Conspiracy Theory Wednesday-The SNIPER’S NEST

This is the 4th installment in the detailing of a conspiracy theory about the assassination of President Kennedy.

CROSSFIRE

Thirty minutes after the assassination, Dallas Police found what they assumed to be a sniper’s nest – boxes piled high around a sixth floor window in the easternmost corner of the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD).  Three spent shells lay neatly on the floor in front of the window.  Twenty minutes later a rifle, identified in a sworn affidavit by Dallas Police as a 7.65mm German Mauser, was found under a pile of books in another corner of the sixth floor.  The next day the rifle was re-identified as a 6.5mm Italian Mannlicher-Carcano that ballistically matched the three shells.

Of the 138 witnesses to the assassination later asked to testify as to where the shots came from, 32 said they came from the TSBD to the right rear of the President, while 58 named the grassy knoll above and to the right front of the limousine as the source of the shots.  Most of the other 48 witnesses heard shots from both directions.  In addition, many smelled gun-powder near the picket fence on the grassy knoll.  Police and bystanders rushed up the embankment toward the knoll.  Fresh footprints were seen behind the picket fence.  The first Dallas policeman to reach the parking lot above the knoll encountered a sloppily dressed man standing by a car, who produced Secret Service credentials.  The Secret Service later denied any knowledge of this “agent“.

At 2:30pm a man was brought into police headquarters under suspicion of killing a police officer.  His name was Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee of the TSBD, whose manager, Roy Truly, had last seen him two minutes after the assassination, drinking a Coke outside the second floor lunchroom.

The Sniper's Nest

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Six-Word Memoirs Monday-one day later

I happened to be reading or rather leafing through the latest edition of the AARP magazine. OH GOD what a revelation! And I put in writing!!  Anyway, I came across a page entitled Six-Word Memoirs.  This particular page featured Six-Word Memoirs/Cheating Death.  They were great, really clever.  I discovered there’s something called The Six-Word Memoir Project and  I googled the term and found out that Larry Smith founded the project which is based on a literary legend.  As the story goes, Ernest Hemingway was once asked to write a story in six words.  His response:

“For Sale: Baby Shoes, never worn”.

The editors of Smith magazine challenged writers to craft their own six-word memoirs, and got some interesting results. Most of them sound kinda like crosses between a personal ad and a haiku…  Larry and co-author, Rachel Ferschleiser also have a new book coming out;  It All Changed in an Instant.

We’re all articulate and intelligent here, right??  So  I’m  inviting you to submit your own Six-Word Memoirs in any category.  AARP has invited its readers to share a Six-Word story about their worst mistake and they’ll publish some of the best – so will !!!

Here is my Six-Word Memoir about a worst mistake although the error’s  not mine.                        The oil spreads, fish are dead

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Tasty Tidbits Tuesday – Summer Pasta

The fruit stands, vegetable stands and Farmer’s Markets are about to burst with the glorious bounty of summer gardens.  I am enthralled with the vegetables and fruits of summer!!! It is one of my great joys to go to Matt’s Vegetable stand in Belmar, NJ and load up on Jersey Tomatoes, Jersey Corn, zucchini, yellow squash, plums, peaches, spaghetti squash, YOU NAME IT, THEY GOT IT! As usual I digress…well not really, after all today’s dish is made with the vegetables of the summer season!

SUMMER PASTA  –  Buon Appettito!

10 oz whole grain spaghetti

2 TBS sliced green onions

1TBS olive oil

1 1/2 cups assorted veggies (squash, asparagus,carrots,mushrooms, snap peas, spinach etc)

1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes – drained and snipped into pieces

2 cups assorted tomatoes; grape tomatoes quartered, fresh tomatoes chopped and seeded

1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth

1/4 cup pitted Kalamatra olives

1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese.

2 TBS fresh basil snipped

Cook pasta – drain and return to pot.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the green onion in hot oil over med. heat for about a minute.  Stir in the vegetables and sun-dried tomatoes.  Cook covered for 5 minutes, stirring once.  Stir in fresh tomatoes and broth and olives.  Cook for approximately 45 seconds.  Spoon the tomato mixture over the pasta – toss gently.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and the basil.

Summer Pasta

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Abu Dabu Do

Wellllll I went to see Sex and the City2 and it was 2 long, 2 dumb, 2 short on plot, 2 predictable, and 2 cartoonish.

If this site was Rotten Tomatoes I would give it 3 rotten tomatoes which by the way is pretty close to what the movie has gotten on that site.  As of tonight, Sex and the City2 has received 150 rotten tomatoes out of 179 reviews.   I knew that it had been getting bad reviews but I really did want to see it.  I DID enjoy the first movie and well I did hope that this one would be somewhat good. NOT!

It was too long, it dragged in places, the clothes that Carrie wore throughout the first part of the movie were ugly, Mario Cantone was totally wasted in the movie –  I don’t mean he was wasted, I mean his talent was wasted.  He had the most inane lines, what a disappointment!  The wedding scene was so over the top gay that it was a cartoon.

