, black & white photograph
Chris Hakkens - https://www.flickr.com/photos/chris_hakkens/5108861870/in/faves-24788065@N02/
Jeff Beck, Jaap Eden Hal, Amsterdam 5-7-1979
Permission details
CC-BY-SA
*The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Community Pictures with Captions are sent in by our followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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