When the show was on, the characters almost seemed believable;  maybe because at that time, I had my daughter Chiara living with me and she and her entourage looked the part, dressed the part and partied the part!  BUT in the movie tonight I felt like I was watching a cast of reality show contestants; there was Carrie and Mr. Big as the hip New York childless couple,  Miranda as the smart control freak, more lawyer than lover and mother, Charlotte the obessive by the rules girl, feeling guilty because she thinks she’s supposed to feel guilty and of course Samantha the over-sexed  going over the hill 4th.  Samantha was probably the most caricatured character of them all.  The woman who loved to love men on the show was now portrayed as an aging, hormone junkie who sits at her desk with her panties around her ankles, rubbing cream into her V Jay Jay! There is nothing attractive about a crude mouthed menopausal nymphomaniac (nymphomania is a mental illness).

Now if the movie was supposed to be a spoof, a comical satirical view of not so young single women who mostly were not single anymore, then you could overlook the over the top portrayals – but it wasn’t that kind of movie.  It took itself much more seriously than that.  Carrie and Mr. Big reveled in their special two-ness, their just me and you-ness.

As far as a fashion statement, I thought the clothes worn by the girls when they were in Abu Dhabi were wild and interesting and for the most part flattering.  AND I guess we can expect to see that four leaf clover necklace on every pre-teenage girl in the coming months.

Carrie's Four Leaf Clover necklace

My advice – wait till it comes out on DVD and rent it.  It’s not worth the price of a ticket (at least not here in New York City).

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It’s Father’s Day!

I always think of my Dad on Father’s Day. I miss him and on this day, my thoughts have been about how much he was a part of my life.  However, this blog is not about what was but rather what is.  This morning it gave me great pleasure to send a Happy Father’s Day greeting to my son-in-law Tom, who is a terrific Dad.  It is such a joy to see Finny’s face light up and hear her shout out “Daddy, Daddy” when he comes home from work or has been gone for a while.  She truly has his heart and she’s his little princess. Here are a few photos of Finny and her Daddy taken over the past 22 months.

This is the best way to go for a walk.

Making an important phone call

Oh Daddy, you're so funny

This is fun Daddy

I'm a Fairy Princess and this is my Daddy!

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La Vie en Rose

La Vie en Rose

This photo speaks volumes!

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The Art of Asbury Park

A couple of weeks ago, we had several out of town guests visit us in Ocean Grove for a day.  We strolled along the Boardwalk and eventually we ended up in Asbury Park.  It’s  always fascinating to roam around the old Casino and the Carousel.  I had my camera with me and decided to try to take some arty photographs.

This time I really noticed the extensive bas relief on the exterior of the Carousel; the horses, the sun faces and even sections of the buildings took on a new look when captured in the camera’s eye.  My friend Murray also took some and you’ll know right away who the pro is!  I always give photo credit but you won’t need it to pick his out.

Bas Relief Carousel Horse – Asbury Park

Copper Sun Face – Carousel Asbury Park

Asbury Park Carousel Horse bas relief

Asbury Park - The Casino

Photo by Murray Head

This Mermaid Lives in Asbury Park

Photo by Murray Head

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FAB FOTO FRIDAY

THIS IS FOR THE BIRDS

A picture is worth a thousand words or so they say…. going forward I thought I would designate Friday as a day to share some fantastic photos with you-today is FAB FOTO FRIDAY!  Let me be clear about this – they will almost NEVER be my photos.  I have a dear friend, Murray who is a professional photographer and as his passion is photography he snaps interesting candid shots of kids, animals, birds and well just about anything and everything.  I have been saving (read stealing) many of his photos to my hard drive.  He has given me permission to share them with you.

Wingspan

Checking for Spots

Looking Over My Shoulder

Big Black Bird

Bird Feeder Fight

Photos by Murray Head

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Plucking the Yew!! Flipping the Bird !!

File this under either “You’re kidding”? or ” Trivial Knowledge You’re Glad You Know So You Can Tell Someone Else”.

My friend Rachel sent this to me and I knew right away this would be good blog material.  It’s pretty wild and I asked her if she thought it was accurate and apparently it came from a reliable source.

The History of the Middle Finger

Well, now……here’s something I never knew before, and now that I know it, I feel compelled to send it on to my more intelligent friends in the hope that they, too, will feel edified.  Isn’t history more fun when you know something about it?

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible

to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as ‘plucking the yew’ (or ‘pluck yew’).

Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew!  Since ‘pluck yew’ is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodentals fricative F’, and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger salute!  It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as ‘giving the bird.’

IT IS STILL AN APPROPRIATE SALUTE TO THE FRENCH TODAY! **

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing.

Flipping the Bird

** no malice was intended towards the French – the wording  was  that of the anecdote.

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Four Generations-the Glory of Girls!

Recently I gave my daughter Chiara a “Mommy and Me ” coffee mug.  I got the idea one morning in Starbucks – while waiting for my usual Grande Americano I saw a row of large tumblers (the kind for taking your coffee on the road with you even if you are only walking!).  There was a template behind the lucite exterior.  It was advertised as something you could personalize yourself either using real photos or going to Snapfish where there was a template and you could digitally upload up to six photos.  Mother’s Day had just gone by and I thought this would be a great gift for her since I know she often takes Finley and her dog, Charlie for a walk in the morning and stops at Starbucks to get a Latte.   I had to get some of the older photos scanned and then save them to my hard drive.  The end result was GREAT.

This morning I came across some of the photos and thought I would like to see the girls in my blog!  We are four generations of Schmidt/Fantacone/Berti/Clark women and I think the family resemblance is there.  What do you think?

Helen Schmidt - My Mother

Lorraine Fantacone - Me (Lori)

Chiara Berti - My Daughter

Finley Clark - My Granddaughter

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